Sherrinda Ketchersid asked, “Have you heard of twitter pitches? I thought they were crazy. But what did I have to lose?” She put a twitter pitch up for Lord of Her Heart. Very quickly she had a response from a publisher asking for her book proposal. After she sent the proposal, they asked for the manuscript.…
Pixar published Storytelling in a Box through Khan Academy. This is free content that looks at the art of storytelling as Pixar does it, through the eyes of many Pixar employees. There are six sections: We are all storytellers Character Story structure Visual language Film grammar Pitching and feedback In addition to the general information,…
Sherrinda Ketchersid, a medieval Christian romance author, whose book Lord of Her Heart, was published this month, presented “Tips and Tools for the Writing Journey” to the Abilene Writers’ Guild on May 23rd. Her are some of the things I took away from her presentation: Being visible is important. You need to pick social media (or…
Mitali Perkins, author of ELEVEN published children’s books, including Rickshaw Girl, and her newest Forward Me Back to You–just released last month, spoke at Austin’s SCBWI conference. Among many useful details from her keynote speech, she said: “You don’t control the market. You can control your craft.” So work on your writing. Read a lot, in the…
Lynne Kelly, author of the amazing book Song for a Whale, gave some great hints and helps during a panel discussion at Austin’s SCBWI conference. If you feel like, Why Doesn’t Anyone Like My Book? We could be the lonely whale. We may be singing at the wrong frequency. If you feel like, I’m not good…
If the editor or agent likes what you have, but it doesn’t fit their needs, they will say, “What else do you have?” At Austin’s Society for Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) conference this past weekend, a published author told me to have more than one work prepared when pitching a book.
One way to make sure you know your characters is to create a 6-word biography for them. Examples from my middle grades novels (from the oldest character to the youngest): (Great) Uncle Toban: Hope renewed. Beloved uncle. Valued partner. Grama Kawa: Matriarch, raising littles, joy after despair. World Lost. Family Found. Grateful heart. Survivor. Making…
SCBWI = Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators PB = picture books MG = middle grade books YA = young adult books NF= non-fiction works
