Pitching Your Picture Book
Submissions in today’s market often involve new elements of pitching your picture books from social media to comp titles. Here’s how to make them work for you.
Writing Nonfiction for Very Young Readers
Writing nonfiction for very young children requires specific things but with a narrow focus, few words, and kid-friendly topics, you can break into this market.
How to Indie Publish: Part 1
Wondering how to indie publish your novel? Check out this step-by-step process for self-publishing your book with high-level insights and pitfalls.
The Big 3 of Nonfiction
The three essentials for any publishable children’s nonfiction are accuracy, clarity, and organization. Let’s look at these tips for success in nonfiction.
Sensing It: Bringing Show Don’t Tell to Your Nonfiction
What does show don’t tell mean when it comes to nonfiction? Jan Fields shares examples of using sensory details to bring true stories to life for the readers.
Alpha and Beta Readers: What Every Author Needs to Know
What is an alpha reader versus a beta reader? We break down everything writers need to know about using alpha and beta readers for your next writing project.
4 Steps to Improve Readability in Children’s Books
Part of writing children’s books that can be used in a school setting lies in meeting the needs of the reader. Here are 4 steps to improve readability.
Back to School: Writing for the Classroom
Schools are crammed full of reading material. Who is doing all that writing for the classroom? What’s different about the educational market? Let’s find out.
Exploring Learning Opportunities for Writers
Looking for back-to-school learning opportunities for writers? Susan Ludwig shares places where you can go back to school yourself and hone your writing skills.
Back to School Plans for Writers
Are you feeling the back-to-school itch? Make this season work for you as a writer! Jan Fields shares ways to get reinvigorated in your writing this fall.
Evaluating Writing Programs
How do you evaluate a critique program or a writing program and decide if it’s worth your time and your money? The answer is research. Check out these tips!
A Back-to-School State of Mind
As a writer, you may want to jump on the back-to-school bandwagon. There are an assortment of opportunities for your continuing education in the writing field.
Show or Tell: Writing Dialogue Tags and Beats
Speech tags and action tags or beats are essential when writing dialogue. These tiny but mighty words are the difference between reader confusion and enjoyment.
Dive into Writing Dialogue
Dialogue is a favorite for writers AND readers. Dialogue makes your character present and real in a scene. Let’s talk tips and techniques for great dialogue.
Creating Character Voice
Your readers should sense the subtle (and not-so-subtle) differences between the character voices in the stories you write. Try these exercises today!
Your Voice or Theirs?
Voice, whether your natural writing voice or the voice of a character, comes from an emotional place. Jan Fields gives us exercises to develop these voices.
Discovering Your Author Voice
Voice is something publishers want, but it’s an elusive thing to understand. Today, we discover ways to develop our own voice and the voices of our characters.
Inside/Outside: More Tips on Writing Conflict
When writing conflict, inner and outer conflicts are not two separate things. Outer conflicts offer an opportunity to explore inner ones better. Find out how.
Finding Your Author Voice
Your author voice has a unique and specific makeup. The way your word choice, writing style, tone, and perspective all make your voice unique to you.
Defining Types of Conflict in Children’s Books
Conflict in children’s books isn’t necessarily fights or arguments, it’s about the roadblocks that keep the character from getting what they want in the story.
