Tag Archives: children’s author

Current Status of Children’s Book Market, according to SCBWI NY 2015

Posted in Writing Children's Books, Writing events, Writing events, promos, contests by

Image result for clip art importance

Ah, so much went on at the international conference that I’m still basking in the fruitfulness. I’m pretty sure that’s not an expression, but you know what I mean. I’ve tweeted out much of the greatness. I’ve culled some more juicy tidbits to share, in random order:

1. Webinars are popular and great for those farther away from the masses. Expect to see more.

2. Webinars are NOT a replacement of in-person conferences, workshops, or gatherings. They are in addition to them. Nothing beats face to face contact.

3. Editors and agents find/book authors and illustrators at conferences, people they wouldn’t otherwise hear from. Repeatedly. Attend roundtables, submit your work for critique. The additional cost is worth it.

4.  With the field so crowded, editors and agents are looking for something that “blows them away.” Really good no longer cuts it.

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5. There’s no award for speed in this industry. Give your work the time it deserves.

6. Hardcovers, after a bit of a slump, are on the rise!

7. Picture books are getting shorter, funnier…”an economy of text.”

and, my favorite takeaway from the enter conference:

8. “The importance of what we’re doing will never go away”

Image result for clip art importance

Thoughts? Comments? Bring ’em.

A book award makes me livid? Disillusioned? Offended? All three maybe

Posted in Writing Children's Books by

To be recognized for your work feels great, especially when it’s by experts in your field. Right?

Well you’d think it would.

[image from leavinglaw.wordpress.com]

I got a wonderful email from someone representing a (seemingly?) legitimate industry award. They said they found out about me from one of my Twitter posts. When they looked into my books, one stood out among the others, and they felt it was so good it could win one of their awards. They were excited for me to be a part of it all!

Please note they did not actually READ any of my books, just ABOUT them. 

The emailer stated:

We provide lifetime marketing assistance and low-cost exhibit opportunities among other things. First and foremost, we recognize excellent & positive products.

[image from gametimect.com]

Of course my *WARNING* *WARNING* BEEP BEEP radar went off because the very first thing they mentioned was their marketing assistance (red flag: they want your money). The second thing they referenced was recognition. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? At a minimum add the part about marketing assistance at the very end of the email, as sort of an aside?

But it gets worse.

I had to pay to be considered for this prestigious award from their panel of judges.

As in, pony up $300 per entry. A THREE HUNDRED DOLLAR entry fee. They were happy to tell me they could offer me a discount if I wanted to enter multiple books. !!! I’d eat up a years worth of profit just to enter (mediocre) books that were written in 2006.

[image from lawnchairnaturalist.wordpres.com]

I was and still am LIVID over this.

Is this common? Is this the going rate? Have I been disillusioned by common/standard business practices? I feel like kid that sees Mickey Mouse without his head on and realizes Mickey is just a kid in a costume, that he’s not real and never has been real. (Uh, sorry if that was a spoiler alert to any of you)

Anyone knee deep in the children’s book industry knows how little we authors (and illustrators) make. In fact, I have been paid less than $300 for an entire book/manuscript contract! (No, I don’t say that proudly) If this is what it takes to get a cool WINNER banner or sticker on the cover of my books, well, looks like I’ll stay award-less. I simply cannot afford to win!

Now I have a business degree. I understand operating expenses and all that. But this is like an Over-the-top Elite Country Club fee–overcharging people just so those people can proudly tell others they are members. It’s self serving and offensive.

Another analogy might be a cheezy self-proclaimed agent that has zero contacts and/or real experience that charges you to read your manuscript. This award doesn’t feel as slimy as those dirtbags, but it still feels wrong.

I am purposely not mentioning the name of the award. My goal isn’t to shame them specifically. I just need to hear from others what their experience has been. If you want to name names, please don’t do that here; email me their names and maybe we can start a secret spy detective club uncovering facade book awards. Or maybe we can help each other cry in our soup.

Until then, please be wary of emails out of the blue. Do your research before sending money anywhere (especially foreign kings that need a short term loan).

[image from wikipedia]

Even if Mickey puts his head back on, I’m still scarred.

Twitter 101: The Basics, For Writers

Posted in Uncategorized, Writing Children's Books by

Twitter 101 for Writers Part One

The past few writers’ conference presentations I’ve given about Author Platforms have prompted many of the same questions. Most surround social media. I’m gonna tackle one biggie here: Twitter. Let’s look at the very basic concept of Twitter in this post, for the true beginner. How to use it effectively will be a different post, so be sure to keep looking around on my site if you need more help or detail.

“I know what Twitter is, but I don’t know how to use it like I should. Is there a specific process?” “Why do I want to use Twitter in the first place?” “What is Twitter anyway?” Let’s start with the very basics. Here are some definitions of Twitter:

  • Twitter is the best way to connect with people, express yourself and discover what’s happening. – Twitter

That’s kinda broad. Let’s look at a different definition:

  • Twitter is a free social networking microblogging service that allows registered members to broadcast short update posts called tweets. –WhatIs.com

Okay, that’s not really helpful at all. Let’s give it one more try:

  • A stupid site for stupid people with no friends, who think everyone else gives a sh*t what they’re doing at any given time. –UrbanDictionary.com

Haha well that sure is one way to look at it! I view Twitter as a huge cocktail party. You interact as much as you want, you come in and out of conversations as you see fit, you listen to other people rant or rave, you observe trends and popular topics, you initiate some conversations and contribute to others, you walk around to see what’s happening over in that side of the room, and yes maybe you enjoy a few people so much that you follow them around a little bit.

Looking at some statistics, it’s clear that social media is here to stay.

  • Facebook: 1.23 Billion users as of Dec 2013, 81% outside of U.S. (Facebook.com), 57% American adults, 73% 12-17 year olds (Pew Research)
  • LinkedIn: 277 million users as of Feb 2014 (Digital Marketing Ramblings)
  • Instagram (where you share photos and up to 15-second videos, image filters are offered): 150 million active users, 1.2 Billion likes/day (DMR, Feb 2014)
  • Vine (users share 6-second videos) : 40 million users (Vine)
  • Twitter: As of Aug 2013, Twitter reports

    280 Million users

    500 Million tweets/day

    Average 5,700 tweets PER SECOND

    135,000 new users/day

A tweet, or Twitter post, gives you 140 spaces, called characters, to say whatever you want. “Happy birthday” is 14 characters (without the quote marks), and “Happy birthday!” (without quotes) is 15. With quotes, they’d 16 and 17 characters. Anything that takes up a space, even a blank space, counts as one. The good news is you are forced to be brief. The bad news is it takes practice to get your point across succinctly.

Once you’ve got the hang of 140 characters, why keep going? What’s in it for you? Plenty. When used effectively, Twitter can:

8 Writing Tips in 8 Minutes: Bitsy’s tips for the newbie picture book writer

Posted in Writing Children's Books by

Thinking of writing a children’s book? Have you written one but not sure what to do with it? Well a-looky here, I’ve got some slick tips for you, dear beginner. It’ll be the best eight minutes of your day! (Unless you won the lottery, in which case may I say how beautiful you look today?)

Feel free to share the video on your own blog or website. Just please give a link back to me here, okay? Thanks, doll.

If you have tips or tricks that you’d like to share with fellow newbies, please let me know! You may be featured in a future video 🙂

Author Visit, O.W. Erlewine Elementary, Sacramento CA Feb 2014

“This is the part where they all die in the end…”
These are picture books, just one kind of a book
I can’t hear you!
Well, the author thinks the words are more important, and the illustrator thinks the pictures are…but it’s really both.
A little louder…!
Do authors get paid a lot of money? Not in dollars, but here, in the heart, where it counts!
Flyers the school created and distributed