WRITE A GRIPPING NOVEL
You want your book to be referred to like this: “Fast-paced.” “Gripping.” “A page-turner.” “I couldn’t put it down.” Why do some books get these comments, while others are called “slow” or “flat”?
Let's get to the bottom of the pacing dilemma in today's episode.
Let a one-on-one mentor help you hone your revision skills and polish your work so it shines in your submissions to agents and publishers! Get started here!
CHARACTERS, SETTING, AND THEME, OH MY!
This week is Thanksgiving in the U.S., so we are bringing you a rebroadcast of a popular episode. Time to take it back to the basics and discuss characters, setting, and theme in children's books.
Join the Institute of Children's Literature Community! Get our free weekly newsletter with articles on the craft of writing, hot markets looking for your work, and cool resources for your writer toolbox: www.instituteforwriters.com/icl-news
BRINGING READERS BACK FOR MORE
I’ve been watching my nieces learning to read. They study the pictures. They beg for more, and readily cuddle up while we read together.
So how can you create great picture books with the identifying characteristics that will magnetize your readers and draw them to your work, again and again?
Join the Institute of Children's Literature Community! Get our free weekly newsletter with articles on the craft of writing, hot markets looking for your work, and cool resources for your writer toolbox: www.instituteforwriters.com/icl-news
LISTS YOU SHOULD KEEP
Have you ever seen one of those journals where the pages have dots instead of lines? It’s called a bullet journal. If your desk has a tendency to become a bunny nest of paper scraps with lists on them, this could be a great idea for you. All of the lists are things you want to be reminded of. Sorting through your nest of lists could be the first step in creating valuable writer lists.
Let's talk about the kinds of list that writers can use.
Join the Institute of Children's Literature Community! Get our free weekly newsletter with articles on the craft of writing, hot markets looking for your work, and cool resources for your writer toolbox: www.instituteforwriters.com/icl-news
AN INTERVIEW WITH HANNAH HOLT
Debut picture book author Hannah Holt shares the results of her extensive surveys of picture book authors (How much do they make? What kind of advance do they get? Do they make more with or without an agent?), advice for prepublished authors, and how she researched and brought to life the picture book based on her grandfather, THE DIAMOND AND THE BOY.
Let a one-on-one mentor help you get that book out of your head and onto the page. Get started here!