A Crash Course in Submitting a Manuscript While the submission process may feel like second nature to experienced writers, it’s easy to forget that newcomers aren’t aware of the specific procedures. And since everyone can benefit from a refresher course now and then, here’s a rundown of the steps: First, collect addresses of appropriate publishers by perusing market guides like Children’s Writer...

A Common Pitfall: Expository Dialogue Dialogue adds to the narrative by allowing your characters to speak for themselves. It’s not simply narrative surrounded by quotation marks. I’ve read manuscripts where the main character says something like: “I don’t know where I am. I’ve never been in this part of the city before. I think I’ll walk down the street and turn left at this corner. Maybe I’ll s...

A First Time Author’s Publicity Kit Materials If you’re a new author that has been requested to send publicist materials, you may feel left in the dark on what to send. Here’s a list of the usual items. 1. Author BioThis is no place for modesty. You’re competing with many other authors out there and need to show how your hot and worth it. Remember to include your accomplishments and give a littl...

A Letter from an Agent to an Author Dear Writer, I know you’re feeling really optimistic about your work and excited about the possibility of becoming a published author. I’m excited for you. The passion you bring to your work makes it a real pleasure to work with you and others like you. I hate to sound a negative note, but I feel I must be realistic and warn you that the path to publication i...

A Look At Current Trends In the constantly-changing world of children’s book publishing, it’s often hard to keep up with what’s hot. While strong writing and an author’s passion for the subject will always prevail, here are some areas where editors are currently buying: Poetry is more prevalent than in years past, especially collections from a single author with a theme or hook. Check out Behind...

A Mentor, A Coach or A Therapist: Do You Need All Three? A woman recently asked me “What’s the difference between a coach and a therapist?”  In answering her I realized I had to distinguish between these and a mentor.  If you are ever stuck, it would be wise to think about whether you need a mentor, a coach, or a therapist. A mentor is usually someone who has a lot of knowledge and experience wi...

A Quick Guide to ISBNs for Self-Publishers ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It is a code assigned to every published book that uniquely identifies it in the marketplace. ISBNs make it easier and more efficient for libraries, booksellers and others in the publishing industry to order, distribute and catalog books. When To Use an ISBN You need to assign an ISBN to any content y...

A Story to Tell: A Quick Guide to Narrative Writing “So what happened?” When someone asks you that, what do you say? You respond by telling a story – when it happened, where it happened, how it happened and why it happened. This is what we call narration. If descriptive writing aims to appeal to your reader’s five senses, narrative writing aims to tell an event that occurred by providing detai...

A Story Writer and Teller Delineates How We Process Information If we look at how people process information, perhaps from an audience member’s perspective there really isn’t all that much difference between a read story and a heard story. (heresy in the storytelling world because we don’t read stories to audiences, we tell them, but perhaps because it’s considered heresy it deserves a closer loo...