One of our own, Laurie Isop of Renton, has won Cheerios® Spoonfuls of Stories New Author Contest with her story, HOW DO YOU HUG A PORCUPINE. She gets a cash prize and a publishing contract with Simon & Schuster.Congratulations, Laurie!
First pages reminder
If you signed up for one or more of the First Pages sessions at the 19th Annual Writing & Illustrating for Children Conference but haven't sent in your first page(s) yet, please do it soon.As a reminder, we must RECEIVE your page in our P.O. Box by MARCH 20th, and we don't want you to... Continue Reading →
Good news for Helen Landalf
Helen's agent sold her first novel, BROKEN WINGS, to Samantha McFerrin at Harcourt.It's great news for Helen, a seasoned picture book author. It also gives me particular delight because I got to read an early draft of the book and loved it. Helen revised and revised--pouring years worth of love and talent into this book.... Continue Reading →
Conference carpool wanted, too
Are you in Seattle and planning to attend our conference in April, but driving each day? Jason Nemeth, who's in the Queen Anne area, is looking for someone to carpool with. If you've got space in your clown car and would like a little gas money that he'll happily chip in, contact him at jdn74... Continue Reading →
Conference roomie wanted
Annie Cannon plans to attend our annual conference in April and is looking for a roommate to share her two-bed, nonsmoking hotel room and its costs. (She already has the room reservation for two nights, Friday and Saturday.) If you're interested in a great price for the convenience of staying at the conference hotel, and... Continue Reading →
A query about queries
This comes from Elizabeth Mills, editor of The Chinook, our printed quarterly.How many query letters have you written in your writing career? What helpful tips have you learned from those that were successful and those that weren’t so successful? Would you contribute those tips to an article in an upcoming issue of the Chinook? We’d... Continue Reading →
The imaginary library at Western Washington University
Gretchen Hansen came back from Bellingham with a great tip about an illustration exhibit at the Wilson Library at Western Washington University. Here's what she observed:This exhibit consists of original art by 72 illustrators from 30 countries. The participating artists were invited by the International Library in Munich, to create an original book cover for... Continue Reading →
Deb Caletti book giveaway
Thanks to Val Serdy for this one:Simon and Schuster is giving away 20 sets of Deb Caletti’s titles! If you loved THE NATURE OF JADE, cried at the end of HONEY, BABY, SWEETHEART, or just want to get ready for THE SIX RULES OF MAYBE, enter today!Simon and Schuster Book Giveaway.
What’s a Kirby Larson school visit like?
Jennifer Wolf explains on her blog:Last week I met Kirby Larson, an author who is (in my humble opinion) a master of the art of storytelling. Kirby came to visit my kids’ school. She got down on a personal level with them by sharing experiences from her childhood as well as the experiences she had... Continue Reading →
Leaving it all in the ring
If you need some inspiration to dig deeper, don't miss this blog post by Brian Hodge. Here's a tease:Tell me you haven’t been here before: You’re about to introduce a character, inject an idea, or just lay down a nice turn of phrase … and then stop. Not because it isn’t good enough, but because... Continue Reading →