Come join the Bellingham Network for our September Schmooze.TOPIC: Keeping All Hats in the Air: How Do You Juggle All the Aspects of Your Writing or Illustrating Career?WHEN: Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009, 6:30pm to 8:30pmWHERE: The home of Kjersten Anna Hayes. Please RSVP to [email protected] and Kjersten will reply with directions.There’s the researcher hat, the... Continue Reading →
Freelancing: turning ideas into productivity
If you're a freelancer, you know that the lack of structure can be one of the hardest parts of the job. Ritu over at Freelancefolder.com has some concrete suggestions for turning an idea into an actual product: Generate ideasEliminate ideasSet goalsMake a to-do listManage your timeDevelop a "productivity strategy"Take appropriate actionsTo find out more about... Continue Reading →
Farewell to Karla Kuskin
Karla Kuskin, author of 50 children's books (and illustrator of many), died over the weekend in Seattle. The New York Times has a fine obituary for Kuskin, who at one point spoke to the SCBWI WWA chapter.A poem she wrote has wonderful advice for writers; it will resonate in my head for a long time:Write... Continue Reading →
PW Starred Reviews
Some familiar names here:Robin Cruise, for BARTLEBY SPEAKS!Deb Caletti, for THE SECRET LIFE OF PRINCE CHARMINGLaini Taylor, for SILKSINGER (illustrated by the fab Jim DiBartolo)Read the rest of the Publishers Weekly list of stars so far (and the actual books, too, dagnabbit!).Congratulations to those who have stars on thars. Apologies if I missed any.
Calendar: Upcoming Events
For additional information regarding the following events, please see the event descriptions in our calendar to the left.Nancy White Carlstrom: IT'S YOUR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, ANNIE CLAIRE -- Ultimate TuesdayTues, Aug 25, 20097:00pm-9:00pmSecret Garden Books, BallardLaurel Leigh, Writing Your Own Stories Free Mini-Workshop Thurs, Aug 27, 20097:00pm-9:00pmVillage Books in BellinghamJo Gershman, Watercolor From The... Continue Reading →
Introduction to graphic novels
If you're intrigued about these but don't yet feel comfortable in the genre, the Horn Book has a classic article offering basic info in Q&A format. Her first couple of questions:Q What’s the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel? A Most simply, length. A comic and a graphic novel are told via... Continue Reading →
How to write a query letter
The folks at Upstart Crow have a swell little writer's toolbox. If you're struggling to write a query letter, do check out this annotated version. It tells you how you should format, what you should put where, and what you should look out for. (It's a PDF, so you'll need a reader.)For the rest of... Continue Reading →
Anatomy of compelling tweets
Deb Ridpath Ohi is awarding "Golden Marmots" to agents, editors, and authors who hit the bullseye with their tweets. If you're wondering how to do this well, check the Golden Marmots for inspiration (and you can nominate people, too).
Good advice on length of MG/YA novels
This comes from Kristin Nelson's blog:When I was at RWA, I did a workshop with my client Ally Carter. We were the only workshop at that conference that addressed anything in the Children’s realm. Let me tell you, the session was packed (to my surprise).Anyway, the point of our workshop was this: people who want... Continue Reading →
Marketing, for introverts
A few of us were talking Monday night about introversion and how so many of us in this field describe ourselves that way. It's actually comforting to know that's the norm--it really doesn't feel like it when you're at a conference or big meeting and see everyone actually making eye contact with other people. This... Continue Reading →