Category: SCBWI

SCBWI LA 2014 SUMMER CONFERENCE part 2

9/9/2014

Conference Reflections Continued...
Part 2 The Editors' Panel
August 6, 2014

Alessandra Balzer, Mary Lee Donovan, Allyn Johnston, Wendy Loggia, Lucia Monfried, Dinah Stevenson & Julie Strauss-Gabel ... *Photo credit SCBWI Team Blog

The Editors' Panel was of special interest to me as I am researching various publishing houses for the submission of my new picture book dummy. Always enjoy these panels! I like to hear actual voices and get a sense of these individuals as real people and the companies they represent.

Lin Oliver moderated this panel of of 7 with the topic "3 + 3:   Three Things Your Book Should Include and Three Things your Book Should Avoid."
This is a smattering of the editors' words, phrases and comments...

DO be a smart storyteller. Books need a voice. Be fresh, unexpected, cause goosebumps. Have an original point of view. Is it a boy, girl, how old? Perhaps the beginning should contain seeds of the end, or one could start with dialogue instead of narration. Show, don't tell. Have an interesting structure, a hook, a good middle arc and don't forget the final page turn.

DON'T waste editor's time by sending submissions arbitrarily. All concurred...
There must be a 'fit' with the imprint or editor!   Do your research. Page numbers, bottom right. Don't be weird with submission tricks. Don't be boring, non-engaging, voiceless and pedestrian with 10,000 words. Don't teach or be predictable, overwhelming, familiar or humorless.

General publishers advice...Good storytelling comes from personal places. Write your story. Don't trend. Listen to your inner ear. Know your audience. Publishers like authenticity, thoughtfulness, unique elements, competence and confidence. School yourself in children's books. Makes you a better editor of your own work before you send it to them!

Thanks to a great panel for their expert advice and reminders!

More conference reflections to come...

2 Comments

My Morning Kitties

1/29/2013

2 Comments

UGH!!
Getting down to work in the morning! Why is this such an issue for the artist? Well, there's the computer. The phone. The weather. The fate of the world. There is a lot on our minds!

My 'morning pages' a la Julia Cameron, used to do the trick, but fizzled out. What to we do in order to transition every morning from that huge overwhelming scary world to our funky little inner pea brains? Start and finish a small but stimulating project, of course!

I bought 4x4" canvases and dug right in ...painting up a hurricane... one little baby storm at a time. Pretty soon, one kitty turned into 3 and in a very short period of time, I was sitting on a massive glut of kitties!! I must say I woke up every morning raring to go, adding to my collection with glee. Eventually I became so motivated that I added other projects to my schedule.

So what did I learn? First of all, the act of doing anything is always better than doing nothing! Besides, when you do nothing, you never really know when you're finished! AND tangible action stimulates the creative process in ways we cannot imagine...It is only by 'doing' that we see what can actually be done.

We all hit a brick walls at some time or another... It is inevitable in creative life!! BUT It's important to remember that walls are made of itty bitty bricks. Always begin ... one brick at a time. Or in my case, one kitty to 2 kitties to 3 kitties to....

What do YOU do to kick-start YOUR creative day?

2 Comments

MoNkey 2 Monkey Blog

Artist & Storyteller

SCBWI LA 2014 SUMMER CONFERENCE part 2

My Morning Kitties

Categories

Archives