SCBWI Highlights

I had the pleasure of spending this past Saturday at the SCBWI Winter Conference in NYC.  Wow!  For those of you remotely interested in writing for children, the SCBWI conferences are a must.  The information, networking opportunities and resources are invaluable. The venerable Lois Lowry gave a superb keynote on finding ideas (during which I [...]

The Replay of the Children’s Book Writing Q&A Call is Ready!

If you missed last night’s live Q&A webcast/teleseminar on writing and publishing children’s books, you’ll want to hear the replay, as we addressed over fifty questions about all aspects of writing and publishing for children and young adults. There are also slides with links to resources and information mentioned throughout the call. You can click [...]

Agents and Publishers

Two of the most frequently asked questions I hear from aspiring authors are: “Do I really need an agent?” and “How do I get one?” The answer to the first question is: Ideally, yes. Agents handle everything from submitting your manuscripts to publishers, to negotiating contracts  and overseeing royalty statements, in exchange for which they [...]

Submissions 101

So, you’ve written a children’s book and you’re ready to submit it to an agent and/or a publisher.  The following are the industry standards for manuscript submission, regardless of  whether the manuscript is for a picture book, a chapter book or a novel: Standard white paper – Don’t even think of using colored paper! Black [...]