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The Kidlit Compass Blog

Other Ways to Get Published

Other Ways to Get Published

We’re discussing getting published this month at the Children’s Book Hub, so I’ll be devoting a few posts here to that topic. Here’s a familiar Catch 22: Agents don’t seem…
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And in the End…

And in the End…

And so we come to the last of my series of posts based on Jane Yolen’s list of “10 Words Every Picture Book Author Must Know.”  Resolution… a fitting word…
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Motion and Emotion

Motion and Emotion

In our modern lexicon, motion and emotion would appear to have entirely different meanings, but it’s no accident that the words are only one letter apart.  They share the same…
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Illustratability

Illustratability

Picture books tells their stories in two ways: 1) via text, and 2) via illustrations (hence the name “picture book.”) Occasionally a story will rely more heavily on art than…
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Words, words, words.

Words, words, words.

  Polonius: What do you read, my lord? Hamlet: Words, words, words. – William Shakespeare, “Hamlet,” Act 2, Scene 2 And so we come to #5 in Jane Yolen’s wonderful…
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The Circle of Focus

The Circle of Focus

When Jane Yolen speaks of ‘focus’ with respect to writing picture books, she specifies that it should be sharp and small. There’s an acting term originally coined by the great…
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Child-Centeredness

Child-Centeredness

The third word in Jane Yolen’s list of “Ten Words Every Picture Book Author Should Know” is Child-Centeredness. I’ve written about this in previous blog posts, but it bears repeating:…
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Writing Courses

Just Write for Kids

Just Write for Kids will teach you the fundamental aspects of writing for preschoolers and elementary school-aged children.
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Editor-in-a-Box

This expanded and refined toolkit walks you through a complete picture book revision process.
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Latest from the Kid Compass Blog

How Books Become Bestsellers

Many writers dream about seeing the words “bestselling author” attached to their name. But bestseller lists are far more complicated…
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