Sandra Nickel’s PiBoIdMo Success Story
by Sandra Nickel Last year was a little crazy. We brought home a new puppy. We had more guests than we’d had in the previous ten years combined. And, my daughter started a new school. By the end of October, I was desperate for some solid writing time on my new novel! The problem: November […]
MR. PARTICULAR Trailer Premiere! Another PiBoIdMo Success Story
Every year the NJ-SCBWI conference holds a Juried Art Show for illustrators. Back in 2013, the theme was “Down the Rabbit Hole”. I strolled the exhibit and stopped in my tracks at this image: How marvelous is this? It immediately reminded me of Jill Barklem’s Brambly Hedge series, with field mice living in homes carved into […]
YA Author Reveals Cover…of Her Picture Book! A PiBoIdMo Success Story!
I find it fascinating when kidlit authors can hop into other genres. My mind is perpetually caught in 2nd grade so I could never envision writing young adult novels. But as my agent reminds me, never say never. Clever, Joan, ever clever. Veronica Bartles is one of those age-group-jumping frogs. Err, I mean authors. Sorry, I’ve got froggies […]
PiBoidMo Success Stories from Catherine Bailey
by guest blogger Catherine Bailey You call her Tara Lazar. I call her Dream-Maker-Genius-Lady. And thanks to Dream-Maker-Genius-Lady, and her month-long picture book idea challenge PiBoIdMo, I now have three picture book contracts. I joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCWBI.org) in 2010. Soon after I joined Verla Kay’s Blueboards, now accessible […]
It’s Raining PiBoIdMo Success Stories! (plus a giveaway!)
by guest blogger Rebecca Colby I like to think of myself as Tara’s biggest fan. Although we’ve never met, she unwittingly got me through a very rough time. She’s also gotten me into the habit of generating ideas every day, and I credit her with three picture book success stories. The year 2009 was a […]
Nancy Tandon’s PiBoIdMo Success Story
A PiBoIdMo “Kind of” Success Story by Nancy Tandon After hearing about PiBoIdMo for several years, I decided to play along last November. Actually, the truth is, what I really decided to do was participate in NaNoWriMo, which runs the same month, and write a full novel. But on November 2nd, I got a little […]
A PiBoIdMo Success Story Launches Today! Goldi Rocks! (plus a giveaway)
Let me take you back to the first year of PiBoIdMo—2009. (For those unindoctrinated, that’s Picture Book Idea Month. Wait, can a picture book writer even use a highfalutin word like unindoctrinated? Or highfalutin?) Well, it’s 2009 and my good friend Corey Rosen Schwartz is having trouble meeting the 30-ideas-in-30-days challenge. She despises her ideas. Corey […]
Pre-PiBo Day 5: Kayleen West’s PiBoIdMo Success Story (plus prizes!)
by Kayleen West As a child, my mother used to tell everyone, “She’s such a daydreamer (adding a disapproving sigh).” I used to hate it, but she was right; I do dream big—and love it, it’s what creative people do best. You may be the same. When communicating in words or pictures it is the […]
Pre-PiBo Day 4: Betsy Devany’s PiBoIdMo Success Story (plus prizes!)
by Betsy Devany When Tara approached me to do a guest post, I was thrilled. And then I sat down and thought: Oh, dear. How best can I contribute as a pre-published author, who shares her writing room with a life-sized gorilla named Norman and a slew of beloved stuffies? So I went back through my […]
Another PiBoIdMo Success Story: Julie Falatko’s Debut Picture Book!
by guest blogger Julie Falatko In 2011, after several months of taking picture book writing seriously, I heard about PiBoIdMo and thought, “Sure, why not?” If I’d realized how much Picture Book Idea Month would change everything, I might not have been so glib about it. But at the time I didn’t realize that the […]
Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) 