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by Carol Hampton Rasco
President/CEO, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF)
What a special week in the Children’s Literature World…two of my favorite “specials” this month are the start of Picture Book Idea Month (plus two days!) and the birthday of Reading Is Fundamental where the 45th birthday will be celebrated Thursday, November 3 with Lilly and her famous purple purse with lots of children and special guests at the Library of Congress!
And you know what? I see PiBoIdMo as seriously connected to RIF and our mission. Each time I write or talk about this year’s major milestone birthday of 45 years for RIF, I talk about the 380 million magical moments, the 380 million books placed into the hands of children over these 45 years RIF has existed. And guess what? The majority of those 380 million moments have been brought about by picture books given our primary audience of birth to 8 years of age.
Within that age group, RIF seeks first to serve those children most in need and sadly, with poverty the greatest indicator of probable difficulty to read well and independently by the end of third to fourth grade, it means according to the latest poverty reports we have that even more children by comparison in years past to ignite, to motivate, to inspire to learn to read. This means in reality, we need so many different books in order to strike that chord deep within a child, to create the birth of that “aha!” moment, that “wow!” experience that has a child believing “If I can read, I can do anything, be anything.”
Last year I wrote in my guest post for PiBoIdMo noting three types of picture books we hear about most as on the “wanted” list by teachers, reading specialists, PTA parents, Kiwanis Club members—RIF volunteers of all stripes and professions: nonfiction that is “eye and mind catching”, bilingual books, and multicultural books. The requests continue to be the same. All three categories are also critical to the family involvement component RIF believes critical to the success of our mission in motivating children to love reading.
Last weekend I saw again in person the beauty of a picture book that had four generations of individuals pouring over a book, sharing common knowledge and experiences elicited by the book in front of them. It is a picture book about animals in winter—“it doesn’t look like a true fact book, they’re usually boring” as generation two noted in his 6-year-old voice. Generation one was intrigued by the pictures, generation two was eager to learn more about the animals he already had discovered, parents of gen two had no idea about some of the more unusual facts and gen three had information to add about ways these animals were viewed in “the olden days.” After going through the book the family discovered information added by the author at the back and headed to the computer, four generations together again! Gens one and two were reading the text even…what a great experience for the family together…it was a spontaneous activity shared following a meal and lasted with no whining for more than 30 minutes. This family is not unique, no reason this animal book would have been predicted to be the one to “catch their eyes” over others. But it connected for them; it was a prolonged magical moment. And to serve the children and families who need us most, we need lots and lots of books portraying life and our surroundings in oh, so many different ways!
With Thanksgiving now on the horizon, our Hampton multi-generations will for the 32nd year read sometime before the meal begins “Thanksgiving at the Tappletons’” by Eileen Spinelli (1982 version) which was given to my son on his 6th birthday that year. It is a tradition every child entering the family savors when old enough to follow the laugh lines and even more when old enough to be a reader!
A magical moment…that is what you are creating in a picture book…memories that plant the seeds of a lifetime love of reading. My best wishes to all of you as you put those ideas into writing this month! Hurray, more magic is on the way!
Happy Reading!
Happy Halloween!
It’s time for ghouls and ghosts, Linus and the Great Pumpkin, Milky Ways and Kit Kats…and speaking of cats, black ones might cross your path today. That’s because The Lucky 13s are here!
The Lucky 13s are debut 2013 kidlit authors in the picture book, middle grade and young adult genres. (It used to be just MG & YA debuts, but I butted in.) They’ve started a kidlit blog, Twitter account, and picked out a spiffy superstition-spoofing logo designed by Wendy Martin.
For PiBoIdMo, I asked some of The Lucky 13s what being creative meant to them…
Rachele Alpine: Making, living and getting lost in a world that is one big game of make believe!
Elsie Chapman: For me, creativity is never a constant. Sometimes it takes a bit of work to get the words to come. Music always works—songs I already know and love and connect with certain memories, new ones that make me sit up and really listen. Amazing lyrics can recreate a moment or emotion that just make me want to write.
Emma Pass: For me, creativity means freedom; life in full colour instead of just black and white. Although writing is my main creative outlet, I also love to draw and play the piano, just for myself, and I can’t imagine a world where I couldn’t do those things (well, actually, I can… and it’s a very scary place!).
Kristen Kittscher: I like to remember that creativity isn’t some rare non-renewable resource that only a select few can access. We’re all imaginative, as long as we stay open-minded. For me, being creative means giving myself permission to be messy, make mistakes, and generate thousands of bad ideas for every clever one.
Jessica Young: I think creativity has to do with curiosity and playfulness—thinking “what if” and then trying it. For me that often means connecting elements or ideas in a new way, or following one small clue and discovering where it leads, but also taking the risk of it not working out, or leading somewhere I didn’t expect.
Liz Coley: I tap into my well of creativity by remaining open to outside courses of inspiration, especially NPR radio interviews and random discussions with strangers. Somehow these cross fertilize in the shower or car, when my mind can wander and free associate. Turning this into something written requires a foamy latter, a comfortable chair, and, seasonally, a fire. Sitting in a noisy Starbucks for four hours and blocking it all out works wonders as well.
Elisabeth Dahl: Creativity means letting your mind off-leash. In the case of writing, this can mean allowing your mind to root around for interesting associations. If you’re telling a story about a widow and you suddenly picture the Venus de Milo, ask yourself why. What’s the connection? Should the statue figure into your story somehow? The unconscious mind is so smart.
Sarah Skilton: Being creative means a fresh piece of blank notebook paper and no expectations, restrictions, or judgment. It means writing whatever happens to pop into my head, without any audience in mind, and without wondering what anyone else will think about it. Being creative means creating just for me, to mark a moment.
Jennifer McGowan: Being Creative to me means giving a dream life—putting ideas into action or thoughts into form. It’s not enough to imagine something; being creative actually involves ensuring that the product of one’s imagination becomes a tangible reality for all the world to see.
Nicole Maggi: Creativity is feeding my inner Artist and giving her an outlet. It doesn’t matter if that outlet is coloring in a coloring book or writing a story that no one else is going to read. My inner Artist doesn’t care about book contracts or bestseller lists or gallery shows. She just wants to dance.
Megan Shepherd: Lately I’ve come to see creativity as an alternate way of navigating the world. In school you learn skills like memorization, critical thinking, and how to provide the “correct” answer. But creating art means seeing the world through a different lens, where there are no rules or guidelines, and, in fact, stepping outside the normal lines of thought are essential. Creativity is both terrifying and freeing.
Steven dos Santos: Creativity is like a key to me that unlocks a mental door into worlds I can only dream about, or nightmares I dare not speak of. Being highly imaginative can be a powerful gift, as it allows me to breathe life into blank pages and hopefully fill them with enough emotion, mystery, adventure, suspense, humor, and horror, to spawn a visceral connection with people I’ve never met before.
Brandy Colbert: Creativity allows me to craft a bit of sense from the people, words, and ideas that float around in my head. It assures me that daydreaming is never a waste of time.
That kinda leaves me. If I knew the answer, I wouldn’t have asked the question!
But seriously folks, to me, being creative means being out on the fairway during a thunderstorm and raising your 9-iron to the clouds. Take risks. Go out and seek the lightning. Because it does strike, but only if you’re lucky*.
* Definition of lucky: when preparedness meets opportunity.
When I first discovered this challenge, I couldn’t imagine coming up with a book idea every day for a month. But something wonderful happened…my brain soon went into picture book mode and the ideas started flying.
I’ll admit, it was a little scary at first. Then an idea hit when I was showering. By the time I made it to my computer, it turned into one great idea and two possible companion books. Wahoo! Other ideas came to me while driving, walking my dog, and attempting to sleep. Some hit while reading stacks of picture books, checking out the list of 400+ Things That Kids Like and 79 Things Kids Don’t Like on Tara’s site, or watching children and animals. If I felt stuck, I’d force myself to type for five minutes without stopping. Then, I’d nix the thoughts too silly to use and play around with the others.
Sometimes, I could visualize the characters and potential plot arcs and jotted down the info in detail. Others were little more than a title and a short sentence or two. I’d love to say they were all incredible ideas…but I know some will never turn into manuscripts. I’m not even a tiny bit sad about those, because it feels wonderful to have so many ideas to choose from whenever I’m ready to dive into a new story!
After PiBoIdMo, I fleshed out the ideas. I was tempted to dig into my favorite ones, but decided to concentrate on existing picture book and novel manuscripts until May 1, when Paula Yoo’s National Picture Book Writing Week (NaPiBoWriWee) began. I was thrilled to complete eight shiny new drafts by the end of that challenge! They’re in various stages of revision now. PiBoIdMo definitely sparked ideas that are turning into gems.
I used to spend so much time revising manuscripts, I’d only write a couple new ones a year. This is fantastic motivation to keep the new ones coming. I hope you’ll all join in the PiBoIdMo fun!
Here are my top ten reasons why you should try PiBoIdMo:
- You’ll have at least 30 ideas to play around with by the end of November.
- This could lead to amazing new manuscripts and help you avoid Blank Page Syndrome the next time you want to start a new project.
- Challenges are a fun way to kick start your writing.
- It will help train your brain to look for ideas everywhere.
- Meet lots of friendly, supportive writers through Tara’s blog and the PiBoIdMo Facebook group.
- You’ll have cool PiBoIdMo participant and winner logos to display online.
- You can tell everyone you’re busy with a challenge and need help with laundry and chores (shh…they don’t need to know it won’t take up too much time every day).
- If you do receive some household help, use the extra time to come up with more ideas, flesh some out, or work on a manuscript.
- You could be a future PiBoIdMo Success Story! Keep your eyes open for a post full of great news about past participants. This challenge has sparked ideas that have led to agents, book contracts, and contest wins!
- If the above reasons aren’t enough to motivate you to join, you can win PRIZES…including critiques from authors and feedback from agents!
I’d like to hear what you love most about this fun challenge and any tips you have. For those of you taking the plunge for the first time, what are you looking forward to the most? You can also post any questions you have here or on the PiBoIdMo Facebook group.
If you think you’re too busy to tackle this challenge…I dare you to try it anyway. Last year, I wrote over 50,000 words of a novel for NaNoWriMo and completed PiBoIdMo with 38 ideas! Look back at all the writers who won the challenge in 2010. This year, you can be a winner, too. And Tara decided to give us two extra days, so you can start RIGHT NOW! Don’t forget to sign up here, so you’ll be able to win some amazing prizes. Then start a PiBoIdMo file or open a journal and go, go go! I know you can do it. 🙂
Mindy Alyse Weiss writes quirky picture books and humorous middle-grade novels.
She’s constantly inspired by her daughters, adventurous sock and stuffed animal munching puppy, and two stinky but adorable ferrets.
Two of her picture book manuscripts placed in the 2011 80th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition.
Visit her blog, Facebook, or Twitter to read more about her writing life, conference experiences, and writing tips.
Do you think you can meet the PiBoIdMo challenge and create 30 new picture book ideas in 30 days? Well then, sign-up for all the craziness!
Those who sign-up for Picture Book Idea Month will be eligible for prizes—and oh, are there prizes this year! Signed books, picture book critiques, original art by picture book illustrators, book jewelry, hand-made journals, vintage children’s books, and feedback from one of three literary agents. Plus more to come, including items from our PiBoIdMo Cafe Press shop, which will open on November 1. You’ll be able to get PiBoIdMo mugs, mouse pads, t-shirts and tote bags whose proceeds will support children’s book charities.
To sign-up this year, you must do three things:
1. Subscribe to this blog via email. (Handy-dandy button in the left column.) This way you won’t miss any of the amazing guest bloggers.
2. Leave your full name in the comments of this post. The form will ask for your email address. Please be sure to enter it so I can contact you if need be. (Your address won’t be published and I won’t use it for any other purpose.)
3. Display the official PiBoIdMo participant badge on your blog, website, or social network. (Right click to save to your computer.) Please include a link back to taralazar.wordpress.com so folks know where to join the challenge. And if you’re game, mention what a super job Bonnie Adamson did on the logos. (If you don’t have anywhere to display the banner, then skip this one.)
Optional:
4. Add a firefly Twibbon to your Twitter avatar.
5. Join the PiBoIdMo Facebook discussion group.
6. Repeat the pledge 10 times fast:
I do solemnly swear
that I will faithfully execute
the PiBoIdMo 30-ideas-in-30-days challenge,
and will, to the best of my ability,
parlay my ideas into
picture book manuscripts
throughout the year.
That’s it. You’re good to go! (Wish I were good to go. I’ve got a sick kid at home today!)
PiBoIdMo will kick-off with the first guest post on October 30 this year, so you’ll have two extra days to get in those 30 ideas! Sign-up will close on November 3rd, so you must be registered before then to qualify for prizes!
Just visit here daily for inspiration from the guest bloggers, then keep a notebook or computer file of your daily ideas. There’s no need to post your ideas online or send them to me. If you’d like, comment on the daily posts with a simple “Eureka!” Remember, your ideas are for your eyes only! At the end of the month, I’ll ask you to sign a pledge confirming you did create 30 ideas, and then I’ll pick prize winners from that bunch.
Thanks for joining! I hope you enjoy this year’s PiBoIdMo! As always, if you have any suggestions for this event, please contact me at tarawrites (at) yahoo (dot) you-know-the-rest.
And now I leave you with my favorite Roald Dahl quote from THE MINPINS. I believe it sums up my intent for PiBoIdMo quite nicely, like a good ol’ English chap would:
And above all,
watch with glittering eyes
the whole world around you
because the greatest secrets
are always hidden
in the most unlikely places.
Those who don’t believe in magic
will never find it.
PiBoIdMo fans! This little guy wants you to get ready! So he’s lighting the way for you. You’ll be seeing him a lot during November, thanks to talented illustrator Bonnie Adamson.
For all who have been patiently waiting, PiBoIdMo sign-up will commence on Monday, October 24th right here on this blog. You’ll be able to pick up badges and Twibbons and ensure that you will qualify for the prizes, including the grandest one of all—feedback from one of three literary agents.
Stay tuned!
(Well, it is!)
Children’s: Picture Book
THE MONSTORE author Tara Lazar’s I THOUGHT THIS WAS A BEAR BOOK, about an alien who falls into the wrong book and has to try to get back to his home planet, to Alyson Heller at Aladdin, by Ammi-Joan Paquette at Erin Murphy Literary Agency (NA).
This book is tentatively slated for release in Summer 2014. I hope I’m still alive by then! LOL!
Many thanks to all the friends who helped shape this book and to Joan for her perseverance!
See y’all soon for PiBoIdMo!
There are many things I wish I had known about writing picture books when I began pursuing my dream of becoming a published author. Word count. Page turns. Linear storytelling. Building tension. The “twist” ending. Instead, I had to learn these things through trial and error, attending industry conferences, reading books and blogs, and networking with professionals.
On November 6 in Madison, NJ, I’ll be sharing all I’ve learned to those who also have a dream of becoming a picture book author. Are you in the area? I’d love to see you!
So You Want To Be a Picture Book Author
November 6, 2011, 2-4pm
Sages Pages, Madison, NJ
Many people believe writing for the young is easy. After all, “they’re just kids!” But writing for children is one of the most difficult genres in publishing to break into.
Picture book author Tara Lazar (“The Monstore”, Aladdin/Simon & Schuster 2013) will teach you all the things she wished she knew when she began her career, from story length to page turns, how to leave room for illustrations and create irresistible, age-appropriate, relatable characters.
You’ll learn the little-known “rules” of kidlit (and that rules are made to be broken!), plus how to fine-tune your ideas into sellable manuscripts. Participants can even submit a first page of their children’s picture book or novel for an anonymous critique. Tara will answer your questions and help you form an action plan for breaking into the kidlit business armed with knowledge, inspiration and encouragement.
Visit The Writer’s Circle to sign up. Only $25 for 2 hours chock full of what took me years to learn!
Yes, it’s almost time for the 30-picture-book-ideas-in-30-days challenge, otherwise known as PiBoIdMo! The picture book writer’s alternative to NaNoWriMo will kick off the last week in October and continue through the month of November.
In late October you’ll be able to sign up, grab a badge for your blog and social networks, and get ready for some awesome prizes! There will be critiques from published authors, feedback from literary agents, original illustrations by picture book arists, signed books, jewelry, journals, and who knows what else! You’ll also be able to purchase PiBoIdMo merchandise with the proceeds benefitting book charities. So get those notebooks ready!
In the meantime, here’s a Halloween greeting. I hope to see you for PiBoIdMo soon!
Thanks for everyone’s patience while I reviewed the Picture Book Premise entries. There were some wonderful ideas and I had a difficult time choosing my favorite. In the end, it boiled down to my gut reaction.
And thus, I got a feeling of what it’s like to be an editor, inundated with multiple pitches, trying to decide which stories sounded the most appealing.
Most of my regular blog friends know that I’m a quirky, humorous writer, so it will surprise you to know the winning premise was NOT quirky or funny! (Hey, it surprised me, too!) I now understand why agents and writers don’t typically tell aspiring authors what they’re looking for. Instead they say, “I’ll know it when I see it.” If I advertised that I only wanted laugh-out-loud premises, I would have missed out on some unique ideas.
Before I tell you the winner (I know, I’m like an awards show cutting to commercial), I’d like to give everyone a few tips on how to write their premises.
Your premise is your pitch. If you have to write a query letter, it’s the whiz-bang-pow paragraph that gets the editor begging to see more. It’s also your 60-second elevator pitch. When you meet an editor or agent and they ask, “What do you write?”, it’s your chance to dazzle them and entice them to request the manuscript.
Your premise should read like jacket copy. Here’s the jacket copy from Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen’s THE HOG PRINCE:
“Eldon Hog is fed up with mud-swallowing and slop-gobbling. He and his friend, Petunia, watch the royal carriage pass by every morning, and Eldon dreams of becoming a princely passenger.
“So it seems that all of Eldon’s dreams have come true when Miranda, a somewhat frazzled fairy, tells him that if he can break the Hog Prince spell put upon him, he will transform into a prince. SMOOOOCHES abound as Eldon searches far and wide for that magical, spell-breaking kiss. He tricks the Cinder girl, Ella (Smoooch! Eek!); Lady Aurora, spinning gold (Smoooch! Yecchhh!); and all the ladies he can find. But is it possible that true love has been sitting under his snout all along?”
Now, that may be a tad big longish for jacket copy, but see how it ends in a question that begs for an answer? You’re left hanging until you open that book and read on.
Not everyone sent a premise that sounded like jacket copy. Some only gave me one sentence, which wasn’t enough to understand what the entire story was about. I couldn’t envision the character or their predicament fully.
Others wrote a little too much detail. Remember you’re pitching a picture book, so if your premise is wordy, an editor may assume that your manuscript is full of unnecessary words. Trim down your pitch; trim down your story’s word count.
Others sent me snippets from their story, but I wanted to see that you could tell me about the story without sending the manuscript. That’s what editors and agents will ask for in a query. If they ask for a query letter but you send the manuscript instead, it may be discarded for not following instructions. (To be fair, I didn’t say DON’T send the manuscript, but you get my gist.)
And now onto the winners!
First, the person who referred the most people to my blog was MONA PEASE! You have won a picture book critique, redeemable at any time, as long as I’m still alive! LOL!
Next, I’ll tell you a little about the premise I choose without giving away the farm. Actually, the two top finalists were what you would call “multicultural” stories. They both struck me as very unique, although the winner’s premise is based on an actual event with a Latin-American folklore feel. Without further ado, the winner of the critique is VALARIE GIOGAS for THE RAIN OF FISH!
Mona and Valarie, please email me at tarawrites dot yahoo dot you-know-the-rest to discuss the details of your prizes.
Thank you to everyone who entered. There were 33 entries, out of which I had “starred” 7 premises, which I think is a pretty darn good percentage of darn good ideas. Y’all are smart and talented writers! Keep writing! Keep dreaming! Keep inspiring! (And keep reading this blog! LOL!)
It’s summer, so let’s have some fun, shall we?
How about a contest?
Good. I thought you’d like that.
And this one is easy. You don’t have to send a manuscript. All you need to enter is a premise.
That’s right! A picture book premise.
Make it unique, make it funny, make it touching. In less than 100 words tell me your story’s premise. What’s the problem? What crazy situation has got your character all flummoxed? Imagine it’s your book’s jacket copy. What would you say to sell the audience on your book? You’ve only got a few seconds to capture someone’s attention, so make it snappy.
The best premise will win a free critique–and get this, you don’t even have to have the book written yet! Think of a great premise now, claim your critique later. I’ll honor the free critique for as long as you need (although it’s non-transferable and its cash value is 1/100th of a cent.)
There are three steps to enter:
- Subscribe to my blog via email if you haven’t already. (See handy button in the top left column of my blog.)
- Send your premise in the body of an email with the subject line “PB Premise Contest” to tarawrites at yahoo dot you-know-what. All entries must be received by Sunday, August 14th. (One entry per person, please. So make it your best.)
- Tell your friends. The person who refers the most people to my blog will also win a critique! (Just let me know in a comment below who you referred. I’m working on the honor system here.)
That’s all! So easy-peasy! I’ll announce the winners the week of August 15th.
One last thing–if your premise is anything like one of my current projects, I will notify you, just to let you know, I’m not taking anyone’s premise. I’ve got enough of my own begging me to write them!
Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) 