Are You Listening?

As the nonfiction editor for a children's magazine, I like to help writers get their work published.  But some submissions need a little editing before I send an acceptance.  I encourage writers to revise and then to re-submit. 

Most of the time, contributors are willing to edit their work.  Once however, a writer got a little huffy upon reading my suggestion.  I had asked her to reformat her manuscript as specified in our guidelines.  She wrote back to say that it was my job, not hers to make that edit.  Needless to say, her submission was not published.  Pity, it would have taken her less than five minutes to make that revision.  I wasn’t asking her to do anything unreasonable.  All publications expect writers to follow the submission guidelines. 

In a Writer’s Digest interview, genre-bending bestseller James Lee Burke encourages writers to listen to what an editor or publisher has to say.  He said:  “They’ve done it lots of times and usually even if you disagree, if you will listen, you show respect for the person who is trying to help you and you learn that there is at least an element of viability in what you’re being told.”  

I agree with Burke.  It all comes down to two words—listen and respect.  That’s how you learn.  That's how you improve as a writer.  That’s what it takes to see your work published. 

James Lee Burke couldn’t have said it any better.

A Letter from the Editor

Dear Children's Writer,

Thank you for your submission.  I think your article has potential, but before I can consider it for publication, it needs a few edits.  Here are some reminders:

1. Spell out abbreviations.

2. Watch out for homonyms (for example: a horseman is a lone rider, not a loan rider).
3. Capitalize proper nouns (check The Chicago Manual of Style when in doubt).
4. Put movie titles, book titles, and scientific names of animals in italics.
5. Avoid fancy dialogue tags (he/she snorted, grimaced, etc.) Use: he/she said.
6. Make your writing lively and kid-friendly.  
7. Format the bibliography correctly.
8. Use apostrophes correctly (for example: plural possessive is cats’; singular is cat’s).

You’ve taken time to research and write your manuscript.  Now take the time to edit it.  Put your work on the back burner for a few days and then read it again with fresh eyes.  Revise your work.  Now, have a trusted friend read your manuscript.  Have an expert check your facts.  Edit again if necessary.  Remember: researching, good writing, and revising are all part of the submission process.

Send your work back to me with the subject line reading: Revision, nonfiction, title, and age group. I appreciate your hard work and look forward to reading your revision.  Please allow several weeks before checking on the status of your manuscript.   

Cordially,

Randi Lynn Mrvos
Nonfiction Editor

Mind Over Matter Books

Mind Over Matter (M.O.M.) Books are geared towards preschoolers to help them learn how to be resilient. Life comes at us fast and children have to be prepared with the right tools to face the challenges, adversity and obstacles that may become a part of their life. BELIEVE is the first of five books emphasizing the important factors for resiliency. In this book children will learn to BELIEVE in their possibilities!

Kasey  Kellem guest blogs today and shares the message behind her Mind Over Matter books: 

In my first book Believe, children will learn to use the Mind Over Matter techinque of BELIEVING they can overcome anything! Through whimsical illustrations and simple wording children are given ideas of what to believe in life. The goal is to have children believe they can overcome any obstacle, challenge, or adversity they face. From this book, children will hopefully learn to believe in their potential and believe in themselves.   

The best part about my book is that it was created in a unique and creative way that allows it to stand on its own and serve as a decoration on a shelf or a desk. This allows for the child to be constantly reminded to "Believe" just like I am reminded in my home and office with the wooden motivational words that say "Believe," "Love," "Relax," and "Dream." 

Another bonus of the book is that hidden on each page is a caterpillar who also illustrates how to believe. This makes the book interactive for young children as they search for the caterpillar and see how he believes! Finally, included in each book is a page of simple parental advice on how to help children to believe in themselves.

As a school and a former special education teacher, I have always been intrigued by childrens' resiliency skills. My Mind Over Matter books help teach young children the fundamental of being resilient. Through much research and a few college degrees, I've learned that the characteristics of resilient people include the ability:

To BELIEVE they will get through the circumstance

To realize that people LOVE them

To LAUGH at the funny things in life

To RELAX and make time for themselves

To have a DREAM or goals in life 

My mission in life is to help children to be prepared for all that life is going to offer them. I hope my book Believe gives children one tool to use when facing any challenge or adversity. The additional books, Love, Laugh, Relax, and Dream will offer the same kind of supportive message and purpose.

Get a sneak peek of the book BELIEVE and listen to an interview with Kasey Crawford Kellem at http://youtu.be/L_PPnSHXzzY

About the Author: Kasey Crawford Kellem, a School Counselor and former Special Education Teacher, has devoted her life to helping children face adversity.  Kasey created Mind Over Matter (M.O.M.) books to teach children skills to overcome life’s challenges. She has earned a Bachelor’s Degree and Masters Degree in Special Education and an Educational Specialist Degree in Counseling. She is a devoted wife, stepmother, sister, daughter and counselor.

You can find out more about Kasey Crawford Kellem’s World of Ink Author/Book Tour schedule at http://storiesforchildrenpublishing.com/KaseyKellem.aspx. There will be giveaways, reviews, interviews, guest posts and more. Make sure to stop by and interact with Kellem and the hosts at the different stops by leaving comments and/or questions. You will be entered into the main the Book Giveaway each time.

In addition, come listen on February 20, 2012 to Blog Talk Radio’s World of Ink Network show: Stories for Children at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/worldofinknetwork. The hosts VS Grenier and Irene Roth will be chatting with Kasey Crawford Kellem about her M.O.M Books, writing, helping children to be resilient and her experiences. The show airs live February 20, 2012 at 2pm EST. You can listen/call in at (714) 242-5259.(Note: if you can’t make the show, you can listen on demand at the same link.)

To learn more about the World of Ink Tours visit: http://worldofinknetwork.blogspot.com

To purchase any of Kasey Crawford Kellem’s books, visit Halo Publishing: www.halopublishing.com

Unbelievable

photo by James Bowe

Maggie and the First Grade Blues is the not the first picture book story that I’ve ever written.  There have been several others.  I am very proud of those stories and many have won awards.  One of the stories, When Sheep Won’t Leap, was written in rhyme.  This picture book manuscript was critiqued by an editor at Dial Books for Young People following an Editor’s Day conference.  One of her suggestions:  make sure that the rhymes are spot on.

After revising it accordingly, I submitted it to many publishers.  But as the rejections rolled in, I finally decided to shelve it.  This piece was going nowhere.  No one was interested in it; no one would ever read it.  Then many months later, I learned about a poetry contest sponsored by the Institute of Children's Literature (ICL).  This respectable establishment offered a poetry contest.  I thought about my rhyming picture book.  Maybe, just maybe it might be worth editing again for this contest. 

The guidelines stated that the word count should be less than 300 words.  That meant a few stanzas needed to be omitted.  But this threw off the rhyming scheme, so I referred to a synonym dictionary (once more) to make sure I had perfect rhymes.  After several revisions, I thought it was complete.  Then I asked myself:  would this entry stand out above the others?  That’s when I took a critical look at the stanzas.  The lines were ordinary.  Nothing special.  I needed to create a unique look.  So, I started toying with the shape of words and found that I could illustrate action by using different sized fonts and by arranging letter placement. Afterward, the poem took on a new life.  A reader could envision the movements of Ella and her sheep. 

Regardless of the outcome of the contest, I was proud of this story.  I put it out of my mind until the the unbelievable happened.  Three months later, two emails, and one contest winner.  When Sheep Won’t Leap won first place.  This month, an interview and my rhyming story appears in the ICL newsletter, The Children’s Writer. 

This is what I learned from the experience. 

Never give up.  

Edit, edit, edit. 

Continue to showcase your work.

Make your work unique. 

Believe in yourself.   

I never would have guessed that my story would be read by others. Now, thousands of people will read it and learn how the story came about.   I’m leaping with joy, just like Ella’s sheep!

Hope Marston's Inspiration

Author Hope Marston reveals her many sources of inspiration:  

I was inspired to become a writer by my mother, an inveterate reader. My interest grew when my oldest sibling, who also read voraciously, gave me my first two books. Further nourishment came when the county bookmobile visited the country school that I attended. That book buffet, served up by the driver, created an appetite for more. I decided right then that someday I would write a book.

In high school I volunteered as a student library aide. When I wanted to read a book that our library didn’t own, I sneaked down town on my lunch hour to the public library. I went off to college with very limited funds. I worked my way through four years of undergraduate studies doing most every campus job available. I enjoyed being a library aide most.

About forty years ago I began taking writing courses by correspondence. One of the instructors encouraged me to find a local outlet for my writing. I became a “stringer” for the Lewiston (ME) Daily Sun. My first stand-alone publication was a child’s daily devotional booklet published by Child Evangelism Fellowship.

While I was studying with the Institute of Children’s Literature, my husband and I moved to New York State. When I became a school librarian, my junior high students asked for books about trucking careers. Trucks, Trucking and You was written for them (1978). That book spawned eight more books about big machines.

My Little Book Series introduces children to nature. The first title was inspired by a line drawing I saw in an Animal Rehab Newsletter. My Little Book of Bald Eagles is the eighth one.

Against the Tide: The Valor of Margaret Wilson features Margaret Wilson. Margaret lived in 17^th century Scotland and died for her beliefs which conflicted with King Charles II. I “met” Margaret when I was proofing a manuscript for a publishing house.

My husband learned about an eleven-year musher named Aisling Shepherd, when he was reading the online daily newspaper from back home. I worked with Aisling to tell her inspirational story of courage and resolve. Eye on the Iditarod: Aisling’s Quest was released this past December.

Where do I get my inspiration? From other readers, writers, and interesting people whom I meet when I read.

 

About the Author: Hope Irvin Marston is a member of the New York State Retired Teachers, the Greater Thousand Islands Literacy Council, the Jeff-Lewis Librarians Association, and the Adirondack Center for Writing, the St. Lawrence County Arts Council, the North Country Arts Council and SCBWI. She organized the Black River Valley Writers Club and served as its leader for several years.

           
In addition to writing thirty-two children’s books and several adult titles, Hope has been on staff for Christian Writers Conferences at Hephzibah Heights (MA), Montrose Bible Conference (PA) and at St. Davids Christian Writers Conference at Beaver Falls, PA. She has taught creative writing workshops at Jefferson Community College, the Jefferson-Lewis Teacher Center and the North Country Arts Council.

Her picture book series, MY LITTLE BOOK COLLECTION (Windward), has grown to eight titles thus far and has 125,000 books in print.

You can find out more about Hope Irvin Marston’s World of Ink Author/Book Tour schedule at http://storiesforchildrenpublishing.com/HopeIrvinMarston.aspx. There will be giveaways, reviews, interviews, guest posts and more. Make sure to stop by and interact with Marston and the hosts at the different stops by leaving comments and/or questions. For each comment, you will be entered into the big Giveaway at the end of the tour.

 In addition, come listen on February 6, 2012 to Blog Talk Radio’s World of Ink Network show: Stories for Children at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/worldofinknetwork. The hosts VS Grenier and Irene Roth will be chatting with Hope Irvin Marston about her books, writing, the publishing industry and experiences. The show will air live February 6, 2012 at 2pm EST. You can listen/call in at (714) 242-5259. (Note: if you can’t make the show, you can listen on demand at the same link.)

 To learn more about the World of Ink Tours visit: http://worldofinknetwork.blogspot.com  

Picture Book Craft Intensive Webinar

Earlier this month, I discovered that Writer's Digest was sponsoring an intriguing online workshop.   Literary agent Mary Kole would be giving an hour and a half webinar.  The fee also included a critique of one picture book.  What an opportunity—I immediately registered.

A week later, I sat in front of my computer with the speakers turned on waiting for the session to begin.  Moments later Mary introduced herself and dove into her discussion.  She started by explaining  the word count for picture books.  She said that most picture books are well under 1000 words—700 words is good, 500 is even better.  She stressed the importance and the performance of page turns.  Next, Mary offered the audience some tips in writing an irresistible query letter:  make the editor care, describe what the main character wants most, and touch on the action that launches the story.  

Before the webinar ended, Mary read an assortment of picture books.  Here, I learned what makes a great story.  I also learned about the kinds of stories that touch Mary's heart.  It was amazing listening to her reaction to words.  I could just imagine her smiling.  

I loved this webinar and would suggest that you consider registering for one too, should you find one that meets your needs.  Taking the webinar forced me to take a critical look at one of my favorite picture book manuscripts.  Just when I thought it was ready to be submitted to publishers, I felt that I had to make my page turns more compelling.  I also had to reduce the word count.  And so, I edited the manuscript accordingly.

Several weeks later, I submitted it to Mary for a critique.  I'll have to wait patiently (90 days).  She has over 300 critiques to read.   But when she gets to mine, I'm hoping that this story, the characters, and the concept will touch Mary's heart.  I am hoping it will make her smile.

Uplifting Young Learners

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Molly Nero discusses the inspiration behind her book:

Teaching children of elementary age has been my life, so it makes sense that Smarty Pig is set in that environment.  Teaching 4th grade awakened my love of writing.  As I encouraged and nurtured my students in their own writing, my own abilities were strengthened.  Being critiqued by ten year-olds was very humbling, but allowed me to make sure that I was relating to them as my audience.  

Moving from the classroom to the music room brought changes not only to my teaching, but to my relationship to my students who ranged from kindergarteners to 5^th graders now.

I was never your “typical” music teacher.   I would start class with everyone dancing along to the beat of an “Alvin and the Chipmunks” song with arms flailing and feet jumping.  Flinging music papers across the room to pass them out was another way to allow my students to escape from the structured classroom into my spontaneous music room.  Every child wore smiles from ear to ear. I worked hard to create a classroom where kids could talk to me about their frustrations concerning different things, and that has given voice to my writing.

During the state testing schedule, students would arrive for music absolutely drained and despondent. The idea for Smarty Pig came from hearing students express their growing apathy toward school after several days of taking these tests.  Testing was taking over the creativity and joy of learning.   As the years passed, I heard this from younger and younger students. 

My object in Smarty Pig is to uplift our youngest learners early in their academic life to see the value and fun in learning.  She gives learning a purpose in the lives of her family, making it important and relevant.  Other Smarty Pig stories will be dealing with more situations and frustrations that young students deal with like test-taking anxiety and bullying.  What was my inspiration for Smarty Pig?  The students that I have been blessed to teach for so many years.  They are my inspiration. 

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Book Lovers Blog Hop:

Make friends, share the love of reading and be entered to win a FREE book!

All you have to do is post the Book Lovers Blog Hop and World of Ink Tour Banners below to your blog. Promote the Book Lovers Hop and the January '12 World of Ink Tour on any social network. Tweet it once a day, share on Facebook and then follow others back that leave you a comment. By joining the Book Lovers Blog Hop, you are automatically entered in our Book Giveaway!

What is a blog hop?
A blog hop is a link list that is SHARED ON MULTIPLE BLOGS. When several blogs put the same link list code on their blog, the exact same list appears on each blog.

Blog visitors can submit their entries on any blog that contains the list. The entries will appear on each blog where the list resides.

Blog readers see the same list on each blog, and can "HOP" from blog to blog seeing the same list of links to follow: BLOG HOP!

There will be three (3) winners and each will get a different book in the Book Giveaway.

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Book Giveaway Rules:

· Join the Book Lovers Blog Hop. (One entry)
· Follow the World of Ink Tour and leave a comment per tour blog stop.
Make sure to include your safe email so we can contact you if you are the winner.
Example: vsgrenier AT storiesforchildrenpublishing DOT com. (One bonus entry per blog stop)
· Ask a question per World of Ink Tour blog stop. (One bonus entry per tour blog stop)

Please play nice and follow our simple rules! Make sure to FOLLOW AT LEAST ONE PERSON and as many other blogs as you'd like to have more follow back. This is what makes Book Lovers Blog Hop work, so if you're not willing to follow, please don't link up.

Remember to leave a comment on the blogs you follow to let them know you found them here at FAMILIES MATTER, and if someone follows you, be sure to follow back. If you follow us and leave a comment, we'll definitely follow you too!

Book Lovers Blog Hop is Open…

January 2, 2012 at 12am MST and closes January 31, 2012 at 11pm MST!