The Hub for Just Kids' Lit
Today is the last interview with Shelly Unwin in which we look at some of the ‘nuts and bolts’ of her steps to her publishing dream. They include practical advice for anyone who is interested in getting published. The things that impress me loud and clear from your story, Shelly are: although these books are […]
9. Illustrate I know I could illustrate a book if I chose to! Confidence for this comes from understanding that everyone can draw. Everyone. It is a universal skill and it is learnt. Those who are amazing illustrators do one thing I don’t – practice, practice, practice. For this reason alone, I now outsource and […]
The children’s writing world is full of opportunities for you to experiment and practice the craft of writing – to ‘sharpen the pencil’ as I wrote about last month (here). It helps, firstly, if you have a way to find out about the opportunities. Being linked in to the writing community is imperative. Writer’s centres, […]
8. Design You are on your road to being a published author, and the best way of processing your ‘to do’ list from this point on is to think like a publisher. Determine in advance how you wish your book to present in the market place. Is it just an eBook on Amazon? Is it […]
To begin my journey towards becoming a published picture book author, I became an avid (perhaps compulsive) reader of the genre. Yes, it has definitely helped having two young daughters around as an excuse for my weekly loitering in the kids’ section of the library. Anyway, I also began writing formal reviews around 18 months […]
Last month, I talked about keeping track of your income. It’s now time to look at your expenses. The expenses you have may vary depending on whether you are self-publishing or are traditionally published. In general, your expenses could include: Workshops and conferences Editing and manuscript assessment Equipment such as computer purchases Professional support – […]
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!
6. Edit There is no way around this. By now, you have completely fallen in love with what you have created. (I was so tempted to write, ‘as you would a child’ and you can’t see the blemishes – but I don’t really want the possible feedback about psychology 101!) Every time a family member […]
Many times, I’ve been told the writing game is an emotional roller coaster ride. Ups, downs, hill climbs, racing downhill, loop-the-loops… From my experiences, I’m more inclined to match it to The Giant Drop; one of Dreamworld’s ‘Big 9 Thrill Rides’, particularly the vulnerability of submitting manuscripts to publishers. Note: If The Giant Drop is unfamiliar […]
Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you can. But three times in the past month someone has asked me if I can help them fix the formatting in a blog post they cut and pasted from MS Word. “It was perfect in Word,” my friend insisted. “Now on my blog, it doesn’t look like my other posts. I […]
