Picture Book writers of the world, listen up!
The single best resource that I know of for picture book writers is — for a very limited time — accepting new registrations.
12 x 12 is a year-long writing challenge, where members aim to write 12 complete picture book drafts, one per month, for each 12 months of the year, with advice, encouragement and submission opportunities along the way. Created by author Julie Hedlund, 12 x 12 is now in its fourth phenomenally successful year, and provides all the motivation, support, and accountability you need to help you write, submit and get published.
Imagine a 24/7 writing community where, if you have a question, you can receive answers almost instantly from a network of over 750 authors. Imagine having curated resources for planning, writing, revising, submitting, and promoting picture books at your fingertips, every day. Imagine a picture book playground where you can meet other writers & illustrators, talk shop with people who “get” you, give/receive feedback on your manuscripts & queries, form critique groups, and tap into an endless supply of inspiration. This is 12 x 12.
But it’s ONLY for picture book authors – and registration is ONLY open in January and February, so don’t wait.
Here’s my personal affiliate link to get more info:
http://emmasfavorites.com/12X12in2015
To your success!
I’m a bit behind with my update, but now that the girls are back to school hopefully things will get back to normal around here. I should be upset I didn’t write a single word last month. I should be bummed that this is the second month in a row that I didn’t meet my 12 x 1 2 goal. Honestly, though, I’m not brokenhearted over it. Here’s what I did accomplish in August:
- I edited a previously written middle grade book and submitted it for consideration to my publisher.
- I submitted a previously written picture book to an agent. (Got rejected
).
- I’ve juggled two editing projects for clients.
- I’ve managed two book tours for the past couple of months and have two in October and two in November I’m planning.
- I’m working on setting up blog tours for my books: Little Shepherd by Cheryl Malandrinos and A Christmas Kindness by C.C. Gevry.
This all happened in between planning and teaching vacation Bible school, keeping all my blogs regularly updated (six total), my bi-monthly contributions to the Christian Children’s Authors Blog, cheerleading camp, back-to-school shopping, and the normal everyday craziness of our house. So, while 12 x 12 suffered, I still feel I’ve accomplished a lot. I’m scheduled to work on Flag Day Fiasco—Students discover the school’s flag is missing and must try to find it before their annual Flag Day celebration kicks off—this month. I’m not sure I’ll get to it, but I hope I do. It’s one of my favorite ideas.
Hope you enjoy your weekend.
It’s the last day of April, which means another chance to pat myself on the back for meeting a writing goal. As a 12 x 12 participant, I am writing 12 books over 12 months. I’m pleased to announce that I made great progress this month. In March, I didn’t quite finish Crabby Cathy, so that story was the one I worked on first. Though I had been very discouraged about writing in general through part of the month, after much prayer and some great encouragement, I completed Cathy’s story. I’ll see what my critique group thinks of it.
Next, I moved on to a story that is tentatively titled, The Other Sister’s Story. This is the Cinderella story from one of the stepsister’s perspectives. I’ve seen a book written from the stepmother’s point of view - http://www.amazon.com/Seriously-Cinderella-Annoying-Wicked-Stepmother/dp/1404870482/ – but not one of the sisters. The first challenge was that I didn’t know if the sisters had names in any of the stories other than the Disney movie version. This was truly a departure from my usual message type book. This one is just meant to entertain. It’s something I’ve never done before and that makes me a bit nervous. What was encouraging, however, is how much my girls liked it. They haven’t read the entire story, yet–I typed “The End” last night–but I’m going to share it with them today and see what they think. This is by far my favorite story and I already have an agent in mind to which I would like to submit it.
For May, I am working on another untitled story that is a departure from my regular work. It is the story of an ingenious turkey who comes up with unique and funny ways to avoid being part of Thanksgiving dinner. This one should be a blast.
I can't believe how busy things have been, but I've been making incredible progress on my MG and PB. I love finding ways to dig deeper into my manuscripts, and I also love the extra push that challenges give me.
I've been a member of From The Mixed-Up Files...of Middle-Grade Authors since our group started, and am thrilled with the impact our blog has had. It's wonderful helping to introduce new and beloved older novels to middle-grade lovers. My must-read stack is always overflowing with incredible books! If you write MG and love middle-grade books as much as I do, I hope you'll apply for one of the available spots. Here's the link. Hurry, because the deadline is tomorrow!
I'm thrilled that the 12 x 12 Picture Book Challenge has inspired me to try to write one new manuscript a month in 2012. For the past several years, I've always participated in Paula Yoo's NaPiBoWriWee (National Picture Book Writing Week) which inspires participants to write 7 new picture book drafts in 7 days, from May 1st - 7th. I love that challenge, and am going to do my best to tackle that along with the 12 x 12...while revising a middle grade novel. Not easy...but definitely worth the extra effort. I love having brand new manuscripts to mold into shape. So...who is going to take the NaPiBoWriWee challenge with me? There's a wonderful and supportive Facebook group for it. Let me know if you want me to add you, and we'll cheer each other on.
I've had less writing time than usual though, because we recently adopted a puppy. Ruby is a beagle and pointer mix who was one of over 100 dogs rescued from the Everglades. We weren't looking for another dog, but couldn't resist this adorable face! I'll fill you in on how we ended up finding her another time. I need to finish up more of my MG revision and get ready for NaPiBoWriWee!
Here's a photo of Ruby (who was 11 pounds when we adopted her) and our 2 1/2 year old, 90 pound Bullmassador, Lolly. It's amazing how much these two love each other already. We're so glad they both found their way into our family and hearts.
The Art of Friendship in Children’s Picture Books
I really enjoyed this workshop at the FL SCBWI Conference in Miami led by Tamar Brazis, the Editorial Director of Abrams Books for Young Readers and Amulet Books. She has focused on picture books and middle-grade fiction for the past seven years, and has worked on the New York Times bestselling Jellybeans series by Laura Numeroff, Me, Frida illustrated by David Diaz, City I Love by beloved children’s poet Lee Bennett Hopkins, and Peter Nimble and his Fantastic Eyes, a debut novel by Jonathan Auxier.
She loves comforting picture books, and ones that she has a strong emotional reaction to. Her favorite book is Frog and Toad. She also shared other friendship stories that she loves, and I can see why they resonated with her (and me). One of my favorites is Waddles, by David McPhail. It's such a sweet book filled with 'aw' moments and it brought tears to my eyes by the end. I also had a huge emotional reaction to Making a Friend by Alison McGhee, and enjoyed City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems, and The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell (which gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling by the second to last line...and the very last line was a wonderful surprise).
A couple of the stories she shared with us were framed by seasons, which worked really well. She told us that friendship stories can be between two children, a child and a stuffed animal, or two objects like a sock and a mitten (I never heard of Smitten before, but I can’t wait to read it).
Tamar spoke about creating dynamics of relationships in a very human way. She gave us a great exercise to help create memorable characters. Really think about a friendship you had when you were younger, and write down all the details. I LOVE this exercise! Not only does did it tap into great details I can use in my manuscripts, but I can see how it could spark great new picture book ideas. Besides using it to flesh out existing manuscripts and the new ones I’m writing for the 12 x 12 Challenge, I’ll definitely use it during the next PiBoIdMo.
She also did a great second exercise, and explained a third right before the time was up. I can’t give out all of Tamar’s secrets though—so definitely take her picture book workshop if you have a chance! It was full of information and inspiration, and many of us left with ideas or scenes we'd like to use in future picture book manuscripts.
It was great taking the picture book workshop with Nancy Viau. I met her for a few minutes at Rutgers in 2005, and have been online friends with her for years. I loved having a chance to see her again and have her sign my copy of Samantha Hansen Has Rocks in Her Head, which Tamar Brazis edited…and Nancy also has a picture book coming out with her in the spring of 2013 entitled I Can Do It!
*If you're looking for more awesome picture book info, check out
I’m exhausted. You make me feel so lazy. Best of luck with your submission. Now, take it easy once in a while.
Sounds to me like you’ve accomplished A LOT, even if you weren’t able to do the 12 x 12. You should congratulate yourself and celebrate, Cheryl.
Thanks ladies. I appreciate your support.