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Armed with a long knife, flint-lock musket, and his father’s medical bag, fifteen-year-old Lorenzo Bannister sets off to fulfill his father’s deathbed wish. Lorenzo joins a secret flathoat operation delivering much-needed medicine and gunpowder to George Washington’s army, leading the reader on a romping ride from the docks of New Orleans to the battlefields of the American Revolution. This action-packed historical novel for young people tells the story of Gibson’s Lambs and the Spaniards, forgotten heroes of the struggle for independence.

Wow! How’s that for an exciting plot?

If you’d like to learn how to plot YOUR novel, become a member of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club today, then join us Friday afternoon at 3:00 central time when Lila Guzman will use her book Lorenzo’s Secret Mission as the basis for this week’s teleclass for club members.

How do you plot a book? What methods can you use to organize your thoughts? When do you introduce characters? How do you avoid the sagging middle? How do you bring the book to a satisfying conclusion. What are the special problems in writing a sequel?

Lila will answer these questions, plus many more during this LIVE 55-minute teleclass.

Don’t miss out!

Join the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club right now and receive an email invitation to this fun and informative event, plus the study guide to use during the live teleclass on Friday!

The last week of every month is time for two events for members of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club.

First, it’s time to turn in the writing assignment for the month. And, second, it’s time to submit another manuscript for our monthly manuscript critique session.

If you’d like to learn how to write for children, or you just want to improve your current skills as a children’s writer, then join the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club today and take part in our monthly events, which include regular instructional teleseminars, informational tele-tips audio clips, book tele-discussions, and other resource materials just for children’s writers.

Find out more about the club HERE.

I don’t know about you, but I learn best when I can talk to other people about the subject I’m studying.

Many other people do, too, which is why I created the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club.

In addition to a listserv for members - where we can all email each other online any time we have something to discuss - we also have LIVE teleclasses several times a month.

Plus, LIVE critique sessions.

And, I also email short tele-tips (which are audio clips that offer tips about some aspect of children’s writing) to club members several times each month.

I find that sometimes it’s just much easier to help club members verbally that it is to write out everything in an email.

For example, I just created a tele-tip called Tips for Writing Nonfiction Articles for Children’s Magazines. Club members can listen to the tele-tips clip and they will also receive a tips sheet that includes the tips given in the audio clip.

But the overall purpose of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club is to help children’s writers get in the habit of submitting a marketable manuscript to children’s publishers at LEAST once a month - but preferably more often than that.

This month, club members are working on writing a rebus story for kids!

Come join the fun!

Find out more about club membership HERE.

Suzanne Lieurance
Coordinator, Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club

It’s always exciting when a member of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club gets a book contract, wins a contest, or has other great news to share.

This week, CWCC member Dorothy Massey’s short story was selected as the winning entry in the Funny Halloween Story Contest sponsored by Swimming Kangaroo.

Congratulations, Dorothy!

As the winner of the contest, Dorothy will receive a Spooky Book Set from Swimming Kangaroo containing The Dead Detective by Lorene Robbins, Evil Reflections by Larion Wills and Spectral Rewind: Class of ‘81 by Terry Lloyd Vinson. Winning stories will also be posted on the SK Website and announced in their newsletter.

Read Dorothy’s winning story HERE.

Visit Dorothy’s blog at http://www.kidsbooksuk.blogspot.com to find out more about Dorothy’s writing as well as other children’s book authors and children’s books in the UK.

by Suzanne Lieurance

It’s no secret that one of the best ways to break into the children’s magazine markets is with nonfiction. So follow these 6 tips to have the best chance of acceptance with your short articles for children:

1. Study the markets - Each children’s magazine is different, with a different style, voice, and variety of subject matter. Take time to study the markets you wish to submit to and you’ll know which ones are the most appropriate for the articles that you wish to write.

2. Study Past Issues - Besides studying current issues of each publication you wish to write for, look at several past issues of each publication. Make a list of the various nonfiction article titles in each issue to get a “feel” for the way various authors narrowed their focus for each topic they wrote about. One of the big mistakes most beginning children’s writers make with their nonfiction articles is that they don’t narrow the focus of the article enough. If you want to write about camels, for example, don’t propose an article that tells anything and everything about camels. Instead, focus on just ONE aspect about camels and develop your article around that.

3. Include subtopic headings when writing your article - These will break up your article into “chunks” which are easier for young readers to read. These subtopic headings will also “lead” the reader through your article. They will also make your article “look” more like nonfiction instead of fiction.

4. Give your topic an unusual slant that will appeal to kids and editors alike - When you do this, your article won’t sound so much like a textbook. And articles that sound too much like textbook material are NOT in big demand with magazine editors.

5. Consider topics that will relate to themed publications - Many children’s magazines have themes for each issue. And, even for publications that do not have themed issues, editors still look for topics that can be used for holiday issues as well as other seasonal issues. For example, most publications feature some sort of back-to-school articles in their August or September issues. In the summer months, these same publications tend to feature articles that give vacation tips or crafts ideas and games to keep kids occupied during the summer. So, be sure to include some of these types of article ideas in your queries.

6. Look for lesser known publications - Competition is fierce for Highlights, Spider, Cricket, and most of the very popular publications for children. You’ll automatically increase your chances for acceptance if you query publications that don’t receive so many queries.

Try these 6 tips and it shouldn’t take you long to start receiving acceptances from the children’s magazines that you query.

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For more tips about writing for children, join The Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club. During the month of November, lessons, teleclasses, and assignments are focused on writing nonfiction for children’s magazines.

Members of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club are in for a real treat this afternoon.

Children’s author Margot Finke will present a 55-minute teleclass called Writing a MG or YA Novel: Character or Plot Driven.

Join the CWCC right here now and you, too, will receive an email invitation to this fun and informative event!

For the entire month of September, members of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club will receive lessons and assignments (via email) designed to help them break into the children’s magazine markets with a short fictional story.

Last week, we covered the elements needed for a marketable story and club members started studying the magazine markets. This week, each club member will target a specific magazine to write for, then begin writing a short story for this market.

Club members will also have access to a LIVE teleclass with children’s author Margot Finke. The title of her presentation is Writing a MG or YA Masterpiece - Character or Plot Driven. The LIVE teleclass will take place Thursday, September 11, at 2:00 pacific time, but members will also receive a link to a recording of this teleclass just incase they are unable to attend the live class.

Members are also able to submit one complete picture book manuscript, one poem, or one chapter of a short chapter book, middle grade novel, or YA novel, for professional critique each week.

Join the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club and have fun as you learn all the tricks of the trade of writing for children.

Did you know that one of the main reasons short stories are rejected for children’s magazines is because writers tend to write what editors call “an incident” rather than a full-fledged story?

Join the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club in September and learn how to write children’s short fiction that editors will love.

CWCC members will have the chance to work on a short story during the month of September, have it critiqued, then do any necessary rewrites before submitting it to a children’s magazine. Members will also learn how to study the markets so everyone is submitting their stories to appropriate publications so they have the best chance of having their story accepted for publication.

Find out more about the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club here.

Wow! Tomorrow is September 1st.

That means today is the final day of our back-to-school special offer for the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club.

Join the club TODAY and you will receive a FREE CD called SHOW ME THE MONEY: WRITE BIOGRAPHIES FOR YOUNG READERS - with your first month’s paid membership.

Membership is the club is only $27.00 per month and through the club you will learn everything you need to know to become a published children’s writer.

Find out more about the club here and join today!

Every week, members of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club are invited to an informative and fun teleclass that helps them with some aspect of writing and publishing for children.

This week’s teleclass will take place Thursday evening, August 28, at 7:00 central time. The teleclass will be recorded and club members will be given a link to the recorded class in case they were unable to attend the live call.

Rita Milios will present this week’s teleclass. Here’s the scoop!

Query Letters and Cover Letters:What to Do and What Not to Do to Capture an Editor’s Interest

The query letter or cover letter that pitches an idea for an article or introduces your story to an editor represents your one and only chance to get your work read. If you can’t capture an editor’s attention with your letter, you will never get a chance to show her how great your manuscript really is.

Writing editorial correspondence is quite different from writing your article or story…or is it?

• How do you balance the need for correspondence etiquette and the need to show off your
unique personality and writing style?

• What do you need to include in a query letter? In a cover letter?

• What two things should you never include in a query or cover letter?

• What does a winning query letter or cover letter look like?

As author of more than 35 books for children, adults, teachers and counselors, plus numerous magazine and web articles, Rita Milios has mastered the art of writing successful cover and query letters. She will offer suggestions, tips and step-by-step templates for crafting both query letters and cover letters.

Join the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club HERE to receive an email invitation to this event and all monthly events for club members.

Tonight we have another special teleclass for members of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club. Children’s historical fantasy writer, Simon Rose will lead a 55-minute workshop about how to revise and edit your manuscript.

This teleclass will take place at 7:00 central time this evening. For an email invitation to this event - as well as links to all the recorded teleclasses for August - join the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club HERE.

If you’ve always wanted to learn the tricks to writing a marketable picture book, join The Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club right now so you can attend this afternoon’s teleclass with children’s author Margot Finke.

Margot will present a teleclass for members of the CWCC this afternoon at 4:00 central time (that’s 2:00 pacific, and 5:00 eastern) called:

WHEN WRITING PICTURE BOOKS, FOCUS AND STRUCTURE COUNT.

Club members are asked to complete a short writing exercise prior to the teleclass today.

Find out more about the CWCC and how you can join right now!

Enjoy this delightful trailer of Margot Finke’s newest picture book, Rattlesnake Jam.

Listen to Book Bites for Kids, LIVE this afternoon at 2:00 central time on blogtalkradio. Lila Guzman, an instructor for the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club, will talk about her upcoming teleclass for the club.

We’ll also discuss the way the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club works, and what every member gets for their monthly membership fee of only $27.00.

Call in during the LIVE show to ask a question or make a comment at 1-646-716-9239. You can also call if you have an upcoming book signing, writers’ conference, or other event to promote.

August is a busy month for members of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club. Just look at all the informative and fun teleclasses that are scheduled for this month.

Creating a Picture Book That Features a Main Character with a Problem to Solve
Thursday - August 14th - 4:00 Central Time
Instructor - Margot Finke

The Hero’s Journey - Part 3
Tuesday, August 19th - 7:00 Central Time
Instructor - Lila Guzman

The Importance of Editing and Revising Your Manuscript
Thursday - August 21st - 7:00 Central Time
Instructor - Simon Rose

Query Letters and Cover Letters: What to Do and What Not to Do to Capture an Editor’s Interest
Thursday - August 28th - 7:00 central time
Instructor - Rita Milios

In addition to these teleclasses, members of the club may submit one manuscript per week for professional critique.

All this for ONLY $27.00 per month!

Join the Club here!

This week’s teleclass for members of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club will be presented by children’s author Margot Finke.

Here’s the scoop:

Time: Thursday, May 29th, at 3 pm Pacific Time.

Title: To Rhyme or Not to Rhyme

What the Workshop Will Cover: Margot’s May teleclass deals with the tricky business of weaving story, meter and rhyme into a wonderful picture book.

Bring two sample verses, and she will help you smooth your meter, and add rhyming words that really work wonders.

Join the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club here and take part in this fun and informative teleclass Thursday afternoon.

It is possible to make a living writing for children. However, for most writers, this will not happen by publishing a picture book (or two or three), a middle grade or YA novel, and then sitting back to wait for the royalties to roll in.

To earn a living writing for children, most writers need to write many different types of work for various children’s mainstream and educational markets.

Thursday night, May 8, at 8:00 EST, children’s author Rita Milios will present this week’s teleclass for members of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club.

Milios will help club members get started writing for the various educational and testing markets that are constantly contracting new writers. This is more interesting work than you might think!

Find out more about the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club and join the club here.

Each week, members of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club enjoy a 55-minute LIVE teleclass presented by one of our instructors.

Each teleclass covers some aspect of writing for children.

This week’s teleclass will be presented by Rita Milios.

Here’s all the info. about the class:

What Does a Test Assessment Assignment Look Like?

If you’re considering writing test assessment “items” (reading passages and questions) for educational publishers, you won’t want to miss this class! Using an actual Sample Reading Test (with questions and answers) we will go through the test step-by-step and discuss:

• The reading passages—How do you (as the item writer) choose a passage topic?
What do you need to consider as you write?

• The test questions—How do you determine what kind of questions to ask?
Are there “standard” ways to write a test question?

• What common mistakes do new writers make?

Join Rita Milios, a twenty-five year veteran at test assessment writing, on Thursday, April 24, at 8 pm Eastern DAYLIGHT time for this interactive, informational class.

Be sure to get the Handout and, if possible, review it prior to the class.

To receive an email invitation to this event, join the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club today.

by Carma Dutra

Have you been wondering what your writing needs?

Are you talking to yourself… out loud?

Do you wonder what it would be like to talk to someone else about your writing?

Do you yearn for the passion of other writers?

If you answered Yes, you’re ready to join or create a writers’ critique group.

Critique members are supportive, critical, and attuned to the work and not the personality of an individual member. Also, they intend to publish their work.

You can find critique groups online through organizations such as the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Children’s Writers Coaching Club (CWCC) or you can form a person-to-person group where you live. If there is no writing group in your local area, check with bookstores and libraries. Create flyers; post them in coffee shops and bookstores. Network with local organizations.

Here are 10 tips for a successful critique group:

1. Find a group with similar goals and focus. Is your group open to all genres or is it specific? Memoir? Do people want to publish? Explore character? Having similar goals and a focus will create commitment and synergy.

2. Limit the number of members. Four or five is a good starting place. If one person leaves the group, replace him/her with a new writer. Fill empty spots by invitation and agreement by the group. This builds trust and respect in your group.

3. Establish a time and day that is suitable to everyone. For example, one evening every two weeks or a weekend day. Twice a month is usually better than weekly because it gives the writers a chance to write and edit in between meetings.

4. Establish a meeting place that works for everyone. Find a coffee shop or meeting space that can accommodate the size of your group or take turns meeting at members’ homes.

5. Create a deadline for submitting work to each other by email. This way, every member should have time to read the work before the critique session.

6. Critique the writing, not the writer. Find what works and what is good. Be objective, as if the writer is absent.

Example critique: “There is a POV shift in this section…I want to know more…perhaps another word would work better here…”

Get the picture? Give the writer time to explain unanswered questions.

7. When receiving critiques…sit back and take notes. Be quiet. Let the questions and comments fly. Don’t throw heavy objects. Also, don’t spend time defending your work or explaining why you wrote things the way you did. Your writing needs to work on its own, without explanations.

8. Critiques must have a time limit. Calculate the critique time based on the length of the meeting and numbers in the group. If you have a large group you can divide up critiques every two weeks.

9. Don’t socialize too much. Your purpose is to get feedback about your work. Be reasonable. You can get to know each other in many other ways.

10. Most importantly, respect confidentiality. Make an agreement with the whole group. Don’t steal ideas, and don’t talk about the work outside the group except in general terms if necessary.

Follow these tips and soon you’ll be enjoying the support and constructive feedback that a strong writers’ critique group can provide.

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Carma Dutra is a children’s writer. She offers author interviews, book reviews, writing tips, and other information for fellow children writers at her blog.

That is the challenge this week for members of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club.

Tonight at 7:00 central time, we’ll talk about their 100 stories (and other manuscripts members have submitted for critique this week) during our weekly manuscript critique telesession.

It’s easy to tell a story in 1,000 or more words. But it’s quite challenging to tell a complete story - with a beginning, a middle, and an end - in 100 words or less. Yet, this is often what publishers of easy readers are looking for, so we’re practicing that this week as part of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club.

Members of the club also have a teleclass tomorrow afternoon with children’s author Margot Finke. She’ll talk about writing winning query letters.

Join the club for only $27.00 per month and take part in these activities and many others this month.

This week’s teleclass for members of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club will take place Thursday night, April 3, at 8:00 central time.

Children’s author Lila Guzman will present Red Flags: Mistakes That Doom Your Manuscripts.

This teleclass was originally scheduled for last month, but we had some technical problems, so you’ve got another chance now to take part in this class.

Join the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club and receive an email invitation to this event. You’ll also receive a link to the recording of this event on Thursday, just in case you can’t make it to the LIVE class.

As a club member, you are invited to take part in FOUR 55-minute teleclasses about children’s writing every month, plus you have the opportunity to submit a manuscript for professional critique every week, and you can choose to complete a weekly assignment and have it reviewed as well.

Find out why members love the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club by listening to Book Bites for Kids, LIVE on blogtalkradio.com this Wednesday at 2:00 central time when members will call in to promote the club.

And, if you have something you’d like to promote on the show tomorrow, call 1-646-716-9239 between 2:00 and 2:15 central time tomorrow.

If you’re an aspiring children’s book author, you’ll want to take advantage of our new instructional CDs.

Each CD is 55-minutes of instruction about some aspect of writing for children.

Just click on any of the CDs pictured in the right sidebar of this page to get more information and to order.

Each month we’ll add 4 new CDs to the list.

If you’d rather receive links to these 55-minute sessions, so you can simply download the files to your own computer and listen to them instantly, join the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club and every month you’ll receive the links to all 4 recorded teleclasses for only $27.00 per month.

Many children’s writers earn a living writing educational materials. And here’s YOUR chance to learn how to break in to these lucrative markets.

Children’s author Rita Milios will present a special LIVE teleclass this Wednesday, March 26, at 9:00 A.M. Eastern time.

Become a member of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club and you’ll receive an email invitation to this special event, along with a link later to the recording of this teleclass called -

The Test Assessment / Item Writing Niche: What You Need to Break In

During this class you’ll:

• Learn about the vast test assessment and “item writing” niche and how it works today.

• Learn what changes are currently taking place within this industry niche and how they will affect your chances of landing a gig.

• Learn what you’ll need to know…and do.. to be the writer that editors call on again and again.

****************

Rita Milios, author and workshop presenter, is also a practicing psychotherapist, freelance editor and a former instructor for a national writing school. Rita has published more than thirty books, both fiction and non-fiction, for children, adults, teachers and counselors for publishers including Pearson, Harcourt, Rosen, Glencoe, McGraw-Hill and others. She also writes articles and educational supplements and test assessment materials for educational publishers focusing on science, social issues, language arts, health and character development.

Rita’s books for children include Anorexia and Bulimia, Discovering Positive Thinking, Sleeping and Dreaming. Many of Rita’s books appear on teacher recommendation lists.

Milios is a long-time member of SCBWI, the Association of Journalists and Authors and the National Speakers Association.

Did you realize that most stories written for very young children today are written from a single point of view?

If you’re having trouble finding a publisher for a picture book manuscript, and you’re switching viewpoints with every line, that’s probably one of the reasons your manuscript is being rejected.

Become a member of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club and learn all the “tricks of the trade” you need to know to become a successful, PUBLISHED children’s book author.

Why wait? Join the Club TODAY!

Join the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club and receive an email invitation to this week’s special teleclass.

Children’s author Margot Finke will present a 55-minute teleclass this Thursday at 4:00 central time.

The topic of the class will be - What Editors Look For On the First Page of Your Manuscript.

Both published and aspiring children’s book authors can benefit from Margot’s excellent teleclasses, which most always include handouts.

Join the club here today.

For only $27.00 per month you’ll have access to four 55-minute teleclasses every month.

Each teleclass covers some aspect of writing and publishing for children.

Tonight’s the night!

Children’s author Lila Guzman will present a special teleclass for members of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club called “Avoiding Red Flags”!

Learn how to avoid the most common mistakes in your manuscript that send up red flags to editors!

The teleclass starts at 7:00 central time and will last for 55 minutes.

Members are invited to attend this LIVE teleclass, but the teleclass will also be recorded and members will receive a link to the recording tomorrow.

Join the club here!

Come on. You know you want to!