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If you haven’t visited the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club, we invite you to visit the site for our club at www.cwcoachingclub.com, where you’ll find information about our weekly teleclasses, the instructors who present our teleclasses, as well as some helpful articles about writing for children.

The National Writing for Children Center and the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club were both mentioned in the March/April 2010 issue of The WRITERS’ Journal in a feature article written by children’s author and member of the CWCC, Donna M. McDine.

Congratulations, Donna, on a wonderful publication credit and an informative article for those interested in writing for children.

Overwhelmed with all the information out there for writing for children?

Not sure how to weed out the essentials?

Look no further!

Visit the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club (CWCC) today and learn how to set your weekly marketing plan in place (you may refer to this as your “To Do List”). Coupled with weekly tele-classes and monthly assignments you will soon see your writing career moving in a positive direction.

The guidance and support at the CWCC has been instrumental in the success of my writing career. My first story book, due to be released Spring/Summer 2010 by Guardian Angel Publishing, is a direct result of an assignment through the CWCC. And my most recent news, by attending one of the tele-classes I received direct information about a work-for-hire opportunity, I took the plunge, submitted my information, and was hired within 14-days!

Writing can be a lonely business, but with the expert coaching from Suzanne Lieurance and camaraderie of the CWCC members you will no longer feel adrift in a sea of jumbled words.”

Donna M. McDine
Member, Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club
Children’s Author

Read Why Terri Forehand Enjoys Membership in the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club!

from Terri Forehand

I can’t really say enough about The Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club and Suzanne Lieurance’s mentoring. I gained so much knowledge from her bootcamp and then I have continued to stay in the club for the constant support and encouragement it offers. I have obtained paid writing assignments from publishers like Mometrix Media and Kaplan as a direct result of the information and skills that I have learned from being a club member. I continue to get repeat assignments from these publishers on an ongoing basis including writing health exam questions for National Certifications in Nursing. It is so rewarding to get paid for what I love to do, write. 
 
The Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club also teaches the skills needed for creating a blog, writing a marketing plan on a weekly basis, and learning critique and editing skills. Sharing my marketing plan with the club members makes me accountable for my writing career and encourages me to work harder and write more. I can’t thank Suzanne enough and the others for the positive feedback I get and for being honest when I need to seriously revise some of my work. The weekly critiques help get my writing focused and makes the material more polished for submission to appropriate publishers.
 
Because of being a club member, I now have two manuscripts for children ready for submission. I am working on a third story for children and have started to introduce my main character on my blogs. These blogs would not be possible if I had not gained this information from bootcamp and being a club member. I have a blog for new writers at http://terri-forehand.blogspot.com and a blog for parents and children who are dealing with serious health issues including terminal illness at http://heartfeltwords4kids.blogspot.com.  I even have two websites I am working on and a mailing list of followers, all a result of what I have learned at The Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club.
 
Anyone who wants to write for children would benefit from becoming a club member. We learn, we write, we support each other, and most of all we have fun doing what we love thanks to being an active club member. I encourage all of your readers to join us as soon as possible to gain everything the club has to offer. It has been a huge impact on my writing career and has opened so many exciting doors to publishing.

by Karen Cioffi

I write for young children and I also write marketing and health articles. Writing in multiple genres, I can tell you that writing for children can be much more challenging. When writing for children, there are guidelines to keep in mind to help your story avoid the editor’s trash pile.

Writing for children involves specific rules and appropriate story lines geared to each specific age group. Each age group even has its own vocabulary: Is the word “smuggle” appropriate for a 2nd grader? There is just so much that goes into writing for children and the question becomes how do you learn all the rules, tricks and answers. Well, there are a number of ways to learn and hone your children’s writing skills, but the most efficient and expedient is to find an experienced coach.

I’ve only been writing seriously for publication for about two years. And, I admit I had it all wrong at the beginning. While I am still learning, I’ve come quite a ways. I’ve come so far that I recently got a contract for one of my children’s books with 4RV Publishing.

So, how did I learn the children’s writing ropes enough to land a contract?
The answer’s simple, through the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club (CWCC). I joined Suzanne Lieurance’s club when I first became serious about writing for children. I can say without hesitation and with all honesty, Suzanne helped me get that contract. Her guidance, tips, knowledge, advice, lessons, teleclasses, and weekly critiques of my work all helped me to hone my craft.

What’s amazing about the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club – CWCC – is that membership is only $27 per month. It is probably the best outright bargain online. That’s less than a dollar a day!

And, I praise the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club (CWCC), only for what it’s helped me accomplish, but for what each and every member in the club has accomplished. I can’t be certain, but I think every club member has become published through either books or articles. That’s an amazing track record!

Suzanne Lieurance knows her business and has an innate ability to impart her knowledge to others. She’s a great coach, instructor, and motivator.
To add to this, along with Suzanne’s excellent coaching skills, the members of this group are all amazingly giving and helpful—this all makes for a dependable and proven path leading to publication.

But, if this isn’t enough, the CWCC also guides you through creating and maintaining visibility and marketing your work. We had one teleclass on creating a video so we could all learn to make book trailers for our published books!

So, if you’re serious about writing for children, don’t procrastinate, jump on board. It’s an investment in your future!

Join the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club today.

Karen Cioffi, Author, Freelance Writer, Reviewer

Thanks so much for taking part in our Children’s Writer’s Blog Chain this week. We hope you’ve enjoyed visiting all the fun and informative blogs that were links on the chain.

Today, to end the chain, we’re giving away 1 month’s FREE membership in the Children’s Writer’s Coaching Club (a $27.00 value) to one lucky winner who would like to sample our club and receive all the club benefits for one month. To register, simply leave a comment here today.

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There are all sorts of markets out there for your holiday and seasonal articles, but how do you find them? And how do you know which market to send your holiday or seasonal articles and stories to?

Find out the answers to these questions - and much MORE - during this week’s teleclass from the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club. Nancy I. Sanders will talk about Writing for the Holiday and Seasonal Markets tomorrow, Thursday, December 3, 2009, at noon CST.

To register for this special teleclass go to www.getrealresources.com. If you can’t attend the LIVE class, don’t worry. On Friday, you’ll receive a link to the recording of this special event.

Every week, the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club sponsors a special teleclass that covers some aspect of writing and publishing for children.

For just $5.97, you get to attend the LIVE teleclass, where you can ask questions, make comments, and interact with the instructor and the other participants.

This week’s teleclass takes place Thursday, September 17th, at 8:00 p.m. CDT and will be presented by children’s author Simon Rose. He’ll talk about how children’s authors can plan, promote, and present successful school visits.

To find out more about this teleclass, and to register, click here now!

If you’ve been struggling to sell your rhyming stories, chances are you need a bit of help with your rhyme, so you won’t want to miss this upcoming fun and informative teleclass with children’s author Margot Finke.

We’re so incredibly lucky to have Margot on the faculty of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club! When it comes to rhyme, Margot’s the ultimate expert. Visit her site at www.margotfinke.com and take a look at all the published rhyming picture books and stories she’s written!

Margot’s LIVE teleclass, Writing Rhyming Stories for Young Readers, will take place on Thursday, August 13th at 1:00 PDT. As a sneak peek, here are Margot’s Three Rules for Writing Rhyming Stories:

#1 - a great story that gets to the point FAST - the rule of 3 is golden!
#2 - rhyming words that enhance the story, and fit into the plot perfectly.
#3 - a smooth meter that is repeated in every verse

Receive an email invitation to this LIVE teleclass presented by Margot Finke when you join the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club.

NOTE: The class will be recorded. As a member of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club you’ll be sent a link where you can download the recording and enjoy it at any time!

This week’s teleclass for members of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club will take place on Thursday, July 2, 2009, at 3:00 CDT. This LIVE teleclass will also be recorded so any coaching club members who cannot attend the live call can listen to the recording any time.

This week’s teleclass is called The Pros and Cons of Talking Animals in Picture Books. We’ll discuss when and why it’s a good idea to create talking animals in stories for young children. We’ll also take a look at some popular picture books that feature talking animals as characters and learn the elements that make these stories “work.”

Join the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club today and you’ll receive an email invitation to this event. On Friday, you’ll receive the links to the recording of the class.

Find out more about the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club HERE!

“We got another questionnnnnnnnn!”

“Who is it for this time?”

“It’s for Alanna-sama.”

“Hey Hoshi, what’s up?”

“We got a question on my super-neat Jessie’s Letters page! It’s from ‘Letter writer person’ and they said Alanna-sama, it says in the story time and again, and even in your profile that you’re very confident. How did you become so confident?’”

“Heh. It helps when you’ve got that mace and whistle and you’re in charge of the whole band.”

“Well, I wasn’t always in charge. I had to try out for Second Drum Major. I got a lot of encouragement from my friends in band though. When I was a freshman, I was the only girl in the bass line, but the rest of the guys in my section were always rooting for me. . .”

“What’s the matter Alanna-sama?”

“She gets kind of emotional about the Drum Major tryouts. That was the year I was a freshman and I remember the day she did her parade routine.”

“My whole section showed up in full uniform with their instruments for my tryout. . . and they stood at attention along the route I did my parade routine on. It was the first and only time that the bass line has ever done that at a Drum Major tryout. It was the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me in band. I was so proud to be a sousaphone player that day. The day I got the call that I had been promoted to Second Drum Major, all seventeen of the other sousaphone players called me to congratulate me.”

“The bass line is a unique group.”

“They gave me a lot of encouragement and helped me even when I made mistakes. They taught me how to build confidence in others and that’s how I learned to take things one step at a time and not to let temporary failures depress me. By teaching confidence, I learned to be confident myself.”

“They helped her learn how to march a brass sousaphone in parades. That takes confidence by itself.”

“Word. Those things are like silly huge.”

“My section taught me I could accomplish whatever I decided I wanted to accomplish. That’s something we want everyone in the Tree Shores Band to learn.”

“We all want to learn to be as confident as you, Alanna-sama! If you have a question or a comment you can e-mail meeeeee at my Jessie’s Letters page and maybe I can get one of my best friends to help me answer your question! Ja!”