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by Laura Purdie Salas
Congratulations on completing PiBoIdMo!
This activity generates such a feeling of abundance. Ideas everywhere! Some of these ideas have great promise, and some of them…don’t.
Photo: Daniel Plazanet (Daplaza)
I characterize ideas as pebbles or seeds. Pebbles are hard and immutable. They might be shiny, or pretty, or just dusty. But whatever they are, they’re rocks. They aren’t going to grow into something different.
Photo: Mrmariokartguy
But seeds…oh, seeds! Some look like pebbles. They seem hard and small and nondescript at first. But if you nurture them with questions, and time, and creativity, the seed ideas can grow into more—like a picture book.
So, how do I sort them out? I ask questions. I play around with answers. I try to be honest, even when I don’t want to. Here are some of the things I ask:
One premise from my PiBoIdMo list this year is: “I Won’t Come Down: Rhyming pb from pov of a kitten stuck in a tree. With a refrain? Who tries to get me down? Kid climbs up, but I climb higher. Fire truck? Where’s the fire? Need a personality for the kitten. Is she witty and clever? Scared to death? Sassy?”
1) Who is my main character?
Does my idea or premise suggest a particular character? Does she fit the situation perfectly? Or totally clash with it? In this case, as I re-read the idea, I know my main character kitten HAS to be a witty, clever girl. She appears to be stuck in the tree, but she’s really perfectly happy up there.
2) What is the conflict?
Easy-peasy. Everybody assumes she wants to get down, but she doesn’t. Sometimes the conflict isn’t obvious. Another of my ideas is about a pet cloud. Just an idea—but I don’t have a clue what the conflict would be (yet).
3) Does it make me ask more questions?
A good idea expands. It makes me want to explore possibilities. My treed kitten does that for me.
4) Has it been done a million times?
Uniqueness is key in publishing picture books. I’ve had manuscripts turned down recently that editors said they loved but that were “too similar” to books already published—even though the similarity is broad at most. In this tight market, publishers don’t want two “pet books” or whatever. I start on Amazon. I find 27 picture books including the words “kitten” and “tree” published over the past 25 years. Dang. That doesn’t mean any of them have the same premise, but I’ll need to do further research.
5) Can I see the book in my mind?
Picture books, of course, need pictures. Does my idea make me immediately visualize tons of images?
6) Is it a seed that will grow a short story instead of a picture book?
It can take years of reading to absorb the intrinsic difference between the two forms. Illo potential is part of it, but there’s more. If your idea depends on a twist/joke ending, it’s likely to be a short story. (The ending of a picture book should be surprising and satisfying, but not a joke/punchline.) If you can picture one great illo for it, but not 14, it’s a short story. If it involves complex plot points and many details, it’s a short story.
7) Does it stand up to repeti
Congratulations to Alice Schertle, whose wonderful Button Up! Wrinkled Rhymes was one of the winners in the K-3 category of the 2010 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People. I blogged about Button Up! here and it's such a terrific poetry collection. And Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School, by me, was named an Honor Book! Woohoo! Congratulations to all the Winners and Honor Books. You can see the complete listing here.
And while I was Googling for that listing, I also came across an official listing of the 2011 Beehive Award Nominees from the Children's Literature Association of Utah. And Fuzzy-Fast Blur: Poems About Pets is on that list. Yay! I'd seen unofficial news on a blog, but this is the first official list I've seen. I'll be signing that book at one or both of my Capstone signings at ALA later this month.
Congratulations to all the Winners, Honor Books, and Nominees. For me, I know, it's really exciting to be included on any list. Hey, if it's one of the 10 books this summer that your kid doesn't spit on, drop me a line and I'll tell the world. It is so fun to know someone besides your family likes your book:>)
And happy end of the school year to all the kids, including mine, who are celebrating today!
The Poetry Friday Roundup today is at Kelly Polark (who has the most beautiful smile in the kidlitosphere). Head on over to read some fabulous poems!
There's a new e-newsletter in town, the 4:00 Book Hook!
Each month, the free Book Hook will recommend children's books, from preschool through young adult titles. You can read all about it and learn how to subscribe here. The newsletter targets people who share books with kids--teachers, librarians, parents, grandparents, etc. Sound like anyone you know? Me too!
A group of talented kids' writers are providing the reviews, and Kristy Dempsey (whom you might know from Me With You) wrote a terrific review of my poetry book Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School. She said, in part:
"In each of the schools I visited this year to present poetry workshops with K – 5th students, STAMPEDE was hands-down the winner in kid appeal. . .If you’re looking for a book to assist students in learning about metaphor, simile, personification and other figurative language, STAMPEDE! will have your kids in stitches and itching to practice writing some poetry of their own."
How cool is that? Thanks, Kristy, for the fun review and for sharing Stampede on your school visits!
It's the last day of National Poetry Month, and I've had a great time browsing through some of my favorite poetry books to share excerpts with you throughout the month. Since I've been on the road a lot, I haven't really done any blog reading lately, so for me, May will be my month of discovering new poems and poets on other people's blogs. Meanwhile, I'm going to close the month with one of my own poems. (Ack--Is that awful?) I want to share one of my favorites from Stampede (Clarion, 2009, illustrated by Steven Salerno).
Nesting
I'm one quiet fox.
My desk is my den,
with quizzes, smooth rocks, and
a note from a friend.
I tuck deep inside
the hollowed-out wood
to make me feel safe when I'm
not understood.
--Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved |  |
Mary Ann at Great Kid Books has the Poetry Friday Roundup today. Go drink in all the poetry goodness!
I've gotta say, I'm glad March is almost over. I made a commitment at the beginning of the month to publicize my heart out about Stampede's status as a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award. And the fact that people can vote online for it for the Readers' Choice part of the award.
And I have. I've emailed. I've Statused. I've posted.
And it's all exhausting and uncomfortable. Asking for votes is like asking strangers for money. I just have a hard time doing it. Whenver I help out with a conference or event, the one task I refuse to take on is getting door prizes. Call companies and ask them to donate something? No way. This month has been like that--times one hundred.
So tomorrow, Wednesday, is the very last day people can vote for one book for the Readers' Choice Award. Only one book out of the 32 finalists (both adult and children's) will win, so my chances are pretty dang small. Still, I've done my best. Thank you, all you you who kindly voted for Stampede. I really appreciate both your votes and your encouragement!
And after today, I won't bother you any more about it!
Meanwhile, if you haven't already voted, you can vote here (or by clicking the aqua banner below). If you're not familiar with Stampede, you can visit stampedebook.com to see a taste of the art and poems in it, or you can click on various stuff (book trailer, etc.) in this blog's sidebar.
Thanks again!
.
About a month ago, I was shocked to find out that Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School had been named a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award. Woohoo!
This month, the Friends of the St. Paul Library are taking votes for the Readers' Choice portion of the award, where readers vote for one book from all 8 categories (so one book out of all 32 finalists, including kids' and adults' books). I'm a little uncomfortable begging for votes, but...what the heck...I'm begging for your vote:>) I've psyched myself up to do anything I can to help Stampede receive a little notice and maybe boost its sales a bit (which are, um, let's just say on the low side). |  |
So, if you've read and liked Stampede, or if you go to my Stampede website and enjoy what you see/read there, would you be willing to go
vote for Stampede in the Readers' Choice part of the Minnesota Book Awards?Thanks!
 | If you're looking for a Christmas, Hanukkah, or any other kind of gift for a kid who's in kindergarten through third grade, I hope you'll consider an autographed book. One of my favorite blogs, Shrinking Violet Promotions, is starting a list of authors who will send a signed bookplate if you contact them and tell them you've bought their book as a gift for someone.
I was a kid who loved to read but never realized real people wrote books. How cool it would have been to have received a book signed TO ME from the person who actually wrote it!
I give autographed books (not mine--other people's books that I love) often for Christmas and birthday gifts. It's a great way to support art, reading, and fun. |
Here are the two bookplates I have available. If you buy Stampede (at your local independent bookstore, or order through Amazon or bn.com), just shoot me an email by going to my website and clicking on Contact. Let me know where you bought the book, who you want it signed to, and where to send the bookplate label.
Happy shopping, no matter which books you buy! |  |
This week, I'm on the road both online and in person.
I'm Kids' Author of the Week at GRAND online magazine, a magazine for grandparents. This cool feature introduces kids' writers and their books to grandparents who enjoy sharing books with their grandkids, and it's fun to be there with Stampede!
And in real life, I'm off on a writing retreat after lunch today. I'll be with three writing group members on a retreat to a lake home in northern Minnesota. I'll be back Wednesday afternoon, so it's not a long retreat. But it's a welcome bit of breathing space in this hectic fall. Hiking, writing, quiet time, chatting...I can't wait.
So I'll be out the next couple of days, but I'll be back Thursday for 15 Words or Less poems!
 | Why was I at my library recently, hunched down in the magazine area, surreptitiously taking pictures of a magazine spread out on the floor? Because Steven Salerno's art from Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School is on the cover of this month's Book Links, and I have a poem inside with Sylvia Vardell's (of the wonderful Poetry for Children blog) Everyday Poetry column!
I knew the issue was out because I had gotten some congratulations from people, but I hadn't seen it myself. So I trotted down to my library and borrowed their issue for 5 minutes. It was so fun to see Steven Salerno's bold, colorful art on the cover!
And then I got to see a poem of mine with the Everyday Poetry column!
And in between was a lovely surprise courtesy of Clarion!
I know I'm getting carried away with the exclamation points, but I'm telling you, this was awfully exciting stuff for me!
|
Click
here or on the image above to see my five-picture photo album, including the surprise and a link to which poem was originally going to be featured.
Happy Monday:>) And tomorrow, I promise I'll be featuring someone
else's book that I love!
One of the promo materials I created for STAMPEDE! POEMS TO CELEBRATE THE WILD SIDE OF SCHOOL was a book trailer. (See the Bubble Stampede index to find all the posts Fiona Bayrock and I did about book trailers.) Way back when, my publicist at Clarion mentioned that they had had a meeting about online marketing and were planning to start submitting stuff like this to Amazon, which was going to start posting auxilliary material on book pages. I sent her the file and kept my fingers crossed. Nothing happened. (Not like they had any other books to promote at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, right?)
Then in early August, I came across a book trailer video on some other book's book page, and I thought how cool it was. So I sent a brief email to my publicist asking if there was anything I could do to help get my video online. I acknowledged that all her energy was likely now focused on the fall list and beyond and gave her a link to the sample I had seen.
She quickly replied that they were trying to streamline the way their company submits materials to Amazon, and that she'd try to make it happen within the week. It took a couple of weeks and some tweaking (by my husband) of the video, including the file format, the resolution, and the removal of the url of the third party site where I created the video. But HMH/Clarion submitted the video to Amazon, who approved the material, and now my book trailer is live on STAMPEDE's Amazon book page. Cool!
If you've created any kind of multimedia teaser for your book, ask your publisher about submitting it to Amazon. Apparently, the material has to come from a publisher, not the individual author. Anyway, it's just one more way to catch the eye of someone who's browsing books, and it's one more place to put the book trailer that you create but wonder if anyone's going to see!
Marketing. It seems to be my buzzword for 2009. I've spent a lot of time this past year promoting my book, Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School, which came out in April from Clarion. If you're wondering how it went and looking for tips on how you might promote your own book, you can check out this marketing interview I did with the wonderful Becky Levine. And you might even win a copy of Stampede! Thanks, Becky!
Early in National Poetry Month, I shared how much I love Tracie Vaughn Zimmer's new collection, Steady Hands. Now, here's another collection of career poetry, taking a slightly younger, sillier (for the most part) look at the world of work.
That's right. It's J. Patrick Lewis with a new poetry collection called Underwear Salesman: And Other Jobs for Better or Verse (illustrated by Serge Bloch). What a fun bunch of poems! Here are two of my favorites.
First, from the lighter side:
Bathroom Attendant
Toilet's spiffy,
Sink's a shrine,
Mirrors sparkle,
Floors all shine.
I treat you
Like a VIP.
You treat me
With a T-I-P.
--J. Patrick Lewis, all rights reserved
|  |
And from the more lyrical side:
Mapmaker
I climb up a mountain by fine fountain pen.
I float down a Nile of ink.
I crisscross three countries, six cities and spend
A while on an isle to think.
I brush in the valleys and sweep in the sands,
I shadow blue oceans, green seas.
I'm the very particular painter of lands
Who measures the world...by degrees.--J. Patrick Lewis, all rights reserved
Aren't those fantastic?
Now, two other quick poetry-related announcements:
1) Today is the final day to sign your school up for a FREE event with poet David L. Harrison (
he of the terrifc Pirates collection!). Participating classes/schools will use videoconferencing tools or watch by live webstreaming for this April 28 event. Go
here for all the details! What a fantastic free opportunity!
2)
I'm featured today in the Poetry-Makers series at The Miss Rumphius Effect. Whee! Please check it out if you have a chance (but don't watch the video!) and leave a comment if you have time. I don't want Tricia to think all her hard work is unappreciated!
The
Poetry Friday Roundup today is at Lisa Chellman's Under the Covers. Grab a flashlight, crawl under, and enjoy!
The worst came first.
A couple of weeks ago, I did my first two in-person events for Stampede. First up was a dual storytime of Animal Antics with Dara Dokas, author of the brand new Muriel's Red Sweater. We were at a local zoo--a big zoo, one that I know has had author events in the past. But the event was a total flop. Why? Well, here are just a few lowlights:
* The gift shop didn't order our books (though that was part of the agreement). We were tersely notified of this a couple of weeks before and were told we couldn't sell our books, either. Gee, thanks.
* We were there as part of a huge zoo event, and our storytime was clearly not worth any preparation. There was no signage whatsoever, and we were shoved into a very loud, crowded room of kids doing crafts and parents talking on cell phones and calling to their kids across the room. When the one softspoken zoo volunteer announced our storytime to the room, she encouraged people to keep crafting--but didn't ask them to be quiet at all! Of course, half the people probably didn't even hear her.
* A few kids did come over to listen, but they couldn't hear over the din in the room. Dara and I had to practically shout in their faces (never a good tactic for storytime!) for them to hear our poems/books.
* The atmosphere was so rowdy, the few kids who did participate started accosting the Muriel puppet. Poor duck had her beak yanked every which way!
* We didn't even pull out our animal-related activities afterward. No point.
* After our first presentation (yep, we had two), we had time for a quick lunch. We stood in line at the snack shack for 20 minutes--the zoo was mobbed.
* Basically, there was no one there who cared about the storytime besides us. And the situation made it impossible to create a lively, engaging presentation.
Boy, was that demoralizing. It felt like a total waste of time. It wasn't so much because we sold no books, but it felt like we didn't connect with anyone, kid or adult. We were just part of the din.
During the second reading, we moved out to a barn, which was slightly quieter.
The next day was a solo event for me at Micawber's Books. An event organized by the same Dara Dokas, who works at Micawber's. It was the polar opposite.
* The event had been advertised and promoted with signage, emails, and personal invitations from Dara.
* Someone was there to greet me, give me some water, and make sure I had what I needed.
* It was a GORGEOUS spring Minnesota day, and everyone was outside. So few people showed up. BUT, the people who did could hear every word I said.
* Books had been stocked, and I was available to sign books after the reading (and 4 or 5 books sold, which surprised me since there were so few people there).
* Afterward, kids did animal activities, like How far can you jump? and What's your wingspan? Dara helped me set up the props before storytime.
Most important of all, I felt like I connected. There were only a handful of people there, but I got to say hi to each one of them. I didn't have to shout in their faces!
At the zoo, we shared our books in a room with 30 or 40 kids. In Micawber's, I only had 3 or 4 kids. But the Micawber's event (and other bookstore events we've done since then) was so much better! It was so much more about sharing books we love rather than being about adding one more free "entertainment" option to a chaotic event.
Here I am at Micawber's Books in St. Paul.
We have another zoo event (at a different zoo) and lots more library and bookstore storytimes, and I guess they'll run the gamut. I was surprised at how poorly run the zoo event was (not necessarily the bigger event we were part of--I have no idea how that went, but our specific part in it), and hopefully none of our other events will live down to that!
If you want to see a few more pix from both events, click here and then click on the picture to move forward through the album.
What's your storytime from hell story? Care to share?
Hey, everyone. Happy Easter!
My Blog Meander (see sidebar) is picking up speed! Today, Bruce Black at Wordswimmer ("Come dive into a sea of words and swim toward a new understanding of the writing process.") has written a lovely interview with me. I really enjoy his posts where he talks with writers about their writing process, and I'm grateful to be part of that. Thanks, Bruce! It was actually pretty interesting for me to analyze my own process a bit and have to say something about it!
Thank you to everyone who came to my book party yesterday to celebrate the launch of Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School. I can't tell you how relieved I was to see you there.
I had this vague, unsettling image in mind of Mary Richards (main character of the Mary Tyler Moore show from the 70s) nervously pacing her apartment, throwing yet another terrible party.
Thankfully, you guys showed up, and I wasn't left feeling like a virtual fool.
More than 300 of you came by the launch--some of you several times. You came from all over the United States, as well as from Perth, Australia; Barcelona, Spain; Wassenaar, Netherlands; and Bathgate in the U.K. I'm honored you traveled so far! 72 of you signed my guestbook, and I'll be printing out numbers and doing the random drawing today for door prizes.
You watched videos, played games, and chatted with me. Some of you went back home and told other people to come check it out. You said nice things in your comments and guestbook entries, and I felt like a star for the day.
Thank you!
P.S. All the activities will remain live on the ning for the time being. The only changes will be that live chat will be disabled, and the door prizes will have been already distributed. But feel free to drop by and Spot the Differences or leave a poem or whatever you like!
Um, in case I haven't already told you this 3 or 4 hundred times, I have a book coming out Monday! That's right! Stampede: Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School will come out Monday, April 6 (and I hope you'll come to my online launch party at www.stampede.ning.com.
I've been doing a ton of promotional work to try to help give this picture book a chance at survival, but the one online avenue I haven't really walked down is the blog tour. However, several wonderful bloggers offered to interview me throughout the month, and a few others are featuring or reviewing the book itself. So, today begins my Official Blog Meander! That's right. It's not a Tour. It's too casual for that. But it's a Meander, a pleasant stroll throughout poetry month on some of my favorite blogs!
Deb Marshall has an interview with me up at Celebrate Story. She asked some great questions, and I tried not to be boring. And if you leave a comment, you're entered in the drawing to win a copy of Stampede!
Also, in a surprise (to me) post, Jama Rattigan at Alphabet Soup is featuring Stampede! for her Friday Feast: Soup of the Day Special Edition!
I am so honored and grateful to you both, Deb and Jama. And also to those of you who take the time to stop by and take a peak.
Thanks!
Last week while I was on retreat, I discovered my book cover is up on the Clarion site and Amazon. Yea! I had seen the image for it, but not with the text and design completed. I love it!
By:
Sondra Santos LaBrie,
on 12/20/2007
Blog:
Happy Healthy Hip Parenting
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Wonderful advice on how to grow my ideas into picture books. Thanks, Laura! And congrats on your new book!
Thanks for some thoughtful ideas about getting our little idea seeds to germinate. Love the idea of even putting the rocks to work!
Love the pebbles border. *smiling* Great questions and super analogy with the pebbles and the seeds. I have a picture book about a cat stuck in our tree. It is a true story. Not rhyming though. Now for the fun part. Actually writing these stories.
Great information, I am printing this off as a reminder when I am going back through my ideas.Pebble or Seed, that is the question?
Ah, but pebbles…. you crack them open and maybe there’s a glint of pyrite or a brachiopod or …..
Being a gardener, however, I tend to think in terms of germinating ideas and nurturing stories. Thanks for the images.
Helpful, thank you.
Wonderful post, Laura!
Most of my ideas are pebbles. But one of them turned out to be a real deal seed.
I am going to print this post and keep it on my desk as I go through my ideas. Very helpful!
You have to find a lot of pebbles before you find a seed –
Thank you for the practical advice on how to tell if your idea will take root, Laura–I especially liked your short-story-or-picture-book test: most helpful!
Thank you Laura this is great advice. I’m sure out of a month’s worth of ideas there has to be some seeds mixed in with some pebbles.
Thanks for all the thoughts about how to work with our ideas. Hoping for some seeds!
Love the post. This is a bit scary, for me, but I like writing pet books and I had a kitten stuck in a tree on my idea list. Now what? If I do it now I will feel like I stole an idea.
Has this ever happened to anyone else, and if so, what did you do?
Thanks, Laura. I’ll use these ideas to test my seeds. It’s great to have this continued encouragement after birthing PB ideas for a month! I’m looking forward to reading your new book.