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Drawing Book Illustrators’ are hoping to help the flood victims

Reading about the recent flood disasters in Queensland and the consequent loss of loved ones, homes, businesses and many loved possessions its hard to think of a way to help. One way the Drawing Book Studios hopes to help is by donating the money raised from print sales over the next fortnight. It’s a small gesture but we hope it raises some additional funds to help with the victim’s recovery.

(via The Drawing Book)

Seen here is Daydream by Craig Phillips. The whole planet is having a rough ride lately. Help if you can, or pass the word along. 

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I just wanted to extend a hello to our new readers, many of whom I had the pleasure of meeting at ALA in San Diego earlier this week. As always, if you have suggestions, questions, ideas about/for OUPblog, I more than welcome them. You can email me at blog[at]oup[dot]com. And now, I present the Friday links…

Incredible footage of the flooding in Australia [White Light Bringer] – Related: You can donate to Queensland flood relief here.

LOOK AT THESE CAVE PHOTOS! [National Geographic]

Baby learns to just say ‘no’ [via]

Orchestra fail [YouTube audio only]

This child dances better than we ever will [YouTube]

Falling books bookshelf [via]

Some amazing basketball skillz [Dunking Devils]

An interesting question about the death penalty [GOOD]

And from The Next Web, the answer to the question you’ve all been asking…

The Illustration Friday word for the week is “burning”. Ok, this is a bit of a stretch, but it sort of works, eh?

I’m heading to the SCBWI L.A. Illustrator’s Day tomorrow and this is what I entered for the illustration contest they are having. We were asked to illustrate something for the following sentence:

“It was night, and the rain fell; and falling, it was rain, but, having fallen, it was…”

So I thought … a flood. A flooded zoo to be exact. I know, always with the stretching I am.

Anyway, wish me luck!

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By Sharon Zukin

The world’s biggest cities often spawn disaster scenarios—those end-of-the-world, escape-from-New-York exaggerations of urban dystopia.  Once limited to printed texts and paintings, visions of urban apocalypse have become ever more accessible in newspaper photographs, movies and video games.  They form a collective urban imaginary, shaping the dark side of local identity and civic pride.

New York is especially attractive as a site of imagined disaster.  Maybe it’s payback for the city’s hubris and chutzpah, or perhaps there’s something in the American character that yearns for and fears creative destruction.  If there is a general hunger for destruction stories, it is fed by the knowledge that the cities we build are vulnerable.  The terrorists’ attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001 brought this point home to Americans, renewing dormant anxiety about nuclear war and environmental disaster.

But what if the city’s built environment suffers from slow erosion rather than a single cataclysm like Hurricane Katrina?  Can we visualize the slow creep of problems as well as we imagine the sudden onset of disaster and summon the will to change course?

“Rising Currents,” a recent exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, pitted five teams of architects, engineers and urban designers against a gradual but dramatic rise in sea level resulting from global climate change.  The challenge: to retrofit the city’s waterfront to survive and prosper after a new Flood.

Cities have a troubled history with water.  From building walls around wells in ancient deserts to colonizing rivers for the expansion of trade, human settlements have worn down maritime nature with a steady ooze of cement.  Building dams in the West of the United States,  India and China, crowding cities near the Danube River in Eastern Europe, throwing landfill into Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor as well as into New York Bay: all of these have reduced water resources to serve human needs.

Global cities, those capitals of capital, are the biggest offenders.  As one of the architectural teams engaged in the MoMA exhibition points out, two piers built for oil depots on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River are each two miles long—as long as the Twin Towers of the old World Trade Center were high.

What’s most impressive about a rising water level is the sense that nature is taking back from the human world.  And what’s most impressive about the architectural projects in “Rising Currents” is the sensibility that human survival depends on adaptation rather than pacification.

There are good ideas here.  The keywords are conservation, production and conversion:  creating a transportation network of ferry boats rather than cars and buses, developing oyster beds off the Brooklyn shore, reshaping fuel depots to use less land.  But how can a city government—one whose modest plans for renovating parkland are constantly plagued by cost overruns and delays—undertake these projects?

Privatization is not the answer.  Only a state can coordinate long-term efforts to rebuild for urban survival.  The recent rescue of the Chilean miners from their underground prison suggests to some people that a non-governmental mobilization of global resources can be successful against great odds.  In that case, though, individuals, industries and governments united around one clear goal.  To rebuild the waterfront, many conflicts of interest would h

Mark Carey is an assistant professor of environmental history at Washington and Lee University and is the author of In the Shadow of Melting Glaciers: Climate Change and Andean Society. The book illustrates in vivid detail how people in the Andes have grappled with the effects of climate change and ensuing natural disasters for more than half a century. In the original post below Carey looks how a recent natural disaster can teach us a climate lesson.

Although some US senators may resist discussion of the new climate and energy bill this week, people around the world continue to live with incessant dangers that disrupt their daily lives and threaten their existence. A recent glacier avalanche in Peru, for example, unleashed a powerful outburst flood that caused significant destruction. It was the same kind of flood that increasingly endangers people living near melting glaciers worldwide, from Switzerland and Norway to Canada and New Zealand, China and Nepal.

Beyond underscoring the need to move forward quickly with a new climate bill, the recent outburst flood also reveals that climate change discussions too often focus solely on the causes of climate change. While critical, this emphasis on what drives climate change and who (or what) is to blame, can derail dialogue about climate impacts that are already occurring worldwide, sometimes with deadly consequences.

The April 11th flood from Peru’s Lake 513 on the slope of Mount Hualcán inundated areas near the town of Carhuaz, destroying dozens of homes and washing away roads. Tens of thousands of residents also lost access to potable water when floodwaters damaged a water treatment facility. Nonetheless, the flood could have been much worse. Luckily, engineers had already partially drained Lake 513 — along with dozens of other glacial lakes in the region.

For seven decades, Peruvian engineers have worked to contain the danger posed by glacial lakes. Nearly 6,000 residents have died from glacial lake outburst floods since 1941, propelling the Peruvian government to drain or dam a total of 34 glacial lakes. Their expertise is now crucial in helping specialists in Asia, North America, and Europe to minimize glacial lake hazards.

The recent flood reveals the promise, as well as the pitfalls, of the Peruvians’ technological fixes. Lake 513 was purportedly one of the glacial lakes that engineers had in fact “fixed.” It originally formed at the foot of a shrinking glacier in the early 1980s, and by 1985 was a significant threat to thousands of Carhuaz residents. Although engineers responded by pumping out millions of gallons of water, the lake kept growing. Finally, in 1991 the dam burst and caused an outburst flood — just as it did earlier this month. Engineers then installed a complex tunnel system to drain even more water out of the lake. Their damage control worked . . . until two weeks ago.

Peru’s experience reminds us that disaster vulnerability is not just about environmental processes. Avalanches and floods only become disasters when they affect people.

In Carhuaz in the 1970s, residents defied zoning laws that prohibited construction in potential avalanche and flood paths below Mount Hualcán. The laws came into being after glacial avalanches on neighboring Mount Huascarán killed 4,000 people in 1962 and 15,000 in 1970. At that point government officials and UNESCO experts determined that Mount Hualcán glaciers were also unstable, and insisted that the population relocate outside the floodplain. Nonetheless, locals resisted, perceiving this as yet another bureaucratic imposition. They also believed that government engineering projects (technology) could p

(Venice, Italy) That image you see is not Venice, it is Rome. There has always been a bit of conflict between Venice and Rome -- Venice was excommunicated by the Pope on more than one occassion, which did not stop Venice from doing business as usual.

I spoke earlier today with a friend from Milano who was in Sienna. He was the first one to tell me about the flooding in Rome, where it has been declared a natural disaster by the mayor, and so far three people have died. The River Tiber is threatening to overflow its banks as I write this. He asked me how things were in Venice. Here are my observations:

On my way to dinner last night, I noticed the precautions the businesses had taken in response to the three level siren alarm. The restaurant downstairs on the riva was serving dinner right on the Grand Canal as the water licked toward the feet of the customers. I said, you are open? They laughed. "Always!" The wooden planks for walking had been set in place. A bank (as in a place to store your money) had very neatly moved everything off the floor and up on the desks, then locked up for the night. The doors in front of all the shops had their high-water blockades set in place.

Then, this morning we all had on our high water boots as we went about our day; otherwise it was pretty much business as usual. There was a feeling of comradery, as if we were all in this together and would simply make the best of things. A Canadian woman in Campo San Maurizio asked me how to get to the University of Ca' Foscari for a conference; she had on shoes, not boots. I said, you are not prepared. She was from Ottawa. I said, surely you have boots in Ottawa and she said her boots were too warm for Venice. With some deft twists and turns, I managed to bring her to the vaporetto stop at Sant 'Angelo without getting her feet wet.

There were very few tourists, and the ones who were here were having fun. It was easy to separate the wise from the uneducated tourists today because the latter either didn't have their boots on, or they were wearing the noisy plastic tourist boots. At the top of the Rialto Bridge I saw some very interesting boots similar to our boots, but different -- they were elegant, yet practical. I said, "Where did you get those boots?" They said, "We are from Northern France and we brought them from there."

I think this is a great new fad and that all tourists coming to Venice should bring their high-water boots from their own countries. In fact, perhaps we should start importing them. There's a fantastic new business idea for all you Venetian merchants, and I am quite sure you will make a profit. A store called Aqua Alta Supplies for all your high-water needs.

I hear the ever-enterprising hotel association is offering high water boots as part of a package, with a map of alternate routes. The museums and art galleries are dry. People are cheerful. The streets have never been cleaner. It couldn't be a better time to come to Venice!

Ciao from Venice,
Cat
http://venetiancat.blogspot.com/

(Venice, Italy) The "sirens" for aqua alta, or high water, first went off this morning at around 7:30AM (I think). It's hard to tell because we have a new siren. It is three melodic, rising, harmonic tones, and sounds a little like Close Encounters of the Third Kind -- as if we should welcome the flooding waters with open arms. The old siren was frightening and insistent, like an air-raid siren warning of great danger to come. The Venetians did not dance to the music. As their years of hard labor were silently, slowly destroyed, the Venetians were furious.

This from Times Online, by Richard Owen from his front row seat in... Rome...?(!):

"Sirens sounded the alarm in Venice this morning as sea water surged into St Mark's Square and the authorities gave warning that the acqua alta (high water) could reach its highest levels for 30 years."

(Um... that's aqua alta, Richard, not acqua:)

I put on my high water boots, and headed off to the gym as I usually do. I arrived about 9:30. My gym is the best gym in Venice, I think. It is where the Angels stay fit, and is 90-95% Venetian and residents. The owner of the gym was agitated; I have never seen him like that before.

"The new siren is soothing for the tourists," I said. "So they are not alarmed."

"For my forty years we've had a proper siren," said the owner. "What did we need a new siren for? It's only more wasted money."

The owner paced back and forth, checking the water levels. At 10:15AM he said, "That's it. We have to shut down." At that point, the high water had flooded into the entrance. It was bubbling up through the floor and heading toward all the valuable exercise equipment. The owner was understandably distressed as he watched the manifestation of his hard work licked by the lagoon. The women's changing room is upstairs, and it was impossible to reach the steps unless you were wearing boots since the water was ankle-deep. Luckily, I had left my boots downstairs, and the attendant got them for me.

I splashed out the door. The water gushed through the calli. It was really serious. I stopped at the tobacco shop. The tobacco shop owner was even more agitated than the gym owner, and he is usually cracking jokes. "We are closed! This is not a normal day!" I said, "If it's not normal, then I need cigarettes even more." He stopped sopping up water and said, "Okay. What kind do you want?"

Out in the campo the tourists, who were standing on a small island of dry ground, starting taking photos of me as I trudged through the water, and now I became agitated. "This is not a joke!" I scolded them. "This is real life!"

I had planned to go to the supermarket, but it had already shut down. On the corner, the old woman who sold bread was still open. She is another Angel -- she was my first bread shop in Venice. So, I stopped there for bread and milk; inside the water was up to my calves. She asked, "Would you like regular or skimmed?" as if everything was fine. I said, "Skimmed." She swiftly opened the refrigerator door and grabbed the milk. She had to be fast or the lagoon water would have flooded inside the refrigerator. Soon more people poured into the shop for supplies; she had some of the only food left in town. The old woman calculated everything properly on the adding machine, and receipts were duly given. "Ciao!" she called as I left, a twinkle in her eye, and I thought she was a Truly Wise Angel.

It soon became impossible to avoid getting water inside my boots, it was so high. (That is a photo taken by Andrea Merola/EPA.) More from Richard Owen in... Rome...

"The Venice Centro Maree, or Tide Centre, which monitors water levels, said that high tides had reached 144cm (57in) above sea level , with 96 per cent of the lagoon city's surface area covered by water."

At Rialto, there was a man selling plastic boots to the tourists. I asked, "How much are those boots?" He said, "Ten euro." I said, "Last year they were five." He said, "Well, this year they are ten."

The Venetians had on their thigh-high fishing boots. All the shops were closed except for the pharmacy, another tobacco shop, and another bread shop. I needed food for Cleopatra, my cat, and decided to risk going over to the pet store. It was open! Sebastian had valiantly gathered what articles he could away from the rising water, and was still selling pet food. "Try her on this," he advised, handing me a bag. "It's for cats that have been spayed and are putting on a little weight." "You are molto simpatico to stay open today," I said. Sebastian laughed. "My apartment is already flooded."

When I got home, the water was inside my casa and had risen up to the second step. Luckily, I live high enough that if my apartment gets flooded, well, it's probably the End of the World anyway, and I can't think of a nicer way to go than into the arms of the lagoon. I sloshed into my apartment and went out on the balcony. Chairs from the restaurant below bobbed in the water. No vaporettos appeared to be running on the Grand Canal, and people were hailing water taxis and heading toward Piazzale Roma (I wish I had asked how much they were charging:). Some Venetians rowed their sandolas. Eventually a vaporetto came by and picked up some of the people who were intrepid enough to navigate the moat around the vaporetto stop.

I went in the bathroom and tried to take my boots off, but they wouldn't budge, they were so waterlogged. Finally, I ran hot water over them to make them expand, and after great effort, they came off.

Cleopatra was alarmed, dashing about, howling. I spoke to friends on the phone. Everybody was flooded. The animals were all alarmed. The only place that sounded normal was the island of Murano.

I started thinking it would not be such a bad thing if we continued to get flooded like this because then the masses of tourists would not come, and Venice would be forced to find real work for its residents. The price of housing would drop, and all the out-of-towners who own apartments here would have to reduce the outrageous rents. The Chinese businesses would not be profitable, and being pragmatic people, they would invest elsewhere. The universities would be fine because students are adjustable; perhaps they would find it a great adventure -- especially if there were subsidies. The Venetians themselves would be fine -- especially if there were subsidies -- because there are plenty of boats and gondolas, and they know how to row. There is plenty of fish from the sea, and fruit and vegetables on the islands. They could still make glass on the island of Murano, and return to lace-making on Burano. The gondoliers, needing work, would have to row the residents around. We could have high-tech businesses that use cyberspace and WiFi, and create video games. We could hold even more international conferences than we do today (just not on the ground floor:), so that the hotels could operate. Do we still have the film festival? Why, yes! Only we would have to row up the red carpet, which would float gently on the water, and the stars could adjust their attire to a more Neptunian theme.

More from Richard Owen in... Rome:

"A floating flood barrier is under construction at three entrances from the Adriatic into the lagoon, but is not due to go into operation until 2012 at the earliest."

That flood barrier would be MOSES. I have said repeatedly that I don't know enough to make a judgment as to whether MOSES is a good or bad thing. I do know, however, that the friars at San Francesco della Vigna have their own irrigation system that has served them for 200 years. I know, also, that there is a room in the Archivio di Stato that is dedicated to how the Venetians have managed the high water over the centuries. I have seen both with my own eyes. This is an excerpt about the State Archive from an article I wrote for the International Herald Tribune's Italy Daily dated August 30, 2002:

"One of the most important holdings is the series of volumes of the Senato Terra, a continuous record of daily decisions of the Venetian government that spans the period from 1250 to 1792. The Venetians were meticulous record-keepers, and noted in detail anything pertinent to the entire Republic. A brief search revealed that news of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence traveled rapidly by way of the Venetian representative in England and reached the Doge's inner circle on August 12, 1776."

As I write this, the water has receded, and a brilliant patch of sun beams on the church steeple across the canal, tumultuous clouds in the background.

"Massimo Caciari, the Mayor of Venice, said that today's flood water level was 'exceptional. ...'
...However Mr Cacciari played down alarm, saying that flooding was part of everyday life in Venice. "We get sea levels of 140, 160 cm every few years," the Mayor said. Italian meteorologists said that the entire country was being experiencing bad weather, with driving rain, snow, hail and high winds causing flooding 'from the Alps to Palermo'. Many roads in Piedmont, Liguria and Lombardy have been closed."


To read Richard Owen's entire article, go here:


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5266829.ece

I just can't get a Chiffon Margarine commerical that I remember from the 70s out of my head, with the punchline, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!" I can't seem to embed it, but if you want to have a look, go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLrTPrp-fW8


Ciao from Venice,
Cat
http://venetiancat.blogspot.com/

So I call Mike yeseterday to see how they are doing in Houston in the aftermath of IKE and turns out he's one of the lucky ones. Their power is on, returned on Saturday afternoon. Much to do for the city to back on it's feet. But, he says, "Mom and Dad could be in trouble" I'm like WHAT? Mom and Dad live outside of Chicago. He says, "Yeah, looks like we got the hurricane, but they got the flood."

So I get the scoop from my folks. They are both in their 80s and have no elevator service right now, having to climb up and down 4 flights of stairs. Needless to say, not good. And... long story but the punchlines involved parking their cars miles away, Dad walking 50 mins to retrieve one after the worst was over because of a closed road. An exceedingly obnoxious fire alarm that triggered all night on Saturday night--not for a fire, but for a flooded elevator. The fire department responded a few times then disconnected the alarm until the elevator flood is sorted out. Turns out in a flood elevator repair people are pretty busy.

We are SO lucky that we faired as well as we did in this storm, in Houston AND in Chicago.

Dad was so funny. He said I'm lucky to live in a wine barrel, far, far away from fire alarms...

But as it turned out not far away from fire.

Oh yeah, writing....yes, as you can tell I've been very distracted. But here is a cool post that I recommend taking a gander at Write It Out, the blog of author Beth Revis. She decided to read the queries posted at The Query Project. Her insights into what's working and what isn't from the query examples are worth a read.

As may be obvious, I’m a little behind on my feeds. The good news is that there’s a lot of good stuff there. The bad news is that you may have seen some of it. Here are a few quickie notes that I think merit some attention. My apologies if you’ve all seen them before. My personal goal is to be all caught up on feeds by the time I leave for ALA — Thursday morning — and don’t get behind again. I think it’s doable.

• ALA’s Poor People’s Policy - Laura Crossett talks about a few things her library has done to remove financial barriers to library services for poor patrons.
• Librarian 2.0 and hockey and you. Ryan Deschamps does a little outreach, without books!
• Andrea Mercado talks about what the what is as far as Twitter goes and notes some useful Twitter tools.
• Ken Varnum looks at the ways the Iowa flood is being covered online. When I mentioned the Cedar Rapids public library yesterday, I was heartened to see that the library’s website had information about the library closures and the flood. It was just three years ago that Katrina hit and many New Orleans area library websites weren’t able to respond on their websites in anything approaching real time. While the floods remain a tragedy, this is progress in a library technology and service arena.
• The American Library Association’s International Relations Committee has prepared a detailed history of the “independent library” movement in Cuba and how IFLA and ALA see their relationship to it. Kathleen de la Peña McCook has put the report sumary online with links to relevant online material.
• Mary Minow gives Vermont libraries a high five over our strengthened patron privacy rules.

The heartbreaking story of the Cedar Rapids public library. Information on the flooding and an address to send donations. Photos and up to date flooding information at the Cedar Rapids Library home page.

Don't get your lions crossed! Author/ Editor Lea Schizas is hosting the Writing for Children Blog Fest at The Writing Jungle, from March 31st- April 5th, so don't miss it. I'm happy to be one of the contributors who will be guest blogging at her site!

What's the Writing for Children Blog Fest? A fantastic opportunity to find out more about children's books, children's authors, writing tips, and recommendations.

Be sure to leave a comment that week at The Writing Jungle blog to be eligible for one of the doorprizes on April 5.

Find out more about some of the other contributors:
Betty Cain
Diana Symons
Joyce Moyer Hostetter
Kim McDougall
Lea Schizas
Lila Guzman
Margot Finke
Vivian Zabel

When writing for children, one of the first things you need to consider is who is your reader? Different age groups are at different stages in their lives and are experiencing different things. The story you tell must relate to a specific age group. Determine the age of your reader, and make your story appropriate to that age group. Children could be doing many other things with their time such as watching television, listening to music, reading comics, playing video games, sleeping, and playing with toys, so a book must entertain and keep their interest.

Word count is important when writing for children, so publishers have set certain guidelines. Each publisher is different, so be sure to always check submission guidelines at a publisher's website.

Generally, books are usually classified into 6 categories that are determined by age level.

PICTURE BOOKS
- When writing picture books, one has to write tight. The shorter the better. Children this age have short attention spans, so you need to tell your story quickly. Most people suggest aiming for 500 words or less. The target age for picture books is often 4-8 years old. Older picture books can have more words, but a good rule of thumb is to stay under 1000.
EMERGENT READERS
-These are a good tool to teach kids how to read. They're really short and could have as little as 32 words.
EASY READERS
- These are for kids that are beginning to read on their own. You'll want to keep the language simple and easy to understand. Imagine a child sounding out each word. These books are often classified into reading levels. Level 1 might only have 200 words, whereas a Level 4 reader can run up to 1200 words.
CHAPTER BOOKS
-Chapter books vary depending on how many chapters and word count can range from 5,000- 25,000.
MIDDLE GRADE NOVELS
-At this age, children are becoming more independent. Novels for this age can run up to 30,000 words, however there are some novels that run longer.
YOUNG ADULT NOVELS
-These readers are almost considered adults, but not quite yet. Books run about the same as Middle Grade Novels, but could be slightly higher around 40,000.

You'll also find that age level is often broken down into five groups.
PRESCHOOLERS
-up to 5 years old
PRIMARY GRADERS
-5-7 years old, but they like to read about characters a little older than themselves. Usually around 8 or 9 years old.
MIDDLE GRADERS
-8 - 11 years old, but they like to read about characters around 12 or 13 years old.
YOUNG ADULTS
-11- 14 years old
TEENAGERS
-14- 18 years old

As soon as you get an idea, think to yourself...Who am I writing for? This will help you know how long your sentence structure needs to be, the topics and subjects you can confront, and the word choice you can use.

Children's books are a tough market because you'll hear others comment that you're not only writing for the child, but you're also writing for the parent (after all, they're the ones buying the book, right?), and the editor (they're the ones publishing the book). Some writers will say to only write for the child because it's truly a book for them. When choosing a subject, and writing about it, age targeting is so important, but I have to admit that I've always liked the suggestion to write for yourself! Chances are, if you're entertained, someone else will be, too!

Another popular question from children's writers is, "Do I need an agent to sell my children's book?" The answer to this lies solely with you. Many writers are successful on their own without an agent. When you're trying to break in as a new writer, it's just as hard to find an agent to take a chance on you as it is to find a publisher. Many say that it's even easier to get published than it is to find an agent! Many agents have reputable client lists, so it's hard for a new writer to prove that you're going to make them money.

Many writers are capable of handling all the business aspects that come along with writing (researching publishers, mailing and marketing your manuscripts, negotiating a contract, etc...) There are many resources on the internet and how-to books that can help you along the way if you have any questions. You need to ask yourself if you're that type of person. There are writers who can't stand being bogged down with the business aspect and would rather spend their time on their writing. If you're this kind of person, it might be wise to find an agent.

Some tips on finding an agent. . .
-Find one who specializes in children's literature.
-Check out the Preditors & Editors website to research an agent's reputation.
-Just as you would query a publisher about your manuscript, you need to query an agent as well. Include your publishing experience if any, the type of writing that you do, and mention specific manuscripts that you would like them to market for you. Just as you would sell these manuscripts to a publisher, you need to sell them to an agent. Another thing to consider since it just might be easier to go straight to a publisher if you're doing the work!
-Get all the information you can on the agent's terms. Do they charge reasonable fees? (Most agents require 10-15% of what they make for you) Do they submit your work to houses that don't accept unsolicited manuscripts?
-Some agents charge fees to read new writer's manuscripts while others do not. Are you willing to pay up to $50 to have an agent consider you?

Books that will help you find an agent. . .
2008 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market (Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market)
2008 Guide to Literary Agents

Websites that will help you find an agent. . .
AgentQuery
Preditors & Editors
Query Tracker

Be sure to visit these other articles for information on agents. . .
Resources about Agents for Writers and Illustrators by Harold Underdown.
Finding and Choosing Literary Agents by Harold Underdown.
Literary Agents on Writer Beware
How to Find a Great Children's Book Agent by Cynthea Liu
How to Interview a Literary Agent by Cynthea Liu
Cynthia Leitich Smith's official author site- click on agents for tons of articles and information.

I was going to post this topic today and funny enough, it also came up as a discussion on one of the Yahoo Group writing lists. This question often comes up a lot and it's one of the most common questions asked by a new children's writer- " Do I need to find an illustrator for my picture book?" The answer is no. Unless you are a professional-quality illustrator, do not submit illustrations. You'll clearly come off as an amateur, and the publisher may shy-away from you because of it. Sit back and concentrate on your writing. It's hard enough to sell your writing; imagine selling both your writing AND pictures! The publisher's job is to match an illustrator with a book. They all have illustrators that they like to work with and will pick the illustrator that they think has the best style for your book.

As a writer of picture books, your job is to imagine the illustrations in your head as you're writing the story. You become attached to the illustrations in your mind and would like to convey these, however, a publisher is the one that knows what will help a book sell. When you're lucky enough to land your contract, discuss your thoughts of the illustrations with your editor, but leave it up to them to do their job and find the perfect illustrator. If it's not what you had in mind, you have to decide if you want to turn down that offer and find another editor that has the same ideas as you. An illustrator's job is take somebody's story and put their edge on it. That's the magic of a picture book.

One of the hardest things for an author to do is to find the right publisher for their book. It takes researching publishers' catalogs to find the place that your book will fit in. That includes looking at the illustrations and style that each publishing house has. If you think the illustration style for a certain house is amateur and not up to your standards, don't send your manuscript in to that publisher.

I've heard of authors that have had no contact whatsoever with their illustrator and I've heard authors that have some say in the design. It depends on the editor, your experience, and the illustrator, but mainly, do not describe how you see the illustrations except in cases where the illustration is required for the story, but not indicated in the text. Only experienced authors with many published works can put a clause in their contract to approve or oversee the illustration process.

If you're one of the few that has the talent to write and illustrate, then go for it! Why split your royalties in half when you don't have to? It's a no brainer! Put together a dummy book with your text and illustrations and submit with 2 or 3 completed illustrations. Be sure to emphasize in your cover letter whether or not you want the text and illustrations to be considered separately. There is that chance that an editor likes your story, but not your illustrations. Are you willing to search around for that publisher that wants both or are you willing to sacrifice one for a contract? You have to decide.

Some other articles to visit on this topic are. . .
To draw or not to draw by Cynthea Liu.
Picture Book Manuscripts and Illustrations by Harold Underdown.
Children's Book Council's FAQ page

There's a lot of confusion about self-publishing and POD publishing. Some will say there is no such thing as a POD publisher. They say that POD is a technology used by self-publishers, subsidy publishers, and traditional publishers, however, self-publishers use this technology more.

POD does describe the technology used, but many companies are basing their business around this technology exclusively so they refer to themselves as POD publishers. Many traditional small presses have replaced their traditional printing equipment with POD equipment. Print on demand (POD) is the commonly-used term for the digital printing technology that allows a complete book to be printed and bound in a matter of minutes. POD technology makes it easy and cost-effective to produce books one or two at a time or in small lots, rather than in larger print runs of several hundred or several thousand.

Some of the benefits of POD are that you don't need to keep large inventories of a book, and the set-up is quicker and less expensive than offset printing. The initial investment for POD services is usually less expensive for small quantities of books when compared with self-publishing that uses print runs. Print-on-demand services offered by these providers often include other services such as formatting, proof reading and editing, but they usually don't offer help with marketing. Commercial and academic publishers use POD to print advance reading copies and to keep backlist books available.

For more information on POD technology and POD publishers visit Writer Beware.

A few days ago, I posted an article listing the 3 things that you'll hear over and over again if you want to be a writer. This one could be considered number 4! Join a critique group. Every writer will tell you the importance of joining a critique group. When we receive critiques on our work, we're looking for suggestions to make our work better so it will inevitably be published. There are many things that a fresh eye can see in your work that you can't. In order for us to receive critiques, it's important that we give critiques, right? Fair is fair and critiquing others' work will help your writing. It will teach you what to look for when self-editing your own work, and give you a sense of what you like and don't like to incorporate in your own writing.

So you need to do a critique? Where do you start?

First, know that we all are human beings and we have feelings. We're not critiquing the person, we're critiquing the work. It doesn't hurt to begin by pointing something out that you like about the manuscript. A little encouragement goes a long way!
However, critiques need to be brutally honest. A writer would rather hear these notes from his/her critique group instead of an editor giving a flat out rejection with no reason why!

1. Did you like the story? Why or why not? Does it flow? How is the pacing (too fast, too slow, just right)? Is there a beginning, a middle, and an end and are they logical?
2. Does the beginning set up a problem or conflict? Did it catch your attention? Did you want to keep reading?
3. Are the characters' behavior consistent? Are the character's believable? Do the characters have good names?
4. Consider the audience- is it age appropriate?
5. Can you restate the story in a single sentence?
6. Does the author show instead of tell?
7. Technically, point out bad punctuation, incorrect grammar, misspelled words, formatting
8. Is the dialogue realistic? Does the dialogue help move the story along? Is there a perfect blend of dialogue with narration?
9. Is the title a good one?
10. Does the ending make sense and is it rewarding? Was the conflict or problem resolved? Does the main character undergo some sort of change?
11. Does the point of view work or would the story be better if it was told by another character?
12. Is there variation in sentence length? Too many short, too many long, or just right?
13. Excessive use of Passive voice? ex: Emily was running to the store is passive voice. Should be...Emily ran to the store.
14. Is the story original and creative?
15. Does the setting work? Do you get a sense of when and where you're supposed to be?
16. Did the writer make use of all the senses?

Some examples of critique notes that you might give/ receive:

-Paragraph or chapter needs tightening - give examples of where the writer can cut out necessary words and sentences.
-Verbs are weak—verbs to watch out for are. . . is, as, was, were
-Plot lacks focus—give a suggestion for the writer to consider.
-Dialogue is not age appropriate—show an example that is right for the age..
-If the overall concept and writing is weak—suggest classes, how-to books, and online articles that can help.

General Tips:
-Tell the writer if the work is not your genre or favorite type of story
-Don't be afraid to critique if it's not your favorite type of story.
-Don't read other critiques of the work yet. Give your own critique, then read others. You don't want others to sway you! Everyone has an opinion, so give your own- don't steal!

Everyone points out the advantages to a critique group, but not many address the disadvantages. When you have your work critiqued, your exposing your work to others. Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world and there are dishonest people out there. When you put your work out there, yes- there is a chance that it can be ripped off- stolen! Ugh- can you imagine all that work and somebody else reaps the benefits? It's just not right! There's no need to copyright your work because once it's written, it is copyrighted. However, you can't put a copyright on ideas and that person that just critiqued your work can go out and write another story with your idea! You need to weigh the advantages of a critique group with the disadvantages and you have to be selective with who you show your work to!

Writers need to encourage each other and realize that writing is a craft. It takes a long time to master a craft and it doesn't just come to us. It takes work and revision after revision to get a good story! A good rule of thumb when it comes to critiquing is. . .
Critique as you would want to be critiqued!