Saturday, November 29, 2014

Weekend Links: Just for Fun

I hope everyone of you who celebrated Thanksgiving had a joyous one. If your Thanksgiving didn't go quite as planned, the video above should tickle your wishbone.

Since we're starting into the mad rush of Christmas and holiday shopping, I thought the video below was a good reminder of the perils of taking a part-time job as a mall Santa. 


Since there's only one day left of PiBoIdMo, I hope something will spark the idea center of your brain and land you the last ideas you need to complete the month.

Have a lovely weekend.





Thursday, November 20, 2014

Weekend Links: Kathryn Otoshi on Marketing and Gerogia Hughes on a Fresh Look

The holiday season is charging in and time is limited, so the videos today are like fruitcake: best in small pieces, chock-full of sweet nuggets, and dense with hearty ingredients. But these videos will actually be pleasant to consume.


The video above is a short reading of part of Kathryn Otoshi's book One. If you've read it, or her other incredible books, Zero and Twoskip to the video below, which includes a brief interview of Kathryn talking about the marketing of One and how she had to stretch out of her usual style to make it work.



And finally, a 90 second video of Georgia Hughes encouraging authors to surprise their editors rather than strive for the latest, greatest trend. She also suggests taking an age-old issue and making it new. 


Have a great weekend.



Thursday, November 13, 2014

Weekend Links: Picture Book Study with Mira Reisberg


I've already mentioned that I completed Mira Reisberg's Children's Book Academy class on writing picture books. I loved it. I can't give you the whole class here obviously, but Mira analyzes various picture books in videos that she graciously shares on YouTube. 

With her knowledge as an illustrator and writer she's able to use the books as text books on how to write and illustrate. I've included a few of my favorites.


Mira has taught some stellar authors/illustrators, Kathryn Otoshi among them whose books are disarmingly intelligent in both design and message. And Yuyi Morales whose artwork and stories are exquisite as shown in the video below. It's a little longer than the others, but captivating if you have the time.


Hope you are all having a fabulous week and are ready to enjoy an even more fabulous weekend. 



Monday, November 3, 2014

Course on How to Prepare a PB Query and Manuscript



Julie Hedlund and Emma Walton Hamilton are hosting a self-guided, online course on how to prepare a picture book query and manuscript for submission. The early bird price ends tonight at midnight (P.S. The deadline has been extended by a day, so tonight is the cut off for the early bird price), so I wanted to get this out while there's a few hours left: http://picturebooksubmissions.com

The video above is a brief overview of the course, and the video below is a more in-depth explanation of the course and answers to many of the basic questions on how to prepare a query for submission.

I took Emma's middle grade writing course and loved it and Julie is a power-house in marketing, so these two make a perfect teaching duo on how to put your best foot forward in submitting to agents or editors. 

Enjoy.