Kidlit Distancing Social #37 Replay – Darcy Pattison on Self-Publishing & the Path to Success as an Indie Author

This week, meet Darcy Pattison, a prolific kidlit author who has found great success self publishing her own work. Darcy’s authored dozens of books – some with major publishers – but has seen her career truly take off after starting her own independent publishing company.

Darcy describes her journey, and discusses why other authors should consider self-publishing. If you want to be truly empowered to share your words with the world, Darcy is the perfect person to inspire you!

Kidlit Distancing Social #25 Replay – Brian Weisfeld on Writing Books that Promote a Passion & Deliver a Message

Brian Weisfeld, author of The Startup Squad series (Macmillan), is devoted to empowering girls with an entrepreneurial mindset so they can realize their potential. In this episode, Brian gives his advice for authors seeking to change the world with their writing. If you have a passion or cause you’d like young readers to know about, Brian will help you understand how to create books that teach while entertaining.

Kidlit Distancing Social #24 Replay – Brooke McIntyre on Finding, Joining & Getting the Most of a Critique Group

Brooke McIntyre, the founder of InkedVoices.com, a platform for writing groups and an online space for writers, joins us to talk about finding your own critique group, getting feedback on your work and providing feedback on other writers’ work. This is a super-timely topic, and you should definitely check it out.

Kidlit Distancing Social #22 Replay – Candice Ransom, Author of 150+ Children’s Books

Candice has written more than 150 books, including 18 books for The Boxcar Children series, The Time Spies series and the Sunfire series. She wrote the Dungeons & Dragons novel, Key to the Griffon’s Lair. Her work includes picture books, easy readers, middle grade fiction, biographies, and nonfiction. Laura and Candice discuss her fascinating career, and then open the floor for a freewheeling “Ask Us Anything” session!

How to Tell if Your Story Idea is Good Enough

Most writers find it very difficult to judge the merits of their own story ideas. In this excerpt from a workshop taught by the prolific and uber-creative author Stephen Swinburne, you’ll learn his quick process to judge new ideas. It’s quite powerful.

Watch all the Kidlit Distancing Social Replays

Find out what your favorite authors, editors, agents & writing educators have to say when they appear on the Kidlit Distancing Social, a free educational hangout for kidlit writers, presented by Children’s Book Insider, the Children’s Writing Monthly.

Watch all the Kidlit Distancing Social Replays

Find out what your favorite authors, editors, agents & writing educators have to say when they appear on the Kidlit Distancing Social, a free educational hangout for kidlit writers, presented by Children’s Book Insider, the Children’s Writing Monthly.

Kidlit Distancing Social #12 – Laura Backes on What Picture Book Writers Need to Know About Illustrations

On this week’s Kidlit Distancing Social, CBI Publisher Laura Backes discusses the interplay between words and illustrations in picture books, and shares how writers can create picture book manuscripts that are optimized for illustrations.

Kidlit Distancing Social #8 – Writing in Rhyme w/Julie Hedlund

This week on the Kidlit Distancing Social, Julie Hedlund, author and creator of 12×12 Challenge, joined us to chat about one of her specialties – writing rhyming picture books.

Understanding Children’s Book Genres

I just received a letter from a writer who said, “Alas, I find myself adrift in a sea of unexplained and/or contradictory publishing terms.” It’s true — you can read three different books on writing and find three different definitions of “picture book.” So, to make your life easier, here’s what I hope is a definitive glossary of children’s book genres: