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Kidlit Social #65: Melissa Stewart on Creating Nonfiction for the Classroom

On this episode of The Kidlit Social, meet Melissa Stewart, author of “5 Kinds of Nonfiction: Enriching Reading and Writing Instruction with Children’s Books”, along with dozens of kidlit nonfiction titles currently in use by school districts as part of their curricula.

Melissa discussed creating nonfiction for kids while keeping educators’ needs in mind – a vital skill as schools and libraries are the biggest market for children’s nonfiction.

Kidlit Social #64: Picture Book Author Nadia Salomon on Getting Published & Promoting Your Work

In this episode, meet Nadia Salomon, author of the wonderful, recently released Goodnight Ganesha (Philomel, 2021, ill. by Poonam Mistry).

Nadia joins us to discuss the steps she took to get her debut picture book published, and what she’s done since the release date to assure its success. Expect lots of great tips you can start applying right now to help aid your own publishing journey!

Kidlit Social #63: Writing Books w/ STEM Tie-Ins & Crafting Realistic Animals

Meet illustrator, explorer and children’s book author Katy Tanis. Katy’s work bursts with color, and a true love for every creature on land, in air and under sea. In this episode of The Social, Katy talks about her writing/illustration process, and gives her advice for aspiring illustrators. She also touches on the necessity for authors and illustrators to do their research and accurately reflect the behaviors of animals in children’s book texts (fiction and nonfiction) and illustrations, as well as the environment.

Katy gives some examples of how to do that research, and why this accuracy is important since so many publishers are looking for books with STEM tie-ins (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math).

Kidlit Social #62: Our First Live Editing Session!

It’s our first ever live editing session! We chose seven works in progress from CBI subscribers (both fiction and nonfiction) and we invited award-winning author and editing wizard Bonnie Johnston (instructor for Manuscript Magic and author of The 30 Day Novel Workbook, The 30 Day Romance Novel Workbook, and The Writer’s Guide to Getting Organized) to edit each submission live and in real time!

This is a tremendous opportunity to really understand the “inner game” of editing, and pick up some valuable tips for editing your own work.

Kidlit Social #61 Replay: Tracy Sue Walker on Folklore, Myths & the Stories We Tell

Meet writer and storyteller Tracy Sue Walker. Tracy Sue is the author of the “Kids for Truth about Magical Creatures” chapter book series from Scholastic, and an award-winning storyteller. (Among her proudest achievements – she was Champion Liar at the Georgia Tall Tale Contest!)

On the Social, she shares how ancient, universal characters and stories can inform your writing, and how having skills as a storyteller can help liven up any school visit. (Plus you get a bonus story from an amazing storyteller!)

Kidlit Social #60 Replay: Nathan Bransford on Finding Your Story’s Hook

Nathan Bransford, author of the Jacob Wonderbar middle grade series, the writing guides How to Write a Novel and How to Publish a Book, and a former agent with Curtis Brown Ltd., joins Laura to talk about hooks: What is a hook, and how do you know if your manuscript has one? If it does, how do you present the hook in the query letter? If it doesn’t, should you abandon the idea, or can it still find a market?

Kidlit Social #59 Replay: Beth Anderson on the Changing Face of Picture Book Biographies

Award-winning author Beth Anderson joins us to discuss the wonderful category of picture book biographies. Laura and Beth talk about the “new” picture book biographies and how the genre has changed, and what types of approaches are most appealing to editors today. If bringing history to life for young readers excites you, you need to meet Beth!

So, What Do Our Members *Really* Think Of Us? 🤔

Kidlit Distancing Social #58 Replay: An Evening with Chapter Book Legend Debbie Dadey

What do you call someone who has authored or co-authored over 180 books that have sold more than 40 million copies?

Legend seems like the right word.

On this episode of the  Kidlit Distancing Social, we spend an evening with Debbie Dadey, author of The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids series and one of the most widely-read chapter book authors ever.

Debbie joined Laura to talk about her remarkable career, what makes chapter books so special and the upcoming graphic novel adaptation of her book Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots. It was truly a memorable session.

Kidlit Distancing Social #57 Replay: Shakirah Bourne on Infusing a Manuscript with Magic & Authenticity

This week, meet an exciting new voice in middle grade and young adult writing: Barbadian author and filmmaker Shakirah Bourne. Shakirah shares the impact Caribbean culture has had on her work, how she infuses her books with magical realism and how understanding three act structure from films translates to writing novels.