This is the place to come for timely tips, market leads, and informative links about writing.
Posted September 21, 2009
Here is a site called RhymeZone to help you find rhyming words. Just type in the word you are looking to rhyme and you will be given a list of words that will rhyme with it. Good rhyming!
Gloria McQueen Stockstill
Here is another blog called Resources for Children’s Writers that gives great resources for children’s writers. Check it out!
Gloria McQueen Stockstill
Posted September 3, 2009
JacketFlap contains up-to-date information on practically every children’s book publisher in the business. At last count, there are more than 32,000 publishers in the JacketFlap.com database.
-contributed by Gloria’s Gatherings
Posted July 25, 2009
Here are some good points on line editing. Hope they are beneficial.
http://www.deepgenre.com/wordpress/admin/craft/line-editing/
contributed by Gloria’s Gatherings
Posted July 14, 2009
Microsoft is making Office (including Word) available for free, online. Please see this link for more info:
http://bigtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/07/13/microsoft-office-to-go-online-for-free/
-contributed by Nancy I. Sanders
Posted June 10, 2009
Do you want to be a successful writer? Then it helps to think the right thoughts. Check out what John Maxwell has to say about developing the right thinking at his web site, John Maxwell on Leadership. Who knows? When you’re doing all that right thinking, you may come up with an astounding idea for a book!
-contributed by Gloria’s Gatherings
Posted June 5, 2009
Want to keep files on each of your projects? Store research? Even add pictures and videos? OneNote Notebooks from Microsoft allow you to do all of this. I watched the tutorial. You can have a notebook for all of your projects. You can download it by going to Microsoft.com and searching under downloads.
For all you Mac owners, try Evernote. I understand it has about the same type of capabilities. AND, if you have an iphone, you can download from there.
-contributed by Gloria’s Gatherings
Posted May 13, 2009
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Rosen Publishing Team to Form New Publishing
Initiative. Read the full article at: Publisher’s Weekly.
-contributed by Gloria’s Gatherings
Posted May 12, 2009
If you’re like I am with a house overflowing with books, here’s one solution I found—www.powells.com. Powell’s, in Portland, OR, is one of the largest bookstores in the country, for both new and used books, and you can sell them used books (in good to very good condition, preferably hardbacks or trade paperbacks) to them online. Just visit their website and create an account (easy and free). Then you enter the ISBN number of each book and they immediately tell you if they’re interested and how much they’ll pay…usually about 1/3-1/4 of the list price. But if you’re finished with the book anyway, it seems like a good deal to me. Once you have a stack of books they’ll accept, they’ll e-mail you a postage-paid mailing label. Just box up the books and send them off. It doesn’t cost you anything. There are prompts and instructions on how to do all this all along. They don’t actually “pay” in $$$, but your account gets “virtual credit,” (good any time) and you can then buy more books with it! Works for me!
-contributed by Marjorie Flathers
Posted May 7, 2009
Are you a Web publisher, blogger, webmaster or writer? You may be able to get complimentary access to the complete Encyclopedia Britannica noline. Go to the site below and check out the rules for use.
-contributed by Gloria McQueen Stockstill
Posted March 15, 2009
Cross & Quill has an immediate need for 200-800 word articles on fiction writing, writing for young readers, and devotionals (Writing Rainbows!). Also fillers to 100 words on almost any writing topic. Submit them online to CQArticles@aol.com or CQArticles@cwfi-online.org. Or mail them in hard copy to our address below. Honorarium based on need for editing + 3 contributors copies paid on publication. Guidelines at: www.cwfi-online.org/crossquill.html
Posted March 3, 2009
Check out this great website to network and learn all about writing for children’s magazines: Kid Magazine Writers
Posted February 19, 2009
The SCBWI RA from Oregon wrote:
Erin Molta, who was a well-loved guest editor at our 2007 conference
(and who has published a few Oregon SCBWI members), was recently one
of the talented folks whose job was *deleted* at Scholastic. While
she is pursuing leads for a new job, I asked if she was willing to
take on a little freelance editing work. She thought about it and
decided, sure! So here is her blurb:
Do you have a manuscript with no zip? Is the ending escaping you? Has
an editor told you your characters need to be developed more? I have
twenty years experience editing children’s books–from picture books,
easy readers, chapter books to middle grade and YA novels. I can help
you bring your language up or down to fit an easy reader level or
trim text in a beautiful but wordy picture book.
If you e-mail me, Erin Molta, your manuscript as an attachment to
emolta@optimum.net and specify what your concerns are, I will provide
a detailed editorial letter that addresses those issues and any
others that I think might help you in your pursuit of publication.
I charge $25.00 per hour, payable via PayPal, which includes the
reading of the manuscript and the editorial letter.
-contributed by Nancy I. Sanders
Posted January 29, 2009
Agent Rachelle Gardner discusses elevator pitches on her blog, Rants and Ramblings in a 3-part post. Check it out: http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2009/01/elevator-pitch-part-1.html
Posted January 29, 2009
A contest for SCBWI members! Write a story in 200 words or less about what happens when a superhero arrives in a 4th grade classroom. Winner will receive free tuition to the 2009 Summer Conference in L.A. For more information, e-mail Susan@TheRoushHoush.com (in the subject line, type: Scholarship)
-Contributed by Shirley Shibley
Posted October 13, 2008
If you have a book and would like to consider selling it in a school or Christian book fair, contact Imagine Nation Books!
Posted September 9, 2008
Churchmouse Publications, LLC. a web-based publishing syndicate serving the Christian Community, is looking for submissions from both new and established authors. Check out their website, www.churchmousepublications.com, for more information.
-Contributed by Catherine L. Osornio
Posted September, 2008
“Mornings with Lorri and Larry” wants family-friendly, faith-based and general interest books. This show reaches 30 million homes on FamilyNet TV and 6.8 million Sirius listeners. Familiarize yourself with the show by listening on Sirius, watching on FamilyNet, reading the show’s blog or listening to its podscasts (at www.familynetradio.com) before contacting producers. Include a brief bio with your email and a link to your website. Sometimes Lorri Allen will book people on the strength of their website alone.
Since it’s a morning show, they look for high-energy guests who are articulate in the morning. A typical segment is twelve minutes long, but sometimes they’ll keep an author on for two or three segments. Guests are usually booked two to six weeks in advance.
Contact host and producer Lorri Allen via email before sending your books. She’ll reply and request your book if interested. Email address: lorri.allen@familynet.com. Website: www.familynet.com. Address:
Lorri Allen
“Mornings with Lorri and Larry”
FamilyNet Radio
3836 DeKalb Technology Parkway #3
Atlanta, GA 30340-3604
Phone: 770-225-0888
They appreciate your offering 3 to 6 copies of your book to give away to listeners who call in. And make sure to send your books to their studio well in advance of your appearance on the radio. They have been known to interview self-published authors.
-Contributed by Nancy I. Sanders
Posted June 6, 2008
Maria Schneider just posted the Writers Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers on her blog. Check it out.
-contributed by Gloria McQueen Stockstill
Posted May 13, 2008
Kid Magazine Writers is a site devoted just to writers of kid magazines. There are articles about market info, the writer’s working day, writing technique and an archive of past articles. Plus there’s an alphabetical listing, with links, of many, many kid magazines.
-Contributed by Veronica Walsh
Posted May 8, 2008
For an online dictionary that’s visual and also gives audio to hear a word’s pronunciation, visit Merriam-Webster’s Visual Dictionary Online.
-Contributed by Gloria Stockstill
Posted May 8, 2008
On Catherine’s blog, she recommends Worldcat as an excellent tool for research. Type in a title of a book and it tells you the closest libraries that have it in their collections.
Posted April 24, 2008
If you’re a published author and have a book with positive character values, consider donating a copy to the Precious! Pretty! Powerful! Girls Book Club.
Posted April 23, 2008
The following information comes from the May issue of the Children’s Writer Newsletter of Writing and Publishing Trends:
From FARRAR, STRAUS & GIROUX: Editorial Director Margaret Ferguson is currently looking for more fiction for younger readers. She would like to see more nonfiction submissions as well.
From SPIDER, a magazine for newly independent readers between ages six and nine: Editors welcome “anything and everything under the sun that will entertain and enlighten our readers.” Review submission guidelines (online) and familiarize yourself with the magazine. www.cricketmag.com
-Contributed by Sheryl Ann Crawford
Posted April 18, 2008
If you’re considering whether or not to purchase the new Kindle as a tool for your writing, agent Chip MacGregor offers pros and cons on his blog.
Posted April 12, 2008
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY reports that Hyperion’s Editorial Director Donna Bray and Executive Editor Alessandra Balzer are leaving that firm to start the Balzer & Bray imprint at HarperCollins. They will publish their first titles in fall 2009.
-Contributed by Gloria McQueen Stockstill
Posted April 5, 2008
THIS INFORMATION COMES FROM THE APRIL CHILDREN’S WRITER NEWSLETTER:
Pocket’s annual fiction contest offers a $1,000 prize with publication of the winning piece. Entries will be accepted between March 1 and August 15. Visit the website for contest guidelines at Pocket’s Web Site.
Editor Liz Waniewski of Dial Books for Young Readers is looking for warm, humorous, character driven books. She will review historical, contemporary, or fantasy middle grade and young adult novels. Liz looks for a universal kid emotion, problem, or concern. Check out the site at http://us.penguingroup.com/static/html/yr/index.html
-contributed by Sheryl Ann Crawford
Posted April 1, 2008
Baker Tritten Press is a Christian publisher who specializes in “tweener” books, especially those with boys as main characters. Check it out.
If you want to learn how to write rhyming picture books, stop in at Dori Chaconas’s web page.
-contributed by Gloria Stockstill
Posted March 24, 2008
Agent Rachelle Gardners shares about the purpose of CBA: Rants and Ramblings
Posted March 22, 2008
Check out this website for educational markets: Educational Markets for Children’s Writers
Posted March 20, 2008
From the Institute of Children’s Literature e-news, get your self-editing strategy on the go: “A Fiction Writer’s Checklist” by Renee Heiss
