NATIONAL PICTURE BOOK WRITING WEEK

(”NaPiBoWriWee”)

7 Picture Books in 7 Days!

In the spirit of National Novel Writing Month (“NaNoWriMo”) where people across the country try to write a complete novel in one month, the fine folks at www.paulayoo.com have decided to start the first ever National Picture Book Writing Week, affectionately nicknamed “NaPiBoWriWee.”
The goal? To write 7 picture books in 7 days.

All NaPiBoWriWee participants should register on my website (http://paulayoo.com/) and comment on my blogs every day with your own progress.

For those of you who participate in the first annual NaPiBoWriWee, I will select a winner at random on the 7th day – that winner will receive an autographed copy of my latest picture book,“SHINING STAR: THE ANNA MAY WONG STORY” (Lee & Low Books, 2009). For more info on the book, go here: http://www.leeandlow.com/books/368/hc/shining_star_the_anna_may_wong_story

The basic rules?

Just write 7 complete and separate picture books in one week. Each picture book must have a clear beginning, middle, and end. There is no required minimum word count because picture book lengths can vary from 50 words to 2000 words, depending on the genre.
I will be posting a blog every day for seven days with picture book writing tips and encouragement and updates on my own progress, plus links to The Three Silly Chicks (http://threesillychicks.blogspot.com/) who will also be providing similar helpful blog tips.

For everyone who has a website or blog – you are encouraged to promote NaPiBoWriWee on your blog/website/myspace/Facebook/Twitter. I only request that you provide a link to my website - http://paulayoo.com/.

And for those of you attending the national Society for Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators(http://scbwi.org/) conference in August, let me know and I’ll arrange for an informal gathering during the conference so we can meet in person and celebrate our first NaPiBoWriWee!

For more info, contact me at paula@paulayoo.com.

To summarize, the basic rules:

1. Midnight May 1st to 11:59 p.m. May 7th: Write 7 separate and complete picture books.
2. You are NOT allowed to write the same picture book in 7 variations. Each book must be complete and separate.
3. No minimum word count. Instead, each book must have a clear beginning, middle and end.
4. You are allowed to brainstorm and research book topics before May 1st.
5. You are NOT allowed to write a single word of your draft until midnight May 1st.
6. There is NO minimum word count required. The fine folks of NaPiBoWriWee require nothing but your word of honor. We will embrace the Honor Code. If you say you have written 7 complete picture book drafts in 7 days, we will believe you. Besides, why would you lie to us? You’re writing picture books for little children! Picture Book Authors are nice, honest people who would never lie! 
7. Please register on http://paulayoo.com/ in order to write comments on Paula’s blog every day with your progress and questions.
8. If you plan to blog about your NaPiBoWriWee journey, please include a link to:http://paulayoo.com/
9. A winner will be chosen from random of all the people who comment from May 1-7 onhttp://paulayoo.com/. That winner will receive an autographed copy of Paula Yoo’s latest picture book biography, “SHINING STAR: THE ANNA MAY WONG STORY” (Lee & Low Books 2009) by June 2009 when the book is released.
10. For those of you attending the national Society of Children Book Writers & Illustrators(http://scbwi.org/) conference in August, let me know and I’ll arrange for an informal gathering during the conference so we can meet in person and celebrate our first NaPiBoWriWee!

Good luck and I look forward to writing 7 picture books in 7 days with everyone! 

Hello everyone.
Have you ever felt totally disjointed from writing? Boy I have lately!
I have recently moved loosing my pc in the process. Boo-hoo! I have had one other thing go crazy too… My phone went bonkers. But a silverlining has come through!
I was able to upgrade my phone and got a blackberry pearl. LOVING it!!! I have internet access. WOO-HOO! Now I can stop going through withdrawals. Hahahahahaha.
Now, to get caught up with critique groups and writers forums.
One thing I’ve learned is the value of networking. Not having the internet can show a writer just how valuable the people you interact with and the information you share are.

Good luck with your writing today and don’t forget your network buddies!

~~~T

Hello everyone.

East Central Technical College, a college in my area, was taking  submissions from local writers for an annual anthology they put out. Well, I subbed and got accepted.  WOW!

This past Tuesday they held a ceremony for the ones who were accepted. It was a great experience. I learned that they had over 100 subs from the area. They had the Black Water Project from Valdosta State University do the judging and selecting. Really cool. I had a good time listening to some of the entries as they were read. I also recieved a certificate! Now to frame. hahaha.

I also recieved a copy of the book! Yep, they already have it printed!!!!

I’ve got the cover of this book and my upcoming ebook posted on my webpage too.  I feel so very honored being recognized in my community.

I just had to share!!! Here’s to all of you hearing some good news and getting acceptances too! 

Hello all.

Yes, it’s been a while… but I’m trying to get both my blogs back on track. Sickness and time management have been to blame, but I’m trying to overcome all of them. :^D

I would like to start off with a writing contest:

Mike Sullivan has a writing contest going on on his blog right now. Zoom over there and check it out. He’s a talented writer and trying to help our creative minds out. Did I mention a $10 prize???!!!??? Good luck and here’s the link
http://msullivantales.wordpress.com/the-blob-page/

I think this is the hardest part for me. THE WAITING!!! I know I will hunt the postman down to see if I have a response. Esp. if it’s one that I think has a very good chance.

So, what to do??? Get busy. Simply putting it. Definitely get busy. Strongly put. *wink, wink* Work on another story or article. Do some research. Read some books. Do anything you can to keep your mind from going crazy.

I have found that this can be my most productive time. But I have to work at it. It doesn’t come naturally and who doesn’t like instant gratification? But seriously considering how slow the publishing world really does move, you MUST have patients. The end result will give you a yes or no. Another simply put statement. But that’s the life of a writer.

Once again I found myself being sidelined with my writing and of course with my blogs.   grrrrrrrrrrrrr!   But just like a great mc in one of my favorite books, I can’t be held back for long. So, what has been going on in my life over the past 1/2 month. LOTS. Mainly having to deal with sickness… YES, STILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I’ve been busy with my children too. Now, I try not to get too much into my personal life, but but BBBBBBBBBBBBBBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTT I have to give a shout out here…

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WAY TO GO TIFTAREA PANTHERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My older two are (or were) on the Varsity football team for TA. They got in the top four again… second year in a row!!! AND they are Region 3-AA STATE CHAMPIONS!!!! I am so doing my snoopy dance for these guys!!!!

NOW, on my writing. Things could be going better with my new stories batch, but I have been having a story critiqued that is getting it closer to being THERE! WoooooHooooooo. That is such an amazing feeling still. To have accomplished something and have it there!

 I do have an extra to add here too. Fun for Kidz Magazine accepted my article “Flash Talk” for their May 2012 issue. Doing another Snoopy Dance. woooooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooo.

Now, I’m looking at the end of the year. *sigh* Where has this year gone, btw?!? I mean woosh and it’s g-o-n-e! I am still getting a few more subs out before the end of the year. Don’t know if I’ll manage to have my total subs up this year or not. But I know I’ve had some good turn arounds this year. I always like going over my spread sheet and seeing how things went.

OKay, I better get to writing…

hello fellow writers out in cyber-world. I thought I would post some contests I’ve ran across. Maybe it will help get your writing mojo on?! Yea, Baby!

Highlights Contest
http://tinyurl.com/2lpcc
Theme: Contemporary world-cultures stories.
Length: Up to 800 words (up to 500 words for younger children)
Target Age: Up to 12
Prize: $1000
Entry Fee: None
Entry Deadline: Send between January 1 and January 31, 2009

Note: The url above doesn’t say HIGHLIGHTS because I plugged the 113character HIGHLIGHTS url into tinyurl so I could make one that would fit on here. It still takes you to HIGHLIGHTS.

Contest for Article or Short Story
http://www.go-explore-trans.org/Go-writing-contest-flyer.pdf
Focus: transportation
Reader Age: teen
length: Up to 2000 words
Prize: $1000
Entry Fee: none
Deadline: January 15, 2009

Good writing & Good Luck!

Okay, I’m going to get back to my train of thought before all the sickies commenced! *;^D*

To recap… You’ve:

1. written a ms
2. let it sit, to cool your brain off
3. reread your ms, and revised as needed
4. had it critiqued
5. revised and sat ms as need

Now what??? Well, you’re ready to get that dear ms that you’ve nurtured out the door! Ta-DAH!!!!!!! But where to send it???? I cannot put into words the importance of research here. There are tons of publishing houses and tons of magazines out there. But not all of them will make a good fit with you ms. What I do is quite simple I research them!

You can do a lot of research with a few things… Books, Newsletters, and the Internet!

Here are three books I recommend:

Children’s Writers & Illustrators Market
Children’s Book Market
Children’s Magazine Market

All three of these are updated each year with a new publication.

Newsletters… well there are a TON of these out there. Some I’ve found the most helpful are:

SCBWI <both national & regional)
The Book Insider (write 4 kids newsletter)
Children’s Writer (ICL)

Now with these you need to pay a subscription to receive them. But it’s worth it. Newsletter are updated monthly and can keep you up to date with most information.

The internet. *sigh* How did we ever get along with out it????????? I have too many websites to list. But some of the most helpful I’ve found are:

Predators & Editors
CWIM
The Purple Crayon   -Who’s Moving Where Page
My critique groups
KidMagWriters.com

I cannot express how much helpful word of mouth is. On top of these there’s conferences, meetings, writing forums, and so many more to look at and catch up on current information.

The reason I’m stressing all this is that you’ve GOT to get your ‘ideal’ publisher in mind. If you write fiction, don’t send it to someone who only prints non-fiction. If you write ya, don’t send it to someone who is currently open only to pbs. That kind of thing. It waste your time and money and theirs.

There’s a reason why so my publishers are closing there doors. They are overwhelmed and can’t see out their office doors for all the submissions. ***Okay, I’m probably exaggerating here. Or at least I hope I am. YIKES!***

By doing good research, you’ll narrow your publishers down and have a better chance of getting accepted. While I can’t guarantee acceptance, ***but, boy I wish I could*** I think you’ll have a better opportunity to make a connection with an editor and hopefully get your foot in the door and be on your way to seeing your writing goals acheived.

Yes, I’m still here. I didn’t fall into the void. We have had the sickies running rampart in our house. The kids and I have been trading junk back and forth. Finally have them all well, but I’m still feeling crappy. But going to work today… missed all last week. I’ve felt worse though, and I’ve felt pretty bad not getting on here. Yep, I missed doing this and hearing from all of you all. *sniff, sniff. No, I’m not crying, just had something in my eye that’s all. hahahahhahahaha* So here I am. Jumping back on the horse and trying to not get bucked off again.

In getting back to writing… I’ve been looking around and will begin to post contest here also. I know I’ve already been posting a few about winning books, but I will also expand and include writing contests too. Got to get the creative juices flowing you know! hahahahahhaha! I don’t know about you, but I know I need a figurative kick in the pants every now and then to write something new.

The end of the year is winding down, ALREADY!!!!????!!!! This year has flown. I don’t know about you, but I’m doing pretty good with my goals. I still don’t have a printed book contract yet, but I feel so much closer. I still have 1 2/3 months left, and anything is possible. If not, I’ll just keep on trucking next year. <big grin>

 I do have some extra good news to tack onto the end of this post. I sold another article last week!!!! Wooooo HOOOOOOOOO! ***SNOOPY DANCE*** It was another one to Fun for Kidz Magazine. “FLASH TALK” will appear in their May 2012 issue. Yep, 4 years away. Well technically 3 1/2. hahahaha. But it’s still a bit to go, and I know it’s coming. <really big grin> Hoping the rest of the year will continue to be good. I’m mean hey… my birthday is coming and don’t forget about Christmas…

Dear Editors,
All I want for Christmas is a few contracts and a nice fat advance.
Love always,
~~~Tracey
PS-I’ve been a really good girl this year!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHA! Gee, do you think it will work? Okay, okay. I’ll quit fooling and go back to some writing. You better too. ;^D

For those of you you come and read my little tidbits… I must apologise for the past week or so. I put on my plate one too many things and alas my blogs suffered, as well as my writing, as well as the house work and my sanity… OKay… You get the picture. I know.

Needless to say, I had to know when to say when and what to do about all of it.

I think we all get like that from time to time. Even with our writing. Some take on too many projects. ***something I haven’t had to worry about yet (((sniffle, sniffle)))*** Others have ideas coming at all angles and don’t know what to do. ***been there, done that*** And of course there’s the exact opposite where nothing is coming at you and you feel like you’ve hit a brick wall. ***and that hurts!***

I don’t think it hurts to try and expand what you are doing. To test your limits. But you have to know when to say “Woah!” Which I found out pretty quick. <big grin> I know what I want to do and what matters in my life. Family, friends, writing. And a few other things here and there. So I will get back to my writing and revising and giving out my play-it-forward advice I like to do here. ***smile*** I really do enjoy this and have found it as a stress relieving exercise. REALLY!

Here’s to testing yourself, knowing your limits, and achieving all that you can.