A Kick-in-the-Pants!

If you're a writer, you already know this. But I want to say it again. A Writer's Group (Critique Group) is very, very important! A good group will offer excellent feedback on your writing, will share industry information, and provide a consistent outlet for your work.

This last one is what I needed most recently. What I needed was a Kick-in-the-Pants! Winter hit me hard this year, plus I got very busy. So busy, in fact, that I hadn't written any new material in weeks! (I apologize to my blog followers for being so LAME lately. This will change as of now.)

I didn't bring anything to our November Pita meeting. I didn't want to show up to our December meeting empty handed either. I saw the date getting closer and felt the pressure to produce. This is self-imposed pressure, but very motivating. I didn't want two whole months to slip away without some useful feedback from my fellow writers!

I bet the reason the Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) takes place in November is because November sucks! (You can see my obvious bias here. I live in a state where November comes early and hard and makes me want to hibernate like the bears.) But, seriously, a significant outside motivator like Nanowrimo gets people writing more when they might be writing less.

So, I dug out the chapter book I was working on and re-looked at the Hermit Crab chapter. Thank God for Hermit Crabs and the Flaming Pitas! I feel like I'm back on track.

Writing Retreat

Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to go on a three-day writing retreat with 3 of the 4 women in my writer's group. This was actually the first time I had ever gone on an official writing retreat, and it was well worth it!

We stayed at "The Sequel", a beautiful, cozy cabin on a lake. It was cold and rainy, then snowy. But, frankly, that was fine with me. I was less inclined to go exploring outside and more inclined to happily write away the afternoon.

Before the retreat we planned out a schedule for each day. Our day looked something like this:

8:00 am - Breakfast

9:00 am - Writing Exercise, then Free Writing Time

Noon - Lunch

1:00 pm - Hike and Write

3:00 pm - Free Writing Time

6:00 pm - Dinner

7:00 pm - Free Writing Time

8:00 pm - Games

We each came prepared to lead one writing exercise. These included exercises on character, setting, plot, and story starters. Writing exercises were kept fairly short so that we could optimize free writing time.

The other, extremely wonderful thing we did that helped optimize our writing time, was that we hired a great chef (and friend) to cook for us on the retreat. We were all so happy to have her with us!

All in all, I got a lot of writing done and had a great time. In fact, all of us had such a good time that we plan to go on a writing retreat twice a year.

If you (alone or with your writing group) can put together some kind of organized writing retreat, I highly recommend it. What a great way to get some concentrated writing accomplished and have fun along the way!

Rejection Quotes

Here is a list of some of the comments I have received in rejection letters. Some are generic, some confusing, some helpful, and some seem to reflect the current, tricky picture book market.

Please feel free to share some of your rejection letter comments - the silly and the serious! It will be interesting to see our collection all together.

• "your book would (not) be a comfortable fit for our current list"

• "there needs to be more plot"

• "too quiet"

• "Ultimately, I did not fall in love"

• "(not) distinct enough to withstand the current tough picture book climate"

• "I just didn't feel enthusiastic about this particular project."

• "(It) did not tickle the funny bone of our editor."

• "Not right for me."

• "this project would work best if you yourself were also the artist" (I wish!)

• "I'm not connecting with them."

• "Does not fit our needs."

• "(the) ending needed . . . something more unique and funny."

What are some of your rejection quotes? Were they helpful? Confusing? Bizarre? Let's compare notes.

The Hierarchy of Rejection

In the children's publishing world there is a definite Hierarchy of Rejection. This is very important to keep in mind as you start submitting work for consideration. Not all rejections are created equal!

1. The bottom of the Hierarchy is, of course, no rejection notification at all. It is simply being ignored, passed aside, recycled. This type of rejection is happening more and more these days. For example, the manuscript submission policy on the Charlesbridge website states:

Please do not include a self-addressed stamped envelope. Due to high volume of submissions we respond only to manuscripts of interest. All other manuscripts will be recycled.

Where in the past, no news could be possibly good news, not so anymore. No news - after a significant amount of time - means "No thank you."

To Charlesbridge's credit, they clearly state their policy online so you know what to expect. It's the publishers that just never get back to you, without telling you they won't, that really stinks.

2. Next on the Hierarchy of Rejection scale is the 1/2 slip of photocopied form rejection. I have received a fair number of these over the years. They usually have one sentence that states, "Sorry. Your manuscript does not fit our editorial needs." Or something like that. Blah!

3. A step up is a full sheet of paper, standard rejection. It's a little kinder and usually states, "Not everyone will feel the same way I feel." In other words, "Good luck finding another publisher. Not!"

4. Another step up the Hierarchy - and an important one - is if the editor actually signed the letter and added a note at the bottom. This is a good sign. If the editor wrote something like, "I enjoyed your writing, but it wasn't right for me," then for heaven's sake, if you write something in the future that may be more to her/his tastes, send it! The editor will remember you if they liked your writing the first time around.

Caveat - do not rush and resubmit the next thing on your pile. Wait. Really think about what she likes to publish. Look at their recent catalog. Look online. If in 6 months, a year, you have something new that might fit the bill, send it. Don't worry that it's somehow "too late." I think editors will appreciate that you really thought about what you would re-submit vs. rushing to submit anything.

5. Next up the Hierarchy of Rejection is the fabulous personal rejection letter! You might be thinking what in the world is fabulous about any rejection letter? But, if the editor actually took the time to write a personal letter, then you, my friend, need to keep this editor at the top of your list. They not only liked your writing, they obviously felt you had potential to write something they might like in the future. Even if the letter does not directly ask you to submit new work, do so. But make sure you put your best foot forward. This editor is hopeful that you could be the one! So don't mess it up and send something half done. You might not get the personal rejection letter next time.

6. At the tippy-top of the Hierarchy is the rejection letter that isn't really a rejection letter, but a letter requesting that you re-write your story and resubmit it. This doesn't happen every day, so if you get this kind of letter - pounce. Once again, don't resubmit the very next day. The editor might not think you took the editing very seriously if you whipped it off overnight. Take the time to re-write. Re-read the letter to see what the editor is suggesting. How was it close, but not close enough?

When I submitted my manuscript, REMEMBERING MAMA, to Augsburg Press, I received a top of the hierarchy rejection letter that was two pages long! At first I was bummed out. (I hadn't been submitting long enough to realize how good this rejection was.) Then, after a few days, I re-read the letter and realized the editor basically wanted me to add some minimal things to the story. I re-wrote REMEMBERING MAMA, re-submitted it, and it became my first published book. If I had ignored her rejection letter and simply moved on to another editor, I would not have that book published today.

So, if you get a 1/2 slip for rejection in the mail, forget about it and definitely MOVE ON. But, if you get a "good" rejection where the editor took the time to write a note, or better yet a whole letter, then keep that person's name handy. Don't feel bad. (Well, OK, feel bad for one day.) But then, feel happy that you got such a good rejection. In the Hierarchy of Rejections, any personal note is excellent! It could possibly lead to a future publishing relationship.

Laura Purdie Salas at Red Balloon

Last Saturday, I went to hear Laura Purdie Salas read her new book, STAMPEDE: POEMS TO CELEBRATE THE WILD SIDE OF SCHOOL, at the Red Balloon Bookstore in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Laura is a good friend and we're in the same critique group. Plus, the two of us have partnered a lot on book promotion over the past several months. But, this was a fun opportunity to see Laura in action on her own. And she did great!

Laura talked about her inspiration for writing poems that compare kids to animals. The inspiration involved her daughter Maddie, some pulled teeth, and two straws. Basically, Laura thought her daughter looked like a walrus and a poem was born! Whoa be to the children of authors. Everything and anything is fair game!

Then, Laura read STAMPEDE, with the help of her lovely assistant, Maddie, who helped show the illustrations to the audience. After each of the poems, Laura got the audience (children and adults) to make the animal sounds and movements from that poem. It was great to hear everyone snorting like a pig and stampeding like an elephant. (BTW, my friend Bridget can make an amazingly authentic elephant sound!)

After the reading, Laura and Maddie set up fun, interactive stations where people could compare the length of their "wing span" to that of a condor, flamingo and flying fox bat. You could also see how far you could jump in comparison to a flee, squirrel and rabbit. These "extras" are what make a good reading, great. And Laura put a lot of thought into what makes a good reading.

All in all, it was lots of fun to support a writer friend and hear some great kid poems to boot. If you have school age kids, STAMPEDE would make a super great teacher gift. Think about it - there's already snow on the ground here in Minnesota, which means it's almost time for holiday shopping. So get cracking and pick up a copy of STAMPEDE. Your kid's teacher will thank you:)

MBA Children's Breakfast

The highlight of the recent Midwest Booksellers Association convention was the annual Children's Breakfast. The four featured authors were:

• Loren Long, author and illustrator of OTIS, a picture book about a very special tractor,

• Catherine Gilbert Murdock, author of FRONT AND CENTER, the last book in the DAIRY QUEEN trilogy,

• M.T. Anderson, author of FEED and JASPER DASH AND THE FLAME-PITS OF DELAWARE, and

• Neil Gaiman, author of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK and ODD AND THE FROST GIANTS.

Each author spoke about their new books and about being an author/illustrator. Each was funny in their own way. Loren Long talked about getting the idea for his book from his kids. Murdock showed pictures of her home where she works. Anderson talked about setting his scary, adventure book in Delaware (of all places)! And Gaiman told us how he originally wrote ODD AND THE FROST GIANTS for World Book Day in England where authors write short novels for free and kids get these books for free using special tokens.

I snapped this great shot of Gaiman and Anderson. It was EARLY in the morning. I'm not sure Neil Gaiman owns a hairbrush. Anderson is purposely making a "tough guy" face.

It was pretty amazing to meet these authors and hear them speak. Who knows? Maybe someday, one of us will be up there speaking at the MBA Children's Breakfast. I can't wait to see who's there next year!

Authors, Authors, Authors

This weekend, I will be attending the Midwest Booksellers Association (MBA) Trade Show in St. Paul. This annual event is geared for independent bookstores in 9 1/2 Midwest states. (I say 1/2 because MBA includes stores from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but apparently not the Lower Peninsula.) The Trade Show/Conference has workshops for independent booksellers, publisher booths with their forthcoming books, award events, and opportunities to meet many adult and children's authors.

As a children's author, I feel it's imperative to meet other children's authors, especially those who you admire, if at all possible. Going to writer's conventions and attending book signings are two ways to do this. Another way is to work at a bookstore and go to MBA.

I will be attending MBA as a bookseller, but I will be wearing two "hats." As a bookseller, I will meet sales reps and look at upcoming books. As an author, I will be meeting other authors, listening to their stories, and snapping up copies of their books.

Some of the children's authors I hope to meet at MBA include: Neil Gaiman (photo above), M.T. Anderson, Patricia C. Wrede, Maggie Stiefvater, Loren Long, Catherine Gilbert Murdock and Cynthia Rylant.

I also hope to see children's authors I have met before including: Marion Dane Bauer, Kate DiCamillo, and Kathy-jo Wargin.

Attending an event like MBA is a big perk of working at a bookstore. (Of course, it's only one of many perks:) But, it's a good one - not only as a bookseller, but also as an author.