{"id":3282,"date":"2013-12-17T07:42:24","date_gmt":"2013-12-17T13:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=3282"},"modified":"2013-12-17T07:42:24","modified_gmt":"2013-12-17T13:42:24","slug":"so-you-wanna-write-a-picture-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=3282","title":{"rendered":"So, You Wanna Write a Picture Book?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I write here at 7-Imp<\/em> (and elsewhere) about picture books. ‘Cause I love them so. <\/p>\n

I’ve never, however, tried to write one myself (except that time in grad school when I took a course from Jack Gantos<\/a><\/strong>, and HOO BOY, was it one of the hardest things I’ve ever been asked to do, but I digress). Despite this fact, I get lots of queries from people who want to publish a picture book but don’t know where to begin. <\/p>\n

And I’ve found myself telling these people lately about a new handbook from picture book author Linda Ashman<\/a><\/strong> (with whom I had a Kirkus chat<\/a><\/strong> this past May). It’s called The Nuts and Bolts Guide to Writing Picture Books: Tools and Tips for Writing, Polishing and Selling Your Manuscript<\/em>. If memory serves me right, she released it this past summer. I’m just now getting around to writing a post about it, though as I said, I’ve personally recommended it to several wannabe authors since then. <\/p>\n

It’s an e-book, and you can even download the Table of Contents and Introduction here<\/a><\/strong> at Linda’s site. It is packed with the type of information those wanting to be published—or even thinking<\/em> about writing a picture book—would need to know. In fact, I’m super happy that I can now direct folks to this guidebook, given that I do get asked often about how to get one’s foot in the door when it comes to publishing a picture book. There are nine chapters, which instruct readers—with accessibility and wit—in the ways of Prepping a Picture Book Manuscript for Submission. It’s a comprehensive and common-sense guide from someone who knows the ins-and-outs of picture book publishing and who speaks with wisdom. And occasionally throughout the handbook, Linda pauses to chat briefly with editors, agents, etc. in the field. (You know<\/em> you wanna hear editors and agents weigh in with their responses to the following queries: “Please complete these sentences: I would love to publish more picture books like …<\/em> and If I read another picture book manuscript submission about [fill in the blank], I will scream.<\/em>” At least I<\/em> found those responses really intriguing.) <\/p>\n

Linda opens with Picture Book Basics, closes with helpful resources, and in between covers how to build a story, how to create memorable characters, the pitfalls and joys of rhyme and rhythm, submitting and selling your work, and much, more more. <\/p>\n

Everyone has their own, unique path to publication, and there’s not one right way (Linda would be the first to say that, I’m sure), but this is a wonderful resource for aspiring picture book authors — as well as those who teach children’s literature, as Linda notes at her site. <\/p>\n

Again, more information for those interested can be found here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I write here at 7-Imp (and elsewhere) about picture books. ‘Cause I love them so. I’ve never, however, tried to write one myself (except that time in grad school when I took a course from Jack Gantos, and HOO BOY, was it one of the hardest things I’ve ever been asked to do, but I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-etcetera"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3282\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}