After more than a year of trying out this experiment, I’ve decided to give it up. It’s not reaching enough people, and recent tech issues have made it even more time-consuming than usual. I’m thinking about perhaps a podcast that is easier to share, but for now, my weekly audio updates are on hiatus. Thanks to those of you who listened!
Sep 6, 2019: What publication week is like for my fourth and final picture book of 2019. SUBMISSIONS, LOONS, WINTER, ASSESSMENT
Aug 30, 2019: Revising a picture book that was veering into two stories in one, plus submitting and building editor relationships. PIGEON, SUBMISSIONS, SCHOOL, LIFE (Audio quality still a bit lower than usual. Should be back to normal by next week–fingers crossed!)
Aug 23, 2019: Tech breakdown (AGAIN?!) and how I handle emails on vacation. LOONS, WINTER, ASSESSMENT, CLOVER, LIFE (Audio quality a bit lower than usual, as I had to make a smaller file due to my tech breakdown. Sorry about that!)
Aug 9, 2019: Gifts from a literary agent, even though she’s not going to represent me. AGENTS
Aug 2, 2019: Losing and gaining clients. LOONS, WINTER, ASSESSMENT.
July 26, 2019: Giving feedback on sketches for a picture book. LOONS, BELONG, WINTER, SCHOOL, SUBMISSIONS, LIFE, COLLABORATION, CLOVER, WORD
July 19, 2019: Credits and bylines on a collaborative project, plus getting back into everything after a week of not thinking much about work at all! BELONG, LOONS, ASSESSMENT, LIFE, CLOVER
July 12, 2019: When you write a manuscript at an editor’s suggestion, and then it doesn’t work out, but the editor buys a new totally different manuscript but on the same theme…letting the editor know I’ll be sending it to other editors. SCHOOL, BELONG, LOONS, SUBMISSIONS, LIFE, PIGEON
July 5, 2019: An answer from acquisitions and a topsy-turvy week. BELONG, SCHOOL, WINTER, WORD, ASSESSMENT, LIFE
June 28, 2019: What I did at ALA in Washington, DC…SPEAKING, CAREER
June 14, 2019: When my critique group disagrees and raises new questions about a manuscript an editor loves…LOONS, MAYBE, WINTER, SPEAKING, CAREER
June 7, 2019: Acquisitions meetings…LOONS, MAYBE, SPEAKING, CLOVER, CAREER
May 31, 2019: Balancing building community vs my need for quiet time…LOONS, SPEAKING, SUBMISSIONS, CAREER
May 24, 2019: Waiting for replies from publishers…LOONS, COLLABORATION, CLOVER, SUBMISSIONS, SPEAKING, LLL, WINTER
May 17, 2019: A three-day writing residency, a new first draft, and a good sign from a publisher! LOONS, SPEAKING, SUBMISSIONS, PIGEON
May 10, 2019: Submitting to an agent and a closed house, positivity in school visits, and my publisher was sold! LOONS, SPEAKING, CAREER, SUBMISSIONS
April 26, 2019: Progress on Loons and prepping for speaking gigs. LOONS, SPEAKING, CAREER, SUBMISSIONS
April 19, 2019: Texas Library Association: the best and worst things I did. SPEAKING, CAREER
April 12, 2019: My book launch and writing retreat. SPEAKING, LOONS, LEAP, CAREER
April 5, 2019: My week-long poetry residency at an elementary school. SPEAKING, LION, LOONS
March 29, 2019: The Denver Children’s Festival of Stories—a recap! LOONS, SPEAKING, LLL, SUBMISSIONS
March 21, 2019: Working through overwhelm! LOONS, COLLABORATION, EQUATIONS, NIGHT, PROMOTION (SPRING 2019 BOOKS), SPEAKING, CAREER
March 15, 2019: A rough week with lots of “No.” LOONS, COLLABORATION, NIGHT, SPEAKING, SUBMISSIONS, CAREER
March 8, 2019: Eking out bits of writing time! LOONS, COLLABORATION, NIGHT, MAGIC, SPEAKING
March 1, 2019: The unfortunate truth that writing a book that actually comes out means less writing time (for a while, anyway)! CAREER, EQUATIONS, NIGHT, LOONS
February 22, 2019: Submitting a ms my critique group hasn’t seen? Ack! And worrying about a school visit after I love my voice. COLOR, MAYBE, SPEAKING, SUBMISSIONS
February 8, 2019: What really happens the week your picture book comes out? EQUATIONS, MARKETING, SPEAKING, CAREER
February 1, 2019: Working with a rhyming manuscript, in prose–plus a podcast situation. COLOR, EQUATIONS, LION, WINTER, MAYBE, WORD, SUBMISSIONS, CAREER
January 24, 2019: Saying no to a paid assignment, revising a poetry collection 2-1/2 years after the first revision, and more. COLOR, WORD, CAREER, LIFE, WINTER, EQUATIONS, ASSESSMENT
January 18, 2019: I’m starry-eyed over some good news, plus working through a poetry picture book with an editor’s notes. I forgot to mention I went to a kidlit drinks night. Really trying to connect more with my community in person, even when it’s social events that I’m super bad at. COLOR, WORD, ZAP, NCTE, SUBMISSIONS, CAREER, LION
January 11, 2019: A flurry of news, plus updated kidlit resources on my website! COLLABORATION, COLOR, NIGHT, ZAP, MAYBE, WORD, NCTE, SUBMISSIONS, LIFE, ASSESSMENT, CAREER
January 4, 2019: Starting off the new year with loads of assessment work, illustrator news, and an unexpected reprint. ZAP, CAREER, ASSESSMENT, SPEAKING
December 21, 2018: A week full of assessment writing, plus two nice reviews for EQUATIONS and a notable list for MOON, plus work-life balance/juggling. CAREER, ASSESSMENT, EQUATIONS, MOON.
December 14, 2018: Reviewing my 2018 writing goals and dreams. MAYBE, WINTER, ZAP, ASSESSMENT, CAREER
December 7, 2018: Talking mostly about relationships in the context of a writing career. COLLABORATION, SUBMISSIONS, NCTE, CAREER
November 28, 2018: It’s a short workweek for me. Sharing news about EQUATIONS, NIGHT, CAREER, SUBMISSIONS.
November 19, 2018: 10 lessons from and about NCTE. Aw, man, I left out one of my ten! That one was: Share your why. I’m a HUGE fan of giving practical tips to teachers. But don’t forget to mention the WHY it matters. Why you write for kids. Why you made the writing choices you did. Why you want your book to reach readers. Sharing 10% why with 90% practical will leave people inspired as well as ready to take action.
November 13, 2018: The trauma of the death of a laptop, and what happens at NCTE? COLLABORATION, EQUATIONS, LION, NIGHT, NCTE, SPEAKING
November 2, 2018: A quick update at the end of a frazzling week:>) COLLABORATION (whee!), NIGHT, WINTER, NCTE (hard decisions), LLL (almost over), SUBMISSIONS (oops!), CAREER
October 26, 2018: What it’s like working with publishers before your book comes out and also for a big conference. COLLABORATION, LEAF, EQUATIONS, NIGHT, LION, WINTER, NCTE, SPEAKING, LLL, MAGIC, ZAP
October 19, 2018: What kind of info I get from Publishers Weekly‘s Children’s Bookshelf newsletter. EQUATIONS, NIGHT, WINTER, NCTE, SUBMISSIONS, CAREER
Here are lo-res previews of the postcard (front and back) I’m taking to NCTE to give away.
October 12, 2018: What do I do with a manuscript when I’ve exhausted my list of editors to submit it to? COLLABORATION, ZAP, MAGIC, NCTE, CAREER
October 5, 2018: Pre-orders for books and end of month reports. WINTER, COLLABORATION, LLL, NCTE, CAREER
September 28, 2018: Turkish editions and escalation clauses. CAN BE, ZAP, MAGIC, WINTER, COLLABORATION, SUBMISSIONS, SPEAKING, LLL, NCTE, CAREER
September 21, 2018: Why backups are crucial, hear a couple of rejection letters, and how much I got paid for a library storytime. COLLABORATION, SUBMISSIONS, SPEAKING, WINTER, NCTE, ASSESSMENT, CAREER
September 14, 2018: Following up on submissions, submitting to more than one editor at a publisher, and dummying a picture book. SILLY, NCTE, LLL, LIFE, ASSESSMENT, CAREER, OFFICE, SUBMISSIONS, COLLABORATION, SPEAKING
September 7, 2018: An offer memo coming soon, the difference between an offer memo and a contract, illustrator news, and why I’m writing again. EQUATIONS, MAGIC, MITTENS, OFFICE, SUBMISSIONS, COLLABORATION, SPEAKING
August 30, 2018: Why aren’t I writing? Because I’ve been busy all week with other tasks around promotion of forthcoming books, prep for NCTE, and submissions research. This week: EQUATIONS, MAGIC, NIGHT, OFFICE, SUBMISSIONS
At my treadmill desk! Better pictures to come once setup is complete.
Angela Matteson’s awesome art for IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!
August 24, 2018: Updates on various picture book projects, submitting more than one manuscript to an editor, and more. I’m going to start listing the keywords of projects I talk about each week so that if I ever need to follow the trail of a particular project back through my weekly updates, I can. This week: OPPOSITES, CLEAN, EQUATIONS, LLL, MAGIC, SILLY, EEEEK, BEAUTY
August 19, 2018: In this update, my office despair, plus updates on tons of projects, plus NCTE!
August 9, 2018: Trying something new: an audio recap of my writing week. The good, the bad, the exciting, the depressing. It’s all here!