If you’ve ever wondered how a book is acquired, you need to read this article about the acquisition process on Harold Underdown’s blog. Sometimes when I do school visits, the students will ask how long it takes for a book to be out in print from the time it is first acquired. Sometimes they are surprised when I tell them it takes between two to three or more years.

Another day of wonderful school visits. This time I was down in the Rio Grande Valley visiting Garden Park and Villa Nueva elementary schools in Brownsville, Texas. The students were so enthused and asked excellent questions. This was the first time they had an author visit. The librarians were super and so supportive. My objective, as always, is to inspire the students to read and write more.

On the way back to San Antonio, I bought some fabulous cascarones. Are they not too cute? According to Wikipedia: “Cascarones or confetti eggs are festive, hollowed-out chicken eggs filled with confetti or small toys.In Spanish, cáscara means eggshell. Cascarones are common throughout Latin American and are similar to the Easter eggs popular in many other countries. They are mostly used in Mexico during Carnival, but in US and Mexico border towns the cultures combined making them a popular Easter tradition.” 

Hold it! Before you send out your finished manuscript to a publisher, editor, or agent,  have you done your homework and gone over an editing checklist? Here is a very basic checklist you might want to read. It’s only an excerpt from The Writer’s Little Helper by James V. Smith, Jr., but you’ll get the idea.

The article, “Amateur and Common Mistakes,” by Courtney Carpenter appears in a Writer’s Digest blog. I happened to come across this post the other day and suddenly realized that the book mentioned looked familiar. Sure enough, I went over to my bookshelf and there it was. Way back behind so many other books on writing. I picked it out and am going over it again. It’s been a while.

I noticed that the author has a lot of checklists throughout the book. For example, there’s a checklist on Imagery versus Description, Structuring Your First Words, Conflict in Dialogue, and so on and so on. I am going to read it again, cover to cover.

Chautauqua

On another note, I am working on a narrative nonfiction picture book. I found this definition on a Writers and Editors blog: Narrative nonfiction–joining good research with compelling, character-driven storytelling–reads like a novel.

I usually write fiction, but I need to get out of my comfort zone and try something new. It’s been a fascinating journey. I’ve been doing research and I am so impressed with all the help I have been getting, from museums to newspapers to the Library of Congress. Wish me luck!

Narrative nonfiction: A narrative presentation of actual events.—Writer’s Digest Weekly Planner

Kites! Kites! Kites! The students at Henry Ford Elementary (Pharr) in the Rio Grande Valley had a kite contest in honor of one of my books, Lupita’s Papalote (kite). The librarian initiated this wonderful project for my school visit. These homemade kites were all amazing. One that stood out was from a little girl from Guatemala (the kite with fringes).

Fringed Kite

Homemade Kites

While down in the Valley, the Reading Rock Stars was in progress. I was thrilled to meet for the very first time, Laura Lacamara, the illustrator of my book, Las Aguas Frescas de Alicia.

Author And Lacamara

Following my visit to the SCBWI New York Writers’ conference, I’ve been quite busy lately preparing for school visits and other presentations/events. I feel honored when asked to do this so I take pride and care in preparing the best I know how. Whether it’s a few dozen children or a hundred, I feel my audience deserves the best.

The Texas Book Festival is again bringing Reading Rock Stars to the schools. I’ve been part of this before and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Here is a link showing the latest list of authors and illustrators who will be doing RRS down in the Rio Grande Valley in March. Congratulations, authors and illustrators!!

2014 Reading Rock Stars in the Rio Grande Valley

And here is an article on Publishers Weekly with a panel of authors, illustrators, and editors discussing the topic of diversity in books.

This is a good time to submit that story for kids that you have been working on. The funforkizmagazines have posted their upcoming themes for the year. The magazines include Hopscotch, Boys’ Quest, and Fun for Kidz. Follow their guidelines and good luck!

Byline: Name of the author appearing with the published piece.—Writers’ Digest Weekly Planner

I just returned from the annual Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) conference in New York City. Brrrr… It was cold. But the cold did not dampen the enthusiasm and spirit of the attendees. There were over 1,000 attendees from 47 states and 16 other countries. This was indeed a global conference. Here’s a link to the SCBWI conference blog.

Me and Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander

The keynote speakers were so inspirational and the editor and agent panels brought us up to speed on the latest publishing trends. There is so much that was covered that I need a few days to decipher my notes and digest the information. One of the highlights of the conference was meeting 2015 Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander. The line to have his book, The Crossover, autographed was sooooo long. But I waited patiently. He graciously autographed my copy and allowed for a picture together.

Grand Central Station

Attendees mingling in hotel lobby

My flight coming home was cancelled because of the bad weather in that part of the country, but I still made it home, although much, much later than I had anticipated. The SCBWI staff and personnel who put the conference together are to be commended for their awesome work behind the scenes.

New York City

Synopsis: A brief summary of a story, novel, or play. As part of a book proposal, it is a comprehensive summary condensed n a page or page and a half, single-spaced.—Writer’s Digest Weekly Planner

Here’s a really good post on the Writer’s Digest blog written by Chuck Sambuchino,        titled, “Successful Queries: Agent Suzie Townsend and “A Death-Struck Year.”  He posts an actual query letter to agent Townsend and her comments on the query. This might give you an idea on how to prepare your own query letter.

Texas Bluebonnets & Boot!

But before you submit your query letter and manuscript, read another one of Sambuchino’s posts, “Polish Your Work Before Submitting: 6 Revision Tips.” It’s all about listening. Listening to (a) your critique group, (b) other authors, (c) writing teachers, (d) editors, (e) yourself, and (f) reviews. Read the entire post. Great advice.

I have a great critique group—actually two. They are fabulous writers, all published, with good insight and helpful comments. I do listen to their suggestions.

Be sure to visit me on Goodreads. Thanks. Have a great writing day!

Today I plan to do revisions on a contemporary young adult novel that I’ve had in the works for ages. I’ve collected all the comments from my critique groups and am determined to start with chapter one and go through the entire manuscript until I am satisfied that it is the best that I can do and then start sending it out. I have not had time to tackle this project because in between I have been writing poetry and picture book manuscripts, traveling, entering writing contests, going to conferences and workshops, blah, blah, blah. No more excuses even though I have a stack of books that I have been dying to read.

MURAL

Also, at our recent SCBWI local chapter meeting, we wrote a letter to ourselves about the goals we hope to accomplish as writers or illustrators this coming year. We sealed it and it will be mailed back to us sometime in 2015 to see if we have indeed done what we said we were going to do. Kinda neat, huh? I wrote down a specific goal that I have in mind. Hopefully, I will stick to it. We’ll see.

To get you started on the right track, here’s a post, “50 Articles on Writing to Help you in 2015,” written on the Writer’s Digest blog by Brian Klems. It covers topics you might be interested in as a writer: (a) starting your novel, (b) structure, plot, and character, (c) nonfiction writing, (d) grammar, (e) publishing … and much more.  Now get to work!

“A writer ‘gets started’ the day he is born. The mind he brings into the world with him is the amazing machine his stories will come out of, and the more he feeds into it, the richer those stories will be.”—Lois Duncan

What did I tell you about entering writing contests? That’s how I got started way back

ENJOY THE FLOWERS!

when. A few months ago, I posted a link to a Kindergarten Story Contest sponsored by the Institute of Children’s Literature. Well, I myself, submitted a 150-word count story, which was the limited word count the guidelines stipulated. Guess what? I won! I won first place. See? You never know when you take a leap of faith and submit. Do it! Do it today!

I hope I am on a roll because I just submitted a short, short story to the Writer’s Digest annual contest. Will let you know the results after February when the winners are announced.

This link will take you to fabulous small, small libraries all over the country. Enjoy.

Short-short: A complete short story of 1,500 words or less.—Writer’s Digest Weekly Planner

If you’re into writing historical fiction like I am, you will find the following link helpful. The post by Chuck Sambuchino on the Writer’s Digest Guide to Literary Agents blog, “5 Ways to Take Your Readers Back in Time: The Importance of Historical Research,” (I know, I know, long title), points out the following: (1) A passion for the period, (2) Complete immersion, (3) Homework before Play, (4) On writing-Brit-speak (if you are doing English research), (5) Real people. Very helpful advice.

SUNFLOWERS

My own historical fiction, which I have finished and am shopping around, takes place in Southwest Texas around the late 1938’s. I’ve done a lot of research on my topic, which was both fascinating and enjoyable. While researching, I found it easy to stray away from my subject when I discovered other stories that would also make good novels. Maybe I’ll come back to those later. Not cool to not stay focused.

And it’s close to that time of year again. Yes—income tax time. Another helpful Writer’s Digest blog, “What Writing Expenses Are Tax Deductible?” by Brian Klems will help you sort all those writing expenses you incurred during 2014. It’s gotta be done, my friend.

“Although there are no set rules on length, a short-short story usually runs 500-1500 words, a short story is 2,000-7,000, a long story is 8,000-15,000, and a novella is 20,000-50,000.” — Writer’s Digest Weekly Planner

Serenity

This is “nuts & bolts” kind of stuff, but if you’re a beginner and are wondering how to format your manuscript before sending it off to an agent or editor, here’s a link on the Writer’s Digest blog written by Brian Klems on his The Writer’s Dig blog. He offers step-by-step instructions on this topic. It’s simple and to the point.

And to help you along the way, here is a detailed listing provided by Harold Underdown on his blog regarding, “News and Staff Changes of Children’s Book Publishers.”

Here’s an interesting link to “Vintage Ads for Libraries and Reading.” Visit the blog, BrainPickings to view these ads researched and written by Marie Popova. Enjoy.

I am in the middle of decluttering my small office so that I can really get started on writing again. Can’t believe I shredded so much stuff and still have more to go. Two things I do not like: clutter and filing papers, which accumulates so fast. Ugh!

Hope you’re having a good 2015 start on your writing!!!

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.—Sir Richard Steele