Paula Yoo NaPiBoWriWee

Stay Tuned for 2014 NAPIBOWRIWEE – May 1-7, 2014!

paulayoo — Fri, 31 May 2013 13:00:37 +0000

The next NAPIBOWRIWEE will take place May 1-7, 2014

Hi! Please mark your calendars… the 6th annual NATIONAL PICTURE BOOK WRITING WEEK (AKA “NaPiBoWriWee”) will take place May 1-7, 2014.

For the past five years, NAPIBOWRIWEE has celebrated the art and craft of writing picture books by challenging writers to attempt to write 7 picture books in 7 days. We feature fun Q&A blogs with guest authors plus lots of fun prizes and souvenirs. The goal of NAPIBOWRIWEE is to encourage writers to fight procrastination by trying to write AND finish a first draft of a picture book every single day for seven straight days. You are allowed to brainstorm, research, and outline your picture books all year-long until May 1st, when you are to write full drafts of each picture book through May 7th.

For more information and FAQs, please visit these blog links:

http://paulayoo.com/napi/?p=474

and

http://paulayoo.com/napi/?p=543

In addition, we have souvenirs available at our NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013 store, including coffee mugs & travel mugs, journals, T-shirts, and tote/beach bags! Please visit our store here:

http://www.cafepress.com/napibowriwee2013

We will debut a NEW store for 2014 in early Spring 2014, so please stay tuned for that.

You can also read the archives here with previous event Q&As with guest authors and craft writing advice:

http://paulayoo.com/napi/

I will post blogs about 2014 NAPIBOWRIWEE in early 2014. Until then, you can follow me on Twitter @paulayoo and also read my REGULAR blog here: http://paulayoo.com/blog

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Until the next NAPIBOWRIWEE… as always… HAPPY WRITING! WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013: Extra Contest Winners Announced & Final Wrap-Up!

paulayoo — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Hi! Welcome to our final official NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013 blog. This is an extra blog to announce the winners of a special EXTRA contest we held last week with author JULIE HEDLUND (link here: http://paulayoo.com/napi/?p=613)

(Keep reading after the jump to find out who won!)

As you know, every year from May 1-7, I host a fun international event called NATIONAL PICTURE BOOK WRITING WEEK (AKA “NaPiBoWriWee”). It’s where I encourage both newbies and veterans to challenge themselves to write 7 picture books in 7 days. The goal is to fight off procrastination, encourage folks to learn what it’s like to write every single day no matter what, and to have hopefully up to seven rough first drafts that you can go back and revise throughout the year. The event was started in 2009 and has been going strong for five years so far. (For more info, go here: http://paulayoo.com/napi/?p=474)

Our NAPIBOWRIWEE event also has a fun contest every year where participants’ names are drawn at random for fun prizes at our STORE (http://www.cafepress.com/napibowriwee2013) and with autographed books from myself and guest authors.

This year, the theme for NAPIBOWRIWEE was “The Future of the Picture Book” in which I asked our guest authors to discuss the future of picture books given the economy, the chaos in the book industry, and the rise of eBooks and computer apps. Everyone gave such amazing and thoughtful answers and predictions. The last blog for May 8th featured author JULIE HEDLUND who truly represents the FUTURE with her journey as both a traditional picture book writer as well as a writer who has sold computer apps for the iPad and other electronic tablets.

Julie’s interview is here: http://paulayoo.com/napi/?p=613

Julie graciously offered two prizes – copies of is her story book app called A TROOP IS A GROUP OF MONKEYS. Link on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id601767840?mt=8) It is the first in a trilogy coming out this year from Little Bahalia Publishing (http://littlebahalia.com/). The second app, A SHIVER OF SHARKS, will be out at the end of May.

NAPIBOWRIWEE participants were encouraged to post comments specifying they would like to be included in the contest. Winners were to be announced on May 15th in a special blog announcement.

Well, without further ado… HERE ARE THE WINNERS!

Julie selected the two winners by using Random.org. Drum roll, please…

WINNERS OF THE JULIE HEDLUND iPAD APP:

STACEY CAMPBELL (AKA “SRCampbell”)

and

MEG

CONGRATULATIONS! Stacey and Meg, we will get in touch with you shortly to make arrangements for your prize delivery. Thanks again to EVERYONE who participated in this drawing. And thank you to Julie Hedlund for her generosity.

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Well, this is it for NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013! Feel free to explore the NaPiBoWriWee blog (http://paulayoo.com/napi) archives for all the author interviews conducted over the years. I will keep everyone posted about our 2014 NAPIBOWRIWEE event next year. For souvenirs, please visit our STORE here: http://www.cafepress.com/napibowriwee2013

In the meantime, you can follow me for the rest of the year on Twitter @paulayoo. And my cat@oreothecatyoo.

I also post blogs regularly on my non-NaPiBoWriWee normal blog here: http://paulayoo.com/blog (You can also comment on my regular blog but you don’t have to go through a whole registration process like you do for NaPiBoWriWee. The SPAM filters are pretty user friendly on my other blog.)

For fun cat videos of my Oreo, Beethoven, and Charlotte, please follow me on YOUTUBE here: http://youtube.com/paulayoo

Congratulations again to everyone who participated in this year’s event. Please keep me posted on how the revisions go on your 7 picture book drafts and it’s not too early to start planning for next year! Start brainstorming those ideas now!

Until the next NAPIBOWRIWEE, remember… Happy Writing! WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013: Day 8 – Guest Blogger Julie Hedlund, Wrap-Up Thoughts, & Contest Winners Announced!

paulayoo — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:00:29 +0000

Welcome to Day 8 of our fifth annual 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE (National Picture Book Writing Week) where we attempt to write 100 picture books in 100 days. It’s only Day 8 out of 100 days. I hope you are pacing yourself. Burn-out and fatigue usually happens around Day 32 and…

HAHAHAHA! LOL! I AM JUST KIDDING! DID I SCARE YOU?

Seriously… NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013 is OVER. Done. History! We all survived! Some of us managed to cobble out 7 picture book first drafts in 7 straight days. Some of these manuscripts are inspired diamonds in the rough that promise to become polished revised final drafts ready for potential submission and even publication. Other drafts might be a bit more, um, questionable. And yes, there are at least one or two clunkers in the bunch that we will cringe at and stick in the bottom drawer of our desks, never to be seen again.

BUT… the whole point of this writing exercise was how to learn and train your brain to WRITE A STORY EVERY SINGLE DAY. A story with a hopefully interesting character and compelling storyline with a beginning, middle, and end and lots of conflict in which our characters conquered with clever and creative solutions.

(NOTE: This is a super long blog chock full of fun surprises, so please bear with me… thanks for your patience and reading through this super duper long blog!)

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Today’s blog will feature my Day 7 Experience, wrap-up thoughts, a final guest author blog with writer JULIE HEDLUND, and the announcement of our 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE contest winners. Julie addresses the alternatives to traditional publishing for our theme of The Future of the Picture Book. She tells us about her success with storybook apps and digital publishing. It’s absolutely fascinating. Even if you are still interested in traditional publishing, Julie’s blog is a refreshing take and point of view of the Brave New World of Digital Publishing that we should all be aware of. Her blog fits this year’s theme of “The Future of the Picture Book” to a T!

SPECIAL NOTE: Julie Hedlund is also offering two copies of her story book app called A TROOP IS A GROUP OF MONKEYS. Link on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id601767840?mt=8) It is the first in a trilogy coming out this year from Little Bahalia Publishing (http://littlebahalia.com/). The second app, A SHIVER OF SHARKS, will be out at the end of May.

Julie’s prize is an EXTRA CONTEST PRIZE. Because you MUST own an iPAD (or mini iPAD), this is a special prize for you. The rules for Julie’s prize? Please write a comment on this blog specifying that you would like to be considered for this prize BEFORE May 15th. Julie will then choose two winners. The two winners will receive her storybook app as a gift through iTunes. I will post a blog announcing the Julie Hedlund winners on Wednesday May 15th (by 6 AM PST).

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MY DAY SEVEN EXPERIENCE: Who knew what a rough 7 days this would be? I was juggling TV staffing season meetings, maintaining and updating these website blogs, writing my own 7 books, and dealing with an emergency roof leak on Day 6. Yet another memorable NAPIBOWRIWEE! LOL! (BTW thanks everyone for your kind words re: our emergency roof leak. Thankfully it was a quick and not too expensive fix. But New Roof 2.0 looms in the near future! LOL!) For my Book 7, I decided to finally write a rough draft of some research I had done on another historical figure. This historical person was one I had been wanting to write a picture book biography of for a few years but never got around to it. So I wrote a very rough draft. The writing wasn’t too hard only because I have read like four books on this historical person and have a bunch of notes already in my computer files. But in writing it in picture book prose form, I started thinking this might sparkle more as a potential middle grade historical novel in verse. I got carried away and started thinking about chapter ideas and topics for narrative poems. The result? I have a rough draft of a picture book prose biography that will now serve as a template for me to use later IF I decide to go with the novel-in-verse idea. So all in all, I’d say this year’s NAPIBOWRIWEE was successful for me. I haven’t always been able to write 7 picture books in 7 days every year, especially recently. So I was happy that I DID achieve my goal this year – 7 for 7! YAY! :)

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NOW WHAT? WHAT’S NEXT? For those of you who are wondering what to do now that NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013 is over, here’s another suggestion. Obviously you will revise your NAPIBOWRIWEE drafts to perfection. You will then have to get a second opinion. I know many of you have trusted friends, writing class teachers/students, and critique groups who help you with their critiques. But if you are interested in professional critiques, I highly recommend the amazing editor AMY LIN who runs one of the best professional editorial critique services in the kid lit world. Her website is here: http://www.editomato.com

I also recommend joining the SOCIETY OF CHILDREN BOOK WRITERS & ILLUSTRATORS (http://scbwi.org) if you haven’t already. They have great resources, including a PDF file for members only of all the professional freelance editorial services out there in case you want to pursue professional editorial critiques for your work as well.

Finally, you can always find a fun souvenir at our 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE Cafe Press Store, featuring special notebooks, mugs, travel mugs, bags, and T-shirts! Link here: http://www.cafepress.com/napibowriwee2013

(Please keep reading after the jump for our Q&A with JULIE HEDLUND plus a list of our CONTEST WINNERS who will receive special autographed books and store souvenirs! And if you would like to be considered for Julie’s special iPAD app contest, please indicate so in a comment to this blog. Winners for Julie’s prize will be announced on May 15, 2013. Thanks!)

Meet author JULIE HEDLUND!

JULIE HEDLUND is a Children’s author and Freelance Writer. Julie’s book, A TROOP IS A GROUP OF MONKEYS, was released as an interactive storybook app for the iPad in February 2013 by Little Bahalia Publishing. Two additional titles in the series are scheduled for later this year.

Julie is the creator of Julie Hedlund’s Template for Storybook App Proposals and the founder and host of the 12 x 12 picture book writing challenge, with 475 members. She is a monthly contributor on Katie Davis’ Brain Burps About Books children’s literature podcast, a contributing editor on the subject of 21st century publishing for Children’s Book Insider, and a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers (SCBWI), the Children’s Book Hub, and the Association of Writers and Writing Professionals. She has been a speaker at AWP, O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing, and SCBWI events.

Julie will also be giving a panel lecture on story apps at this year’s SCBWI-LA summer conference. Her website is here: http://www.juliehedlund.com

JULIE HEDLUND’S GUEST BLOG: The Rise of StoryBook Apps & Digital Publishing

I am VERY optimistic about the future of picture books. In fact, I think this is the best time in history to be both a writer and a reader! Yes, I know big publishers are consolidating. I know physical bookstores are closing. I know some parents are pushing their kids into chapter books sooner, and I know that trade picture books are still a hard sell these days, especially for debut authors.

I also know there are very strong opinions on both sides about the impact of digital publishing on traditional books, especially picture books. But to me, there is no “side.” There is only the opportunity to publish more books on more diverse subjects in more formats than ever before. How do I know this? I am my own case study. A year ago, I had no published books, no contracts in sight, and no agent. Today, I have one published app with two more on the way this year alone. What’s more, my publisher has taken the best from each app and is in the process of producing a print book as a compilation of sorts. We’re also looking at adapting the story to be a simple ebook for both the Kindle and iBookstore. Lastly, we’re contemplating producing singalong apps as add-ons to the series. So by the end of the year I will have, at a minimum, three apps on the iTunes store, a print book, and quite possibly the story available in other formats as well. Where in the traditional publishing world can all of that happen so quickly?

Which is not to say I am at all disdainful of traditional publishing. Quite the opposite. Two months ago I signed with an agent with the strong hope of seeing some of my stories published as traditional, hard-back picture books. As both a writer and a mother, there is simply no substitute for snuggling up in a chair with a physical book and a sleepy child. That primal need for story and connection is never going to go away. Picture books fulfill that need, which is why I am optimistic about their future.

In the midst of all this change and debate, I think it is important to remember that there is no one path to publishing anymore, just as much as there is no one way to reach child readers. In the past, we were mostly confined to big publishers, their catalogs, libraries (particularly school libraries), and book clubs. After that came physical and online bookstores, but even those were still tied primarily to publishing houses. We STILL have those outlets, but now we have more. Authors can connect with readers (or their parents) directly via their online platforms and social media. New smaller, independent and digital publishers are popping up every day. Self-publishing is becoming a far more mainstream and viable option for authors who have niche-market books.

Bottom line: Have you ever seen a two or three year old with an iPad? If you have, I think you’ll have to agree with me that these kids are going to grow up with the expectation of being able to consume stories on these and other devices. It’s our job as writers to reach the kids where they want to read. In some cases, that will be in a chair with a paper book. In other cases, it will be on a Kindle or an iPad. To me, which format of book they read is far less important than the fact that they do read.

So for all of you who have finished this amazing challenge – my hat is off to you! You are writing the drafts today that I have no doubt will become the books that will shape our children’s future tomorrow.

Many thanks to Paula for including me in NaPiBoWriWee this year and for conceiving of the challenge in the first place! We are all grateful for the work you do to advance picture books and their authors.

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Thanks to JULIE HEDLUND for her very fascinating blog on the bravel new world of digital publishing and storybook apps! Please comment on this blog specifying if you own an iPad and would like to be entered for a special EXTRA contest to win one of her storybook apps. Winners will be announced in a blog to be posted on May 15, 2013.

(NOTE: ALL Winners, I will email you individually to make arrangements for your prize deliveries!)

Now, finally… THE CONTEST WINNERS! FYI… Names were drawn AT RANDOM from a hat. By my cat Oreo. Seriously. He says you will not receive your prize unless you follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/oreothecatyoo

My cat Oreo randomly chose winners’ names from a hat for this year’s NAPIBOWRIWEE contest. He says meow and congratulations!

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2013 NAPIBWOWRIWEE CONTEST WINNERS

SHINING STAR: THE ANNA MAY WONG STORY by Paula Yoo, illus. by Lin Wang (Lee & Low ’09)

WINNER OF A PERSONALLY SIGNED COPY OF PAULA YOO’S PICTURE BOOK, “SHINING STAR: THE ANNA MAY WONG STORY” (illustrated by Lin Wang, Lee & Low Books, 2009):

KATHY BERMAN (AKA “KathyB”)

SIXTEEN YEARS IN SIXTEEN SECONDS: THE SAMMY LEE STORY By Paula Yoo, illus. Dom Lee (Lee & Low ’05)

WINNER OF A PERSONALLY SIGNED COPY OF PAULA YOO’S PICTURE BOOK, “SIXTEEN YEARS IN SIXTEEN SECONDS: THE SAMMY LEE STORY” (illustrated by Dom Lee, Lee & Low Books, 2005):

SUSAN CABAEL

GOOD ENOUGH by Paula Yoo (HarperCollins
’08)

WINNER OF A PERSONALLY SIGNED COPY OF PAULA YOO’S YA NOVEL, “GOOD ENOUGH” (HarperCollins 2008):

RACHEL HAMBY (aka “RachelH”)

Little Chicken’s Big Day by Katie Davis and Jerry Davis

WINNER OF KATIE DAVIS’ PICTURE BOOK, “LITTLE CHICKEN’S BIG DAY” (illustrated by Jerry Davis, Margaret K. Elderberry Books, 2011):

TRACEY M. COX (aka “Tracey”)

How Many Kisses Do You Want Tonight? By Varsha Bajaj, illus. Ivan Bates (Little, Brown ’04)

WINNER OF VARSHA BAJAJ’S PICTURE BOOK, “HOW MANY KISSES DO YOU WANT TONIGHT?” (illustrated by Ivan Bates, Little, Brown Books, 2004):

TANJA BAUERLE

2 WINNERS OF THE 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE T-SHIRT:

MEG S. JACKSON (aka “Meg”)

LAURA WYNKOOP (aka “Wolfie172″)

2 WINNERS OF THE 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE COFFEE MUG:

SARA THERESE (aka “saratheresebooks”)

SHARALYN EDGEBERG (aka “Sharalyn”)

2 WINNERS OF THE 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE TRAVEL MUG:

SYLVIA LIU

JULIE KANG

4 WINNERS OF THE 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE NOTEBOOK:

ROBYN CAMPBELL (aka “Robyn”)

BECKY HALL (aka “Becky”)

S.A. PUTNAM

JOANNE ROBERTS (aka “Bookish Ambition”)

Left: Beach Bag; Right: Tote Bag

WINNER OF THE 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE TOTE BAG:

LAURA RENAULD (aka “LauraR”)

WINNER OF THE 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE BEACH BAG:

JANET SLINGERLAND HAMMOND

2 WINNERS OF THE JULIE HEDLUND STORYBOOK APP FOR THE IPAD (TO BE ANNOUNCED MAY 15, 2013):

Two winners will be announced in a future blog to be posted on Wednesday May 15, 2013. PLEASE post a comment on this blog specifying that you would like your name to be put into a special drawing before May 15th.

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CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN TO OUR WINNERS! ALL WINNERS WERE CHOSEN AT RANDOM FROM A HAT BY MY CAT OREO. SERIOUSLY. THIS IS A FAIR RANDOM DRAWING. Oreo wishes he could have chosen ALL of you. But we need to pay for a new roof, so not this year. LOL!

Well, that’s it for this year’s 5th Annual NAPIBOWRIWEE (National Picture Book Writing Week). Grateful thanks to all our Guest Authors – LAURI MEYERS, KATIE DAVIS, VARSHA BAJAJ, MARTHA BROCKENBROUGH, PAUL COLLINS, TANIA MCCARTNEY, ERIN EITTER KONO, and JULIE HEDLUND – for your participation and generosity. HUGS to all NAPIBOWRIWEE participants. I’m so proud of you! I’m sorry I could not reply individually to your comments, but I read all of them and was truly honored and touched by your hard work and kind comments.

Please stay tuned for one last blog to be posted on WEDNESDAY MAY 15, 2013 listing the two extra winners of the iPAD storybook app from JULIE HEDLUND. I will also probably have a few more post-game thoughts and wrap up stuff in that blog as well.

Until then, you can follow me for the rest of the year on Twitter @paulayoo. And my cat @oreothecatyoo.

For fun cat videos of my Oreo, Beethoven, and Charlotte, please follow me on YOUTUBE here: http://youtube.com/paulayoo

Now… everyone, you must take a long nap and NO WRITING for at least 24 hours. You need to rest. Because after today, I expect everyone to write every day… HAPPY WRITING! WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

Sincerely and with much love,

Paula Yoo

NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013: Day 7 – Guest Blogger Erin Eitter Kono! (May 7, 2013)

paulayoo — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:00:52 +0000

Welcome to DAY SEVEN of our 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE event where we are ALMOST DONE writing 7 picture books in 7 days! For the past six days, we have somehow managed to write and finish six picture book drafts. And some of us may be behind – some folks have only written one book, or some folks have maybe gotten a few drafts under their belt. But guess what? You folks ROCK, too! Because you are fighting to write every single day no matter what! So give yourself a pat on the back for not throwing in the towel!

(For those of you who just happened to stop by and have no idea what’s going on, check out the official 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE FAQs here to get caught up on on all the action! http://paulayoo.com/napi/?p=474)

I just want to say how proud I am of everyone’s efforts. It’s been so much fun to reunite with NaPiBoWriWee alumni (from the Classes of 2009 to 2012) and to meet NEW NaPiBoWriWee participants from the Class of 2013! I have enjoyed reading everyone’s comments and thoughts and had a blast getting to know everyone.

You can also find some souvenirs at our store: http://www.cafepress.com/napibowriwee2013 And don’t forget to come back tomorrow when I will post a follow-up blog after NAPIBOWRIWEE ends with some post-game thoughts and a list of the winners from our 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE contest drawing.

And now, my update on my Day Six which was a DOOZY of a day…

MY DAY SIX EXPERIENCE: Let’s just say Day Six could be summed up as “PAULA AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY.” LOL! (And if you’re not familiar with the classic Judith Viorst picture book that I’m referencing, check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/Alexander-Terrible-Horrible-Good-Very/dp/0689711735)

Basically, it rained in Los Angeles last night. And we have been postponing re-roofing our house because well, it costs a lot of money. We’ve had problems with one leak in our house for the past few years, so we have used temporary patches until we saved up enough for a full re-roofing.

Well, I think we’ve hit the last of the temporary patch solutions. Our hallway was FLOODED! It leaked ALL NIGHT. I had to keep putting down towels on the floor and empty out pots and pans every half hour from midnight until 5 AM. I couldn’t go to bed, it was that bad of a leak. (Picture below…)

AUGGGGGHHHH. I had about 90 minutes of sleep and then had to stay up from 7 AM onwards for the roof repair guys to do one final temporary patch on our roof! But the good news – they fixed the leak! We’re safe from leaks for a few months, but hello new Roof 2.0 later this year. LOL!

I was REALLY TEMPTED to write a picture book about a leaking roof and other home ownership troubles. How about a picture book on refinancing? LOL!

And then a line popped into my head about a mouse living in a house with a leaky roof. And then I wondered about a fish dealing with a leak in his castle. And so on… And voila… Book No. 6! It was just a fun exercise in writing another picture book poem. Again, I look at my “7 Picture Books in 7 Days” as a way to sharpen my brainstorming skills. A lot of the drafts I written over the past five years will never become published books, but they have been fantastic writing exercises that have led to OTHER ideas that turn into real submissions. And honestly, this was such a cute poem. I am trying to become a better poet, so writing more poetry is a great exercise to improve in the craft of poetry writing.

I then took my very very VERY rough poem and laid it out in a “dummy” book form as I had suggested in my Day 6 Blog.

I look forward to your comments on Day 7!

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So ready for our final day? We’ve still got another 24 hours left. So here’s our last guest author/artist Q&A blog about The Future of the Picture Book with author/illustrator ERIN EITTER KONO (http://www.eekono-illustration.com). Please comment on today’s blogs with your thoughts about Erin’s Q&A and/or giving us an update on your progress on our final day together!

And remember – our contest winners and a final Q&A author blog with writer JULIE HEDLUND (http://www.juliehedlund.com) will be posted by 6 AM PST on May 8th.

(Keep reading after the jump for our interview with Erin Eitter Kono!)

GUEST BLOG – DAY SEVEN – ERIN EITTER KONO

Erin Eitter Kono

Erin Eitter Kono is an author/illustrator who grew up in Iowa, wandered around the world, and now lives in Southern CA with her husband, daughter, hamster, the neighborhood peacock, and a couple of wild voles. Her latest book, CATERINA AND THE PERFECT PARTY will be published this July 2013 from Dial. Visit her at www.eekono.com and www.caterinascorner.com

Q&A ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE PICTURE BOOK WITH ERIN EITTER KONO

QUESTION: Do you think the rise in popularity for the eBook will help or hurt the future of the picture book? For writers, when you work on a new book, do you think about how it will “read” on an eBook reader as well? Does that affect how you write your book? As an illustrator, what challenges do you face if you know a picture book you are illustrating may also be distributed as an eBook?

ANSWER: Overall I think it means less books will be made by publishers and the midlist will shrink. I think the eBook may hurt certain kind of books and not matter as much to others. As a parent I don’t see books and eBooks as interchangeable. For picture books, at least until now, books are still used differently than an e-reader. Even great eBooks like those produced by Moonbot seem to be perceived by the kids I know, as more of a game than as a book. I think that especially for PB age children the e-reader may enhance a book’s world by having age appropriate games and activities that tie into the theme of a book but I know few parents that would cuddle up to an e-reader, so I don’t think they’ll ever be used as much for ‘book time’. That being said, things change. If we do go more digital, then I think the books most harmed will be those small quiet books that have less production appeal. That, I’m afraid, would be very sad.

As a author/illustrator I don’t think about the eBook at all when making a book. I do think of digital content within the lager scheme of marketing, but not while making the story. Stories, whatever the platform, need to stand alone.

QUESTION: There have been many “Boy Who Cried Wolf” articles in the media recently about how picture book sales have declined as anxious parents try to push their students into reading chapter books instead. Why is it important for children to read picture books? What makes a picture book special as well as important for a child’s educational growth?

ANSWER: I actually think it’s just as much peer pressure as it is ambitious parents. I have a seven year old who was dying to move on to chapter books. I didn’t fight it and now that she’s read a few, I’ve reintroduced older age picture books and she’s happy to go back and enjoy them again. (Yay Bill Peet!) Picture Books actually can introduce far more complex ideas than a chapter book geared towards the very young, so it’s worth it for them to be reading both.

QUESTION: Many aspiring picture book writers are discouraged by the doom-n-gloom reports of the declining book industry (Big Six mergers, lower sales of picture books, more emphasis on the writer-illustrator as opposed to the solo writer). What words of encouragement would you give to these aspiring newbies to NOT give up?

ANSWER: Life’s short; things are difficult everywhere; so you might as well do what you love.

QUESTION: What challenges do you face as a published author/illustrator of picture books in these volatile times of the publishing industry? Have you noticed a change in your career in terms of what agents/editors/readers want?

ANSWER: I think publishers are more inclined to go with the tried and true during these times of transition. I certainly don’t blame them, it’s a business and that’s what is selling. Pretty much everyone I know who isn’t a ‘big’ name has had far less work than before. I think the key is, as it always has been, to know your audience and produce great work.

QUESTION: Any final words of advice or any epiphanies you would like to share with us about your own writing/art journey?

ANSWER: No epiphanies… just work hard.

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Thanks again to Erin Eitter Kono for answering our Q&A for Day Seven!

Tune in tomorrow by 6 AM (West Coast Time) for our follow up blog with some post-game thoughts from yours truly as well as the announcement of the WINNERS of our 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE contest drawing featuring autographed books from myself and some of our guest authors along with fun souvenirs from our store and other surprises! We will also feature a final Q&A with writer JULIE HEDLUND (http://www.juliehedlund.com)!

In the meantime, good luck writing today. Please post any comments below for today’s blog with your thoughts, questions, and writing updates. You can follow me on Twitter @paulayoo. Please feel free to use this HASHTAG – #NaPiBoWriWee

I’m off to write! Again, I am so proud of everyone for hanging in there with me for these past seven days. Let’s make Day Seven a day to remember!

Until tomorrow’s blog, remember… HAPPY WRITING! WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013: Day 6 – Guest Blogger Tania McCartney! (May 6, 2013)

paulayoo — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:00:05 +0000

Welcome to DAY SIX of NAPIBOWRIWEE! It’s National Picture Book Writing Week, blah blah blah, we’re trying to write 7 picture books in 7 days, etc. etc. Oh go here for all the FAQs: http://paulayoo.com/napi/?p=474

Sorry. Do I sound cranky or grumpy? LOL! I’m just SUPER TIRED. I think I have had maybe three hours sleep in the past five days. How is everyone else doing?

The strange thing is that despite the lack of sleep, I’m still having fun. I’m excited that I MIGHT have 7 drafts done by the final day. Who knows if ANY of these drafts will end up becoming a submission-ready picture book for my book agent, but at least I’ve got some pages to work with! It’s better than NOTHING. Which again is the WHOLE POINT of this event – it’s to encourage us all to KEEP WRITING and to actually FINISH DRAFTS.

For fun, I would suggest everyone who is a writer to try and create a picture book dummy for Day Six. See if you can write your Book No. 6 as a picture book dummy. It doesn’t matter if you can’t draw at all. Stick figures are fine. But see if you can create a picture book dummy. This might be a fun and fresh way to write your latest draft.

For more info on how to create a picture book dummy, go here:

http://taralazar.com/2009/02/22/picture-book-construction-know-your-layout/

I also recommend this link as well:

http://taralazar.com/tag/how-to-make-a-picture-book-dummy-in-9-easy-steps/

(PS. If you already ARE an illustrator/artist and you make picture book dummies all the time, I would suggest you do the opposite. Why not just WRITE a picture book manuscript with NO pictures and no layouts? Try a simple double-spaced Word document of text ONLY. (Which is what us only-writers do anyway.) Keep the word count to 1000 words or less.)

I’m curious to see what everyone comes up with today if you attempt the picture book dummy layout for Day 6!

And now some updates on my own progress…

MY DAY FIVE EXPERIENCE: I woke up on Sunday and had absolutely NOTHING TO DO. For the first time in several weeks. No book deadlines. No TV meetings to prepare for. So what did I do?

This picture pretty much sums it up…

Sleepy Sunday for me & Oreo!

Yeah. That’s right. I SLEPT! I SLEPT IN LATE! I DIDN’T WAKE UP UNTIL AFTER 10 AM! HA!

It was like a typical Sunday morning in college when I would sleep until noon and then shuffle over to the cafeteria for food. LOL!

But boy did I need that sleep. And you know what? Sometimes we HAVE to sleep in order for our subconscious to gestate all the ideas floating around in our heads. I’m being very serious here. I have learned that over the years. Sometimes, it’s best just to walk away from the computer and take a real nap. Get some serious REM sleep going. Let your subconscious gestate – it’s like putting your laptop to sleep mode. When you wake up, suddenly you might have a solution to a creative writing problem or a brand new idea might pop into your head.

Like the idea that popped into my head when I woke up after 10 AM. Okay, really, I woke up after 11 AM. But the thought that popped into my head was an idea for another non-fiction book. I realized no one has done a biography on this person, and realized… this could be a great idea for another LEE & LOW book! So I spent most of Sunday researching this historical figure and putting together a rough outline. Then I had to think about what would be a great opening scene. With children’s picture book biographies, which is my specialty, you usually try to start with an important incident or event that happens in the person’s childhood that is a turning point for him/her, something that inspires them to take those first steps on their journey to becoming an important person who contributes something to our society.

Once I came upon the perfect setting, I started writing. I wrote a very very VERY rough draft with a lot of notes to “get extra details here” etc. I still need to do more research, but by cobbling together this rough draft and finishing it, I realized this could definitely work as a future submission for publishers. But it’s going to take a LONG time to deepen this first draft and take it to the next level. But I was pleased with what I had done so far.

Again, I haven’t had time to respond individually to comments, but I’m reading them all and may write a few comments later this week, so stay tuned. I’m soooooo proud of everyone. You guys are doing a fantastic job. KEEP IT UP! And remember, we’re having a contest where lucky winners will receive autographed books from me and some of our guest authors plus souvenirs from our store (http://www.cafepress.com/napibowriwee2013)! (Winners will be posted on May 8th in a future blog.)

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In the meantime, let’s welcome author TANIA MCCARTNEY (http://www.taniamccartney.com) for Day Six. She will answer our Q&A on The Future of the Picture Book in today’s guest blog. Please comment on her blog today and/or also update us on your progress for Day 6!

(Keep reading after the jump for our guest blog with TANIA MCCARTNEY!)

GUEST BLOG – DAY SIX – TANIA MCCARTNEY

Tania McCartney

TANIA MCCARTNEY is an author of both children’s and adults books. An experienced magazine writer and editor, she has written for many online sites and hard copy magazines. She also founded Kids Book Review in 2009, one of the most respected children’s literature sites on the web. An ACT Ambassador for the National Year of Reading (2012), Tania is passionate about literacy and has spent many years, presenting and speaking to children and adults on reading, books and writing. Her latest books include BEIJING TAI TAI: LIFE, LAUGHTER AND MOTHERHOOD IN CHINA’S CAPITAL (Exisle Publishing) and RILEY AND THE GRUMPY WOMBAT: A JOURNEY AROUND MELBOURNE (Ford Street Publishing). In 2013, she has four new releases for children, including the next book in the Riley series, set in Canberra.

Tania adores books, travel, photography and marshmallows. She lives in Canberra with her husband and two kids, in a paper house at the base of a book mountain. For more info, please go here: www.taniamccartney.com & www.kids-bookreview.com

Q&A ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE PICTURE BOOK WITH TANIA MCCARTNEY

ANSWER: I don’t think ebooks stand a chance in affecting the future of the picture book. A recent study here in Australia showed what I’ve known all along – parents and children are simply not happy to curl up in bed at the end of a long day and flick through an ebook. Books are living, breathing entities with heart and soul – their weight in the hand, the feel of the page as it turns, the colour and vibrancy – it’s a joy. Ebooks are wonderful for sparkle and interactivity, but they lack the soul of real books. My own children have sensational books in both ebook and real book format – and I have to say they have never once re-read an ebook. The virtually endless repeat read rate for real books says it all.

ANSWER: Although I’m not a book retailer, I personally haven’t seen a decline in the picture book market, at least not in Australia. It seems more PBs than ever are being published. As founder of Kids Book Review, some of our favourite books are PBs and I can’t imagine parents abandoning them for early reader chapter books (many of which are illustrated, anyway). Picture books are vital for children (both younger and older children) because they harness and develop the imagination. They are filled with nuance. They intimate meaning and emotion in ways words never can. We all know a picture paints a thousand words – a picture book paints countless words. Picture books encourage children to dive in, to become part of the story, and to immerse themselves between the lines. They are also absolutely vital for anyone who struggles to read or who has processing issues. For these children, PBs may be the only way to have them fall in love with books (and therefore encourage later reading).

ANSWER: I would say that the picture book market is never going to go away. I think this ‘blip’ is temporary. As we explore and welcome new, high-tech ways to publish and enjoy books, we will eventually hit a rhythm that feels true to us, and PBs will once again rise to the top (as does any type of cream). Just as the ‘demise’ of so many of life’s pleasures – going to the movies, barista coffee, magazines – never came to pass (good try, DVDs, instant coffee, the internet – oh, and let’s not forget the ‘paperless office’), PBs are not going anywhere – and someone will need to author them. So, PB authors should not give up – but they should also ensure they are up-to-date, market-savvy and writing in ways that explore new themes and forms. Like any oversaturated market, you’ll only stand out if you’re original.

QUESTION: What challenges do you face as a published author f picture books in these volatile times of the publishing industry? Have you noticed a change in your career in terms of what agents/editors/readers want?

ANSWER: I haven’t noticed a change in my career at all – in fact, I’ve achieved more contracts in the past three years (when the children’s market supposedly fell) than ever. I do feel the kids’ market has fared far better than the adult market because parents and schools will always buy books for children, but I’m confident it will continue to improve right across the board (especially if readers support independent books stores and stop buying books for pennies at wholesale sites). What I have noticed is that industry people have pulled closer together than ever before – we are there for each other, and it’s really helped buoy spirits and keep things afloat. I haven’t noticed a difference in what readers want – they just want great stories and books that inspire, but it’s always been like that. In terms of what publishers want – I think things have definitely changed. In order to (most understandably) keep companies afloat by making sales, marketing teams and book distributors now have a say in what’s published and I do believe market quality has suffered enormously for that. Great editors have also lost footing (cost-cutting) and that’s the greatest tragedy of all.

QUESTION: Any final words of advice or any epiphanies you would like to share with us about your own writing/art journey?

ANSWER: I have such passion for, and great confidence in, the children’s book industry, both here in Australia and overseas. I think great children’s books are the foundation for reading skills in the very young, as reading is a key to life. These past few years have been tough in the book industry overall but then perhaps that’s not such a bad thing, as it weeds out the stayers from the players. Because of the vital nature of PBs, having stayers (those who are in it for a deep love of children and literature) run the industry can only be a good thing. A very good thing, indeed.

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Thanks again to Tania McCartney for answering our Q&A for Day Six!

Tune in tomorrow by 6 AM (West Coast Time) for our Day Seven Blog featuring picture book author/illustrator ERIN EITTER KONO (http://www.eekono-illustration.com) (Remember to visit here on May 8th as well for our Contest Winner blog plus one last author Q&A.)

I’m off to write! Until tomorrow’s blog, remember… HAPPY WRITING! WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013: Day 5 – Guest Blogger Paul Collins! (May 5, 2013)

paulayoo — Sun, 05 May 2013 13:00:09 +0000

Welcome to DAY FIVE of NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013! By now, I bet you’re wondering why you even signed up for this crazy event where we attempt to write 7 picture books in 7 days. The burn out really kicks in around Day 5. We all see talking animals in our sleep. We can’t help but speak in rhyme every time we pick up the phone. We are starting to hallucinate and think that a picture book about house mortgage payments might actually be a good idea…

LOL! HANG IN THERE! Today is the day that you should treat yourself to something special for having made it to Day 5. Treat yourself to a favorite icy cold drink at your local coffeehouse. Go ahead, buy that guilty pleasure candy bar at the check-out counter at the grocery store. Order a pizza or your favorite food from a nearby restaurant instead of cooking tonight! Or go to your favorite independent bookstore and buy yourself a beautiful picture book! Or just veg out in front of the TV and watch a guilty pleasure show.

By giving yourself a little treat or pat on the back, you will have lifted your spirits and refreshed your energy to DIG IN FOR THESE LAST FEW DAYS! I am very proud of everyone and have enjoyed reading your comments. I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to reply individually to your comments because of my work schedule, but trust me, I’ve read every single one! You guys are amazing!

MY DAY FOUR EXPERIENCE: Hopefully most of you had Saturday off. That way, you could sleep in and then have the luxury of spending a lazy Saturday working on Picture Book #4.

For me, I did have one last work deadline to finish before I could start Book 4. I had to some line edits for my next picture book that will be published by LEE & LOW BOOKS. (This book is still top secret and under wraps, but I will be able to reveal some details about it soon, so stay tuned.)

Doing line edits on this book was a humbling experience. Every time I think I’ve “nailed” the whole Writing A Picture Book process, my brilliant genius editor offers a revision suggestion or does an amazing cut that takes the book to the next level. I’m this close to banging my head against the wall, wondering, “Why didn’t I come up with that genius idea?” Lesson Learned: You Will Always Learn And Grow As A Writer, No Matter How Many Books You Write (And Hopefully Publish). I was stunned today by my editor’s insights and thoughtful revision cuts and simplifications.

Writing a picture book is like writing a haiku – not one word should be wasted. Every word is a jewel. The simplest text often reveals a rich and deep verbal picture that is enhanced by the artist’s illustrations. I’m honored and privileged to work with my editor whose editorial critiques are helping me become a better writer.

Unfortunately, my genius editor was not around today to help me when I started writing the rough first draft of a new picture book for Day Four of NAPIBOWRIWEE. LOL! So what I wrote is really, really, REALLY ROUGH.

But now I can apply what my editor taught me when I return to Book No. 4 for revisions. And what was Book 4 about? Let’s just say that I posted this picture of one of my three cats (Oreo) lounging around all day on Twitter and it totally inspired a fun little poem. (You can follow Oreo on Twitter @oreothecatyoo).

Oreo lounges around on Caturday!

The only problem with Book Four? POETRY. IS. HAAAARD!!!!!

So to inspire those of you who are doing poetry picture books, here’s a link to some amazing articles for writers on how to write poetry and picture books acclaimed picture book author and poet HOPE VESTERGAARD (http://hopevestergaard.com). She has done past guest blogs in the past in earlier NAPIBOWRIWEE years, too.

Please go here to check out her articles on how to write poetry and picture books here:

http://hopevestergaard.com/writers/articles/

I especially recommend this one on RHYMES AND MISDEMEANORS:

http://hopevestergaard.com/writers/articles/rhymes-and-misdemeanors/

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In the meantime, to keep us inspired and on our toes, today’s guest blog is with Ford Street publisher and author PAUL COLLINS (http://www.paulcollins.com.au). He is one of TWO Australian authors we are interviewing this year. We have an international contingent of writers who participate every year in NAPIBOWRIWEE, including a fantastic group of writers from Down Under. So I’m thrilled we have Paul on board for this year. Please comment on today’s blog with your thoughts on Paul’s Q&A as well as your own progress reports of your picture book writing efforts!

(Keep reading after the jump for our Q&A on the Future of the Picture Book with Paul Collins!)

GUEST BLOG – DAY FIVE – PAUL COLLINS

PAUL COLLINS‘ many books for young people include TRUST ME TOO, which he edited (just selected as a White Raven 2013 title). Trust Me Too. It comprises over 50 of Australia’s leading authors and illustrators including Susanne Gervay, Leigh Hobbs, Marc McBride and Isobelle Carmody. It’s been chosen as a White Raven and was a Notable in the Children’s Book Council of Australia awards. He is also the author of series such as THE JELINDEL CHRONICLES, THE EARTHBORN WARS, THE QUENTARIS CHRONICLES and THE WORLD OF GRRYM in collaboration with Danny Willis. His latest is THE MAXIMUS BLACK FILES (Mole Hunt and Dyson’s Drop with The Only Game in the Galaxy due soon). The trailers are available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S-eKDYqpEs and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4tTn_WXCiw He is also the author of over 150+ short stories. Paul’s picture books are HOME RUN, illustrated by Connah Brecon and THE GLASSHOUSE, illustrated by Jo Thompson. Paul has been the recipient of the A Bertram Chandler, Aurealis, William Atheling and Peter McNamara awards and has been shortlisted for many others including the Speech Pathology, Mary Grant Bruce, Ditmar and Chronos awards.

He is currently the publisher at Ford Street Publishing (www.fordstreetpublishing.com) and runs the speakers agency Creative Net (www.fordstreetpublishing.com/cnet). Visit him at www.paulcollins.com.au.

Q&A ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE PICTURE BOOK WITH PAUL COLLINS

QUESTION: Do you think the rise in popularity for the eBook will help or hurt the future of the picture book? For writers, when you work on a new book, do you think about how it will “read” on an eBook reader as well? Does that affect how you write your book? For illustrators, what challenges do you face if you know a picture book you are illustrating may also be distributed as an eBook?

ANSWER: I think kids have really taken to e-readers. I was at a party a few weeks ago and a three-year-old was totally engrossed in his e-reader with an interactive picture book on it. I doubt that would’ve happened if it had been a print book.

ANSWER: Not all kids have the same reading ability. Wipe out picture books and you’re wiping out a generation of kids who might have become readers had they been given the graphic opportunity. I read Marvel Group comics as a kid. I hadn’t read a book till I turned 16 or 17. If there hadn’t been comics I wouldn’t have turned out a reader. Here I am now, a publisher and an author.

ANSWER: Success in any endeavour is about persistence. Of course there are hurdles — every occupation has them. I’ve faced a lot of adversity over the years — but every set back made me more determined to succeed. The good thing about writing for children as opposed to writing for adults, is that children’s writers/illustrators have both the school market as well as the adult market. Schools and adults generally buy books for the kids, not to mention the kids themselves to a lesser extent. So you basically have three markets in which to sell your books.

QUESTION: What challenges do you face as a published author of picture books in these volatile times of the publishing industry? Have you noticed a change in your career in terms of what agents/editors/readers want?

ANSWER: I think publishers are after multi-levelled books — that is, picture books that aren’t just stories, but they have depth. You’ll see teachers’ notes on many major publishers’ websites. It’s pretty hard to writer teachers’ notes or promote a book to schools if it’s just a simple story with no depth/levels.

QUESTION: Any final words of advice or any epiphanies you would like to share with us about your own writing/art journey?

ANSWER: I’m still not a strong reader, and strange though it may seem, I think that’s what gives me a slight edge over well-read editors. A book has to be really good to get my attention. I’m not interested in the fact that the writing is supposedly great, I’m interested in the story itself. Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey won awards and was critically acclaimed, but I don’t know a single person who managed to finish it. That’s not the type of book that I would publish. Subsequently, a lot of major publishers are rejecting books that people do want to buy and read. I’ve published many books that were rejected by other publishers only to get short-listed for premier’s awards and sell well. My own picture book, The Glasshouse, was rejected by just about every major publisher in Australia, so I published it via Ford Street. It sold 4000 copies to a book club, was selected as an Outstanding Book For Young People With Disabilities, 2011 by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Awards and the illustrator, Jo Thompson, was short-listed for the Crichton Award. Persistence is the key.

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Thanks again to Paul Collins for answering our Q&A for Day Five!

Tune in tomorrow by 6 AM (West Coast Time) for our Day Six Blog featuring author and fellow Aussie down under TANIA MCCARTNEY (http://www.taniamccartney.com)!

I’m off to write! Until tomorrow’s blog, remember… HAPPY WRITING! WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013: Day 4 – Guest Blogger Martha Brockenbrough! (May 4, 2013)

paulayoo — Sat, 04 May 2013 13:00:19 +0000

Welcome to DAY FOUR of our 5th annual NAPIBOWRIWEE (National Picture Book Writing Week) 2013 where we try to write 7 picture books in 7 days!

We are officially at the HALFWAY point of this marathon writing event where we are trying to write 7 picture books in 7 days. Day Four is the make-or-break day. If you can get through this day, you can definitely survive the final brutal days of this event! Hang in there, everyone! WE CAN DO IT!

Since Day 4 falls on a Saturday – most of you have the day off. You might have some social obligations, house errands, or family duties, but at least it’s the weekend!

BUT… HOW TO AVOID FATIGUE AND BURN OUT?

ANSWER: Find a new place to write! Get out of your comfort zone! Write at the museum! A library! Your favorite coffeehouse! A fancy hotel lobby! The park!

My favorite place to write when I get burned out at home is at the Beverly Hills Public Library. They just remodeled the children’s library – it is BEAUTIFUL. Here’s a link where you can see some videos of the breathtaking renovation: http://www.beverlyhills.org/exploring/beverlyhillspubliclibrary/childrenslibrary/

And here’s a great blog with some photos of the children’s library remodel: http://redtri.com/los-angeles/kids-and-parents-weigh-in-on-the-new-beverly-hills-childrens-library/

I understand the burn-out, fatigue, and depression and frustration that can take over during Days 3 and 4. This NAPIBOWRIWEE event can get brutal. Writing 7 picture books in 7 days is a RIDICULOUS IDEA. LOL! But again, it’s just to celebrate writing and disciplining ourselves to WRITE EVERY DAY NO MATTER WHAT. Who cares if some of the 7 books end up in the recycle bin? The whole point is that this is a writing exercise that will hopefully result in a rough draft that COULD have the potential to become a future publishable book. Or a magazine article. Or a really cool blog. Or it could inspire a better idea down the road. And so on. You don’t know unless you try.

I am passionate about getting everyone to write every day because I WRITE EVERY DAY. I have to. I’m a professional writer. This is what I do for a living. I started out as a full-time newspaper reporter (The Seattle Times and The Detroit News) before going to magazines (PEOPLE Magazine). Then after almost ten years of journalism, I got my MFA in creative writing and started pursuing novels and children’s books. During that time, I also fell into TV drama writing. So since 2002, I have been writing full-time as a book and TV writer. I write. all. the. time.

Not everything I write works. A lot of it ends up in the recycling bin. But learning to write every single day has helped strengthen my writing skills. It’s like being an athlete and exercising every day – you build up a lot of stamina. Because you need stamina in this brutal creative industry filled with rejection, rejection, rejection. So I’m trying to help everyone learn how to write every day no matter what so you grow as a writer!

So how did my Day Three go?

MY DAY THREE EXPERIENCE: Today was ROUGH. I had another work meeting that was very far from my house, so yes, I was caught in L.A. traffic for most of the day. AND it was unseasonably warm – almost 95 degrees in the Valley! Once again, I didn’t have a chance to start working on Book 3 until after dinner.

Instead of a writing a book from scratch this time, I decided to use research for a feature spec screenplay that I’m currently working on for a picture book. My feature spec is a biopic (biography). And since my three published picture books with Lee & Low Books are biographies, it hit me that this historical subject would also make for a very good picture book. So I started writing a biographic picture book.

The end result? Not bad! It’s a little long but the basic structure is there. And the bonus? I sort of now have a rough outline for my script! YAY! Once again… NAPIBOWRIWEE WORKS!

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Now, on to our Day Four Guest Blog Q&A about The Future of the Picture Book with YA novelist and debut picture book author MARTHA BROCKENBROUGH (http://marthabrockenbrough.squarespace.com). Please post a comment about today’s blog and/or let us know how your progress went for Day Four!

(Keep reading after the jump for our Q&A with Martha Brockenbrough!)

GUEST BLOG – DAY FOUR – MARTHA BROCKENBROUGH

Martha Brockenbrough

Martha Brockenbrough is author of THE DINOSAUR TOOTH FAIRY (Scholastic/Arthur A Levine 2013), DEVINE INTERVENTION, a YA novel, and two other books for adults. She’s also the founder of National Grammar Day. Her debut picture book is THE DINOSAUR TOOTH FAIRY (illustrated by Isreal Sanchez). Her website is here: http://marthabrockenbrough.squarespace.com

Q&A ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE PICTURE BOOK WITH MARTHA BROCKENBROUGH

ANSWER: So far, the rise in popularity of e-readers has meant that more people are reading more books. This is a good thing, even if it’s hard for those of us who love the printed book to envision a future that might be entirely digital. I’m in favor of pretty much anything that gets more people reading, although I don’t see the printed picture book going away anytime soon. They’re just too beautiful and it’s just too cozy. Kids love devices, too, but a parent would have to be nuts to think the glow of an iPad is going to help a child fall asleep. So those will be stories for another context. At this point, I’ve only considered digital enhancements for one manuscript—the least narrative one I’ve ever written. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. The page turn is still a really effective way to add suspense.

ANSWER: I actually feel compassion for those parents who are so caught up in their kids’ academic performance that they forget that pleasure is a huge component of learning and practice. In other words, if you don’t like doing something, you’re going to spend a lot of energy resisting it. It’s about the worst-case scenario for intellectual development. I feel even sorrier for the kids. Yikes. That said, we live in a highly visual world. Picture books help kids make sense of visual and textual information. Kids should spend a LOT of time with them before moving on, and there’s no reason to abandon them entirely. People who can process visual information and convey information visually will have a huge advantage as adults. Also, there’s no better way to make a child feel loved than to drop everything and read. Picture books are the first seeds of this kind of love that we plant.

ANSWER: At the end of your life, are you going to care how much money you made writing picture books? Or are you going to care that you helped a child fall in love with reading and understand the world a bit better through something you created? Yes, this is a frustrating, difficult, slow, and sometimes lonely process. But there’s no better way to spend our limited days than trying to make a child laugh, wonder, and understand. That’s what we do. Everything else … the publishing process, the money, is a sideshow.

ANSWER: It’s incredibly hard to get a toe hold. I’m in the process of selling my second picture book, but it just takes a long time and requires a lot of patience. I do think the appetite for characters who can be turned into franchises is big and getting bigger, and this requires a different way of thinking about things.

QUESTION: Any final words of advice or any epiphanies you would like to share with us about your own writing/art journey?

ANSWER: Read a lot of picture books. Buy a lot of picture books. Keep creating, and don’t give up on yourself. It’s a subjective business, and the better you get, the better chance you have of finding someone who loves that unique thing only you can bring.

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Thanks again to Martha Brockenbrough for answering our Q&A for Day Three!

Tune in tomorrow by 6 AM (West Coast Time) for our Day Five blog featuring Ford Street publisher and book author PAUL COLLINS (http://www.paulcollins.com.au).

I’m off to write! Until tomorrow’s blog, remember… HAPPY WRITING! WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013: Day 3 – Guest Blogger Varsha Bajaj! (May 3, 2013)

paulayoo — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:00:10 +0000

Welcome to DAY THREE of NAPIBOWRIWEE! Did you do it? Did you write 2 picture books in 2 days? Well, congratulations if you did! Let’s see if you keep up the pace for Day 3! For those of you who are still struggling with Book 1 or already falling behind – don’t despair! You’ve still got five days left to catch up! Keep the faith!

For those of you visiting for the first time, NaPiBoWriWee stands for National Picture Book Writing Week, where we attempt to write 7 picture books in 7 days. I started this event five years ago for fun. As a reminder, here’s the 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE FAQs in case you have any questions or concerns:

http://paulayoo.com/napi/?p=474

In the meantime, if you’re already getting stressed out, here’s something to make you laugh! Here’s a fun video I did with Scholastic editor (Arthur A. Levine Books) and author ARTHUR A. LEVINE. Fellow SCBWI partner-in-crime/writer LEE WIND filmed us doing this video for a past SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators) conference. The theme of the video? SCBWI Conference Tip: Try Not to Piss Off An Editor…

http://youtu.be/3l2Vaxf5IoE

Lesson learned!

MY DAY TWO EXPERIENCE: Today was insanely busy again. Basically my entire week has been filled with a billion meetings for my “day” job as a TV writer/producer. Plus I attended my dear friend JORDANNA FRAIBERG‘s book launch party for her latest YA novel OUR SONG (Razorbill 2013). (Please check out her books here: http://jordannafraiberg.com). I had a blast with Jordanna and her cool writer friends. I also met a fellow TV writer/producer and novelist DAVID IVERSON (http://davidiserson.tumblr.com) whose YA novel FIRECRACKER comes out this month, too! And to top it off, I met the famous ALAN WATT who is the author/teacher of the amazing THE 90-DAY NOVEL workshop books and classes that I highly recommend you check out: http://lawriterslab.com

So by the time I got home, it was after 10 PM! Because of yesterday’s experience where I realized my picture book was really a chapter book in disguise, I decided to just relax, have fun and come up with a simple story off the top of my head. Because I was a TV writer/producer on SyFy’s EUREKA and am a total Star Trek geek, I thought – why not try a sci fi picture book? And out of nowhere, by midnight… voila! Really crappy first draft! But at least I have a working draft I can go back and really flesh out. YAY!

So far I’m two for two. Let’s hope I can keep this up on Friday. (NOTE: I will be out for most of the day on Friday, so please be patient if your comment does not get “approved” on this website for a few hours because I will once again be stuck in L.A. traffic. )

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Now… on to DAY THREE! Today’s guest blog Q&A about the Future of the Picture Book is with children’s book author VARSHA BAJAJ (http://varshabajaj.com) She will donate an autographed copy of her book, HOW MANY KISSES DO YOU WANT TONIGHT? (illustrated by Ivan Bates) for our NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013 contest drawing. Thank you, Varsha, for your kind donation!

(Please keep reading after the jump for our interview with Varsha Bajaj!)

GUEST BLOG – DAY THREE – VARSHA BAJAJ

Varsha Bajaj

VARSHA BAJAJ grew up in Mumbai, India. She was an avid reader as a child, devouring books by Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew, Jane Austen, and P.G. Wodehouse. She came to America in 1986 as a graduate student. She earned her master’s degree and became a counselor. She started writing after getting married and having two children. Her picture books include HOW MANY KISSES DO YOU WANT TONIGHT? (illustrated by Ivan Bates), which she will donate an autographed copy for the 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE contest drawing. “This book will hopefully be read by children and their parents for a long long time,” she says. “It is interactive and an unabashed statement of love for the child.” Her other picture book, T IS FOR TAJ MAHAL: AN INDIAN ALPHABET (illustrated by Robert Crawford), is part of a series of books by Sleeping Bear Press that takes kids on a voyage to different parts of the world. Her middle grade novel, PASSAGE TO BOLLYWOOD, will be published in Spring 2014 by Albert Whitman & Co. She has also sold a book to Nancy Paulsen at Nancy Paulsen books. Varsha says, “I could not be more excited. Nancy is the best and I am both eager and intimidated to work with her. “Our Baby” is a story about the birth of a baby elephant. It’s a celebration of life and community.”

Varsha invites children and their parents to start their own book clubs. ”Picture books are the first selections of your child’s book club! An adult reads them to a child. It is a shared experience, which involves reading and rereading, discussion, giggling and bonding. I hope that this book club will be the first of many.”

You can find out more about Varsha at her website http://varshabajaj.com and follow her on Twitter @varshabajaj.

Q&A ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE PICTURE BOOK WITH VARSHA BAJAJ

ANSWER: Unfortunately, many parents equate the number of words or the length of the story with its level of complexity. Picture books are so much more than the sum of their words. They are a springboard for ideas and conversations. They are possibly a child’s first introduction to humor and a joke. Rhyming picture books are an early introduction to patterns, poetry, reading and literacy.

ANSWER: Picture books are tough to write, and the market is even tougher. So, you cannot afford to be easily discouraged. Picture book writing is not for the faint of heart. So be sure you love picture books and if you do, more power to you!! The club awaits you.

ANSWER: Few agents accept writers who write primarily picture books. Author-illustrators seem to be preferred. Some of my favorite picture books though are a product of an amazing writer-illustrator team. I love Doreen Cronin, Jane O’Connor, Liz Scanlon Garton.

QUESTION: Any final words of advice or any epiphanies you would like to share with us about your own writing/art journey?

ANSWER: It is just that, a journey, full of twists and turns. From the first seed of an idea to a finished manuscript can take years or months. Picture books have so few words that each one has to earn its place and I love the process of choosing the right word and constructing the right group of words to convey the plethora of emotions that make the best books meaningful. Picture books have to appeal to both the adult reading the book and the child being read to and that is the biggest challenge.

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Thanks again to Varsha Bajaj for answering our Q&A for Day Three!

Tune in tomorrow by 6 AM (West Coast Time) for our Day Four blog featuring YA novelist and picture book author MARTHA BROCKENBROUGH (http://marthabrockenbrough.squarespace.com).

I’m off to write! Until tomorrow’s blog, remember… HAPPY WRITING! WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013: Day 2 – Guest Blogger Katie Davis! (May 2, 2013)

paulayoo — Thu, 02 May 2013 13:00:49 +0000

Welcome to DAY TWO of NAPIBOWRIWEE! Did you survive Day One? I hope so. We’ve got a long way to go – six more days – so remember to pace yourself! Most importantly, remember to have FUN. This is NOT supposed to be a stressful event.

Thanks again to everyone for your fun and awesome comments on yesterday’s DAY ONE blog. So excited that everyone did such a good job! Let’s keep up the energy for Day 2!

Today’s guest blogger is picture book author/illustrator KATIE DAVIS. She is generously donating an autographed copy of her picture book, LITTLE CHICKEN’S BIG DAY for our contest drawing as well (contest results to be posted May 8, 2013). Keep reading below for more details…

In the meantime, for fun, I’m going to post an interview I did last year with writer and SCBWI rep LEE WIND on NAPIBOWRIWEE. Please check it out if you’re interested. Link below:

http://scbwi.blogspot.com/2012/05/paula-yoo-gives-us-scoop-on-national.html

And as a reminder, here’s the 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE FAQs in case you have any questions or concerns:

http://paulayoo.com/napi/?p=474

Before we get to KATIE DAVIS’ guest author Q&A blog, I wanted to share my Day One experience with everyone. FYI, this blog is VERY honest. There have been years where I did NOT finish all 7 books. I do not know if I will be able to finish 7 books this year because I’m so busy, but I will try!

MY DAY ONE EXPERIENCE: As many of you know, by day I am a TV writer/producer. Spring is the time in Hollywood known as “TV Staffing Season” as writers go out on many last minute meetings for potential jobs on TV shows being considered for the fall season. It’s a lot of last minute work and preparation where you have to read the pilot scripts and be able to pitch ideas and discuss the show thoughtfully with network execs and the show creators in order to be considered as a potential writer for that show. And every year, the job market shrinks – there are fewer jobs available for a huge pool of writers. I’ve been lucky so far, but I’m not taking any chances!

So for Day One, I was busy rushing around to meetings and preparing for other meetings. I was also stuck in a lot of L.A. traffic! I finally got home at the end of the day and was too burned out to write. Let’s just say I watched a lot of FOOD NETWORK TV.

Then I finally gathered up my energy after my daily afternoon ritual of drinking awesome Argentinean yerba mate tea (better than coffee because it makes you alert but NOT jittery). I pulled out my notes on the picture book idea I had in March. I started writing. I didn’t care that it was rough and very simplistic. But soon, a voice emerged. And that voice would not stop. And I realized… THIS IS NOT A PICTURE BOOK. THIS IS DEFINITELY GOING TO BE A CHAPTER BOOK!

I still finished it. I had to SIMPLIFY it so it could work as a picture book. And you know what? Yeah. It does NOT work as a picture book. It definitely has to be a chapter book. My idea was actually for a chapter book – it was much too complex for a picture book.

But I still consider today a success. I NEVER would have known my picture book idea was really more appropriate for a chapter book had I not tried to write a draft from start to finish. THIS IS WHY NAPIBOWRIWEE WORKS. You will not be able to know if your story works for the genre you chose for it unless you FINISH a rough first draft. So I realize I need to simplify for tomorrow. Everyone – please find a favorite picture book in your library and re-read it and you will see how simple the story is. That should take the pressure off for Day 2. LOL!

So it was still a successful Day One! Maybe one day I should start a fun challenge for Chapter Books? What do you think? Any suggestions on the format? I still want to do a future NAPIBOWRIWEE REVISION CHALLENGE one day, too. Please post in the comments any thoughts or suggestions you have on this.

Anyway… for DAY TWO… my mantra is: KEEP IT SIMPLE. LESS IS MORE. I’m going to try and figure out a book from scratch with a VERY simple idea. Today’s book may just end up being a good “writing exercise,” but it’s important even to do writing exercises because I’ve been working on novels and scripts all year that I’m out of practice with the shorter paced and pared down nature of picture book writing.

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NOW… onto DAY TWO! Today’s guest blog features picture book author/illustrator KATIE DAVIS (http://www.katiedavis.com). My questions for her and all our guest bloggers are centered around the theme of the FUTURE of picture books. It’s been an interesting five years since NAPIBOWRIWEE first started in 2009. So I wanted to ask our guest bloggers about their thoughts about the future of picture book writing and the industry.

I hope you enjoy this Q&A with KATIE DAVIS. She is generously donating an autographed copy of her picture book, LITTLE CHICKEN’S BIG DAY for our contest drawing as well (contest results to be posted May 8, 2013).

Remember to post a comment about today’s blog and about your progress on DAY TWO.

(Keep reading after the jump for our KATIE DAVIS guest blog!)

GUEST BLOG – DAY TWO – KATIE DAVIS

Katie Davis

Children’s author/illustrator KATIE DAVIS has published ten books, nine of them for children and one for adults, an eBook, How to Promote Your Children’s Book: Tips, Tricks, and Secrets to Create a Bestseller. She appears monthly on the ABC affiliate show, Good Morning CT, recommending great books for kids.

Ever since Katie’s book trailers won awards, people have been asking her to teach them to create videos, so she create a course, Video Idiot Boot Camp to teach writers how to create videos that will get their books into the hands of readers. It can be found at video-idiot.com.

Katie produces a podcast, Brain Burps About Books heard in 78% of the world; she writes a blog and weekly newsletter; and hosts webinars, and creates products for writers and illustrators, all in an effort to “spread the gospel of kidlit.”

Katie is a two-time Cybils judge and has also judged the Golden Kite, smartwriters.com. Katie has taught in a maximum security prison teaching Writing for Children, is a member of the National Speakers Association and over the last dozen years has presented and keynoted at schools, writing conferences, and fundraising galas.

Katie’s latest event, VIDEO IDIOT BOOT CAMP, started on May 1, 2013. Please go here to find out more about it:

http://videoidiotbootcamp.com

Q&A ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE PICTURE BOOK WITH KATIE DAVIS

QUESTION: Do you think the rise in popularity for the eBook will help or hurt the future of the picture book? As a writer, when you work on a new book, do you think about how it will “read” on an eBook reader as well? Does that affect how you write your book? As an illustrator, what challenges do you face if you know a picture book you are illustrating may also be distributed as an eBook?

ANSWER: I only think about it if I’m working on an ebook because it’s a different beast. I create for the medium. As far as the future of books in general, in the beginning, there were cave paintings, when paper was invented the caveman cried, “Oh no! There will be no more cave paintings! Paper will be the end of cave paintings!” Skip a couple of years and radio comes along and people cried, “Oh no! There will be no more books! Radio will be the end of books!” Then substitute movies for radio, TV for movies, VCR for movies, etc, etc.

We still have radio, TV, movies, and books. It’s just a new format. (Except that caveman did have a point).

ANSWER: I’m a big believer in the cuddle factor. There is something about cuddling up with a picture book, making the connections between the visual elements and the text that draws out delights and deliciousness. There’ve also been studies that the process of looking at a picture book does something to a child’s brain that sets it up for better learning. I might’ve just made that up.

ANSWER: If you’re compelled to write, do it. That passion doesn’t change, no matter what the business is doing. You have to have that core of love to tell a story! If you base it on the machinations of the business you’ll never be satisfied anyway.

ANSWER: Yes! Of course the marketing aspect has changed. We have to do so much more now. It used to be that we could throw up a page online with Joe Schmo, author and leave it for four years and it would be fine. We have to choose where to spend our time: Twitter? Facebook? Pinterest? Video? Actually, I truly believe video is the best way to get the word out on our work, and reach a broader audience. It’s so powerful to connect to our audience, to create a platform, and to leave a mark on the internet. Who knew we’d have to become jugglers?!

QUESTION: Any final words of advice or any epiphanies you would like to share with us about your own writing/art journey?

Journey is the right word! When I started in the late 90′s it was a different business. It’s been interesting watching it change and morph. Sometimes it’s been scary, sad, bewildering, frustrating, angering, exciting, wonderous, fabulous, satisfying and joyful… it’s everything to me. I love this business, and I feel blessed to be in it. Truly. I love being in it and I hope you find your journey!

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Thanks again to KATIE DAVIS for taking time out to answer our questions about The Future of the Picture Book for our 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE event!

Tune in tomorrow by 6 AM (West Coast Time) for our Day Three blog featuring children’s book author VARSHA BAJAJ (http://varshabajaj.com).

I’m off to write! Until tomorrow’s blog, remember… HAPPY WRITING! WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013: Day 1 – Guest Blogger Lauri Meyers! (May 1, 2013)

paulayoo — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:00:15 +0000

Welcome to DAY ONE of NAPIBOWRIWEE (National Picture Book Writing Week) 2013! From May 1-7, 2013, we will attempt to write 7 picture books in 7 days. I will be posting a new blog every day by 6 AM (West Coast Time) at http://paulayoo.com/napi

Please post a comment on each day’s blog with any questions or thoughts on today’s blog or about your own NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013 experience. Remember, I will include everyone’s name in a fun contest drawing at the end of this week’s event. Winners will receive fun souvenirs from our store plus autographed books from myself as well as our guest authors! You can also follow me on Twitter @paulayoo and please use the hashtag #NaPiBoWriWee.

PLEASE NOTE: Because I have some work commitments and meetings to attend this week (Augh! Real life gets in the way, LOL!), do not panic if your comments have not been approved for several hours. This just means I’m probably stuck in L.A. traffic. I promise to make sure everyone’s comments are approved in a timely manner, but it may not always happen right away. So please bear with me. Just FYI.

For more information and details on this year’s event, please click on this link to a blog I wrote featuring all your FAQs for NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013: http://paulayoo.com/napi/?p=474

The theme for this year’s NAPIBOWRIWEE is going to focus on the FUTURE of picture books. So much has happened in the book world and the publishing industry since I started this event in 2009. In the past five years, we have seen the explosion of e-Book readers (Kindle, Nook, iPad etc.) plus some radical changes in the publishing industry as the Big Six publishers have merged into the Big Four. Self-publishing has become more popular as an alternate path for writers. People are even taking advantage of Kickstarter and other crowdsource funding sites to publish and distribute their own books. Veteran authors are debating the merits of self-publishing versus the traditional route. Agents and editors are finding it more difficult to sell/publish books in a shrinking world. Even more parents are trying to “skip over” picture books by having their children read chapter books instead, not realizing that picture book reading helps develop certain cognitive skills for younger children.

Phew. That’s a lot of changes in just five years. But one thing has remained the same – NAPIBOWRIWEE takes place every year from May 1-7 where both newbie and veteran authors challenge themselves to write 7 picture books in 7 days. The goal is simply to encourage everyone to have FUN, to overcome procrastination, and to develop the skills necessary to write on a DAILY basis. At the end of the week, we will have 7 rough first drafts that we can nurture and revise until at least ONE of these drafts turns into a submission-ready and hopefully publishable book!

Also, to inspire those of you who are feeling nervous about DAY ONE, here’s some comforting words of advice from Ann Lamott’s famous BIRD BY BIRD book on writing and “s—– first drafts.”

“… S—– first drafts: all good writers write them. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts. People tend to look at successful writers, writers who are getting their books published and maybe even doing well financially, and think that they sit down at their desks every morning feeling like a million dollars… that they take in a few deep breaths, push back their sleeves… and dive in, typing full formed passages as fast as a court reporter. But this is just the fantasy of the uninitiated… Very few writers really know what they are doing until they’ve done it. … We all often feel like we are pulling teeth… the right words and sentences do not just come pouring out like ticker tape most of the times. For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really s—– first drafts.

“The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later. You just let this childlike part of you channel whatever voices and visions come through and onto the page…. Just get it all down on paper, because there may be something great in those six crazy pages that you would never have gotten toby more rational, grown-up means. There may be something in the very last line of the very last paragraph on page six that you just love, that is so beautiful or wild that you now know what you’re supposed to be writing about, more or less, or in what direction you might go – but there was no way to get to this without first getting through the first five and a half pages.” (Ann Lamott, BIRD BY BIRD, pgs. 21-22)

For Day One (May 1, 2013), I am featuring a guest blog from LAURI MEYERS. Lauri has participated in NAPIBOWRIWEE in the past and wanted to share some survival tips. What better way to kick off this year’s NAPIBOWRIWEE with Lauri Meyer’s blog on “7 Simple Steps to Write 7 Picture Books in 7 Days”?

Future guest bloggers for this year’s event will include picture book author/illustrator KATIE DAVIS (May 2), picture book author VARSHA BAJAJ (May 3), YA novelist & debut picture book author MARTHA BROCKENBROUGH (May 4), Ford Street publisher/picture book author/novelist PAUL COLLINS (May 5), novelist and picture book author TANIA MCCARTNEY (May 6), and picture book author/illustrator ERIN EITTER KONO (May 7). Contest winners will be announced on May 8th.

(Please keep reading after the jump for our Day One Guest Blog from Lauri Meyers!)

GUEST BLOG – DAY ONE – LAURI MEYERS

Lauri Meyers

LAURI MEYERS is a children’s book writer who tries to follow the picture book rules, though rhyming gnomes and laughing raindrops keep infiltrating her stories. After a career in corporate finance where she specialized in adding, subtracting, and saying “no,” she is entrusting her two children to retrain her brain to be creative. She has already completed classes in booger picking, glitter sprinkling, and worm squishing under their tutelage. She also blogs about writing and raising messy little girls at http://www.laurimeyers.com You can contact Lauri at LAURIMEYERS at GMAIL dot COM or by leaving a comment on her blog.

7 Simple Steps to Write 7 Picture Books in 7 Days

by Lauri Meyers

My first NaPiBoWriWee was exhilarating, educational, and exhausting. I succeeded in drafting 7 picture books in 7 days, but it was by the skin of my teeth. You can’t start writing before May 1st, but the week will be easier if you have a plan.

*7 Simple Steps to Write 7 Picture Books in 7 Days*

1. Freeze 7 dinners and make the appropriate number of tuna sandwiches for your family. “That seems unnecessary!” you cry. You’re right – it’s completely unnecessary as long as you also find eating unnecessary.

2. Collect 8-10 PB ideas. “But you said 7 PBs!” you cry. Yes, but you’ll be thankful for an extra on the morning you realize the idea you picked stinks like day 7′s tuna sandwich. If you participated in PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month), now is a great time to pull out your 30 ideas.

3. Write each idea on a small piece of paper and put them in a hat. Preferably a funny hat. “That sounds goofy!” you cry. Oh, you’re one of those quiet, serious picture book writing types? Well, you can put your ideas in a fedora if you prefer, but some of us like to have fun. (Funny hat example pictured below…)

4. On the morning of May 1st, pull an idea out of your silly (or serious) hat. Drink coffee and go about your day while the idea runs around with its pants off in your mind. “I’m not really comfortable with nudity in my brain,” you whine. Fine, yours can wear Superman Underroos.

5. Read the guest post for the day which will magically unlock some spark and inspire your draft. “What if it doesn’t?” you whine. Hey, will Thing 1 make a mess while your mother is out? (It will.)

6. Jot down any sentences your naked (or semi-clothed) idea throws at you throughout the day. Sometime before midnight, steal enough writing time to draft the story. Even if it’s only 200 words, just strive for a beginning, climax, and resolution. “What if I don’t have any paper?” you ask. There’s still time to grab a NaPiBoWriWee notebook from the store. (Store link: http://www.cafepress.com/napibowriwee2013)

7. Get up the next day and do it again!

There you have it. 7 simple steps to surviving succeeding at NaPiBoWriWee!

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Thanks again to Lauri Meyers for writing our Day One guest blog! I hope her 7 tips inspire you as we begin Day 1!

Tune in tomorrow by 6 AM (West Coast Time) for our Day Two blog featuring picture book author/illustrator KATIE DAVIS (http://katiedavis.com). She’s hosting a fun VIDEO IDIOT BOOK CAMP program that also starts today (May 1st). For more info, check out this link: http://videoidiotbootcamp.com

I’m off to write! Until tomorrow’s blog, remember… HAPPY WRITING! WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT!