Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 144
May 20, 2020
3 Big Picture Things to Look for in Your Fiction
Like many of you, I’ve been reading quite a bit lately, as in even more than usual. Some things I’ve really enjoyed including All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, The Golden Thread by Kassia St. Clair, The Long Call by Ann Cleaves, and The Other People by C. J. Tudor. Some things I’ve found […]
May 19, 2020
3 Things to Remember When Working on a Rewrite
Last Friday I got the coronavirus manuscript back from my editor. I quickly looked at the comments. There were 100 so I couldn’t read them closely but I wanted to let her know if I had any big questions or concerns. After I e-mailed her back, I walked away. And that’s my first piece of […]
May 18, 2020
How to End Your Picture Book
Last week, I read Dibs! by Laura Gehl. In this story, Julian has to learn to deal with being a big brother. He tries to do this by calling dibs on various things. Because we need a plot, obviously this does not work. I’m not going to review the book here. You can click through using the […]
May 17, 2020
Give Yourself a Break
The other day a friend commented that she was having to force herself to read her current book. But it wasn’t for a class or bookclub. It wasn’t for research/ It was something she was reading for fun. Really? It didn’t sound like fun. My advice? Back away from the book and give yourself a […]
May 14, 2020
The Three Dangers of Making Assumptions
The other night I was listening to the Fiber Nation podcast. As they discussed textile history (yes, that’s a thing), they got around to the manufacture of the first US space suits which were assembled by the seamstresses at Playtex. What?! I paused the recording and found my husband… “Yeah, I knew that. We saw […]
May 13, 2020
4 Things You Need to Know to Write Picture Books
This week, I’m revisiting a picture book manuscript. Considering the fact that the last manuscript I finished was nonfiction for teens and tweens and this is a fictional picture book, that’s a big jump. So I’ve been looking for ways to refresh my picture book savvy. Thankfully I found a series of video lectures by […]
May 12, 2020
3 Things You Can Learn from Jerry Craft, author of The New Kid
If you haven’t read New Kid, pick it up. I know, I know. Any type of shopping is inconvenient right now but this is worth your while. It is one of the funniest books that I’ve read in years. My poor husband had to put up with my laughing out loud while I read in bed. Then […]
May 11, 2020
What Young Readers Are Checking Out During the Covid-19 Pandemic
On April 28, I blogged about 10 Ways to Write Funny for Young Readers. In the first paragraph, I wrote, “Recently one of my editors commented that she had just heard from an agent that in adult writing editors want romantic comedy and humor.” Imagine my surprise when I clicked over to the SLJ article, “What Are […]
May 10, 2020
3 Things to Do When You Can’t Face Writing
Last week, I didn’t write. A lot of writers say that you absolutely have to write every day. And it isn’t bad advice except for when it is. On May 1, I turned in my second book since February. That’s 28,000 words. I was spent. I needed to restore my reserves and that bring me […]
May 7, 2020
4 Query Letter Essentials
Query letters. Ugh. Once I have a query letter for a project, I can adapt the information for other agents or publishers. But coming up with that first version is always painful. Fortunately, one of the agencies I’m researching is BookEnds Literary Agency and they have YouTube channel. You can check it out here. Among […]
