Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 152
January 28, 2020
Three Reasons Not to Tweet about Your Manuscript
Recently agent Janet Reid posted about whether or not you should tweet about your manuscript? A reader wanted to know if this was a good way to create agent/editor interest in their work. In short, Reid told her NO. It is not a good idea. Here is why? Not where agents go to find manuscripts. As […]
January 27, 2020
ALA Awards Announced
Monday morning, while I was in yoga, the American Library Association announced the 2020 youth media award winners. Look out – this is quite a list but oh so many great books! I am going to give you the names of the winners. For the honors books, see the complete ALA listing. Newbery winner: New […]
January 26, 2020
Author Copies: American Crime!
I have a friend who loves true crime stories. In fact, she loves them so much that she is writing a podcast all about various crimes. When I took the assignment to write about the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, I didn’t think of it as writing about crime. I grew up hearing about the […]
January 23, 2020
Where to Start Your Story
Last week, I felt like I was wallowing around in my mystery. My character has no clue how to investigate a murder. She’s just stumbling along, gathering information. Because of this, it feels like the middle just goes on and on and, dare I say it again, on. Maybe that’s why this piece of advice […]
January 22, 2020
Proposed Missouri Law May Mean Book Banning
I’m not going to lie. I was jazzed when I saw a headline about Missouri in the Library Journal roundup. Then I saw what it was about. “MO Bill Proposes Parental Review Board for ‘Age-Inappropriate’ Material, Legal Penalties for Noncompliance.” Sigh. Really? When the General Assembly convened, Ben Baker, a Republic representative from Neosho, Missouri […]
January 21, 2020
SCBWI Grant: The Ann Whitford Paul—Writer’s Digest Manuscript Award
Early in my career, I used to apply for SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) grants. But I have to admit that I haven’t applied for a grant or mentorship in quite some time. It isn’t that I think I know all there is to know, but I do feel that I’ve already […]
January 20, 2020
Concentration: How to Get It Back
I’m not sure how it happened. I must have said yes not once but several times. But as I’m trying to work, various notes pop up at the bottom of my monitor. There are news headlines for things that I seldom actually consider newsworthy. And there are crafting patterns. I knit, crochet, and weave but […]
January 19, 2020
Ten Most Checked Out Books
In celebration of its 125th anniversary, the New York Public Library ran the numbers to see which 10 books have been checked out the most. I have to admit that there were a few surprises. The top 10 books along with their circulation numbers are: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats: 485,583 checkouts The Cat […]
January 16, 2020
Free Maps: Maps of Exploration from the Library of Congress
I can’t tell you why. All I know is that I have a thing for maps. Historic, modern, with or without political boundaries. It doesn’t really matter. If I see a map, I’m going to take a look. So it really isn’t very surprising that when I saw this blog post from the Library of […]
January 15, 2020
Writing Advice: Who Is Telling You What to Do?
Earlier this week, I read an interesting post from agent Scott Eagan at Greyhaus Literary. In “Who Taught You to Write Your Novel,” Eagan discusses looking carefully at whose advice you are following online or from writer’s workshops. The example Eagan gives is chilling. He writes about people who are “expert” speakers, giving presentations about […]
