Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 164

Building A Career: More Effort than Luck

The other day, one of my girlfriends commented on Facebook that someone had just been gushing about how lucky she is.  “It wasn’t luck.  I worked my butt off!”  If she hadn’t been in Arizona with me in Missouri, Jane would have gotten a big hug.  That’s how I feel when another writer comments about […]

David Harrison: Happy 50th Anniversary

“Don’t you just hate it when one of your friends makes a sale?  Don’t you get jealous?” I was a fairly new writer when someone asked me this.  I had some sales, no books, but I was still surprised.  Jealous?  No, why?  Although when my writing friend David Harrison announced he was celebrating the 50th […]

Lee Bennett Hopkins: RIP

Sadness.  Last week, poet and anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins passed away. I can’t even tell you how many poems he published or how many anthologies he produced.  What I can tell you is that he is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most productive anthologist of poetry for children. Hopkins created his […]

Breaking the Fourth Wall

I’m always a little envious of authors who successfully break the fourth wall.  Not that I’ve ever tried to do it, but I obviously find it tempting. The fourth wall is the barrier between the movie or book and the audience. When a movie character, such as Deadpool or Ferris Bueller, speaks to the audience, […]

Illustration Notes and When Not to Make Notes

Last night my critique group met.  We have two newish writers who are crafting their first picture books.  We also have a former writer for Sesame Street who is working on a picture book.  Her manuscript always has an illustration note or two so it is really hard for the newer writers to understand when […]

Anthropomorphized Animals: Fiction or Nonfiction?

Recently I read a Sleeping Bear Press picture book called A Penguin Named Patience: A Hurricane Katrina Rescue Story by Suzanne Lewis.  In this book, Lewis tells the story of the Audubon facility in New Orleans and what the animals there went through after the hurricane. As the facility heats up, Patience’s temper grows noticeably […]

News for Fans of F+W Books

As someone who is a fan of many of the F&W titles, especially those that pertain to writing, I was thrilled to see that Penguin Random House purchased F+W Books book-publishing assets.  These assets were sold as part of F+W Media’s bankruptcy proceeding. In addition to the Writer’s Market books, F+W Books focuses on illustrated […]

Free Class: Self-Editing for Writers

I had a different post planned for today but I wanted to get the news about this class out as soon as possible.  Joan Dempsey is offering a free course, Self-Editing for Writers.  Yes, there is a paid Master Class, but sign up for this class. You will learn about: Lesson 1:  Whether you should complete […]

Self or Independent Publishing: There Is a Cost to Do It Right

Far too often, when an author tells me that they plan to self-publish the reason is so that they can keep all the money.   I’m not saying that money shouldn’t be a factor, but it shouldn’t be the only factor.  Would I like to make more money on the books I write for the school […]

A Matter of Taste: Choosing Just the Right Editor

Finding just the right editor or agent for your manuscript is often a matter of finding someone with just the right taste. As important as it is to write a top-notch, marketable book, although we don’t like to think about it, taste plays a huge part. I was reminded of this while reading agent profiles, […]