Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 172

Children’s Book Week

This year is the 100th anniversary of Children’s Book Week.  100 Years of encouraging every child to read.  The celebration is going on all year-long but the actual week is next week, April 29 – May 5, 2019. This is from Every Child A Reader’s web site: “Children’s Book Week originated in the belief that […]

Rewrites: What to do When Your Requested Rewrite Seems Enormous

Just over a week ago, I was finishing up a young adult nonfiction manuscript when my inbox pinged at me.  “Requested Rewrite.” I quickly popped it open to see how many comments I was dealing with because instead of a letter my editor comments throughout the Word Document.  There were 133 comments. Question: How do […]

Crystal Kite: Vote in the Second Round!

Round 2 voting for SCBWI’s Crystal Kite awards has begun and will continue through April 30, 5pm PDT.  If you are an SCBWI member, go to www.scbwi.org and log in.  Then go to your Member Home page. See the left navigation bar? Scroll to the bottom and click “Vote in the Crystal Kite Awards.”  Check […]

Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards: Finalists Announced

Pop Culture Classroom just announced the finalists for the Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards.  Haven’t heard of this one before?  This is only the second year for the award. It was established to help the public become more aware of graphic literature as a legitimate form of literature as well as specific quality titles. Finalists: […]

Disappointment . . . When You Don’t Like A Breakaway Best Seller

Last night, I finished a book that’s been getting all kinds of press.  And by all kinds I mean an awful lot of good press.  Praise and accolades and more. Not only are reviewers covering it but the publisher also believed in it enough to take out advertising.  I have no clue what advertising costs […]

Super Heroes: Brainstorming Super Powers

Last week, I saw a write-up for Quest to Be the Best, Volume 1 of the graphic novel series Quincredible by Rodney Barnes.  Quinton West only weighs 100 lbs so after he gets caught in a meteor shower it takes a bit to realize that his super power is invulnerability. After all, what 100 lb guy […]

Word Building and Setting Details

It seems like I’ve been seeing a lot of blog posts and articles on world building and setting.  Maybe it is just because, writing fiction, I am paying attention.  Which is possible.  It is definitely something that I am thinking about. There are so many things that you need to consider just in regard to […]

Read, Read, Read with Recommendations from Stephen King

If you are a writer, you need to be a reader.  Really, it is that simple. It is one of the best ways to learn how to write well.  You can study pacing, characterization, dialogue and more by reading. By reading what you write, you know what is being published now.  You know what has […]

Graphics: Sometimes They Work and Sometimes They Splat

Today I have a book due with Redline.  Easy, peasy mac-n-cheesy?  Nope.  Not even close. The problem is that I need to provide ideas for at least 2 graphics.  Yes, I pitched specific ideas in my outline.  But when I tried to find the details I needed to pull them together?  Old stats. Biased stats.  […]

Book Mobiles and National Library Week

Yesterday, April 10, was National Book Mobile Day.  I discovered the book mobile when I was a 5th grader at Frostfield in the Ferguson-Florissant School District. Several smaller districts had been folded into our district and students were bussed hither and yon.  Fifth and sixth graders went to Frostfield.  It felt like it was miles and miles from […]