Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 206
November 14, 2017
Rejection: 5 Tips on How to Deal with the Inevitable
I was making pretty good time on the treadmill when an e-mail popped up. The sender immediately looked familiar. It was one of the agents who had recently received my manuscript. Her letter was short, simple and to the point. “Thanks but no thanks and good luck elsewhere.” Well, poop. Some days rejections really get […]
November 13, 2017
Stories Based on Real Life: Reality with a Twist
“That would make a great story. You should write it.” If your family and friends are anything like mine, they love pointing out when some event would make a great story. And in all reality life is a great place to find inspiration. I was reminded of this yesterday when I read the picture book Robinson by Peter […]
November 12, 2017
Dummy: Use It to Rewrite One Spread at a Time
On Friday I blogged about using a dummy to “test drive” your manuscript. In addition to making sure you have a solid picture book manuscript, a dummy is also a great way to edit and tighten your text. Why? Because picture books are super short. Each word has to have maximum impact. But when I work […]
November 9, 2017
The Dummy: Another Way to Test Drive Your Picture Book
Yesterday, I blogged about creating a storyboard to test your picture book idea. But there’s another tool that let’s you test your manuscript before you send it to the editor. The dummy. Since I use the dummy to revise, that means I must have a solid draft in hand. Some people may use it earlier […]
November 8, 2017
Storyboard: One Way to Outline Your Picture Book
When you write a picture book, you need to make certain you have enough story. The problem is that there has to be enough to stretch over 32 pages. And this has to be 32 pages with zing. They can’t be scant. They can’t be meaningless. They have to matter. I’ve been noodling over a […]
November 7, 2017
Read Beyond Your Comfort Zone
If you heard someone yelling like a lunatic on Monday – that was me. But it’s okay cause I was celebrating. Monday I found out that Black Lives Matter was part of a radio broadcast on Minnesotta Public Radio. Kerri Miller did a segment titled Read Beyond Your Comfort Zone. She opened by discussing the work of […]
November 6, 2017
Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2017
When I saw the announcement for the Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2017, I knew that they’d be special. After all, they’d been chosen by the NYTBR (New York Times Book Review) and NYPL (New York Public Library). What I wasn’t sure about is whether or not they would all be picture books. Then I clicked […]
November 5, 2017
Win Picture Books
I hope that you’re taking some time during the month of November to check out some of the Picture Book Month offerings. Over the weekend, I spotted the #Thankful4PBs giveaway. Organized by Tracy Marchini, all of these books are part of the giveaway: 7 Ate 9 by Tara Lazar Bear And Chicken by Jannie […]
November 2, 2017
Reading List: The SCBWI 2017 Winter Reading List
I’ve got just over one chapter to rough and really need to have a full draft done today so I’m going to keep this short. But truly this resource is meaty enough that you’re going to want to dig right in. I”ll be back with another picture book post tomorrow. The SCBWI 2017 Winter Reading List is […]
November 1, 2017
Picture Books: Combining Text and Art
Since I’m going to be writing a lot about picture books this month, I thought I’d spend a little time explaining what they are. Picture books are strange hybrid beasts. They are part text and part illustration. Both elements need to carry part of the story. This means that unless you are an author/illustrator, you […]
