Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 57

A Wee Panic Re: The Fun & Games

If you’re at all familiar with story beats ala Save the Cat, you’ll recognize the term Fun and Games. This is the beat that is half way through the book. It is also 20 to 50 percent of the total story. You read that right. 20 to 50%. The way that I think about it … Continue reading A Wee Panic Re: The Fun & Games →

Droughts, famines, poverty, earthquakes, hurricanes, war! Guest Post by Yvonne Morgan

Words like these inspire fear within us as we ponder the impact of these kinds of events. News reports bring visions of them into our homes on an almost daily basis. These problems of the world appear overwhelming. Sometimes I feel lost at the enormity of each problem. Can I stop them from happening? No. … Continue reading Droughts, famines, poverty, earthquakes, hurricanes, war! Guest Post by Yvonne Morgan →

Recharge by Being Creative

Early last week I had contracts for three books. I sitting down to draft #2 when I got the revision letter for #1. As I was turning that in, I got another email and an hour later had contracts for #4, #5, and #6. I’m done with #1. This week I’ve been rewriting #2 to … Continue reading Recharge by Being Creative →

National Book Lovers Day

Before I get into my post, I wanted to recommend a book to everyone since today is National Book Lovers Day. Last week, I finished Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister. I liked it well enough but it wasn’t until very near the end of the book that I realized how masterfully it was … Continue reading National Book Lovers Day →

Revision: What I’m Doing This Week

I have a deadline on Friday so I’ll be spending my week doing revisions. I have to admit that my process has changed a lot since I started doing these books. Today my process looks something like this. That makes for four drafts total. Let me emphasize that this is my nonfiction work-for-hire. When I … Continue reading Revision: What I’m Doing This Week →

Blog Tours: What and Why?

Over the next two weeks or so, I’m taking part in a blog tour (see above). I thought this would be a good opportunity to remind you what a blog tour is and why you might want to do one for your own book. A blog tour is like a book tour but it is … Continue reading Blog Tours: What and Why? →

Chocolate Chip Cookie Day and Idea Generation

I had to do a chocolate chip cookie day post. I just had to! Because when I saw that today was chocolate chip cookie day it immediately brought to mind this picture book. The whole series of books was fun but this was definitely my favorite. There are so many national and international days. In … Continue reading Chocolate Chip Cookie Day and Idea Generation →

Get Out of Your Way

Maybe you need to hear this when you are trying to decide what to write. You come up with an idea . . . but then you talk yourself out of it. It just isn’t good enough. It isn’t high stakes. No one is going to want something so blasé. Or maybe you are trying … Continue reading Get Out of Your Way →

Picture Book Biographies Require Space in the Market

I really wanted to call this post “Picture Book Biographies Need Room to Breathe.” I didn’t but now I’m feeling much better having shared that with someone. My editor tells me that my titles and subtitles are sometimes a little “out there.” I’m not sure where I heard about this particular picture book biography but … Continue reading Picture Book Biographies Require Space in the Market →

What Barbie Taught Me About Creating Characters

Last week, I mentioned I had to finish my revision so I could go see Barbie with a group of friends. The friends I was with laughed. “You are going to see Barbie?” I almost said something incredibly rude. But I didn’t. What can I say? My filter does periodically work especially if I’m in … Continue reading What Barbie Taught Me About Creating Characters →