Nancy I. Sanders's Blog, page 18

First Pages that Pop!

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Do you want to write nonfiction picture books with the skills of a ninja? One of the first things to tackle is the first page.

Not the first page of your manuscript.

The first page that will be in the final published book.

On my group’s blog, Ninja Notebook, I posted an article on strategies to make your first page a winner.

CLICK HERE to read it and start to sharpen your skills!

Primary Sources to the Rescue

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When you’re writing nonfiction, you know how valuable (and hard to find!) primary sources can be.

Stephanie Bearce, one of the highly skilled members of my writing group, Nonfiction Ninjas, posted an incredibly helpful blog on our website with lots of links for primary sources dealing with American History.

CLICK HERE to read her online article, Nonfiction Ninja Super Secret Weapon.

Meet the Nonfiction Ninjas!

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I want to introduce you to my scribe tribe! It’s official…we’re the Nonfiction Ninjas!

We’re a group of 11 professional children’s writers who first gathered in Texas this last year and have since been helping each other move forward in our writing careers. And even though we write in a variety of genre, together we all specialize in nonfiction!

To make us even more official, we even have our own website. You can click here to meet each of us and learn more about who we are.

But one of the best things I want to share with you today is that we have started our own blog, chock full of tips and strategies on how YOU can polish your nonfiction skills and learn to slice and dice like a blackbelt! Our blog is called the Ninja Notebook and I’ll be sharing lots of their posts here on my blog.

For starters, I encourage you to read the incredible Pat Miller’s post on Writing Lessons from a Worm. You’ll be inspired to maximize your fullest potential as a writer!

Readers Theater: More on Format

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As many of you know, I’m busy right now writing a readers theater script for the educator’s guide I’m creating for the release of my upcoming MG nonfiction book, JANE AUSTEN FOR KIDS.

In my last post about this, we talked about format.

The format of the actual text of the play is very important. This is what the kids will be reading and following along as they read the play aloud. (Unlike other plays that are acted out, readers theater plays are intended only to be read out loud. No acting skills needed!)

I try to make my readers theater scripts that I self-publish in educator’s guides as companions to my books or that I sell individually appear visually appealing to the kids who will be reading them. So I always like to start out with some sort of an interesting picture or photograph.

These days you can find lots of royalty free images on the internet. I found this one about an English fox hunt because it will tie into the story I’m telling in my play.

Just below the image, I add in the title of my play. It’s centered on the page.

Below that, you can see that I start Scene 1 with a little description of where the scene is taking place.

Then I start the read-aloud script.

I align the characters’ names along the left, add a colon, and then indent so all the read-aloud script starts at the same tab.

For this readers theater, I’m actually writing it while I’m typing on the computer. So I’m formatting it as I write the first draft of the story. This is helping me keep the format correct as well as pace the amount of dialogue I’m giving each character.

I’m trying not to give any character more than about 3 lines of text because I want the kids to get equal chances to speak.

Here is how that looks on the second page of my script so far.

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Book Giveaway Winners!

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And the winners are…drumroll please!!!!!

The winner of the first prize is Trine Grillo.

Yay, Trine! You have won a free copy of my how-to book for writers, YES! YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO WRITE BEGINNING READERS AND CHAPTER BOOKS.

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And the winner of the second prize is Heather Beers.

Hip hip hooray, Heather! You have won a free copy of my family’s brand new cookbook, THE SANDERS FAMILY COOKBOOK.

Thanks one and all for your participation.

And Trine and Heather, I’ll be sending you an e-mail asking you for your street address so I can pop those puppies in the mail. Congratulations!!!!

 

Book Giveaway!

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Who loves freebies? And who loves free book giveaways?!! I do and I hope you do too!

Yesterday and today, this Wednesday and Thursday on October 10 and 11 2018, here on my blog I’m hosting a book giveaway for 2 free books. We’ll have 2 happy winners who will each win one free book. (Please note that this contest is open only to folks living in the continental USA.)

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PRIZE #1

The first prize is a copy of my how-to book for children’s writers, YES! YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO WRITE BEGINNING READERS AND CHAPTER BOOKS. This book teaches you how to write for kids based on my experience writing hundreds of beginning reader stories as well a numerous chapter books over my career. I share insider secrets of the trade, timely tips, and lots of essential info for you as a children’s writer. If you already own this book, as I know lots of you do, you can still enter the contest as a chance to win it to give as a gift to another writer friend.

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PRIZE #2

The second prize is a copy of a cookbook, THE SANDERS FAMILY COOKBOOK. My son recently published it with favorite family recipes of his wife and her mom. (They are AMAZING cooks!) A bunch of my recipes are in there, too. So if you’re looking for some great ideas for delicious dishes to serve up at your next writer’s group, look no further. There’s the best chocolate chip cookie recipe, a scrumptious brownie recipe, plus lots of yummy vegetarian dishes if you’re trying to eat on the healthy side of life. A great Christmas present for your family members, too!

ENTER THE CONTEST

You can enter your name once again today for a second chance to get your name in the pot. (If you didn’t yet enter your name, feel free to read the previous post and follow those steps to enter your name there, too. Two time maximum, please!)

I’m hoping to build followers for my online store at a site called TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS where I sell products for teachers and homeschooling families to use. So today I’m asking you to put your name in the contest in 3 easy steps.

Step One.

Go to the TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS site and register to join. It’s free and anybody can join! Registration is simple–it will ask you for your name, e-mail, username, and password. Plus, it will ask if you’re a teacher, but if you’re not (like me) just click “not a teacher.” If you write for children, this is a must-have site to join. You can browse on this site and discover what teachers are teaching in classrooms and get tons of ideas for writing new stories and books for kids. CLICK HERE to go to Teachers Pay Teachers and register. (If you’re already a member of TpT, you can skip this step.)

Step Two.

Go to my store TEACHER PLUS WRITER and click “Follow me!” I’d love for you to follow my store and learn about new products I’m creating for kids as I post them several times a year. CLICK HERE to go to my online store and follow me. (If you already follow my TpT store, you can skip this step.)

Step Three.

Go to Rafflecopter and enter to win! CLICK HERE to go to Rafflecopter and enter the contest.

That’s it! I’ll announce the two winners by Friday this week. I hope it will be YOU!!!

And thank you for helping me out by following my blog and also my store at Teachers Pay Teachers!

Book Giveaway!

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Who loves freebies? And who loves free book giveaways?!! I do and I hope you do too!

Today and tomorrow, this Wednesday and Thursday on October 10 and 11 2018, here on my blog I’m hosting a book giveaway for 2 free books. We’ll have 2 happy winners who will each win one free book. (Please note that this contest is open only to folks living in the continental USA.)

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PRIZE #1

The first prize is a copy of my how-to book for children’s writers, YES! YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO WRITE BEGINNING READERS AND CHAPTER BOOKS. This book teaches you how to write for kids based on my experience writing hundreds of beginning reader stories as well a numerous chapter books over my career. I share insider secrets of the trade, timely tips, and lots of essential info for you as a children’s writer. If you already own this book, as I know lots of you do, you can still enter the contest as a chance to win it to give as a gift to another writer friend.

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PRIZE #2

The second prize is a copy of a cookbook, THE SANDERS FAMILY COOKBOOK. My son recently published it with favorite family recipes of his wife and her mom. (They are AMAZING cooks!) A bunch of my recipes are in there, too. So if you’re looking for some great ideas for delicious dishes to serve up at your next writer’s group, look no further. There’s the best chocolate chip cookie recipe, a scrumptious brownie recipe, plus lots of yummy vegetarian dishes if you’re trying to eat on the healthy side of life. A great Christmas present for your family members, too!

ENTER THE CONTEST

How do you enter the contest? I’m hoping to build followers for my blog. So you can enter your name once today for a chance to win a free book by taking these two easy steps:

Step One.

Click “Follow Blog Via Email” to follow my blog. (The button on the right of this page.) You’ll receive my posts as well as an occasional newsletter. (If you already follow my blog, you can skip this step.)

Step Two.

Go to Rafflecopter and enter to win! CLICK HERE to go to Rafflecopter and enter the contest.

That’s it! I’ll announce the two winners by Friday this week. I hope it will be YOU!!!

(Be sure to check back in tomorrow  to add your name into the contest a second time for a chance to win one of these free books! Each person can enter two times max.)

Readers Theater: Format

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I love readers theater! I’ve published entire books of readers theater plays and scripts for teachers to use in the classroom. Plus, I write individual readers theater plays and sell them in my online store at Teachers Pay Teachers. And I usually include at least one readers theater play in every educator’s guide I create to help market one of my published books.

If you have a fancy art publishing program that you already know how to use, you can create your readers theater in that format and add all the bells and whistles you want.

But if you’re technologically challenged (like I am) you can just create a readers theater script using a simple Word document and make it look very professional! That’s the format I use most of the time and it’s the format I’ll show you how to use. It’s easy peasy. And that’s how I like it.

Here are several examples of readers theater plays I’ve written and published to sell in my online store, TEACHER PLUS WRITER. Look at the free previews and check out the basic format that first meets your eye.

Readers Theater: Frederick Douglass and the Emancipation Proclamation

Readers Theater: John and Abigail Adams Move into the White House

Let Freedom Ring! A Readers Theater Script on the Declaration of Independence

We’ll talk more about format in upcoming posts, but I have exciting news to share! For the next 2 days, I’ll be hosting a giveaway here on my blog for 2 free books! Stay tuned for details on how you can put your name in a hat for the chance to win one of these fun titles!!!

Educator’s Guide: Reader’s Theater

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As many of you know, I’m eagerly awaiting the publication of my newest book, JANE AUSTEN FOR KIDS. Its release date is February 2019.

As with many of my other books, I’m creating a free educator’s guide to go along with it.

If you write for children, it’s a good idea to create an educator’s guide to go along with your book too. Some publishers provide this, but many don’t, so for the ones who don’t, I make it myself. I’m starting to work on my educator’s guide for JANE AUSTEN FOR KIDS, so I wanted to share the steps I’m taking, here on my blog, so you can learn how to create one for your book as well.

An educator’s guide serves many important purposes. For one thing, it gets your book into the hands of teachers and teachers are a key buying force–a vital target audience for you to market to.

For another thing, somewhere in your educator’s guide you can market your book (and other books you’ve written) so that it increases your marketing exposure.

And most of all, it helps bring your book to life for kids. The activities in an educator’s guide can be fun and exciting and help add interest and connect with the hearts of kids so they become even more enthusiastic about your book.

The first component of my educator’s guide that I’m going to create will be a reader’s theater story about Jane Austen. Here in the upcoming days on my blog, I’ll be taking you through the process I’m going through, step-by-step, to write it.

Readers theater stories are AWESOME! They are fun for kids to perform. They bring your topic to life. They are always a favorite in an educator’s guide. Plus, you can write these puppies even if you do not yet have a published book and sell them yourself on the site, TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS.

I highly recommend you join TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS. (You don’t have to be a teacher to join.) It’s an amazing place you can self-publish various products and stories and SELL them for teachers to use in the classroom. It’s also a great place you can post your free teacher’s guide for your published book to get it in the hand of teachers everywhere.

Go to the TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS site and register to join. It’s free and anybody can join! Registration is simple–it will ask you for your name, e-mail, username, and password. Plus, it will ask if you’re a teacher, but if you’re not (like me) just click “not a teacher.” If you write for children, this is a must-have site to join. You can browse on this site and discover what teachers are teaching in classrooms and get tons of ideas for writing new stories and books for kids. CLICK HERE to go to Teachers Pay Teachers and register. (If you’re already a member of TpT, you can skip this step.)

While you’re at it, go to my store TEACHER PLUS WRITER and click “Follow me!” I’d love for you to follow my store and learn about new products I’m creating for kids as I post them several times a year. CLICK HERE to go to my online store and follow me.

And if you have a store on Teachers Pay Teachers, I’d love to follow you, too! Just post a comment here with the name of your store and I’ll follow you, too.

Stay tuned…as we get started on learning how to write a reader’s theater.

Author Platform 101: Q and A

Here’s another question from my cyber writing friend, Jarm:

My upcoming book will resonate with home educators, church librarians, Christian schools and others who enjoy MG historical/Biblical fiction. So I’ll look for those groups on Twitter and Facebook. I’ve already joined a few groups on Goodreads. How do you keep track of them all? And do you mostly watch their comments or actually interact with them?

Again, these are great questions. And again, there are no right or wrong answers.

I have writer friends who spend a lot of time on social media interacting with their friends and followers. They love it and they really maximize their author platform online.

After several years of participating in online social media, however, I have learned that it is not the best fit for my interests, personality, or time. I’d rather write a teacher’s guide and post it in my store, Teachers Pay Teachers, where teachers can get it for free and learn about my book and hopefully purchase copies of it for their classroom.

So for my strategy for building up my social media on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter as I’m getting closer to the release of my book JANE AUSTEN FOR KIDS, I’m not planning on interacting with people every day. I’m planning on holding one to four marketing campaigns throughout the year to market various books of mine. So there will be times when I’m very active with my followers and friends for my target BUYING audience (this includes mostly teachers and librarians). But the other months of the year, I’ll probably not interact much with those platforms at all. That’s just my personal preference.

The bottom line:

My writing comes first. I am constantly writing fresh new content for new picture books or new teaching resources or new nonfiction children’s books.

Then after that, as I have time, or as I purpose to do, I’m spending time on my author’s platform in the realm of social media, helping to promote and market my books.