Nancy I. Sanders's Blog, page 8

Social Media for KidLit Authors: The Good, the Bad, and the Hopeful

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THE BAD

Okay, let’s get the bad news out of the way first. If you want to be a successfully published author, you have to have a bazillion followers on all of your social media platforms. And as if that isn’t enough, you now also have to have a ton of engagement…meaning you have to get lots of comments and post lots of replies.

I’m glad that for some of you, this isn’t bad news. You love social media and thrive on it. But for a huge number of KidLit authors I know, this news is daunting. Depressing. Bad.

THE GOOD

So now let’s take a deep breath and drink in the good news. If you don’t like social media, you can still have an AWESOME KidLit career!!!!!! Seriously!!!!! Here’s how:

*Team up with a friend who is a social media expert but may not have the skills you have as a writer. Co-author and offer your writing skills as your part of the team. I have co-authored numerous books with writing friends and it’s so much fun!

*Land work-for-hire contracts. Yep. You have to do ZERO social media tasks for a work-for-hire contract. Why? Because they pay you to write the book and take it from there. In my career of writing 100+ books, I’ve written numerous work-for-hire books. I LOVE IT! Some have given me some pretty nice checks. Some have even won big awards. Some have been bestsellers and look awesome on my resume. For some I was flown to the publishing house for meetings with the project editors and other authors on the team. Stuff of dreams! And I didn’t have to spend one minute of social media time in the deal.

*Write for educational publishers. Many educational publishers already have a built-in target audience. Teachers. And they often have their very own platform and don’t require all the social media stats other publishers are looking for. Some even offer royalties. I’ve written for some educational publishers where I’ve earned over $100,000 and still counting! CLICK HERE to tap into Ev Christensen’s amazing resource for the Educational Market.

*Ghostwrite. Yep. This is kind of a mix between work-for-hire and co-author. You name isn’t even on the book usually, but you’re writing for a big name with a big platform and that means big sales numbers that once again look very very nice on your resume. And can often bring in a nice income as well!

*Write for magazines. I love to write for children’s magazines. I have another deadline this month! I get to sign frequent contracts, see my stories frequently in print, and read lots of my stories to my grandkids. Without any social media required.

THE HOPEFUL

Okay, but what about the books you want to write for the KidLit trade market and need those social media stats?

There’s hope! I felt hopeless. I simply was not able to conquer this social media thing and I want to write picture books for the KidLit market. So this past May I signed up for the most awesome year-long social media class I know of. Every month we learn a new social media platform and have our own personal social media coach..for very reasonable price and for an entire year! I feel hopeful now as I haven’t in these past few years when social media was added to our author’s plate.

So if you would like to learn marketing strategies at a nice pace, with an author who is a social media guru to hold your hand and help inspire you each step of the way, CLICK HERE on this affiliate link to find out the amazing details and pay a monthly fee.  CLICK HERE on this affiliate link to sign up and pay all at once for the whole year.

The Very Oldest Pear Tree – Nancy I. Sanders, illustrations by Yas Imamura

I’m so thankful for this librarian’s review of my book! This is a great book during election season to share with kids about a little known part of American history!

Youth Services Book Review

   The Very Oldest Pear Tree – Nancy I. Sanders, illustrations by Yas Imamura, Albert Whitman & Company, 9780807566817, 2020 

Format: ARC (Hardcover available August, 2020)

Rating:  1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 5

 What did you like about the book? Any time a book encourages me to gather more information, I feel it is a good book. After reading this story, I immediately went to the Internet to see what else I could learn. This story is basically about a pear tree that has survived for almost 400 years. The interesting part is that this pear tree is an important part of American history. In 1630 there was a ship travelling from England to America and it was carrying several different sapling trees–one of them was a pear tree. The Governor at the time was named Endecott and he tended to this young pear tree…

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Experience Writing Success with Goals in Sight!

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I’ve developed a strategy that helps me accumulate publishing credits and helps me grow as a writer even during winter seasons when all I get is rejections for the book manuscripts I submit. I call it the Triple Crown of Success.

I explain how this works in detail in my book, Yes! You Can Learn How to Write Children’s Books, Get Them Published, and Build a Successful Writing Career.

I’ll give a quick overview of how the Triple Crown of Success works:

Basically, I try to work on 3 different manuscripts to meet 3 different goals.

Project #1:
For the goal of writing for personal fulfillment, I work on whichever manuscript I’m passionate about. I devote a certain amount of time each week working on this to keep my writer’s passion alive.

Project #2:
For the goal of writing to get published, I write for the no-pay/low-pay market. I still do this today! Do I get paid for these? Not all the time. But I build up my publishing credits. And I work with editors. And I keep honing my writing skills. And I build my author’s platform by getting my website and blog and name out there. And I get to read my published stories to my grandkids. These benefits are my “paycheck.”

Project #3:
For the goal of writing to earn income, I send out queries and proposals and try to land book contracts or high-paying magazine contracts so I get paid to write something. To do this I study different publishers product lines and the books or magazine articles they’re putting out right now. I look for holes in their market. Then I submit queries and proposals for potential books to write that would fit into their product line. This is how I earn most of my income each year.

So what can you do if you feel like you’re in the middle of winter as a writer? Don’t lose all your leaves like a deciduous tree or shut down and give up on writing.

Be like an evergreen. Start working on three different strategies and manuscript projects to meet the three basic goals most writers have. Take control of your writing by using the Triple Crown of Success and shine like an evergreen all year long.

Our Goals as Writers

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Would we watch a football game if there wasn’t an end zone or there weren’t any goals to be scored? Of course not! It would be silly to watch the players just run back and forth on the field for several hours.

Would we watch a soccer game if there wasn’t a goalie or net and there weren’t any goals to be scored. No. Going for a goal makes the sport FUN.

It’s great to have goals in our writing career as well.

It gives us something to aim for, something to strive toward, something to energize and motivate us.

If you’re overwhelmed by unfulfilled goals, try what I do: just give yourself ONE goal to work toward.

That’s what I’m doing right now with a marketing plan I’m working on. I have ONE goal I’m working toward. Just ONE. In this huge ocean of social networking and Internet marketing, it makes it seem actually do-able to just have one goal. When that one’s met, I’ll get a new goal for my marketing plan and move forward on it.

If you’re really charged up and rarin’ to go, I recommend pursuing 3 different goals in my strategy called THE TRIPLE CROWN OF SUCCESS.

You’ll follow a specific strategy to pursue the goal of writing for personal fulfillment.

You’ll follow a specific strategy to pursue the goal of writing to get published.

You’ll follow a specific strategy to pursue the goal of earning income.

You can find out more about the TRIPLE CROWN OF SUCCESS in my book for children’s writers.

But whichever way you choose to go, definitely add goals to your life as a writer. It will be like following a treasure map to find the gold!

Leer. Analizar. ¡Hacer!: EL AMOR ES BONDADOSO

If you’re a published author, check out this amazing resource to help market your book!

Laura Sassi Tales

Today I’m delighted to share a very special Read.Discuss.Do! graphic created by children’s author Rebecca Gomez for the Spanish edition of LOVE IS KIND — EL AMOR ES BONDADOSO!

This is the same activity that she previously created in English:

A couple of week’s ago, it struck me that my Spanish language readers might enjoy this activity, so I asked Becky if she’d be up for creating a Spanish version. She said yes! It was a group effort, with special thanks to Rebecca’s husband and the Spanish team at Vida, but the final, lovely presentation is Rebecca’s. Thank you!

Although this is the first graphic Rebecca has created in Spanish, it is far from her first Read.Discuss.Do!

This campaign (hashtag #ReadDiscussDo), which celebrates reading beyond the book by creating sharable images that give simple ideas for book related discussions and activities, was created by Rebecca in 2017. That’s when she posted her very…

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Refocusing as a KidLit Author

[image error]Photo from a frame on my wall. Each frame has a crown above it and inside is a picture of a different manuscript I wrote for each different crown in the Triple Crown of Success

With all this stuff going on around the world and in our daily lives, I think I’ve sort of been wandering aimlessly around regarding my writing.

So recently I revisited my goals as an author and did some soul-searching.

I fell back on a strategy I’ve used throughout most of my career…and if you’ve been following me for awhile you’ll know what I mean…the Triple Crown of Success. It truly has been the key to my success as a career author.

Basically, I sat down and evaluated my goal of Writing for Income…what income did I want or need to generate in the next 12 months, hopefully from my writing?

Then I took a look at my own barometer for my personal need to feel success at Getting Published. Was I getting published and in print in the year ahead as much as I wanted to be in this season of my career?

And finally, I did a lot of soul-searching for this one…was I steadily writing fresh content for a project that is near and dear to my heart so that I feel a sense of Personal Fulfillment as a writer?

Sitting down over a period of a couple of weeks and really asking myself these questions have made a difference in my attitude as a writer. Now I have a clear vision again of the why and the goal of writing in this season of my life.

Here are the steps I took LAST WEEK to get back on track with the Triple Crown of Success:

Writing to Earn Income: This last week I started the process to land a contract to write a book so I’ll be getting paid while I write. I also started a separate process for a potential work-for-hire contract which again guarantees money right up front so I can get paid while I write.

Writing to Get Published: I sent paragraph pitches to a magazine editor and landed several assignments to guarantee I’ll see my name in print and hold my published children’s stories in my hand in the year ahead. (Plus, I’ll get to read them to my grandkids!)

Writing for Personal Fulfillment: I’ve renewed my commitment to writing a devotional for kids that is near and dear to my heart. When it’s finished I’ll try to find a publisher. Even though there is no guarantee that it will get published, I get a sense of personal fulfillment working on this manuscript because it is near and dear to my heart.

If you’re not familiar with the Triple Crown of Success, I’ll be reposting in the days ahead some of my former posts from this blog about it. I hope you’ll be encouraged and re-energized to get on track for your writing goals and experience success as a children’s author, too!

Anchor in the Storm

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What are you doing to cope during 2020?

First it was Covid…I remember the day we were officially on lockdown and weren’t supposed to go out of the house.

To cope, I started meeting regularly with God for an hour each day every morning. I’d been neglecting my time alone with him. It felt good to worship, pray and listen to His Spirit, and read His Word.

Then, when we could finally walk around our neighborhood, we received the city-wide announcement that we were on curfew/lockdown because of rioting a couple blocks away (right where we walked).

Instead of just sitting on the couch for my daily hour with God, I started meeting outside with Him, sitting on our back patio enjoying our flowers, praising the Creator and reading the Word along with the birds each morning. The crisp morning air replenished my weary soul from all the hours spent inside.

Then, when it became okay to walk around out neighborhood again, the fires broke out. The picture at the top of this post is the plume we’ve been watching for over 3 weeks (On days we can see past the falling ash and cloudy haze). So even my morning garden meetings with my Savior have been relocated back inside.

Challenging? Yes. Not as bad as some have been experiencing, I know, because my husband is on the prayer team at our church and prays all week long for people who call the church for prayer.

But every day as I continue to meet with God and sit at the feet of Jesus, I’m experiencing wonderful times of refreshment in his presence. Each day my peace is restored, my hope is renewed, and my trust is strengthened that God is on the throne and He is mighty to save.

What are you doing to cope with all that is going on in your corner of the planet?

Five Fun Facts

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CLICK HERE to hop on over to the funtastic blog of my writing friend, Laura Sassi. Today she’s featuring Five Fun Facts about the journey I took to write my newest picture book, THE VERY OLDEST PEAR TREE.

Be sure to leave a comment and say “HI!”

Talk Like a Pirate Day

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Ahoy mateys! It be coming up soon, the celebration we all have been waiting for.

September 19, 2020, is the official International Talk Like a Pirate Day and this be a perfect year to celebrate.

If yer wee ones have never celebrated this before, just put on an eye patch, swagger around, and use all the piratey words ye can think of.

Teachers, educators, homeschoolers, and librarians! ARRRRRR ye looking fer some fun ways to Zoom with yer students? Encourage them all to join in the rollicking fun by dressing up and make it educational to boot.

Here be some resources ye can use:

A Pirate’s Mother Goose. This picture book illustrated by Colin Jack is filled with rollicking nursery rhymes retold piratey style. A great read-aloud for your wee ones at home, yer students over Zoom, or an online storytime. Hurry up and ye can buy it in time fer the festivities if ye click here on Amazon or on yer favorite online bookstore.

Free Educator’s Guide. Click here to visit the book’s website for a free downloadable Educator’s Guide and other exciting piratey treasures. You’ll find pirate crafts, pirate coloring pages, and a printable pirate dictionary! Shiver me timbers! Now that’s a gem to steal.

Entire Pirate Unit. Do ye have pirates in training? Do ye love teaching English, Math, and Science all with a piratey theme? This be the perfect month to engage yer students preK to Second Grade whether online or in person. What a great way to get yer young whippersnappers excited to be back in school, whichever way ye’re spelling it. This unit be available to them that clicks here to visit my store at Teachers Pay Teachers.

If ye’ve never celebrated before, this be the perfect year to start. And if ye be celebrating it again but looking fer something new…check out these resources to enjoy a swashbuckling good time.

Ahoy!

Encouragement for Your Writer’s Soul

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As writers, it’s very easy to get discouraged. Especially if you’re a writer (like me) who is passionate about picture books, we have to come to terms with the fact that we’re trying to break into the toughest market in the industry. Why is it so tough? Two main reasons. The first is that the competition is fierce because everyone–from the postal worker to the grocery clerk to your very own grandmother wants to write a picture book. Why? Because of the second reason–these books are full color and beautifully illustrated which happens to make them the most expensive book of all for publishers to produce and the most pricey book of all for consumers to purchase.

So if you’re dedicated to writing picture books and fully illustrated books, here’s a survival tip to keep you going and keep you from quitting or dropping out of the race altogether:

Write for 2-3 no-pay or low-pay markets so that you’re getting published on a steady basis throughout the year. I mean, even when I landed my contract to write my alphabet book, D is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet, it took nearly 3 years to finally see the book in print. First I had to write it. Then they had to find an illustrator for it. Then E.B. Lewis had to paint the pictures. Then they had to print it. All this took a lot of time. If it was the only manuscript I was getting published in all that time, I would have gotten very discouraged as a writer.

But I didn’t! In between book contracts and all throughout my days, weeks, months, and years of writing, I also write for no-pay and low-pay markets on a steady basis. The perks far outweigh the cash. I develop friendships with the editors I work with. These editors supply tons of kudos and positive feedback! I get validated over and over and over again with a steady stream of publications. And these add up nicely on my list of published credits. I feel like a writer because I’m constantly working within the world of a writer.

Here are just a few of the no-pay and low-pay markets I have written for over the years:
church newsletters
puzzles for kids’ magazines
book reviews for magazines
online devotions
local school writing projects
parenting newsletters
writer’s newsletters

The list could go on and on. I’ve accumulated hundreds of credits with no-pay or low-pay markets over the years.

So I want to encourage you to do the same. While you’re working so hard to target a picture book publisher, sit down every couple of days or so and just write a short article and send it in to a no-pay or low-pay market that you’re practically guaranteed to get accepted. Local community magazines, online freebie magazines, Sunday School take home papers, small unknown publishers… Start building relationships with these editors to guarantee a steady accumulation of published credits. Forget about the pay–the experience and the validation as a writer are worth much more than anyone can pay you right now. Start today and make it your goal to get published in these markets on a regular basis. It will help you keep on writing and working toward your goal of landing a book contract.

Image Credit: Image by Monoar Rahman Rony from Pixabay