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NaPiBoWriWee - National Picture Book Writing Week

Along with her new web site design, Paula Yoo has posted information about the 3rd annual National Picture Book Writing Week (a.k.a. NaPiBoWriWee) The goal of NaPiBoWriWee is to try to write 7 picture book manuscripts (rough drafts) in 7 days. Prizes will also be given away by random draws for those who particpate.

I have participated in NaPiBoWriWee since the first one in 2009 and have found it to be the freeing, kick-in-the-pants I need. Try it, you'll see what I mean.

For more information about NaPiBoWriWee visit Paula's site at http://paulayoo.com/napi/?p=11

If you have any questions about my previous expiences in this challenge feel free to ask.

POV and Picture Books

Last week at #pblitchat we talked about point of view (POV) in picture books. I am going to touch on a few points during the chat and add a few of my own. If you want to read a full version of the chat transcript you can see it at the Picture Books Only Blog – Transcript 10/11 March.

Point of view, or POV for short, in books is the perspective in which the story is told. Who’s eyes we see the story through. POV can be a difficult concept to wrap your head around.

Basically there are three points of view: First, Second and Third

There are finer details such as third person limited (you are ONLY able to write what one person sees/feels/hears/thinks) and third person omniscient (you can hover above everybody & see everything) but I’m not going to get into that at this time.

I believe third POV is probably the most used in picture books followed by first POV. Second can and has been used however there doesn’t seem to be as many picture books in that POV.

First Person POV
First person point of view is written with the narrator as part of the story. The words “I” and “we” are used. Though this POV brings us close to the narrator and show s/he thinks and feels, it does limit the story to the one person’s perspective. In picture books this shouldn’t pose too much of a problem since telling a story from more than one perspective can confuse a child. The other issue with first person is some younger children may get confused when being read to. When read “I went to the store” a child may think mommy or daddy really did go to the store. As KarenCollum put it in #pblitchat “There’s an element of maturity involved in kids reading a PB in 1st and understanding that ‘me’ and ‘I’ is not them.”

Second Person POV
Second person point of view is written with you being part of the story. The words “you” and “your” are used. This POV pulls the reader right into the story. You often find this POV in choose your own adventure books or self help books. This type of POV is less popular in picture books – though it has been done and done well.

Third Person POV
Probably the most popular POV to write, third person POV tells the story from a person outside the story. The words “he,” “she,” “they” and “it” are used. This POV allows for more freedom in how that story is told.

Examples of Books Written in the Different POVs

First POV

• Pinkalicious - by Victoria Kann
• Eloise – by Hilary Knight
• My Dad Thinks He’s Funny – by Katrina Germein
• Whatever You Do, Don't Go Near That Canoe! - by Julie Lawson

Second POV

• The “If you …” books by Laura Numeroff

o If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
o If You Give A Pig A Pancake
o If You Give A Moose A Muffin
o If You Take A Mouse To School

Third POV

• The Pirate and the Penguin - by Patricia Storms
• No More Water In The Tub - by Tedd Arnold
• Samuel’s Kisses - by Karen Collum
• This Is The Mud - by Kathryn Apel

Have you ever tried to write one of your works in a different POV. What did you find? Does the story change? Did you find wholes in your story?
So, there you have it. Feel free to leave your comments about other books and POVs or anything else you would like.

Picture Book Chat

If you are looking for a place to chat about picture books then you need to join #pblitchat. Aussie writers Kat Apel and Karen Collum run a blog called Picture Books Only which is the home to #pblitchat. The chat is held once a week all about picture books is open to writers, librarian's and all lovers of children's picture books. Even though they state "Sorry – no middle-grade or YA novels allowed" they do tend to enter the conversation every once and a while however the main focus is pictures books.

I have found these sessions very informative and entertaining with a very friendly group. We're all learning so no question is ever to stupid to ask and I feel comfortable asking all my "stupid" questions here. Every week there is a different picture book topic and sometimes a special guest. Kat and Karen listen closely to participants of #pblitchat and some of the topics are based on the feedback they get. Some topics in the past have been so popular more than one session has been devoted it.

Topics include:
POV, technology, submission tracking, goals, myths in picture book publishing, plagiarism and copyright, From idea to polished manuscript: How do you get there? and the list goes on.

Special guests such as:
Aaron Reynolds and Neil Numberman (creators of the ‘Joey Fly’ graphic novels) and other published authors and illustrators, publishing consultant Alex Adsett, agents, poetry writers...

Time and Place
The chat is the same day every week but you need to pay close attention to place and time of the chats. To help accommodate the different time zones the time and place of the chat alternates each week.

Every 1st, 3rd and 5th (if there is one) Thursday of the month the chat is held at 7:00 am Eastern Time on Twitter using the #pblitchat tag.

Every 2nd and 4th Thursday the chat is held at 6:30 pm Eastern Time in a Chatzy chat room.

For a full listing of #pblitchat times in each timezone see the About Picture Books Only page. In order to enter the Chatzy room a password is required but don't let that scare you off. Simply email pblitchat[at]skymesh[dot]com[dot]au or pblitchat[at]bigpond[dot]com and request the password. (This was necessary due to some off-topic gate-crashers.)

Miss a chat or what to know more information about a topic previously covered? Kat and Karen happily post the chat transcript on their blog. You can find the transcripts on the Picture Books Only home page. I'm also hoping to summarize the transcript here on my blog.

Picture Books Only: http://picturebooksonly.wordpress.com/
Karen Collum: http://www.karencollum.com.au/
Kat Apel: http://katswhiskers.wordpress.com/

Hiking Up My Socks

I decided to hike up my socks and get to work polishing a picture book manuscript I have been working on-and-off for a long time.

So, last week I pulled it out of the draw and something interesting happened. That same day I had two different volunteer groups come to me and basically say, 'We'd like to use your writing skills. Can you help us? Would you write..." I don't mind helping and of course I said 'yes' but I find it funny that these requests come to me as soon as I decide to put all my focus on one of my bigger personal writing projects. My analytical mind now starts to wonder why this has happened and if there is a bigger meaning?

I think the bigger meaning is, 'you need to write...more...now.' I have finished one of the requests already and the client was very happy. Surprisingly, it wasn't as tough as I thought it was going to be. The other project will not happen for a while.

For now, I am looking to submit some smaller works, mainly poems, to magazines and web sites while I continue to work on my picture book manuscript and get it agent ready. Yay me!

A Quick Update

I have bad news and I have good news.

The bad news I received a rejection letter from my latest submission/inquery. I was so excited about it but hey, that's the way it goes.

The good news is I took that same manuscript and posted it to my new critique group and have received some great suggestions. I'm making changes and I will post it with the group again later. Once I'm happy with all the changes I think I am going to try to get an agent.

So that's where I'm at. I haven't posted much because I've been busy editing my manuscript.

3 Weeks

Today marks 3 weeks since I sent my status inquiry letter to the publisher. I haven't received a response yet and that's ok. I haven't been to the mailbox today though, so there could be a response today.
Follow me on twitter @auntieflamingo where I will tweet #WhatsInTheMailToday.

I didn't expect to have a response by now but I was hoping...dreaming.

The 1st week I didn't expect anything since the post office told me it would take a week for my letter to get to the publisher.

I wasn't really expecting anything the 2nd week since publishing houses are very busy and need time to respond to the mass of mail they get. However, the publisher's website states "Letters clearly marked Status Inquiry will be given immediate attention." - Which I did. I also assume it will take a week for their letter to get back to me in the SASE I provided in my letter (yes, I did include a SASE in my original submission as well) I guess I had a glimmer of hope for a response in week 2 since I'm also available by other means - like email.

Today is the end of week 3. I think expecting something today is a little....ok - overly optimistic. Publishers are very busy and I can understand and appreciate that it takes some time to responding to all the postal mail they receive.

I have been asked by several people - What are you going to do if you don't hear anything back? How long will you wait?

I still believe 'No News Is Good News.' I'm very please the manuscript I sent in January did not get rejected right away. This tells me my writing is getting better and, when scouting out the right home for my manuscripts, I'm not so far off the mark. I'm certain the publisher will get back to me when they're ready to get back to me. If I had a choice of receiving a rejection letter now or a possible acceptance 3-6 months from now, of course, I would choose the acceptance. I'm in love with the story I submitted and I feel the publisher I sent it to is a great fit. There is nothing more I would like to see then to have this story in print. I will re-evaluate the situation at a later day and figure out what to do from there. For now, I'll patiently wait for a reply, work on other manuscripts and keep dreaming.

NaPiBoWriWee Is Kicking My Butt!!

Today is Day 6 of NaPiBoWriWee. Don't even ask me where Day 3,4 & 5 went. Up until I started typing this I thought we were on Day 5.

Today, I have only 2 and a half picture book manuscripts written. NaPiBoWriWee is kicking my butt. But that's ok because I still have two manuscripts to work on if nothing else.

What happened? Well, my excuse is lack of sleep. I had a sick baby for 2 weeks prior to NaPiBoWriWee starting and I didn't get much sleep. I can't do much writing until the kids go to bed and this week I have been going to bed right after them. I just can't stay awake.

I'm going to continue to try to write more manuscripts this week and see where it takes me. If I don't get all 7 done this week I might extend NaPiBoWriWee and change the name to NaPiBoWri2Wee for myself (I can do that right?)

I'm sure you're all feeling the pressure, too. Let me know how you're doing. Are you having better luck or are we in the same boat?

NaPiBoWriWee Day 1

All right! Here we go.

It's Day 1 of National Picture Book Writing Week (NaPiBoWriWee) - writing 7 picture books in 7 days.

If you haven't already, there's still time to let Paula Yoo (the hostess of NaPiBoWriWee) know you are participating in the challenge and get entered into a draw.

How are you doing so far?

In typical Auntie Flamingo style, I'm already behind! I have the pen and paper out but I have written nothing. Zip. Nada. Ziltch! But the idea is boucing around in my head and once the kids are in bed I'm hoping I have the energy to let it all pour out. It's not unusual for me to start off slow. By the end of the week I will be flying and perhaps write 2 manuscripts in one day. It also doesn't help to have a sick 17 month old clinging to me. Hhmm, is that a 'reason' or an 'excuse?' It donesn't matter because I plan to have something written by the end of the day.

If you're behind like me then Paula's Day 1 b;og entry will comfort you. Read it here. http://paulayoo.com/content/napibowriwee-2010-day-one-sat-may-1-2010#comment-1026

Having problems registering on Paula's site? Read http://paulayoo.com/content/napibowriwee-2010-day-one-part-2-sat-may-1-2010

Be sure to leave your comments and good luck!

NaPiBoWriWee Is Almost Here

May 1, 2010 marks the beginning of the 2nd annual NaPiBoWriWee Challenge.

I'm ready, I think. How about you?

Be sure to read Paula Yoo's inspirational blog: http://paulayoo.com/content/napibowriwee-2010-final-inspirational-blog-30-fri-43010

Feel free to drop me a comnment and let me know how things are going.

Have fun and good luck!

Non-fiction Picture Book. Yikes!

This year for NaPiBoWriWee I am going to attempt to do something I have never done before - Write a non-fiction picture book. Yikes!

Just saying it out loud makes me want to run the other way. I don't know where to begin.

Well, I guess first I need to decided what the non-fiction picture book is going to be about. In this case it is who it is going to be about. I have two personalities I would like to write about who I have a connection to.

Next, I need to search the Internet and see if it's 'been done.' Even if it has 'been done' I need to decide if I can put a different spin on the book or if I should abandon the idea altogether. Fortunately, before I got too far into this I did a quick search on Amazon and discover one of my ideas has 'been done' and maybe even 'over done.' There appears to be at least 72 children's books about Buffalo Bill Cody (I wanted to write about him because I'm somehow related to him.) My other idea seems to be fresh. And, while searching, I came up with another personality I could write about so I'm jotting it down for later.

Ok, now, I will need to do a little research to get the facts. I hope this week I can find time to get the facts because NaPiBoWriWee starts next week!!

I also plan to search the site of my author friend Paula Yoo http://paulayoo.com/ (founder of NaPiBoWriWee) She has written two non-fiction picture books: SHINING STAR: THE ANNA MAY WONG STORY and Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds - The Sammy Lee Story. Her site has a forum area where she (and other authors) will answer your questions.

As I learn more about writing a non-fiction picture book I will share it with you here.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year and welcome to 2010!

2009 was good to me. I was so close to getting my first picture book published. My manuscript was one of six manuscripts to make it to the final round in selections at a small publishing house. Unfortunetly, they only publish one children's book title a year and regretably the couldn't take mine. What a rush to be so close!
I participated in 3 writing challenges: NaPiBoWriWee (May 1-7) where I met some wonderful writers, PiBoIdMo (November) where I won a draw and had 5 of my ideas reviewed by an agent (more on that in another post), and NovPAD (November) which I completed but did not polish my poems for the final Chapbook submission (though there is still time.) And though I did not submit my writing to many magazines or publishers this year I did have a sci-fi poem published in the printed issue of Scifikuest (I hope to receive my November contributor's copy soon.)


This year, though I am back at my full time job after being on a 1 year maternity leave, I plan to participate in all of those challenges again. I'm editing the manuscript that was so close to being published and plan to submit it as much as possible to those publishers that are a good fit for the book. I'm very pleased with the changes I have made to it and I'm more confident than ever. I have my ideas from PiBoIdMo ready for NaPiBoWriWee which will be the only time I write new picture book manuscripts this year. The rest of the year I will polish the manuscripts I already have and write articles for children magazines. I will maintain my blog on my thoughts, progress and general happenings in my day to day life.

I hope you have a wonderful New Year and you will come back to visit me here to see my progress and share your comments with me.

All The Best. CHEERS!

PiboIdMo, 30 Ideas, A Draw, and Me the Winner!

In November I participated in the PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month) Challenge hosted by Tara Lazar. The concept is to come up with 30 picture book in 30 days. What a wonderful brain storming exercise for getting those ideas out of your head without over thinking them. Sometimes we dismiss a story idea before giving it a chance. There was also a random draw for those who completed the challenge and had 30 ideas at the end of the month. There were 3 grand prizes of a kidlit agent reviewing your best five ideas and suggest which picture book concepts were worth pursuing.

Luck was on my side that day because my name was drawn! My prize is that Jill Corcoran of Herman Agency Inc. will review my top 5 picture book ideas. I'm very excite and can't wait to hear what Jill Corcoran has to say.

Well, I better get to work and flesh out my ideas. As the magician in Frosty the Snowman said, "I've got to get busy writing. Busy, busy, busy!|

Creative Children Book Trailers

I've been looking for examples of good children book trailers. In my opinion I have only seen two. They are both interesting colourful and the sound is clear.

The first one I have seen is the trailer for Pond Scum by Alan Silberberg. I love the animation and the lizard's speach. The trailer gives a magical feel which is prefect because that is what the book is about. ;) The trailer can be found here: http://silberbook-blog.blogspot.com/2007/04/pond-scum-book-trailer-part-deux.html


The second one I just came across today. The trailer for The Clever Stick by John Lechner is bright and colourful with soft gentle music. I'm now curious to see what the stick is up to. You can view this trailer here: >http://johnlechner.com/cleverstick_trailer.html

The ones I don't like are the ones with a scratchy recording of the author reading their book in a monotone voice while the odd, fuzzy still shot of the book appears on the screen.

Is there any children's book trailers that you love?

Would You Like Dessert, Um Desert, I mean Dessert?

No, I'm not MIA. Just been a little busy. With the kids home and their summer events, doctor appointments for my daughter (you have to follow me on twitter to find out what is going on there,) and family wanting to see the kids (and us wanting to see them too,) I've been a little busy and tired but loving every minute of it. Oh AND I have completed and new picture book manuscript and currently working the cover letter. Yes, I didn't forget about writing.

Today I want to talk about something I love....desserts.
I used to have trouble remembering how many S in the word. I don't enjoy eating deserts, the sand is too crunchy in my teeth. But if I was eating deSSerts I would want to have 2 and that's how many S are in the word. I know it is I little cheesy but it works and it's fun.

What words do you have a problem remember how to spell?
What do you do to remember how to spell certain words?

Friendly Writer's Forum

Looking for a 'safe' place to ask a writing question? Want to talk about a new book you just read? A publication question?

Paula Yoo, author and screenwriter, has created a friendly forum on her website at
http://paulayoo.com/forum The forum headings include Announcements, Writing 101, Reading 101, Publishing 101, Author / Illustrator News and, of course, Procrastination, anyone?

In this forum there is no such thing as a stupid question and I have found everyone to be kind and helpful.

So grab a cup of coffee and I'll meet you over there.

A Child's Honesty

I love how flat-out honest children are. My 6 year old son makes comments like "Mom you're still fat like when you were pregnant."
[in my defense - 9 months up, 9 months down. I still have 3 months left to get to my pre-pregnacy weight ;) ]

Sometimes I read my children picture book manuscripts to my son. His response is usually "ya, it's ok" or "I like it, I guess" as I view the back of his head as he runs off to play. A couple of days ago I decided to share with him my new picture book manuscript, "Elephant In the Cupboard." I read about 10% of the story and looked up to see my son smiling. I started to look behind me wondering what was so funny. Then I realized he was looking at me! I starting running my hand over my face looking for that crumb or pen mark on my face.



"What are you smiling at?"
He giggled, "The story, it's funny." Do my ears deceive me? He likes my story? Oh my, I have his full attention.
"Should I keep going then?" He frantically nodded his head.

I got to then end of the story and he was still sitting there and smiling at me.
"Read it again."

NaPiBoWriWee days 6 & 7 - DONE!

Ok a quick update on day 7 of NaPiBoWriWee.

On day 6 I completed picture book (PB) rough draft numbers 4 and 5 and was quite pleased with them. I think they have potential but need a lot of work. At least it gives me something to start with.

On day 7 - - I DID IT! YIPPY! I completed PB 6 and 7. Book 7 seemed to roll right out. I am so happy with PB 7 that I plan for it to be the first one polished up and I want to start looking for a home for it. I was actually laughing while writing it because it was so funny.

I would like to thank Paula Yoo for organizing the very first NaPiBoWriWee and look forward to doing it again next year. Please take a look at Paula's site http://paulayoo.com/
It has some wonderful writing information and is very entertaining. This is one site I have bookmarked!

NaPiBoWriWee days 3,4 and 5.

Day 3 I did nothing except get a little sun burned. Too busy watching my son play outside and spending time with the family to write. Though I try to write a little every day sometimes it is good to take a little break.

Day 4 things started to roll again but had the baby's swimming lesson in the morning so that took up pretty much the entire morning. Wrote a little in the afternoon.

Day 5 I'm smoken! I finished the drafts manuscripts of picture books 1, 2 and 3 before noon. Picture book (PB) number 4 is on the computer partly done. PB number 5 is roughly written out in pencil in my black book. I have an idea for PB number 6 and not sure what I am going to do for number 7.

So there we go. Both you and I are now (or almost) caught up.
For more information on NaPiBoWriWee go to Paula Yoo's site @ http://paulayoo.com/

Day 2 of NaPiBoWriWee

It's day 2 of the first NaPiBoWriWee and I am not doing well. Of course, I expected that for the first three days. I have 2 picture book manuscripts started, ideas for 2 more in my head and none finished. One of the picture book manuscripts I started is almost finished and the other is written by hand in point form in my notebook.

When the boys (my hubby and son) are home I don't get much done in writing. I'm not blaming them, oh no. I just love spending time with them and I choose not to write. Plus, they helped me clean the house so who can complain?

When Monday hits it will be just me and the baby again during the day and I should be able to finish off the manuscripts I have started over the weekend and then write one (or more) a day until Friday.

Good Luck to all those who are participating.

Day 1 of NaPiBoWriWee

I am participating in NaPiBoWriWee and this is day one. I am doing much better than I thought I would since it was a PA day at my son's school and I had both kids all day while my hubby was at work. Having the kids home all day was not a bad thing. Nope. Actually it was inspiring. I think I got a story idea or two from them for PB manuscripts for later in the week.

For today, I have the PB outlined and I did write some of the parts already. Even though I tried to write a straight PB it still came out in rhyme. I still have 6 more days to write 6 more manuscript drafts. I plan on finishing the rest of it tonight after the kids go to bed. Hopefully they go to bed before I do. LOL

It's not too late to join NaPiBoWriWee Just follow this link. http://paulayoo.com/content/natl-picture-book-writing-week-may-1-7-tues-42809