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Children's book reviewer, proofreader, editor and blogger |
 I'm proud to announce the first annual short story writing contest from my author friend, Renee' LaViness.
The entry fee for this contest is low and the prize money depends on how many short stories you enter. For full details, go here.
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 TITLE: TIME FOR SLEEP, PETE AUTHOR: Gabbi Browne ILLUSTRATOR: Anthony Mauro PUBLISHER: White Bird Publications ISBN: 9781633633759 LCCN: 2019930003 Everyone is asleep in the house. Or are they? Time For Sleep, Pete a darling tale of a small child who doesn’t want to go to bed. He gives his parents reasons to get up over nine times. He gives reasons such as, “I have to feed the hippo, I have to give the zebras a treat or I have to comb the lion’s mane.” What other reasons does he come up with? The author has captured a child not wanting to go to bed perfectly! The illustrations in Time For Sleep, Pete are actually paintings done by Anthony Mauro. He has captured the imagination of a child perfectly in these drawings. Time For Sleep, Pete comes in two formats: Kindle and in hardback versions. They’d make a fine addition to any home library! To purchase your copy, go here. I think it's support authors. Not only traditionally published authors but indie authors, too. How do you do this? Well, I found an article today about it, by Joe Walker. This article can apply to children's authors as well as authors for adults! Click here to read this informative article.  So you have your book written, made your book dummy and proofread it. Not to mention rewritten it! It's ready for a publisher. Or is it? Have you had it edited? You should. No manuscript should be sent to a publisher until it's polished as well as it can be.
The reason for this is that you show that you care about your work. It gives the publisher a great impression of you and increases your chances of being published. It shows that you care enough to send your very best writing. In short, you're putting your best foot forward. Of course, you can just write something and submit it. But did you check if you showed, not told? Have you replaced the 'to-be' verbs with action? Did you write tight? Even if you did all that and more, you should still hire an editor. I can hear you thinking, "Why should I hire an editor when publishers will assign me one?" We all, as authors, tend to fall in love with our words. An editor will catch those errors. Also, if you've decided on self-publishing, there is no publisher. Besides, as I said in the first paragraph, you want to put your best foot forward. This is like a job interview. The boss isn't going to hire an unknowledgeable and unkept looking person. On the same lines, a publisher isn't going to accept an error-ridden manuscript. Where do you find an editor? Well, you can do a search on Google or your favorite search engine, You could even go to places like KidLit 411 or SCBWI to see what they have to offer. Or you can ask other authors in your writing group. This is also a great resource! They'll have great suggestions. On that note, I'd like to offer my own suggestion. Janice Spina is great and her prices are very reasonable. For more information on Janice, just click on her name. This takes you to her website.  Title: Coralie: The Cotton Candy Angel Author and Illustrator: Julie Hanson Publisher: Candy Bay Publishing (October 16, 2018) ISBN 13: 9781732663305 ASIN: B07J6SVD9R This is the story of Coralie, a young Angel who desperately wants to earn her wings. She performs several of heavens chores, but for one reason or another, finds she isn't any good at them. One day she looks down from heaven and what does she see? She sees a stranger walking away with her best friend, Emily. Oh, no! Quickly, Coralie comes up with a plan and springs into action to help her friend. Will she be able to help her friend? Will Coralie find a job to do that will help her earn her wings? This adorable picture book should be in every child's home library. I believe that Coralie: The Cotton Candy Angel should be in Sunday School libraries, too. Coralie comes in hardback, paperback or kindle. The story focused on Coralie, trying to earn her wings in heaven but also teaches about stranger danger. To buy this for your your home library, go to Amazon or Barnes and Noble.  Title: The Fairy and The Butterfly
Author: Ivanka Sergilova Illustrator: Mina Anguebua Publisher: Ribi-Ribi Copyright: 2018 Every once in a while a fairy is born with no wings and no magic. That's how the fairy in this sweet picture book was born. She spends all her time feeling sorry for herself and eating junk food. The junk food is the only thing that makes her happy until the day she meets a caterpillar. He teaches her so much! I loved this gentle book! Parents will want to have it for their home library to help boost their little ones self-esteem, no matter what the problem is. I felt the end of the book was especially poignant, pointing out that children who are different in any way need friends to help them through the problem. It also shows how it's important to pass it on after you've overcome the problem by helping others. The illustrations in this book are done in soft pastel watercolors. They are wonderfully done and beautiful! You can purchase The Fairy and The Butterfly at Amazon.  Colby is a gray kitten that was born under a vacant house. He takes his three little sisters on many adventures and learn many things. The most important thing that Colby learns is this: it tires a kitten out to take care of three little sister kittens! There are baby birds and buzzing bees, but Colby must teach his sisters to stay safe! How can he make them understand? I highly recommend this adorable picture book brought to you by author, Janice Spina. You'll want this for your home library for your little kittens. In this picture book, your little ones will learn why they should be careful and listen. If you want to know more about Janice Spina just go to her website at: https://www.jemsbooks.com. If you would like to know more about this adorable story go to https://jemsbooks.blog/2019/04/06/love-your-siblings-colby-the-courageous-cat/. If you'd like to order this book for your home library go to https://www.amazon.com/Colby-Courageous-Cat-Janice-Spina/dp/0998240400/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=colby+the+couragious+cat+%2B+janice+spina&qid=1556652420&s=books&sr=1-1-spell Fred Rogers gave us some very good advice throughout the airing of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. But did he give any advice that can be used by writers? You bet he did! I found this video on Facebook and got permission from writersrelief.com to place it on KidLit and More for you. After their permission note, is the video with the wise advice. "This video has been posted with the permission of Writer’s Relief, a highly recommended author’s submission service. They assist writers with preparing their submissions and researching the markets for creative writers."  So, you’ve gone over your manuscript with a fine tooth comb. You think it’s just perfect and think the professional editor you’ve sent it to won’t find anything wrong with it. You receive his/her response and your mouths drops to the floor. What in the world did you miss?
You forgot to write tight. This is a small thing but it packs a punch with today’s readers. Why is this important? It’s important for several reasons. Today’s readers don’t want to read wordy descriptions. Those days are gone! Why describe something in two or three words when you can say they same thing with one word? Just how do you write tight? For an example, let’s take the sentence, “Jan stood up.” What’s wrong here? When you stand you go up. You don’t stand down. So, just how do you fix this sentence? Try cutting out the word “up.” You’re saying the same thing. Don’t you see Jan standing up? It’s the same with the sentence, “Keira shrugged her shoulders.” How can you fix this one? Simple, just cut out the words “her shoulders.” After all, you don’t shrug your knees or toes, do you? How else can you write tight? Cut that phrase out of your story that doesn’t move the story forward. If it doesn’t help your story, it’s not needed. Don’t repeat words several times in a paragraph. You never hear kids calling each other by their names every time they open their mouths. Make your tags short and sweet. Make your manuscript sound as natural as possible without being wordy. Instead of having your sentence read, “Robby come here.” How about, “Hey, come here, shouted James. He hung out the door gesturing to Robby. See what I did? The tag line for the speech is “shouted James.” That’s all. The descriptive sentence comes after that so your reader can see James hanging out the door shouting and gesturing to Robby. Cut out most of those “ly” words. This helps! It makes you search for a stronger adjective that brings the readers senses into action. Doing this also help with the flow of the story. It doesn’t jerk the reader around which is a big no-no in writing for both children and adults. As I mentioned above, you want to engage all five senses. Find words that help your readers to see, feel, and experience what the hero or heroine do. Focus on the subject of your story or article. If you find phrases or sentences (or even paragraphs) there that don’t have anything to do with the subject, cut it. This will automatically help you write tight. It will also make your manuscript a more enjoyable read and help the word count in the process! Writing tight is also great for your word count. Most publishers don’t manuscripts for picture books to go over 1,000 words. Then again, I’ve seen some publishing houses where the guidelines don’t want more than 500 words. I’ve found two great books to help you learn this. I’ve also found good websites that will help demonstrate ‘writing tight’ better. BOOKS Word Magic for Writers by Cindy Rogers WRITE TIGHT: SAY EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN by William Brohaugh WEBSITES 15 Ways To Write Tight http://www.writetodone.com/15-ways-to-write-tight Write Tight Site http://www.writetightsite.com Writing Tight: Making Every Sentence Count http://www.theindievoice.com/writing-tight-making-every-sentence-count How To Write Tight-Self Editing Tips To Make Your Manuscript Ready For Publication http://www.karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com/2012/04/how-to-write-tight-self-editing-tips-to.html#.UuurPz1dSo  TITLE: Let’s Celebrate Holi AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR: Anitha Rathod FORMATS: Kindle, paperback PRICE: Kindle-free with Kindle Unlimited, Paperback-$9.99 ASIN: B07CQ2NVCC (Kindle) ISBN-10: 1795312157 (paperback) ISBN-13: 9781795312158 (paperback) This delightful explanation of the Indian festival called Holi is a must have for your home library. ‘Let’s Celebrate Holi’ has beautiful, bright pictures in it that your child will delight in. The pictures show the old traditional dress of Indian royalty, so he/she will learn this without knowing it. The text is simple enough for your child to grasp and understand. The story is very relatable so a child can understand it. Asking Grandma a question and she answers with a story. Or playing with your friends and getting filthy, getting presents, and singing songs like it’s Christmas! If you want to learn more about the author and illustrator, just go to her bio page on her website. While you're there, check out all of her other books! You can also learn more about Anitha at her Amazon Author Page . |
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