I’ve always appreciated those who post “takeaways” after they attend conventions: nuggets of wisdom that they took away from the event. Everyone’s takeaways are different because everyone has different levels of experience and goals.
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I’m going to be sharing mine over the next little while, as well as linking to any others that I can find. If you have takeaways or convention reports of your own to add, feel free to post in the comments section!
Jon Scieszka: Tales Of A Picture Book Writer: Do’s, Don’ts, Maybes
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– Look up the top 100 books listed by School Library Journal and read them.
– Don’t do what someone else does. Do what YOU connect with.
– Read bad books, which can be educational.
– Read children’s trade publications and kidlit blogs.
– Most picture book manuscripts by new writers can be improved by cutting length by half.
– Don’t try to follow the market.
– Read everything in your field that you possible can: library, bookstore.
– Learn and read in prep but once you start to actually WRITE, then forget about trying to follow every rule and industry blog, and just focus on WRITING.
– In retrospect, Jon is glad that his early submissions got rejected.
Other reports on this event: