writing tools

Get Organized for Querying: Two Free Submissions Spreadsheets

Get Organized for Querying: Two Free Submission Spreadsheets

Querying is no writers’ favorite. These free submission spreadsheets won’t make the querying process less emotionally fraught or more successful, but they will help you be more organized. That frees more time for writing and binge-eating ice cream which will make your querying more successful and ease the emotionally fraught-ness. I’ve outlined how to use …

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12 Things to Know About the Little Elephant's BIG Adventures books

12 Things to Know About The Little Elephants’ BIG Adventures Books

The first books in The Little Elephants BIG Adventures series finally published! *cue happy dance* I wrote these books whole five years ago. (And one of those years was 2020 – so it feels like a couple of decades.) Even in the slow world of children’s book publishing, that’s a long time to keep book …

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The Writer's Guide to Children's Book Genres

The Writer’s Guide to Children’s Book Genres

Genres carve up all the works we call “literature” and put them into helpful categories. For kids, the most helpful categories are developmental stages. So children’s book genres really equate to age categories or developmental stages. Why developmental stage? What’s interesting and appropriate to a toddler is wildly different from what would make the cut …

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How to start a bullet journal for writers

How to Start a Writing Bullet Journal

It’s no secret I’m a big fan of bullet journaling. My writing bullet journal is my number one tool for achieving my writing goals. Also, I love the smell of a fresh notebook and an excuse to play with markers. View this post on Instagram Mmm. New bullet journal smell. . #bulletjournaladdict #bulletjournaling #writinglife #authorlife …

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How A Children's Book is Made: Part 2: How Books are Illustrated

How a Children’s Book is Made: Part 2. The Illustrator’s Speak

Welcome to my blog series on how children’s books are actually made. Last time, I explained illustration from the author’s perspective. This time, we’ll look at how the illustrator does their job. I’m not an illustrator, so I’m going to let them speak for themselves. I’ve gathered together videos and blog posts of different illustrators explaining …

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How Children's books are Made: Part 1. The Truth About Illustrations

How a Children’s Book is Made: Part 1. The Truth About Illustrations

Being an author is a funny thing: everyone has heard of your job. (Unlike my husband – a systems architect.) But people don’t know what it is I actually do. (My husband and I have that one in common.) Whether you’re a writer hoping to publish a book or a kidlit lover who is curious …

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Bullet Journaling for Writers: Part 3 Collections to organize your writing

Bullet Journaling for Writers: Part 3 Collections

Today I excited to share the third part of my series on bullet journaling: collections to add to your writing bullet journal. But before we jump in, if you aren’t familiar with Bullet Journaling read part 1. I’ll wait. Ok, ready to rock your bullet journal? Here we go!   What is a Collection? Just …

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Bullet Journaling for Writers Part 2: The Magical Monthly Spread

Bullet Journaling for Writers: Part 2. The Magical Monthly Spread

Today I excited to share the second part of my series on bullet journaling: the monthly log that is the magic to the whole system. But before we jump in, if you aren’t familiar with Bullet Journaling read part 1. I’ll wait.   Back? Great. Now let me tell you how I got here.   …

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