Mem Fox wants her books “to give wings to children so they can fly with words.”  She does not use a vocabulary list.  She chooses the right words and uses them at the right time.  Her books are emotional grounded.  They have rhythm and contain child friendly trouble (conflict.)

Miranda Paul defined creative nonfiction as “facts, concepts, or information presented in an interesting way.”  She remarked that kids can Google anything so as writers we must be creative in order to capture their attention.

Kristin Nelson of Nelson Literary Agency talked about how digital is transforming the publishing landscape.  Her agency has developed a digital platform to help her clients self-publish their books.  She stressed the importance of Metadata in presenting books online.

[According to Wikipedia dictionary:  “The main purpose of metadata is to facilitate in the discovery of relevant information, more often classified as resource discovery.”]

Paul Fleischman talked about writing nonfiction. He commented “every book teaches us to write the next one.”  As far as structuring nonfiction books, Fleischman suggests starting with the strongest part of the story to capture the audience’s attention and then build bridges to the other parts of the book to sequentially fit all the pieces together.  Concerning research he feels it should be like a woman’s slip – essential but does not show.

Kwame Alexander wants writer’s to surround ourselves with people who will cheer us on!  We all need a room full of cheerleaders.

Almost 1,200 writers attended the national conference this year.  Four hundred were brand new to SCBWI. Hurrah!!!

Book Reviews are more important than they ever were.  Why?  Because readers are always looking for recommendations for their next good read.  They also help sell books. One of the best things you can do for a fellow author is review their book and post it on Amazon and Goodreads.

A book review does not have to be long or complicated, either.  The most important thing is to let people know how you feel about the book.  A good length for a review is 250 to 400 words.

Take Notes

While reading a book, I write down what I am thinking on a post-it note and attach it to the page. I also use the post-it to mark the page by using it as a tab. That way, I can thumb through my notes without looking at each page again when I am writing my review.

Introduction

The best way to start a review is with an introduction.  What lead you to read the book in the first place?   Was it the title? Did the cover attract your attention?  Was it written about a topic that interested you?  My interest in Anastasia lead me to read Candace Fleming’s book “The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia.”  In the introduction, I share the fact that when I was a teenager I saw the movie Anastasia staring Yul Bryner, Ingrid Bergman and Helen Hayes.  The thought that the Anastasia, the youngest Grand Duchess of Russia, might have survived the death of her family always intrigued me.

Brief summary of book

Next, I try to give a brief summary of the book. This is also a good place to quote from the book.  In my review of “The Impossible True Story of Tricky Vic:  The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower,” I quote from the first page: “In 1890, the man who would one day be known for forty-five different aliases was born to the Miller family…” I thought this was a great way to start the book.  I couldn’t help but wonder why anyone would need forty-five aliases.

Evaluation

While writing my evaluation of a book, I ask myself the following questions. What is my overall opinion of the book?  Did I like the book? What was my favorite part of the book? How many stars would I give the book?  Did the book meet my expectations?   Was the writing clear and concise? Was the ending satisfying?  Was there something that really stood out and impressed me about the book?

Conclusion

In conclusion, I like to summarize my thoughts and mention the author and, if the book is illustrated, the artist.  If a book has won any special awards, I also like to mention it.  For instance, Candace Fleming won Orbis Pictus award from the National Council of Teachers of English for “The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia.”

 My Final Advice

Don’t wait too long to write your review.  The book needs to be fresh in your mind.

The Writer’s Digest and the Writer web sites contains several interesting articles on writing.  Below are the three articles I liked.

The Author Platform Explained

By: Courtney Carpenter

This article contains the best definition of an author platform I have ever seen.  The author, Courtney Carpenter, defines it “the turf you claim and name as your area of expertise.”  I wish I had found this article years ago.  It would have saved me from a great deal of frustration.  On the other hand, it reassured me I made the right decision to focus on biography when I set up my web site and blog entitled Every Life Has a Story.  Carpenter’s article is based on The Productive Writer by Sage Cohen.n [ Her article is so good, I am thinking about buying the book.]

http://www.writersdigest.com/tip-of-the-day/the-author-platform-explained

E-reading Trends Among Young People

By Dale McGarrigle – December 1, 2014

In his article, Dale McGarrigle discusses the recent trends in E-reading for children ages 2-13 and their parent’s attitudes toward E-books.  The article sites information from a report compiled by PlayScience and Digital Book World who conducted an online survey in October 2013, of 603 adults in the United States. When parents were asked what criteria they use to selected e-books for their children: 53 percent responded their child asked for the book; 35 percent because of the price, 28 percent due to positive reviews, and 27 percent because of the author’s reputation.

http://www.writermag.com/2014/12/01/e-reading-trends-among-young-people/

Karen Avivi: Self-Publishing

By Megan Kaplon – June 17, 2014

This article tells the story of Karen Avivi’s adventure with her book Shredded.  She found the best way to get her unusual book about a BMX rider out into the world was to self-publish.  Publishers had told her it was “too niche” and rejected her manuscript.  Not a quitter, Avivi took matters into her own hands.  She hired professionals to design the cover and an editor and proofreader to make sure her manuscript was ready to make its debut. Shredded was awarded the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Spark Award in 2013.  The award “recognizes excellence in children’s books published through non-traditional publishing routes.”

http://www.writermag.com/2014/06/17/karen-avivi-self-publishing/

We all need to take time to celebrate – even the little things. My favorite way to celebrate is to make Peanut Butter Cookies.

Lynda’s Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together 1 egg, ½ cup margarine, ½ cup peanut butter, ½ cup white sugar, ½ cup brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.

Combine ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon baking soda with 1 cup floor in a separate bowl.  Mix together then add flour mixture to cookie batter.

Now add ½ cup peanut butter chips and ½ cup unsalted peanuts (shelled) to mixture.

Arrange cookie dough in large teaspoons on cookie sheet.  Press flat with fort, sprinkle with sugar and bake until firm (about 12 minutes).  Makes about 2 to 3 dozen cookies depending on size.

Enjoy!

What am I celebrating today? Finishing a grant proposal to do research at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, this summer.

Since I moved into a two bedroom apartment from my big house, I have been constantly battling getting organized.  I brought too much stuff with me.  Plus, I began painting again which only added to my storage problem.

My second bedroom is filled with books and more books, art supplies, 18 bankers’ boxes of resource material from my published books, a drawing table, office supplies, an office chair, a recliner, computer table, computer, special lights for my drawing table, etc.  What I needed was an area where I could just focus on my writing – a writer’s cove.

My desktop

First, I tackled my desktop and I removed everything that did not pertain to my writing.  I often had to get up and search for a pen or pencil.  So, I stocked up and filled an old coffee mug with a dozen pens and pencils.  I added a small note pad, ruler and highlighters. Then, I thought about the reference books I often use while writing.  That was the biggest clue I needed to get organized.  Thirty minutes later, I finally found all of them. I had a bad habit of leaving them where I last used them.

Reference Books

I had nine reference books and that was too many. I needed to prioritize.  After looking over my choices, I determined I needed five reference books on my desk: The Synonym Finder by J. Rodale’s; A Pocket Style Manual by Diana Hacker; Roget’s Descriptive Word Finder by Barbara Ann Kipfer; Banish Boring Words! by Leilen Shelton; Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. I know that Word has a dictionary and thesaurus included in its program, but I often need more options.  Also, good verbs are the key to good writing and even though Banish Boring Words! is written for children, it’s a great resource for everyone.

Results

When I finished gathering things, I surveyed my writer’s cove and liked the amount of white space I had uncovered.  My current project is revising and updating my biography of George Eastman, the founder of Kodak. I put my book holder back next to my computer and placed the Eastman manuscript in it.

There were still a few problems.  I had two bankers’ boxes of resource material I needed to have accessible while I revised the Eastman manuscript.  I didn’t want to clutter up the white space on my desk, so I placed a TV tray on my left side up against my table.  I would use it to lay out what I was reviewing from the storage boxes and file back the material before pulling more information.  Then, I sat the bankers’ boxes on top of a large a storage box on my right side.  That way I didn’t have to bend down to sort through them.

I liked the setup but I knew I needed something to keep me on track.  Above my desk is a bulletin board where I post my weekly goals. I needed to be more specific.  On a white sheet of paper, in big bold letters, I typed out my project title and a deadline.  Then I posted the sheet in the middle of my bulletin board.

 Do you have a writer’s cove?  How did you set it up?  What are your favorite reference books?

TIP # 1 – Use Amazon Author Central and your Amazon Author’s page to your best advantage.  You can add your photo, access to you blogs with highlights of your posts, announce the events where you will be appearing and Twitter messages to you authors pages.  Also, make sure you obtain access to your book page on Amazon.   Since traditional publishers usually supply Amazon with your book information, they often do not give their author access.  Ask you it.

TIP # 2 – Concerning book reviews, things have changed.  Reviews such as Kirkus and even School Library or Horn Book are no longer driving the market. We live in the social media age and customer reviews now drive the market.  If you want to support other authors, and you want them to support you, write a reviews of their books and ask them to return the favor.  To learn more about reviewing books on Amazon read Penny C. Sansevieri’s book “How to  Get a Truck Load of Reviews on Amazon.com.”

TIP # 3 – Remind your readers that you don’t have to have a Kindle to read your e-Books on Amazon.  They can access them on Kindle Computer Reader, IPhone and IPad APP, Android APP, or Blackberry APP.  The APPS can be found on Amazon.com.

TIP # 4 – My final tip.  Keep writing and never give up!!!!