More on the Coshocton Writers Conference

I promised, I would write more about the Children's Writing Session with Dandi Daley Mackall. I can not state enough that this speaker was fascinating, she is a true story teller, which is why she has so many books published.

Dandi writes fiction and non-fiction in both children's and adult books. Her books are many as are her words, but she is concise and interesting. She supplements her point with anecdotes.

Dandi talked about how persistence pays off, offering her long courtship with Art Linkletter for a follow up book to his Kids Say the darnedest things. Finally, she wrote to the little l and little s, that followed his signature. (I apologize if I got the initials wrong as this is coming from memory.) This culminated in several books for Dandi with introductions by Art Linkletter.

Dandi talked about where do her story ideas come from. Often they come from her life, as with her story, A Boy Named Dan. She said that she began writing childrens books when her kids were little. The age group she wrote for increased as her children aged.

She spoke about the various forms of children's books. There is a world of possibilities in Children's writing.

Including:

1. Before Birth Books- baby books, parenting books and articles for the parents to be.
2. Board Books-hard pages (0-3) and chunky boards (3-5)
3. Manipulative's-pop-ups, sense books-touch/sound, die cut
4. Concept Books-(0-3 and 3-5) teaching colors, shapes, ABC's, counting, etc. First experiences, animal babies, etc.
5. Picture Books-fiction and non-fiction (all genres) Usually under 800 words, 32 pages, you get 24-29 of them for the story. Illustration dependent-think visually in scenes. Publishers don't want writer/illustrators. They get their illustrators from a pool.

Some things to consider: If you can imagine your story with one illustration it is a magazine article. Don't let your grown-ups star in your books. And never talk down to the kids.

Formatting your story for submission:

(How Dandi does it) and since the stories are so short: Type the first page, double spaced, then double, double space and type the next page, double, double space, etc. 10-12pts. in times-roman 0r such.

Don't forget you only have 29 pages of text in a picture book. How many words? Fewer than you have. You must cut, and then cut some more. Use descriptive words. Avoid weak words such as Oh!, very , words ending in -ly, little , many, and weak phrases such as: The important thing started to..., as_____as he could. Use strong words like active verbs such as shuffled or scampered. Make every word count. Don't describe, the illustrator will do that for you.

You must get a new copy of Children's Writers and Illustrator's Market, because the market is changing frequently.

Pay attention to promotions at the publishers. The new editors wants to find new authors to establish themselves. Get the name of the publisher-this makes it more personal.

That sums up the Children's Writers Have More Fun Workshop. If you have questions write to Dandi at dandi@dandibooks.com or post a comment for me and I will try to answer them. Though I am a novice.-Rita

Coshocton's Write-On Writers Conference

Yesterday was the Write-On Writers Conference. Let me tell you that it was simply amazing. The air was rife with creativity. There were writers from all walks of life. Most of us were Ohioans. The speakers were great. This writer had fun.

The conference opened with Dandi Daley Mackall speaking about The Writer's Voice. She said, "Writers are people who hear voices in there heads."

I find this to be true for this writer. Sometimes a voice gets so strong that it must be allowed out to write, before I can get peace from it. Having worked in Mental Health for years, I shudder to think what my old co-workers would think to hear this. I can't really worry about that, I just need to write. That gets them to shut up and allows another to take its place. That is the main reason I haven't finished a novel, too many voices vying for attention.

My first workshop was Self-Publishing: A Blueprint by Joseph McLaughlin of Pale Horse Press. He said that anyone with a printer can become published. You can create small booklets of poetry or prose to sell or give away. He said that he doesn't have a printing press, he outsources with different printers.

Different types of printing options: Copy Centers, Local Printers, Short Run Special Printer, Print on Demand (POD), Online Printers, Electronic Publishing, and E-Books.

He talked about getting ISBN's. You can buy one at http://www.bowker.com/, though it is expensive at $125 a pop.

Joe talked about the necessity of Library of Congress Numbers. Self-published books don't need it and the LC doesn't really want cookbooks and poetry collections, although you have the legal right to do so. Doing this may also cost you some extra buck as you will need three copies of your work to send to the Library of Congress.

The second half of the day, I spent in Children's Writers Have More Fun with Dandi Daley Mackall. Dandi certainly made writing for children seem fun and easy. But you have to remember to pare down your words when writing for children. Especially, for board books, picture books, manipulative's, and concept books, which sometimes only have one word a page or a couple of lines at most.

Dandi was very interesting, just as in her opening talk. I will write more about children's publishing later.

The day ended with a panel discussion of first books. The panel consisted of Joseph McLaughlin, Teresa Slack and Patricia Toles. They discussed how long it took to write their books through to seeing them in print. Teresa said that it took two years after her contract was signed and the book was printed to see the fruits of her labor. Patricia said she came up with her idea for Swamp Panther in college, but she needed to do a lot of research about the Seminole Indians from Florida, including their language, and their customs. It took her years of research for historical accuracy.

The day wrapped up with a raffle. Alas, I was not a winner.

Just an aside note the breakfast offerings were wonderful and the lunch was filling. -Rita