Writers

Becoming a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators is critical to any career in writing for children. http://www.scbwi.org It’s also easy to keep up with news on the SCBWI Blueboards- a Message and Chat Board. http://www.scbwi.org/boards/

I love following and learning from other writers and those who so willingly share their expertise. Writing mainly nonfiction, I follow Peggy Thomas and anatomyofnonfiction.blogspot.com and the nonfiction-ninjas.com/blog. I also am a supporter of NF Fest, which gets bigger and better each year. http://www.nffest.com

Get the idea juices flowing with Tara Lazar’s Storystorm 30 days- 30 ideas for Picture Books or Julie Hedlund’s 12 x 12 Picture Book Challenge. These programs have proven the breakthrough for many new writers.

Many writers are active bloggers and they are full of ideas and supportive of other writers in the community. Cynthia Leitich Smith’s Cynsations is top notch: http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/cynsations. Tara Lazar’s “Writing for Kids While Raising Them” at taralazar.com headlines new books coming out to study what’s current in the market. For nonfiction, Melissa Stewart is generous with ideas to educators and writers. Her melissa-stewart.com is a good place for those in search of “science books and nonfiction teaching resources.”

Harold Underdown’s Purple Crayon is a good site. http://www.underdown.org or underdown.org/blog.htm and check out WOW! Women on Writing at http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com There are so many out there- just google your favorite authors and you will find good advice about the hard work it takes to write!