The holiday season is here! Are folks asking you for gift ideas? Are you searching for the perfect item for a writing colleague? 24 Carrot Writing has compiled the dream wish list for writers. 

24 Carrot Writing's guest bloggers, contributors, and active founders have each shared a special item that makes their creative endeavors happier, successful, and more productive. We hope you find ideas you want to share and maybe a few carrots for your next month of goals. ​

I'd heard about Highlights -- how amazing it is -- and had planned to travel there. When I received an invitation to serve as a faculty member in their Summer Camp in Fiction program in July, I gladly accepted; it was definitely a highlight (yes, it's a pun!) of my summer. I was excited to return in September for an Amplify Black Stories retreat, which was equally enjoyable. I'm already planning for a visit in the spring -- with a group of kidlit creators represented by my agent, James McGowan (Go, #TeamJames!) -- and will, hopefully, be invited back in the near future as a faculty member. 

I cannot recommend Highlights enough. The setting is serene; the meals are fabulous; and the community is so warm and welcoming. This experience needs to be on every writer and illustrator's wish list. Highlights also offers numerous scholarships, so don't miss their window to apply.
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Valerie Bolling is the author of the 2021 SCBWI Crystal Kite award-winning and CT Book Award finalist LET’S DANCE! (March 2020). In 2022 Valerie launched TOGETHER WE RIDE (April) and RIDE, ROLL, RUN: TIME FOR FUN! (October). To learn more about Valerie, visit here. 

Nancy Tandon is an author of middle grade novels, including THE WAY I SAY IT (Charlesbridge, 2022), and THE GHOST OF SPRUCE POINT (Aladdin, 2022). She pulls on her past as a teacher and speech/language pathologist to fuel her current joy: writing stories about awesome kids doing brave things. Visit her at www.nancytandon.com. ​

Annie Cronin Romano is one of the co-founders of 24 Carrot Writing and is a published picture book author. In addition to her love of kidlit, she also writes adult fiction, works as a bookseller at an indie bookstore, and is a literary associate with Olswanger Literary. Learn more about Annie at www.anniecroninromano.com.

Megan Litwin is a 24 Carrot Writing Regular Contributor and author of TWINKE, TWINKLE, WINTER NIGHT (Clarion, 2022) and the upcoming early reader series, DIRT AND BUGSY (Penguin Workshop, 2023). Learn more about Megan at www.meganlitwinbooks.com/​. ​

Amanda Smith is a co-founder of 24 Carrot Writing. Her poems can be found in the Writer's Loft Anthology, Friends and Anemones: Ocean Poems for Children and in the upcoming anthology Bless the Earth (Convergent Books, 2024) Learn more  at AmandaSmithWrites.

 Guest Blog by Ellen Mayer
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All picture books are works of collaboration. But with Leaves to My Knees, I had an extra-special helper: my young granddaughter. Elise was three-and-a-half years old when I first brought her in as a collaborator. A beta reader for this newly published book, she is now a first grader.
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The Math Makes Sense
 Leaves to My Knees is a playful STEM story about a little girl, Camille, who is determined to rake a pile of leaves all the way up to her knees to jump in. In the story I wanted to demonstrate how young children, before they use formal units of measurement like a ruler, measure by comparing sizes with their own bodies in everyday activities.
 
Elise at age three-and-a-half helped me “test out” the use of the math ideas on measurement and comparing sizes in my polished draft. As we raked leaves together in the backyard, I slipped in story character Camille’s mathematical thinking. How about raking a pile all the way up to your knees? I asked. The prospect not only delighted Elise, but the thinking felt true and natural to her, and soon she was chatting about the progress of the pile up her legs, just like story character Camille. She was also interested in comparing the size of her little toy rake against the big grown-up rake of her grandfather. For this young child, the math in the story made sense. 

Clarification Is Needed 
In the fall of 2019, I submitted the manuscript to the publisher. After I signed a contract for the book in the spring of 2020, Elise began to help me with revisions. While zoom readings during the beginning of the pandemic meant the loss of the lap, this technology did afford me a clear view of Elise’s four-year-old face, and I was able to make note of her expressions and body language as I read the text to her. Before the reading, I said: 

Elise, there are no pictures yet. You’ll just have to imagine them for now. But I’ll read you the words. 
She listened intently as I read through the entire text.
What do you think? I asked.
GOOD! she proclaimed.
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Even without the art, the story kept her attention – and elicited smiles.
 
But I noticed one point where Elise furrowed her brows. When Camille sets out to rake leaves all the way up to her knees, she hoists her rake up onto her shoulder and does so “Because I mean business.” 
Elise was clearly drawing a blank at the idiom.

Is “I mean business” kind of confusing? Should I change that a bit? I asked.
Yeah.
How about if I say: “Because I am serious­­­­­­­­­––I mean business!”
That’s good, she said.

Of all the idioms in the story, that one needed a little explication for this four-year-old.
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Reconsider a Character 
Months later, a PDF arrived from publisher Star Bright Books with illustrator Nicole Tadgell’s full-color art in it. After reading it aloud to Elise, my beta listener paused thoughtfully and asked:
 
You know, Mimi, Jayden doesn’t say anything. How come?
 
That gave me pause. She found it odd that the goofy and playful two-year-old brother Jayden didn’t say anything. I never deliberately intended for him to be silent. Hmmmm.
 
My publisher was getting the files ready for the printer, but I had to email the editorial team.
 
If it's not too late, I have a suggestion for one more text edit. This suggestion is prompted by a comment made by my granddaughter when I read her the story recently. She pointed out – with some concern – that Jayden doesn't say anything in the story.
 
I suggested that we have Jayden join in with Daddy when he cheers Camille on with a GO! as she readies herself to jump into her leaf pile, now up to her knees.
 
Star Bright Books concurred. One of the editors wrote back:
 
It’s always fascinating to learn what children can see that adults don’t. Thank you, Elise, now Jayden has his own “voice.”
   

A Starred Review  
I learned that the reception of the story only improved with repeated readings.

I watched my granddaughter sitting on the sofa beside her grandfather as he read aloud from the pages of the PDF, her face passing through a wide range of emotions as Camille suffers ups and downs in her leaf-raking project. When they got to the page where Camille steps into her hard-earned knee-high leaf pile, confirming that it indeed reaches to her knees, and shouts “TA-DA!”,
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Elise sprang up on the sofa and raised her hands high above her head in victory, just like Camille, and shouted joyfully:
 
TA-DA!
 
Months later, she insisted that she had “requested” that Camille say “TA-DA” back in the editorial stage. But then, that’s what happens in collaboration, isn’t it? We often forget who contributed what.
 
When she was six years old and a rising first grader, Elise wrote out her review.

To help her elaborate on her stickies, I said I wanted to “interview” her about each page. With much eagerness and solemnity, she pulled up a chair next to mine. As we slowly examined each page I asked her what she thought and she provided detailed feedback. She loved what the kids were wearing (it’s a Stegosaurus hood on Jayden), Jayden was so funny, her favorite image was the cover because Camille looks so happy.
 
Elise identified with Camille, and she thought her peers would, too. They would understand how Camille feels and they’d feel the same way in that situation.
 
Like, it’s a good book because it’s kind of like you’d be if you were Camille… I think the kids in my kindergarten class would’ve liked the book because it’s like them.
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Ready to Read
 Soon after Elise started first grade, I had a surprise for her. It was the “F&G”, the folded and gathered advance pages of the book, before it was bound. It was a glossy splash of fall color, all ready to read, with real pages to turn. She was the person I most wanted to share it with. I jumped right in and started reading.
 
After several pages, she put her hand over mine.
She had a surprise for me, too.
 
STOP, MIMI! she said. Let me read. I’ll read this page.
Since I couldn’t see very well through my tears, I let her take over.
 
The book had come far in those last three years.
And so had Elise.

Lessons Learned From a Young Beta-Reader 
Quite apart from the joy our journey together afforded me, getting reactions from a real child helped my writing process:

1. As we enacted story concepts out in the world, and later shared the text and then images, I felt some validation that the story was working on a fundamental level.
2. Sharing also helped me strengthen the text with some key edits ranging from word choice to character presentation.
3. Finally, involving my granddaughter over a period of time as the project developed gave me a glimpse of how a child at different ages might interact with this book. While the five-year-old let out a cheer along with the main character, the six-year-old learning to read was also buoyed by the repetition and assonance in the text.

 
Each child and each book process is unique. For myself in this case, I came away with some thoughts about how to incorporate a young child into the making of a picture book:

1. Getting feedback on what was working and not working when my granddaughter was three required starting with careful observation of her behaviors as I read the story aloud. A very different process than that with an older reader child for a beta test of a middle grade novel! And zoom was my friend here.
2. However, when she was an older six, my child collaborator enjoyed fielding questions about her responses to the book.
3. I think allowing Elise to interact with the emerging book in ways that were developmentally appropriate and driven by her (coloring! cutting!), added to her excitement about and engagement in our collaborative process.

 You will never sell a book by claiming that your grandchild loves it, but working with a young reader in your family to critically evaluate your manuscript can make it stronger and help it find publishing success. I hope the collaboration I enjoyed with my granddaughter, as I worked on Leaves to my Knees, makes you think about using your own young beta-reader to improve your work.

Leaves to My Knees, illustrated by Nicole Tadgell, and published by Star Bright Books in October 2022, is Ellen Mayer’s ninth book for children and her third math-infused one. Before focusing on writing for children, Ellen was an education researcher at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, studying family engagement in young children’s learning, and an early literacy specialist home visitor with the Cambridge Public Schools in Massachusetts. To learn more about Ellen and her various books for children, visit her website at www.ellenmayerbooks.com. To learn more about illustrator Nicole Tadgell visit her website at ​http://nicoletadgell.art/.

by  Kelly Carey

​For two years I have enthusiastically participated in World Read Aloud Day. This annual event, held on the first Wednesday in February, brings authors and teachers together to host a day of virtual author visits in classrooms around the world. The day is fun and exciting, and meant to inspire students. But if authors don't take a few simple steps, it can also be nerve-racking and exhausting. 
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If you are a published author with a book to share and want to join this annual event, here are some tips to make your World Read Aloud Day run smoothly. 

Register
Visit the World Read Aloud Day (WRAD for short) site here to learn all about the WRAD program. The site is filled with information on how WRAD works, and offers great resources to make your involvement special. Once you decide to be a participant, you can register as a volunteer author on Kate Messner's blog here. It’s free to participate and you are not required to send books. All that is required is that you offer a few free virtual classroom visits on the first Wednesday in February. 

Before you register, finish reading this blog. You'll want all the tips before you fill out your registration form. 
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Consider Stamina
The first time I participated in WRAD, I was SO excited that I booked visits from early in the morning and then every thirty minutes until late in the afternoon. Each WRAD visit is set to be fifteen to twenty minutes long. I foolishly thought that a ten-minute break between meetings was ample time to reset. By the end of the day, I was frazzled and exhausted. Not to mention hungry and needing a bathroom break!

Think about your energy level and stamina and consider how many high energy visits you can really do. My improved WRAD plan has me starting at 9am with visits on the hour until 4pm. I also built in a lunch hour.  This is doable for me. Setting visits on the hour versus the half hour alleviates the stress if a school signs in late, or if technical difficulties cause delays. Sometimes, an energized classroom needs just a few extra minutes so one or two more students get a chance to ask a question. Building in a cushion will not only give you a chance to regroup, but it could also be important for the teacher and students excited for your visit.
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Create A Sign-Up Form
Once you have decided how many visits you want to offer and at what times, you will want to create a sign-up form. I didn't create a form on my first year and the result was email chaos. Teachers were asking for odd times, conflicting times, cancelling, rebooking, and just when I thought I had overlaps smoothed out, emails requesting another change would hit my inbox.

A clear sign-up form ensures that teachers reserve a visit for an available time and only when they are really ready to commit.

I recommend using Sign Up Genius to administer your WRAD schedule. Sign Up Genius is free and easy to use. Check out Sign Up Genius here and for a sample of my WRAD sign up form go here.

My form asks teachers to provide the student's grade level, and the name, state, and country of their school. I also ask for an email contact that I use later to confirm the visit and gather information on a link for the visit.

Your sign-up form is the perfect place to layout expectations for the visit. WRAD visits are meant to be twenty-minute virtual visit where authors greet students, read their book, and offer a quick Q&A. This is NOT an hours long classroom visit with crafts and activities. Being clear on the format when teachers sign up helps ensure that everyone understands the structure of the visit.

When you register for WRAD, use the web address for your sign-up form on the registration. That way interested teachers will be directed to your form. Then go ahead and blast a link to the form out on social media. If you get email requests from teachers, you can eliminate confusion by replying with an email directing them to your sign-up form.
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Once your form is full, you can direct teachers to an author friend or two who might still have open slots. Keep a few of these authors in mind and be ready to send teachers to their forms.

Send Confirmations and Reminders
Once a classroom has signed up, I send a confirmation email. I reiterate the format of the visit, confirm the time and date, and ask if the school will provide a visit link or if they would like me to send a link. I also ask the teacher if they would like their students to have the opportunity to order signed copies of my book (more on this later). A week before WRAD, I send out a reminder that reviews all this information again. This reminder email is a terrific opportunity to ask the teacher to emcee the Q&A by calling on students during our visit. With a virtual visit, I find this format works best. 

​Check Your Technology
All WRAD visits are virtual. While many schools will send you a visit link, some may prefer you to provide them with a link. Make sure you are ready and comfortable to work in different virtual meeting platforms. I defer to the school’s meeting platform of choice as many schools are required to use an approved system. But if the school wants me to set up the visit link, I use Zoom. I have found it helpful to create a separate Zoom meeting for each school. Some authors have a single Zoom link for the day, but I always worry that one school will sign in on top of another’s school’s visit.

Regardless of the platform for the visit, you'll want to make sure your computer has a functioning speaker and camera. Set up a practice visit with a trusted KidLit friend to make sure things are working well. Be careful, sometimes when you move away from your computer and hold a book up, it blocks your voice and kids will not be able to hear you reading your wonderful words! To combat this, I recommend using Air Pods or headphones.
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Make sure you create a visually appealing and appropriate background for your visits. Consider the lighting in your space and make sure that as the sun travels across the hours of your WRAD visits that you are easy to see and not shadowed or sun shined out. You can place copies of your books in the background and opt to wear colorful clothes that compliment your book’s cover. 

Book or Slides
Think about how you want to present your book. Some folks will prefer to read a copy of their book as they hold it up for kids to see. Be sure you frame your book on the screen, so it is easily viewed. The advantage of holding up the book as you read is that you can point to certain things on each page for emphasis and pull the book closer to the computer camera for a zoomed in effect.
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I prefer using a PowerPoint slide show as I read. The benefit here is that my face becomes a small little screen-in-screen image for my audience and the pages of the book fill their classroom monitor. For this method, I start out on camera, and then after introductions, switch over to the slideshow. After reading the book, I close out the slideshow and do the Q&A portion without slides. To create your book slideshow, you can ask your publisher to provide you with a PDF file of the book then build your slide show by making each page its own slide. If your publisher cannot provide a PDF, you can take pictures of each page of your book and upload them into a slide show. 

Create a WRAD Day Schedule Sheet
Even if you have smartly assessed your stamina, set up a sign-up form, and managed expectations, the day can still be a bit hectic. Make a cheat sheet of the day for yourself with each visit, the teacher’s name, email, and a clickable visit link. This will keep your entire day and all those visit links in one place rather than having to click around looking for emails from individual teachers and nervously trying to remember where exactly you saved the link for each visit.
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It’s a good idea to make sure the name of the school, town and state is on this sheet as this information can be a wonderful way to make a connection with the students in your opening introduction. 

Option to Allow Book Purchases
Although it is not required, you can try to team up with a local indie bookstore and offer classrooms the opportunity for signed copies. You can also offer to send signed book plates to a bookstore near the school so that students can purchase signed copies. Both options involve planning.

To offer signed copies, I work in tandem with my local indie bookstore. I create and provide the school with a flyer they can reproduce and send home with their students detailing directions for ordering an autographed book. The bookstore agrees to facilitate the ordering. The benefit here is that I am not collecting forms or money, nor is the teacher. Instead, we direct caregivers/parents to order online directly from the sponsoring bookstore. To make this easier and cost effective for the bookstore, the bookstore bulk ships the books to the teacher for distribution to the students. Not every bookstore will be willing to partner with you to make this process happen, but you’ll never know if you don’t ask.

If you can find a bookstore partner and you want students to have the books in hand for WRAD, you will want to allow time for the teachers to distribute flyers, caregivers/parents to order books, and the bookstore  to mail the books out. Set ordering deadlines and allow for the time the bookstore will need to assemble and ship the books before WRAD in February. If this is too complicated, it is also fine to tell students that books can be ordered up until the day of WRAD and books will be shipped out 2-3 weeks after WRAD. All these details can be worked out with the bookstore.

Getting book orders is not the point of WRAD. This is an option that I mention when I send out confirmation emails. Some teachers will love the idea and others will politely pass.
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Finally, some authors send swag to the schools like bookmarks and stickers. This is not something I have the budget for and so I have not offered this perk. But if you want to send out a thank you note with swag, just be sure you know how many students are in the classroom so that you send the right amount. 
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​Have Fun!
World Read Aloud Day is a wonderful chance to share your book with students. Take some time to plan out the day so that you, and the classrooms you visit, have a fantastic WRAD experience! 

~Guest blog by Janet Costa Bates

​I call myself a writer, but I’m not sure why. I should call myself a ‘reviser,’ since, like most writers, I spend much more time revising manuscripts than I do writing the first draft. Writing the first draft is exciting, but the real magic happens during the revision process.
 
My first step in the revision process is to do absolutely nothing. I figuratively put the manuscript into a drawer and then work on something else. When it’s time to look back at it, I can do so with fresh eyes. Are there plot holes and how can they best be fixed? Are the characters true and consistent? If not, does something happen in the story to drive the change in their behavior? Is there fluff to be cut? Cuts can be as small as individual words or as big as characters, sub-plots, or description. I often pick a random number and make myself cut that number of words from a manuscript. There’s safety in knowing I can put any of the words back in, but I rarely do. 
 
I also go through the manuscript for grammar - NOT my favorite part. After all, my rule for commas is ‘random.’ Although I try to get the manuscript into decent shape, I’ve learned not to obsess too much. I now know there are magical people called copy editors who have much more grammatical talent than I do. 
 
Some revisions are routine and fairly quick. Other revisions are not at all routine, not at all quick, but totally worth it. Let me share a few examples with you.

by Kelly Carey

​As we celebrate our 8th birthday, we are excited to unveil a new logo and a revamped website.

We’ve come a long way from those early days button mashing and grumbling at the computer as we learned to navigate the ins and outs of creating a website and launching 24 Carrot Writing. Over the past eight years we have seen our 24 Carrot Writing community grow and we are so thrilled to have a full and vibrant crew of carrots!

Take some time to visit our sleek new website, and enjoy our snazzy new logo. And thank you for joining us as we all continue to explore the craft and carrots of writing for children! 

It wouldn’t be a 24 Carrot Writing post if we didn’t take this moment to encourage you to consider an overhaul of your own social media presence. We know you worked hard to design that initial website or set up your author Facebook page. You probably stressed over finding just the right photo and picking the perfect font. And when you hit “publish” and launched your virtual presence it was likely a moment of joyous trepidation. Then you hopefully relaxed and let your website chug through the internet cosmos.

But have you gotten too relaxed?
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When was the last time you perused your own website? Is the photo for your Facebook page looking nothing like you anymore? Or as Amanda’s son smartly pointed out, is your site just looking a little "old fashioned."

Your craft goal this month could be to revamp your social media presence. 
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​Tips to Guide Your Revamp: 
• Replace an old headshot with a current picture. 
• Did your initial website excitedly announce the upcoming launch of your new book, but now that book has been out in the world for years?
• Make sure your bio is up to date. 
• Have you received accolades, awards or maybe just pictures of kids enjoying your work? Make sure your site reflects those achievements. 
• Are you proud of a class you took, group you joined, or conference you attended? Pop a logo from the hosting organization on your site.
• Does your copy need a little polishing and should you lob off a few “darlings”? Or -eek – did you spot a typo! Like the skilled writer you are, revise, revise, revise.
• Check your links! Make sure all your in-site links shuttle users to just the right place. 
• Many folks view websites from their phones. Does your site holdup when perused from a phone? 
• Finally, ask for feedback from writing friends and your community to make sure your site looks visually modern, is user friendly, and takes advantage of new technology. 
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​Good luck with your own social media refresh. If you are a member of 24 Carrot Writing, we invite you to add our new logo to your website. 

~by Amanda Smith​

There are few things at 24 Carrot Writing that thrills us as much as celebrating one of our own. Even though Megan is a recent addition to the 24 Carrot team, joining us in 2021 as a regular contributor, she has been “one of our own,” for a long time.

I first met Megan at a critique group organized through the Writers’ Loft. Soon after, I ran into her at the NESCBWI Spring Conference, and later that year we both attended a picture book workshop together. Somehow, during that time frame, each one of the original 24 Carrot founders’ paths crossed with Megan’s at different events, and the following year we all carpooled together to the Spring Conference. Those daily drives back and forth were filled with engaging conversations about writing, and workshops, and dreams. Megan had just signed with her agent, Lindsay Davis Auld from Writers House, and we were excitedly crossing all our fingers and toes for her. And here we are – four years later, celebrating the bright light of Megan’s debut picture book Twinkle, Twinkle, Winter Night (Clarion Books) illustrated by Nneka Myers!
Over the years we have learned many lessons from Megan's approach to writing and her work philosophy. We'd love to share some of those with you.

LESSONS WE'VE LEAREND FROM MEGAN:
Be Gracious:
At that very first critique group, one of those serendipitous, hive-mind, similarly-themed-story flukes popped up. In the past, I’ve witnessed these kinds of situations ruin writerly relationships, but Megan responded with so much grace and this-is-the-business professionalism that it was hardly a blip on the radar. Over the years we’ve witnessed her kind support to the writing community, her willingness to jump in and help at book events, her praise and appreciation for other writers, and as a critique partner, her thoughtful insight and cheerleading of our writing – always with a generous dose of Megan sparkle.

Follow Your Passions:
Before focusing on writing, Megan was a classroom teacher and reading interventionist. Literacy accessibility is one of her biggest passions. She doesn’t just love writing. She loves books, and reading, and kids reading books, and reading books to kids, and making reading available to all. This passion is sprinkled, like star-dust, onto everything she does, her audience always in her mind. Not only does it drive her to write beautifully lyrical picture books, but also to explore other ways of breaking open the written word to children, such as writing for the educational market, classroom poetry, and early readers. As a matter of fact, Megan has the first two books of an early reader series Dirt and Bugsy launching in February and June 2023. Following her passion has led her to all kinds of exhilarating opportunities.

Trust the Process:
The publishing process is long. Very long. Excruciatingly long. Megan signed with her agent in June 2018, and went out on submission later that same month. With a different manuscript. Twinkle, Twinkle, Winter Night was actually her second submission, and between the two, there were two years of ups and downs, very close-calls, and plenty of rejection before signing that contract in 2020. There are so many anxiety-causing stepping stones on the path to publishing, yet Megan trusted her team and her talent, and stayed the course, one step at a time.

Own Your Style:
When we browse bookstores or share library finds, often one of us will pull a book and announce, “This is a Megan-book.” Megan-books feature lovely language, read-aloud-ability, solid rhythm, winks of humor, and oodles of heart. While the style might be recognizable, her voice is uniquely hers. When it comes to writing picture books, Megan is a lyrical writer. She knows it. She owns it. And she excels at it.

We are so excited that we can now pull an actual, very real, totally authentic Megan-book from the shelves. One with her name on the cover! Readers, you and your little ones will fall in love with Megan’s tight writing, her poetic phrasing, and her lilting diction in Twinkle, Twinkle, Winter Night!
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Dear Megan, we are so excited for you! Shine bright!

Bio: 
Megan Litwin is a children’s book author, a former classroom teacher, and a forever believer in book magic. She holds a Master of Arts in Children’s Literature from Simmons University and lives in Massachusetts with her family.

She will launch Twinkle, Twinkle, Winter Night Friday, September 23 at 6 pm under the twinkly lights of The Unlikely Story. Click here ​for more information on this event and other upcoming bookstore visits.

Ask for Twinkle, Twinkle, Winter Night at your local bookstore or order here.

Guest Blog by Nancy Tandon

Nancy Tandon launched two middle grade novels, including her debut, in 2022.

​24 Carrot Writing is excited to have Nancy guest blog for us today. She is sharing the details behind the creative events she hosted and how she pulled off two very different book launches.
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Welcome Nancy!

​Speaking at an NESCBWI conference years ago, Jarrett Krosoczka imparted this sage advice to the gathered kidlit writers: “You get one book launch.”
 
He was talking about the fact that your first book launch usually ends up looking very much like an episode of “This Is Your Life,” with friends and family turning out in large numbers to support the culmination of your hard work. My takeaway was: enjoy the heck out of it, and don’t expect to get the same reaction with subsequent launches.
 
That day in the audience, I never imagined that I’d be launching two debut middle grade novels in one year! Like many aspiring authors, I’d been dreaming for a long time about hosting my own book event. But when things became real, I felt a bit overwhelmed about the particulars such as location and what the heck I was actually supposed to do and say if people showed up. Spoiler alert: they did! And people are going to show up for you, too. So, here are a few tips to consider when you are headed into your own countdown.
 
My first novel, THE WAY I SAY IT, arrived on the scene in January 2022. Because the threat of Covid spread was still high, I knew I’d have to get creative with both the location and ways for people to access the event. I wanted attendees to feel safe, but I also desperately wanted to celebrate this long-delayed moment. My local indie bookstore (River Bend Bookshop in Glastonbury, CT) is an amazing but very small space. A winter event in an adorable house-sized bookstore was not going to work.

or example, since you may have folks that cannot attend in person, consider asking the bookstore if they can add a virtual component to your launch. That way you'll be sure even Aunt Sally in Idaho can be there for your big moment. For my hybrid launch, River Bend staff were key in setting up a way for guests to join the event virtually. They created an Eventbrite link, handled the registrations, and on the day of the launch ran all the tech for me. All I had to do was remember to turn to the webcam and smile! And even if technology is not a terrifying black hole for you, let the bookstore staff (or some other competent friend) take the lead on any virtual/high-tech components. That way you can concentrate on being fabulous!

If for any reason your local bookstore’s space isn’t the best setting for you, don’t be afraid to speak to them about partnering at a different venue. Maybe a park, ballfield or a community center would better fit the mood of your book and be more appealing to your launch audience. Libraries are another great (and low-cost) idea, and you may pick up audience members just by centering your event in a book-loving space. Get creative! But do also think about logistics such as bathrooms, acoustics, and seating. Remember, you are hosting guests.

For people showing up in-person at my January launch, I wanted to make leaving their homes on a cold winter day worth it. I had snacks (individually packaged), games, prizes, and a photo booth. Games and prizes were themed to scenes from the book (such as a magnetic dart board because that’s what the main character plays during speech therapy and a “Guess how many M & M’s jar” because those are another character’s favorite candy). ​

I enlisted members of my book club and critique group to run the activity stations for me. Everyone was so helpful! I really could not have done it without them.

I recommend you earmark a book launch “maid of honor” who knows how you want things to run. And, of course, thank all your assistants with cards and/or small gifts afterward. 
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In the end, I signed a ton of books, enjoyed friends and family, and truly felt like the book had a proper birthday celebration. 

​Again, I relied on local bookstore staff to help with book ordering and sales, and this time used the nearby library’s gorgeous event space. I spread the word to the middle grade-minded audience in the area through my family and friend connections. 

I like to think of a launch from a guest’s point of view, striving to make it more about them and their experience than about selling books. You will want to practice (and time) your presentation, making sure to keep the pace clicking along. I began by thanking my hosts and particular audience members, then read an excerpt from chapter one. After that, we played “Ghost-story Mad Libs” as a group, which was a huge hit. I would encourage you to think of an all-play game you can offer your launch crowd. This gets the audience involved and having fun. 

​Next was another brief reading where I let the audience in on a “family secret” which had made it into the book. Afterwards, many people told me that learning "insider information" was one of their favorite parts. You may want to share or at least hint at some of the hidden gems in your novel as an exclusive treat for the people who came to your event.
 
Finally, I showed examples of the crafts we’d set up at the back of the room and pointed out where I’d be sitting to sign books. This time, family members helped me run my activity stations, which included making ghost bookmarks, building cairn photo holders, and decorating cookies.

That evening, I got to have the “post-launch” party I had to forgo with the first book. The most exciting thing was that we were able to host a dinner at the exact inn that the book’s fictional Home Away Inn is based on. Afterwards, we had a bonfire and told ghost stories. It was a magical, fantastical day.

​Writers, your book will have its own life and celebrations in the weeks and months (and hopefully decades!) to follow the launch. That day is for you to celebrate and share. So, gather the people you love, in a place you love, and do things that will be fun for everyone. I wish you an exciting launch and wonderful memories for years to come! 

Guest Blog by Ana Siqueira

Are you an author who speaks multiple languages? Are you curious about how to write a book using more than one language? 24 Carrot Writing has invited Spanish-language elementary teacher, and award-winning Brazilian children’s author Ana Siqueira to share her tips for writing bilingual books and her thoughts on translated books. 

Welcome Ana! 

​My books BELLA’S RECIPE FOR SUCCESS (art by Geraldine Rodriguez- Beaming Books 2021), IF YOUR BABYSITTER IS A BRUJA (art by Irena Freitas - Simon&Schuster 2022), ABUELA’S SUPER CAPA (art by Elisa Chavarri- HarperCollins 2023) and ROOM IN MAMI’S CORAZON (art by Nomar Perez - HarperCollins 2024) are all bilingual books. ​

What are the tricks to writing a bilingual book that readers can understand, even when they don’t know the language? My tips are:

1. Use Cognates - For example, instead of adventures, you can use aventuras. Take advantage of these super similar words. 
2. Use Words That Can Be Illustrated - For example, if you write - Los gatos attack - and the art shows cats attacking, the readers will decode the meaning of this word.
3. Use Both Languages In One Sentence - For example - If your new babysitter zooms on a broom, wearing a sombrero and cackling like a crow. Run! ¡Corre! She might be a witch! ¡A bruja! - You can see here that not only do readers understand the word bruja, because the word witch was right before it, but also the context would give readers enough clues to get this meaning even without the word witch.  

Remember that bilingual books are different than translated books. 

​Some of my bilingual books will be published simultaneously in English and Spanish. IF YOUR BABYSITTER IS A BRUJA will be CUANDO TU NIÑERA ES UNA BRUJA,  ABUELA’S SUPER CAPA will be LA SUPERCAPA DE ABUELA
and ROOM IN MAMI’S CORAZÓN will be translated, but we don’t have a title translation yet.  

I am proud of having these books published in Spanish. Children can read in their own language and that makes me excited. I can’t wait to hear parents’ voices proudly telling stories in their own language. ​

I relied on her experience writing and translating in Spanish to help me with that task. When you translate a picture book, you can’t only translate the words. You must work on flow, rhythm, and structure. So Mariana and I had to go back and forth many times  to translate sentences, rhythm, and flow.

For my book IF YOUR BABYSITTER IS A BRUJA, the Spanish version is also bilingual, that is the text is mostly in Spanish sprinkled with words in English.

Here is the first page of the Spanish version:
​Si ya es casi Halloween y tienes una nueva niñera…¡Cuidado!
¡Podría ser una bruja! A witch!
Si vuela en una escoba, con un sombrero negro en la cabeza, graznando como un cuervo…
Run! ¡Corre!  

When the books get published, I will learn the challenges of marketing both versions. It’s naturally easier to market the version in English. So where can I market the Spanish version? That’s something I need to research and work on.  

The third challenge, for me, is how to get these books translated into Portuguese. I would love to see Brazilian children reading it in their own language. This is a battle I will be pursuing. 
​ 
But no matter if readers choose to read my bilingual version or the Spanish version, I hope they can have fun and learn an important lesson: Don’t judge a bruja by her sombrero.

Ana Siqueira is an award-winning author from Brazil. In addition to Bella’s Recipe for Success and If Your Babysitter Is a Bruja, Ana has also published a Spanish early reader for the education market. Ana was born in Rio, Brazil and lives in Tampa with her Cuban husband. When she’s not writing or reading, she is playing with her Cuban-Brazilian-American grandkids. To learn more about Ana visit her website here. 

~ Guest blog by Samantha Gassman

In January 2020, I was flying high. After 5 months of querying literary agents with my picture book manuscripts, I had an offer of representation in hand and my first book on submission with publishers. But as the months dragged on, it became clear that my hope of seeing my book in print was not going to happen.
During the course of 12 months, my first manuscript was rejected by 30 publishing houses — big ones, small ones and everything in between.

Here’s what I learned:

1. Rejection doesn’t stop after you have an agent
When I received my first offer of representation, I was equal parts thrilled and relieved. I was ready to be out of the query trenches and into the big time! Instead, I traded in the “your work isn’t the right fit for me” rejections from agents for “It’s cute but I’m afraid it didn’t quite capture my attention as I was hoping. I’m afraid I’m going to have to pass” rejections from editors. Ouch!

Not only do the rejections continue after landing an agent, publisher rejections sting even more. When I was querying agents, I convinced myself it was “just to see what would happen.” Like a schoolchild picking daisy petals: maybe they’d like me, maybe they wouldn’t. But when a publisher rejects your work, they’re saying it’s not worth their time or money to publish your story.

On that note...

2. Acquiring a book is a risk
When a publisher acquires a book, particularly a picture book, the publisher is taking a huge risk on your book’s ability to compete and perform in an over-crowded marketplace. During the acquisition process, there will be a Profit and Loss (P&L) analysis performed by the editor or financial specialist. After all, publishing is a business, not a charity. While writing for children is often portrayed as a whimsical process, if your cute story isn’t worth the manufacturing, design or overhead costs, a publisher will pass.

In my case, the feedback from several editors was exactly that: “The energy is great, but the story doesn’t hit high enough to compete in the market right now.”

3. Agents have a really tough job
Agents get paid when the author gets paid. In other words, after your book is acquired, contracts are signed, advances are paid (or not) and royalties come in. Because publishing is such a slow industry, this means your poor agent doesn’t see any cash for 1–3 years AFTER they sell your book. They weren’t paid to read your query, offer their revisions, or go back and forth with you on edits. They do all of that in hopes that your book will be acquired by a publisher and fly off the shelves. Even then, most agent commissions are only 15–20%. On a $17 hardcover book, that’s only a few bucks.

I will be forever grateful to my first literary agent for her perseverance and patience as we received rejection after rejection. Especially since our agreement was based on her representing this one manuscript, and she had all her figurative eggs in my one basket.

4. Taking a critical eye to your work is important
If you remember nothing else from this post, remember this: Read your manuscript like a publisher. Regardless of what kind of book you’ve written, you must be well- read enough in your genre, age group, etc. to know where your book fits into the market.

What is unique about your book?
Why does there need to be another book on your topic?
What value does it provide the reader?

After the doors to my publishing dreams were closed for this manuscript, I re-read it with the editors’ comments in mind. You know what I found?

They were right.

ARTICHOKIE KARAOKE (great title, right?) is a really cute book. The rhyme style is catchy (similar to Hip Hop Lollipop) and kids would appreciate the premise of being stuck in a boring grocery store with nothing to do. But, as the 30 editors noted in their own way, it is too “slice of life.” The conflict and resolution are too tame, and without the rhyme, the story falls flat. Maybe if I had considered these things before, I could have revised it to be more compelling. Upped the stakes. Increased the friction. Landed the deal.
​
Take a look at your story as objectively as possible and ask yourself those tough questions before it goes on submission. If you know in your heart it could be better, make it better. There is no need to rush.
Seriously. Don’t rush it.

​Samantha Gassman is a children's book author, Air Force veteran, military spouse, and mom to two kids and two cats.  She is the author of DEAR RAINBOW BABY (Aug 22, 2022) and PEANUT AND BUTTER CUP (2024). Visit Samantha’s website to learn more.
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Preorder DEAR RAINBOW BABY here.

by Kelly Carey

​I love this holiday!

Yes, June Year is a holiday!

When it comes to writing and goals setting this is my favorite holiday. Some like January when you tap out lists of goals and resolutions with the enthusiastic optimism of the diapered New Year’s baby.  But June is the month when the mature goal setter emerges to take stock, assess, and for those who really want it, decides to persevere.

Remember those sparkly goals you set six months ago? What? You forgot about them! ACK!

Get them out. Oh good, some of you remember your writing goals for the year. But, what’s that? You sort of lost track? You petered out in March and now you are aimlessly drifting through writing projects?

Remain calm – the June Year holiday has come just in time!

Get out those annual goals. How are you doing so far? Hey, look, you hit a few! Hooray – party with a few carrots!

You missed some? No worries. You still have a full six months left to hit those targets. Use the June Year holiday to celebrate all you have accomplished so far in and reset your goals for the second half of the year. Get ready to finish the year strong – 24 Carrot Writing strong! 
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Happy June Year everyone!