 To celebrate October, and to whip our writing efforts into a productive fourth quarter frenzy, you are cordially invited to join us on the 24 Carrot Writing Facebook page for our : 3rd Annual 24 Carrot Writing Trick or Book Treat Party Join the Writing Trick or Book Treat Party by sharing your favorite writing trick or tip, or treating your fellow writers to a book recommendation. Share your writing tip, or a recent children’s book that you have loved and/or used as a mentor text on our Facebook page. When you share, we will enter you in our October 31 drawing for signed copies of children's literature. We are keeping most of our titles masked! But our picture book prizes include a signed copy of Alison Goldberg's I Love You For Miles and Miles and Jannie Ho's Bear and Chicken and our middle grade prize is a signed copy of Erin Dionne's Lights, Camera, Disaster!
You don’t need a costume, but you do need to be a part of our 24 Carrot Facebook group. If you haven't joined yet, what are you waiting for? You'll get a weekly Facebook update every time we post a new blog or book pick! To join, just click the green "Join Our Facebook Group" button on your right. Or you can find us on Facebook at 24 Carrot Writing. Come join our Writing Trick or Book Treat Party!
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 Hosted by Kelly Carey We are thrilled to welcome author Traci Sorell to 24 Carrot Writing. Traci’s debut picture book, WE ARE GRATEFUL: OTSALIHELIGA (Charlesbridge, 2018) received a starred review from Kirkus who called the book a “gracious, warm, and loving celebration of community and gratitude”. And more picture books are coming with AT THE MOUNTAIN BASE (Penguin/Kokila) in the fall of 2019 and POWWOW DAY (Charlesbridge) in the spring of 2020. Join us as we talk with Traci about her path to publication, her debut picture book, the story of how she found her agent, and how her ancestry as a member of the Cherokee Nation and her search for accurate books about her heritage fueled her writing journey. Welcome to 24 Carrot Writing, Traci! Congratulations on your debut non-fiction picture book WE ARE GRATEFUL: OTSALIHELIGA (Charlesbridge, Fall 2018)! Writers find inspiration and motivation to write from a variety of places. You have commented that you were motivated to write your book because you were struggling to find contemporary and culturally accurate books about Cherokee and indigenous people to share with your son. Can you talk about how this search turned into a desire to become an author? Wado (wah-doe)! “Thank you” in Cherokee. I am beyond thrilled for the publication of this book. I have an extensive picture book collection with many featuring Native American Nations, their cultures and traditional stories. After I had read those to my son, I thought why aren’t there more books showing Cherokee and other indigenous people in modern life. I found some, but a small amount compared to those centering life pre-1900. As a Native American Studies major in college, I most enjoyed studying history, law and politics of post-1900 life as experienced by Native Nations in the United States. After researching that there was plenty not told in children’s books (or textbooks for that matter), I realized I could be busy the rest of my life writing books and recruiting other Native creators to do the same. Your first foray into writing began as the author of legal codes, testimony for Congressional hearings, federal budget requests and grants. Once you decided to write a contemporary Cherokee story, what helped you find your picture book voice and what skills did you borrow from your grant writing days? I’m grateful for all the editing I received in my undergraduate, graduate and legal education. It helped my professional writing immensely. Writing starts out solitary, but ultimately it’s a collaborative process once it is to be shared with the world. The more trained eyes on a grant application, graduate thesis, legal code or brief and books for children, the better. I do a lot of self-editing before I give it to others to read, but my work always improves when great editors (critique partners, my agent, book editor) read it.  Also, I read a lot of picture books written in the last few years to learn what the market wanted. That helped me shape and edit my own voice to write sparse, lyrical text that sell in the marketplace. I benefitted from reading Ann Whitford Paul’s Writing Picture Books and connecting with published authors in my local KS-MO chapter of SCBWI who provided solid critiques and guided to me beneficial workshops to further develop my voice and craft. You have credited friends from graduate school and SCBWI for helping you find success in your writing journey. What is your networking advice to fellow authors? Networking is critical in this business. I’m a firm believer in doing homework and research on your genre(s), who publishes what you write, who else writes what you write and, if appropriate, who illustrates what you write. Then follow those folks on social media. If there’s an opportunity to meet them in person, introduce yourself, ask about their work, and strike up a conversation. It’s important to take time to make an authentic connection. There are so many generous people in this industry who will share their knowledge if you just ask. But don’t pester. Be respectful of their time and person. I would not be here without the support of others who have already established themselves in this industry. They helped me get the foundation I needed. Then I branched out from there to meet other creators across the nation. You were blessed with multiple offers for representation and with multiple offers for your book. How did you decide which offers to accept? I sold We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga to Charlesbridge from the slush pile, which means I submitted it unagented and unsolicited. Three of the ten publishers I submitted to in December 2015 expressed interest. One of them was waiting for my answer when Karen Boss, Associate Editor at Charlesbridge, called. Their intern had read my manuscript and put in on her desk in March 2016. I had hoped that I would hear from them because they published Itse Selu: Cherokee Harvest Festival over twenty years ago. That picture book features Cherokee and English words in the text like my manuscript, and including the language is important to the story and to me personally. Charlesbridge still has that picture book in print, which also impressed me. I want We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga to have that kind of longevity and publisher support. As for getting an agent, that process took longer. When I initially tried to query agents before and after that sale, I kept hearing, “Well, if you also want to write middle grade, get back in touch after you have a novel done.” I wanted someone to be enthusiastic about what stories I had ready to submit, which were all picture books, and not after my middle grade novel was ready. So I took a little time off. At the end of summer, I queried a few more agents. The universe must have shifted in the meantime as I received two offers of representation on the same day!
When I spoke with Emily Mitchell, Wernick & Pratt Literary Agency, I knew that we would be a good fit. Her prior background as a senior editor and contracts manager at Charlesbridge met my preferred criteria of a having an editorial agent. She reps fiction and nonfiction across all genres. Exactly what I was looking for! In October 2013, I heard Emily present at the Oklahoma SCBWI conference—the first writing conference I ever attended. I wasn’t ready though at that time to be the client she was looking for; but, by the time I queried her three years later, I felt that I was. We’re a good team, both of us know our roles in this partnership. I’m very grateful. What do you wish to accomplish with WE ARE GRATEFUL: OTSALIHELIGA?  I have a couple of hopes. First, I hope that Cherokee children will enjoy seeing their contemporary culture reflected in the book and want to learn and do all the things featured in the book, including speaking our language (if they don’t already). For other children, I hope it provides them a window into a culture they may not be too familiar with because the Cherokee and other tribal nations are mostly invisible in modern U.S. culture. We’re still here, yet most children aren’t taught that we exist after 1900—either in their own homes or at school. I hope the book helps all children think about their cultures and teachings, whether that be about gratitude or some other value, and how cultivating those could be helpful to them in navigating daily life. What is your dream for yourself as an author? I have many dreams. First, I want to continue improving and deepening my craft in every book. I would like to publish a board book, a novel-in-verse, and a graphic novel in addition to my other current projects. I like the challenge of figuring out the puzzle—what is the best word, structure, or format to use. There are so many stories untold that I’ll be busy the rest of my life, working on these. I also want to ensure that Native and other marginalized children in this country are no longer invisible and accurately represented in children’s literature. There are books published in this industry every year that have not done the work necessary to get it right. That needs to stop. It is incumbent upon everyone – writer, illustrator, editor, art director, sales, marketing, management – to examine what they are putting out in the world and asking if it is accurate, will this harm young readers, etc. With my graduate and legal training, I’m used to having my work critically examined. I always consult experts and have sources for why I’ve written what I have, why the world was constructed, or characters formed this way, etc. regardless of whether it is fiction or nonfiction. My dream is to help raise awareness in this industry for other creators to have that same approach to both fiction and nonfiction works for children. As a debut author, what have you found most rewarding and surprising about the experience? So many things have been rewarding and surprising. It’s all new to me because I don’t have any professional writers in my family. I’ve been most surprised by how generous people have been in the industry. Several friends who write for adults tell me their side of the industry generally isn’t as supportive as it is in children’s literature. I’m glad I’m where I am. Another rewarding aspect has been meeting fellow Native creators – writers and illustrators. It nourishes my soul. There really is a push to get more accurate books in the hands of children and teens, so I’m doing my part to recruit talented Native folks to work in the industry. I attend Kweli’s annual Color of Children’s Literature conference in New York City each spring. The conference brings together Native and POC writers and illustrators with agents and editors. Every year, the number of Native writers and illustrators attending grows. Most of us are from different tribal nations across the continent, so it’s great to get together. Usually it’s the only time many of us are in the same place. It’s magical. How have you approached marketing your debut book? What lessons have you already learned? I am grateful to be part of Epic Eighteen, a group of debut picture book authors and illustrators with books published in 2018. We have shared marketing tips, best deals for designing/purchasing book swag, and how to handle the logistics of marketing (soliciting interviews if necessary, referring each other to bloggers, etc.) when our main focus has been on our writing. This group has relieved a lot of my anxiety. I know there are also groups for debut novelists too. I would recommend being a part of such a group. While it’s not always possible (financially or logistically), one of the things I did and highly recommend is to visit the publisher’s office in person. I went to Charlesbridge’s office in early April. I sat down separately with the marketing and the sales staff. We talked about what they were doing, what I should be doing, and I found I had a lot of information about potential sources for press release distribution or locations for sales that are pertinent to a Native American focused book that they did not have on their list. We also established a closer working relationship because we spent that time together. I’d recommend at least trying to video conference with the staff so that you make that human connection. You’re all in the same community, working to make your book as marketable and successful as possible. So putting faces, names and personalities together is always a plus in my book. Ultimately though, you will be responsible for doing most of the legwork around marketing your book through social media, being interviewed on blogs, via radio, etc. At 24 Carrot Writing we are big on goal setting. Do you set detailed writing goals, broad yearly goals or do you fly by the seat of your pants? I do set writing goals. I don’t have a daily word count or anything like that. But I do keep a list of projects that I’m working on with a timeline of when I want each completed and moving on the next phase, i.e., what needs to be drafted, what is being revised and what is on submission. Then, I also keep a list of what I want to write further down the road. Sometimes I want to write something, but my knowledge base or skill set isn’t there yet to tackle the genre. So those projects go on that last list. I also have yearly goals. I’m learning to be gentler with myself because life intervenes a lot. I’m in the sandwich generation right now. My husband and I have a young son, and we also have parents that are needing more of our help. All of them are the priority over our careers. 2018 has been a particularly challenging year so far. I’m hopeful this upcoming book launch season will be a celebratory time, but I’ll also have time to get a few more projects out the door. Regardless of whether I hit my goals or not, the key for me is to keep the faith and create. October is 24 Carrot Writing’s Trick or Book Treat Party. Would you like to celebrate with us by sharing your favorite writing trick or tip or treating your fellow writers to a book recommendation?  There are many books I would love to recommend, but Undocumented: A Worker’s Fight by Duncan Tonatiuh and published by Abrams is one of my favorite picture books in 2018. The narrator is a Mixteco indigenous man from Mexico who comes to the United States after his father dies. He stays with his uncle and sends money back to his mother and siblings. I LOVE that this shows that so many undocumented people here are actually indigenous folks from elsewhere on the American continents! I haven’t seen that reality reflected in other picture books. Duncan tells a very accessible story for children about this man through the context of his workplace where he and his coworkers are exploited, his personal life and his growing empowerment to address the injustice. I just love it! Plus, the story is told via the Mixtec code format in an accordion style layout and concludes with a powerful Author’s Note. So beautiful. Get to your bookstore or library and check it out now. What is up next for you? With this debut book launch, I’ve got a lot of travel for book signings and school visits coming up this fall. I’m looking forward to spending time with children and sharing the book with them. This is what I’ve been looking forward to since I wrote the story. On the publication front, since I’ve signed with Emily, we’ve sold two picture books and some shorter works (poems, chapters, short stories) in anthologies. In fall 2019, my first fiction picture book, At the Mountain’s Base, illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre (Tongva), will be published by Kokila, the newest imprint of Penguin Random House. Then in the spring of 2020, my second one, Powwow Day, illustrated by Marlena Myles (Spirit Lake Dakota/Mohegan/Muscogee Creek) will be published by Charlesbridge. I’ve got several other projects in the works that I’m eager to share with the world when I can. To learn more about Traci visit her website at www.tracisorell.com. To purchase a copy of WE ARE GRATEFUL: OTSALIHELIGA click on the button below: Wado Traci!
 By Kelly Carey We are abuzz at 24 Carrot Writing, as one of our founders, Annie Cronin Romano, prepares for the launch of her debut picture book, Before You Sleep, due out October 9, 2018 from Page Street Publishing. I’d like to take this time to reflect on the integral part Annie has played in our writing group and on the way our group has supported Annie on her writing journey. My purpose is to highlight the benefits of joining a writing group, encourage you to become an active and fully engaged member of a writing tribe, and to point out the significant advantages, for all writers, regardless of where they are on the writing path of belonging to a writing community. I’m Just Starting. What Could I Possible Offer? When our founding mother, Francine Puckly, first gathered our group of four together and suggested we start 24 Carrot Writing, I wondered what a group of barely published, novice writers, in the infancy of their writing careers could offer each other let alone a larger audience. Luckily, Francine drowned out those concerns with her dogged determination that we had big things to contribute both to each other and to the KidLit industry. At the very beginning, we offered each other companionship as we set out on our writing voyage. And this has made all the difference in helping us persevere in the face of form rejections, harsh critiques, and self-doubt. Our shared goal, a desire to be successful KidLit writers, meant we brought a unique understanding of how it feels to struggle with plot, manage word count, construct a query letter, and suffer the pain of form rejections. We knew exactly how significant a completed first draft was, we celebrated a revision break through with appropriate verve, and we cheered raucously when publishing success found our group. Our non-writing friends and family were supportive, but our group of fellow writers offered a kinship only they could bring to the table. That kinship is critical in a career that so often requires you to be alone with your laptop. If you are fortunate, your inner voice can help sustain you along your writing path. But, I would argue that the fresh and often kinder voices of trusted fellow writers are a necessary and crucial component to writing success. Francine was right. No matter where you are on the path, or how new your journey is, if you want to write, if you are determined to become a KidLit author, then you have an impactful role to play in a group of like-minded writers.  We Can Cover More Ground Together We could all agree that a single person cannot read every new KidLit book; devour every article in a trade journal; take every workshop; attend every book event; and connect with every single agent, editor, librarian, bookstore owner and KidLit author in our industry. But, if you commit to a group of writers, allow them to get to know your style, show them your manuscripts, talk openly about your writing strengths and weakness, then you will have a team helping you accomplish your goals. Annie has recommended books that are great comp titles for Amanda’s PB. Francine has forwarded marketing articles to Annie, weeks after her contract was signed, because she knew Annie would benefit from the information. Just this week, Amanda sent me the names of two editors she felt might be a great match for a manuscript I have on submission. There is no doubt that our writing group is giving each of us extra writing focused eyes and ears to help us on our individual journeys. We are looking out for each other, for our manuscripts, for our submissions, for our writing, and offering targeted advice and help. These informed knowledgeable connections that we bring to each other are only possible because we have freely and candidly opted to share our writing journey. You can certainly go it alone. But, a tribe will facilitate your path to success and you will reach your goal faster and with more joy along the way if you invite others on your trip.  The Friction of Give and Take Sparks Success As Annie launches her book next month, our writing group will be out in force to help her set up her event, offer a knowing and encouraging wink, and ensure that this special moment goes off without a hitch. For months, we have acted as a sounding board as Annie worked through the steps of planning the arrival of her new book. We offered suggestions, forwarded marketing opportunities, shared Annie’s news on our personal Twitter and Facebook accounts, and helped make sure that Annie heard positive and encouraging voices when concerns or doubts surfaced. In return, Annie has given us reason to celebrate. We are motivated by her success to send out queries with hopeful abandon. Sometimes the phrase “success breeds success” can have negative connotations, in the case of a solid writing group, I would argue that “success motivates success”. This is a rough rejection filled industry and feeling connected to Annie’s success has given each member of her writing tribe a burst of sunshine. Having a front row seat to Annie’s success also means we have seen firsthand how a launch works. We may have been helping Annie with her book, but she has given us the opportunity to learn and prepare for our own launches. I know I am grateful that when my debut launches in 2020, I will have been a part of Annie’s journey and she will be a solid advisor who I will rely on.  Don’t Hike Alone
I love hiking because it offers the joy of communing with nature, the gorgeous vistas along the path, and the euphoric feeling of accomplishment when you summit at the end of the trail. But, I have never opted to hike alone. That seems scary and dangerous. So why would I ever choose to travel my writing path alone? You could choose to hike into the woods, carrying everything you think you could possibly need in your own backpack. When you happen upon a stunning vista, I suppose it is glorious even if you have no one to share it with. But I would argue that the ability to share revelations, successes, and the burdens in your pack make the journey easier and more enjoyable. That is exactly what we did and why 24 Carrot Writing has become a growing and dynamic group. The benefits of sharing your writing career are vast. Your writing tribe will keep you motivated, remind you to take advantage of workshops, greet you at conferences, buoy you when you hit writing walls, and celebrate your success. If you are a part of 24 Carrot Writing – congratulations! You have recognized that you have something significant to offer a writing community, you have a team supporting your writing journey, and you will feel the success sparked by our collective energy. I’m so happy you decided not to hike alone!  We are thrilled to welcome Rob Broder, co-founder of Ripple Grove Press, to 24 Carrot Writing. Ripple Grove Press is an independent, family-run children’s book publisher. Their list includes picture books like the award winning Grandmother Thorn, Seb and the Sun, and Monday is Wash Day. I had the chance to meet Rob at the book launch of Ripple Grove Press’s newest picture book, Iver & Ellsworth. The book was in hot demand and luckily Rob had extra copies in his car! Ripple Grove Press is looking for its next book and Rob graciously offered to share his thoughts on the submission process from the publisher’s side of the desk. 1. Can you talk about the unique perks and challenges of being a family run independent children’s book publisher? Since it’s just Amanda and myself doing everything to run Ripple Grove Press, we face challenges with reaching as many bookstores, libraries, and parents as possible. We don’t have a separate marketing team. We are the marketing team. So while reading submissions, promoting our current and backlist titles, communicating with our printer and distributor and working on books for next year, we do wish we had some extra hands helping out. But we love it, and the best perk is finding that next writer and illustrator we are passionate about, who has a wonderful story we resonate with. 2. Querying writers, who are looking for publishers, sometimes forget that publishers are looking for them too! And while groups of writers can often be heard discussing the angst of having a manuscript out on submission, what is the process like for the publisher on the hunt for the next great manuscript? For us, it’s just going through the hundreds of email submissions we receive a month and finding one that just clicks. Perhaps one where I like the title, I like the first few lines and then I just keep on going. 3. While writers understand that the volume of submissions received by editors makes it unfeasible to respond to every submission, how can a writer know the difference between a complete miss as opposed to a submission that was very close? Writers are willing to put in the work, but sometimes it is hard to know if a submission is just not quite a good fit for a particular editor or if it is in need of major revision. There have been times where I love the story, but it’s just not for us for some reason. I want to reply to that person and say, “Your story is great. But do you have something else?” or “Keep writing and you’ll get there.”. But I just don’t have the time. And if I reply, it might give the wrong signals to that person. With RGP, as long as the person follows our submission guidelines, I want them to know your story has been read and considered. 4. When you get excited about a manuscript, you are also deciding to get excited about the author. Could you describe the ideal prep work an author should do before submitting to Ripple Grove Press, both in terms of working a draft to a submission ready place and in preparing themselves to be knowledgeable about the industry? Yes, please be professional. Please be open to editorial suggestions. We become just as passionate as you are about your story and we are working together to make the most beautiful book, the most wonderful story possible. So please have an open mind. Be knowledgeable about children’s picture books. If you don’t read current and old titles, it will show in your writing and your professional etiquette when discussing picture books. 5. Once a writer has revised a manuscript and taken it through a cycle of feedback from critique partners, what other steps can and should an author take to make sure the manuscript is submission ready? Have a close friend read the story out loud to you. But with emotion. What and where does your friend think certain words should have emotion. When should they shout, or whisper, and perhaps make your voice sad. It really helps hear where your story should be from another perspective. 6. Sometimes the best way to learn is by example. Can you share examples of opening lines that made you excited to keep reading a submission? And what are some opening lines that made you put the submission down before you finished the manuscript? If the opening line has a good simple narrative, it usually resonates with me and I want to keep reading. Like: Ellsworth is a rooftop bear. or Grandmother Thorn lived in the very first house on the very straight road to Shizuoka Village. or Rain or shine, Monday is wash day. or The gentleman bat, with his gentleman’s cane, went out for a walk one night in the rain. or Seb lived in a sleepy coastal town far in the north.
These first lines hooked me. They told me a story before I even continued on with the manuscript. Opening lines that sometimes make me stop reading are: Once upon a time . . . Once there was a . . . Hi, my name is . . . Have you ever wondered . . . ? “Mama, do you love me. Yes, of course I love you.” (if I see page breaks) One day, One evening, Long ago and far far away . . . Hi, I'm Clothes Pin and this is my friend Lamp Post. I just made that up, but hopefully you get what I’m saying. 7. At the end of the day, it’s all about the writing. But, where does the query letter fit in? Do you read it first? Second? What do you really want to see in that query letter and what do you never want to see? It is all about the writing, so I do go straight to the story. The main reason for that is I don’t have time to read every query and submission together. I wouldn’t get through my pile. If I like your story, I absolutely read your query. I open every submission hoping to say “Yes! This is it!” And sometimes, I get excited about the query because it’s so well-written, but then the manuscript doesn’t have the same feel as the query. I’d like to get excited about your manuscript first, instead of getting excited about your awesome query. 8. Can you share the journeys that brought Iver & Ellsworth and/or Grandmother Thorn from submission discovery to published book? These two stories came to us through our submission inbox. And when a story gets moved over to our “Lets Discuss” folder, it . . . well… gets discussed. We read it over and over before contacting the author. We read the story to ourselves, we reread it out loud, we read it with the emotion we feel it should have. We talk about alternate endings, even if we don’t change the ending, we always say “what if this happened.” just to see how it sounds. We discuss what type of art we see with this story. We go for walks and visualize how this book might look. We usually like stories that capture a moment, and both of these stories do. Proud to say, Grandmother Thorn won the 2018 Anna Dewdney Read Together Award Honor.
9. Seb and The Sun is a companion book to Jami Gigot’s debut picture book Mae and the Moon. How is the submission process different for an established author? Does Ripple Grove Press actively look to publish multiple books by the same author? Mae and the Moon at the time was our best selling and most reviewed book. And when Jami approached us (actually had a celebration drink over Mae and the Moon) about a companion book titled Seb and the Sun, it was just a concept at the time. I boy collects bottles, in a dark coastal town and searchers for the sun. Since we loved working with Jami, we knew how the process was going to be. So we asked for a rough draft and some sketches. It came together beautifully, earning three starred reviews and becoming our most reviewed book to date. So yes, building a strong relationship helps. We know how hard you work to make the book, but it also helps to know how hard you work promoting the book and yourself.
10. In September, Ripple Grove Press is releasing Paul & His Ukulele written by you! How wonderful! What made you decide to become an author? How has the process of writing and publishing your book informed or changed your approach?  I’ve always written a bit here and there over the years. When something comes to me I jot it down. And since starting RGP, I have read so many submissions, that I wrote down a story about a boy who receives a ukulele. Perhaps because I wasn’t seeing a simple ukulele story submitted to us. And when I showed the story to Amanda, she liked it. And when we saw Jenn Kocsmiersky’s portfolio, I said what if Paul was a fox and not an actual boy… and it fit. It worked. Thank you Rob for sharing your publishing insights with 24 Carrot Writing.
To submit to Ripple Grove Press, please read their books and visit RippleGrovePress.com. Be sure that your manuscript has the intellectual charm that is the hallmark of Ripple Grove Press books. And from now until August 31, 2018, Rob Broder has generously offered to give manuscript submissions from 24 Carrot Writing Facebook members special attention. Please visit the 24 Carrot Writing Facebook page to learn about this kind offer. Rob has also started a Storybook Consulting service where he has been helping people get their picture book story to where they want it to be. Please visit RobertBroder.com for more info. To order Ripple Grove Press books please visit www.ipgbook.com/ripple-grove-press-publisher-RGP.php.  by Kelly Carey Looking for comparative or comp titles for your manuscript can sometimes seem counterproductive. Editors are looking for unique books and if you are able to provide a list of books just like yours, then how can you argue that your book is original? If you can find piles of books just like yours in tone, character, plot, theme and narrative quality then perhaps your manuscript lacks that special original spark. The hunt for comp titles can help you assess the originality of your work. No sense wasting time and energy revising and submitting a manuscript that will fall short of publication because editors will say it already sits on the shelf. But, beware. Readers will always crave books on certain topics and if you have added your own twist and voice to the manuscript, then your manuscript will be unique. See my blog http://www.24carrotwriting.com/-blog/find-your-own-bear for a discussion on originality. The trick with creating fresh manuscripts and finding comp titles is to locate books that share one common thread with your manuscript rather than the entire knitted fabric. When searching for comp titles consider the following hunting tactics:
It is important to know what you are looking for when you set out to find comp titles, but it is also helpful to know where to look. The best spots to find those elusive comp titles include:
You’ll be glad you did!   By Kelly Carey It can happen when you excitedly present your latest work in progress to your critique group, and they take turns rattling off lists of picture books with your exact plot. Or when you are browsing the shelves at your favorite indie bookstore and find your book idea, with a stunning cover face out, written by someone else. Perhaps it was in a rejection letter from an editor that read “sorry, but we already have a similar book on our list”. The results are a stunning hit to your creative energy that can leave you with the niggling feeling that every idea you’ve ever had has already been done. The knee jerk response could be to delete the manuscript and snuggle under a blanket with a large bowl of ice cream admonishing yourself for ever thinking that you had a unique idea. I mean how could you really think your idea was original? You can! Take a breath and realize that while similar plots, themes, settings, and even characters can be found throughout kidlit, it’s your unique voice that puts the originality in the work.  Let’s take bears for example. Winnie-the-Pooh (published 1926), Little Bear (published 1957), Paddington (published 1958), The Berenstain Bears (published 1962) and Corduroy (published date 1968), are all kidlit books featuring an anthropomorphized bear as a main character. But they happily share publishing success and shelf space because each author gifted their bear with their own unique author voice. Despite these well-known bears, still even more authors have found their own original voice inside a bear main character. Nancy White Calstrom put her creative musings into Jesse Bear (published 1996) and Karma Wilson presented Bear Snores On (published 2002). What a shame if Bonnie Becker had never sent A Visitor for Bear (published 2008) out on submission because bears seemed unoriginal? What if Jory John’s delightful bear in the Already series (published 2014) never existed because John’s was worried about Winnie or Paddington? What if Ryan Higgins had trashed Mother Bruce (published 2015) because…well…bears?
The kidlit world is enriched because all of these clever bears found a home in a book. Their originality comes in the personality the authors and illustrators gave each bear. In the writing, the author’s tone, style and personal touch honed by a fusion of life experience and writing skill offer up a character as unique as a fingerprint. Each author brings to their bear that special voice, their fingerprint, which makes each of these wonderful kidlit bears unique and original. Worried that there are too many dragon books? Pirate books? Train books? Princess books? Stop! About ten years ago, an Australian comedy group called The Axis of Awesome presented their theory that dozens of popular songs were written with the same four chords. Apparently concerns about originality can stymie songwriters too! https://www.buzzfeed.com/alanwhite/73-songs-you-can-play-with-the-same-four-chords?utm_term=.gdEdQDqBzV#.ncwx93AlD6 It’s an entertaining and fascinating idea and more proof that the same ingredients don’t necessarily produce the same outcome. In the case of music, the same four chords have produced songs with vastly different outcomes. The same can be true in your storytelling. We can all play with pirates, on a high seas adventure, searching for treasure, and while our character, setting, plot and themes could arguable be identical, like the chords in those songs, we will still produce original works. The secret original ingredient is you. So go ahead. Write your bear story. Just make sure his growl has your unique voice.   Hosted by Kelly Carey Tami Charles' debut middle grade novel launches this month and the buzz is already high for LIKE VANESSA (Charlesbridge). The novel is a Junior Library Guild selection and has earned a Kirkus starred review that praises the work as "a treasure: a gift to every middle school girl who ever felt unpretty, unloved, and trapped by her circumstances". 24 Carrot Writing is thrilled to have author Tami Charles join us for a candid interview exploring her path to publication, networking and marketing advice, and some thoughts on how she approaches working in different genres and with different editors. A big 24 Carrot Writing welcome to Tami. Thank you so much for joining us. Congratulations on the publication of your debut middle grade novel, LIKE VANESSA (Charlesbridge, Spring 2018)! Can you tell us a bit about your journey from teacher, to freelance writer, to author of a Kirkus starred review middle grade novel? (With ahem…more happy buzz and more books on the way!) First of all, thanks so much for including LIKE VANESSA on your blog! I was a teacher for 14 years, beginning as a substitute teacher and then an elementary teacher of third and fifth grades. I’d always loved to read and write as a child. As I grew older, I sort of forgot about my dream of becoming an author. Once I became a teacher and started reading wonderful books with my students, my passion was reignited and my students encouraged me to write again. I’m so thankful for them! So, I started writing stories, picked up a few freelance article gigs along the way, which taught me discipline, and once I finished writing LIKE VANESSA, I knew I had to take the plunge. In an online article, you credited your husband with the quote “If you want to be great at something, you have to surround yourself with people who are doing it and doing it better than you.” How did you act on that advice and how has it made a difference both for your pre-published self and for you now as a debut author? My husband is one of the smartest (and funniest) people I know. When he told me this, I did the research and found the SCBWI and Women Who Write. Who knew there were organizations out there that supported aspiring writers? I had no clue! Joining these groups put me in touch with critique groups where I had the opportunity to have my work read by other writers. This level of feedback was crucial to improving my craft. I’m certain that being in a critique group played a role in my publishing journey. To this day, I still have online critique partners. The give-and-take is invaluable. You once wrote “Having the talent is a HUGE part of making it in this industry, but don’t rule out the power of networking.” What is your networking advice? Can you give the 24 Carrot Writing crew a do’s and don’ts list? To me, networking is everything! My grandmother used to say, “Closed mouths don’t get fed.” And she was right! You’ll get what you need to progress if you have the courage to ask for it. My two cents on networking: A thank you note goes a long way (this can be hard copy snail mailed or a quick email). Study the bios of who will appear at writer’s conferences. Get to know the editors’ and agents’ work to see if they’re the right fit for your work. Last but not least, don’t be pushy. Your work should be able to speak for you. If you get a rejection, take it with a grain of sugar. More craft, more work, and your time will come! What do you wish to accomplish with LIKE VANESSA? I’d love for readers to take away that no matter what hardship they may face in life, there’s always something beautiful waiting for them if they stay focused on the journey. This, I feel, is what Vanessa learns in the story. For a bit more on LIKE VANESSA, check out this Author Discussion video. At 24 Carrot Writing we are big on goal setting. Do you set detailed writing goals, broad yearly goals or do you fly by the seat of your pants? How about all three? Ha! I do make it a habit to wake up, Monday through Friday, at 4:30 a.m. This is my best time to write when the whole house is sleeping and no one is bothering me for a snack. If I’m on a deadline, I do set (and try to stick to) my goals. But if not, I absolutely just go with the flow. How have you approached marketing your debut book? What lessons have you already learned? What are you going to do again and what might you avoid next time? Has your experience as a teacher helped you construct school relevant material and visits? Being a teacher for 14 years really guided my marketing decisions. Ultimately, I write for children, so I knew I wanted to incorporate a strategy that involved young readers and their responses regarding what they got out of the book. I learned a lot in creating this campaign—how to write a script, secure participants, budget, and edit. I don’t regret a second of it. Moving forward, I’m sure I will come up with new ideas. In the meantime, I’d love to share a reader’s response video below: You write both fiction and non-fiction, both PB and MG, and I hear that a YA is in the works. Can you talk about the different skill sets you employ to write in those different genres and for those different age groups? Let me just say that I haven’t written a new picture book since last summer and I MISS THEM SO BADLY!!!! I’ve been busy writing MG and YA these days. And you’re right, I need a different mindset for those. For my current YA, it’s set in 1984, so I had to research slang, clothes, fads and watch way too many old school movies to capture the essence of the story. Voice is important no matter what you write. To fully immerse myself, I can only work with one category at a time. I find the voice to be snarkier with middle grade than YA. With YA, I can cross certain lines that I can’t with middle grade. There are times I’ll write a swear word and I’ll cringe just a bit, but then I remind myself it’s totally allowed in YA. With picture books, I have to become a student to capture the inner child as best as I can. This involves reading lots of mentor texts and Disney watching! How did you find your agent? What have you found most surprising, most rewarding, and/or most daunting about working with an agent? I found my agent the old fashioned way. I queried her. I can’t say enough about Lara Perkins. I have no clue how she manages to carry her client load and still make me feel like I’m her ONLY client, which I know isn’t true. She has quite the roster of successful authors! Lara is a cheerleader and she gives me a good kick in the literary butt when I need it. Her advocacy for my work has been the greatest reward! So many writers spend years writing without the input from an editor. How did you find working with an editor? Did the experience differ between editors? And has the experience with your MG been different from working on your PB, FREEDOM SOUP (Candlewick, Fall 2019)? Picture books are a different animal from middle grade. A lot of the work is in the hands of the illustrator and that takes time. I find the editing to be heavier with middle grade because there are no pictures to rely on. I’ve done some edits on FREEDOM SOUP and there will likely be further small edits once the art is in place. On the other hand, the edits for Vanessa were pretty ongoing and extensive. May I also add that I adore both Karen Boss and Carter Hasegawa? It’s been a great experience! What is up next for you? And where can readers find you and your books? Right now, I am revising the follow up to LIKE VANESSA. This will be a companion YA novel featuring Beatriz Mendez, who is a secondary character in LIKE VANESSA. She comes across as a bully in the first book, but in the follow up, we learn her backstory and see her passion for dance reignited. I also have a middle grade novel, DEFINITELY DAPHNE, publishing with Capstone in October. Thank you Tami. We wish you continued success with LIKE VANESSA and in all your writing endeavors. If 24 Carrot Writers would like to purchase a copy of Tami's debut novel LIKE VANESSA, please click on the links below. To learn more about Tami, please visit her website at https://tamiwrites.com/ .  by Kelly Carey
Any writer who has been around the query block once or twice, knows rejections are a part of the process. Getting a rejection can have you shoving that manuscript into a folder far away and out of sight. Don’t do it! Instead, employ the Boomerang Submission Strategy. The same day you get those infuriating “thanks but no thanks” replies, send that manuscript back out to the next dream agent and/or editor on your wish list. That manuscript was a complete, fully revised, and polished piece of work that you submitted with confidence and hope. A single rejection, in fact, I would argue a dozen rejections, should not be enough to warrant a delay in sending the manuscript back out on its journey to publication. The danger in overreacting to rejection letters is that a single denial can slam your manuscript into an unproductive holding pattern. I’ve done it. After a rejection, I’ve tucked many manuscripts away. My mind set at the time was that I would look at it again after my wounded ego had healed. It was often a shock to run across that folder again and realize that I had let three months or even three years go by before I had considered myself “healed”. Worse, when I have re-read the rejected manuscript I found that I still had confidence in the story. The same confidence that had me submitting it in the first place. Only now, I had wasted months and sometimes years letting the manuscript sit stagnant in a folder. As an alternative, last year, I started employing the Boomerang Submission Strategy. As soon as a submitted manuscript came back, I sent it right back out again. A few caveats. First, this strategy works only if you have fully vetted and revised your story before you’ve sent it out. Do your revisions. Seek out advice from a critique partner and/or critique group, preferably more than one group and more than a single read. Second, this strategy is most effective when the rejection letters that come back are form letters with very little or no actual constructive advice. Things like “it doesn’t fit our list at this time” or “it didn’t resonate enough with me” are not really red flags for surrender or an indication of the need for a major rewrite. Finally, you need to be precise when you toss your boomerang ...er... I mean manuscript out into the publishing world. Choose your target agents and editors carefully, check out their wish lists, read their submission requirements, and be sure your manuscript is hitting the mark. Don't fling with reckless abandon, but with the skill and precision of a professional writer. If the denial letter is detailed and offers true constructive advice, you can pause and consider. BUT do not attempt a massive revision after a single negative comment unless your writing self, to the core, feels the strength of the advice. That said, I would recommend setting a tight time-frame on how long you will hold onto your manuscript before you put it out on submission again. Give yourself a week or maybe a month and then Boomerang! Letting a story languish in a folder simply because it hasn’t yet found its ideal agent and/or editor is a colossal waste of time. So try the Boomerang Submission Strategy and let your manuscript fly!  By Kelly Carey It’s that magical month of January when an entire year of possibilities lies before you. The perfect time to set your writing goals and become a 24 Carrot Writer. Remember, to become a 24 Carrot Writer, you need one writing goal and one craft goal each month. Writing goals ask you to draft a new picture book, revise three chapters of your middle grade novel, complete a character bio on your main character, or outline a plot for your new young adult novel. A craft goal needs to focus on the business side of writing and can include attending a SCBWI event, taking a writing workshop, reading in your genre, researching agents, or writing a query letter. For a refresher on setting your two goals visit the 24 Carrot Writing homepage or read http://www.24carrotwriting.com/-blog/two-goals-a-month-lead-to-24-carrot-writing. To help you stay organized and map out your 24 Carrot goals, you can use the 24 Carrot Writing Goal Sheet. Here is a blank 24 Carrot Goal Sheet all ready for you to print off and populate with plans for each month, motivating carrots, and a whole crop of 24 carrots for you to earn. Use the link below to download the sheet to your computer.  
To use the 24 Carrot Goal Sheet, first document your January goals and motivate yourself with a January carrot. It might be tempting to go ahead and set goals for the entire year. If you do that, use pencil! Things can pop up, plans can change, and you'll want your writing goals to be flexible. You may wake up on the first day of March with a great new plot idea, and your Writing Goal for March should take advantage of that feeling. On the Craft Goal side, you may find out about a new workshop being offered in June, and that will become your Craft Goal for June. You may also accomplish more than your two 24 Carrot Goals each month. If you do, that's great! But your 24 Carrot Writing Goals are your golden goals - the ones you do first, jettison last and strive diligently to achieve.  If you hit your monthly 24 Carrot Writing goals, color in the carrots next to that month. In the example below, both January goals were hit and the writer colored in the carrots next to January. This writer is now a two carrot writer, and has set their February goals, and picked a motivating carrot.  If you miss a goal, just cross out the carrot and move that goal to the next month. Don’t beat yourself up over missed goals. This industry can be tough enough and there is no need to let a missed goal derail your progress. Each month will bring the opportunity to earn two more carrots.  Keep the worksheet visible as a constant reminder of what you want to accomplish each month.
It’s still January and you have the chance to be a 24 Carrot Writer this year. If you finish the year a 14 carrot writer, or a 10 carrot writer, or a 2 carrot writer, we will be here to celebrate your accomplishment. Use your 24 Carrot Writing Goal Sheet to keep track of your success. Now go set those January goals!  By Kelly J. Carey Thank you to all those who joined our 2nd Annual 24 Carrot Writing Trick or Treat Party. We shared some writing tricks like opening a Goodreads account (I’m a big fan of this tip!), to committing to 10 minutes of writing every day (Francine’s an advocate of a timed daily writing goal!). Amanda suggested flipping your protagonist and antagonist as a writing exercise, and we were encouraged to read in our genre so we would have the wisdom of mentor texts in our brain. Treats were shared like the YA novels Calvin by Martine Leavitt and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, the MG novel Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk, and PBs Applesauce Day by Lisa Amstutz and Grandmother Thorn by Katey Howes. I love that our 24 Carrot Writing community shared Tricks that included both craft and writing goals, and that our book Treats featured PB, MG and YA! Our 24 Carrot Trick or Treat Party Winners of signed books are: Kristi Liberty Mahoney – the A.C. Gaughen YA novel Scarlet Meg Lysaght Thacher – the Molly B. Burnham MG novel Teddy Mars Almost an Outlaw Brenda Maier – the Sue Lowell Gallion PB Pug & Pig Trick or Treat
If you are a party winner – please PM us with your address.
Thanks for joining the 24 Carrot Writing Trick or Treat Party! |
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