November is National Picture Book Month! Whether you’ve been writing for some time or are new to the picture book world, here are some fantastic links to help you find your way.
Author-illustrator, Katie Davis
From Katie’s website:
Here are some things you’ll learn here…
- how to write and illustrate books for kids
- how to market those books once you’ve written them
- how to market yourself as a writer (or illustrator)
- how to get invited to webinars to learn about the business of children’s books
- which books I’m recommending on my monthly appearances on ABC affiliate’s Good Morning, CT
- what fascinating people have to teach on my podcast Brain Burps About Books (or listen on the Huffington Post where it also appears)
- how you can get a consultation session or group coaching thing going
- which products for writers might help you expand and support your career
Several times a month, Katie also hosts a podcast about picture books called Brain Burps about Books. She also has great lists of kidlit blogs, authors, and illustrators.
Author Tara Lazar
Picture Book Idea MonthFrom Tara’s website:
Picture Book Idea MonthFrom Tara’s website:
What is PiBoIdMo? Why, it’s Picture Book Idea Month!
Tired of novelists having all the fun in November with NaNoWriMo, I created PiBoIdMo as a 30-day challenge for picture book writers.
The challenge is to create 30 picture book ideas in 30 days. You don’t have to write a manuscript (but you can if the mood strikes). You don’t need potential best-seller ideas.
You might think of a clever title. Or a name for a character. Or just a silly thing like “purple polka-dot pony.” The object is to heighten your picture-book-idea-generating senses. Ideas may build upon other ideas and your list of potential stories will grow stronger as the days pass.
Daily blog posts by picture book authors, illustrators, editors and other kidlit professionals will help inspire you. By the end of the month, you’ll have a fat file of ideas to spark new stories.
PiBoIdMo was first held in 2008 by a party of one—me! Then I hosted it on my blog for the first time in 2009. Each year the number of participants has doubled. In 2012 we had over 750 writers following PiBoIdMo.
Registration begins in late October 2013 and continues into the first week of November. Then after the event concludes, in early December you will be asked to take the PiBoIdMo Pledge stating you have completed the challenge with at least 30 ideas. (You’re on the honor system. You do not have to post your ideas. In fact, I urge you not to!)
Writers who register and then complete the challenge will be eligible for prizes:
- Feedback from literary agents
- Original sketches by picture book illustrators
- Picture book critiques from published authors
- Signed picture books
- Jewelry
- Other Cool Stuff
Author Julie Hedlund
12 x 12
After participating in Tara Lazar’s PiBoIdMo in 2010, Julie was discouraged to find she’d only drafted one book from the thirty ideas she’d come up with. She started 12 x 12, a program that encourages writers to draft one picture book a month for twelve months.
From Julie’s website:
What is 12 x 12?
Simple. We set out to write twelve complete picture book drafts in a given year. One picture book draft per month for each of the twelve months of the year. This means a first draft: beginning, middle, end. NOT a submission-ready piece.
Who is sponsoring the 12 x 12?
Author Julie Hedlund launched the challenge at the end of 2011 after realizing she only completed one full draft from all 30 of the PiBoIdMo ideas she came up with in 2010. She decided to invite others to come along for the journey for support and camaraderie. Don’t know what PiBoIdMo is? Take thyselfover there at once!
Who is participating?
More than 450 authors and illustrators at all stages of publication — multi-published, debut authors, pre-published authors and brand new writers, joined the challenge in 2013.
Can I join?
Registration for 2013 is now closed! Sign up here to get information about 2014 when it becomes available!
Who created the incredible 12 x 12 Participant Badge and Banner?
That would be Linda Silvestri, an extraordinarily talented illustrator. Please be sure to visit Linda’s website and her blog.
Do you have other questions? Contact Julie!
Author Dianne de las Casas
Picture Book Month
from the website:
Picture Book Month is an international literacy initiative that celebrates the print picture book during the month of November.
Founder, Dianne de Las Casas (author & storyteller)www.diannedelascasas.com, and Co-Founders, Katie Davis (author/illustrator) katiedavis.com, Elizabeth O. Dulemba (author/illustrator) www.dulemba.com, Tara Lazar (author) taralazar.
Every day in November, there is a new post from a picture book champion explaining why he/she thinks picture books are important.
In this digital age where people are predicting the coming death of print books, picture books (the print kind) need love. And the world needs picture books. There’s nothing like the physical page turn of a beautifully crafted picture book.
Special thanks to Joyce Wan (wanart.com) for the beautiful logo!
Join the celebration and party with a picture book! November is Picture Book Month. Read * Share * Celebrate!
Author Carter Higgins
Design of the Picture Book
Carter is a K-6 librarian, a graphic designer, and a book editor at Design Mom. She has a great eye for structural layout, color, and overall presentation of a book. Each post is a great lesson. Check it out!
From the blog:
This is the blog home of #kidlitart, a live Twitter chat Thursdays at 9:00 pm Eastern, for children’s book illustrators, picture book authors, author/illustrators and friends. Check back weekly to read transcripts, comment on previous chats and suggest topics for upcoming chats.
Finally, a great, timely link on writing picture books
New Voice: Stephanie Watson on Psyching Yourself Up to Write, the Craft of Picture Books & The Wee Hours :: Cynsations
Please share any other picture book resources you know of below!
What a great list of resources!! Thanks for compiling and sharing!
Great list! Here’s a piece many will find useful — it details the distinctions between board books, early picture books and standard picture books: Understanding Children’s Book Genres