Happy Halloween

In honor of the best holiday ever, I give unto you a spooktacular list of ghoulishly good publishers that accept (among other things) seasonal / howl-iday submissions:


Albert Whitman
http://www.albertwhitman.com/content.cfm/editorial-guidelines

Boyds Mills Press
http://www.boydsmillspress.com/writers-and-illustrators-guidelines

Charlesbridge
http://www.charlesbridge.com/client/client_pages/submissions.cfm

Chronicle Books
http://www.chroniclebooks.com/submissions

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
http://www.eerdmans.com/Pages/About/Submission-Guidelines.aspx

Holiday House
http://www.holidayhouse.com/manuscript.php

Ideals Books
http://www.idealsbooks.com/info/author_guidelines

Kar Ben
https://www.lernerbooks.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/CustomerSupport/SubmissionGuidelines/submission-guidelines-karben.pdf

Pelican Publishing
http://www.pelicanpub.com/viewer.php?region=92

My Current Obsession

As a former professional researcher I adore digging into a project. And since I'm looking into agents, well let's just say I'm a little obsessed with my online research. Here is one of the "great for newbies like me" resources I found - a list of what to look for in an independent agency's website. Green flags for the green writer, if you will. Enjoy!

http://www.underdown.org/adams-literary.htm

Picking a Conference

I'm on vacation so no writing, no revising, no stalking the Verla Kay Bluebo..., LOL. You know I'm kidding right? I can't help myself! So I've I slipped away from my dear children to check on the world of PBs, and found these two links:

http://vonnacarter.com/wordpress/?page_id=4956

http://vonnacarter.com/wordpress/?page_id=6213

The first takes you to a list of which agents will be attending upcoming (primarily children's writing) conferences. The second is for editors.

Registration Opens Today

Wake up, kidlit campers! Rise and shine! It’s time to register for Picture Book Idea Month!

http://taralazar.com/2012/10/23/piboidmo-2012-registration-begins-now-sign-up-here

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

Yes I am focused on picture books, and No I haven't forgotten about the magazine market. I have a few poems on submission and always keep an eye out for opportunities. 

Highlights magazine is running a fabulous contest, as follows: "Stories for beginning readers in 500 words or fewer. We welcome stories of any genre (mystery, historical fiction, sports, humor, holiday, friendship, etc.) as long as the stories are intended for kids ages 6–8."

There is no entry fee and all submissions must be postmarked between January 1 and January 31, 2013.

http://www.highlights.com/highlights-fiction-contest

Shenanigan Books

This New Jersey-based company produces unique picture, craft and board books for preschool to third grade, richly illustrated and skillfully written stories, that inspire and delight young readers. Its founder, illustrator/author, Mary Watson, hand-selects books that capture the imagination and make bedtime-reading a treasured family tradition. Journey to foreign lands or into the magical worlds of mermaids, fairies or beasties with Shenanigan’s multicultural and fantasy titles. Or just laugh out loud with Shenanigan’s humorous titles. Please include a brief author biography, book synopsis and contact information with your submission. Picture book manuscripts should be about 1,500 words. Email manuscripts to: 

submissions@shenaniganbooks.com.

Tick Tock Plot Clock

This fabulous post outlines, well, an outline. It provides a rough format for plotting out your picture book. It has proven very useful as I try to write the rough drafts of two manuscripts.

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/08/plot-clock.html