manuscript

So as of around 7:30 AM today my manuscript for The Princess and the Ugly Dress was sent to Charlesbridge. They are the fifth publisher I have sent this story to. But I trimmed the manuscript by about 90 words from the version I sent to the other four publishers.

last week

This week was my last week at Park Road. I have been reassigned to Mendon Center. It was the result of a reshuffling of paraprofessionals in the district to better serve the students. I am sad to leave Park Road, but it gave me a chance to share the stories I have written and my knowledge of the writing business with some of the students.

I went into all four 5th grade classes to say goodbye to them since I worked in one of the 4th grade classes last year at Park Road. I read three of my stories to them and also talked to them about my writing process, organization techniques, and the writing business. They were very interested and I was excited that they had some good questions for me. They wanted to know things like, "Do you have to ask a publisher before submitting your story?" and "How long does it take to hear back?" They also asked me about where I get my ideas. I told them I get my ideas from just observing things around me and from working with kids.

I also read three of my stories to the 3rd grade class I work in. And then the classroom teacher gave them the idea to make illustrations for my stories since they are picture book stories. So far I have received three great pictures. At some point I may try to upload them and put them in a separate post.

progress

So I have written a 7th and 8th draft for one of my stories. I also have touched up my manuscript for The Princess and the Ugly Dress to submit to Charlesbridge soon. I have another story I am working on, but it has only been through two drafts. I will be sharing the 3 stories I am currently working on, including The Princess and the Ugly Dress with 5th graders at the school I work at since I was in a 4th grade classroom last year. And I will share my 3 stories with the 3rd grade class I am in this year.

first conference

I attended my first writing conference since starting to work on writing children's stories about a year and a half ago. I went to the SCBWI Western/Central Upstate NY conference in Syracuse, NY. I enjoyed hearing from an author, a husband and wife illustrating team, and an editor from Charlesbridge.

Here were my highlights:

Hearing from some really experienced people in the field of children's books

Having an editor say it was okay if any of us wanted to submit 1 or 2 manuscripts directly to her

Learning a lot about research for writing non-fiction books should I decide to do that

Learning more about cover letter writing

Having my first page read by the editor from Charlesbridge

Talking to the editor from Charlesbridge and having her say I could send my manuscript for my story The Princess and the Ugly Dress in to her directly

another day brings another draft

With the writing conference fast approaching I am touching up my story again. It has now gone through 6 drafts. I really hope mine gets picked to be read by the editor from Charlesbridge on Saturday.

conference

This coming Saturday, January 9th, I will be attending my first writing conference since beginning my writing. It is the New York: West/Central Upstate Regional conference for SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators). I am pretty excited. I will be hearing a few good speakers and be participating in the breakout session called First Pages. Randi Rivers (Editor at Charlesbridge) will be hosting this session and there is a chance the first page of one of my works in progress will get read - this is a very popular session so there is no guarantee.

This is the website for the conference: http://www.scbwi.org/Regional-Chapters.aspx?R=33&sec=Events&g=257.

The Beginning

I really hope I am able to keep up writing a blog. After all I have attempted to before and ended up petering out after a few months. But the purpose of this blog is to keep everyone in the loop about my aspirations to be a published children's author. I will also share my thoughts on children's books I am reading and recommend. I may occasionally decide to post a book review, which I hope will be helpful to young parents who want their children to seek out truly good books. So without further rambling on my part, please enjoy and I would love your feedback, whether it's encouragement or just general commentary to tell me you are reading my blog.