Your Bully Doesn't Know You. Only You Can Define How You See Yourself.

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When a viewer sent her an email calling her a poor role model because of her weight, TV news anchor Jennifer Livingston at first wanted to ignore it. After discussing it with her husband, however, she decided to go on the air to explain why the man who sent that email was wrong, and why this kind of behavior is never okay. 

She did it because she realized it was this man who was being a bad role model. What if a kid overheard him making fun of the "fat news lady" and then went to school and told the kids there that they weren't worthy because of their weight? How would it make those kids feel? 

Kids need to know that it's wrong to judge people based on physical appearance. Each person is so much more than he or she appears on the outside. And more importantly, we can't let the opinions of bullies--who don't really know us--determine how we feel about ourselves. 

This is the same message I hope to get across to kids with Dan Quixote: Boy of Nuevo Jersey, particularly with the lesson plan for that book. Kids need to understand that bullies don't really know who they are and can't define how they see themselves. Every person is special. We each have unique talents, and the world is a better place when we're free to express those talents and be ourselves. Bullies try to take that away from other kids, and it makes the world a sadder place. It's wrong, and we have to let kids know that it's wrong.

Bravo to Jennifer Livingston! For the record, I think you're smart, talented, beautiful and very brave for taking a stand. 

Write for Children? Here's What You Can Do for School Librarians--and What School Librarians Can Do for You

School librarians don't just help kids find great books. They help  children's book authors find readers too.

Last year at the New Jersey SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators) annual conference, I attended a class called “Minding Your Own Business.” The class was on the one thing all of us who write for children want to know: how to make money as a children’s book author.

The instructor, Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, explained that the real money isn’t made by selling children’s books, even if you’re lucky enough to get a couple of picture books traditionally published every year. No, the real money is to be made by doing other things, particularly school visits.

Sudipta--who has written numerous picture books, including Pirate Princess and Chicks Run Wild--informed us that she went to two conferences for educators every year, one in New Jersey, the other in California. Getting just two school visits was enough to pay for her entire trip to the Golden State.

After hearing her speak, I put out a new school and library edition of Dan Quixote: Boy of Nuevo Jersey, with discussion questions in the back. Because bullying is such an important topic in schools today, I focused my questions on bullying, peer pressure, friendship and individualism. 

Dan Quixote: Boy of Nuevo Jersey uses humor to show that friendship and respecting our differences can help kids overcome bullying and peer pressure. The bullying isn't sugarcoated, but it also isn't exaggerated. I wanted to show all kinds of bullying, but I also wanted to focus on the kinds of bullying most kids encounter, so that they would be able to relate to the main characters, Dan and Sandy.

The school and library edition of Dan Quixote: Boy of Nuevo Jersey has questions in the back to help teachers and librarians start a discussion with students about what they can do to prevent bullying.

Of course, success like Sudipta’s doesn’t happen overnight. She worked her way up to get into the position she’s in now, while most writers have to start at the bottom.

So where exactly do you start?

Sudipta told us that she charges differently depending on the school and its situation. It’s best to start with a few free visits to work out what you’re doing and what the best way to do it is.

 The first thing that will pop into most writers’ heads is that they should contact teachers they know, particularly the teachers who have taught their own kids. That’s not a bad idea. But there something even better that you can do: contact your local school’s librarian or library media specialist.

I met school librarian Valerie Dewhurst online, and she was eager to answer my question. As a school librarian, she wants to help children’s book writers promote their books. Valerie works in a school in Blackburn in the UK, but I think most of her answers apply to schools in the United States and other countries as well.

Here are my questions and Valerie's answers:

Q. How does a writer find out who the school librarian is, and what's the best way for the writer to contact the librarian? 

A. Writers can email or write to schools, asking for their introduction to be passed on--my personal view on this is to send to the librarian, because sometimes mail does not get passed on. A good way is to find their local SLA (the School Library Association in the UK) branch and get in touch with the secretary. She can inform all members of your work or new book. She can even ask you in to one of their events--getting you a big intro with members. I do this. 

Q. What's the minimum the writer can send? What are the best things a writer can send to make it as easy as possible for the librarian to promote the writer's work? 

A. There is no minimum--I would welcome one book or even a box of books. But again, it's down to each librarian's personal view on this. Finding and asking the branch secretary of groups is always best. 

Q. Should a writer send materials just once, yearly, or more often? What is the best time of year to submit material?

A. Termly, I think--my personal view. We can never get enough material in. 

Q. Should a writer send a lesson plan if he/she wants to get an author visit?

A. Oh yes, good idea—I would welcome this. I have just had an author in, and he emailed me his lesson plan after the event. We are using it now in library lessons as a follow up.

Q. Does a writer need a website? 

A. No, but it's a good idea these days to have one. 

Q. Does a writer need recommendations from other schools? 

A. Not always. If you’re good, anyway, you'll soon get recommended. I welcome new authors too, everyone deserves that chance to get out and get their work noticed. 

Q. Should the book have discussion questions in the back? 

A. I think this is a really good idea. I wonder if other authors have thought of this. 

Q. If a writer used to be a teacher or has a teacher's certificate, is that something that should be mentioned? 

A. Yes, of course. Why not? Kids love to sit and listen to authors talk and love to know about their past. They are always fascinated when the author says "I used to be a librarian." This goes down very well. 

Q. Does the book need to be on particular topics that fit the curriculum? 

A. No, all good books are welcomed. 

Q. What can writers do to make it as easy as possible for school librarians to promote our books as fully as possible? 

A. Send them their new books or even sample copies/reviews. Get their publisher to send out posters and bookmarks. Librarians are busy each day and don't always have time to make that contact. There are so many new books being published that it's hard to keep up. Hence I do lots of work from home in my own time.

Thanks, Valerie, for answering my questions. There's a lot that children's book writers and school librarians can do to help each other. Thanks for showing me--and my readers--the first steps. 

If you found this helpful or if you have any questions or suggestions you would like to make on this topic, I hope you'll leave a comment below.

Thanks!

Shevi

Indie publishing is harder than it looks...

New issues keep cropping up when you indie publish. Here's an example.

We donated a paperback version of Dan Quixote: Boy of Nuevo Jersey to our local library, but we couldn't find it on the shelf. It turns out that because it's a paperback, it was shoved into a paperback carousel. It's humorous, realistic contemporary children's fiction, but it was jammed into the fantasy carousel. And when I say shoved and jammed, I mean it. The book had been damaged because it didn't quite fit. It was just a bit too tall.

There are two things we learned from this.

First, write the genre on the back cover or the spine. This makes it easier for librarians to know where to put it.

Second, don't make your paperback any bigger than 5.25" wide by 8" high. It's okay to make a hardcover book bigger, but paperbacks are likely to be put on carousels, and they will get damaged if they're any bigger than that.

Now I need to reformat the paperback of Dan Quixote: Boy of Nuevo Jersey to the right dimensions, and I should resubmit the cover so that it says "children's humorous fiction" on the back. I'll probably readjust the price so that I can sell it in more markets. (Createspace gives a different royalty for each market, and the price I gave the book made it only available through Createspace and Amazon.)

We're also having a hard time working things out for Lightning Source so we can get hardcover editions of Dan Quixote and Toren the Teller's Tale, but that's a whole other issue.

Yippee! I just read the nicest review for Dan Quixote: Boy of Nuevo Jersey!

I don't know who J.C. is, but I thank you so very, very much!I hope your eldest enjoys it too.

http://theothersideofthepage.wordpress.com/2011/08/21/359/

"So, I guess to sum it up there are a lot of great messages in this book, delivered in an amusing story without being preachy or too in your face. I think it would definitely appeal to the middle grade reader, and even as an adult I found things to like. I will probably read this with my eldest in the near future."

"Where do illustrations come from?"

It might seem like magic, but it's not. Illustrating is a process, very much like writing. There are many ways to do it. Here's one of them:

1. Find a scene in the text to illustrate. I decided to add one illustration to every chapter in Dan Quixote, so I went through the book and copied and pasted scenes I thought would make good illustrations into a single file. Sometimes I picked more than one scene in a chapter, so I could change my mind later.

2. Draw character sketches. This helps make it easier to be consistent when you're drawing more than one illustration with the same character. It's even better if you can draw the same character in different poses. Find places in the text where the character is described, so the drawing fits the words. With Dan Quixote, I drew the cover first. This showed me what all the main characters looked like.

3. Start sketching thumbnails of the scene. Make these the simplest of outlines, with stick figures and so on Try to look at it from different angles. Work out the vanishing point or points. Don't settle for the first thumbnail, because the next one or the one after that could be even better. Here are two thumbnail sketches for one of the illustrations in this book.

I chose to use the angle at the top left, because it seemed more playful and open. The characters' world seems to go on forever, which is what I want for this scene, that sense of endless possibility.

4. Make an enlarged copy of your chosen thumbnail sketch, either by hand or with a copier. I used my multifunction printer.

I then used an improvised "lightbox" (in this case, placing the copy on a window in daylight and placing a piece of drawing paper over it) to trace the outline of that enlarged copy.

5. Start to sketch in the details. You'll note it says "night sky" where the sky is meant to go. I often mark large spaces that will be colored in black with an X. Draw in guidelines (for example, where the edge of the picnic table is hidden by the characters' legs), skeletal lines and so on.

6. Ask yourself if you're happy with it. If not, why not, and what can you do to fix it? I soon realized the important elements in this drawing were still too small, so I enlarged this drawing too.

7. Add the finishing touches, Play around with texture. This is all in pencil, so nothing is final until it's inked. Even then there are ways to fix mistakes, but it's easier at this stage. When you're satisfied, ink the lines you want to use while ignoring the ones you don't. Erase the pencil outline. Now scan your drawing, and unless you see something that still needs changing, you're done! Here's the finished drawing.

You might notice there are some significant differences between the preliminary sketches and the final one. I relocated the trees on the right, and Sandy's feet are closer to her body. You notice things at each stage you want to fix. (Actually, I just noticed the arm Dan is leaning on should be longer. Oh, well, too late to change that now.)

 8. Make last minute corrections. Computers can make this a lot easier provided you have the right software and hardware. I use Corel PhotoPaint (which is a part of CorelDraw), and I like it, but I haven't got used to using a tablet, and working with a mouse is even worse. That's why I'd rather do my sketches by hand and scan them in. Maybe one day I'll be able to afford a Cintiq tablet or a touch-screen computer, so I can see what I'm doing while I'm doing it.

And that's it. The most important thing to remember is to have fun.

Hope you like these illustrations I made for Dan Quixote