SCBWI-MI Picture Book Text Mentorship

In just two weeks, submissions open for the 2016-2017 Picture Book Text Mentorship.

Really? Who’s the mentor?

Deborah Diesen. Did you miss the Mitten interview with Debbie last week? Go here to read it, and check out her website, too.

Has SCBWI-MI done this before?

SCBWI-MI has been offering mentorships since 2000. Here’s what some previous winners have to say.

Shanda Trent (2004, picture book text with Rhonda Gowler Greene) “I strongly encourage any picture book writing Mich-kidders to write, edit, rewrite, share with your peers, edit, rewrite and polish your best work and submit it for this amazing mentorship opportunity. I did, several years ago. My manuscript was selected; I was very lucky to work with Rhonda Gowler-Greene, another magnificent Mich-kidder. I learned so much in the mentorship. My writing improved, and (cue happy ending) I am now a published author.”

Tracy Bilen (2009, novel with Shutta Crum) “My mentorship with the amazing Shutta Crum helped me to really slow down and dig deep into the revisions of my YA novel. Shutta’s perfect blend of editorial notes, articles to study, and in-person craft/pep-talk sessions led to a much stronger book…and a sale to Simon Pulse!”

Jeff Morrissey (2015, illustration with E.B. Lewis) “Working with EB Lewis helped me realize that a children's book illustration isn't just a depiction of action--it's storytelling!” 

Daniel Burns (2015, diverse books with Patricia Hruby Powell) “I've greatly appreciated the time Patricia Hruby Powell has already invested. Her comments are always well constructed and push me to step back and look anew at what I've written. She clearly has an amazing ability to teach, and I'm honored to have the chance to learn from her.”

Leslie Helakoski (2003, illustration with Lori McElrath-Eslick) “Working with a local illustrator, who treated me as a peer, gave me much needed confidence about my artwork…and gave me a dear friend."

Cool. But what about this mentorship? Where can I find out the details?

Everything is on the website.

Okay. So, what’s Event Brite?

It’s an easy way for applicants to register and for SCBWI-MI to electronically count submissions and collect the registration fee. Before you ask, the fee is $15 and nonrefundable.

Right. How do I find this event on Event Brite?

Click or tap here.

I’m on it. This bit about uploading a manuscript sounds difficult.

No special computer skills are required. The link leads you to an email address. All you need to do is send an email with your manuscript attached as a word document. Please check the instructions before you send.

What should I title the attachment?

Use the title of your manuscript. Don’t put your name anywhere on the manuscript.

Remind me when I can submit.

The submission window is June 24-July15, 2016.

There’s no need to shout.

I’m really excited about this mentorship.

Whatever. Do you have any other advice?

We expect the mentorship to fill up quickly. Pop on over to the website now and review the application instructions. Then you’ll be ready to submit your manuscript on June 24 or soon after.

What if I think of another question?

Contact SCBWI-MI Mentorship Coordinator, Ann Finkelstein.

Thanks for your hard work coordinating the mentorship competition, Ann! The mentorship winner will be announced during the fall retreat:

http://michigan.scbwi.org/2016/04/19/the-days-and-nights-of-the-roundtable-fall-retreat-october-7-9-2016/

Coming up on the Mitten blog: Ask Frida Pennabook, the Making of a Book Cover, an Indie Bookseller Interview, MFA Q&As, and more!

Nina Goebel is preparing to announce our new Featured Illustrator on July 1st, and Patti Richards is gathering your good news for another round of Hugs and Hurrahs. To be included, email Patti by June 19th.

Have a great weekend!
Kristin Lenz

SCBWI-MI Picture Book Mentorship and Interview with Mentor, Deborah Diesen

SCBWI-MI is offering a twelve month picture book text mentorship with the amazing Deborah Diesen. Submission guidelines, eligibility rules, and FAQs can be found on the SCBWI-MI website. The submission window is June 24-July 15, 2016.

Ann Finkelstein, Mentorship Coordinator, is here to tell you all about author/mentor Debbie Diesen. Here's Ann:

Debbie has a way with words, a brilliant rhyming mind and tells fantastic stories. Her manuscript critiques are both insightful and empowering. She is the author of the New York Times best-selling picture book, THE POUT-POUT FISH and its three companion books: 
THE POUT-POUT FISH IN THE BIG-BIG DARK
THE POUT-POUT FISH GOES TO SCHOOL
THE NOT VERY MERRY POUT-POUT FISH. 

She has also written three Pout-Pout Fish mini-adventures for babies and young toddlers: 
SMILE, POUT-POUT FISH
SWEET DREAMS, POUT-POUT FISH
KISS, KISS POUT-POUT FISH. 

Debbie’s other picture books include: 
CATCH A KISS
PICTURE DAY PERFECTION
THE BARE-FOOTED, BAD-TEMPERED BABY BRIGADE. 

Two additional Pout-Pout Fish mini-adventures will come out next year, and we can look forward to three more hardcovers in 2017-2018, all published by Farrar Straus Giroux.

I asked my friends, including Debbie, to help me think of interview questions.

AF: What do you like best about writing picture books?
DD: My favorite aspect of writing picture book stories is that the requirements of the format inspire my creative side. A picture book story has to appeal to both children and adults; has to be told in a way that lends itself to being repeatedly read aloud; and has to be told in about 500 words or fewer.  Limitations are a writer’s friend: in learning and embracing the requirements of a particular writing genre, one’s writing becomes freer and fuller.
Plus, in what other genre can you write about a talking fish and still be taken seriously? I’d pout-pout if I were writing anything else.

KG: How long did it take from when you started writing to getting published?
DD: I’ve always loved writing, but I didn’t try my hand at writing picture book stories until my kids (now 17 and 14) came along. After dabbling a bit, I began to write more seriously by around 2000, and I started submitting stories in 2001. Spread across multiple stories, I received 99 rejections before I received my first contract in 2005. That book, The Pout-Pout Fish, was published in 2008. An eight-year timeline from start to book is not atypical in this industry. Holding tight to the right combination of persistence and patience (call it persipatience, perhaps?) is a real necessity.

KG: How many drafts or revisions do you typically do before you submit?
DD: I go through a lot of drafts and revisions. I start my stories longhand on paper, and then when I feel I have enough clay to throw on the potter’s wheel, I enter my chicken-scratches into a word processing document. I prefer to have a pen or pencil in my hand when I’m revising, so I print the story out and then sit down with it, away from the computer, to read it out loud to myself numerous times and to mark up my changes. I then head back to the computer to enter my changes and reprint, then back to my Barcalounger to revise. Some revisions are of the Start Over nature; others are micro adjustments. By the time a story is “done” (anywhere from the rare case of a month or so after I began it, to the more likely case of a year or five or more), I’ll usually have two to four inches of drafts of it in my file.
(Note that I don’t actually have a Barcalounger, but it’s a fun word to say, so let’s pretend.)

RMB: How do you know when a manuscript is both good and done?
DD: In fact, I’m never certain of either good or done; but I’ve learned how to triangulate the position of a manuscript by taking multiple measurements. The first is an internal measure. I keep revising until a story has a certain resonance or vibration within me when I read it. When I’ve gotten a story to that point, or when I’m stuck because I can’t find a way to get it to that point, I bring the story to my critique group for a reality check. Their collective wisdom and their individual perspectives help me assess whether the story is good and/or done.

TG: How much money is in this gig?
DD: The field of children’s book writing and illustrating is populated with tens of thousands of hard-working, devoted, and talented individuals, some of whom are able to make a living at it; some of whom have hit-or-miss income from it; and some of whom will never make a dime, despite having great stories and doing everything they can to get published. Money can happen, but it’s impossible to predict or guarantee. It’s best to enter the field for the love of it rather than for its lucrativity (which is not really a word, but when you’re sitting in an imaginary chair, you get to be Queen of the Dictionary).

BS: I know the plot and characters are supposed to drive the story. How often does the rhyme change the story?
DD: Writing in rhyme tends to bring out my playful side, so typically for me rhyme has a positive impact on my exploration of a story’s plot and characters. It makes more things possible. It also makes me more likely to try out and experiment with word choice and wordplay. But a story has to want to be in rhyme, or it’s no good to impose rhythm and rhyme on it. If it’s not meant to be in rhyme, writing in rhyme will limit the story’s characters, plot, and potential. Forcing a story to fit into a garment that doesn’t suit it is not going to work, no matter how many times you try on or accessorize the stanzas.

AH: What is the most important thing you’ve learned about writing picture books?
DD: The most important thing I’ve learned from my writing experience is that I’ve still got a lot to learn! Every story I write teaches me something new about writing (and I usually learn it the hard way).

AH: What will the mentor expect of the mentee?
DD: I don’t have any particular expectations, other than that the mentee have an enthusiasm for writing, a willingness to learn, and enough of a sense of humor to put up with my quirkiness.  (Barcalounger not required.)

DD: What have I gotten myself into?
DD: I’m actually looking forward to serving as a mentor. But since I’ve never been a mentor before, I’m a bit nervous at the prospect! The stereotype of a mentor is guru-like and wise; but I can’t rock the guru-robe look, and I’m definitely still working on the wisdom thing.

That said, I guess I’ve learned a few things along the way, and so I look forward to sharing what I know and learning some more. It’ll be an enjoyable growth experience for both of us!

Coming up on the Mitten blog: Mentorship coordinator Ann Finkelstein will be back next week with explanations, endorsements, and enthusiasm. Until then, read the guidelines on the SCBWI-MI website, or email Ann directly.

Nina Goebel is preparing to announce our new Featured Illustrator on July 1st, and Patti Richards is gathering your good news for another round of Hugs and Hurrahs. To be included, email Patti by June 19th.

Have a great weekend!

Kristin Lenz

Welcomed into the Kid Lit Community with Open Arms by Christina Fecher

Maybe I’m just cynical, fueled by a career as an inquisitive journalist. Or perhaps it’s just because the writing industry overall – newspapers, magazines, books, you name it – is incredibly competitive.

Regardless of the reason, I’m completely amazed – and admittedly a little overwhelmed – at just how welcome the kid lit community has made me feel so far.

I guess I really shouldn’t be too surprised. I mean, we are a group of individuals striving to inspire, encourage, educate and entertain children. Not to mention foster an early appreciation for reading.

But still …

As a newcomer to the community, I’m so appreciative of how much I’ve been helped by people I’ve only just met at the SCBWI-MI Fall Conference!

My experiences have helped me believe that maybe, just maybe, I can make it as a children’s book author after all. To name a few:

The Michigan Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators is a great resource that I recommend others check out. There’s a mentorship program, webinars and free monthly meet ups to help you further develop your writing. They also have a blog, The Mitten, that I’ve submitted posts to on occasion. They encouraged members to submit a post, so I reached out to Kristin Lenz and her response was both quick and encouraging. That right there spoke volumes because it made me feel as though what I had to say was relevant. It was great meeting her in person earlier this month.

Every writer needs an editor, and I’m so lucky I found Louise Knott Ahern, a former journalist like myself. Maybe found isn’t the correct term since we’ve been Facebook friends for years but have never actually met. Anyway, she took on my manuscript project and helped embolden my voice. Louise smoothed areas in need of TLC, but also highlighted my strengths. She truly made it better, made me stronger. But it was more than that … her feedback built my confidence, declaring me “well-suited to writing children’s books.” And since then, she’s passed along tips and tidbits to help get me noticed.

Christina with Deborah Diesen at the fall conference.

If you have young children, then you’ve certainly read The Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen time and again. In fact, it’s a favorite in our household! Well, after much consideration, I decided to reach out and email Ms. Diesen to introduce myself earlier this summer before the SCBWI-MI Fall Conference. I had never emailed a New York Times Best Selling Author before, and the interaction was nothing like I expected. First and foremost, I never even expected a response. Let alone a same-day response congratulating me on my leap into the children’s picture book world and offering insight into her publishing journey. After a few emails – and the opportunity to meet her in person at the conference – I’m definitely taking her advice to heart.

I’ve only scratched the surface into the encouragement and kindness within the kid lit community, but I already feel a confidence that I didn’t have 6 months ago. And I sincerely thank those who’ve given me a moment to say hello. It’s these simple acts of kindness that set this genre apart.

So I think I’ll go ahead and stow my skepticism, because you’ve all proven I don’t need it anymore!

Christina Fecher is a former reporter at The Detroit News, who now handles corporate communications and public relations in West Michigan where she lives with her husband and their two children. She’s a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Coming up on the Mitten blog: Adding Mystery to Your Writing, Planning a Critique Group Retreat, more Kiddie Litter cartoons, and another Member Spotlight. See you next Friday!