Category: Would You Read It

Would You Read It Wednesday – The 41st Pitch, and Straight From The Editor #7

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Well, MY GOODNESS!  Apparently I am a glutton for punishment!

Have you read the entries in the Birthday Contest?  (If you haven’t, you should,  They’re really amazing!  So much creativity!)

But they’re all so good!  And somehow my assistant judge and I have to choose finalists!  We certainly have our work cut out for us.  (Thank goodness we have a very large tray of donuts!)

The contest is now closed, but never fear.  The finalists will be posted on Monday May 28 and I hope you will all come back and vote!

Meanwhile, we have Straight From The Editor, where everybody’s favorite editor, Erin Molta, comments on the winning pitch from last month.

You will recall that Rebecca won April’s Pitch Pick with her pitch for Broomstick Rodeo:

Working Title:  Broomstick Rodeo
Age/Genre:  Picture Book (4-7)
The Pitch:  The Thistlegulch Sisters have thirteen trophies between them and they’re determined to win another. They practice for the rodeo until they’re chapped under their chaps and have calluses on their warts. But when a buckin’ broomstick charges towards their youngest sister, Myrna, they realize there are more important things in life than winning trophies.

Here are Erin’s comments, so that we can all learn!

This sounds like it could be very cute! But I think the pitch would work better if, rather than saying how hard they practiced, you mentioned what they neglected because they wanted to win so badly—like perhaps Myrna. That way it makes sense that suddenly they would care about Myrna.

Interesting.  And encouraging, I think 🙂

Now then, I’m in the mood for some of those lovely cider donuts today.  How about you?

Would you like one (or three?)  Help yourselves!  There’s coffee and tea, too.

Then get comfy for today’s pitch which comes to us from our very own Banana Peelin’ Elizabeth!

Elizabeth Stevens Omlor loves slipping on banana peels. She has at least one slip a day, physically or verbally. She loves writing for children, although she has recently discovered she is a delusional rhymer. When she isn’t writing for children, you can find her having a kitchen dance party with her husband and two young children or drinking a large glass of milk. She loves milk. Yum.  Especially when it’s in chocolate. She blogs about all of this on Banana Peelin’: The Ups and Downs of Becoming a Children’s Writer.

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: Magnificent
Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 4-8)
The Pitch:  When the synchronized swimming Savanna Belles lose their watering hole to drought, the troop of elephant calves decide ballet is the perfect way to make them feel magnificent once again. Facing the challenges of trunk-tickling ants, loss of weightlessness, and the scarcity of tutus, can the girls tame the doubtful roars, hisses and cackles of the their wild friends, proving that they really can be magnificent ballerinas? Follow the tutued journey of these silly mammals as they sashay, leap and plié their way into even the wildest of hearts.

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?
If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Elizabeth improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  There are openings in August, so you have time to polish 🙂 for a chance for it to be read by editor Erin Molta!
Elizabeth is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!

See you all on Friday for Perfect Picture Books (assuming I haven’t run off to Outer Mongolia to avoid having to pick finalists in the contest! :))


Would You Read It Wednesday – The 40th Pitch and Book’s Journey

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Happy Wednesday, amigos!

I am eyebrow deep in a week of school visits and having tons of fun!

This is the week I get to participate in what I consider to be one of the best programs for kids there is.  It’s called Book’s Journey, and it is the brainchild of Pat Sexton who is a passionate advocate of Arts in Education.  I think every school should do this, so I’m hoping if I tell you all about it, maybe the word will get out and some other schools will give it a try 🙂

Here’s what the kids get to do:

The program is for 4th grade (although I think it could easily be done with 5th or 6th grade too.)

They begin with visits from an author, an illustrator, and an author/illustrator who talk about the creative spark (basically where they get their ideas from) and show and tell a little bit about how they work.

Then each child is given a notebook/journal to draft his or her story in.  Over the next two weeks or so, the kids work on their stories in selected class periods and as much as they want on their own.

Then I come in right at the point where they’re all getting stuck and aren’t sure what to do 🙂  We talk about the elements of story – what things you need to make a story work – character, setting, problem/goal etc. – and what you can do to get your story going again if it has stalled out.

A week after my visit, a professional editor comes in to help them edit their stories.

This is followed by a book cover designer who teaches them basics of making an attention-grabbing cover.

Finally a marketing specialist comes in and talks to them about various ways to market books.

Illustrations are created on separate pages so they can be easily put into the finished book, which will be handmade by each child.

They finish the whole spring project with a book fair to which parents and all the rest of the students in the school are invited.  Each book is displayed for everyone to view and read.

Doesn’t that just sound amazing?  I wish my school had had a program like that when I was in 4th grade (or ever!)!  I think it’s such a valuable experience for the kids to get that much hands-on learning from professionals in the field of writing and publishing, and to have the opportunity to create and display their own work.  They come away from the experience feeling that writing and illustrating are possibilities, not just pipe dreams, and that has to be a boost to their creative spirits.

So please, go forth and spread the word! 🙂

Now then, grab a donut!  It’s time for everybody’s favorite Wednesday feature, Would You Read It!

This week’s pitch comes to us from Jarm, a freelance writer for Women & Children.  She has been published three times in Thriving Family Magazine.  Her passion is to make the Bible and history come alive for children.  Feel free to check out her blog.

Here is her pitch:

Working Title:  Waiting For An Idea
Age/Genre:  PB (ages 6-11)
The Pitch:  Jerry is waiting for an idea to come.  He walks his dog, swings in his backyard, and even goes inside for milk and cookies. hoping to coax one into his head.  But, alas, it’s not until he opens Aunt Polly’s gift that an idea… well… an avalanche of ideas, spill forth!

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?
If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Jarm improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  There are openings in August, so you have time to polish 🙂 for a chance for it to be read by editor Erin Molta!
Jarm is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!
And I am off to another day of school visiting 🙂

Would You Read It Wednesday – The 39th Pitch

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Big news.

It’s official.

(And you’re probably going to want to sit down for this.)

After all this time I have finally become…

duh duh duh duh….

… a twit.

You heard right.  After all that kicking and screaming I joined the masses.

(For those of you who already thought I was a twit, well, I guess you can’t argue with the evidence :))

I’d like to tell you my handle so you could all come join me in my confused wanderings, but I have no idea what it is.  I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out.*  I abandoned my twitterings in mid-twit late yesterday afternoon to bake birthday cake (the answer is chocolate – I have exceptionally keen hearing) and then help my birthday girl eat it 🙂 so I have yet to actually make a nest or whatever y’all do in lieu of profiles over there 🙂

So that’s my big news for the day.

When you’ve finished reeling from shock, grab a donut and have a gander at today’s Would You Read It pitch.

By way of introduction to the pitcher…

Beware of the fiery haired writer who calls herself Rena J. Traxel. She lives in the middle of the nowhere in the province of Alberta, creating stories and poems for children. Death of Sleeping Beauty is book one in her fantasy series. Please visit her blog, On The Way To Somewhere, and read an excerpt from her book HERE.

Here is her pitch!

Working Title:  Death Of Sleeping Beauty
Age/Genre:  MG Fantasy
The Pitch:  Alivia Fair stumbles upon a seemingly harmless book that is full of gruesome fairy tales. Now the book is missing and strange things begin to happen. She is cursed by a man with a blue beard and finds herself trapped inside an enchanted castle, in which she comes face-to-face with the legendary, Sleeping Beauty. Too bad Alivia is destined to kill her, but with a little help Alivia might be able to stop the DEATH OF SLEEPING BEAUTY.

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Rena improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  There are openings in August, so you have time to polish 🙂 for a chance for it to be read by editor Erin Molta!
Rena is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!
* And although I don’t know exactly where you’ll find me on twitter, if you’re interested in looking try Susanna Leonard Hill or SusannaLHill.  If I manage to get my birdhouse in order you might find me there later today 🙂  Anyone who wants to share twitter advice for the terminally witless, please feel free 🙂
Oh and P.S. if you haven’t had a chance to vote for your favorite April pitch yet, please go HERE.  You have until the witching hour 🙂
Have a lovely day, everyone 🙂

April Pitch Pick and Oh Susanna – Can I Acquire Illustrations To Help An Editor Understand My Intent?

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Good Monday, everyone!  (Doesn’t that sound like something Shakespeare would say?)

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling the need for an extra dose of cuteness this morning, since things have not been going according to plan of late, so how about this?

and this…

…and this

Ah!

I feel much better now!  You?

I could do this all day, but that would probably not be considered productive 🙂

Now then, I hope you’re all going to take note of how efficient and brief I am today, so that I can get to work finishing my gakawful mss for NaPiBoWriWee.  Ready?  GO!

First, it’s time for the April Pitch Pick.

Here’s the refresher:

#1 Delores

Working Title:  Dustin The Dragon
Age/Genre:  Early PB (3-6)
The Pitch:  April’s room is VERY dusty but what can you expect when a dust breathing dragon lives in your closet?  Too bad April’s mom doesn’t believe in dragons, that is, not until Dustin catches a cold.

#2 Rebecca C

Working Title:  Broomstick Rodeo
Age/Genre:  Picture Book (4-7)
The Pitch:  The Thistlegulch Sisters have thirteen trophies between them and they’re determined to win another. They practice for the rodeo until they’re chapped under their chaps and have calluses on their warts. But when a buckin’ broomstick charges towards their youngest sister, Myrna, they realize there are more important things in life than winning trophies.

#3 Kirsten

Working Title:  Out Of This World Opposites
Age/Genre: Non-Fiction PB for ages 5+
The Pitch:  Space is a place of opposites. Burning stars and icy comets. Roaring rockets and silent stillness. An ancient universe and newborn planets. Everyday scientists discover something old, new, near, far, wet, dry, dark or light as they learn more about the cosmos. Come along and explore our amazing universe.

#4 Anna

Working Title:  A Bug Who Needs A Hug
Age/Genre: Picture Books (ages 2-7)
The Pitch:  A Bug Who Needs A Hug is about a fuzzy little bug that goes out into the forest looking for someone to hug. The vivid and colorful illustrations in the book emphasize the importance of friendship and leave a positive message for children at the end of the story.

Please vote below for your favorite by Wednesday May 9 at 11:59 PM EDT:

The winner’s pitch will go to editor Erin Molta for helpful comments 🙂

Now then, today’s Oh Susanna question comes to us from Tracy and actually has a couple of layers to address.

Here is her question:

My children’s book manuscript (early reader) is one where the characters are kids who also happen to be food. (You may remember this from my Would You Read It pitch in October). There’s Pizza, Juice Box, Cake, Waffle, Cereal, Bratwurst (he’s a bully), Lemon Chiffon (fashionista with an attitude), Cinnamon, and Apple. I’m working with a book coach who is suggesting that I grab pictures of food to include with the MS so that an editor understands that this is not a joke and takes my submission seriously. I looked online and I don’t like any of the illustrations and while I still need to look in magazines, those images will not have arms and legs and look like kids. My question is: I’d like to sent out a tweet or blog post request to illustrators in my online community and ask if anyone wanted to make some rough sketches. I can’t promise or offer any compensation or even promise that those comps would be used in final production. Is it fair to ask illustrators to help?

In answer to the main question, “Is it fair to ask illustrators to help?” I would say, yes, it is fair to ask as long as you are up front with potential illustrators about what the project is and exactly what is involved.  I think you might have a hard time getting anyone to do it, though.  If an illustrator is going to work for you, she/he should be paid for their talent, expertise, and time – it’s not professional to ask them to work for free.  If by helping you out their work is going to be seen by an editor, potentially opening some doors for them, that might be enough payment for some, or it might help reduce the payment for others.  But I think if you want someone to provide you with the kind of custom illustrations that are going to help  you sell your work, you should offer to pay them something.  It can be work-for-hire, you can make an agreement as to who owns the rights, but I think you should at least offer some payment.  (Please see Oh Susanna – How Do You Find And Pay For Illustrators? for a further discussion of getting illustrations.)

That said, your question raises some other questions for me:

First, why wouldn’t an editor take your work seriously in the first place?  If you’ve done a good job writing your story, it should be clear that you’ve personified food as characters.  Your dialogue and story problem should help make it clear that the food characters are children.  Editors have good imaginations.  They read picture book and early reader manuscripts all the time and they are accustomed to visualizing what illustrations would be like.  If your story is strong, the editor shouldn’t need visual cues.  If it’s not strong enough, visual cues won’t save it.

In addition, unless you are a professional illustrator yourself, I think you’ll find that most editors react negatively to an author sending art with their manuscript.  To my knowledge, editors want to read your manuscript and envision the type of art they think would suit it, and then choose the illustrator themselves.

I’m not a book coach, but I’m not really sure what you would accomplish by following this suggestion.

I think you would be better off writing the best story you can write, trusting your editor’s intelligence and judgment, and letting your submission stand on it’s own merit.  If you feel your story is strong but it’s still not clear, put a brief explanation in your cover letter.

I would really like to hear from readers, though, as to what they think about this issue.  Do you agree with the book coach, or with me, or do you think something else all together?  Collectively, there is a lot of experience with submission in this readership, so please share your thoughts to help Tracy out with her dilemma!

Have a great day, everyone!

Perfect Picture Book Friday – The Camel Who Took A Walk, And The April PPBF Prize

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Happy Friday, everyone!  Would anyone care for a donut?

Please!  Help yourselves!

For those of you who expressed concern, thank you, my sprained pancreas appears to be on the mend 🙂  But there will be no more interpretive dance for a while… 🙂

I’ve been trying to resist posting today’s Perfect Picture Book for a while because it is out of print.  But it is one of my all time favorite books ever, and since I got notification this week that one of my books is going out of print, I thought this would be a nice time to celebrate books that don’t always get as much recognition as one might hope.  This is a story my parents read to me, and that I read to my kids.  It was always a favorite in our house.  I hope you’ll be able to find a copy at your local library, or get a used one through some channel or other.  It’s really wonderful!

The Camel Who Took A Walk
Written By: Jack Tworkov
Illustrated By: Roger Duvoisin
Aladdin Books, 1951

Suitable For: ages 4-8

Themes/Topics: expectation/suspense, cause & effect/chain reaction, unexpected outcomes

Opening:  “The forest was dark and very quiet.
Not a creature was stirring.
Even the wind had stopped breathing.
Not a leaf was falling, not a blade of grass was moving.
And do you know why this was so?
Because
it was just the time between night and day,
when night was ending
and day was about to begin.”

Brief Synopsis:  A very beautiful camel goes for a walk in the forest.  Unbeknownst to her, a tiger waits hidden “by leaves, flowers, vines and grasses.  He was hidden also by the darkness.”  But the tiger is not the only one waiting and watching.  Each of the creatures hidden in the forest has its own secret plan.  What will happen to the very beautiful camel?

Links To Resources: Camel Coloring Pages, Tiger Coloring Pages, Monkey Coloring Pages, discuss cause and effect, read other books where one thing leads to another, like If You Give A Pig A Pancake or Stuck.

Why I Like This Book:  For starters, the language is lyrical.  Just read that opening aloud to yourself and hear the music of those words!  The whole book is like this – simply a delight to read aloud because of the rhythm of the language.  For writers, it’s a great example of how to do language really well.  The description is also beautiful, and not the kind of thing we find so much in PBs these days:
“Night in the forest is very dark, and it creeps away slowly.”
“Suddenly the first glimmer of light trembled in the sky.“
“Her nose smelled the early morning sweetness, and her eyes took in all the blue and pink colors of the sky.”
Isn’t is beautiful?  But aside from the exquisite language, I love the way the book builds tension.  The camel approaches the hidden tiger.  She comes closer… and closer… and you just have to wonder, how will she get out of this?  The ending is deliciously unexpected!

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Also, as you know, I like to thank all the wonderful participants in PPBF for their hard work each month by randomly selecting a blogger to receive a prize!  The winner for April is and the prize is JOANNA!!!  (And lest there be any confusion, as there was with Beth Doozenfloofer, that’s Joanna Marple :))  Please email me, Joanna, and let me know which you would like for your prize: *rummaging in my bag of goodies…* let’s see… your choice of The Writer’s Guide To Crafting Stories For Children by Nancy Lamb, Chloe by Peter McCarty (which I will be posting on PPBF next week or the week after – it doesn’t come out until May 15 but it’s really good!), or a $15 gift certificate to Merritt Bookstore (my own beloved local indie :))

Phyllis is still traveling – I hope you’ve all had a chance to keep up!  There should be posts from North Carolina and Italy, and maybe another from St, Lucia coming up soon!

I also hope you’re all hard at work on your Birthday Contest entries!  I am mulling… and hoping I’ve come up with an idea for the sample… but it remains to be seen 🙂

For those of you interested in Would You Read It (or simply in learning how to write a good pitch) there was an excellent post on Cheryl’s blog: How To Pitch Your Book.  The post uses a novel as an example, but it can easily be applied to picture books.  If you follow the basics rules, it will help you come up with a beautiful 3 sentence pitch.  Just right!

And as for NaPiBoWriWee, I’m happy to report that I’m technically ahead of schedule since as of this writing (on Thursday evening) I have already completed 4 PBs (which means I’m up-to-date until bedtime Saturday when I should have a fifth… which heaven knows how I will get written Saturday… Sunday either… hmm… maybe I’d better stay up a little longer!)  But RIGHT THIS SECOND, I’m ahead of the curve!

Now off you go to hop around the blogosphere and see all the Perfect Picture Books posted today.  PPB bloggers, please add your post-specific link to the list below.

Have a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious weekend everyone!  (I’m allowed to say that because Beth has dubbed me Susanna Poppins! :))

Would You Read It Wednesday – The 37th Pitch… And A Challenge!… With A Prize :)

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YIKES!

I moseyed on over to my blog to write today’s post and everything looks totally different and unfamiliar!  We’re not in Kansas anymore!

What happened to blogger?

I guess this is that new format they’ve been threatening and I’ve been avoiding.

Well.

Let’s just hope this post goes up the way it’s supposed to!

Harrumph!

First things first.  Your friend and mine, Phyllis, cutest and fuzziest of all groundhogs, is still on tour.  Wonderful, amazing, awesome people are still hosting her and putting up terrific posts about her visits.  So if you have a second, please hop over and see what kind of high jinx and shenanigans she got up to with Saba in Washington!

Next, I’d like to throw out a challenge to all of you – and this is for everyone because you don’t have to be a writer to do this.  In fact, some of you teachers might be really good at this!

It has come to my attention that I’m very bad at distilling picture books (or any other books for that matter) down to the nitty-gritty of their themes.  So for anyone who would like to take pity on me (and I’m guessing there are a fair number of others out there who could benefit from this as well :)) please be so kind as to give the title of a well-known picture book in the comments today along with a few words or a sentence that crystalize the theme of the book.  You may also do the plot if you want, but it’s really the theme I’m interested in.

So, for example, what the flinging’-flangin’ heck is the theme of Fancy Nancy?  Pinkalicious?  I Want My Hat Back?  I mean something like “love conquers all” or “if at first you don’t succeed, keep trying”… that kind of thing.  Gosh.  They sound like proverbs.  Is that how this works?  You can see I need help 🙂  So PLEASE help!  For every book you put with a theme in the comments below today or tomorrow, I will put one entry into random.org and then on Friday, during Perfect Picture Books, I will give one lucky winner a copy of the brand new and fabulous Puzzled By Pink (of which I also can’t state the theme) by Sarah Frances Hardy!!!

See how this works?  My desperation equals a great exercise for you and the possibility of an awesome book! 🙂  Nice, no?

Third, by popular demand, we will be doing one (or possibly a couple) of Q&A posts with editor Erin Molta, so if you have questions for her, please get them to me ASAP, either in the comments or by using that handy Email Me button over there on the right 🙂

Now then.  Time to get down to business.  Would You Read It business, that is.  Today’s pitch comes to us from Anna who has a background in teaching and strives to entertain and teach children about different cultures in her writing.  (I believe this book has been self-published, but Anna is still hoping to strengthen her pitch for marketing purposes.)

Ready?

Working Title:  A Bug Who Needs A Hug
Age/Genre: Picture Books (ages 2-7)
The Pitch:  A Bug Who Needs A Hug is about a fuzzy little bug that goes out into the forest looking for someone to hug. The vivid and colorful illustrations in the book emphasize the importance of friendship and leave a positive message for children at the end of the story.

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Anna improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  There are openings in early July – not that far away! – so go ahead and send your pitch for a chance for it to be read by editor Erin Molta!
Anna is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!
And I am looking forward to your succinct statements of picture book themes and your questions for Erin!
Have a happy Wednesday everyone! 🙂
Wait!  Stop the presses!  I forgot to say that if anyone hasn’t had a chance to read Monday’s interview with Lisa Thiesing and enter the awesome book giveaway, there is still time!  Hop on over!

Would You Read It Wednesday – The 36th Pitch… And Some Fun Stuff For You!

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Boy do I have an awesome surprise for you today!  Are you ready?  Can you stand the excitement?

I will tell you in one second, but please promise that, even if you’re reeling with excitement, you’ll remain calm and focused enough to read and comment on today’s pitch! 🙂

Do you promise?

Cross your heart?

Okay.

Ready?

Really?

Are you sure?

Alrighty then…

I’m happy to announce that we have a great opportunity.  Editor Erin Molta (of Pitch Pick Critique fame :)) is going to visit my blog!!!  AND she is willing to do whatever would be most helpful to YOU!

So please tell me in the comments what you would most like Erin to talk about:  common mistakes editors see from writers? what editors look for in a PB ms?  how to tell if your book is a novelty book or a picture book? 10 best tips for writers from an editor?  what kinds of stories or non-fiction are needed?  a Q&A where you could submit questions ahead and Erin can answer….?  Use your fertile imaginations! 🙂  Sky’s the limit – you guys tell us what you want to know about.  And I’d love to have it be something that hasn’t been done before!  What do other posts/articles leave you still wondering about?

This is your chance to get questions answered by a real industry professional, so grab it by the horns (or something like that :))

Now.  Wasn’t that an awesome surprise? 🙂

I’m also happy to report that Phyllis is back on the trail.  There are fabulous blog posts up from Clar and Melissa, with others coming soon from Alison, Renee, and Denise.  Tina, Saba,  Margaret, and Robyn will be receiving her soon, and Rosalind in the UK has a post scheduled for May 1!  So don’t abandon our furry little friend yet! 🙂

Now, on to Would You Read It!

Today’s Would You Read It pitch comes to us from the amazing and wonderful Kirsten over at Creating Curious Kids.  Kirsten is a former NASA PR princess, current college instructor, and mom to two curious boys.  When she’s not breaking up wrestling matches she reads, writes, and runs (so she can keep up with the kiddos!)  Here is her pitch:

Working Title:  Out Of This World Opposites
Age/Genre: Non-Fiction PB for ages 5+
The Pitch:  Space is a place of opposites. Burning stars and icy comets. Roaring rockets and silent stillness. An ancient universe and newborn planets. Everyday scientists discover something old, new, near, far, wet, dry, dark or light as they learn more about the cosmos. Come along and explore our amazing universe.

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Kirsten improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  There are openings in early June – not that far away! – so go ahead and send your pitch for a chance for it to be read by editor Erin Molta!
Kirsten is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!
And I am looking forward to hearing what you’d like to hear from Erin!  Happy Wednesday everyone 🙂

Would You Read It Wednesday – The 34th Pitch – And Pitch Pick #7

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Batten down the hatches!  I’m about to blow you away with short-windedness!

(As you know, I’m up-to-my-ears busy this week – apparently that’s what it takes to get brevity out of me :))

So.  Right down to business!

It’s time for our March Pitch Pick.  Here is a little refresher, followed by the poll.  Please vote by Saturday and I’ll announce the winner Monday.

#1  Renee

Working Title: Doris And The Scaredy Cats
Age/Genre: Fiction PB ages 4+
The Pitch:  Intrigued by the herd of petrified cats that show up at her door with their little suitcases, Doris is determined to un-petrify her furry new housemates — despite her family’s pleas to send them away before she ends up a scaredy cat, too. Doris will either calm the cats’ jitters or make her family’s fear come true — or neither. 

#2  Miranda

Working Title:  Reef Stew
Age/Genre:  Rhyming Picture Book ages 4-8
The Pitch:  When a shipwreck destroys their reef, the shellfish grow selfish and every creature’s a crab.  Can Whale stir up happiness with a single piece of stony coral?  Filled with slurps, burps, and spicy sargassum, this quirky version of a classic tale will send ripples of laughter through any school of young guppies.

#3  Rebecca

Working Title:  Everett
Age/Genre:  YA Paranormal
The Pitch:  Ever since Bria Stone was a little girl, she has had nightmares about shadow-like monsters who claim they’re coming to get her. At age six, Bria had another dream, in which a man with glowing skin told her the monsters are real.  When Bria encounters this man – who claims his last name is Everett and that he has no first name – in real life after her nineteenth birthday party, she starts to wonder: if good dreams can come true, does that mean the bad ones can too?

#4  Terri

Working Title:  First Aide For First Grade
Age/Genre: PB
The Pitch:  Mrs Fox is teaching first aide to the class. Charlie doesn’t want to listen but his best friend is listening with both ears and it is a good thing. After the lesson, the boys run to the playground to play. Zip, Zap, Zing….and Ouch. Who will help Charlie when he is hurt at recess?

Which of these awesome pitches should go to Erin Molta for her critique?


<a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/6106547/”>Pitch Pick #7</a>
Now that you’ve voted for last month’s pick, let’s check out the first offering from this month!

Today’s pitch comes from Delores, who lives in Guelph, Ontario,  She is retired from the  insurance industry and working on her lifelong dream of writing for children and writing poetry.  Her first step in that direction was the creation of her blogs:  The Feathered Nest and Youngish.  Her next step is submitting her pitch 🙂

Working Title:  Dustin The Dragon
Age/Genre:  Early PB (3-6)
The Pitch:  April’s room is VERY dusty but what can you expect when a dust breathing dragon lives in your closet?  Too bad April’s mom doesn’t believe in dragons, that is, not until Dustin catches a cold.

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?
If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Delores improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  Go ahead and send your pitch for a chance for it to be read by editor Erin Molta!
Delores is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!

For those of you on tenterhooks, Phyllis is currently in Italy, Australia, Vermont, and South Dakota, and possibly somewhere near Prince Edward Island as well.  I am looking forward to sharing more updates with you as they come in.

Ooh!  This just in – last minute addition!  Phyllis has had an awesome visit to Nicky in Australia!!!

Is Nicky an incredible artist or what?!

And that’s it!  Pretty short-winded considering everything we just covered!  Now, I’m off to day 2 of school visiting and looking forward to catching up with all of you, hopefully by July 🙂

Would You Read It Wednesday – The 33rd Pitch – And A Tour Update!

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Oh.  My.  Goodness!

Apparently, Phyllis realized that April Fools Day was sneaking up on her, so she decided to ramp up the visit speed.  My head is spinning!  In the two days since I last posted, she has popped up all over the place and you won’t want to miss any of her adventures or the truly awesome posts by her hosts even if it makes your head spin too!

I’m just going to make you a little list so it will be convenient 🙂

Phyllis Arrived In Maine to visit with Heather N. and her family.  More to come…

Phyllis Visited The Standing Stones at Avebury in the UK with Rebecca… and her 7 children! (These are 2 separate and different links, and the second one has video reviews by Rebecca’s adorable, British-accented kids!)

Phyllis with Rebecca’s clan at Avebury, UK

Phyllis Arrived In New Zealand to stay with Diane.

Phyllis Toured Auckland With Diane.

Phyllis in New Zealand!

Phyllis Visited The Dixon Kids in Clovis, CA.

Phyllis Visited Knoxville, TN with Donna.

Phyllis sits in with The Rowing Man 🙂

Phyllis Visited With Mrs. Kistler and the ’49ers in San Antonio, TX before heading out on her School World Tour – next stop Washington!

Phyllis enjoys recess with The ’49ers!

and last but not least, Phyllis Hangs Out In Windsor, Ontario (with Catherine) and Phyllis Visits With Heather B in Washington! (posts going up today!)

AND, if that wasn’t enough to make you dizzy, she is currently headed for Vermont, another location in Washington, Australia, and Birmingham UK, AND we are still waiting for her to show up in Italy… apparently she either took an undisclosed side trip or a very long nap somewhere… we’re hoping she’ll emerge at some point!

That was in the last 2 days!  Hence the head spinning!

Anyone else ready for a nap?  At least it’s Wednesday and we have chocolate 🙂

Now then, onto our Would You Read It!

Today’s pitch comes to us from Terri, who has been an elementary school nurse as well as a pediatric/neonatal nurse for over 34 years and is currently working on acquiring and revamping an old ambulance to bring on school visits so kids can learn what equipment is in an ambulance and what happens when paramedics arrive.  It just so happens to go along with her book ideas.

Working Title:  First Aide For First Grade
Age/Genre: PB
The Pitch:  Mrs Fox is teaching first aide to the class. Charlie doesn’t want to listen but his best friend is listening with both ears and it is a good thing. After the lesson, the boys run to the playground to play. Zip, Zap, Zing….and Ouch. Who will help Charlie when he is hurt at recess?

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Terri improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  Go ahead and send your pitch for a chance for it to be read by editor Erin Molta!
Terri is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!
And I am going to try to catch up with that globe-trotting groundhog… after my nap 🙂

Would You Read It Wednesday – The 32nd Pitch, And A Tour Update, And A Winner!!!

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As of yesterday, it is officially spring!  For pretty much the first time I can remember (and please, no comments about senility) it actually feels like spring on March 21st.  We don’t have one of these cuties

but the lawn is greening, even up here on the mountain where we are usually two weeks behind the valley.  The lilac bush is unfurling tiny new leaves.  And my Brown Dog spent most of yesterday’s romp in a nearby pond looking for all the world like an otter 🙂

I realize it may not last.  It is only March, and this kind of weather usually doesn’t arrive until late April… or late May… !  But boy is it nice while it’s here!

Before we get to our Would You Read It pitch for today, we have a couple little items of business.

First, that rascally groundhog Phyllis is in Philadelphia with our friend Erik!  Please hop over and check out his post on Phyllis’s visit to the City of Brotherly Love HERE 🙂

If you didn’t get to see her visit to The Land of Living Skies, please check Beth’s post HERE.  (It’s not every day you get to see a groundhog in a Mountie’s hat, and you will love the deal she and Beth struck!)

Tomorrow (Thursday) we will get to hear all about her visit to Nice, France with Joanna, so be sure to check HERE!  As well as her visit with Penny in Abilene, TX (I think there’s going to be video footage in this one!) which you can see HERE!

Anyone who wants to browse or catch up, check out Phyllis’s World Tour Page on the tab above or click HERE.

I just have to say, I hope you all are having as much fun with Phyllis’s tour as I am.  When I came up with this wacky idea, I never dreamed that everyone would be so incredibly enthusiastic and creative and wonderful!  You have all done such an amazing job, and every time I think you can’t be any more awesome, you are!  So thank you to everyone who is hosting and posting Phyllis, and to everyone who is reading and commenting and lending their support in other ways.  This tour is only what it is because of you!

Now then, this seems like the perfect moment to announce the winner of Iza’s book.  I must say, there were some very entertaining poems in Monday’s comments!   Some of them were more entertaining then they were intended to be (Penny!) and we all had a good laugh 🙂

Everyone who submitted 4 rhyming lines about a bear by 5 PM EDT yesterday had their name fed to random.org.  And the winner of the brand new, hot off the presses, hard cover, signed copy of The Bear Went Over The Mountain, written and illustrated by the fabulous Iza Trapani is…………

TERI!!!  (Who has amazing luck with random.org – I believe she won a book giveaway last year too!)

Congratulations, Teri!  Lucky you 🙂  I hope you enjoy the book.  Please email me and let me know your address and how you’d like the book signed so I can pass the info along to Iza!

And now, the other moment you’ve all been waiting for, today’s pitch!

Today’s pitch comes to us from Rebecca, a talented young writer who loves her pony and her friends and who, at 14, is the youngest person to participate in Would You Read It so far.  She does not have a blog or a website (yet!:)) so you’ll just have to visit with her here.  Here is her pitch:

Working Title:  Everett
Age/Genre:  YA Paranormal
The Pitch:  Ever since Bria Stone was a little girl, she has had nightmares about shadow-like monsters who claim they’re coming to get her. At age six, Bria had another dream, in which a man with glowing skin told her the monsters are real.  When Bria encounters this man – who claims his last name is Everett and that he has no first name – in real life after her nineteenth birthday party, she starts to wonder: if good dreams can come true, does that mean the bad ones can too?

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Rebecca improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  Go ahead and send your pitch for a chance for it to be read by editor Erin Molta!
Rebecca is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!
And I am really looking forward to hearing about what Phyllis got up to in France, and Texas!  Stay tuned…!