Writers have to do a lot to create a good story, but the number one thing is to create a connection. You must make the reader care. Although it’s the most important element of your job, lots of writers just don’t get it right. According to Mary Kole of KidLit, “Whether they name emotions outright,…
Author: Karen Cioffi
Karen Cioffi is an award-winning author and children's ghostwriter. She loves to help those who want to be the author of a children's book fulfill their dream. Contact Karen today to get your story started!
Submitting to Publishers and Agents – Is There a Best Time?
Lately, I’ve had a number of clients who are going the traditional publishing route. Some are querying directly to book publishers and a couple are querying literary agents. Having helped a number of those clients with their query letters, not one of them could wait to submit the query, even if their book had just…
4 Must-Know Tips to Writing Better Story Endings
Contributed by team member Suzanne Lieurance Many writers have trouble coming up with the perfect ending for a story. And the perfect ending is really important because it is often the ending of a story that people remember most. That’s because a good ending ties everything together and leaves the reader feeling satisfied. To write…
The Business Side of Publishing a Picture Book
In a children’s picture book workshop, the editor (from Scholastic) delved into why editors are so choosy when finding their next project. ‘Children’s books’ is a business. And like any other business, publishing houses think profit and loss. The editors are very aware of this and their reputation depends on them finding stories that will…
Picture Books – What Grabs an Editor
I attended a ‘live’ two-hour writing workshop through SCBWI: Hook, Line, and Sinker: What Catches the Editor’s Eye with Scholastic editor Natalia Remis. It was an amazing workshop, and not only was the information excellent, but the editor gave the first page of the attendees’ manuscripts a critique! I try to keep up with the…
Get Your Books Found on Amazon
Everyone writing a book should realize that once it’s done, you will need to get it published, distributed, and visible. If you’re traditionally publishing, you don’t have to worry about the publishing and distribution. But, no matter what publishing path you take, you’ll need to learn about book marketing. This article deals with being discoverable…
Barnes and Noble Press – Another Self-Publishing Option
I usually only post here once a week, but this is interesting news. There’s now a Barnes & Noble Press (a self-publishing suite). I guess it’s their take on Amazon’s KDP. When I first heard about it, I was thrilled, especially since Createspace is getting rid of their author services. But, I’m not quite sure…
Fiction Writing – Do It Right
I’m reading a book on writing fiction. It’s “Writing Fiction – The Practical Guide From New York’s Acclaimed Creative Writing School.” It’s written by the Gotham Writers’ Workshop faculty and Alexander Steele is the author of Chapter One, Fiction: The What, How and Why of It. Steele explains, “Promising ideas + hard work = good…
Writing – Time Management and Organization
When I first started out in my writing career, I began to think more and more about organizing my writing. But, I was in what I call, slow mode. I worked on my stories with the intent to eventually… hopefully get published. However, I was in no rush; writing came after everything else I had…
Your Author Platform – Is it Ever Too Soon to Start?
Newbies to the writing arena have many questions about creating an author platform. And, the most puzzling one is whether they need a website before they have a book published or in contract. In fact, I’ve recently been questioned twice about whether a newbie with NO book on the publishing horizon should bother to start…