Picture Book University: Sign Up Today!

By
I'm so excited to tell you about my newest postings--Picture Book University. This will be like a mini-picture book workshop. Every Monday, I will post about one aspect of picture book writing so you can hone in on that topic and really learn how to do it well or understand something you may not have noticed before. At the end of each post, I will give you an assignment to do for the week. Ideally, by the time I finish with these posts, it will be like taking a mini-picture book workshop.

To make it more fun (and also to help you complete the assignments), just sign your name on this post, sort of committing yourself to the workshop. If you'd like, I will put your name and a link to your blog on the right side of this website. Also, please post on your blog about this workshop, too. I'd really like to help other writers out there who might want to learn more about the art of picture book writing. If you don't want to miss a post, subscribe to this blog via email to the right. Or follow.

My first blog entry will be about picture book genres. That will be on Monday.

If you like this idea, please don't forget to press the like button below, or announce it on twitter by clicking the little birdie!

Happy Writing!

Comments

Andrea Mack said…
I'll be watching for your tips and exercises! One of the things I want to do this summer is to work on a couple of picture book manuscripts.
9:44 AM
Pam Calvert said…
Sounds great, Andrea! I'm going to be doing the assignments right along with you. I have a manuscript that my agent gave me a revision for in JANUARY! Talk about putting things off...LOL! Hugs!

9:48 AM
KMR said…
I'll sign up!
10:26 AM
awakenings.blogspot.com said…
Sign me up, I love learning new tips!
10:56 AM
LeslieG said…
I'm signing on the cyber line! Thanks so much for offering this.
11:22 AM
Donna L Sadd said…
I'm signing up; thanks for the opportunity Pam. :0)
11:39 AM
Christine Marie Alemshah said…
I'm in as well. Love your books Pam! And I have dubbed 2013 the year of the picture book as far as writing though. I look forward to building my skills.
11:42 AM
Audrey said…
Thanks for sharing your "know how" with us. I appreciate it and look forward to your weekly posts! I have some good ideas,but I definitely need some help getting started.
11:51 AM
kc3742 said…
Sign me up, please! A very good friend posted this link for me. Thank you. :-)
12:14 PM
Tina Cho said…
Sign me up, too, please. I'm already subscribed to this blog. :)
2:07 PM
Donna J. Shepherd said…
Sounds like fun!
3:10 PM
Debra Shumaker said…
I'll sign up. Is this comment enough or did I miss something? I just recently signed up for the blog. .
3:44 PM
Carrie F said…
This sounds great, Pam! Thanks for doing this.
4:23 PM
rena traxel said…
Awesome. Thanks.
6:43 PM
Vivian Kirkfield said…
Thanks to my online critique group, I just found out about this...thanks Carrie F and Tina C.:) Please, please...sign me up for the picture book university...sounds AWESOME! Thank you, Pam! Your generosity is much appreciated.:)
6:45 PM
Ashley Bohmer said…
Sounds awesome!--Count me in! :)
6:52 PM
Margaret G. said…
Sign me up! Thanks so much for doing this!
7:39 PM
Romelle Broas said…
Count me in!
9:27 PM
Darshana said…
Thanks Pam. Looking forward to it!
10:24 PM
Dana Carey said…
Count me in. I've just signed up for email alerts.
5:09 AM
Susan Cabael said…
Looking forward to 'class' with you! What a great opportunity--thank you!
7:46 AM
Kimberly Lynn said…
Sounds like great fun, Pam. I'm in!
8:38 AM
Unknown said…
Hi Pam, I'm in! Thanks for offering this picture book mini class. Looking forward to it.
5:22 PM
Unknown said…
Sounds great. thanks!
8:50 AM
Cathy Ballou Mealey said…
Sounds like just what I need to keep my writing on track this summer while the kids are out of school. Thank you!
4:16 PM
Evelyn said…
I'm a little late to the party since I was gone on vacation, but sounds like a great adventure. Thanks for the opportunity, Pam.
11:40 AM
Salina said…
Oooh... this is perfect for me! Can't wait! Thanks, Pam!
12:53 PM
Jennifer Rumberger said…
I just found out about this. Is it too late to sign up? I'm going to read through the older posts tonight. Thanks!
6:40 AM
Jo said…
Signing up. Better late than never. I'm interested in non-fiction picture book bios.
9:01 AM
Unknown said…
I will be participating!
11:48 AM
sharalyn said…
I would like to participate though I am a little late, I am studying the information that you have shared and I think it is awesome. Thanks.
7:21 PM
Hannah B. said…
Don't know if my first comment went through. Doing it again just in case.

I would like to participate as well. I'm also late and will go back and read what's been posted so far so I can catch up.

Looking forward to participating!
10:34 AM
Joy Moore said…
It seems I'm late to the party again. But I am interested. I'll keep watching.

Joy Moore
2:20 PM
Joanne Roberts said…
Just found out about this. Love your work. I'm be here every week. Thanks!
11:18 AM
Angie Karcher said…
I'm interested in signing up! I'm thrilled that I landed here on your blog...I hope it's not too late!
10:14 PM
Pam Calvert said…
You can always sign up...put the icon on your blog and start with lesson one. Have fun!!!
1:45 PM
Sue said…
I certainly would like to join the Picture Book University. Please add me. webstie: http://kid-lit-reviews.com

Thanks,
Sue Morris
10:33 AM
Unknown said…
I would love to join to learn new tips
3:14 AM
Pam Calvert said…
I've put your name down, Kathy. Enjoy!
3:20 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Picture Book University: Character Driven Picture Books

By
Image
Hello, again! Hope your week was productive. I just spent five days with a bunch of tweens at a church camp and am a little tired, but I'm excited to dive into the next lesson! Each of those kids was so cute and this gave me the idea to highlight one of the best selling types of picture books--character driven. If you look at most agents who rep picture books, you'll find they often call for this type of book.

So, what is a character driven picture book exactly? I define it as a story that is more about who the character is than about the plot that drives the character. This makes that character memorable and live in the heart of a child. The reason why editors clamor for these types of books is because they not only sell but they can have marketing tie-in's if the book goes well plus, of course, there will be sequels which will make more money for the publishing house.

Some great recent examples of character driven picture books are Vampirina Ballerina by Anne Marie Pace,…
Read more

Picture Book University: Picture Book Genres

By
Image
Welcome to Picture Book University.  Each week, I will highlight some aspect of picture book writing and then give you an assignment for the week. At the end of these posts, you will have participated in a mini-picture book workshop that should help you see your picture book manuscripts in a whole new way--preferably, in a marketable way. ;-)
For my first lesson, we'll be looking at the different genres. A genre is a classification of shared traits of any piece of literature. In picture books, there are many genres and sub-genres. Since this is a "mini" workshop, I'm only going to focus on a few, but I will list the top ones.
Now, I've been using the term, picture book, loosely. Some people distinguish between picture books and picture story books. For our purposes here, we will focus only on picture books. A picture book has a picture on every page, but the text is limited--no more than 1000 words. A picture story book is filled with text and may not have a pic…
Read more

WEE OO WEE OO! ALERT! Flash: The Litle Fire Engine is ready for pre order!

By
Image
I'm excited to announce that my newest book, FLASH: THE LITTLE FIRE ENGINE is already on amazon for pre-order.


The story follows Little Flash who's about to embark on his first day on the job. He's SOOOO excited! Will he be able to pitch in and save the day?

This is a character driven story made for boys and girls who love emergency vehicles. It's action packed with loads of sounds and a quick plot.

When I wrote this, it took a long time for me to figure out what was going to happen in it. I knew I wanted to write about a fire truck simply because there's tons of dump trucks, garbage trucks, backhoes, trains, etc, but not fire trucks! You must write about things that aren't already in the market if you want to sell.

Since I didn't know much about fire trucks, I did a lot of research for this story. My son-in-law helped me, too. (A family effort since my grandsons adore fire trucks.)

If you want to know more about how to write a character driven story, read …
Read more