Picture Book Mentorship!

Around a month ago, I saw a link on one of my Facebook writing groups for something called Writing with the stars. It was a mentorship program where hopeful writers would have the opportunity to apply for three different authors who they would like to mentor them. I was sooo excited to apply! What an amazing opportunity!

The process included telling a little bit about myself, writing why I was applying to my specific mentor, listing writing education completed, describing my writing strengths/weaknesses, and also submitting one of my unpublished picture book manuscripts. After submitting, I counted down the days until the winners would be announced. Well, that day was today! And lo and behold, this morning I found out that after 850 writers applied, I was among the 22 that were accepted! I am so full of gratitude and just can't wait to start working with my mentor, who is Paul Czajak, author of the adorable Monster and Me Series! His website is http://paulczajak.com/.  I so look forward to learning all I can, improving my craft, and as always, keep on writing!

Ps. I'm learning more and more that there are so many wonderful opportunities waiting out there if you just apply to them. I'm also noticing that I'm finding out about most of these opportunities through my online writing groups and my picture book twitter network. So, all you writers out there, stay connected! I try to post opportunites I've discovered on my twitter account, so find me at @debbiedayauthor. Join writing groups for your area, look out for contests - they are happening all the time! (In fact, I just found out about this one and I can't wait to submit). And then, APPLY. Just remember that you'll never get any further in your pursuits if you don't even try. So, go out on a limb and put yourself out there!

Stay tuned for more soon!

More exciting News!

Tonight was a good night to be a writer. :) After finishing up face-timing with my awesome writing group, I checked my email only to discover that one of my poems will be published in another anthology! (Woooohoooo!)

The poem is called MOVING WEST and it will be featured in the upcoming anthology MANIFEST WEST through Western Press Books. The anthology explores women's diverse experiences of living in the west. I submitted a poem that describes some thoughts and feelings I had moving to Wyoming from Maryland not even a year ago (A DRASTIC change, as you'll read). I actually had never before attempted to write a free-verse poem until this one, but it was a lot of fun and I'm so glad they accepted it! Just goes to show, if you put your stuff out there, you never know where it can end up, so do some research about whose looking for what you write and then, submit your work!

I retain all rights and have permission to publish it any way I like. As such, I'm going to share it with you right here. Enjoy!

Moving West

By Debbie Day

We leave the east, with its swarming cities, dripping hot woods, and waterways.

The wetness and green is squeezed out dry with every rotation of our minivan tires.

We arrive at our new town, nestled under the Wyoming Mountains. Endless yellow

plains, parched and rocky. The silence carves a hole in my stomach for the wind to

blow through. The neighbors tell me it’s a great place to raise kids, though they keep

to themselves.  I take my children to the empty parks, barren walkways. Cactus grips

the broken cement. We stare at the Platte River dug into the red rock. An owl swoops

across the water that glistens against a decorated sunset like we’ve never seen the sky

before. Pale sunrises whisper each morning, the smell of hollowness.  Every day I wait

for something I can’t hear. The lost train bids goodbye, briefly passing through, entering

into sand, brush, nothing. My husband loves it here. I wonder if we’ll stay long. I think

of fireflies in the east, the wall of beach trees curtaining the sky, the nosy old woman

downstairs, the screams through the ceiling, waiting for Daddy as he sits in five rows of

stagnant cars. Laughter awakens me. I look out the window at my children playing in the

front yard. Beside the vacant road, they jump sprinklers and zig zag with bicycles, garbed

in melting popsicles. A gush of air opens the door. An invitation. I step out to greet the

strange quiet. A loneliness, a ghost from a distant memory, a peace I’ve never known.

YouTube Inspiration

I had writing inspiration hit in a little bit different way recently and I wanted to share my experience with you!

So my brother sent me a link to an extremely popular YouTube video with literally hundreds of millions of views. I watched this thing and I couldn't believe it was so popular! But I tried to think about what made it so appealing. First of all, it targeted grade-school kids. The illustrations were very simplistic and dorky, in a funny way. It had a very catchy tune and rhyming words. It also was funny because one of the characters kept getting irritated by another nonsensical character.

Next, I tried to think about writing my own story with that same formula - dorky, rhyming, catchy, somebody getting irritated by a silly character... Well, lo and behold, I came up with a unique idea that turned out pretty good!

Most times, I read other picture books to glean ideas and inspiration, but for some reason, by looking at an animated song, I got a whole new perspective and some fresh ideas that I don't think I could have gotten in any other way.

So maybe give it a try! Find a highly viewed YouTube video targeted at the age group you write for. Watch it and try to determine why it's so popular. Then use that same formula to create your own unique story and see what you come up with!

Random Writing News

Thought I'd post some updates on my writing life, since it's been very busy lately:

• My motivation meter has gone up a great deal these last few weeks. I’ve created five new picture book manuscripts, four more poems, and an essay to submit to a magazine all in the last month or so. It’s been so fun to create completed projects! I’ve also been reading a lot of great writing websites and have been picking up so many good tidbits. (Let me know if you want to know which sites have been particularly helpful). 

•  A few of the said “learned tips”: if your goal is to publish a book, it’s good to have some credentials under your belt for when you start querying. Try getting published in any way that you can - by a magazine, as a part of an anthology, or by a smaller publishing house. Try entering your works in a local or national writing contest. Take some writing classes, attend online webinars and go to writing conferences. All these little awards, classes, and publications show agents that you are a serious writer and they will look good on your query letters.   

• So, here’s me following my own advice: I’m going to start submitting more of my works to children’s magazines. I’ve submitted a couple already, but hope to make this a new trend! I have found a couple smaller publishing houses that look like a good fit for a couple of my manuscripts, so I plan to submit soon! I’ve been entering several different writing contests lately and am always on the lookout for more ways of getting my work out there (a great way to hear about contests is joining an online writing group for your area – they usually list legit contests on their website). I’ve been watching webinars and listening to podcasts at writersdigest.com and SCBWI, and am really excited to participate in a local writing conference hosted by my state-wide writing group this summer.

• One of my new year’s resolutions is to stay off the computer while my kids are awake. So far, it’s been a great change and I feel like it’s helping me to be a better mom and writer by focusing on one thing at a time. (You'd be surprised how much you can do in just a couple hours of no distractions). Hope I can keep it up all year long!

Here’s to an exciting new year of creating lots and reaching goals!

The agent who replied, and more.

About two weeks ago, I was opening my email at 8pm when I noticed a message in the inbox labeled "QUERIES".

I knew what that meant. An agent was getting back to one of my query submissions! She was from the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. I saw that it was in response to a lyrical picture book I sent her a couple moths previous. My stomach boiled with excitement as I clicked the message and read the following statement:

"Hi Debbie,

This is lots of fun, and I appreciate both the wonderful word play and the information imparted.  Do you have other picture book manuscripts that you can share with me?"

"Mike!!!" I squealed to my husband. "An agent just got back to meeeeeeee!!"

That night I stayed up late organizing my best manuscripts to send to the agent that has represented New York Times Best Sellers.

The next morning, I shakily replied with what I felt was six of my best stories attached. The agent quickly responded and said she'd take a look and get back to me in two weeks time.

Here's what she sent back two days ago:

"Dear Debbie,

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to look at your picture books.  You've certainly got a way with words!  Unfortunately, after carefully considering all of your manuscripts and sharing them with my colleagues, I've decided that they are not quite right for my list, and I am therefore going to pass.  Editorial opinion is, of course, subjective, and another agent or editor is likely to feel differently.  I wish you every success in finding the right home for your work."

Deep breath. Whoo. Ok. First of all, don't cry.   Just a sec...Ok, I'm good....   Now.   Here's what I can glean from this experience:

#1 My work was good enough for an agent from Andrea Brown Lit. to notice. Even though she ultimately didn't take me on, this fact is validating. Sometimes you feel like you are just writing and writing and you don't really know if it's any good or if you are just fooling yourself. After several rejection letters, you begin to wonder, "Am I just wasting my time? Am I crappy at writing??" The validation of having an agent notice your work is incredibly motivating. It's still a rejection, yes, but it was closer than a "No, I'm not even remotely interested," which makes me want to keep trying!

#2 She did say that "other agents/editors" are likely to feel differently. I don't know if she tells that to everyone, but I appreciated that she said it to me, and I'm going to choose to believe her. I'm not giving up. There is a " right home for my work" out there!

#3 Since this agent responded, It's inspired me to write more stories that I probably wouldn't have otherwise. It's also given me a whole new set of ideas for future projects. So hey, there's that.

#4 I now know that my query letter is enough up-to-par to solicit an agent response. Because, who doesn't doubt their query letter?

So anyway, that's the story of the agent who replied. In conclusion, I'm more motivated than ever, I'm writing lots, and I'm determined to keep trying!

In other writing news, did I ever tell you I got a membership to SCBWI? (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) It's kind of a must-have for children's writers, so if that's you, consider joining! It's around 80$ a year. My husband got me signed up for my birthday present a few weeks ago, and it's already been a great resource full of tips, ideas, and opportunities. Check out my profile here and be sure to take a look around at all the website has to offer.

Lastly, I want to remind you that my book, Itchy Mitchie, makes a wonderful gift! Get your copy in time for the holidays here. And now for my promotional message of the day: I recently got a note from a customer who reminded me of one of the big reasons I keep writing. She bought Itchy Mitchie for her child who complains of being itchy often. After reading the book, here's what that customer said:

"Debbie, your book was perfect! ... [My child] even said, 'yes mom, when I read books, I don't have to scratch.' ...Thank you!" 

I love when the message of my book connects to the reader! If  that message can help a child in some way, then I feel like I'm doing something significant and it's worth it!

PS. I've actually sold Itchy Mitchie to a couple parents who say their kids complain of being itchy! I didn't write the book specifically for itchy-only customers, but because the book uses the example of itchiness as the main characters' problem, it has helped people with that specific problem. Cool! That makes me happy. The book was, after all, based on a true story of a little first grader who hated wearing shoes to school. :) 

The kids tell me a story

My boys new favorite activity lately is having Mom tell them a story. I love it because it gets my creative juices flowing, and also because that was one of my favorite memories of my dad growing up, so it's pretty special to pass on the tradition . Well, today I asked them to tell ME a story and the result was pretty adorable. It looks like my boys will be story tellers too! Yes!

Fun Little Art Project

Today I finished a little project I've been working on the last few days for an upcoming art contest.  Kinda fun!