Can I pick your brain?

Can I send you my stuff to read? No.

Wow. That's pretty harsh. Not really, my brain is about to explode from all the reading I have to do for various committees I'm on and also I have my own deadlines and writing to do and I simply don't have the time.

How did you get published?
An SCBWI working writing retreat is how I got both my agent and my publisher. It also took me ten years and a lot of rejection from the time I started getting really serious about it to having my first book published. That's pretty much the time line for everyone I know in children's book writing, about ten years. So I guess, roll your sleeves up, get to know the genre, read tons, write more and get in line. Everyone gets a turn, you just have to be patient.

Ten Years! Are you crazy??? Well, then what should I do?

My usual advice for anyone starting out in kids lit is to read a ton of it. And I mean a ton of contemporary stuff. A lot of people starting out tend to read or write like they liked when they were kids and usually that's pretty old fashioned. You've got to read contemporary kids lit.

Figure out if you are writing for middle grade or young adult. (MG is 8-12/ YA 12-18). A lot of people say they are writing for young adults but are really writing middle grade.

Join the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators SCBWI go to the events in your region. (NY right?)

Meet other people in your area who are working on getting into children's publishing there. Find a critique group of people who are writing for kids.

Join a message board or yahoo group about it.

Read Cynthia Leitich Smiths FAQ for people who want to get into the
business

read her blog

read her resource pages



My work is ready, I want an agent. Cynthia Leitich Smith writes a great article on getting an agent aspiring writers and looking for agents.