“In storytelling, authors often create triplets or structures in three parts.” Wikipedia For instance: Rumpelstiltskin spins thrice for the heroine and lets her guess his name thrice over a period of three days. Wikipedia In Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, Marley’s Ghost tells Ebenezer Scrooge he will receive visits from three spirits: The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present, and…
Co-Author with Your Elderly Parent: Do Yourself A Favor
“Maybe it’s true that life begins at fifty. But everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out.” ― Phyllis Diller My mother is 93 years old and she lives over 181 miles away from me. To make matters worse, the gap between the two of us is crooked, mountainous, and a slow-go, but…
All About Middle Grade Novels: What Are the Chances That My Middle Grade Novel Will Get Published?
What Is A Middle Grade Novel? “Middle-grade fiction refers to books written for readers between the ages of 8 and 12, while young adult fiction refers to books written for readers roughly between the ages of 12 and 18. It is important to understand that the terms do not refer to genre but instead are…
What Is A Chapter Book? How Is It Different Than a Middle Grade Novel?
Once a child graduates from picture books, there are several more steps before he is ready to read adult novels. I’ll talk about step readers and graphic novels in other posts, but today, I want to focus on both chapter books and middle grade novels. Chapter books are shorter than middle grade novels. Some of…
What Are the Chances You’ll Get Your Debut Picture Book Published? How I Slipped Past the Odds
Although it probably isn’t wise for picture book authors to waste a lot of time thinking about it, somewhere along the way most of us begin to wonder: “Do I even have a chance of getting my debut picture book published?” Part of me wants to scream: “NO!” Getting a debut picture book published by…
How Big is Penguin Random House – The #1 Publishing House
According to my research, Penguin Random Hous is Numbe 1 of the Big 5 Publishing Houses as follows: 1-Penguin Random House 2-HarperCollins 3-Simon & Schuster 4-Hachette Book Group 5-Macmillan How Big Is Penguin Random House? To begin with, Penguin Random House is located as New York City’s 77th tallest building, at 1745 Broadway. The Random…
What Are the Big 5 Publishing Houses & A List of All the Major Publishers
While I have been writing most of my life and while my debut picture book, The Donkey’s Song, is scheduled to be published by one of the Big 5 Publishing Houses, I hate to admit it, but my effort to understand the hierarchy of the publishing industry is baffling. I have decided to try to…
Looking Ahead for 2020 Twitter Pitch Events for Picture Book Writers and Illustrators
I can finally say it, my debut picture book is scheduled to be published, and here is the most magical thing: My Debut Picture Book Was Discovered in a Twitter Pitch Event The funny thing is that a year ago, I didn’t even know that Twitter Pitch Events existed. I thought that others might like…
Autumn As A Symbol in Writing – Quotes about Autumn
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the famous novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. You may not realize it, but J.R.R. Tolkien wrote short stories, too. Many years ago I discovered his story Leaf by Niggle. Among other things, Leaf by Niggle is a story about a painter who senses an urgency within himself…
Leaf by Niggle – A Short Story by J. R. R. Tolkien – Thoughts about the Worthiness of Writing & Making Art
Last night [or actually at 4:30 a.m.], I still had not gone to sleep, and in my restlessness, I recalled a story that I discovered about 50 years ago–Leaf by Niggle–by J.R.R. Tolkien. You see, I am one of those people who knows that they love everything about Tolkien, but I have never been able…