I’ve only been in the business of writing children’s books for a couple of years and yet, I couldn’t even venture a guess as to how many times I’ve been asked to supply a biography for myself. Doesn’t it make sense to get one good biography ready and store it somewhere safe? Better still–email your…
Category: Jacki Kellum Picture Books
14-Day Picture Book Challenge Day 3 – Picture Writing and Word Painting – How to Write Descriptively
Day 3 Challenge – 14 Day Picture Book Challenge – Part A: Read Jane Yolen’s description of the setting in her book Owl Moon and after you have reduced the words significantly, rewrite it — without losing the power of the initial words. Part B: Rewrite the Setting of Your Picture Book. In another post,…
14-Day Picture Book Challenge Day 2 – Describe the Setting of Your Picture Book
For the second day of the 14-Day Picture Book Challenge, your assignment is to describe the setting of the picture book that you will be writing. You don’t need to write in beautiful, poetic words yet. You don’t need to consider the voice or the format of your potential picture book. You don’t need to…
14-Day Picture Book Challenge Day 2 – Write a PB First Draft in A Stream of Consciousness – What is Writing in a Stream of Conciousness?
Write in Stream of Consciousness to Hush Your Self-Editor Something about writing seems to intimidate and/or frighten many people. Writing in a Stream of Consciousness can help get you past that hurdle of fear of writing. What Is Stream of Consciousness Writing? a person’s thoughts and conscious reactions to events, perceived as a continuous flow….
The Donkey’s Song Is A Message about Love 365 Days A Year
Don’t get me wrong, I love holidays. I love the actual day of Halloween and the actual day of Thanksgiving and the actual night of Christmas Eve and the actual mornings of Easter and Christmas Day. When I was a child, I loved decorating a shoebox with construction paper, lacy hearts, and whatever else seemed…
Who Is Jacki Kellum, Author of The Donkey’s Song, Random House Children’s Books – 2022
“I am part of all that I have met.” – Tennyson – Many years ago, I read Tennyson’s words: “I am part of all that I have met,” and I can honestly say that all of my life’s experiences have become the core of who I am now. Today, as I continue to celebrate my…
Canva Is A Quick & Easy Way to Make Video Book Announcements for Authors & New Books
Without a doubt, the 21st Century is the heyday of video-enhanced data. I don’t need to quote professional sources to postulate that kids today spend an inordinate amount of time playing video games or similar video-oriented games. I’ll go beyond that and say that many of their parents grew up playing video games, too, and…
I Used Canva to Create An Announcement for My Debut Picture Book The Donkey’s Song
Several days ago, I tweeted the message that images are important to help build a social media base. And in that post, I advised authors to subscribe to Adobe Photoshop, which is expensive, at best. For years, I have subscribed to the entire Adobe Creative Suite, and I use at least one of its programs…
The Donkey’s Song Was Acquired by Random House Children’s Books Through #PBPitch – Tips for Pitching A Manuscript on Twitter
The next #PBPitch Event is February 17, 2022, and I thought that this would be a good time to remind picture book writers that Miracles DO happen via Twitter and #PBPitch. On February 20, 2020, I pitched several manuscripts through a #PBpitch Twitter event, and although my overall success was minimal that day, I am…
Writers Must Learn to Promote Themselves – The Importance of SEO or Search Engine Optimization
Perhaps it was different even 10 years ago, but in today’s market, writers must learn to promote themselves. And to that, I add that in the process, they must also learn how to harness Google. When I first began writing, I made the good decision to launch several blog sites. I have known for years…