INK Sisters Write

Dear Alison, E is for Escape, and that's what books provide me--a means to escape. My life shifted into hyper-warp speed back in March. I've managed to keep up with it, but it seems with every hat I wear ($10 baseball caps and visors, not those fancy $800 hats from that shop you mentioned where you're not even permitted to touch the feathers) everything's taking thirty to sixty minutes longer than it should, Caffeine and I are having a not-so-secret love affair. My only escape is reading books. When I slip into the pages of a book, I lose myself. I forget the time, my To Do list, tomorrow. I escape, and Alison, in this crazy world called life, everyone needs an escape. E is for Edits. My edits for Starr Fall, Book One came in the day after I submitted Book Two for review. The day after my body and my brain hit the wall. The idea of the dreaded editorial letter and the bruises I still suffered from my crash made me reluctant to click on the email. In fact, I only pe...

Dear Kim, Thank you for the William Joyce recap. I really enjoyed his talk and more so was impressed with the way he kicked off the #NY16SCBWI conference. There was a certain amount of: MAKE IT WORK air to this year's conference. Don't you agree? It seemed to pulse with themes like HARD WORK, WRITE...NOW, and DO THE WORK. All themes that I can get behind. I was also pleasantly surprised with the level of guidance in each breakout session this year, at least the sessions that I was able to attend. It is difficult to fit lecture, writing exercises, and leave time for questions when only given one hour per breakout session. Alvina Ling's session on plot gave me a bucket full of strategies (and tangible models from Alvina's rockstar editorial perspective), all crammed into a single hour. Alvina began her session with a show of hands. How many start with character? Setting? A single scene? And how may start with plot? In the room of one hundred or so folks the fewest ...

OR The Long Title: How to Incorporate Revision Notes in Your Manuscript  (I like mine better) Moderated by Author, Martha Brockenbrough By Friday afternoons, most of us fizzle and droop after a long week. We're ready to shed our work clothes for our yoga pants and sweatshirts. For attendees of the conference, we already sat through a morning Agent Panel and two Group Intensives, but rather than sneak away for a caffeinated beverage, we gathered back in the ballroom for the Final Editor Panel.  I LOVED this session. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED. The Editors got along brilliantly. They were smart, funny, and nice, oh so nice. They LOVE books as much as we do, and they understand that it's tough being under the microscope--but a wonderful, marvelous, amazing relationship could turn an ordinary book into something extraordinary, provided we remember they're regular people just like us. (Sometimes Cliche adjectives get the point across! Catch my drift:) Sara Sargen t, ...

SCBWI members, writing is a lonely business and just when you think you're ready to submit or you do submit, it's actually time to work with an editor. Here's an amazing opportunity for you. Harold Underdown, a well known and respected Editor and SCBWI member, extended the Early Bird Registration for his next workshop. CHECK IT OUT! Editing Without an Editor Lancaster, PA: July 19, 2014 at the Lancaster Public Library Do you have a children's or YA manuscript--picture book, novel, or nonfiction--that needs work? Do you wish you could learn techniques that would help you revise not only this manuscript, but future ones? Then come to the KBR "Editing without an Editor" workshop. Learn how to revise like an editor from a children's book editor. We have drawn on the methods we've used in editing manuscripts while working with publishers, with individual clients, and in the online Kid's Book Revisions class to create this comprehensive workshop. ...

Let Harold Underdown provide you with the tools you need to take your manuscript to the next level!! The man knows his STUFF!! Here's the link in case you want to go right to the site : http://www.kidsbookrevisions.com/editing-without-an-editor-lancaster-2014.htm Editing Without an Editor Lancaster, PA: July 19, 2014 at the Lancaster Public Library Do you have a children's or YA manuscript--picture book, novel, or nonfiction--that needs work? Do you wish you could learn techniques that would help you revise not only this manuscript, but future ones? Then come to the KBR "Editing without an Editor" workshop. Learn how to revise like an editor from a children's book editor. We have drawn on the methods we've used in editing manuscripts while working with publishers, with individual clients, and in the online Kid's Book Revisions class to create this comprehensive workshop. We begin by creating an overall framework, comparing "reader respon...