Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Authors' Advice and the Kid Lit Blog Hop #56

As writers, it is easy to feel that we are alone with our stories and our problems. This week I showcase the authors I interviewed in January and February of 2014 to share their advice for writers.

Write, write, write! The more you write, the better your writing will become. And remember why you write. This is a challenging and highly-competitive industry. For most, success is a long road. So learn as much as you can about marketing your book, and be patient. And most of all, thrive on the challenges, but don't ever let them take the fun out of your craft!Elle Jacklee author of The Tree of Mindala

Read a lot. Write a lot. Editing is your best friend. The first draft I did… ok, the first three drafts, were truly terrible. Have people who will read your work and be honest about what you need to change. If they say ‘nothing,’ they’re not being honest. I love Neil Gaiman’s quote, “Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.”

And finally, don’t give up. Even when it’s hard. Even when you don’t think you’ll ever succeed. The people who succeed are the ones who keep going. It’s what everyone says because it’s TRUE.
J A Blackburn author of Dragon Defender

Read, read, read, not only in your chosen genre, but others as well. Also, be willing to revise as many times as needed, and cultivate a huge amount of patience, perseverance and determination. Everything about publishing, traditional publishing at least, moves slow as molasses. You have to truly love writing in order to stick with it.Dianna M Winget, author of A Smidgen of Sky

It helps to have a very thick skin and learn not to take rejection personally.

Also, write for the correct reasons. You need to write because it is your passion, not because you think it is a path to riches.

Make sure that your book is ready before jumping into the publishing process. Self-published books need to be professionally edited and of very high quality if you wish to compete with the mainstream books on the market. The book market has been flooded with masses of books in recent years and you really need to deliver a good quality product if you hope to achieve commercial success.
Louise Lintvelt author of Dancing Drama Queen

I think the most important thing is to make writing fun. You must enjoy what you’re doing to do it well. So take a subject you adore and write about it. Every day. Until you know it’s right. On days I don’t feel like writing, I read over the last few chapters and immediate I start to edit and rewrite; since I’m a bit of a perfectionist, that always gets me in the proper mood.J. C. Whyte author of Karmack

Writing isn't easy! It takes time and dedication, sometimes pushing you to the very edge. Keep working and find something that helps keep your mind in the writing zone so you don't get off track.  For me, it's different types of music or just speaking to my sister so I can bounce my ideas off of her.Alicia Rivoli author of Mere Enchantment

Keep writing! If you come across an area that is giving you trouble don't dwell in the stuck position but rather make the choice to move on. You can ALWAYS go back later. I am much more productive operating this way.Crystal Marcos author of Bellyache: A Delicious Tale

And now,

Welcome to the 56th Kid Lit Blog Hop where we continue to develop a dynamic and engaged community of children's books bloggers, authors, publishers, and publicists.


On this Hop, Carpinello's Writing Pages interviews
Christian Author Cynthia P. Willow 
and 
YA Author Nancy M. Bell

You are always more than welcome to join us by popping in a post and hopping around to meet some of your fellow Kid Lit bloggers and authors! This week, we are excited to be including a Google+ Linky Party to be held in conjunction with the Kid Lit Blog Hop. These linky parties are designed to give you the opportunity to connect with and grow your network of fellow kid lit bloggers, authors, and parents through your various social media platforms. We are pleased to be welcome back Tiffiny from the blog Spark and Pook as co-host this week (two weeks in a row - woot!. Welcome back once again, Tiffiny!  

Hostesses:

Mother Daughter Book Reviews

Julie Grasso, Author/ Blogger

Cheryl Carpinello, Author / Blogger

Stacking Books

BeachBoundBooks

Pragmatic Mom

Best 4 Future: Bringing Up Baby Bilingual

Reading Authors

The Logonauts

A Book Long Enough

Co-Host:

Spark and Pook

Happy Hopping everyone and enjoy the Hop!

Kid Lit Blog Hop
 

Kid Lit Blog Hop & Linky Party Rules *Please Read*

1. LINKY PARTY: Add the link to your Google+ profile page in the Google+ Linky Party list below. Be sure to visit at least the two links directly before yours, say hello and "like" or share a post and follow folks as per your interests. If you do not have a Google+ profile, you are welcome to link up a different social media profile (Pinterest, Facebook, etc.). 2. KID LIT BLOG HOP: Link up any Kid Lit related post in the Kid Lit Blog Hop. This can be a link to a children’s book review, a discussion about children’s literature/literacy, or a post on a recently-read children’s book or one that you love from your childhood.
* Don't link directly to your blog, it must be a specific post.*
* For Authors, we prefer you to link to your blog if you have one. Please link unique posts each time ~ no repeats please. *
* Make sure you include an image relevant to the POST (e.g., book cover), not your blog button or photo of yourself.*
* Feel free to link more than one post.*
3. KID LIT BLOG HOP: Please visit AT LEAST the TWO LINKS from the Kid Lit Blog Hop directly ahead of your own and leave them some love in the form of a comment. We are trying to build a community of bloggers, readers, parents, authors, and others who are as passionate about children’s literature as we are so please CONNECT and follow any or all of the blogs that interest you! 4. If you like, grab the button above and put it somewhere on your blog, preferably the post you're linking up. If you'd prefer, you can just add a text link back to this Hop so that others can find it and check out all these great book links! 5. It would really help us get the word out about the Kid Lit Blog Hop if you would be so kind as to tweet, share, and spread the word about the Hop!

Happy Hopping!

 

GOOGLE+ LINKY PARTY

(Please do not link a blog post here - see below for the Kid Lit Blog Hop)

KID LIT BLOG HOP

No comments:

Post a Comment