Jennifer J. Stewart

Jennifer J. Stewart has advice for you.

Jennifer J. Stewart is on twitter, where she tweets at @JenniferJStweet, mostly about writing, books, and her life as it intersects with writing and books, but she is not above highlighting photos of cute animals. She is also on Facebook.

Jennifer blogs about her writer-in-residency with the Pima County Public Library, and gives advice to writers during a difficult time.

Jennifer gives advice to aspiring picture book writers.

Jennifer writes about The Importance of Writer Friends on Janni Lee Simner's Writing for the Long Haul series.

Need an editor? Jennifer is an experienced editor, and also can refer you to other editors, like Jim Thomas.

Cynthia Leitich Smith interviewed Jennifer about writing Close Encounters of a Third-World Kind on Cynsations.

This interview, while not recent, is also illuminating, especially if you are trying to balance writing with small to medium sized children.

There is a wealth of advice about writing and marketing your books and yourself as a speaker on the web. Here are some good places to point your mouse:

Agent Query (searchable database of literary agents)

Association of Authors' Representatives (is an agent for you?)

Authors Guild (information & counsel)

Children's Book Council (interviews with authors; research publishers)

Cynsations (must-read blog)

Katie Davis (podcasts)

Goodreads (books & favorite authors)

KidLit411 (it's got everything you could wish to find out)

Kindling Words (a retreat for writers, artists, & editors)

LibraryThing (organize your own library & browse your favorite authors' books)

Literary Rambles (shining a spotlight on authors, agents, and publishing)

Make Way for Books (give children a chance to fall in love with books & reading)

Number Five Bus (interviews with picture book creators)

Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) (because shared pain... is less painful)

New York Foundation for the Arts (search for grants)

Personal Best Stretch DVD (unkink those tight muscles)

Publisher's Weekly (subscribe to the Children's Bookshelf)

The Purple Crayon (Harold D. Underdown's site)

School Visit Experts (sound advice about public speaking)

Shaw Guides (search for writing conferences and contests)

Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (info, grants, discussion boards)

We Need Diverse Books (yes, we do!)

Matthew Winner (podcasts)

Writing Barn (podcasts)

If you want even more advice, check these books out. Books are free at your local library, but you might want to support an independent bookseller here.

The Abracadabra Kid: A Writer's Life by Sid Fleischman

The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers by John Gardner

Bird by Bird : Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

Blood on the Forehead: What I know about Writing by M.E. Kerr

Book Love: Creating Good Books for Children in an Age that Values Neither edited by Juanita Havill

Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market, latest edition

The Elements of Style Illustrated by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide for Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley

Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript by Chuck Sambuchino

If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland

It's a Bunny-Eat-Bunny World: a Writer's Guide to Surviving and Thriving in Today's Competitive Children's Book Market by Olga Litowinsky

Making a Literary Life: Advice for Writers and Other Dreamers by Carolyn See

A Shimmer of Joy: One Hundred Children's Picture Books by Chris Loker

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

The Way to Write for Children: An Introduction to the Craft of Writing Children's Literature by Joan Aiken

Writing Picture Books: A Hands-On Guide From Story Creation to Publication by Ann Whitford Paul (get the revised and expanded edition

This Year You Write Your Novel by Walter Mosley

Write Away by Elizabeth George

Finally, remember Mark Twain's writing advice: "When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean that, utterly, but kill the most of them—then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together, they give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective-habit, or a wordy, diffuse, or flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice."

Jennifer's top tips:

(1) Brand yourself. Think of what you’re good at, writing-wise. On my website, on my business card, and in my bio, I say I write “seriously funny books for children.” It’s a marketing ploy (I do have an MBA after all), but it works.

(2) Get over your fear of public speaking however you can, because you will be asked to speak and you will need to do it well. When I started speaking in schools, I was so nervous I plugged toilets. Get professional coaching or join Toastmasters if you need to, but get it figured out. Think of each presentation as a gift to your audience.

(3) Besides becoming a brand in your mind, you are also a business, and the creative side should not interfere with the business side, or the business side will get screwed. Start using contracts, find out what the I.R.S. will let you deduct (for example: mileage and office supplies), and become organized at least in this one area of your life. It will pay off.

(4) Guard and protect your writing time zealously. The more you are successful, the more you will have to fight to find that quiet place to create. Learn to say no. Have you heard the saying, “if you want to get something done, ask a busy person?” I think writers can get too busy, and then the writing doesn’t happen. When you are writing, do not answer the phone, do not check your email because it dings at you. Join Minesweepers Anonymous if you need to, but sit there and write.

(5) Enter contests. These are fun and they keep hope in the mailbox. Hope in the mailbox is very important. If you win, that is a feather in your cap and a credit for your resume that can be touted in a query letter. If you don’t, at least give yourself credit for having been disciplined enough to enter. It got your work out there, and if you tend toward procrastination, it kept you from succumbing to it. Keep your radar scanning for opportunities, such as grants offered by your state Commission on the Arts. Sometimes all you have to do is ask to get a conference funded.

(6) Keep learning about your craft. You don’t have to take a course, though if there were one in Tucson to learn illustration I would, but you do have to read magazines, websites, and books to keep up. I started reading The Writer magazine at age 12. I have never regretted that.

(7) Be professional and friendly in all your dealings. Pessimistic sourpusses don’t get hired. Editors want to buy books from promote-able authors. Other authors will share news and jobs with you, if you share with them.

(8) Offer to help out at conferences. You will gain extra access to editors and agents.

(9) Take care of yourself body and soul. There are going to be times in your life when it’s hard to write. Don’t beat yourself up if you are not writing when there are family crises going on. But get back in the saddle when they are over.

(10) Find a sympatico group of writers for a critique group. Find other writers, who may not be able to be in a group, but will occasionally look over a ms for you, especially if you return the favor. Often, I don’t see my own work clearly. See through their eyes to what is good, and what can be improved.

(11) If you get a bad review, remember composer Max Reger's response when his music was panned. He wrote to the music critic: “I am sitting in the smallest room in my house. I have your review in front of me. Soon it will be behind me.”

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