Crystalee Calderwood, Children's Author

I honestly don’t understand why some writers  get so discouraged by one or two rejection letters. I have a short story that has been rejected five times but I don’t think it’s a bad story or that I’m a terrible writer. No, I’m giving it two more pending markets and then I’m going to take a long, hard look at it, see if there’s anything I can change to make it better, and send it back out again.

Revision never really stops until you hold the final product in your hand or see it published on your computer screen. Writers who don’t revise are only kidding themselves. Almost anything can be made better in some way, with a little work. The best advice I can give to any writer who is serious about publishing is to let other writers see your work and critique it. A fresh set of eyes often sees things the writer may not, simply because they are not as familiar with the work.

I’ll admit that I used to be anti-revision, but now that I’ve found a close group of writers to share my work with, I wonder why I ever felt that way. Their advice has been invaluable, and now I revise each of my short stories at least twice, and poems even more!

Rejection can sting, especially if it’s your first one, but writers must learn to stand up, brush themselves off, and try again. And if that doesn’t work, revise, revise, revise, and when the publication comes, it will feel that much more sweet!

My to-do list is always growing. Since I’ve decided not to focus exclusively on children’s lit, I’ve been exploring more genres than ever before. One of my favorite things to do is go through the deadline list on Duotrope and find interesting anthology and journal themes that catch my eye.  As a result, my current to-do list looks a little like this:

“The Problem with Fairies”- a fairy story for teens- first revisions done

“The Haunted Prom Dress”- semi-scary story for tweens- need to finish

a rewrite of the classic Hansel and Gretel- need to finish

a fantasy story involving food (vague)

a flash fiction fantasy

a rewritten Greek myth

Most of these are due in August. One thing that astounds me about this list is that there’s no poetry on it. While it’s true that I don’t write poetry much anymore, I really can’t pinpoint when I became a fiction writer either!

By the way, I’ve found that anthologies are fantastic ways to earn some $$ while doing what you love- writing! If I’m successful with getting most of these stories published, I will make at least as much as I’ve made on my picture book royalties in the past year.

According to www.bookjobs.com, a concept book is “a picture book for preschool children that attempts to teach a basic concept. Many concept books display illustrations or other art and contain only a few words per page. Concept books frequently focus on introducing children to subjects such as the alphabet, or colors, shapes, and sizes.”

If you think writing a successful concept book is easy, you’re wrong. There are thousands of books out there that teach children their ABC’s. How do you compete with them?

Today, many editors are looking for quality concept books that tell stories in addition to teaching a concept. No more “A is for Apple, B is for Book.” If your book can teach more than one concept at a time, that’s a bonus!

Some popular (multi-layered) concept books:

The Watering Hole by Graeme Base (counting, animals, the rain cycle)
ABC Look at Me! by Roberta Intrater (lift the flap for toddlers, ABC’s, emotions)
A is for Angry by Sandra Boynton (animal, alphabet, adjectives) *Also pretty much anything else by Sandra Boynton
Toes, Ears, and Nose! by Marion Dane Bauer and Karen Katz (lift the flap for toddlers, parts of the body)

I’ve always loved to read, even before I started school. I read every book my mom put down in front of me and every road sign on car trips. If it had words, I was attracted to it.

Although I’ve had phases throughout my life where I’ve done less reading than other times, I’ve ultimately always come back to reading. I think it’s important as a writer to read extensively, not only in your genre, but everything you can get your hands on.

Currently, I’m getting more into fantasy than I have in the past. I’ve picked up a copy of The Hobbit at the library, and I’m loving it so far! The book has always been on my “must read” list but it’s always intimidated me. It’s nice to see that my fears were unfounded! Also in my library stack: Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan. It’s a retelling of the Snow White and Rose Red story. My NaNo novel from last year is fantasy-esque, and it’s my current project to revise, so I’m hoping my choice of reading material will help me get back into the frame of mind I was in when I wrote it.

Libraries are great places! You can find pretty much anything you want to read at a well-equipped library, and if they don’t have it they can often get it for you. If you’re a writer but not a reader, I strongly suggest that you start. After all, how are you supposed to know what’s been done before, and what’s current, if you don’t keep up with books?

I’ve always wanted to start a lit mag or ezine. I’ve come very close several times. Recently, as I’ve been submitting my own work and learning the business of publishing, I finally discovered what kind of publication I should be doing.

Today, I’m officially announcing the opening of Paws for a Story, a ezine for new and established children’s writers. It will be published quarterly and each issue will be based on a broad theme. Our first issue will appear September 1st with the theme of “School Stories.”

I could never do this on my own, so I’ve recruited my friend Mark to help me manage submissions. He’ll be the guy who reads everything and weeds out the inappropriate junk before handing it off to me.

If you’re a children’s writer, please see our submission guidelines before submitting. We’re not picky, but we do know what we don’t want!

It’s important to me that I have a creative outlet other than writing. I’ve always enjoyed visual arts, even if I’ve never been good at drawing people or painting landscapes. I’m a bit of a sloppy artist, so mediums that don’t have an exact science intrigue me. I love to make collages because I can see with my eye where objects should be placed, and glue over things that don’t look good. I’ve always liked to take photos, but even more so now that digital cameras allow me to delete images that just don’t come out the way I want them to. I enjoy taking pictures of special events that I attend, as well as the great outdoors. I have a thing for trees, and I think my next project is going to be a photo collection of trees.

One of my biggest creative outlets lately has been Corel Photo Paint Shop Pro X3. I used to use Paint Shop pro way back when it was on version 8, and I had forgotten how much fun it could be. I can manipulate my own photos as well as make fun website graphics and signatures with royalty-free clip art I find on the web.

I’ve uploaded some examples here of what I can do with this creative software. Sometimes I can’t even believe I’ve made an image with my imagination!

The Spring Issue of Poetry Quarterly has been released! You can check it out online at www.poetryquarterly.com or buy your print copy at https://www.createspace.com/3449213 . Check out two poems by yours truly (“Rain and Mangoes” and “The Hustle”)!

Anyone who is serious about publishing short stories or poetry should visit http://www.duotrope.com .

I had heard about Duotrope before, and even visited it once or twice, but I didn’t become hooked until I joined a group on Writing.com for writers who are serious about getting published.

The site is an index of online and print publications, their submission guidelines, acceptance rates, etc. Users enter their progress into Dutotrope’s submission tracker and update when they receive acceptances and rejections, therefore creating the data that Duotrope provides on the site. Among the things you can see on each market are acceptance and rejection rates, how many pending responses have been reported, and for how long they have been waiting. The site is easy to use and provides an abundance of useful information. You can even view a list of the top 25 markets with the fastest average response time and the 25 markets with the highest percentage of rejections.

Since I’ve been using Duotrope, I’ve become much more organized with keeping track of my submissions, and I’ve received acceptance letters!

Just as a warning: Duotrope does not include most book publishers, including those who publish picture books for children. So, if you’re looking to publish in those markets, you may just have to come up with your own submission tracking system.