Blog posts by Carrie A. Pearson: children's book author

ARe you revising? The answer should almost always be yes.

5/1/2020

As a creator, are you surprised how much time you spend revising?

I am.

In fact, its one piece of being a full-time author that has surprised me the most. Oh, I knew I would be drafting and redrafting, but I didn't imagine how many times each manuscript would need revising before I could send it to my crit groups, then again before sending to my agent, then before she could send it out on submission, then again before an editor could take it to acquisition, then AGAIN before it would be a real live book on a shelf.

This short post called HOW TO BLEND STORY FEEDBACK INTO YOUR MANUSCRIPT by editor, then agent, now freelance editor, Mary Kole is a super helpful slice of the revision process. While she's mostly talking about novel revision, it also works for picture books. And since I'm in the stage of revising after my agent has reviewed and before it goes on submission, I'm actively trying Mary's approach.

I especially like that she distinguishes between an edit and a revision but you'll have to read the post to learn why that's important. #cliffhanger

What stage of revision are you in right this very minute? Do tell. And then get back to it.

10 ways to adjust course during a pandemic and still keep sailing

4/2/2020

Yesterday, I posted this visual on my author Instagram feed.

[Feel free to check it out but come right back!]

It speaks to the need we all have to try to maintain a sense of control in difficult times.

I imagine most of us have had to adjust our courses because our pre-pandemic methods and strategies don't seem to be working right now.

For instance, normally, I'm a half-full person and wake with an excitement for whatever project I'm invested in. Now, I wake with my typical excitement but the feeling is quickly tempered by the realization that yes, we are still in the midst of a huge, unknown, scary storm and we can't see the back edge of it.

Instead of feeling half-full and positive, I feel impending dread. But DREAD IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO HAPPINESS! DREAD IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO PRODUCTIVITY! DREAD IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO BEING ABLE TO SUPPORT OTHERS!

So, I allow myself the feeling and then picture it as a fluffy white swan feather floating away on the breeze -- a spring breeze that is ruffling new leaves outside my window. I see the feather-feeling and then I gently ask it to get the fork out of my house. Sorry if that's offensive but being real is one of my adjustment strategies. Here are ten more. I hope something here helps you.

Carrie's Ten Ways to Adjust Course and Still Keep Sailing

10. Two cups of caffeine a day is A-okay. Normally one does it for me but I find myself wanting another and I'm saying yes for now. The corollary to #10 is...

9. Two glasses of cold Chardonnay a day is A-okay. Normally one does it for me but I find myself wanting another and I'm saying yes for now.

8. Spend more outside time. Nature heals; it's a scientific fact and I feel it. My afternoon outside time is now two or three hours -- or more if it is a decent weather day.

7. Set smaller daily goals so I can literally cross more off my list. Those cross-offs are my brain's whacked way of feeling productive so I'm giving it more opportunities to feel good about itself because why not? Pardon me while I cross off "have second cup of coffee."

6. Stop what I'm doing and watch the neighbors as they go by. Really look at them. Try to imagine some extra contentment and happy feelings raining down on them like glittery confetti that doesn't hurt the environment. Normally I'll see two or three people in a work day. Now, many are walking, biking, running, strollering...it's great for them and also great for voyeur-clean confetti-tossing me.

5, Take a break and pretend to be my dog. She's happy most of the time and when I see her tail wag just because she looked at me, I remember that simple things like love for the person who feeds you really do matter.

4. Take deep breaths in and release them a few times while working. Shallow breaths increase feelings of anxiety. Fresh air fuels the brain.

3. Call people who have less ability to connect. Many older folks are scared in a different way, often live alone, and may not have as much technology available for connection. Just pick up the phone and call them. Make their day and feel good about it.

2. Recognize that I still need to create because that's my jam. Think of this time like creating potential energy. We are skiing/walking/running/biking uphill, creating potential energy with the knowledge that we will release that energy on the downhill. When it is extra hard, use headphones and turn on music that is meaningful and is a signal to create. For me, it is nature sounds on YouTube.

1. Give grace. Toss it around freely to those who may not act like you want or say things you'd rather not hear. I seem to be giving a lot of grace to myself. Oops.

Please add your own adjustments in the comments. I'd love to hear how you are managing.

And remember when I said we are still in the midst of a huge, unknown, scary storm and we can't see the back edge of it? I should have added the word "yet" to the end of the sentence. Although "yet" is a tiny word, it portends a big bright future.

Take care of yourself.

What's your reading identity?

1/20/2020

This Nerdy Book Club blog post, The Power of Listening, by staff development expert Clare Landrigan stopped me in my reading tracks. More accurately, the third to last line is what did it -- "Our conversations with them [students] are what spark the love of reading and help them develop a reading identity."

Say what? A reading identity? Merriam-Webster says a personal identity is "the distinguishing character or personality of an individual." So a reading identity could be defined as the distinguishing character or personality of a person's choice in reading material.

This set off a flurry of inquiry in my brain. What is my reading identity? It must change over time, right? Today, I'd describe mine as 1) heavily nonfiction and 2) focused on children's literature. This is very different from my early mom years which would be best described as 1) cereal boxes and 2) children's literature. (Hmm. Maybe there's a correlation there?) Right now, my 6 year old nephew's reading identity is 1) How To books and 2) Magic Treehouse.

What is your reading identity? How has it changed? Would you like to make a shift in it?
If you are an educator, can you zero in on each of your students' reading identities? Can you help them describe and develop their own?

If you are an author or illustrator, how does your identity (reading and personal) inform your work? Your voice? Your choice of next project? The way you share your books?

Lots of questions with no right answers. Just a bit of introspection on a beautiful winter day.

Winter Visit Schedule

I'd love to see you!

Even though I'm no longer in the classroom as a hands-on educator and I spend my days (and nights) writing instead of teaching, I still read educator blogs and books. I want to know how you, amazing teachers and librarians, are thinking about literacy development and the challenges you face. Hopefully, my books will help you!

Great Lakes, great books Ballots are due by january 19, 2020

1/10/2020

The Great Lakes Great Reads award bestowed by the Michigan Reading Association is an annual program to recognize excellence in writing for books about or written by authors with ties to the Great Lakes region. The awards given annually are for Adult and Children's Books. Children vote for their favorite book and winners are announced in March of that year.

STRETCH TO THE SUN: FROM A TINY SPROUT TO THE TALLEST TREE ON EARTH has been nominated for 2019-2020.

Color me proud to be in such great company!

If your class is voting, be sure to complete your ballots and submit by January 19, 2020. Instructions are shown below.

are you looking for a children's book agent?

1/4/2020

SCBWI-Iowa is hosting my presentation, Finding Your Agent Match, via webinar on February 10, 2020. This is a topic near and dear to me because I know that the right agent partner is invaluable. Yes, it took me many years and two tries before I found the right match for me. But I can help you shorten that process. This isn't meant to be braggy, but the hour you devote to this webinar and the resulting WORK you do, just might change the trajectory of your career.

Webinar Opportunity: Finding Your Agent Match with Carrie A. Pearson

Hopefully, your agent will be a long term business partner, creative collaborator, negotiations champion, and possibly the go-between for difficult conversations with your publisher. But finding an agent, especially the right agent for you, can be overwhelming. Where do you start? This breakout focuses on preparing for — did you know querying most effectively does NOT begin with your query letter? — and finding the best agent fit for you and your work. It’s not enough to find an agent; the better goal is to find your agent match. Carrie Pearson’s experience spans 12 years in the children’s book industry as an author, SCBWI Regional Advisor and consultant. She’ll share why she’s had three agents (the third one’s the charm!), help you think differently about your agent match, and give you tools to find him/her.

When: Monday February 10th at 7:30pm (CST) through Zoom
Cost: $10 SCBWI members, $20 nonmembers
Registration open now! Sign-up for your spot here.
Webinar will be available 2 weeks after the presentation to attendees.
Questions can be sent to: iowa-ara@scbwi.org

How do you research something you cannot see-- and never will? Guest blog post with Nancy castaldo

12/11/2019

So happy to be invited to be part of Nancy Castaldo's blog series on researching STEM kidlit. Nancy is an award-winning author, photographer, and environmental educator and it is an honor to know her. From her website:

Nancy Castaldo has written books about our planet for over 20 years.

Her 2016 title THE STORY OF SEEDS: From Mendel’s Garden to Your Plate, and How There’s More of Less To Eat Around The World (now in paperback, too) introduces older readers to the importance of seeds, farming, and the crisis we currently face. It received the Green Earth Book Award and many other accolades.

Her latest is BACK FROM THE BRINK: Saving Animals from Extinction. Other books include SCBWI Crystal Kite recipients BEASTLY BRAINS: Exploring How Animals Think, Talk, and Feel and SNIFFER DOGS: How Dogs (and Their Noses) Save the World.

Her research has taken her all over the world from the Galapagos to Russia and she loves sharing her adventures with her readers. She has conducted programs at the Boston Children’s Museum, Atlanta Zoo, Tennessee Aquarium, among others and has spoken at the Science Teachers Association of New York State, NCTE, Texas Library Association, and New England Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators.
HONORS:Many of Nancy’s books have received recognition, including an American Bookseller Pick of the Lists, a Smithsonian Notable Book For Children, a NSTA Outstanding Science Trade title, Crystal Kite Awards, Green Earth Book Award, and Junior Library Guild Selections.

In addition to these accolades, she was honored to be the recipient of the 2007 New York State Outdoor Education Association’s Art and Literature Award for the body of her work. As a long-time environmental educator, she treasures this honor and hopes to empower more children with her books about the Earth.

I hope you'll consider Nancy's books as gifts for yourself and for young people who are learning about the fragile and wonderful world we call home.

Why are pre-orders important for book sales and authors?

11/7/2019

Author Andrea Bartz schools us on why it is important to pre-order books -- and especially to pre-order from independent bookstores. This information appeared as a series of tweets on the Twitter. The individual tweets were threaded together by an app called Threader. Very cool, eh?

After reading, please consider pre-ordering a book!
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Andrea Bartz@andibartzAuthor of THE LOST NIGHT (@People calls it an "impressive debut with a nerve-racking finish" & Mila Kunis is developing it for TV) & THE HERD (out March 2020)Nov. 05, 2019

You have probably heard me stating that preordering a book from an independent bookseller is the most impactful thing you can do if you're going to buy an author's book. Lately some of you wonderful people have asked for more detail, so I thought I'd explain!

WHAT COUNTS AS AN INDIE BOOKSTORE? Click-to-buy (ahem), B&N, and other huge chains aren't independent bookstores. No hate, but I'm talking about locally owned, community booksellers.
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When you preorder from one of those, an actual human sees the sale and thinks, "There's local interest in this book! I should look into it." Maybe they'll be inspired to devote some table space to it when it comes out, or even to read it themselves and make it a staff pick.
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Your preorder from an indie bookstore also makes a book more likely to hit the NYT bestseller list (#dreamingbig), since the Times system heavily weights purchases at small, privately owned book shops.
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HOW CAN I FIND ONE? Go to  http://Indiebound.org  and enter your zip code on the right, where it says "locate an independent, local bookstore." (cc @indiebound)
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BUT WILL THEY STOCK IT? That's where your preorder makes a huge difference: It puts it on the bookseller's radar and makes them more likely to stock it! But even if they decide not to put it on shelves, they will order it just for you and let you know when it's in.
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BUT NOTHING'S NEAR ME! That's okay. You can still preorder from an indie bookstore and they'll ship it to you for a few bucks more; if you preorder from @booksaremagicbk in Brooklyn, I'll sign it for you at my launch party!
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You can also preorder a book directly from  http://Indiebound.org , and they'll split the profit between their member bookstores.
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BUT I REALLY JUST WANT TO USE AMZN...That's okay, too! Every single preorder matters and lets a publisher know there's early interest. I just wanted to share more info. Buying books is an amazing act, no matter where or how you do it! Thx, friends. 💕
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You can follow @andibartz.

#KidsNeedMentors

10/11/2019

Welcome letter from Jarrett Lerner

Have you heard about #KidsNeedMentors? It's a grassroots program started by a group of passionate people (teachers and a children's book author/illustrator) who want to move the needle on literacy through real connections between children's book creators and students.

I'd heard about the inaugural program last year and was bummed that I missed the window to apply. However, this year I was Janie on the Spot with my app and in late August, I received my pairing!

Ms. Stewart and I began to correspond (excitedly! with lots of !!!) and are developing a plan for connecting using the underpinnings of her literacy goals for the year.

We've started with a google sheet organized by month and our first interaction will be a video chat with her students to share Top 5's: 5 things about ourselves and 5 books we want to read this year. A little package is headed their way (shhhh!) and I'm looking forward to all the ways we connect about books, reading, writing, and exploring this big, wide world through literacy.

Here are the organizers of #KidsNeedMentors with their Twitter handles. Feel free to follow them!
Jarrett Lerner, author-illustrator (@JarrettLerner)
Kristen Picone, 5th Grade Educator (@Kpteach5)
Kristen Crouch, 5th Grade Educator (@KCreadsALOT)

To learn more about the program, visit Jarrett Lerner's blog HERE and HERE. Follow #KidsNeedMentors on Twitter and Instagram to see all the ways that creators and students are connecting. It's truly inspiring.

Wondering how to combine ELA and STEM?

9/18/2019

Author and empower-er Patricia Newman hosts a blog series called LitLinks for teachers and learners about how to connect English Language Arts (ELA) with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). She's using children's books as the connector. I was thrilled to receive an invitation to contribute to the series and talk about how to use STRETCH TO THE SUN: FROM A TINY SPROUT TO THE TALLEST TREE ON EARTH in the classroom. Click HERE to view the post. I hope you can use some of the tools I shared with your young learners. Let me know below if something resonates with you.

I hope you'll follow Patricia's blog and find her on Twitter. She's working hard to support teachers and now we can support her!

calling all librarians

9/9/2019

I'm looking forward to speaking at this conference for librarians, the superheros of the book world! For more information and to register, click HERE. Will I see you there?

How To Build a Better Story Without Writing It

7/9/2019

Recently I had the opportunity to be a special guest as part of the Picture Books and All That Jazz Workshop (PB & J) at the Highlights Foundation Retreat Center. You can see I was jazzed about being part of this workshop. And a Highlights experience has been on my bucket list for years, so...CHECK!

Now, I've attended literally hundreds of workshops, webinars, seminars, sessions, intensives and breakouts over the years and frankly, I'm usually not surprised these days by "how to write a story" material. However, during the Highlights workshop, co-instructor, Darcy Pattison, offered an approach that I found both helpful and unique. I'm going to give you the cliff notes version here. (If you want the longer, better version, you'll need to attend PB & J next year!)

Darcy is the author of many award-winning fiction and nonfiction children's books and writing instruction books so she understands story making. She lead us through an exercise in which we we TALKED TO a partner about our work in progress picture book story. We took turns telling our story quickly, then in more depth, and finally in enough depth that we had to really think about details and layers.

All of this happened without one letter of the story being written (or typed). Because we weren't committed to something on paper or screen, we could morph it based on reactions from our partners and our own reaction when hearing it.

When it came time to write, we began with a story that had been tested and thought through.

Guess what? The benefit of the oral storytelling approach surprised me! It shifted my view and my future approach to works-in-progress. Darcy mentioned she uses this exercise with students in workshops, too, and they also make great strides.

Innovative first grade teacher, Mrs. Sarchet in BC, Canada, takes the idea one step further and provides 'loose parts' for her students to build their stories before "capturing" them on paper or screen. Check out her blogs for more info.

"Telling a story from summer memories" Mrs. Sarchet

I'm hoping Darcy will add this element to her next workshop!

So if you are looking for a way to build your next story, find a partner, or a pet or even a microphone, and tell it before you write it.

Tell me how it goes!

Looking to Up Your Picture Book Game?

5/18/2019

I'm pleased as punch to be a Special Guest for the fifth Picture Books and All That Jazz Workshop at Highlights. Every year, this Workshop receives high praise from attendees. The Workshop is run by award winning authors, Darcy Pattison and Leslie Helakoski (also an author/illustrator) who focus on helping writers bring their manuscripts to higher levels. Here is the webpage from Highlights with much more information. A quick video below will likely get you all JAZZED UP. There are a literally only a few open seats so if you are thinking about it, don't think anymore -- just click TO REGISTER. Hope to see you there!

The Surprise, The Honor, and The Challenge

3/13/2019

"Here lies one doubly blessed. She was happy and she knew it."
-- Gwen Frostic's epitaph written by herself

The Surprise
On March 9th, 2019, during the Michigan Reading Association's (MRA) annual literacy conference, I was honored with their 2019 Gwen Frostic Award.

I hadn't a speck of an inkling this was in the works. So imagine my confusion when I was packing up my belongings after a presentation and was commanded to the late afternoon general assembly by a dear friend, author, and MRA board member, Deb Gonzalez. I think her exact text read, "Get here. Now." She immediately ushered me to a seat in the front row of a 1700-person packed room. Call me perplexed but I didn't have to wonder long because about a second later, the Award was described and I was announced as this year's recipient.

The Honor
From the MRA website: Gwen Frostic Award
"In 2006 the Michigan Reading Association established a Board Award that would honor a Michigan author and/or illustrator. The candidate must have strongly influenced literacy in Michigan in any dimension of literacy: which may include but is not limited to: children's fiction/nonfiction, young adult fiction/nonfiction, adult fiction/nonfiction, drama, song, poetry, newspaper, magazine or multimedia."

Sara Gwendolen Frostic was a beloved artist, author, and lecturer sharing "her observations of the universe." She was owner and president of Presscraft Papers, Gwen Frostic Prints, of Benzonia. Gwen was awarded honorary degrees from many colleges and universities, was inducted into the Michigan's Women's Hall of Fame, and was even given her own day, May 23rd, known as Gwen Frostic Day in Michigan.

Her nature-inspired art themes resonate deeply with me as does her willingness to pursue her passion for creativity. Her art is breathtaking in its simplicity, the way it engages the eye, and in its respect for subject. Through Gwen's art, we learn about the subject in its environment and like her printmaking technique, that subject is indelibly imprinted in our hearts.

The official Gwen Frostic website is linked HERE. I hope you visit and learn more about her and her work. PLUS, we now have a picture book about Gwen! NATURE'S FRIEND: THE GWEN FROSTIC STORY, a Michigan Notable Book, was written by author friend, Lindsey McDivitt, illustrated by Eileen Ryan Ewan and published by Sleeping Bear Press. Feel free to add this book to your collection and share with young readers.

The Challenge
"The candidate must have strongly influenced literacy in Michigan in any dimension of literacy..." Although the Award language is past-tense, this moment has stoked my commitment to positively influence literacy in the days, weeks, and months ahead. I also challenge you -- writer, illustrator, storyteller, teacher, librarian, parent, and/or guardian of our most special people on Earth -- to positively influence literacy in any dimension that YOU can.

Thank you to the Michigan Reading Association Board for this surprise, this honor, and this challenge.

To Gwen! To children! To books!

images from www.gwenfrostic.com

Pish, Posh, Let's Get Cleaned Up

12/29/2018

A quick look at the magazine rack at checkout counters reveals that January is the month to clean up and organize. I'm following suit inside my house but it dawned on me that I should peek into my digital home, too.
Good thing I did because my online profiles looked like this...messy, cluttered, and disorganized.

Cases in point:
1. My Google Knowledge Panel shows a book with no cover image and my profile picture is outdated. I'm in the process of getting verified as a the owner of that Knowledge Panel so I can make changes to it. Wish me luck.
2. The SEO site description on my website was clunky and didn't reflect my current writing emphasis.
3. My Amazon Author profile was out of date even though I did revise it before the launch of STRETCH TO THE SUN in October.
4. My SCBWI profile was out of date. Gulp.
5. My Facebook profile? Old and boring. Needed an overhaul.
Thankfully, my Twitter profile was okay.
How do you look to the online world? Need a dustin'? I'm right in there with you.

Agent Linda Epstein Dishes On Rejection

12/19/2018

No nonsense literary agent Linda Epstein offers up some thoughts about rejection. The format you see below is created through an app called Thread Reader in which all the tweets in a thread are stitched together so you can read them more easily -- like a blog post. It's pretty cool stuff.
Read Linda's thoughts and breathe them in. Remember that rejections are passes on work and represent opportunities.
Cheers, my friends.

Thread by @LindaEpstein: "Let's talk about rejection, shall we? I'm used to doling out a LOT of rejections. I request about 1% of queries I receive. For all you non-m […]"

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