Showing posts with label Suzanne Lieurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Suzanne Lieurance. Show all posts

Friday, February 6, 2009

Suzanne tells you how to break into the nonfiction market of children's writing

Six Tips to Help You Break Into the Children's Magazine Markets With Your Non-Fiction For Kids!
by Suzanne Lieurance


It's no secret that one of the best ways to break into the children's magazine markets is with nonfiction. So follow these 6 tips to have the best chance of acceptance with your short articles for children:
1. Study the markets - Each children's magazine is different, with a different style, voice, and variety of subject matter. Take time to study the markets you wish to submit to and you'll know which ones are the most appropriate for the articles that you wish to write.
2. Study Past Issues - Besides studying current issues of each publication you wish to write for, look at several past issues of each publication. Make a list of the various nonfiction article titles in each issue to get a "feel" for the way various authors narrowed their focus for each topic they wrote about. One of the big mistakes most beginning children's writers make with their nonfiction articles is that they don't narrow the focus of the article enough. If you want to write about camels, for example, don't propose an article that tells anything and everything about camels. Instead, focus on just ONE aspect about camels and develop your article around that.
3. Include subtopic headings when writing your article - These will break up your article into "chunks" which are easier for young readers to read. These subtopic headings will also "lead" the reader through your article. They will also make your article "look" more like nonfiction instead of fiction.
4. Give your topic an unusual slant that will appeal to kids and editors alike - When you do this, your article won't sound so much like a textbook. And articles that sound too much like textbook material are NOT in big demand with magazine editors.
5. Consider topics that will relate to themed publications - Many children's magazines have themes for each issue. And, even for publications that do not have themed issues, editors still look for topics that can be used for holiday issues as well as other seasonal issues. For example, most publications feature some sort of back-to-school articles in their August or September issues. In the summer months, these same publications tend to feature articles that give vacation tips or crafts ideas and games to keep kids occupied during the summer. So, be sure to include some of these types of article ideas in your queries.
6. Look for lesson known publications - Competition is fierce for Highlights, Spider, Cricket, and most of the very popular publications for children. You'll automatically increase your chances for acceptance if you query publications that don't receive so many queries.
Try these 6 tips and it shouldn't take you long to start receiving acceptances from the children's magazines that you query.

For more tips and articles about writing for children, visit the National Writing for Children Center and join the Children's Writers' Coaching Club.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The Locket by Suzanne Lieurance


Book synopsis:
Galena, an eleven-year-old Russian-Jewish immigrant, lives in New York City with her family and works at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory with her older sister Anya. The factory pays low wages and has terrible working conditions, making Anya yearn to join a union. Soon a horrible fire guts the factory leaving Galena with painful, horrific memories. Follow author Suzanne Lieurance in this dramatic historical fiction novel, as she describes how Galena uses the support of friends, family, and Jewish traditions to inspire her to fight for workers rights.


Product Details
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Library Binding: 160 pages
Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc. (April 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 076602928X
ISBN-13: 978-0766029286
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces

Purchase the Book at Amazon.com using this link

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Meet Suzanne Lieurance - Children's author extraordinaire

I had the pleasure of being on Suzanne's blog talk radio show last year about my series. Now, I get to host her this week for the Virtual Book Tour Yahoo! forum I belong to. Let me introduce Suzanne to you by presenting her bio and Tuesday, I'll introduce her newest release - The Locket. Later this week, Suzanne will do a guest posting about her writing workshops.

Hope you enjoy meeting this wonderful children's writer.



Suzanne Lieurance is a fulltime children’s author, freelance writer, and The Working Writer’s Coach. She teaches children’s writing for the Institute of Children’s Literature based in West Redding, Connecticut, and is the founder and director of the National Writing for Children Center.

Lieurance is the author of 20 published books and has written articles for a variety of magazines, newsletters, and ezines like Family-Fun, Kansas City Weddings, Instructor Magazine, New Moon for Girls, Children’s Writer, and many others. She hosts a talk show about children’s books, called Book Bites for Kids, every weekday afternoon on blogtalkradio.com.

Lieurance offers a variety of coaching programs via private phone calls, teleclasses, listserv, and private email for writers who want to turn their love of writing (for children and/or adults) into a part-time or full-time career.


Contact info:
Suzanne's website
Writing for Children Center
Working Writer's Coach
Book Bites for Kids
Build Your Business Write

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Radio interview reminder

Just reminding everyone that Ms. Elysabeth will be on blogtalkradio Thursday afternoon - It's at 2 p.m. central (3 pm eastern, 2 pm central, 1 pm mountain and 12 noon pacific). Hope you all can tune in and listen. Should be good since she's talking about us. Here is the link - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bookbitesforkids - the JGDS

Monday, April 7, 2008

Drats on the radio!!

It seems Ms. Suzanne and Ms. Elysabeth were having problems and couldn't get the radio interview done today. They have rescheduled it for Thursday, April 17, at the same time 2 pm central (for those of you who have to think about it - 3 eastern/2 central/1 mountain/12 noon pacific). Hope you can take some time and listen to Ms. Elysabeth - the JGDS -

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Guest author on Book Bites for Kids radio interview

If you will be around on Monday, April 7, 2008, at 2 p.m. central (3 eastern, 1 mountain and 12 Pacific), come check out Book Bites for Kids. Listen to Ms. Elysabeth being interviewed by Suzanne Lieurance from The Working Writers Coach.

If you would like to call in, here is the number 1-646-716-9239 and leave a comment or ask Ms. Elysabeth a question.

Hope to see you there - the JGDS -

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