Children's book writers need to think in terms of what you see on the page verses what you see in the words. A thing that was really, really helpful for me was to take a 14 sheets paper and fold them in half. Then you do that write, patronize in your hand, and then you take each one of your lines and put it on each one of those pages. And then you can see the pacing of your story. Oh, that makes a agonito and rit.
Shanimarie has a story in her heart, one she believes the world needs to hear. It’s a story of immigration, sacrifice and a mother’s love that this first-grade teacher wishes she had read as a young girl who moved from Jamaica to the U.S. Shanimarie has been working on the idea for a couple of years now. She’s submitted a manuscript to several publishers, but is making the rookie mistakes that most aspiring authors make. On this episode of How To!, we bring on Denene Millner, a New York Times best selling author of over 30 books who runs a children’s book imprint at Simon & Schuster. Denene focuses on stories about the humanity of Black children and shares some insider knowledge with Shanimarie about telling your story in a way that publishers, and children, can’t ignore.
If you liked this episode, check out: “How To Write a Bestseller” with author Taffy Brodesser-Akner.
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