Julie Hedlund – Write Up My Life

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3 Responses

1. on April 21, 2010 at 3:22 pm | Reply Jennifer

   Hi Julie-

   I googled rhyming picture books and stumbled across your blog. Like you, I am a writer, and like you, I was at the 2010 SCBWI conference. Small world, huh?

   I am writing a children’s book but have written for adults in the past (freelance magazine stuff, etc.) The common thread is humor.

   Like you, I am struggling with this rhyme thing. I understand there is a slush pool full of bad rhyme, but must we all be punished?

   I am getting ready to send my book to agents, but I’m bummed about my diminished prospects. No Fair!

   I like the sound of your “group” book, but I am a word nerd. My husband and I know many of the “group” terms but when we don’t know them, we make them up (for instance: a “snob” of poodles, a “squeal” of pre-teen girls, etc.)

   Anyway, I just thought I’d write and try to connect with someone struggling with my same writer issues. Let me know your thoughts

   Jennifer Paisley

   
   
   • on April 21, 2010 at 6:30 pm | Reply Julie

     Hey Jennifer,

     Great to ‘meet’ you and thanks for stopping by the blog. I have a couple of resources that you might find helpful (I did).

     I recently took a rhyming workshop with author Linda Ashman, and she suggested a book called “Poem Making,” by Myra Cohn Livingston, which is a book that teaches children how to write poetry. It’s great because it covers all the concepts of poetry and rhyming in very simple and clear terms. It’s no longer in print, but you can get it used from Amazon.

     Another book I’ve been loving lately is called “Writing Picture Books” by Ann Whitford Paul. She covers rhyming and almost every other issue you can think of when writing picture books.

     Keep in touch and stay tuned as I’ll be writing more about rhyme and picture books. Do you have a blog too? If so, I’d love to check it out.

     
     
2. on October 11, 2011 at 12:48 pm | Reply Cathy Mealey

   “Beleaguered picture book writers everyone have all heard the news that today’s picture book market is tougher than overcooked meat.” I have no idea how long ago you wrote that, but indeed it still holds water!

   Your extensive sidebar list of kidlit resources, writers, editor blogs, book reviews, etc has provided me with many a happy hour of distraction when Query Tracker et al have become moribund. Thank you for collecting such a lovely resource!

   Has anyone uncovered a source for uncovering, with relative ease, agencies and publishers who are (a) not closed to unsolicited submissions and (b) have never stated “Will not consider submissions in rhyme.” Finding the needle in the haystack for whom conditions (a) and (b) both apply is tediously time-consuming!

   Thanks for letting me get that off my chest…