NAPIBOWRIWEE 2013: Day 2 – Guest Blogger Katie Davis! (May 2, 2013)
Welcome to DAY TWO of NAPIBOWRIWEE! Did you survive Day One? I hope so. We’ve got a long way to go – six more days – so remember to pace yourself! Most importantly, remember to have FUN. This is NOT supposed to be a stressful event.
Thanks again to everyone for your fun and awesome comments on yesterday’s DAY ONE blog. So excited that everyone did such a good job! Let’s keep up the energy for Day 2!
Today’s guest blogger is picture book author/illustrator KATIE DAVIS. She is generously donating an autographed copy of her picture book, LITTLE CHICKEN’S BIG DAY for our contest drawing as well (contest results to be posted May 8, 2013). Keep reading below for more details…
In the meantime, for fun, I’m going to post an interview I did last year with writer and SCBWI rep LEE WIND on NAPIBOWRIWEE. Please check it out if you’re interested. Link below:
http://scbwi.blogspot.com/2012/05/paula-yoo-gives-us-scoop-on-national.html
And as a reminder, here’s the 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE FAQs in case you have any questions or concerns:
https://paulayoo.com/napi/?p=474
Before we get to KATIE DAVIS’ guest author Q&A blog, I wanted to share my Day One experience with everyone. FYI, this blog is VERY honest. There have been years where I did NOT finish all 7 books. I do not know if I will be able to finish 7 books this year because I’m so busy, but I will try! 🙂
MY DAY ONE EXPERIENCE: As many of you know, by day I am a TV writer/producer. Spring is the time in Hollywood known as “TV Staffing Season” as writers go out on many last minute meetings for potential jobs on TV shows being considered for the fall season. It’s a lot of last minute work and preparation where you have to read the pilot scripts and be able to pitch ideas and discuss the show thoughtfully with network execs and the show creators in order to be considered as a potential writer for that show. And every year, the job market shrinks – there are fewer jobs available for a huge pool of writers. I’ve been lucky so far, but I’m not taking any chances! 🙂
So for Day One, I was busy rushing around to meetings and preparing for other meetings. I was also stuck in a lot of L.A. traffic! I finally got home at the end of the day and was too burned out to write. Let’s just say I watched a lot of FOOD NETWORK TV. 🙂
Then I finally gathered up my energy after my daily afternoon ritual of drinking awesome Argentinean yerba mate tea (better than coffee because it makes you alert but NOT jittery). I pulled out my notes on the picture book idea I had in March. I started writing. I didn’t care that it was rough and very simplistic. But soon, a voice emerged. And that voice would not stop. And I realized… THIS IS NOT A PICTURE BOOK. THIS IS DEFINITELY GOING TO BE A CHAPTER BOOK!
I still finished it. I had to SIMPLIFY it so it could work as a picture book. And you know what? Yeah. It does NOT work as a picture book. It definitely has to be a chapter book. My idea was actually for a chapter book – it was much too complex for a picture book.
But I still consider today a success. I NEVER would have known my picture book idea was really more appropriate for a chapter book had I not tried to write a draft from start to finish. THIS IS WHY NAPIBOWRIWEE WORKS. You will not be able to know if your story works for the genre you chose for it unless you FINISH a rough first draft. So I realize I need to simplify for tomorrow. Everyone – please find a favorite picture book in your library and re-read it and you will see how simple the story is. That should take the pressure off for Day 2. LOL!
So it was still a successful Day One! Maybe one day I should start a fun challenge for Chapter Books? What do you think? Any suggestions on the format? I still want to do a future NAPIBOWRIWEE REVISION CHALLENGE one day, too. Please post in the comments any thoughts or suggestions you have on this.
Anyway… for DAY TWO… my mantra is: KEEP IT SIMPLE. LESS IS MORE. I’m going to try and figure out a book from scratch with a VERY simple idea. Today’s book may just end up being a good “writing exercise,” but it’s important even to do writing exercises because I’ve been working on novels and scripts all year that I’m out of practice with the shorter paced and pared down nature of picture book writing.
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NOW… onto DAY TWO! Today’s guest blog features picture book author/illustrator KATIE DAVIS (http://www.katiedavis.com). My questions for her and all our guest bloggers are centered around the theme of the FUTURE of picture books. It’s been an interesting five years since NAPIBOWRIWEE first started in 2009. So I wanted to ask our guest bloggers about their thoughts about the future of picture book writing and the industry.
I hope you enjoy this Q&A with KATIE DAVIS. She is generously donating an autographed copy of her picture book, LITTLE CHICKEN’S BIG DAY for our contest drawing as well (contest results to be posted May 8, 2013).
Remember to post a comment about today’s blog and about your progress on DAY TWO.
(Keep reading after the jump for our KATIE DAVIS guest blog!)
GUEST BLOG – DAY TWO – KATIE DAVIS
Children’s author/illustrator KATIE DAVIS has published ten books, nine of them for children and one for adults, an eBook, How to Promote Your Children’s Book: Tips, Tricks, and Secrets to Create a Bestseller. She appears monthly on the ABC affiliate show, Good Morning CT, recommending great books for kids.
Ever since Katie’s book trailers won awards, people have been asking her to teach them to create videos, so she create a course, Video Idiot Boot Camp to teach writers how to create videos that will get their books into the hands of readers. It can be found at video-idiot.com.
Katie produces a podcast, Brain Burps About Books heard in 78% of the world; she writes a blog and weekly newsletter; and hosts webinars, and creates products for writers and illustrators, all in an effort to “spread the gospel of kidlit.”
Katie is a two-time Cybils judge and has also judged the Golden Kite, smartwriters.com. Katie has taught in a maximum security prison teaching Writing for Children, is a member of the National Speakers Association and over the last dozen years has presented and keynoted at schools, writing conferences, and fundraising galas.
Katie’s latest event, VIDEO IDIOT BOOT CAMP, started on May 1, 2013. Please go here to find out more about it:
Q&A ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE PICTURE BOOK WITH KATIE DAVIS
QUESTION: Do you think the rise in popularity for the eBook will help or hurt the future of the picture book? As a writer, when you work on a new book, do you think about how it will “read” on an eBook reader as well? Does that affect how you write your book? As an illustrator, what challenges do you face if you know a picture book you are illustrating may also be distributed as an eBook?
ANSWER: I only think about it if I’m working on an ebook because it’s a different beast. I create for the medium. As far as the future of books in general, in the beginning, there were cave paintings, when paper was invented the caveman cried, “Oh no! There will be no more cave paintings! Paper will be the end of cave paintings!” Skip a couple of years and radio comes along and people cried, “Oh no! There will be no more books! Radio will be the end of books!” Then substitute movies for radio, TV for movies, VCR for movies, etc, etc.
We still have radio, TV, movies, and books. It’s just a new format. (Except that caveman did have a point).
QUESTION: There have been many “Boy Who Cried Wolf” articles in the media recently about how picture book sales have declined as anxious parents try to push their students into reading chapter books instead. Why is it important for children to read picture books? What makes a picture book special as well as important for a child’s educational growth?
ANSWER: I’m a big believer in the cuddle factor. There is something about cuddling up with a picture book, making the connections between the visual elements and the text that draws out delights and deliciousness. There’ve also been studies that the process of looking at a picture book does something to a child’s brain that sets it up for better learning. I might’ve just made that up.
QUESTION: Many aspiring picture book writers are discouraged by the doom-n-gloom reports of the declining book industry (Big Six mergers, lower sales of picture books, more emphasis on the writer-illustrator as opposed to the solo writer). What words of encouragement would you give to these aspiring newbies to NOT give up?
ANSWER: If you’re compelled to write, do it. That passion doesn’t change, no matter what the business is doing. You have to have that core of love to tell a story! If you base it on the machinations of the business you’ll never be satisfied anyway.
QUESTION: What challenges do you face as a published author/illustrator of picture books in these volatile times of the publishing industry? Have you noticed a change in your career in terms of what agents/editors/readers want?
ANSWER: Yes! Of course the marketing aspect has changed. We have to do so much more now. It used to be that we could throw up a page online with Joe Schmo, author and leave it for four years and it would be fine. We have to choose where to spend our time: Twitter? Facebook? Pinterest? Video? Actually, I truly believe video is the best way to get the word out on our work, and reach a broader audience. It’s so powerful to connect to our audience, to create a platform, and to leave a mark on the internet. Who knew we’d have to become jugglers?!
QUESTION: Any final words of advice or any epiphanies you would like to share with us about your own writing/art journey?
Journey is the right word! When I started in the late 90’s it was a different business. It’s been interesting watching it change and morph. Sometimes it’s been scary, sad, bewildering, frustrating, angering, exciting, wonderous, fabulous, satisfying and joyful… it’s everything to me. I love this business, and I feel blessed to be in it. Truly. I love being in it and I hope you find your journey!
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Thanks again to KATIE DAVIS for taking time out to answer our questions about The Future of the Picture Book for our 2013 NAPIBOWRIWEE event!
Tune in tomorrow by 6 AM (West Coast Time) for our Day Three blog featuring children’s book author VARSHA BAJAJ (http://varshabajaj.com).
In the meantime, good luck writing today. Please post any comments below for today’s blog with your thoughts, questions, and writing updates. You can follow me on Twitter @paulayoo. Please feel free to use this HASHTAG – #NaPiBoWriWee
I’m off to write! Until tomorrow’s blog, remember… HAPPY WRITING! WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT! 🙂
Love the fact that you are a believer in the cuddle factor! Me too!
Awesome! Love to find fellow cuddle factor folks!
Thank you, both, for sharing so much of yourselves! Katie, you really summed it up in your “journey” paragraph. Writing puts us on an emotional roller coaster ride, and what an awesome ride it is! Everyday we start bumping up the steep incline one notch at a time. By the time we get to the top, it feels so good to enjoy the ride down! I am about to start my Day Two MS! The hill is steep, but not impossible!
Thing is, it’s important to remember it’s not just one ride. You can take lots of rides. And sometimes it’s bumper cars. Okay I’m done with this metaphor now.
Love this. Yay cuddle factor. I also think picture books inspire a child to create stories of there own. I know my kids often come up with wonderful companion stories to those we read together. Day 2 story 2 – 🙂
That’s the best way to get kids to love books, and reading. Get them to create their own fan fic!
Great interview. I am just wrapping up my second draft here in day two. It is rough, really rough but it is complete.
My pleasure, Romelle, and thanks for the comment!
Thanks, Kristen! Good luck on your draft
Is there an “Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned from Cavepeople” book? Good stories (like how to survive a woolly mammoth stampede) can save your life. Stories are best told around an open fire and a meal. You can’t multi-task while fighting a saber-toothed tiger. Hmmm. I better find another day 2 project… Thanks Katie!
Lauri, when I was a kid, I used to listen to the 2,000 Year Old Man record, with Mel Brooks – talk about cave people! Hysterical!
Thanks for the insight, Katie. And thanks for the honesty, Paula. Day 2 draft is done. You were right, Paula it was easier. I pushed through the panic. 🙂
Thanks, Rachel!
I agree with Katie about the cuddle factor. Picture books offer so much in so many ways. Skipping ahead to longer forms is cheating kids of a time and space to look and learn in their own way.
But on another note, my juggling isn’t going so well–haven’t even figured out pinterest. Can I skip that and go straight to video? 😉
Thanks, Katie and Paula!:)
Dana, come on in, the water’s fine! Seriously, I truly, truly believe if writers aren’t involved in video they’ll be left behind in the same way those who never got online weren’t able to get their books into the hands of readers the way those who were, could. (Who doesn’t have a site now?) Whether you learn it from my course or elsewhere, you do need to learn. Hey – my first lesson is free and I have free tips going up every weekday during the launch, so subscribe to my YouTube channel and you can see if you’re feeling comfortable with it. You need to feel like you’ll really do the course otherwise it’s a waste!
I wrote my second PB draft today! Yay! I always love your posts and videos Katie!
Second draft! Woohoo! You rockin’ it, Kirsti!
Just wanted to add that I did my second 1st draft. Yay! And with some polishing it could be a fun little story. Good luck at all! 🙂
Loving this challenge! Day 1 was packed full and still managed to get a draft out that makes me sad I have to wait a week to go back to it…but on to Day 2!
Piggybacking on Lauri’s comment, I think video is bringing us back around to the ancient traditions of storytelling. Gilgamesh anyone? Oral storytelling has always centered on rhythm, song, and tradition. If a smidgen of that helps get books into the hands of readers, it is a cause for celebration!
Cathy – OMG – the video tip I recorded today is exactly that! I say in it that all video is is another format for storytelling!
Paula, I like your less is more mantra. Maybe I should try so e of your tea to get my creative juices flowing. And thanks, Katie for the wonderful Q&A regarding the PB industry. Very interesting!
You’re welcome, Romelle! It was fun to do! And I love Paula, even though I want her name so I can have this on all my children’s books: written by P.Yoo!
Great interview, Paula! Katie, I especially like that you mentioned the “cuddle factor.” I started reading to both of my kids way before they could even talk… and their first books were cloth books that they took everywhere… they even read to their stuffed animals.
Hope everyone has a great day!
When I taught Writing for Children in a max security prison one of the women there told me it never occurred to her to read to her children. We need this behavior to be modeled for us. It’s SO important and when we grow up in a world where it’s the norm we don’t even realize there are many people who don’t do it, but don’t even know it exists.
Great post Gals! Katie, I am constantly learning something new from you and am going over to subscribe to your channel right now! On my end, so far, so good. :0)
Donna, you just made my day!
I mean because I taught you something – thought I’m also pleased you’re subscribing to my channel!
Thanks for the great post Katie.I have definitely noticed how writers are so involved inthe marketing process. Book trailers are a great tool. Congrats on your award. And yes I have completed my second draft today. Thanks for the motivation.
What a fantastic interview — thank you for sharing. I will be downloading Katie’s ebook and subscribing to her channel. Even though technically it’s day 3 for me (I live in Australia), I started and finished a draft this morning which I am counting as day 2 and I’m going to try to write another to make up for missing day 1. Thank you!
“If you’re compelled to write, do it. That passion doesn’t change, no matter what the business is doing. ”
This is the line that resonated the most with me. Yes! 2nd story 1st draft is done!
Thanks for the inspiration and motivation, Katie! I’ve nearly completed a Day 2 draft, working with my preschoolers in the house, which I hardly ever do. Maybe writing with them around is possible after all!
Thanks for sharing your insights. I especially loved your comment about cuddling up with a picture book. I think that will never be lost–the joy of cuddling up while reading a picture book. I finished a picture book draft today. Will look forward to learning more about your video.
The Cuddle Factor — there’s a title! Children need picture books. And we will continue to supply it. That’s the true law of supply and demand.
Thanks for those thoughts on the PB industry Katie. Nice to know a little more about the Brainburns ‘lady’ 🙂
Hi Katie, Love your take on the cuddle factor. :o) Even if picture books became obsolete, I think I would still be writing and illustrating them. It’s a passion. If one gets published then that’s just icing on the cake. :o) I did get a second one done today. Well, actually it’s more of an outline. I have oodles of work to do tomorrow while I polish story one and two, while creating #3. Luckily I have a hair appointment which is a rare luxury of ME-Time that I intend to spend writing. Happy creating to all. T.
I write because I must and since I can’t do anything to influence the Big Six, I’m just going to keep on doing what I’m doing in the hopes that I will see my name in print one day on the cover of my own picture book…;~)
Great post!
Donna L Martin
In honor of the cuddle factor, I wrote today’s story with longer sentences, for parents to read to their kids. It’s about a corgi and two chickens (based on my corgi and two chickens, heh heh).
Great post Katie, thanks! Second draft done – soooo much harder than yesterday, hoping inspiration will strike tomorrow!
Wow that was an awesome interview and full of inspiration.Today I was having a hard time figuring out the middle of a story I made a rough draft of. Since I had an intro and how I wanted to end it but I couldn’t think how to put it together.Since I had a bunch of running around to do I turned my brain off this for a bit. When I was driving home the idea just hit me and I hurried home to type it out. Super I am super excited everything came together and I completed another goal.
Thank you for the advise. I wrote before I read this yesterday. Day 2 is done.
Commenting for the first time – and participating in NaPiBoWriWee for the first time. 😀
Great interview! It’s always great to read your take on things Katie.
I think hardcover books for children will always be around. I cannot say that for adults because many hard bounds are disappearing for soft bind books or tablet readers. Kindle and any tablets are great conviences for a variety of reasons but not for introduction of a book.
Foundation wise or structure wise, we built the understanding of books with REAL books. That is why, I think picture books will succeed. You will continue to see them in the classrooms. Hooray!! Continue writing my friends.
I better get back to my writing.
Here is my update that I forgot to post on here even though I posted it on FB…
The second and third drafts are finished! Yup, I wrote 2 PBs early this morning and have been revising two of my older PBs to send out to the May 12 x 12 agent sometime next week.
Hope everyone is having a great day!
Great interview..thanks. I’ve been working on PB manuscripts but am only catching up on the posts now.