Advice From the Pros

Every well-known author has a “brand”. Think of Dr. Seuss, J.K. Rowling, Judy Blume, John Green. When you see their names and their books, you get a sense of what’s important to them and how they see the world.

You may have done our own branding, composing a banner for your blog

VIDEO: Alice Kuipers Talks About How Writing Picture Books Makes Her a Better Novelist

Alice Kuipers, the award-winning young adult author, sat down with Laura Backes to chat about her transition to picture book writer, and how writing picture books helps authors learn the craft for every age.

Check out all of Alice Kuipers’ books at alicekuipers.com.

Writers’ Block—Under, Over, Around and Through

What causes writers’ block and how can we conquer it? Does writers’ block even exist? Is it best to “take two aspirin and go to bed” until it passes? Or is it best to fight it?

I’ve done both. And, depending upon what’s causing the block and my own mood,

Taming Writer Gremlins

Writing is hard work. It is also fragile work in that we, the writers, are sometimes open to hurt as we engage in the delicate process of putting words, the right words, on paper or screen. Though we might like to think that we write in our ivory towers or

Understanding Copyright and Fair Use

COPYRIGHT

Did you know that you have invoked a copyright as soon as you write something—putting it on paper or other media? For many years I didn’t understand this concept. I thought I needed to take out a copyright on each short story, article, or book I wrote.

Nailing Down the Interview

Most writers at one time or another will conduct an interview to learn more about a career, a person, a historical event, etc. Interviewing does not come naturally to many individuals, especially those writers who tend to be introverted (like me). But there are skills we can learn to make

Author Tamera Will Wissinger Talks About Gone Fishing, A Novel in Verse

interview by Anne Tews Schwab

Novels in verse are most often written for young adult readers and typically tackle difficult subjects. But Gone Fishing: A Novel in Verse by Tamera Will Wissinger is a novel in verse written for a different audience (the middle grade crowd) and covers a

To Build a Career, Give ‘Em What They Want

Nordstroms is a department store with a well-deserved reputation for providing not only quality goods but also quality service. Customer loyalty to the store is legendary. Associates are schooled in “the care and feeding” of customers.

Okay. You get it. Nordstroms is a great store. (And no, I’m not

A New Classic Easy Reader: Penny and Her Doll

When you blog about books, the publishers usually send you the books several months before the book is available to the public.

This is because print magazines have a long lead time. It’s a matter of timing. Publishers want reviewers to have enough time to read their books

Increase Your Writing Income (and Even Make a Decent Living!)

Unless you have a full time job writing, whether for a newspaper, a technical journal, or somewhere else, making a living wage by writing is tough. In fact, everything about writing is tough.

So, how do you go about making a decent living with freelance writing? The short answer

Claire Rudolf Murphy Talks About What’s Hot in Nonfiction Today

In the December 2014 issue of Children’s Book Insider, author Claire Rudolf Murphy spoke with Anne Tews Schwab about her newest nonfiction book, My Country ‘Tis of Thee: How One Song Tells the Story of Civil Rights. Here, they continue the discussion on what’s selling today in the nonfiction market,

Give Your Story an Emotional Core

by Natasha Wing

A while back, I had a talk with my agent about my career and what I could do to revive it. After writing for 22 years, I have produced A LOT of stories (at least 100 and counting), and consequently, she has submitted a great number

VIDEO – How to Write Compelling Dialogue, Part 2

In Part Two of her dialogue tutorial, writing coach Teresa Funke covers the most common dialogue challenges, including using slang and cussing, dialect and accents, inserting humor into the conversation, and linking the dialogue with the character’s movements.

To download a pdf transcript of this video, or to learn

Five Ways to Write Romance into New Adult Fiction

In this exclusive Insider bonus video, Deborah Halverson, author of Writing New Adult Fiction, gives five pointers for adding romance (and sex!) to your fiction for readers age 18-25.

To see Laura’s entire interview with Deborah Halverson, go to writeforkids.org.

Insider Bonus: Our eBook Experts Give Their Single Best Tip for Creating eBooks

If you haven’t watched my talk with eBook experts Deb Drum and Amy Harrop click here to watch it.

Now, here’s the bonus video that’s only for CBI Insiders. Enjoy!

How to Attend the Bologna Book Fair as a Writer

by Allison Pomenta

Editor’s note: Attending an international book fair is a terrific way to see what’s happening in publishing on a global scale, and also allows indie authors an opportunity to make connections with foreign publishers who might want to publish their books. Plus, it’s a tax-deductible trip! But

CBI Insider Exclusive Video: Emma Dryden on the 5 Biggest Pitfalls That Kill Children’s Writing Careers

insider bonus

When Laura sat down with acclaimed children’s book editor Emma Dryden for her writeforkids interview, she saved something very special just for our Insiders. In this CBI Clubhouse-only video, Emma describes the 5 things that can kill your career before it even gets rolling. This is really powerful advice

Interview with Middle Grade Author Tom Angleberger

Editor’s Note: Beginning in March 2012 with The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda, and continuing through Darth Paper Strikes Back; The Secret of the Fortune Wookie; Fake Mustache: Or, How Jodie O’Rodeo and Her Wonder Horse (and Some Nerdy Kid) Saved the U.S. Presidential Election from a Mad

Watch Our Expert Guide Webinar!

On October 9, Fightin' Bookworms from across the globe joined us live as we answered some of your most pressing questions. We recorded the webinar…and here it is!

(quick note — we lost video near the very beginning and about halfway through. It's just a minute or two, and the

Writing a YA Fantasy Series: an Interview with Karyn Henley

From the Harry Potter books to Christopher Paolini’s Eragon novels, fantasy series have long been teen favorites. I asked author Karyn Henley, author of the Angelaeon Circle novels, to give you some tips about writing in this popular genre.

The Angelaeon novels center on a young priestess who is drawn

A Few Minutes with Author Linda Urban

This month I am so pleased that Linda Urban granted my request for an interview. I became a huge fan of her work with her first novel, A Crooked Kind of Perfect , and my appreciation only grew after reading her second novel, Hound Dog True . Two things

Ask the Author: Dian Curtis Regan

One of the most versatile and accomplished writers in children’s literature shares her advice!

Over the years, we’ve given readers, aspiring authors and lovers of children’s literature the opportunity to interact directly with some of their favorite writers. The result: a number of revealing conversations with some remarkable authors. We’re proud to present a few of the best

VIDEO: Interview with Debbie Dadey on Promotion, Publishing & the Writing Process

Debbie Dadey is the author of over 150 children’s books, including The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids series. Debbie was a first grade teacher and librarian before becoming a full-time writer.

Her award-winning “books for reluctant readers” have been published by Scholastic, Tor/Starscape Publishing, Hyperion Press, Bloomsbury USA,

Author Linda Arms White on Writing From Historical Events

In this informative podcast, Laura chats with picture book author Linda Arms White about writing biographies and books based on actual historical events.

PODCAST – Maggie Stiefvater’s Writing & Promotion Tips

The wildly popular author of Shiver, Linger and Forever shares some wonderful advice just for Insiders!

PODCAST – Writing YA for Dummies

Listen to Deborah Halverson, an award-winning young adult author and former Harcourt editor, talk about her newest book Writing Young Adult Fiction for Dummies. In this podcast, Deborah gives tips for writing teen dialogue and knowing if your book has the all-important “hook” that editors want. Check out

PODCAST – Steve Swinburne on Writing Humor, Nonfiction, Mysteries & More!

Listen in as Laura chats with multitalented children’s author and photographer Steve Swinburne.

Steve is the author of more than 25 books, including Wiff and Dirty George – The Z.E.B.R.A. Incident (wiffanddirtygeorge.com), Ocean Soup: Tide Pool Poems
(oceansoupbook.com) A Butterfly Trail and Saving

Ask The Author: Lois Lowry

Legendary author Lois Lowry discusses her writing process, and the one change she would make to The Giver.

PODCAST – Middle Grade Author Donna Gephart on Reaching Young Readers

Laura chats with award-winning author Donna Gephart about writing humorous middle grade fiction, tapping into the concerns of that age group, and reaching her market. Visit www.donnagephart.com to see the trailer for her newest novel, How to Survive Middle School.

Listen now:

[audio:http://cbiclubhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Interview-Donna-Gephart.mp3]

Or right click and

A Quick Visit with Author & Editor Diane Muldrow

Diane Muldrow is an established editor and children’s author of many books for all ages.

Her books include the Dish Series, Groovy Girls Series, Mama, Where are You? and Mama, What’s in There? She was interviewed for The CBI Clubhouse by Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff

As an author who has a