The Mistake to Avoid When Writing Your Story

Hello! You're probably reading this because you are a writer. If so, I'll bet you've been asked, "What is your story about?" Knowing your story's aboutness and being able to talk about it in a couple of concise sentences says you're on the right track for delivering a focused story. 

What is “Aboutness”:

Some people call “aboutness” the theme. However, that word feels intimidating to me, so I

stick with talking in terms of  “aboutness”. Your story will be about something, right? Examples include friendship (Sophie’s Squash), boredom and conflict (The Longest Storm), problem solving (The Teacher’s Pet), navigating a new situation like a first day of school or moving (Evelyn Del Ray is Moving Away), answering the question “Where do babies come from?” (The Baby Tree), ingenuity and kindness (Extra Yarn), bravery (Truman), self-love and the power of words to hurt and heal (BIG), innovation and perseverance (Guitar Genius), curiosity and determinations (The Fire of Stars), trust and friendship (The Elephants Come Home), perspectives (Two Together), the environment and the interconnections of the natural world (A River of Dust: The Life-Giving Link Between North Africa and the Amazon) 
etc.

The above are picture book titles. My newest book (co-written with Mark Parisi) The Truth About 5th Grade is about friendship and perspectives. There are always two sides to every story!

 

Pro tip: THE MISTAKE to avoid 

Oftentimes, new writers believe picture books are about teaching a lesson. They are not.

Have an aboutness without hitting the reader over the head with a lesson. Entertain with interesting hooks, words, characters, and action. If a picture book comes across didactic or “lesson-y”, the young reader will probably tune out. Kids can smell preachy lessons from a mile away.

I appreciate how Ann Whitford Paul says “Children are wise enough to figure out what a story is about without an explicitly stated moral. We’re in the business of writing engaging stories, not teaching lessons” (Writing Picture Books, page 13).

Good luck with the story you are writing. 

Cheers,

Kim

3 Steps to Demystify How to Write a Query Letter and Attract a Literary Agent

 

Congratulations! You've finished writing your manuscript. Now, you're ready to query an agent or editor.

Let's go! 

There are three parts of a query letter: 

the hook, 

the book, 

and the cook. 

All parts should fit on one page.

Paragraph One (the hook):

Include the following in  “The Hook” paragraph:

• WHY - Why you chose the agent (e.g., I enjoyed your presentation at the 12x12 webinar)

• HOOK - Include a sentence with the logline/hook: a “hook” is a single sentence that fast-forwards a readers' understanding of your story, and it can include comp titles (e.g., SEE SHELL is a friendship and perspective story that's like Carson Ellis's DU IZ TAK meets Brenden Wetzel's THEY ALL SAW A CAT but set at the bottom of the sea). 

• Title (in all caps, e.g., SEE SHELL)

• Genre

• Word count

Links to an external site. title, genre and the word count of your book. Julie Fogliano had a sale post this week in Publishers Marketplace, so I’ll use the posted logline as an example (want to see more examples, subscribe to Publishers Lunch). If Julie had been querying this story, her hook++ lines might sound like this: 

FIRST LINE of the paragraph: Your first line should tell the agent why you carefully considered and queried them: Thank you for speaking at SCBWI New York or I enjoyed your webinar at blah blah blah or I enjoyed your interview on such-and-such blog and …your #MSWL…

SECOND and THIRD and FORTH LINE  (or so) for this paragraph: Your hook, TITLE, and word count. Agents might have a particular order in which they’d like to see your first paragraph. I've made this executive choice on the order for the sake of this example. I'll also refer to Julie Fogliano's sale that was announced this month in Publishers Marketplace.  If Julie had been querying this story, her hook++ lines might've sounded like this: 

EXAMPLE: Please consider my 464-word picture book manuscript, BECAUSE OF A SHOE, the story of a tantrum, and how even in the middle of NOT putting on a shoe, parent and child are still their unconditionally loveable selves.

EXAMPLE - a novelist might write: Please consider my 70,000-word YA sci-fi manuscript, THE UNACCOUNTED. It's teenage Jason Bourne meets The Prisoner of Zenda.

PRO TIP: want to see more examples of loglines, subscribe to Publishers Lunch). 

Paragraph Two (the book):

Write a paragraph about your manuscript that reads like jacket flap copy. Present an exciting glimpse of the story, and make us care without giving up the ending.

If you wrote a hero's journey story (rather than a concept book or something else) consider showcasing:

• The protagonist
• The inciting incident
• The stakes (why we care)

Look through your favorite books that fall in the same genre as your manuscript to understand the cadence for how a jacket flap sounds (you'll leave off the “about the creative team” portion). Imagine that you only have mere seconds to capture the reader's attention. A good jacket flap describes the story in such a gripping way that bookstore browsers are ready to slap down their hard-earned cash to buy the book. Agents may use this copy to help present your manuscript to a publishing house, so create a compelling and tight paragraph. Make it easy for the acquisition team to say yes! 

PRO TIP: Once you’ve created your tight paragraph, notice if your copy sounds like a bunch of stuff happening to the protagonist (uh-oh, that won’t be good), or if your protagonist sounds like a character in action (huzzah!).

Paragraph Three (the cook):

Links to an external site.

This is your biography. Make sure you include only relevant information—memberships (e.g., SCBWI), high-caliber writing courses, your MFA, publications, publishing awards, work as a librarian or work in schools. If you've written a STEM book about a scientist and you are a scientist, include that information - that would be an example of relevant information. Nobody explains the “how’s” of writing a biography better than Chuck Sambuchino in Writers Unboxed , so please visit the blog post. He includes an important list of dos and don’ts (e.g., don't say it is copyrighted, don't say how many drafts you went through, don't say your neighbor's children loved it, etc.).

You've got this! Congratulations on arriving at this step. Query letters take a lot of time and research. It's worth the effort!

Good luck!

Cheers,

Kim
P.S. SUBJECT LINE: A subject line will typically include the TITLE + GENRE. However, it might also include the word "Query". Please carefully read submission guidelines/instructions for each agent or editor you query. They will have these guidelines listed on their website. Don't assume any two will be alike.