ON CRAFT

RESOURCES

FOR WRITERS & ARTISTS

Below please find general resources for all attendees:

General

1. How to Write Great Query Letter by Cheryl Klein

2. How to Format a Book Manuscript with Masterclass.com

3. The Submissions and Acquisitions Process (last update 2020)

4. Publicity vs. Marketing

5. The Give and Take of Critique by Linda Sue Park

6. The Pen Ten Weekly Interview with Renée Watson

7. Advice for Future Writers, interview with Elizabeth Acevedo on The Creative Come Up

8. A Few Rules For Predicting the Future by Octavia Butler

9. On Reading Habits: How Jacqueline Woodson Gets it Done

Usually when I’m writing, I try to read books I’ve read before. I try not to take on anything new. It’s almost like a study guide — I know the story, the structure, the characters. It’s just a matter of letting what I know wash over my brain and put me into the space that I need to be in to continue writing. When you read as a writer, you’re really engaged, looking at the language and how the author uses it to make you feel some kind of way, really learning from the text you’re reading. I can’t read careless writing, where people aren’t paying attention to language, and that’s why poetry really helps a lot. I also will try to read screenplays when I’m not writing, like when I’m going to bed at night. Sometimes ones I admire, sometimes brand-new ones that I think are doing something interesting. Like I was recently rereading Honey Boy, because it’s just an interesting structure. Or The Kids Are Alright, or Selma. Ones that really make me think about narrative.

Indigenous Literature

10. Indigenous Literature and Louise Erdrich Blog

11. American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL) Blog

Picture Books

12. Common Mistakes Made by New Picture Book Writers by Debbie Ohi

13. Finding the Heartbeat of Nonfiction PB Biography with Kekla Magoon (author of The Highest Tribute: Thurgood Marshall's Life, Leadership and Legacy)

14. A Thread on Process of Illustrating Picture Book, This Is a School with Veronica Miller Jamison

15. Read A Loud-ability with Traci Sorell (author of Pow Wow Day, February 8, 2022)

16. The Blur by Minh Le, illustrated by Dan Santat

17. Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper

Chapter Books & Middle Grade

18. Kidlit411.com is a great resource for different genres.

19. She Persisted Books on Researching Chapter Book Biographies