Follow Fest

This is something new for me. I'm participating in Melissa Maygrove's Follow Fest. It's a way for readers on my blog to connect with other writers (whether you're a writer or not). The idea is for you to read my blog with my personal info, and then follow the above link (either click on the "follow fest" board or where it says "Melissa Maygrove's Follow Fest" in the text) and it will take you to Melissa's page. You can read her info there, and then scroll down to where it says "To return to the Linky, click here." You will find the other lists of participants at the bottom of that page. (You can also sign up for the Follow Fest, if you want to.)

Here's my info:

Name: Christine M. Irvin

Fiction or nonfiction? I write both fiction and nonfiction.

What genres do you write?  Picture books, chapter books

Are you published? Yes. I started writing professionally nearly 20 years ago. At that time, I had my heart set on being a picture book writer. I found out it was very tough to get published as such, so I turned to other forms of writing in order to create a portfolio of published work. I wrote a couple of poems that were published in a local newspaper. I became the Publicity Chair for my daughter's Girl Scout Troupe as well as for her elementary PTA and then her high school marching band (and later at my son's elementary school and high school). As such, I wrote lots and lots of press releases about the various groups' activities. These were published in local newspapers as well. I wasn't making much money, but I was compiling a long list of publishing credits. During this time, I sold a children's story to Highlights for Children and another one to Our Little Friend.

And, I somehow managed to convince the editor a Franklin Watts to take a look at a proposal I had for a series of children's craft books. He liked the idea and wanted to see more. To make a very, very long story very, very short, I am now the author of eight craft books, known as the "Mania Craft" series because each title in the series has the word mania in it, i.e., MILK CARTON MANIA, CRAFT STICK MANIA, CARDBOARD TUBE MANIA, etc. After Children's Press (which bought out Franklin Watts) published them in 2002, Gramercy Press (a division of Random House) bought the rights to publish a "bind-up" of three of the volumes and called it CRAFT MANIA. I am also the author of a fictional picture book, ISAAC THE FROG, published by Sprite Press, a very small press owned by a friend of mine, as well as a book that I self-published along with two of my friends called THE LITTLE LIGHTHOUSE. 

I thought I had it made when it came to writing stuff for kids. I mean, I had a whole series of books under my belt. Every editor would want to publish my material. Right? Wrong! I hit a dry spell where I didn't sell anything and I didn't have much published. I was getting very discouraged. So I looked around for more ways to get exposure as a writer.

That's when I came across an opportunity to start writing book reviews of an online website, called Christian Children's Book Review. I started writing book reviews for them several years ago, and still write for them today. I now write reviews for other sites, as well: Book Reporter, Teens Reads and Kids Reads. And, I branched out into writing articles, recipes and blurbs for websites on a freelance basis.

In the past few months, although I continue to write book reviews and articles for websites, I have turned my attention back to writing for children, specifically in the form of picture books. I joined Julie Hedlund's 12 x 12 group, and was so inspired by all the wonderful posts from fellow members, I am now a member of Kristen McGill Fulton's WOW nonfiction FB page, as well as the 12x12 Member's Forum, the 12x12 FB page, and the Children's Book Creative FB page. I also belong to two picture book critique groups, one for fiction and one for nonfiction.

Do you do anything in addition to writing? I do editing and proofreading on a freelance basis. I also do something this is unrelated to writing, and that is crafts.

Where can people connect with you?

You can connect with me in a number of ways:

1) Through this blog. Just post a comment and I will get it. Or email me at: alamarr@sbcglobal.net.
2) Follow me on Twitter. The "Twitter" button is on the right-hand side of this blog.
3) Make me your friend on Facebook.
4) Link with me on LinkedIn.
5) Pin with me on Pinterest.
6) Read my book reviews on the Christian Children's Book Review website.
7) Read my book reviews on the Book Reporter website.
8) Read my book reviews on the Teen Reads website.
9) Read my book reviews on the Kids Reads website.
10) Read my book reviews on Amazon.com.
11) Visit my author page on Amazon.com.
12) Like my Stitches 'n Pearls Facebook page. This page is set up for my crafts as well as for my daughter's jewelry-making.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know?

I think I've covered everything. If you have any questions or comments, I'd love to hear from you! 

Good New and Bad News

Well, I have good news and bad news.

The bad news first: My previous blog entry was part of a contest called the "The Write Voice" for middle grade and picture book writers. To be part of the contest, you had to first be picked randomly from other entrants. There were 247 entries, and 150 open slots. I was picked to get one of the slots. If you were given a slot, you had to post a query letter and the first 250 words of your manuscript (or a description of it if it was a short picture book). That's what the previous blog entry was for. After all the letters and manuscripts were posted, then a couple of "writing coaches" were to read through all the entries and select those they wanted on their team (much like on the TV show, "The Voice", hence the name of the contest). The last day to be chosen for a team was yesterday, May 10. I wasn't picked to be on a team so I'm out of the contest. The lucky ones who were picked get to work with writing coaches to improve their submissions. Then a group of literary agent are going to read over those entries and choose the ones they want. Since I didn't get chosen for a team, I'm out of the contest.

But, thanks to the good folk who came by, read my entry, and wished me luck. I appreciate it.

Now, for the good news: I learned a lot from this contest.

Blogging - part one: In order to submit, you had to have a blog of your own. I had a blog of my own, this one I started years ago and neglected. I hesitated to use it for my contest entry as it needed so much work, but I went ahead and used it anyway. After making my post, I visited the sites of some of the other contest entries (there was a list posted of everyone who had entered, along with links to their blogs). Yes, I had a blog, but my blog was rather pitiful in comparison to others that I saw. That's when I decided to update and upgrade my blog. Since the initial contest entry, I've done a total revamp of my blog. It looks incredibly better than it did when I first started (if I do say so myself!). The look of the blog wasn't supposed to make a difference in the coaches' choices for team members, but maybe, unconsciously it did. At any rate, I have a better blog to use for any future contest entries.

Blogging - part two: The second part of blogging deals with the actual act of blogging. Something else I've learned from all this is that most of the successful writers have blogs - and they keep up with them. I have resolved to do a better job of using and maintaining this site in the future. As stated in a previous post, I plan on posting at least once a week. I've got all kinds of topics I'm considering for my blog entries, so stay tuned and see what I post. Also, please feel free to leave a comment on this post, or any blog post, with any questions you might have, or any suggestions for future entries.

Query Letters: A big part of this contest dealt with the query letter. For those of you who are not too familiar with writing lingo, a query letter is the cover letter you send to an agent and/or editor "querying them" about your story, article, book for idea. The query letter is used to describe your project, tell the agent/editor a bit about yourself, and ask them ("query them") if they would be interested in reading more. In comparison to other query letters I've read as part of this contest, I think my query letter is descriptive, and maybe adequate, but it doesn't have a whole lot of "zing" to it. I need to revamp it to make it more exciting.

The first 250 words: It's important to grab the reader's attention to your story in the first 250 words. That's all we were allowed to post for this contest. 250 words sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. In terms of a manuscript, 250 words is equivalent of roughly one type-written, double-spaced page. So that means you need to grab the reader's attention, and peak their interest, by the time they've finished reading the first page. That can be difficult. I thought I did pretty well with my first 250 words, considering the nature of the story, but I would certainly be open to any thoughts, ideas and suggestions as to how I might improve the beginning of this story. Thanks!

Now, it's time to put this contest behind me, and get ready for what's coming up ahead. I'm eager to improve my writing so I can sell more stories.