Friday Five

1. More snow dumped on central New Jersey. Need I say more? Oh yeah, there's broom buried in the snow somewhere next to the driveway. I stuck it in the snow and then I think it got buried by the snowblower. I made a meager attempt to find it but then decided it was easier to just buy a new one or not do any sweeping until spring.

2. Worked on several writing proposals this week to send out to more educational publishers. I forget how time consuming these proposals can be but I wanted to get them done before my writing class starts next week.

3. Researching packagers to submit to. I've never submitted to packagers before so this is a first for me.

4. I have designated one morning each weekend to taking the Princess Next Door to Panera to sprinkle some fairy dust and wave my magic wand over her. She's in the middle of being ripped apart so I'm hoping to put her back together this weekend.

5.  I'm REALLY enjoying our current book club book, The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. I'm so glad the weekend is here so I can read more!

Submitting to School and Library Publishers

The beginning of the year is when I revisit all of the school and library publishers and update them with my writing resume, unedited writing samples, and a list of book proposals. This takes alot of time because I need to do my homework. I browse their latest catalogs and websites so I can see if my book ideas might be a good fit for their list. You don't usually find these editors at conferences, so my annual or bi-annual submissions are my way of touching base with them. If anyone has any questions on how to solicit freelance nonfiction projects with school and library publishers I'd be happy to help you get started.

If you're a librarian or teacher that has seen a need for a particular subject for specific grades, authors are your links to publishers. Many of my ideas for book proposals are given to me by teachers and librarians. My new series, I Love My Dog, came from librarians who loved the My First Pet series and encouraged me to ask the publisher for a series of dog breeds.

No Name Calling Week

January 24 - 28th this year has been designated as No Name Calling Week. This is the first year I've heard about it so I'm wondering how many schools are planning activities. I found this on the website:

"Motivated by this simple, yet powerful, idea, the No Name-Calling Week Coalition, created by GLSEN and Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, and consisting of over 40 national partner organizations, organized an actual No Name-Calling Week in schools across the nation during the week of March 1-5, 2004. The project seeks to focus national attention on the problem of name-calling in schools, and to provide students and educators with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate name-calling in their communities."

When I went to school I remember people having nicknames, but I don't recall being called any harmful  names in school. Were there bullies? I'm sure there were. I guess I was one of the lucky ones that was never bullied. I don't remember my parents ever asking me if anyone was bothering me at school, a practice I took up several years ago with my teenage daughter. I occasionally work it into our everyday conversation when I ask how her day was or ask what she learned that particular day. I figure it doesn't hurt to ask. I never thought to ask her if anyone is calling her any hurtful names. No Name Calling Week sounds like a good time to start.

New Jersey SCBWI Conference

Pre-registration is open for the annual New Jersey SCBWI conference held in Princeton. I missed the conference last year so I'm really looking forward to attending this year. I hope you'll join me!

Picture Book Marathon

Looks like I'm going to be very busy. The Picture Book Marathon is about to begin. I participated last year and came up with some great new picture book ideas. It's not to late to join. The marathon starts in February 1st. Pair that with the a six-week Creative Writing Course I won from the Gotham Writers' Workshop through their sweepstakes and it seems like 2011 is off to a super start!
Here's the complete list of winners.

Writing Contest

I can't resist entering the Children's Writer Kindergarten Story Contest. I challenge everyone to join me, Super Author, to write a super story. The theme is fiction or nonfiction about family life or school for ages 5 to 6, up to 150 words. Sounds simple right? 150 words is nothing, right? Wrong. That's the challenge. Have you ever tried to write a story in just 150 words? If you haven't, now is the perfect time to give it a try because you can win up to $500 in this super contest.

Super Author

So I've already met one of my New Year's resolutions and that was to start a new blog. So here I am, ready for a new beginning in 2011. Each year I like to think of a theme. This year's theme is Super Author. I don't know..I just think it's cool. A co-worker found this great clip art and thought it looked like me and he even called it "Super Author." I loved it and decided to make it my theme for 2011.

Super Author, Linda Bozzo is going to do some super things in 2011 so check back often!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!