Sharing Books With Little Ones by Sarah Webb

A very wise New Zealand writer and bookseller called Dorothy Butler once said ‘Babies are never too little to look’ and she’s right. And they are never too little to listen. From birth they can distinguish between different sounds, and as they grow, they will try to replicate the sounds they hear and begin to make sounds of their own.

There are three times as many words in a children’s book than we use in everyday language. Reading aloud to your child is a brilliant way of teaching them new words, and it’s also deeply soothing for them to hear your voice. A good nursery rhyme collection is a great place to start.

My New Nursery Rhyme Collection with Steve McCarthy 

When I went looking for a collection that contained the rhymes and songs that I had heard as a child in Ireland I couldn’t find one, so I decided to put one together myself. That book, Sally Go Round the Stars: Rhymes and Songs from an Irish Childhood (with Claire Ranson and Steve McCarthy), was a bestseller, and this autumn sees a second collection published, A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea, with lots more Irish and international favourites, from She’ll be Coming ‘round the Mountain to The Owl and the Pussycat .

Nursery rhymes and songs are part of a baby’s literary heritage, passed down from generation to generation. Dr Susan Kennedy says ‘Part of the power of the nursery rhyme is that children learn them from the significant adults in their lives. The children are held, tickled and snuggled. Physical contact is very important for healthy emotional and physical growth.’

So when you’re sharing nursery rhymes and songs with your baby or toddler, as well as having fun, you’re also helping them learn and develop. Happy reading!

What to look for in a book for a baby or toddler:

Small, baby-sized books that little hands can hold

Strong, well-designed books that can withstand a biting – board books are ideal

Clear, uncluttered pages with bright colours, or striking black and white illustrations. Avoid fussy books with too much action on the page.

Illustrations and images that a baby will recognise from everyday life – pets, people, cars.

Sarah Webb is an award-winning champion of children’s books and a writer for both children and adults. Her latest book for children is A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea: Rhymes and Songs from an Irish Childhood (O’Brien Press) with Steve McCarthy.

This piece first appeared on www.magicmum.ie

This Writer's Life - Interview with Sadhbh Devlin

 

Debut Writer Sadhbh Devlin Shares Her Writing Life

All About Sadhbh 

 Sadhbh Devlin is an award-winning blogger, a television researcher for Irish language television channel TG4 and the craft contributor to Easy Parenting magazine. She also reviews Irish language children’s books for Inis magazine. You can find her making crafts and playing with her young twins on her award-winning blog: www.wherewishescomefrom.com or writing about her adventures in children’s literature here: www.sadhbhdevlin.ie. Bí ag Spraoi Liom! is her first Irish-language picture book for children.

Can you tell us about your latest book, Bi ag Spraoi Liom and where the idea came from?

Bí ag Spraoi Liom! is a story about Lúna, a keen inventor with one big problem; Mom is too busy to play with her in her new time machine. Luckily, Lúna is very clever and creative and hatches a plan to entice Mom to play with her. It’s a story that reminds us to make time for the important things in life.

I was inspired to write it after a conversation with one of my twin daughters - who also happens to be something of an inventor - about the games I used to play as a child. Also, the fact that I always seem to be in the same position as Lúna’s ‘busy Mom’ definitely helped me to develop the concept!

How long did it take you to write?

That’s actually a difficult one to answer. The story was originally created during a year-long mentorship scheme I had been accepted onto. I was lucky to have been assigned Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin from Futa Fata as my mentor. Tadhg is not only a publisher, but also an award-winning writer, so I really hit the jackpot in terms of learning everything there is to know about the picture book genre from the master!

However, taking part in the scheme did not guarantee having anything actually published by Futa Fata. Tadhg was under no obligation to publish anything that was created during our sessions - but luck was on my side again, and at our last meeting on the scheme, Tadhg announced that he’d like to publish one of my stories - which was Bí ag Spraoi Liom! I was over the moon, not only to have had the opportunity in the first place but to have managed to find a publisher without having to go through the agony of the submissions process. After it had been accepted, it took another few drafts and a few edits during the illustration process to complete the story. In reality, it probably took a full year to go from concept to finished product.

How do you organise your writing day? For example, where do you write? And when?

I mostly write when my children are in school but I always have a notebook with me. You never know when inspiration will strike. I had a home office until recently, when I was evicted by a child looking for a bedroom of her own, so I’m currently a bit of a nomad. I write at my kitchen table, on the sofa, at the library, or in various cafés.  I should have a more permanent solution very soon though and I can’t wait!

Do you use a computer or write long hand?

For picture books I write long hand at first. The idea or concept usually starts as a vague scribble in one of the many notebooks I carry around with me. I then flesh it out a bit before using note cards or post-its to work out the plot and to see where the holes are.

Once I have a good idea of the structure and the concept I’ll get the text onto the computer. Then I’ll make a (very basic and terribly drawn) ‘dummy’ of the book to see if it will fit the picture book model. My stories are usually way too long at first so, after that it’s editing, editing, editing!

Do you edit as you go along? Or at the end of the first draft?

One of the reasons I write long hand for picture books is that I have a terrible habit of editing as I go along when I’m typing - the result of years of blogging. Blogging is ‘publishing’ at its fastest and I have a tendency to write a blog-post, editing and correcting as I go and hit publish pretty much immediately. Creative writing needs a completely different approach. For a picture book, where every, single word counts - you might need to write a sentence many, many different ways before you get it just right. For me, that habit of editing as I go, means I’d either never finish a first draft because I’d start fixating on everything that was ‘wrong’ in the first sentences or else I’d race to the end of the story without thinking about all of the different possibilities for developing the concept. For those reasons, editing comes quite late in my process. I prefer to get the ‘story’ down first and then start tweaking things.

Picturebooks are notoriously difficult to write – did you find it tricky?

They are tricky! I think people really underestimate how difficult writing for young children can be. It can be surprisingly technical - getting the pacing right, making sure there are ‘hooks’ to keep readers turning the pages, keeping the word count as low as possible - all while telling a story about a ‘hero’ who is relatable yet age appropriate and creating a world that children will want to visit again and again and that parents won’t mind reading about again and again! 

I definitely found it difficult in the beginning and made some extremely clunky attempts before I started to understand more about how picturebooks work, but like anything, with practice it gets easier. Although - that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped making clunky attempts!

Do you have any advice or tips for people who would like to write a picturebook?

My advice would be to read picturebooks. Read them for pleasure, of course, but also study them to learn about their structure and style and also about what kinds of things get published!

I also found ‘How to Write a Children’s Picture Book and get it Published’ by Andrea Shavick very useful when I was starting out.

What type of books do you like to read? Do you have a favourite book?

I do read a lot of picture books, of course, but literary fiction is usually what I’m drawn to when reading for pleasure. I currently have quite an eclectic stack on my bedside table. The complete works of Truman Capote, Annie Proulx’s Barkskins, June Caldwell’s Room Little Darker, Daniel Clowes graphic novel ‘Patience’ and Emma Donoghue’s new children’s book The Lotterys Plus One.

I think my favourite novel might be Postcards by Annie Proulx and my favourite book from childhood is A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

What are you working on next?

I’m very excited to have been commissioned to write another book ‘as Gaeilge’ so I’m working on producing something special for that. I have one story written about a girl who wishes she was very small, but I have a few other ideas too and I’m using the opportunity to develop as many of them as possible!

Thank you, Sadhbh, for sharing your writing life with us.

Sadhbh's book is available at all good bookshops and also via the publisher, Futa Fata. 

Find out more about Sadhbh here:

Website: www.sadhbhdevlin.ie

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It Takes a Library to Raise a Child: My Final dlr Writer in Residence Post

For the past year I have been Writer in Residence for Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, based in the stunning Lexicon Library beside the sea. During this time I've been hosting book clubs, writing clubs, events and drop in writing clinics for children of all ages, from babies and toddlers up to teens. My term has now finished so this is my farewell post. 

With my niece, Rosie at the Lexicon Library 

The Highlights of My Year 

My Writing 

 I finished a book, A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea, out on 11th September, wrote a second book, Blazing a Trail: Remarkable Irish Women Who Changed the World (out in 2018), came up with 3 further book ideas - 1 is about to be signed by O'Brien Press, I'm still working on the other two, and I also write a children's play. So plenty of writing! 

Young Writers' Club 

 I also worked with some inspirational young writers in the dlr Lexicon Young Writers' Club and in the Drop in Writing Clinics. Amazing children with such imaginations! I especially enjoyed watching helping one young writer achieve the target we set at the first Drop in Clinic - to finish her first book. Over the year she wrote two and proudly read from one at our end of season young writers' prize giving and reading. I've always loved this Picasso quote - he's so right!

The young writers in the Writing Club are fearless, the pieces they write are honest, moving, original, and in many cases also extremely funny. They know they can write and write they do! They pick up their pencils and as Seamus Heaney once said, they dig. 

Events and Exhibitions 

I also organised events with Lauren Child - the current UK Children's Laureate, Judith Kerr - the author of The Tiger Who Came to Tea, who at 94 is still writing, Chris Riddell - ex UK Children's Laureate, Eoin Colfer and Marita Conlon-McKenna. 

I adored curating The World of Colour exhibition - the work of Beatrice Alemagna and Chris Haughton, two of my favourite picturebook makers of all time. Marian Keyes helped me put together the exhibition and we had a wonderful launch after an event we held with Children's Books Ireland, When are You Going to Write a Proper Book?.

Here's me at the launch of The World of Colour Exhibition, with Rosie again!

I'm proud of all the different projects we managed to squeeze into one year 

My Thanks To

I'd like to thank the people who made the year possible: Mairead Owens, Marian Keyes and Susan Lynch at the Lexicon who did so much to help me feel at home and to support my activities. Susan put a huge amount of work into the year and special thanks for all her input and ideas. When I came to her or Marian with a plan, they rarely said no. Thank you for having faith in me!

To the Lexicon library staff, especially Lisa, Vita, Helen and Shelley, fellow children's book fanatics. It was a pleasure talking to you all about children's books. The librarians, security guards, cleaners, staff at Brambles, to a person they were all so nice to me and so helpful. Nothing was ever too much trouble. One of the librarians, Nigel, helped me source books for Blazing a Trail which was invaluable. 

I'd also like to thank all the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends who brought their charges to the library to meet me. They say it takes a village to raise a child, well I think it takes a library to raise a creative child. And creative children who get the chance to express themselves, their authentic selves - and that's what I tried to encourage in the Writing Club, for the young writers to use their own unique voice in their work - they are lucky children indeed. 

A Poem for the President

Another highlight was writing a poem for the President of Ireland with the children at Shanganagh Park House in Shankhill - he was visiting to celebrate their work over the years. It's called I am Shanganagh and the President read from it during his speech. Lucinda Jacob helped greatly with this poem and also the I am Dún Laoghaire poem below. Thanks to Lucinda for all her hard work. 

I am Dún Laoghaire - written by the dlr Lexicon Young Writers' Club 

What I Have Learned During the Year

It's been a wonderful year, full of discovery. I really enjoy working with the dlr Lexicon Young Writers, they are so full of optimism and wonder, and have such brilliant ideas. I will continue to work with young writers independently in the future. I have recently set up my own organisation, Story Crew: Write, Draw, Create, to provide writing clubs and creative workshops for children. We will also provide courses and workshops for adults who love writing for children. More details here. 

I loved working in my special room in the library - what a privilege - and got lots of work done. I found the evenings, when the library was quiet highly productive and spent many happy hours working on new ideas.

I greatly enjoyed working with colleagues who love children's books as much as I do. I was a bookseller for many years and still work as a consultant to an independent book chain and I've always enjoyed working with other people. Being a writer is a lonely old job and it was so nice to be surrounded by interesting, engaging people. (Sorry if I asked you all too many questions!) I will miss that daily interaction. 

Overall it has been a highly positive and enriching experience for me. Would I do it all again? In a heartbeat! But it's time for the 'adult' writers to get a look in now. I hope I served the children and children's writers of Dún Laoghaire well. 

Here are some of the events I organised during my dlr Writer in Residence year:

Roald Dahl Day Show 

Culture Night with myself and Alan Nolan - Smashing Stories and Dashing Doodles

Canada Day with Children's Books Ireland - JonArno Lawson and Sydney Smith

Children's Book Clubs, Writing Clubs, Teen Creative Clubs with a host of teen writer + a writing workshop for Junior Cert students with Dave Rudden, Drop in Writing Clinics for Children, Teens and Adults

When are You Going to Write a Proper Book? with Children's Books Ireland - it was such a success we ran a second day, devoted to picturebooks

World Book Day Show with Chris Judge and Marita Conlon-McKenna

Lauren Child event for children and a second event for adults and older children

Bookworms for Bumbleance event for schools with Siobhan Parkinson

Outreach events for schools in Loughlinstown and Shankhill

A Photo Diary of the Year - Click on the photo to move to the next one

Goodbye, Lexicon. I won't be a stranger!

Writers - Call for Mentors from Words Ireland

Words Ireland are looking for writers to mentor emerging writers - see below. I really enjoy mentoring and you might just too. 

If you would like some help they are also looking for 'mentees'.  Details here for both schemes. 

Words Ireland – a collective of seven Irish literature organisations – is initiating a total of eleven literature mentoring relationships in 2017, six of which are offered in partnership with the Arts Offices of Leitrim, Limerick, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, and the Arts Office and Libraries of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.

Words Ireland are seeking expressions of interest from experienced and established writer-mentors working in the areas of adult fiction, children’s/YA fiction and/or poetry to undertake the mentoring of writers of promise who are working in the same forms.

We are also are also seeking writers of adult fiction, YA fiction, children’s fiction and poetry to apply for mentoring support under our National Mentoring Programme.

There are a total of 11 mentee opportunities open to writers resident in any county in Ireland, north or south of the border.

Deadline 10 July 2017.

http://wordsireland.ie/words-ireland-writers-series/

Open Call for dlr Libraries 2017 to 2019

Open Call for facilitation in dlr Libraries 2017-2019

Call for authors, artists, lecturers, facilitators, workshop leaders and enthusiasts

Introduction

dlr Libraries are delighted to announce an opportunity for authors, artists, lecturers, facilitators, workshop leaders and enthusiasts to submit proposals for events in dlr Libraries during the period 2017-2019. Events encompass workshops, talks, courses, shows, productions, classes, exhibitions and any other creative enterprises envisioned as a possibility within a public library context.  As well as proposals suitable for festivals such as Bealtaine, Children's Book Festival, Science Week, we invite proposals for a wide range of one-off events, a series of themed talks/events or more long-term projects. Projects can include artistic, cultural and educational forms and target user groups can be children, young people, adults, users with special needs and intergenerational audiences. Proposals will be selected both from artistic/cultural and educational areas of interest, highlighting the demand for both kinds of events in dlr Libraries. Creative practitioners and facilitators that are successful in their application will be selected for a panel for use and events will be programmed accordingly from Autumn 2017 – Autumn 2019.

Closing Date: Friday 9th June 2017 at 12 noon

Background

dlr County has eight branch libraries serving the educational, recreational and cultural needs of all who live, work, study or visit the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area. The 8 library branches are:

Blackrock, Cabinteely, Dalkey, Deansgrange, Dundrum, dlr LexIcon, Shankill and Stillorgan.

dlr Libraries have a tradition of providing high quality cultural programming that complements our collection and enlivens our spaces, both physical and virtual. dlr Libraries’ mission is: ‘to connect and empower people, inspire ideas and support community potential’. dlr Libraries support lifelong learning and seek to develop a culture of creativity and innovation. Libraries have no boundaries and stimulate the imagination through the provision of a rich and relevant collection and an active, engaging culture and technology programme.

Areas of interest

Examples are by no means comprehensive

Artistic/Cultural:

Architecture, circus, dance, film, literature, music, opera, theatre, traditional arts, visual arts and crafts.

Educational:

Books & literature, literacy & numeracy, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art & maths), creating in the digital space, using information technology, e-learning, health and wellbeing, local history & genealogy, general knowledge, sustainability & environment, exhibitions.

The user groups include the following:

-Children (0 -11yrs) 
-Young Adults (12 - 17yrs) 
-Adults

-Special needs groups

-Intergenerational audience

Guidelines:

• Delivery of all proposals will be remunerated in accordance with our current fee schedules for facilitators.  If successful, dlr Libraries commit to hosting you during the time frame outlined, at a time that is mutually convenient.

• Interested applicants may apply for both areas of interest (artistic/cultural and educational) and all user groups. Evidence of experience with different user groups is an advantage.
• We request facilitators be flexible in their approach and responsive to the needs of participants.
• Selection will be based on the written submission and any additional supplementary material supplied only.
• Emailed applications will be deemed ineligible.
• Proposal(s) should be no longer than 300 words. (1 A4 page max per proposal)
• Please submit 3 x hard copies of your proposal(s) along with 3 x hard copies of your curriculum vitae.
• Applications received after Friday 9th June at 12.00 noon will not be accepted under any circumstances.

Applications to:

*please mark clearly: ‘OPEN CALL’

Shelley Healy

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Public Libraries HQ, 

dlr LexIcon,

Haigh Terrace, Moran Park,

Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin

All queries to: Shelley Healy at ahealy@dlrcoco.ie or (01) 2362707

Child Protection

In accordance with the national Child Protection Guidelines “Children First”, the selected candidate will be required to follow child protection procedures as specified by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. The successful candidate will be required to undergo Garda Vetting.

Insurance

There may be a requirement under certain circumstances for personal insurance.

Freedom of Information

The provisions of the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Act 2003 apply to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Applicants should state if any of the information supplied by them is confidential or sensitive and should not be disclosed to a request for information under the aforementioned Act. Applicants should state why they consider the information to be confidential or commercially sensitive.

Payments

Facilitators may be paid via the payroll system. They will not become employees of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and are treated as employees solely for taxation purposes. Standard deductions will apply.

What Publishers Want - Picturebooks

Image by Alan O'Rourke

Today I hosted a day in the dlr Lexicon Library all about picturebooks. It was the second in a series of events focused on different areas of writing for children and teenagers, called When Are You Going to Write a Proper Book? Or #ProperBook for short. The events were held in association with the wonderful Children's Books Ireland and this one also had the support of IBBY Ireland. 

Here is a roundup of the day. Thanks to all the speakers and to everyone who attended. The next #properbook day will focus on writing fiction for children and teenagers and will be held next spring.

Thanks to CBI and various attendees for the photos and Alan O'Rourke for his great #properbook graphic above.

First Valerie Coughlan and Lucinda Jacob talked about the visual narrative in picturebooks (how the pictures help tell the story), and rhyming versus prose picture books. Both agreed that all picturebooks need rhythm but not necessarily rhyme. Valerie quoted American picturebook critic Barbara Bader who said:

As an art form it [the picturebook] hinges on the interdependence of pictures and words, on the simultaneous display of two facing pages, and on the drama of the turning of the page.
On its own terms its possibilities are limitless.

Valerie shared some of her favourite picturebooks including Rosie's Walk and Where the Wild Things Are and recommended Illustrating  Children's Books by Martin Salisbury (see full book list below for details). 

Lucinda spoke about rhyming picturebooks and explained that the rhyme had to form a pattern, like a song. Her favourite picturebooks include Hairy Maclary and Each Peach, Pear Plum. 

Next up was our illustrators' panel: Michael Emberley, Mary Murphy and Chris Judge. They talked about the genesis of an idea, which was largely different for each book. Michael gets an idea first, then works on that idea, for Chris and Mary the character comes first. Once they have a character, they start working on the story.

They had some great advice for new writers:

Research - read modern picturebooks. Mary explained how important this is. She talked about her work, which mainly focuses on young children and has deceptively simple text and vibrant, beautifully designed artwork. 

Be yourself. Michael spoke with passion about being yourself on the page and not trying to be someone that you are not. He explained how publishers were pushing the costs (of producing a picturebook) 'downstream' towards the author. He said that these days you need to make your book as good as possible before sending it off to a publisher. The days of sending off an 'idea' or a rough, unfinished text are gone. (Interestingly on a later panel, Deirdre McDermott from Walker said she doesn't like to see artwork that is too finished, as there is no space for it to change and grow - see below for more from Deirdre.)

Chris talked about not giving up (it took him several years to get his first picturebook published). He also said to take your time and to produce something you are proud of - don't be in a rush to get published. 'It takes a long time to make a great book,' he said. 

The image below is of his Beast character. 

Jane O'Hanlon and Debbie  Thomas from IBBY spoke about their Silent Books exhibition which is in the Lexicon library until the 29th May. A matching set of the books are on the Italian island of Lampedusa where refugees from Africa and the Middle East often land on their way to Europe. The books are shared with the refugee children. Teachers and students from St Laurence College spoke about their recent trip to the island, which was a lovely addition to the day. It made me think about the importance of picturebooks as a form of communication as well as an art form. 

Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick gave us a brilliant insight into the work of a picturebook maker, showing lots of her rough sketches, dummy books and even the colour chart she created for Owl Bat Bat Owl, her latest picturebook.

Marie-Louise shared her tips on one clever slide

So - the burning question - what are publishers looking for when it comes to picturebooks? Deirdre McDermott from Walker Books is interested in working with new Irish illustrators. She loves warm graphics - she mentioned Lucy Cousins and Mary Murphy in this regard. 'I want to feel the blood in their (the artists') veins. I want to feel they have a heartbeat.' She loves Chris Haughton's work for its sense of humour and she loves his brilliant use of colour.

Interestingly she's not looking for highly polished, finished work. She's looking for something different and exciting, and often finds her illustrators in unusual ways, not always though an agent. 

For picturebook texts Deirdre said she's looking for something that instantly grabs her attention: 'You read the first four sentences and it just gets you.' 

Emma Byrne from O'Brien Press is looking for Irish content and Irish creators. She says Ireland is a small market and she makes an effort to give Irish illustrators a chance. Like Deirdre, she doesn't use agents to find illustrators (although some do come this way). She looks at magazines - she mentioned Totally Dublin - flyers and posters for images that make her react. She's also looking for a sense of humour in the work and is drawn to unusual colour.

Tadhg MacDhonnagáin from Futa Fata is looking for narrative picturebooks for age 3 to 6. He's looking for books that are not based in Ireland but that have a strong story, with a main character that goes on a journey and changes. He's looking again for humour and for a writer with great enthusiasm. He would love to find an illustrator or picturebook maker who can speak Irish and can do events in schools and at festivals, but has yet to discover one

Margaret Anne Suggs from Illustrators Ireland gave this advice:

1/ Have something worth submitting.

2/ Do your research - look at what the publisher or agent likes and see if you are a fit.

3/ Follow the submission guidelines carefully.

And the publishers' pet hates? Letters addressed 'Dear Sir' (to Emma or Deirdre). 

Elaborate packages of artwork with no return address.

Rhyming picturebooks with no story. 

Margaret Anne said that illustrators are often told to write their own text. She described this as being bisexual. 'It doubles your chance of a date,' she said. 

Other information shared was:

Writers and illustrators rarely meet.

If you are a writer you do not need to find an illustrator. You submit your text without pictures. The editor will match your story with the right illustrator. Do not provide illustrations yourself (unless you are also an artist) or pay someone to illustrate your book. 

Don't put grown ups in your book if you can help it.

If you are an illustrator, apply to Illustrators Ireland who can help you with contracts and professional advice. 

Always get a contract if you are an illustrator and ask for royalties, not just a set fee (esp for picturebooks). 

Walker split the writer/illustrator royalty 50/50.

Illustrators' agents take 25 to 35% of a contract and literary agents 15 to 20% (for writers or illustrators).

It was a really enjoyable, informative day and thanks to all the speakers, to Marian Keyes at the library and Artscope for their help. 

Watch out for the podcast of the day which I'll post here soon. 

I'll leave you with this list of recommended books about writing and illustrating picturebooks which I put together for the event. 

Books about Writing and Illustrating Picturebooks

Recommended by Sarah Webb

riting Picture Books by Ann Whitford Paul – especially good on how to write a rhyming picturebook and how to check your rhythm and rhyme. Highly recommended.

Writing with Pictures: How to Write and Illustrate Children's Books by Uri Shulevitz – excellent book, well worth reading. Especially good on format.

Illustrating Children’s Books by Martin Salisbury – a must have for illustrators. Full colour hardback with lots about technique.

Children’s Picturebooks: The Art of Visual Storytelling by Martin Salisbury and Morag Styles – excellent book about the history of picturebooks, publishing, process + much more. Highly recommended.

100 Great Children’s Picture Books by Martin Salisbury – a gem – treat yourself!

How to Write a Children’s Picture Book by Andrea Shavick – a good beginner’s guide to writing picturebooks.

Writing Children’s Books for Dummies by Lisa Rojany Buccieri – don’t let the title put you off, this is a useful, sensible book. Especially good on the different age groups and genres.

Sarah Webb mentors new and emerging writers and critiques picturebooks and novels for children. Contact me for details about how to book (now taking bookings for Sept)

 

April Diary - Writer in Residence

April was full of fun book events for all ages.

Dalkey Baby Book Club ran for four weeks and we made owls, polar bears, caterpillars and lollypops and shared lots of picturebooks, rhymes and songs. The next Dalkey Baby Book Club is on 9th June at 10.30am and we'll be back in September after the summer holidays.

We had a writing workshop in Blackrock Library and I visited Shanganagh House in Shankhill with writer and children's poet, Lucinda Jacob. We created a poem with the children at the centre called I Am Shanganagh House. I also made some dogs and shared dog stories with the younger children. 

I had some exciting news in April - I'll be publishing a new book with O'Brien Press in 2018. More details about that in June. 

On Monday 17th April I took part in Cruinniú na Cásca, the family festival of culture. I told stories in a tent in St Stephen's Green for young children and their families. It was such fun! Here is Paul Timoney, one of the storytellers from the festival who shared my tent. 

The award winning writer and illustrator, Lauren Child visited our library in April to talk to school children and also adults who are interested in art and design. She was inspirational and it was such an honour to meet her. She spoke about her love of cheesy detective shows like Hart to Hart, and mystery books like Nancy Drew. She showed her rough drawings and talked about where she got ideas for characters - many come from real life. What a treat to have her in the Lexicon!  

The Silent Books arrived in the library at the end of April, ready for their exhibition in June, wordless picturebooks from all over the world. The exhibition will be in the library until 29th May, don't miss it if you love picturebooks. There is a set of the books on the Italian island of Lampedusa where they can be read by local and immigrant children, regardless of the language they speak. Here is PJ Lynch launching the exhibition on 8th May and some of the artwork the children produced at the workshop he hosted. It was a wonderful event. 

On 27th April the Lexicon celebrated Poetry Day and there was pavement art outside by some students from Holy Child Killiney. I worked on a poem with my writing club and we read the poems that the library staff and recommended and pinned on the window in the library - a great idea. 

That's it for April and early May. More next month.

Yours in books,

Sarah XXX

Sarah Webb's Top 3 Tips - Writing Picturebooks

1/ Picturebooks are generally short – around 500 words – and are made up of 12 double page spreads. Make every word count and work on the text until it shines.

2/ You do not need to provide artwork. Concentrate on the text, don’t worry about illustrations. An editor’s job is to match text with the right artwork and they are gifted picturebook matchmakers.

3/ Read award winning and best-selling picturbooks. Study Julia Donaldson’s poetry – and it is poetry – every line is carefully worked out. Just because you can rhyme sat with hat doesn’t mean you can write a rhyming picturebook. The whole line has to sing. More about this in another blog soon.

Read Maurice Sendak. Read some of the best Irish picturebook talent: Yasmeen Ismail, Oliver Jeffers and Chris Haughton.

Coo over Helen Oxenbury’s babies and Mem Fox’s outstanding text in the modern classic, Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes.

Learn from the greats – and then get back to your own work.

Work at it and keep working at it until you crack it. Don’t give up!

I’ve been teaching creative writing for over 20 years now. Good writers with tenacity and grit, writers who are prepared to work hard at their craft, they are the ones who get published. Good luck!

Yours in writing, Sarah X

The Writing Process by Cecelia Ahern

This week's guest blog is from bestselling Irish writer, Cecelia Ahern. Her new book, Perfect has just been published. Take it away, Cecelia! 

I’m a big reader and fan of YA novels but I never had a specific plan to write a YA series. I knew that I had younger readers but I never plan what kind of stories I’m going to write, I just write whichever story comes to me in the strongest way, the story that keeps growing and growing and won’t leave my mind. Flawed arrived in my mind, kicking and screaming, demanding to be heard and written.

When I came up with the idea for Flawed and Perfect, I knew I wanted to tell the story from the perspective of a 17 year old. Although we’re constantly learning about ourselves throughout our life, teenage years are the years when you first really start to question authority and society, and start figuring out how you really feel about things, instead of what you’re being told to feel. I wanted to take Celestine from being that logical, obedient girl who thinks in black and white, and transform her into somebody who questions, who doubts, and who finds her own voice. She suddenly realizes she has to follow her own instincts, and her heart. We do this at different stages of our lives when life throws us dilemmas but I wanted this to be the first big lesson in my character’s life, and also a surprising voice and character that could teach society a thing or two.

I always encourage finding and using your own voice. Celestine is not an obvious leader, she doesn’t realize her own strengths, she is not a leader because she wants to be but because she naturally makes the right choices. She brings compassion and logic to a society that has lost its humanity and I don’t think that shouting the loudest is necessarily what causes people to be heard, it’s the strength of the character with quiet confidence that can truly gain a following. It’s not about shouting, it’s about leading by example, it’s about action, your own behaviour, who you can influence in a positive way.

I didn’t have to alter my style of writing for the YA audience, I just told the story through the eyes of a seventeen year old Celestine. But there is one enormous difference between this series and my other novels, which is that this has a thriller feel. I wrote Flawed in 6 weeks, the fastest I’ve ever written a novel and while it took me a long time to edit, the first draft flowed out so effortlessly. My heart was pounding, my body was trembling, I felt I had so much to say about society, about how history keeps repeating itself. We have tortured each other for race, sex and religious reasons in the past and still today, I wanted to examine what it would be like to punish and segregate people for their behavior, their personal life decisions. We already label each other, public shaming is almost a sport in society, and so I took that idea of labeling literal. To mention just a few examples: The flawed rules mimic the anti-jewish decrees of World war 2, Celestine’s decision on the bus mirrors Rosa Parks defiance during the civil rights movement in the US. Flawed children who are removed from their parents mirrors what happened to children in Ireland born to unmarried mothers, and aboriginal children in Australia who were taken from their parents to dilute the gene pool. Everything in Flawed and Perfect mirrors what has happened and happens in reality.  

I got completely lost in Celestine’s world. At first I thought the books would be a trilogy, mainly because it felt like the natural familiar decision, but when I was developing the story, I felt that the best way for me to tell the stories was in two novels. When I sent the outline of Perfect to my editor, he wondered if it would all fit into one book and questioned whether there should be a third, but I knew that I wanted a meaty, jam-packed novel filled with surprises and twists and turns, with plenty of content, and a conclusion to Celestine’s journey.

I’m so proud of Flawed and Perfect and hope they entertain, and inspire readers of all ages.

Mammoth March!

My Writer in Residence Diary for March 

March was a manic but wonderful month, full of book events and book fun. The picturebook art exhibition, A World of Colour featuring the work of Beatrice Alemagna and Chris Haughton -  images above - ran from 4th  February to the end of March and it was such a joy passing it daily on the way to my Writer in Residence room on the 5th floor. A world of colour it certainly was!

On 10th March I attended a conference about Mental Health and the Written Word in the Lexicon Studio which was most interesting and I also spoke on a panel called Happy Kids: Raising Children in the Digital Age with some experts in the area of children and safely online. The podcast is available here. 

I attended two talks by international writers for adults, Mohsin Hamid and George Saunders which were excellent (preview Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival events).

I took part in a World Book Day event for schools with Marita Conlon-McKenna and Chris Judge and my book clubs and writing clubs continued during the month. We had a very well attended Drop in Writing Clinic with over 15 young writers and also a clinic for adults writing for children which was also very well attended. Our teen creatives had workshops in Vlogging with Dave Lordan and Comic Books with Alan Nolan and on 1st April were visited by Dave Rudden who gave them tips for their Junior Cert which went down a treat!

I also continued with the Baby Book Clubs in Deansgrange library (last Tues of every month at 10am and Dalkey (31st March, 7, 21 + 28th April 10.30am), Kids Create Workshops in Stillorgan for age 7+ (next ones are 4th May + 15th June booking required with the library) and a writing workshop in Blackrock Library all about creating realistic characters.

The Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival also took place in March. I programmed the children's and school's events and the highlight for me was meeting two of my book heroes, Judith Kerr (The Tiger Who Came to Tea) and Beatrice Alemagna.

It was a fantastic five days of book fun and here are some of my favourite photos from the week. Enjoy! 

Robin Stevens, Katherine Woodfine and Jo Cotterill start the slide show from the festival - click on their image to see the other photos.

Yours in books,

Sarah XXX

Review - A Dangerous Crossing by Jane Mitchell

There has long been a tradition in children’s books of tackling difficult periods in history through the medium of fiction. John Boyne’s powerful Holocaust tale, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas won numerous awards and was made into a successful film, and more recently Zana Fraillon’s The Bone Sparrow, set in a modern-day Australian detention centre was shortlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize.

While the settings are important, where these stories really succeed is in the characterisation. Jane Mitchell’s new book for age 11+, A Dangerous Crossing (Little Island) joins these novels as an exemplary example of how to tell a difficult story through fiction by making us care deeply about the main character.

Ghalib and his family live in Kobani, a town in Syria near Aleppo. After daily attacks by ISIS they are nervous and exhausted, their future uncertain. The book opens at a souq in Freedom Square in Kobani. Egged on by his cousin, Hamza, Ghalib and his little brother, Aylan are raiding the blown-out shops and stalls for clothes and shoes to sell on to a ‘buyer’. When they get home they realise they are one pair of shoes short and Hamza decides they must go back to the souq without Aylan, but Freedom Square is a very different place at night. ‘The streets reek … the stench of rotting rubbish mixes with smoke and pulverised concrete, smashed-up sewers and rot.  The night bloats its evil.’

While they are scavenging, a bomb hits the square. Ghalib escapes with burns to his feet but Hamza is badly injured. After much persuading from his wife, Ghalib’s father, Baba agrees to leave Kobani to find somewhere safer to live.

The family travel by minibus to Aleppo and from here they start the long and arduous walk towards the border with Turkey. Ghalib accidentally crosses the border without his family and finds himself alone in a Turkish refugee camp. The writer spent a week volunteering at the Jungle Camp at Calais and her descriptions of the Turkish camp ring with authenticity and truth.

As the title suggests and as is explained on the back cover of the book, Ghalib eventually makes it to a boat bound for Greece. Mitchell leaves the story open-ended but in an afterward explains what might have happened next to a boy like Ghalib. Mitchell is at all times mindful of her young audience and while she does not shy away from the despair of Ghalib’s situation, there is always hope for the boy and his family.

Each child character in the book is named after a real Syrian child. Most poignantly of all, Ghalib’s little brother, Aylan was named after the three-year-old whose photograph made global headlines when his body was washed up on the Mediterranean coast. He too was trying to cross to Greece with his family.

Endorsed by Amnesty International, this is an important book that deserves to be read in every home and classroom in Ireland.

Little Island e9.00

This review first appeared in The Irish Independent 

The Best Children's Book Agents 2017

This is the most popular blog on my website and I update it every year with agents recommended by their writers. Thank you to all the children's writers who responded to my 2017 call out. 

I’d like to pay tribute to Philip Ardagh who first posted the question on Facebook in 2015: ‘Who is your agent and would you recommend them?’ which inspired me to continue his work.

I’ve had the good luck to work with one of the best agents in the business, the wonderful Philippa Milnes Smith from LAW (details below). Good luck in finding someone as wise, kind and supportive as Philippa.

Who represents Eoin Colfer? Who helped Derek Landy climb to the top? Who represents Cathy Cassidy? Read on and find out!

WHY DO YOU NEED AN AGENT?

Eoin Colfer - Represented by Sophie Hicks 

In Ireland we are lucky to have the O’Brien Press whose editors are happy to read unsolicited manuscripts. You can send your book directly to one of their editors. Details of how to do this are here.

Little Island are also happy to read unsolicited manuscripts – they have excellent submission guidelines here. 

Penguin Ireland - experienced writer and teacher, Claire Hennessy is their Children’s and YA Editor – Claire will read unsolicited manuscripts and will accept them by email, details here.

Gill Books has recently started publishing children’s fiction, Mercier also publish children’s books and Poolbeg are also back in the game after a strong season of 1916 related children’s books. 

But most UK publishers do not accept unsolicited manuscripts so you will need to submit your work through an agent.

WHAT DOES AN AGENT DO EXACTLY?

1/ An agent can advise you on your manuscript and on how to make it more attractive to a publisher. Some of them will act as unofficial editors to their clients or at the very least can suggest changes or improvements. They are also excellent at coming up with zippy book titles as I’ve discovered.

2/ An agent can find the right editor or publisher for your work – like a book matchmaker. And they can sell your UK, US, digital and foreign rights. They can also look after any film or television rights.

3/ Agents deal with the difficult and technical area of contracts. This is particularly important at the moment as digital rights can be tricky.

4/ Financial back up – they can chase up your royalties and talk to your publishers about outstanding monies owed to you.

These days having potential isn’t enough, your manuscript must be as perfect as you can make it before it goes anywhere near a publisher. A good agent can play a vital role in this process.

WHO REPRESENTS SOME OF THE BEST CHILDREN'S WRITERS?

The Agents Who Represent Some of the Most Successful Irish Children’s Writers (with Contact Details) and Children’s Agents Recommended by UK Writers

Remember to check each agent’s website for submission guidelines before you send anything out. Or ring the agency for details – I know it’s daunting but they are always happy to advise you on how (or if) to submit. Be warned – you may get the agent herself/himself on the phone. Be prepared.

Recommended Children’s Agents:

Eoin Colfer is represented by Sophie Hicks. Sophie is a very experienced agent and her writers rate her highly. She also represents Oisín McGann. www.sophiehicksagency.com

Derek Landy is represented by Michelle Kass, who also represents Patrick Ness. www.michellekass.co.uk

Darren Shan is represented by Christopher Little   For general enquiries email: www.christopherlittle.net

Sarah Webb and Chris Judge are represented by the wonderful Philippa Milnes Smith at LAW

Contact: All submissions should be sent, in hard copy, by post to:

LAW, 14 Vernon Street, London, W14 0RJ www.lawagency.co.uk

Marita Conlon McKenna is represented by Caroline Sheldon www.carolinesheldon.co.uk

Irish Writer, Elizabeth Rose Murray recommends her agent, Sallyanne Sweeney of Mulcahy Associates (London). She says she’s ‘supportive, thorough, creative, knowledgeable & really champions her authors. And she really loves children’s/YA literature too – always a bonus!’ 

Let's hear from some other Irish writers:

Sheena Wilkinson: 'My agent is Faith O'Grady who's lovely.'

Dave Rudden: 'I'm with Clare Wallace at Darley Anderson - can't recommend her enough!'

Clare also represents Olivia Hope.

Shirley McMillan: 'My agent is Jenny Savill at Andrew Nurnberg Associates. She is wonderful.'

Jenny also represents Nigel Quinlan.

Sinéad O'Hart is represented by Polly Nolan who is also recommended by Louis Stowell.

Celine Kiernan says 'I changed agencies late 2015. Am with Sallyanne Sweeney now, of Mulcahy Literary Agency. Have worked with her on two books now and find her wonderful.'

Marianne Gunn O'Connor represents Shane Hegarty and Cecelia Ahern.  Read about her here.

Other Recommended Agents - UK and International Writers 

Cathy Cassidy is represented by Darley Anderson and highly recommends him.

Cathy Cassidy with Judi Curtin and Sarah Webb at the Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival 

Eve Ainsworth:  'I'm with Stephanie Thwaites at Curtis Brown, she's fab.'

Russell Sanderson and Lu Hersey recommend their agent, Ben Illis. 

Zana Fraillon recommends her agent, Claire Wilson. 

Julia Churchill at A M Heath who says 'my speciality is checking if people need to go to loo before meetings.' I have met Julia and she is a funny and smart woman who knows her onions. Well worth sending your manuscript to. Nikki Sheehan says Julia 'would win against 100 horse sized ducks.' Clearly a woman to have on your side. 

Mark Burgess: 'Im represented by excellent & wonderful Nancy Miles of Miles Stott Children's Literary Agency. She also represents Gill Lewis & Frances Hardinge.'

Eve White, Eve White Literary Agency

Veronique Baxter at David Higham

Catherine Clarke at Felicity Bryan

Robert Kirby at United Agents

Jodie Hodges at United Agents (recommended by William Bee); Catherine Mary Summerhayes, Jo Unwin and Clare Conville at United Agents

Hilary Delamere at The Agency

Lindsey Fraser at Fraser Ross

Gemma Cooper at The Bent Agency

Penny Holroyde at Holroyde Cartey

Elizabeth Roy – www.elizabethroy.co.uk

Laura Cecil – www.lauracecil.co.uk

Madeleine Milburn – www.madeleinemilburn.co.uk

Sam Copeland and Claire Wilson at Rogers Coleridge and White – www.rcwlitagency.com

Good luck with finding a great agent!

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

Some of the Irish Children's Book Tribe - Yasmeen Ismail, Elaina Ryan from Children's Books Ireland, Chris Judge

Start Writing for Children - Last Course of the Season

I'll be teaching my last writing for children course of the season at the Irish Writers Centre in May. Do book quickly, places are limited. I'll be back in the autumn with new courses. 

Sat 13 & Sat 20 May 2017 (2 days)
10.30am – 4.30pm
Cost: €150/€135 Members (Irish Writers Centre)

Book here

Want to write a book for children but don’t know where to start? In this practical, hands-on workshop, participants will look at the different age groups and genres that make up the children’s book world, before embarking on their own writing journey. The classes will include lecturing, in-class exercises, ‘homework’, book industry and publishing advice, and plenty of personal experience. Plus there will be a whole lot of book and story sharing.

Sarah Webb writes for both children and adults. The Songbird Café Girls: Aurora and the Popcorn Dolphin is her most recent book. Sarah is the Children's Curator of the Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival and a Literary Advisor to Listowel Writers' Week. 

When Are You Going to Write a Proper Book? Focus on Picturebooks

Beast from The Brave Beast by Chris Judge 

When Are You Going To Write A Proper Book? Focus on Picturebooks

A Day for Picturebook Writers and Illustrators

Saturday 27th May 10.00am to 3.45pm Venue: dlr Lexicon Studio, Dún Laoghaire 

Programmed and hosted by dlr Writer in Residence, Sarah Webb with support from dlr Lexicon Library

Presented in association with Children’s Books Ireland and IBBY Ireland

Booking

Cost: e25 (plus booking fee - includes coffee and lunch) e15 concessions

After the sell-out success of our last day for children’s writers and illustrators we are back with another event packed with information and facts about all aspects of picturebooks. If you’ve ever wanted to write or illustrate a picturebook, it’s a must. Hear a host of award-winning picturebook makers talk about their work and find out what publishers and agents are looking for.

9.30am Registration

10.00am Welcome - Sarah Webb, dlr Writer in Residence

10.00am to 11.00am  What Makes a Brilliant Picturebook and Do They Have to Rhyme?

The answer is no! Hear the case for rhythm and rhyme by poet Lucinda Jacobs who will also conduct a quick workshop on rhyme scheme, and the case for prose by Valerie Coghlan. They will also talk about their favourite picture books and why they work. 

11.00am – 11.20am Coffee Break

11.20am to 12.20pm  What Comes First, the Words or the Pictures?

An introduction to the world of picture books with award-winning picturebook writers and illustrators Michael Emberley, Chris Judge, Marie Louise Fitzpatick and Mary Murphy. They will talk about the different stages of producing a picturebook, from idea to dummy to printed book and will discusses the ups and downs of life as a full time writer/illustrator.

12.20pm – 1.00pm Shhh! Silent Books

IBBY Ireland present their Silent Books Exhibition and talk about the importance of wordless picture books.

1.00pm to 2.00pm Lunch and a chance to look at the picturebooks from the Silent Books Exhibition

2.00pm to 2.40pm  If I Could Tell You Just One Thing

Picture Book Boot Camp’s Adrienne Geoghegan shares the most common mistakes writers and illustrators make and gives her tips for writing and illustrating a great picture book

2.40pm to 3.45pm  Is It Me You're Looking For?

Chair: Aoife Murray, Children’s Books Ireland  

Walker Picturebook Publisher and Creative Director, Deirdre McDermott, Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin, Publisher at Futa Fata and O’Brien Press Design Manager, Emma Byrne talk about what they are looking for in illustrators and from picture book texts. Plus Margaret Anne Suggs from Illustrators Ireland will talk about agents and the pros and cons of illustration agents vs literary agents. The panel will also discuss fees, advances and royalties for illustrators and picturebook writers.

Choose Kindness

My daughter is thirteen. Last week she came home from school upset because her group of close friends were having a party and hadn’t invited her and one other girl. They had lied about what they were doing that afternoon (they had a half day) and then proceeded to post photos and videos of the party on Snapchat, for my daughter and the other non-invited girl to see.

When my daughter called them on it – asking them on Snapchat why she wasn’t invited and saying she could see all their online interaction – they ignored her and continued to post.

This behaviour bothered me. It showed a lack of kindness. I gathered my daughter up and we went to the cinema together to see Lion. While her friends partied, we learnt about one young man’s determination and bravery as he searched for his Indian birth mother.

The incident got me thinking about kindness. How we treat our friends matters. How we treat strangers matters. It says everything about who we are and what we believe in.

I run a Book Club for young readers - that's a photo of them above. Last month we read Wonder by R J Palacio. If you haven’t read it, please do. It’s about August, a ten year old boy with a severe facial abnormality, and what happens when he goes to school for the first time. It’s a remarkable book that really makes you think about how we treat people who look different. It’s also about choosing kindness.

I love blogging. I love chatting to my book friends on Twitter. I like catching up on my friends’ activities on Facebook and seeing their photos on Instagram. However sometimes I find myself thinking: Hey, why wasn’t I at that party? or They look like they’re having way more fun than I am, or I wish I was in Tokyo/Sydney/London. It’s only natural to feel left out sometimes. When I’m posting myself I try to remember this.  I aim to be mindful of others and kind.

As the writer, Henry James once said: 'Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.'

Kind regards,

Sarah XXX

CBI Book Awards Shortlist 2017 - So How Did I Do With My Predictions?

Below is the CBI Book Awards Shortlist - and congratulations to all the shortlisted writers and illustrators. How did I do? 6 out of 10. Not as well as last year (9 out of 10 predicted) but not bad! How about you? 

Anna Liza and the Happy Practice written by Eoin Colfer - Yes, got this one right! Brilliant book - delighted to see it on the shortlist. 

Billy Button, Telegram Boy illustrated by Sheena Dempsey - Yes, and great to see Sheena on the shortlist! I love her work. 

Bliain na nAmhrán scrIofa ag Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin, maisithe ag Jennifer Farley, Brian Fitzgerald, Tarsila Krüse agus Christina O’Donovan - No (my Irish is average so I don't comment on the Irish language books) 

Goodnight Everyone by Chris Haughton - delighted to see this one included as Chris is at the Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival on 25/25th March and is a remarkable illustrator. 

Historopedia by Fatti Burke and John Burke - I didn't get this one. I liked it a lot but thought it would be overshadowed by its predecessor, Irelandopedia. 

Needlework by Deirdre Sullivan - Yes and YES! So deserving of an award. 

Óró na Circíní agus Scéalta Eile Ón Afraic athinste ag Gabriel Rosenstock, maisithe ag Brian Fitzgerald - No, see above.

Plain Jane by Kim Hood - Yes and hurrah - delighted for Kim. It's a super book. 

The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín - Yes and YES, YES, YES! An amazing book. 

The Ministry of Strange, Unusual and Impossible Things by Paul Gamble - Yes

I'm very disappointed not to see Knights of the Borrowed Dark by Dave Rudden on the shortlist - as it's a brilliant book. Next year, Dave. It took Derek Landy several years to get a Skulduggery book on the shortlist and those books didn't take off at all. Nope, not at all! 

CBI Book of the Year Awards 2017 My Predictions

The CBI Book of the Year Awards shortlist will be announced today, March 13th and every year I predict which books will be on this list.

The author or illustrator must be Irish or live in Ireland, and this year’s awards are for books published in 2016. There are usually 6 awards given: the Eilís Dillon Award for 1st book, the Judge’s Special Award, the Honour Award for Illustration, the Honour Award for Fiction, the Children’s Choice Award and the Overall CBI Book of the Year.

Last year’s overall winner was Sarah Crossan for One. It will be interesting to see how many I get right!

The books I think will be on the 2017 shortlist are (in age order, picture books first – there are usually 10 books shortlisted and 6 awards given):

Let’s See Ireland by Sarah Bowie

Owl Bat Bat Owl by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick

A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston

Anna Liza and the Happy Practice by Eoin Colfer, illustrated by Matt Robertson

Rabbit and Bear by Julian Gough and Jim Field

Knights of the Borrowed Dark by Dave Rudden (will win the Eilís Dillon Award)

The Bombs That Brought Us Together by Brian Conaghan

Plain Jane by Kim Hood

Nothing Tastes as Good by Claire Hennessy

The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín (my choice for Book of the Year)

Needlework by Deirdre Sullivan

+ An Irish language book

May be shortlisted:

Miraculous Miranda by Siobhán Parkinson

A Very Good Chance by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald

The Best Medicine by Christine Hamill

The Ministry of Strange, Unusual and Impossible Things by Paul Gamble

Sheena Dempsey may be shortlisted for her illustrations for Billy Button or Dave Pigeon

The Making of Mollie by Anna Carey.

Time After Time by Judi Curtin

Lessons I've Learnt from Writing Geek Girl - Guest Post by Holly Smale

To celebrate the launch of my new look website - with thanks to Martin Reilly for the design and hard work - I have a very special blog post for you from bestselling UK writer, Holly Smale. The brand new book in her hugely popular Geek Girl series has just been published. Take it away, Holly! 

1.        Trust in your own sense of humour.

I’ve never considered myself to be particularly funny, and I certainly never thought I’d end up writing a comedy series: my sense of humour tends to be quite off-the-wall, weird and obscure, as well as extremely dry (in real life people frequently don’t even realise I’m joking when I actually am). If I’d thought about it too much, I’d have worried that what I found funny other people wouldn’t (and sometimes they still don’t). But in relaxing, having fun and making myself laugh as often as possible I discovered that we each have our own way of seeing the world, and that there’s room for all kinds of comedy: even the weird stuff. There will always be people out there with the same sense of humour as you. So think about what you find funny, and write that: don’t worry about who you’re writing for of if they’ll laugh too.

2. Be yourself.

 Obviously if you’re writing a character then you don’t have to be you - at least not all of the time - but your voice, your quirks and your flaws are what make you different to everybody else: that’s what makes a character feel real and relatable. So don’t try to write like any other writer. Just write the truth of your story as you feel it, be as honest as you can, and your uniqueness will shine through.

3. Plot well

This one is tricky, because every writer has different ways of doing things: I know many great writers who have no idea what’s going to happen before they sit down to write a book. But, for me (and maybe for you), I realised quite quickly that I really need to know the bigger points of what’s going to happen - the overall structure, the point of the story, key scenes, how my characters are going to develop - before I start. It means I can relax more when I’m writing, because I understand what the story is I’m trying to tell.

 4. But also leave room for imagination and playfulness

 And here’s the caveat: plan and structure away, but always give yourself plenty of opportunity to have fun, change your mind, go off on tangents and have those brilliant moments of “aha!” Your characters will often misbehave, and that’s okay: it means they’re alive, and you should listen to what they want and what it is they’re trying to do. It doesn’t always mean they’re right, but you should use the plot as a pencil-outline rather than trying to stick to it religiously. Honestly, the inspiration that comes without being planned or plotted is my favourite part of writing: there’s nothing more exciting than realising that the story is developing in a bit of your brain you’re not aware of!

5. Remember that all your characters are important

Especially when you’re writing a first-person narrative, it can be easy to make the mistake of thinking that your hero or heroine is the only character you need to focus on: that their story, their humour, their voice, is the point of the book. It’s not. Just as in real life, everyone is the hero of their own story and your writing needs to reflect that. Every single person - whether they’re the parent, or the best friend, or a random receptionist who only gets one line - needs to feel real, and interesting, and three-dimensional. Otherwise your book is going to feel flat, boring and unrealistic..

 6. Get weird

 This is harder than you’d think: so many times at the beginning, I’d try something new and then worry that my readers would find it off-putting. They almost definitely won’t: in fact, frequently the passages I write that feel a little bonkers are usually the bits my readers love the best. So be as brave as you can when you’re writing, and if that means going off on a weird thought-train then enjoy it and go for it.

7. Be honest. Always.

This doesn’t mean “write your real life”, because nobody’s interested in that: you’re probably not a celebrity, and you’re not scribing an autobiography. But when you’ve put your character in a situation, ask yourself how you’d really feel: not how you’d like to feel, or how you would hope to feel, or what would look nice on the page. Usually, our emotions aren’t always pretty and they’re not always “cool”: real people can be selfish, or embarrassing, or bad-tempered, or wrong, and it’s far too easy to try and make your character ridiculously ‘good’ all of the time. So be as brutal as you can with your character and their reactions: that’s exactly what’s going to make them feel like a real person.

8. It’s not a race and it doesn’t have to be perfect

Writing a book is not a speedy process: you’re very unlikely to sit down and get it down in a week. And you’re even less likely to get it right, first time. My first drafts are generally terrible: I frequently have to go back and change huge plot points, or even whole characters. For a perfectionist, that’s a hard lesson, and it took a long time to give myself permission to write a bad novel, first time round. It’s in the re-writing that the real story comes through, so don’t rush it, don’t get impatient and don’t beat yourself up if it isn’t what you’d hoped for, straight off the bat.

9. Writer’s Block is normal

 Frankly, I’ve lost count of the amount of times I get asked “do you ever get writers block?” The answer - for every writer I’ve ever met - is absolutely. I get stuck frequently, in every single book I’ve ever written. It’s a part of the process, and I’ve slowly learnt to stop panicking and thinking my writing career is over, every single time. For me, getting stuck usually means I’m out of creative juice and I need a break and some space, I’m tired (so I need to sleep) or I’ve simply taken a wrong path. It’s my brain’s way of saying ‘hold up, something doesn’t feel right’, so I’ll stop, look over what I’ve done and work out at what point the story took a wrong direction. But it’s going to happen, so see it as a sign that your story has a life of its own, and that’s a good thing.

10. Don’t limit yourself

 Okay, so maybe you want to write “for” younger children, or for younger teens, or for adults, or for little green aliens. Maybe you think there are some topics or subjects you can’t tackle or write about as a result. It’s not true: as long as it’s done sensitively, you can include everything. There may be no swearing in my books, but - if you look carefully - there are many occasions where someone swears: you just don’t hear it, because Harriet doesn’t relate it to you. Stick to the truth of who your character is, and they will inform what you write about and who you’re writing for: not the other way round.

When Are You Going to Write a Proper Book? Full Podcast

Photo by Peter Cavanagh from The World of Colour Exhibition in the Lexicon Library 

Here is the Soundcloud podcast from the recent When Are You Going to Write a Proper Book? event. #properbook if you want to check out the posts on Twitter. It's the full day and thanks to dlr Libraries for providing the podcast. A must listen if you are interested in writing or illustrating for children. 

Soundcloud Podcast

When Are You Going to Write a Proper Book? The Lowdown!

When Are You Going to Write a Proper Book? A Day for Children’s Writers and Illustrators

Sarah Webb, Writer in Residence, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown in association with Children’s Books Ireland and supported by Words Ireland

Publishers Panel

This is a short overview of the day with facts, figures and highlights. A podcast of the day will be available within the next few weeks – stay tuned to this blog and my social media for further details. Apologies for any typos or wild sentences – it’s Sunday morning and I need to bring my daughter to a hockey match very soon. Better done than perfect!

On Saturday 4th February the Lexicon Studio Theatre was packed with writers, illustrators, publishers, agents and children’s writers in various stages of their careers. There was a focus on telling our ‘truths’ and being honest and open about writing and publishing. Grainne Clear gave some really useful info about advances and royalties. She explained that the average writer’s advance in Ireland is e1,000 and in the UK is a similar figure, which elicited a gasp from the audience. Surely that’s wrong, one man tweeted using our hashtag for the day #properbook. But Grainne had done her homework – asking publishers, writers and agents for their input. And e1k it stands.

Sheena Wilkinson told us about her healthy regard for being solvent and confirmed that she had received e5,875 in advances for her 7 books, backing up Grainne’s figures. Alan Nolan gave his advice, have another income stream and marry up! Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick told us about her SFDs – shitty first drafts and David O’Callaghan explained that he just couldn’t sell PAF books in Eason – Posh As F*** (hardback picture books) and boy had he tried. He said his customers panic and grab the nearest Julia Donaldson.

It was a most thought-provoking and stimulating day. More details below.

The 1st panel which I chaired  – Aoife Murray from Children’s Books Ireland, Colleen Jones from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (or ‘Scooby’ as they call themselves) and Valerie Bistany from the Irish Writers Centre talked about their organisations and how they helped writers.

Aoife explained how important events are to a children’s writer and said that Dave Rudden had done 52 events in October 2016, quite an achievement! She explained how they try to lobby for children’s writers and illustrators and be a voice for children’s books in the media.

Colleen explained how ‘Scooby’ could help self-published writers and told us about their award for self-published books, the Spark Award, won recently by Irish woman, Denise Deegan.

Valerie talked about the Irish Writers Centre classes and workshops, residencies. I teach at the Irish Writers Centre and also work as a mentor for new writers through the centre.

The 2nd panel talked about money – earning a living as a writer. The chair, Ryan from CBI asked writer, Alan Nolan should writers be expected to do events for free. He said no. He quoted Celine Kiernan: ‘If I wanted exposure, I’d run naked down O’Connell Street.’

Grainne Clear from Little Island explained that smaller publishers focus on festivals rather than author tours. She said that an author may need to arrange a tour or a launch themselves.

Elaina Ryan and Sinead Connelly

Grainne said that for big UK publishers that doing events and having a profile could be a deal breaker for a publisher (when looking to take a writer on). She noted that it wasn’t the case for Little Island who are all about strong writing.

Librarian, Maeve Rogan McGann said she was very open to good pitches from writers and quoted ER Murray and Alan Early as an example – they had approached her directly and did several events together and workshops for her.

Sinead Connelly from the International Literature Festival, Dublin said she was interested in pitches for events from writers but she wanted something really interesting, something that told her about the writer and who they were as a person. She gave the example of the Friendship event that I did at the festival with my writer friend, Judi Curtin as an event that gave insight into writers’ lives and was something a bit different. Thank you, Sinead!

Alan explained that 60% of his income came from design work, 40% from his books and his events and school visits. He gets paid e150 for a 1 hour school or library event.

Maeve said she pays e100 per 45 minute event or short workshop, or e300 for three events. Sinead pays her festival writers e300 per event for a standard event.

All agreed that you should say no if asked to do an event for free. Elaina quoted Jane O’Hanlon from Poetry Ireland’s Writers in Schools scheme who explained that writers who work for free undercut their colleagues.

And then to the topic of royalties. I’d already shared some of my own ‘truths’ about royalties. That I’d been paid from nothing to e2,000 advances from Irish publishers. That yes, I’d received a couple of the mythical ‘six figure’ book deals for my children’s books but that was the exception, not the rule.

Grainne explained that advances are paid to a writer based on how many books the publisher thinks they can sell and the price of the book.

Little Island pay a standard advance to all writers, both new and established – this was something I hadn’t realised and useful to know. Authors usually get 7.5% royalty of the recommended retail price of the book. Average advance for a 1st book is 1k and average yearly income for a writer is e10k to 12k. The average Irish print run is 2.5k copies she said.

Alan Nolan and Maeve Rogan McGann

Alan’s advice was to marry up – he was only joking! He explained how important it is to have a second income stream.

Maeve gave some great advice – clear some time in March and October for school and library visits, she said. Keep some days free as these are the times we are most looking for writers.

We broke for lunch here – I think the audience needed to mull over the facts and figures. The people I spoke to were surprisingly chipper about the lack of money in children’s books. ‘Just as well I love writing if I’m not going to be a millionaire,’ one woman told me with a smile. With that attitude she will go far!

After lunch Sheena Wilkinson hit us with what Alan Nolan described as ‘Wisdom Bombs’. She said that only 10% of her income comes from book sales. She has never been in the news for her big advances, but she has been in the news for winning a lot of book awards.

She has received e5,875 in advances for 7 books. She said writers can’t create if they are anxious about having a roof over their heads.

In 2016 she did 26 school visits, 18 library visits and spent 143 days doing events and teaching.

She said to ‘Seek out the rest of your tribe’ – the children’s book tribe. She admitted that 2 years ago she feared that her career was over. She had no new contract and she was genuinely worried. But a few months later things had changed and she’s been publishing steadily ever since.

Sheena was open and honest and many people’s highlight of the day, mine included. Sheena is a strong, intelligent woman who is not afraid of letting people see her vulnerabilities, which made this a really special talk indeed.

Next up David O’Callaghan from Eason, Oisin McGann and Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick told us some of their truths.

David O'Callaghan

David explained how important a good cover is to make a book stand out. He said what makes him buy a book for his stores is:

Word of mouth – the buzz around a book and early reviews and info from people he trusts

Originality – something different

He said if you want to know what trend to follow (when it comes to writing), you’re already too late. He will always push something original that may catch readers’ imaginations. But he can’t seem to sell PAF books – Posh As F*** hardback picture books.

Oisin Mc Gann said ‘You’re not going to make much money writing for children so you may as well have a good time doing it.’ He explained that modern children’s (and adults’) reading stamina is reduced and all writers need to think about this. He described reading stamina as ‘the time bomb in children’s books.’

David O’Callaghan gave great advice for writers:

For age 0 to 4 pitch (your marketing and publicity) at the parents and the bookselling community

Age 5 to 12 – work hard

Do school events

Your audience is kids and their parents

YA – get on social media and use it

Tumblr, Snapchat, blogging

Put in the work. He name checked Louise O’Neill and Deirdre Sullivan as writers who do this well.

Finally he said ‘Writing a book sounds like too much work to me. I’ll stick to selling them!’ And we’re lucky he’s such a passionate and devoted bookseller!

The final panel was called ‘Is It Me You’re Looking For?’ and featured Conor Hackett from Walker Books, Ivan O’Brien from O’Brien Press, Nicki Howard from Gill Books and UK agent, Penny Holroyde.

Penny said that picture books are the hardest place for a new writer to start. Many of the submissions she receives have no beginning, middle or end, are too long and are patronising.

She said it’s best not to try and write a rhyming picture book and noted the luxury non-fiction as a nice trend, books like Gill Books Irelandopedia with well curated content.

Nicki Howard admitted that she was surprised by the success of Irelandopedia. She explained how the idea came from Gill Books and how they commissioned Fatti Burke to illustrate it, after seeing her work in Cara magazine. Fatti brought her father, John on board as the writer, which Nicki explained was a great backstory for promotion.

Word Count

Penny said the ideal word count for a picture book is 500 to 800 words.

Think of the book as 12 double page spreads, she said.

Conor said that Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton is only 90 words.

Early Readers – 2 to 3k words. Penny explained that publishers tended to have armies of set writers for this age group and rights were hard to sell.

Middle Grade – age 9 to 12

Publishers Panel

Are you the type of author who will put in the time and work to be successful? Penny asked. A successful author (for this age) is a hard working one all agreed.

Ivan said that he looks for how hard a writer will work on events and promotions when considering taking on a new writer.

New writers – need to blog, be on social media and also be part of the children’s book ‘tribe’.

Ivan said – we are not interested in doing 1 book with a writer, we’re looking to build up backlist.

Nicki is interested in writers who are enthusiastic about what they are doing.

Conor is looking for books that really deliver.

Penny joked that her ideal writer was a bestseller. When working at another agency her boss told her: ‘Normal people don’t write books’.

American YA has an ambition that UK YA doesn’t, Penny said.

Ivan said that O’Brien Press is not actively looking for picture books. They are looking for good fiction for age 10+. Great novels.

He said to make the first book as good as it can be and maybe think of a sequel (or a series) after that. Alice Next Door by Judi Curtin came in as a stand-alone book he said. Word count – he suggested not more than 50K but make every word count.

Nicki Howard is looking for Irish focused books and illustrators.

Penny is looking for great age 10+ books like Beetle Boy of 40k words and is always interested in looking at illustrators.

Conor gave writers this advice:

Go to book launches

Engage with the industry

Meet people

The opportunities are there, he said. Take them!

A great way to end the day. Afterwards we launched the World of Colour Exhibition which is in the Lexicon from now until the end of March and features the work of Beatrice Alemanga and Chris Haughton.

Speaking at the Launch of a World of Colour

Thanks to everyone at Children’s Books Ireland – Elaina, Jenny, Ciara and especially Aoife who helped with programming advice and support, Marian Keyes, Susan Lynch and all at the Lexicon Library for their help and Words Ireland for their support.

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