Our Christmas Gingerbread Cottage

Today I decided to take a break from my usual creative outlet of writing and do something equally creative but a lot more challenging for me–help the children make the annual gingerbread cottage. We create a gingerbread house every year, but this year we knew we had to up our game. We discovered Sykes Cottages was running a competition to create a gingerbread cottage with the incentive of offering one lucky family a £500 voucher towards one of their holiday cottages, and after looking at their website and the cottages on offer, we were keen to enter. Here are the details of the competition and here is their website with some amazing properties to hire.

I’m not the least bit artistically inclined, but thankfully my daughters had strong ideas about how they wanted to decorate the gingerbread cottage. Effectively, they wanted to add every sweet and biscuit we could find from the shops and then cover the cottage in icing sugar to look like snow.

Here are the many sweets and treats my daughters chose. Fortunately, we didn't quite use all of them!

Here are the many sweets and treats my daughters chose. Fortunately, we didn’t quite use all of them!

After I assembled the cottage, my six year old placed the first sweet in position.

A very excited six year old putting on the first decoration.

A very excited six year old putting on the first decoration.

Before placing any further pieces on the main body of the cottage, my 11 year old decided we should decorate the roof. She chose to cover it with Party Ring biscuits.

gingerbread-sasha

The Party Rings were filled with bright candy discs, and then surrounded by rainbow-coloured strings of balls. For the chimney, they chose half a Twirl bar because only using half of it meant they could eat the other half. And still on a rainbow theme, they topped the roof with gumdrops in a rainbow sequence.

We like our bright colours and rainbow sequences!

We like our bright colours and rainbow sequences!

The girls then tackled the sides with more bright-coloured balls, asking me only to outline the windows and doors so they could cover the icing in candy snowflakes and white and blue pearl balls.

gingerbread-front

And now a side view.

And now a side view.

I thought we were finished at this point, but the girls informed me that we needed to add lots of snow, as well as our snowman and Father Christmas. The youngest sprinkled icing sugar on the cottage, while licking at the air as it floated down, and the eldest poured caster sugar on a baking tray.

Next came Santa and Frosty. As you can see, our snowman didn’t start white. He got a good dusting as well.

gingerbread-snowman

Because we still had some chocolate buttons we hadn’t used, the girls laid them down as a path to the cottage. Last but not least, they piled up white candies in front of Father Christmas and the snowman so that they could have a snowball fight–something my girls LOVE to do but haven’t had the opportunity to do yet this year.

Let it snow, let is snow, let it snow!

Let it snow, let is snow, let it snow!

They were very pleased with their final creation and couldn’t wait to show it off. Here it is–we hope you and Sykes Cottages like it as much as we do! And if we do win the voucher, we’ll be sure and tell you all about our holiday in a post next year. If not, we’re still winners because we had a blast making it and can’t wait to eat it. YUM! Happy Christmas all!

gingerbread-with-girls

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The “Christmas is Coming” Query Critique Giveaway

The holiday season is here and by way of spreading good cheer, I’m offering two picture book writers a free query letter critique. The giveaway is open worldwide to both published and pre-published picture book writers. All you need to do to enter is to complete the rafflecopter below by midnight on 20 December, 2016, GMT.

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments

Which is more important–your query letter or your manuscript?

Well, that’s easy. Your manuscript, right?

Not necessarily. By way of answering that question, I want to share a story with you about my experience writing query letters. The excerpt below was taken from a blog post I wrote on writing query letters for the Sub It Club in 2014. You can read the full post here.

In 2013, I wrote two query letters that “worked.” By that I mean that the first one landed me an agent, and the second one got me a publishing contract.

Some might argue that it wasn’t the query letters that sold my work. Perhaps my writing was finally up to par. Or my timing was good and I put just the right manuscripts in front of the right people at the right time. Or any number of different reasons that have nothing to do with my query letters.

And I wouldn’t deny that any or all of these things may have played a contributing part, but I also know that if I hadn’t written a good query letter, that the agent and editor wouldn’t have taken the time to read my work.

Why? Because half my story was in the query letter.

Not the best way to start a query letter.

NOT the best way to start a query letter.

That’s right. The query letter tells an agent or editor just as much about your work as your manuscript does—sometimes more.

For example, is your manuscript the correct length for the age group you’ve written it for? Have you researched this agent or editor to know if they will be a good fit for your work? Can you sum up your work in one sentence? What’s your “voice” like? Are you someone who is easy to work with?

And the list goes on.

However, I didn’t always feel this way. It took me the better part of seven years of writing and submitting picture books to realize how vital a good query letter is to a submission. I was stubborn and unprepared to spend more time on my query letters than my manuscript.

But then I won a free critique. Yippee! Someone else was going to cast a helpful eye over my work—except it wasn’t a free critique of a manuscript, it was a free critique of a query letter. That’s when the ball dropped. It finally dawned on me that I should be prepared to spend as much time on my query letter as my manuscript–if not more.

From that point on, I got serious about query letter writing.

I went back through my files and looked at my old query letters. They were absolutely cringe-worthy. With few exceptions, my early letters opened like this: “Dear Submissions Editor”. I couldn’t even be bothered to find out the name of the editor in charge of acquiring picture books.

A folder with only two years' worth of rejections.

A folder with ONLY two years’ worth of bad query letters and rejections.

Another early letter started with this paragraph: “Please find enclosed three picture book manuscripts. The first two manuscripts were written with a series in mind. I have enclosed a CD with illustrations by a local artist to accompany the third manuscript.”

What was I thinking by enclosing illustrations with my picture book manuscript? And what made me believe suggesting a series before I’d even made a sale was a good idea? Worse still, I hadn’t even tried to make a personal connection. I knew nothing about the editor and her interests and my query letter clearly indicated that fact. My letter also clearly indicated the fact that I was still very much a beginner. Yes, my query told that editor everything she needed to know about me and my work.

Over time, my queries changed more and more, while continuing to tell editors and agents the other half of my story.

“She sounds cold and impersonal…”

“She hasn’t studied the other books on our list…”

And the biggie—“She’s not prepared to invest enough time in her query letter…”

Once I truly saw how much of my story these letters were telling—not to mention how much I didn’t like the story they were telling—I changed tack and got serious about sprucing up my query letters. What would I want to read if the tables were turned?

My queries still didn’t “work” right away, but they were getting attention. An agent would write a personal note. An editor would invite me to send another manuscript. I knew they finally liked the other half of the story I was sharing with them.

Less than a year later, I landed both an agent and a publishing contract. So if you ask me which is more important, I would say they’re equally important. A well-written manuscript is vital, HOWEVER, even the best manuscript in the world may go unnoticed if the agent or editor you’re submitting it to doesn’t like the story your query letter is telling.

Two contracts, as a result of two query letters that finally told the right story!

Two contracts as a result of two query letters that finally told the right story!

What does a good query letter look like? Here’s a list of my suggestions of what to include:

-address your letter to an actual person rather than generically to The Submissions Editor
-an opening paragraph that further personalizes the letter and tells the person you’re writing to specifically why you’ve chosen to submit to him or her
-a picture book synopsis that is a succinct three sentences
-your word count (and make sure it’s the appropriate length for the type of book you’ve written)
-a paragraph about yourself, your credits, and any professional organizations you belong to (mentioning SCBWI on a query letter goes a long way in establishing your credibility even if you don’t yet have any writing credits)
-always, always, always thank the person you’re writing to for their time and consideration of your work

As an example, you can view one of my successful query letters on the Sub It Club blog post mentioned above, alongside a breakdown of the story it told this agent.

If you have any questions about query letters, I’ll try my best to answer them in the comments below. Also, if anyone wants a professional critique of their query letter, see my critique services page for more information.

I wish you all the best with submitting and I hope your next query letter is one that “works!”

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Picture Book Mentorship WINNER announcement

Thank you to everyone who entered the competition to win a six month picture book mentorship. There were 97 entries in total! I wish I could offer 97 mentorships but I’d never get my own writing done if I did. So unfortunately, I had to stick with one winner.

Without further ado, here is my eldest preparing to draw a name out of her festive hat:

Preparing to draw a name from her festive hat.

My eldest playing Santa Claus.

And here’s the name she drew out:

And the winning name is....

And the winning name is….

Congratulations, JILL GIESBRECHT! (I’ll be in touch by email shortly.)

Although the competition is over, I’m still answering questions about writing picture books on the original “Ask a Picture Book Author” blog post here. Also, if you’re looking for a critique, please know that my fees are currently reduced.

Thanks again to everyone who entered, and a big thank you to the members of the kidlit community who have helped me on my own picture book writing journey!

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Ask a Picture Book Author and Free Mentorship

The journey to becoming a picture book author often leads down a long and winding road. And if you’re anything like me, you’ll find yourself lost or at several dead ends (rejected approximately 140 times over 7 years!!), and having to retrace your steps and set off in a new direction before you start making true progress.

I made every mistake in the book starting out and my husband recently told me that he had no faith in my ability to get published during my early years writing picture books. My writing was sub-par and, let’s be honest, it is one of the hardest markets to break into because everyone is writing picture books! Having said all that, I believe if you’re willing to learn and you don’t waver from your goal, that you can do most anything you want.

The reason I’m writing this is two-fold. Firstly, I’ve been on the receiving end of lots of great advice from fellow children’s authors and SCBWI members over the years. I’ve tried to always pay it forward, offering free advice to others but, admittedly, that tends to be on an individual basis. I decided it might be nice to offer up advice in a group setting. And the second reason, I’ll explain in a moment.

Learning from fellow children's authors in SCBWI.

Learning from fellow children’s authors in SCBWI.

So…what I decided to do is offer up my time and advice here. I’ll answer as many questions as I can that come through the comments on this blog post before the end of the year. If there are a lot of questions, it may take me some time but I’ll do my best to get to all of them eventually.

Additionally, I’m offering a free six-month mentorship to one picture book writer. I’ve not done this before so I don’t know yet exactly how it will work but my thought was to be accessible for questions twice a month via Skype for up to one hour on each occasion, as well as feedback on a manuscript once a month over the half-year period. It needn’t be the same manuscript each time, as long as we’re both happy that the manuscript you’re working on is marketable. The only proviso on the mentorship is that you not be traditionally published in the picture book market, nor be a family member of mine. I’d also ask that I be allowed to publish the name of the mentorship winner on my blog.

The winner will be drawn from a hat by my children. Just put your name in the comments below with your contact details (you don’t have to ask a question) OR send me your contact details via my website contact form by 15 November. Either way, you’ll be in the draw.

Four years into my PB journey--writing with a baby on my lap.

Four years into my PB journey–writing with a baby on my lap.

My credentials: I’ve published 2 picture books to-date, I have a third one forthcoming in 2017, and a further one in the works that I can’t tell you about just yet. I lean towards fiction and rhyme but I’ll try to answer any PB questions. I would suggest, however, the winner of the mentorship not send me non-fiction manuscripts as I’ve struggled getting my own NF texts published.

Now for the second reason for this post. Alongside picture book writing, I’ve decided to try screenwriting. It’s going well so far with very positive comments on my work by both an agent and a producer, but I’m under no false illusions that the journey will be any shorter or easier. If anything, the opposite may be true.

So why am I telling you this? Because I have the opportunity to attend a screenwriting retreat next year that will show me how to get my scripts off the ground, and without a paying job (librarians aren’t in demand in the UK anymore) and without owning a house I can remortgage (the sacrifice has been worth it), I just can’t afford to attend. And the more I learn and the sooner I learn, the quicker my journey to becoming a credited screenwriter will be.

I’ve been fortunate over the years to be on the receiving end of grants and scholarships—not to mention the generosity of family members, and I’m extremely grateful for the patronage! This got me thinking. What if I offered critiques and mentorships in return for sponsorship? I’ve set up a GoFundMe page where I offer reduced rate critiques, school visits (Skype or in-person), a further mentorship, the opportunity to name characters in my books or films, and even tickets to my first premiere and a walk down the red carpet with me.

On a school visit.

On a school visit.

Regardless of whether or not I get the sponsorship I need, I will still be answering questions and running the mentorship contest, as I want to pay my own good fortune forward.

Should you wish to take advantage of the reduced-rate critiques or other rewards, you can find more details here: www.gofundme.com/fairy-godmothers-needed-2w93t2fw (Please note: payment is in pounds but if you’re in the US, that’s not a problem. You’ll merely receive the exchange rate on the day and the dollar hasn’t been this strong against the pound in over 30 years!)

Remember that entry into the mentorship contest ends 15 November at midnight PST. But I’ll answer questions until the end of 2016.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to working with at least one pre-published picture book writer soon!

UPDATE: I’ve decided to add a BONUS. If I meet my GoFundMe goal by 1 December, I will draw another name for a second free mentorship!

Posted in Uncategorized | 208 Comments

Fairy godmothers (and fathers!) needed

As many of you know, I’ve started writing screenplays for adults (Rom-Coms to be exact) alongside writing children’s picture books. The two mediums require similar skills–namely the ability to think and write visually–and the transition is going well. So well, in fact, that I won a scholarship to the Rocaberti Writers’ Retreat earlier this month!

At the retreat, I was mentored by a Hollywood agent, a producer, and a writing coach. Their tuition was a real game-changer for me, and their comments on my work gave me the confidence I needed to continue working on my scripts. I realized I’m not just trying to be a screenwriter–the skills are there, and I CAN make the dream come true by putting in more work and hours on my projects.

Here I am at the retreat, discussing screenwriting late into the evening.

Here I am at the retreat, discussing screenwriting late into the evening.

Now the opportunity has arisen to continue the mentoring at another retreat in 2017. In addition to the original mentors, there will be a further mentor, Miles Copeland, former manager of Sting, The Police and R.E.M. You’re probably wondering why a music manager is going to be a mentor at a screenwriting retreat. In a nutshell, Miles has years of experience of getting creative projects off the ground and marketing them. And that’s the next step for me.

It’s all good and well to write screenplays, but if I can’t market myself and get my scripts to the gatekeepers, then my screenwriting is never going to amount to anything. Not to mention, my family is going to have to keep eating beans on toast for the rest of their lives.

I’m sharing this because I’m hoping a few of my friends (and any future friends!) wouldn’t mind giving up the equivalent of a slice of cake and coffee to help me make this dream a reality. I hate to ask for patronage to pursue my work in screenwriting, but that’s effectively what it is. If you’d like to read more about my campaign to raise funds to attend this retreat (along with my budget breakdown), the details can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/fairy-godmothers-needed-2w93t2fw. Thanks for reading!

Let's make some magic!

Let’s make some magic!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Halloween Giveaway Prizes and Winners!

A big thank you to everyone who joined me for my virtual Halloween party and giveaway! The winners’ names have now been drawn and the prizes have been posted. Congratulations to Lisa C, Jamie L, Holly W, Jenny H, and Angela W!

The prizes!

The prizes!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The “IT’S NEARLY HALLOWEEN” party and giveaway!

Autumn is in the air and my favorite holiday is just around the corner. I love Halloween—and more especially—I love to throw Halloween parties. But when I realized it wouldn’t be possible this year due to my schedule, I decided to throw a virtual Halloween party instead.

Although I won’t be able to serve you any Witches’ Brew or Werewolf Bane, I can still offer you some treats—and perhaps a few tricks.

Drinks anyone?

If you want to join me for the party, take a picture of yourself in your Halloween costume and post it to either Facebook or Twitter, tagging me in the post at www.facebook.com/rebeccacolbybooks or @amscribbler (or if you’re a FB friend, you can tag me on my personal page). Be sure also to insert the hashtag #battyparty and then at the end of the month, I’ll give out a prize for the best costume.

And here I am in my costume.

And here I am in my costume.

BUT, I know people need time to get their costumes sorted, so in the meantime, let’s get the party started with a giveaway!

Scholastic have worked with my publishers to produce a paperback version of IT’S RAINING BATS & FROGS, as well as a CD. I have two copies of the Scholastic book to give away, one copy of the CD, as well as two tricks to give out. However, I’m not telling you what the tricks are until the end of the giveaway.

If you’d like to enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter below. The giveaway ends 20 October and the best costume competition ends 31 October.

I hope you’ll join me for the party!

(Note: You do not need to enter your details on the Rafflecopter if you only want to enter the best costume competition. The competition is open worldwide and all winners and prizes will be listed here in early November.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

It’s Raining Bats & Frogs Blog Tour and an On-line Scavenger Hunt

On tour with Delia.

On tour with Delia.

The last time I went on tour was in 1999, and in those days I traveled around the world as a tour director, taking clients on vacation. Tomorrow I’m traveling around the world on tour again, but this time from the comfort of my own home. Join me at the following destinations to meet new people and learn new things.

AND, if you enjoy scavenger hunts and giveaways, keep a close eye on the blog posts. Some of them will be offering IT’S RAINING BATS & FROGS book giveaways and over half will be participating in a scavenger hunt. Read these latter posts carefully to find the answers you’ll need in order to be in with a chance of winning the overall giveaway for a $50 USD Amazon voucher (or £30 GBP Amazon voucher) at the end of the tour. More details can be found below after the tour dates.

10 August – StorySnug Interview and giveaway
11 August – Tara Lazar’s Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) Picture Book Idea Month Success Stories and Giveaway
14 August – Yvonne Ventresca Five Tips for Debut Authors
15 August – The Children’s Book Review Five Family Children’s Book Favorites
17 August – Clare Helen Welsh So You’ve Got a Book Deal, What Next?
18 August – Marcia Strykowski August Author Spotlight Interview
19 August – Teaching Authors Part 1 Wednesday Writing Workout
23 August – Picture Book Den What’s in it for the Adults?
24 August – Teaching Authors Part 2 How to Write a Teacher’s Activity Guide
25 August – Christina Banach Interview
27 August – Laurie J. Edwards Show Them the Funny: Writing the Humorous Picture Book
28 August – GROG Storybook Cooks and giveaway

SCAVENGER HUNT: I love scavenger hunts which is why I chose to run one. As I mentioned above, only about half of the blogs visited will feature answers for the hunt, and it’s up to you to find out which ones do and then find and collect all the answers. There will be eight answers to find and submit in total.

So what should you be looking for? Witch names, of course! Each post will mention a fictitious witch somewhere in the post. To be in with a chance of winning, leave a comment on the blog where you found the name (but please DON’T reveal the name) and then at the end of the tour, send me a list of all eight names via my website contact page, and enter the Rafflecopter entry form below.

Find 8 witch names (although I appreciate there are only 7 witches in this picture).

You have until 11.59pm EST on 5 September to enter the scavenger hunt giveaway! Entries are open worldwide but please know that the Amazon voucher will only be given out in US dollars or GB pounds—winner’s choice. I will also magic up a couple of surprise runner-up gifts but they will remain surprises until the end of the giveaway!

Happy touring with me!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Cover Reveal Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who visited my blog last week for the cover reveal of IT’S RAINING BATS & FROGS! There were some fun answers to the question of what you would change the rain to if you were Delia. Today I’m pleased to announce the winner of the $20 Amazon card. It is…

Joanna Marple

Congratulations, Joanna! And thank you all again for joining me!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment