The Children's Education Market

Are you interested in writing for the children's education market? If so, Evelyn B. Christensen, an extraordinary author and puzzle creator has compiled a current list of publishers and their needs and she's sharing it with fellow writers!

Evelyn deserves our thanks for her careful research. Thank you, Evelyn! Check out the Author and Puzzle Creator website!

http://www.echristensen.atspace.com/markets.html

Don't Miss This Post: Make Them Believe!

Yes, I know this post is one you read last week. It was time to post something else and so I did, however I've decided to put it back up. It's just too important to miss. I'm giving it more time to reach the few writers who read my humble blog.

In my opinion, if these comments from children don't inspire you---
perhaps you shouldn't be writing for them.

Make Them Believe:
I was deeply touched recently while reading comments from children about why they love reading. Some comments made me smile. Others brought me to tears. I’ve rephrased what they said. Perhaps their comments will influence your writing. I know it has changed my perspective. Listen to the children you write for:

From an 11 year old: When I read a book all of my troubles leave. I feel as though I’m in the book.

From a 10 year old: When I’m in the story it feels just like I’m the character. It feels like whatever happens to the character is happening to me. It’s like I’m in another world and I never really leave that other world until I finish the book. But even when I’m finished reading the book I’m still there in my mind.

From a 13 year old: Reading helps me escape from a hard day. Reading has helped me to learn right from wrong.

From an 11 year old: Reading is how I escape my life. Without a book I feel lost and empty. If I wasn’t able to read I would be bored and might die. To me reading is a way of survival.

From a 12 year old: Reading does NOT make you nerd or a dork! Reading is one of the greatest pleasures in life. I think the people who make fun of you for reading all the time are the nerds! Reading improves your vocabulary and knowledge.

From an 11 year old: Reading is like going on a vacation. It’s like seeing a movie in your own head and you don’t miss any of the good scenes. When you are sad and lonely and all your friends are gone, a book can be your friend.

From a 12 year old: When I read I can go to the past, present, or future. I feel like I’m exploring and journeying.

From a 14 year old: When I read I feel like I’m traveling to different worlds. I can be somebody else.

From a 12 year old: I can feel the authors words and see pictures in my head. Books are like portals. You can laugh, or be frightened or suddenly be plunged into a dangerous plot. Reading can calm you down when you are mad and when you are sad, reading can soothe you.

From a 13 year old: I feel like I’m really there. If you are lonely, you can read a book about people who are friendly and nice and you feel like they are your friends.

From a 12 year old: Books can help you follow your dreams or even become a hero. There is a whole world waiting to be discovered!

From a 13 year old: I love to read because it helps get me through hard times. When you have a book you will always have a friend.

From a 9 year old: When I read it takes me away from everything that’s going on and brings me to a whole new world.

From a 13 year old: Books can take you all around the world. They can keep you company when you’re lonely. BOOKS MAKE US BELIEVE.

Lots of children need a whole new world for many reasons. Books were referred to as friends, a way to escape troubles, a way to explore, follow their dreams, take a vacation in their mind, even learn right from wrong. To one child, reading was actually referred to as a way of survival! I wonder how many children feel that way.

If you never really thought you could actually change a life with your writing…

THINK AGAIN, WRITER!

Write for the children who NEED books in a way some of us never imagined.

Write and MAKE THEM BELIEVE!

Source: Alan L. Brown’s website at www.alanbrown.com

From Lightning Bugs to Doing the Dishes

Mark Twain said, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.”

I can see you nodding. Read on for more great quotes on writing:

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” Anton Chekhov

“If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” Toni Morrison

“The wastebasket is a writer’s best friend.” Isaac Bashevis Singer

“A poet can survive everything but a misprint.” Oscar Wilde

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” William Wordsworth

“I try to leave out the parts that people skip.” Elmore Leonard

“Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space.” Orson Scott Card

“A poem begins with a lump in the throat.” Robert Frost

“Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.” Author Unknown

“I love being a writer. What I can’t stand is the paperwork.” Peter De Vries

“I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top.” English Professor (name unknown) Ohio University

“Language is the dress of thought.” Samuel Johnson

“A synonym is a word you use when you can’t spell another one.” Baltasar Gracian

“When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing.” Enrique Jardiel Poncela

“God is the perfect Poet.” Robert Browning

“A man will turn over half a library to make a book.” Samuel Johnson

“A notepad by the bedside accounts for half the earning of my livelihood. If it weren’t for bedtime, half my novels would still be stuck at dock.” Ever Garrison

“There are thousands of thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up the pen and writes.” William Makepeace Thackeray

“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.” Thomas Jefferson

“Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” Robert Frost

“Eloquence is the poetry of prose.” William Cullen Bryant (a relative in my family tree!)

“The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.” Agatha Christie