Your Bio--Connect to Your Readership

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By Janie Reinart

Connect with your young fans on your website, blog, or book jacket with a kid-friendly bio.  

Some tips to try:
1. Keep it short. 
2. Tell something quirky. 
3. Personalize with some of the favorite things in your life.
4. Be playful.
5. Add a photo.
  
Here are some of my favorite examples:

Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen never thought she'd grow up to be a writer. As a child, she thought of being a doctor (but she's afraid of blood), a lawyer (but she doesn't like losing arguments), a carpenter (but she's too clumsy), a model (but she likes eating too much), a presidential candidate (but she had a dissolute youth), a UN ambassador (the argument losing thing again)... almost everything but a writer.

Sudipta visits schools to share her stories and experience, and teaches writing to children and adults. She lives in New Jersey with her family and an imaginary pony named Penny.

Drew Daywalt

Although Drew Daywalt grew up in a haunted house, he now lives in a Southern California home, haunted by only his wife, two kids, and German Shepherd. A Hollywood screenwriter by trade, The Day the Crayons Quit was his first book for children. His favorite crayon is Black.
 

Peter Brown

Peter Brown writes and illustrates books for young whippersnappers. He grew up in Hopewell, New Jersey, where he spent his time imagining and drawing silly characters. He studied Life Lessons at the School of Hard Knocks, and then got his B.F.A. in Illustration from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

Ame Dyckman

Ame Dyckman reads and writes picture books when she SHOULD be sleeping. She's the award-winning author of BOY + BOT, TEA PARTY RULES, WOLFIE THE BUNNY, the upcoming HORRIBLE BEAR (Spring, 2016), and more she can't talk about yet. Ame lives in New Jersey with her family, her crazy cat, and the characters from her books. Follow Ame on Twitter (@AmeDyckman), where she Tweets picture book reviews and pretty much everything that pops into her head.

Josh Funk

Josh Funk grew up in New England and studied Computer Science in school. Today, he still lives in New England and when not writing Java code or Python scripts, he drinks Java coffee and writes picture book manuscripts alongside his wife, children, and assorted pets & monsters.

Josh is the author of LADY PANCAKE & SIR FRENCH TOAST (Sterling), as well as the forthcoming picture books DEAR DRAGON (Viking/Penguin 2016), PIRASAURS! (Scholastic 2017), JACK! [and the beanstalk] (Two Lions, 2017), and more.

Josh is terrible at writing bios, so please help fill in the blanks. Josh enjoys _______ during ________ and has always loved __________. He has played ____________ since age __ and his biggest fear in life is being eaten by a __________.

I have been working on my bio. Share your bios and pictures with us in the comments. Have fun!

 

Janie Reinart wears many hats, performing as a clown in children’s hospitals, sharing original tales in schools as a musical storyteller, and volunteering as a poet in residence at an inner city school to help children find their voice. Best of all, Janie loves playing with words and writing for children. She lives in Ohio with her husband, and is always up for a game of cards, hopscotch, or dress-up. Just ask her thirteen grandchildren.

Wordless Spreads in Picture Books ~ by Patricia Toht

And now, for a few words (well, more than a few) about wordless spreads in picture books...

In my newest PB manuscript, I'm choosing to ignore two strong suggestions for picture book writers:

1) DON'T write in rhyme!

2) DON'T include illustrator notes!

I'm a published poet, so I feel I have some justification for writing a rhymed text. But what about those illustrator notes? As Deborah Underwood once said, "It's not the illustrator's job to tell you what to write -- just as it's not your job to tell her [or him] what to draw." I agree, whole-heartedly! So...why the notes?

Long-time readers of the GROG may recall my fondness for making picture book dummies by laying out my text in spreads that mimic a finished book. When I did so with the new book, I discovered a spot where I could cut lots of text by letting an illustrator go crazy with a wordless spread.

Before hitting the "submit" button, I thought it wise to study up on picture books that contained just one or two wordless spreads, to see if my suggestion made sense. I knew of several books to consider, and a shout out to members of PiBoIdMo bolstered my list.

A few of the books I studied.

I discovered some interesting things:

From my sampling (16 books), a wordless spread was more likely to occur in the second half of a book.

Wordless spreads were as likely to occur in books authored and illustrated by different people as those by author/illustrators. 

In many of the books, the spread served as a pause or slowing of pace, a chance for the reader to reflect. 

The spreads served other functions and conveyed varied messages (sometimes more than one, which is why the percentages below add up to way more than 100%!).

• 50% were humorous (many LOL). A majority of these happened in the second half of the book.

I love the "naked centerfold" in Peter Brown's MR. TIGER GOES WILD!

 • 50% demonstrated change, either within the character or in his/her situation.

• 33% portrayed setting out on a journey or adventure

The zoo animals hop aboard a bus in
A SICK DAY FOR AMOS McGEE
by Philip and Erin Stead

• 33% showed a difference in size or scale. This contrast between two characters, or between a character and the surroundings, elicited a variety of emotions from fear to loneliness to sweetness to wonder.

• 25% portrayed the culmination of a quest/resolution of a problem.

• One book introduced the main conflict through a wordless spread early on (pages 10 & 11).

Watch out, Billy Twitters! A blue whale is coming your way!
BILLY TWITTERS AND HIS BLUE WHALE PROBLEM
by Mac Barnett and Adam Rex

• The spreads were all worth their weight in wordless gold-- with the illustrations doing the work of many, many words.

Tara Lazar mentioned that her upcoming book, I THOUGHT THIS WAS A BEAR BOOK, contains a wordless spread. I asked her about it.

Me: Where does it occur?
Tara: The wordless spread is in the second-to-last spread in the book, right before you make the final page turn.

Me: What's its purpose?
Tara: It restores a sense of calm to the reader and conveys that everything has been settled. (Or has it????) It gives the bears some time to return home.

Me: Did you request the wordless spread?
Tara: This wordless spread was not in the original manuscript. It was suggested by my editor and illustrator after we made changes to the resolution. It helps with the pacing and sets up the final guffaw.


In the end, I feel a bit bold to suggest the wordless spread, but I feel it's the best vehicle to show lots of activity and a passage of time. Reassuringly, my sleuthing uncovered QUEEN VICTORIA'S BATHING MACHINE by Gloria Whelan and Nancy Carpenter. 

Like my manuscript, this story
1) is written in rhyme
2) is rooted in history
3) contains a wordless spread at the same spot that I am considering 
4) shows the resolution to a problem



And so I am emboldened to go where manuscripts are suggested not to go -- to submission, WITH illustrator notes! Wish me luck!

Thank you to Tara Lazar! (Visit Tara here.) Thanks also to PiBoIdMo members for your suggestions!