It’s fun to play at the CBCA

One of the messages that has resounded loud and clear from the interviews with both Shelly Unwin and Lesley Gibbes‘ is the importance of developing contacts in the kid lit industry. One of the things Shelly and Lesley found invaluable were courses. Something that I have found invaluable is the Children’s Book Council of Australia, […]

Read more
Lesley Gibbes – To Infinity and beyond part 2

In my first interview with children’s author Lesley Gibbes (see it here) the standout messages for me were: The importance of: Reading good literature Playing around in the literary space (writing skits, plays, even telling stories through dance) Attending courses and building connections Hard work and perseverance. This is Part 2 of my interview with Lesley […]

Read more
FIVE TOP TIPS From Inside the Publishing House

At the end of October I attended the Emerging Writers Festival event ‘Inside the Publishing House’ at Hachette, Sydney. It was the week of Halloween and they had cool decorations and a table full of lollies!     But even more importantly, we all got something to take away – and I’m not talking about […]

Read more
Lesley Gibbes – to infinity and beyond…

Last month I attended the launch for Lesley Gibbes’ second published picture book Bring a Duck at the Children’s Bookshop in Beecroft, Sydney. Lesley has had phenomenal success since her launch into the children’s book scene last year with her first ever picture book, Scary Night, illustrated by Stephen Michael King. I am excited that […]

Read more
Lesley Gibbes – to infinity and beyond…

Last month I attended the launch for Lesley Gibbes’ second published picture book Bring a Duck at the Children’s Bookshop in Beecroft, Sydney. Lesley has had phenomenal success since her launch into the children’s book scene last year with her first ever picture book, Scary Night, illustrated by Stephen Michael King. I am excited that […]

Read more
The Rise and Rise of Shelly Unwin Part 3

Today is the last interview with Shelly Unwin in which we look at some of the ‘nuts and bolts’ of her steps to her publishing dream. They include practical advice for anyone who is interested in getting published. The things that impress me loud and clear from your story, Shelly are: although these books are […]

Read more
The Write Opportunity

The children’s writing world is full of opportunities for you to experiment and practice the craft of writing – to ‘sharpen the pencil’ as I wrote about last month (here). It helps, firstly, if you have a way to find out about the opportunities.  Being linked in to the writing community is imperative. Writer’s centres, […]

Read more
Practice Makes Perfect

In my last post interview with Shelly Unwin, she said: If I’d had the same idea three years earlier though, my execution wouldn’t have been anywhere near where it was when this idea formed. I had taken time to learn the craft and really understand how to structure a picture book and really speak to […]

Read more
The rise and rise of Shelly Unwin – newly signed author – Part 1

I first met Shelly Unwin at a CBCA event a few years ago, and gradually got to know her as we bumped into each other at regular meetings and events.  She is warm, open and encouraging with an English accent I could listen to all day. I’ve heard Shelly talk about a manuscript that came […]

Read more
%d bloggers like this: