Writing My Stories

  

The SELF-PUBLISHING QUESTION:

(Not WHY? WHY NOT?)
By Mariam Davis Pineno

www.WRITINGMYSTORIES.com

You play “Duckling-with-inquisitive-nature” and I’ll naturally do my best to play “Old Wise One.” Naturally, because I already have “Old” down pat and “wise” attributable to a teacher’s history for leading while ruffling the fewest feathers.

So waddle to the edge, shove off, and start paddling. Why not? Of 700-words (max) you may read one answer here that resonates in your fine-feathered head.

•You have a story to tell and a desire to see it in kids’ hands being read in your lifetime. If accepted by most main-stream publishers, your book will remain submerged for years.

•You have requisite skills and you like controlling the whole process from registering the ISBN (for a fee) to authoring your own front- and back matter (i.e. Dedication, Succinct Synopsis and such). You will search your text and sometimes fuzzy head for a best-selling title.  (See Lisa Lickel’s February article in the Wise-Quacks page.)

•You have kept your beady bright eyes on the latest and best kids’ books, observing and experiencing enough to claim confidence in your ability to write in age-appropriate voice.

•You promise yourself with every downy feather on your body that you will not “quack” down-to or in didactic tones but rather leave young readers with a suitably subtle message, if any, and with satisfying take-away, for sure. Make it grow out of your text—your story.

•You think economy of words throughout, clarity your watchword.

•You build in effective page-turns and repetition (word, phrase, action) for Early Readers.

•You will give thoughtful consideration to your Dedication and Bio (without telling your life story) and will compose a unique signature for signing your books. Example: When signing my chapter book IT DOESN’T GROW on TREES, I draw from the theme with “May your motivation work wonders,” as does Brenda Hendricks when signing her new picture book WHAT’S the BUZZ, BUMBLY BEE? with the phrase “Fly high and trust God!” As writers, not waitresses, we can devise a more meaningful signing than the overworked one for serving food: “Enjoy!” 

•You will seek out fellow Odd Ducks’ help or will pay a Pro for experienced line-editing and/or proof-reading. Critiquing (welcome well-intentioned criticism) will roll off like water off… (you know).

•You don’t mind going without a few bags of grain, realizing full well that it’s rare as orchids in a creek to make a great profit from sales. Quack! “I can afford this.” Quack it often.

(Note: Honest self-publishing companies will even tell you upfront, before accepting your manuscript, that you aren’t going to get rich quick—if ever. So plunge in and sink or swim at your own risk.)

•You have (or someone you know who won’t charge you a wing and a webbed-foot has) studied and acquired the considerable skills to properly paginate, lay out text and illustrations to complement, and to scan into your computer. In other words, you, Odd Duck Designer, are about to assume the role of at least eight editors with no guarantee you’ll savor a single crumb.

•You may set your own unit price, knowing the standard, universal arrangement is 60% for the Odd Duck and 40% for the owner of the pond.

•You researched enough to know the term “self-publishing” is ambiguous. It encompasses various styles from do-it-all-yourself (from disc to printer, as are all of my picture books), to submitting manuscript, paying, and dealing with no less than twenty-five people. I’ve done both. So I can say, “WHY NOT?”

Detailed explanations and answers to your specific quirky quacks can be had by e-mailing Writemuse@webtv.net. Friendly-reader e-mail makes my heart sing. I always quack back.

www.WRITINGMYSTORIES.com
www.WRITINGSTORIESFORCHILDREN.bogspot.com

Mariam has authored one chapter book entitled IT DOESN’T GROW on TREES for Grades 3-6 (Ages 8 and up). In collaboration with daughter/professional artist, Martha Pineno Hess, she has published four full-color young reader picture books: TALENTED TABBY; LEONARDO’S LESSON; A HAT for HANNAH; and A BOX of BEARS just released in October, 2009.

Mariam’s delightful books can be purchased at the above links, www.CYGNETSTUDIOS.com, and Cygnet Studios in Elizabethtown, PA. IT DOESN’T GROW on TREES can also be found at the Walden Books store in the Susquehanna Mall, Selinsgrove, PA.

This article first published on www.OddDuckSociety.org

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One Lone Leaf — Written by Mariam Davis Pineno

(during the “Blizzard of ’96)

One lone leaf on fairy feet

Comes dancing, twirling

Down my street.

Whence it comes, I do not know–

Dancing leaf in a street lamp glow.

Now it tumbles

Cold winds blow.

One leaf quivers

Stuck in snow.

Flutter, shiver,

Quiver, shake;

Will it be here when I wake?

Snow drifts,

Snow swirls through the night;

Will my leaf have taken flight

Like a snow bird on its way?

Can it fly or must it stay?

Will I see in dawn’s bright light

One lone leaf

On snow drift white?

Wond’ring to myself will keep

As now I lay me down to sleep…

Z-Z-Z-z-z-z-z-z

Writing My Stories, Buy My Stories!

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Travel Writing For Kids (How Sweet It Is!)

Written by Mariam Davis Pineno

for the Summer 1999 Issue of Once Upon A Time

Travel writing for kids may be as simple as choosing a class of readers, then writing for them, personally.

You don’t travel, you say? Ah, but you must get from here to there and back sometimes. So you are a traveler. And more likely than not—at home or abroad—a kid-friendly topic lurks in your itinerary. Look for it, grab it, get a good grip, and think like an editor.

“Good photographs help to sell good writing,” says he. I say that with planning and a measure of ingenuity, who knows? Your travel writing for a captive classroom might take wings—might morph into a delectable read—so go for it!

Illustration: I was in Italy (Spring 1998) and thinking photos—plus show-and-tell. As always I’ve packed my BIG bargain-priced film stash and lead-lined bag designed for conveying irreplaceable film safely past X-rays. And suitable photo subjects find my lens everywhere. (Now when I go on trips, I take my trusty digital camera and eliminate the film entirely!)

But what to show-and-tell? Previous shopping flurries in Firenze have taught me this: 19 Karat gold jewelry and fine leather goods can be showily excessive. Translation: gaudy and tough on a tight travel budget. I pass.

So I seek alternatives—meaning: cheap stuff! I pick up, literally, chunks of dirty black Mt. Etna volcanic rock. I mount them, for a few cents each, on wooden blocks—assorted sizes and shapes—to hand-finish and felt-back. Prime specimen is designated “Teacher’s Keepsake Paperweight.”

Good Tip…My one-million-lira show-and-tell item stays under wraps until sweet finale time. No Peeking!

Now what about writing that eventually rates a backpack ride to school? Certainly no “encyclopedic” tome (nonfiction editors applaud) in this neatly-typed, kid-friendly piece entitled Mt. Etna: Good, Growing, and Green. What??

Those readers who routinely regard volcanoes as BAD, UGLY, AND DOWNRIGHT DESTRUCTIVE—raise your hands. My title carefully crafted to reflect article content, grabs attention. Isn’t that the point? And mercifully—for the brave fourth-grader reading aloud to her peers—class intrest is sustained. Good photos reinforce the narrative.

“The small island of Sicily is the world’s #1 lemon grower,” reads the young girl—finish line in sight. “Good, Growing, and Green,” she concludes. “And this: Mt. Etna, to be sure has a yummy, sweet side!”

Whereupon 23 happy kids smack their lips over the sticky proof.

M-m-m-m-m-miele di limoni—lemon honey (at $3.50) fresh from the fruits of Mt. Etna.

How sweet it is—this travel writing for kids!

Writing My Stories, Buy My Stories!

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Word Work — Written by Mariam Davis Pineno

for the Spring 2006 Issue of Once Upon A Time

An avalanche of written words

came tumbling down today

when one short email found my box

and prompted me to say:

Just write one SENTENCE at a time;

soon PARAGRAPHS you’ll find.

Turn paragraphs to PAGES

forming CHAPTERS in your mind.

String chapters all together;

start and end each with a hook.

One day you’ll sit and read with pride

your very own kids’ BOOK.

Writing My Stories, Buy My Stories!

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