Dee White's Tuesday Writing Tips Blog Tour

Welcome to Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie. We have a special guest today. Oooh, I love special guests! Dee White is visiting on her Tuesday Writing Tips Blog Tour. She's here to talk to me about my book, Black Baron - and how to write bigger stories.

Robyn: Thanks, Dee.

Dee: Hi Robyn, I loved your book, Black Baron and my boys did too. We are so pleased to be here today to find out how you wrote it. Could you start by giving us a brief summary of what the book is about?

Robyn: Hi Dee. Thank you for including me in your Tuesday Writing Tips blog tour. I'm pleased to have you here. And thank you for your kind words about Black Baron. I'm glad you and your boys loved it. I decided I wouldn't re-invent the wheel and create a new summary. So here is the blurb from the Walker Books Australia website: "Black Baron, Jake's champion racing cockroach, hasn't lost a race and Jake is on top of the world. But then his mum decides to clean up his bedroom and discovers Black Baron in a shoebox under Jake’s bed. Mum is aghast -- how could Jake keep such a filthy pest? But Black Baron escapes and Jake's Mum calls the pest exterminator and a humorous slapstick tale ensues."

Dee: I understand that Black Baron was longer than any previous book you had written. Did you find that daunting when you started writing it – knowing it had to be a lot longer?

Robyn: I'd been writing short texts for school readers. When I started Black Baron, the longest story I'd written in recent years was probably around 1,200 words. I didn't think about it at the time. I knew Black Baron was going to be a novel and that the manuscript had to be longer than my recent works. I hadn't written a novel greater than 4,500 words at this point and not for several years. I can't say that I was daunted because I didn't know that I was going to find the task difficult or challenging. But when I started writing Black Baron, I discovered that years of writing short texts for school readers had taught me to write concisely. That is good, of course. But one can write too concisely. I realised that I left out a lot of information, like action and setting. In a way, I wrote skeletons and this skeleton, Black Baron, needed fleshing out.

Dee: Why did Black Baron have to be longer?

Robyn: The simple answer is to fit the market, so I had a chance of Black Baron being published by a trade publisher. There is a limited market for stories less than 1,200 words, which I was used to writing. Black Baron had to be novel-length, or at least somewhere in the vicinity. Several publishers had told me that they didn't publish children's books under 15,000 words - 15,000 was their minimum, though they preferred upwards of 20,000. These publishers publish shorter books now but that was what I was told several years ago. I guess I was ready for the challenge, too, to write a longer work and broaden my horizons.

Dee: Did you plot it all out and the book came out to be the ‘right’ length or did you have to add things along the way?

Robyn: I did a plot outline for Black Baron. I don't like to start writing unless I know the ending to a story. I feel as if I need something to aim for, or else I might get lost on the way and never reach the end. I hated cockroaches and thought of them as "stinking, rotten cockroaches", rather like Jake's parents feel in the book. As far as I was concerned Black Baron was going to die. But as I wrote the story, I fell in love with Black Baron. He's my character, after all, and I brought him to life, and pretty soon he had a place in my heart. Needless to say, I decided on a new ending to my story. Long live the champ! The story was too short, nowhere near the right length. As I mentioned above, I realised that I wrote too concisely and left information out, about the characters, the action and the setting. I had to keep going back and inserting that extra information. I needed to add muscles and flesh to the skeleton's bones. I probably ended up going through the manuscript four or five times (at least!), adding more and more layers. That's the way I feel about Black Baron, as if I wrote it in layers. All of my previous books, the school readers, were illustrated so the pictures told a lot of the story and they were also limited in terms of characterisation, action and setting. Black Baron needed more to be explained or experienced through the text.

Dee: When you added layers to your story, did this involve developing characters, adding more description or creating more action? Or a combination of all three? Can you tell us how you did it?

Robyn: It involved all three. In the school readers, I'd been writing in recent years, I didn't need any characterisation at all. No details about the characters or their relationships. So I had to focus on the extra bits that would make Jake, his parents and Black Baron seem real. I also had to add more thoughts and feelings from Jake, my point of view main character. I had to work on adding more description and action, but only what seemed necessary. Each time I went through the manuscript, at least four or five times (maybe more), I added more to make the story seem realistic and believable. I thought about the descriptions, settings and action. Initially, I'd left a lot out and could expand on these areas. And I should also mention that I initially wrote Black Baron in third person point of view. I changed the manuscript to first person, to see what would happen. I managed to connect with Jake, as if I was him. In fact, I probably became Jake because I was writing from the "I" point of view. Black Baron helped me learn how to "show, don't tell". I often suggest to people who are having trouble with "show, don't tell" to write from the "I" point of view and pretend that they are the main character. You're not a writer, you're the main character. That way, it's easier to "show" everything from the main character's point of view by imagining you're that character and including what you can see, hear, think and feel.

Dee: Did you have to go back and re-plot parts of the story to make it longer?

Robyn: As I mentioned above, I went back and re-plotted the ending, after falling in love with my character Black Baron. I also had to add extra scenes or events to the story. I guess it's a bit like going straight from A to E. I can go straight there, A to E, or I can include B, C, and D on the way. I hope that makes sense. My first draft of Black Baron involved the plot I wanted to write. Start to finish, getting there as easily and as simply - or concisely - as possible. But the manuscript was too short, around 4,000 to 5,000 words. Knowing I needed to make it longer, I returned to the manuscript and thought about the existing scenes. Then I thought about what these existing scenes meant in regards to cause and effect. You know the idea of cause and effect - one event causes something to happen which causes something to happen and so forth. What else could happen? I realised that there were more opportunities with the story. I didn't have to get to the end so quickly. I could enjoy the journey on the way, draw it out, as long as everything seemed to be in the story because of cause and effect. Plus, I was now Jake, the main character, and not a writer. I could imagine what "I" did and how "I" reacted, thus making it easier to create new cause and effort scenes.

Dee: So, Robyn, can you give us a tip for fellow writers who are trying to increase their word count to meet a publisher or competition requirement?

Robyn: Please visit Dee White's blog - http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com - for my final answer and tip of the day.


For more information about Black Baron, please check out:
http://www.walkerbooks.com.au/Books/Lightning-Strikes-Black-Baron-9781921150586

http://www.walker.co.uk/Black-Baron-9781406322163.aspx

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Baron-Robyn-Opie/dp/1406322164

And for more of Dee White's Tuesday Writing Tips Blog Tour, here are the dates:

2nd February 2010
Claire Saxby’s blog
http://letshavewords.blogspot.com
Writing Picture Books - Leaving room for the illustrator.

9th February 2010
Dee White’s blog
http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com
Reviewing ‘There Was an Old Sailor’ - Reviewing vs Editing skills.

16th February 2010
Sandy Fussell’s blog
http://www.sandyfussell.blogspot.com
Writers Need to be avid free range readers

23rd February 2010
Robyn Opie’s blog
http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com
How to make your story longer – adding layers

2nd March 2010
Angela Sunde’s blog
http://www.angelasunde.blogspot.com
More about Point of View – head hopping

Claire Saxby's Blog Tour - There Was an Old Sailor

Welcome to Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie. Today, Claire Saxby has come back to visit us as part of her new blog tour. Yes, Claire has another picture book, which was released this month. Congratulations, Claire!

Today, Claire is talking to us about There Was an Old Sailor and how she went from idea to book. Sound easy? Let's hear what Claire has to say about that.

Welcome Claire - and over to you.


From Idea to Book – ‘There Was an Old Sailor’
Claire Saxby
http://www.clairesaxby.com

I was sitting watching my son and his circus classmates do their warm-ups when my friend and her daughter arrived. Her daughter stripped off her shoes and socks and joined the others on the mat. My storyteller friend dropped into the chair near me and said ‘I wish someone would write a fishy rhyme…you know…like “There Was an Old Lady”.’ She was just back from a storytelling session and bemoaned the fact that there was no nautical cumulative rhyme in this Year of the Ocean. ‘And everyone wants fishy tales,’ she said.

‘I’m game,’ I said. ‘I’ll give it a go.’

And so the idea for ‘There Was an Old Sailor’ was born.

Easy, I thought. Hah! I should know better. Less words generally means more difficult, when it comes to picture books. Certainly has for me anyway. My first picture book, Ebi’s Boat’ has 198 words.

And when you consider that when you are modeling on an existing rhyme, you can’t fudge any of the lines or play with the structure, it’s a bit like dancing with an octopus in a shower…dangly bits everywhere!

Where to start? Well that at least seemed obvious. The animals. So I built a list of eight sea animals. Krill and whale were my bookends. Made sense, although I worried a little about children not knowing what krill were. The other six animals changed a few times as I played with the rhymes. Most had to be single syllable, so jellyfish became jelly, stingray became ray (more accurate terms any way I discovered).

I shared progress with my storyteller friend and her enthusiasm kept me buoyant when the rhymes wouldn’t come and it all seemed futile. Eventually the story was done and I sent it off to publishers.

No response. Well, yes, there were responses, but nothing to tell me why they didn’t want it. That’s just the way it is, often. So after a few submissions, I was again despondent. Then my storyteller friend arrived with a present for me…a bollard sailor with a wide open mouth. She’d been taking my story into classrooms and kindergartens and they loved it. So her husband had made two sailors, one for her, one for me. We searched shops for the fishy creatures to perform the rhyme. Some were easy…fish are everywhere. But krill? Hmm not so easy. Eventually we found a fishing supply store who gave us shrimp/krill looking lures, complete with hook and sinker. Children love the Old Sailor and love helping to feed him.

Around that time I was asked to do a writing workshop for upper primary children and developed one around the Old Sailor. It was and continues to be a fun and successful workshop. I began to think that perhaps that was the Old Sailor’s destiny, rather than to be a book.

But then I sent out the manuscript once more. Walker Books accepted it and Cassandra Allen agreed to illustrate it. On Feb 1 2010, There Was an Old Sailor hit the bookshops. Magic. Just magic. It only took eight years.

Thanks for hosting me, Robyn.

Thanks for visiting, Claire, and sharing your experiences.

To find out more about There Was an Old Sailor by Claire Saxby, please visit Walker Books Australian web site: http://www.walkerbooks.com.au/Books/There-Was-an-Old-Sailor-9781921150715

Dates for Claire Saxby's Blog Tour

Monday 8 February: Sally Murphy's Writing for Children
http://www.sallymurphy.blogspot.com/

Tues 9 February: Dee White's Tuesday Writing Tips
http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com/

Wed 10 February: Dale Harcombe's Read and Write with Dale
http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale/

Thurs 11 February: Robyn Opie's Writing Children's books
http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com/

Fri 12 February: Lorraine Marwood's Words into Writing
http://lorrainemarwoodwordsintowriting.blogspot.com/

Sat 13 February: Mabel Kaplan's Tales I Tell
http://belka37.blogspot.com/

Sun 14 February: Sandy Fussell's Stories are Light
http://sandyfussell.blogspot.com/

Claire Saxby's Blog Tour - There Was an Old Sailor

There Was an Old Sailor
Claire Saxby's Blog Tour

Monday 8 February: Sally Murphy's Writing for Children

http://www.sallymurphy.blogspot.com/

Tues 9 February: Dee White's Tuesday Writing Tips
http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com/

Wed 10 February: Dale Harcombe's Read and Write with Dale
http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale/

Thurs 11 February: Robyn Opie's Writing Children's books
http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com/

Fri 12 February: Lorraine Marwood's Words into Writing
http://lorrainemarwoodwordsintowriting.blogspot.com/

Sat 13 February: Mabel Kaplan's Tales I Tell
http://belka37.blogspot.com/

Sun 14 February: Sandy Fussell's Stories are Light
http://sandyfussell.blogspot.com/

Why do we “Show, Don’t Tell” in our writing?

Dear all,

Happy New Year! I hope you’ve had a wonderful Christmas and New Year period. It’s great to be back into writing again with the holidays over. I’m looking forward to a productive writing year and I trust that you are too.

Please enjoy the following article on ‘Show, Don’t Tell’. It’s an important technique for writers to understand, as I know I’ve said so many times before.

Best Regards,
Robyn Opie


Why do we “Show, Don’t Tell” in our writing?

Last year, I was a judge involved in the PM Moon Publishers’ first annual writing contest. It was a great experience and I thoroughly enjoyed participating. Over a period of several months, I was asked to read numerous entries, all children’s stories of one sort or another, as PM Moon Publishers specializes in children’s and Young Adult fiction. There were some great stories amongst the entries that really stood out. They were different styles, genres and aimed at different age groups but they all had one thing in common. The authors knew how to “show, don’t tell”.

The first entry I read I had trouble putting down. I wanted to keep reading into the night and early hours of the morning. I couldn’t, of course, because a person needs to sleep. Nevertheless, I wanted to stay up until I’d finished the story. And when I did finish, a day or two later, I wanted to read the next installment. The entry was the first in a series, and I was ready for more. I needed more. My reactions were good signs and clearly the other judges had similar reactions because this entry went on to win the Grand Prize.

A few entries later, I sat in my lounge room reading a Young Adult story. Again, I wanted to read until I’d finished the story. I didn’t want to stop and, I’m not too proud to admit, this entry made me cry. It was an emotional journey I thoroughly enjoyed. The other judges must have had similar experiences because this entry won First Prize.

The entries that won Second Prize and Honorable Mention were also favorites of mine. In fact, the judges didn’t have much trouble agreeing on the top four entries. Our easy agreement was further proof that “show, don’t tell” is the key to winning contests and the hearts of readers.
If you want more proof, the entries I – and the other judges - enjoyed the least also had one thing in common. They were all “telling” and, too often, from the point of view of an adult narrator. Um, these are children’s stories. Why is an adult telling them?

Of course, I’m a big fan of “show, don’t tell”. I run a master-class on “show, don’t tell” and I also wrote an e-book on “show, don’t tell”. Still, I was pleased to have my thoughts validated by the contest. The winning entries were all “shown” from the main character’s point of view. The entries none of us considered as winners were all “told” and, too often, from the point of view of an adult narrator.

Why is “showing” from the main character’s point of view so important? Why are the best stories “shown and not told”?

The answers to these questions are easy if you look at my reactions to the winning entries in PM Moon Publishers’ first annual writing contest.

When a writer “shows” a story from the main character’s point of view, the story can be hard to put down. Readers experience the story, as if they are the main character, as if the story is happening to them. We see, hear, think and feel everything the main character does. Everything is “shown” to us so we can see, hear, think and feel everything.

The scenes in a book are like those in a movie, except we use the writer’s words to create the scenes in our minds through our imaginations. Therefore, our imaginations are engaged. We’re asked to participate because we’re not “told” things, we’re “shown” them and we have to use our imaginations to work out what is going on. “Showing” asks us to participate by using our imaginations and coming to our own conclusions about the writer’s words. We’re not being “told” by the writer. We’re being “shown” what is going on and we have to interpret the meaning ourselves.

Doesn’t this sound like real life? In real life, we see and hear scenes, and we have to interpret them ourselves. Most of us don’t have a narrator who “tells” us what is going on in our day to day lives.

When we interpret information ourselves, we bring our own experiences and personalities to a story. We add to the story and make it our own. We personalize it. We know how we’d feel in similar situations and we bring these thoughts and feelings to the story. Through this participation, we’re drawn or pulled into the story.

The most important thing that “showing” does is to make us care. Why do we care? Because we’re involved, we’re participating. When we’re involved and participating, then it matters to us. It makes a difference.

“Telling”, on the other hand, does not engage the imagination. We’re told something – a statement of fact – a foregone conclusion. We cannot see, hear, feel or think about the words. We cannot add to them. The writer has “told” us something. The writer has made the decision for us. There is no interpretation. No argument. No participation for readers. We’re kept outside the story, at a distance. And we have no choice but to accept what the writer says as gospel. But do we?

No. We like to make up our own minds. We like proof that we can understand. Why should we simply believe the writer?

Let’s look at an example: “He was scared”. Sorry, but this means nothing to me. So what? Who cares? I don’t feel anything. The word “scared” doesn’t make me scared. I can’t see, hear, think or feel anything. I’m not involved or participating. I can’t bring my own experiences and personality to these three words. I can’t relate. Besides, how do I know he was scared? What proof do I have? Am I supposed to just accept this?

Now, if I show this scene: “His heart raced, pounding against his chest, too loud when he was trying not to make a sound. It was important that he didn’t make a sound. The killer might hear him! He had to get away, he decided. But how? He looked around. God, he was hot, his skin clammy. If the killer didn’t kill him, his own body might, he realized. He had to calm down. His instincts told him to take a few deep breaths. But the killer might hear him, he reminded himself."

The above scene was off the top of my head, so please forgive me if it’s not my best writing. The point is that this “showing” scene involves readers. It gives readers a chance to interpret the words, to come to their own conclusions and, most importantly, to put themselves in the main character’s shoes. We can imagine how we’d feel in this situation. We can imagine what we’d do. We can experience the fear without being there, without being in danger. We can live vicariously through the character – and we do. We also believe in this fictional world. We have reasons to believe in the main character’s fear. We have proof! His physical and emotional reactions are proof. There’s no doubt that we’d feel similarly if in his position.

But “he was scared” doesn’t cut it. We can’t imagine it. For one thing, there isn’t enough information for us to engage our imaginations. “Scared” doesn’t mean much to us. But the emotions, thoughts and physical reactions of fear do. We’ve all experienced them at one time or another.

As a writer, one of your main purposes – if not the main one – is to elicit emotions in your readers. If you don’t, how can you expect your readers to care? Why should they keep reading your story or book? To elicit emotions, you need to engage your readers’ imaginations and therefore, their emotions. Just saying “he was scared” is not enough, not by a long shot.

So when you write, “show” your readers the emotions, the thoughts and the physical reactions. Let your readers experience them, too. Think about why we read – for escapism. And let your readers escape into your stories. “Show, don’t tell”.

Learn the principles of “show, don’t tell” and you, too, can win contests and the hearts of your readers.

For further information on my “show, don’t tell” masterclass or my e-book, please visit my website: www.robynopie.com/showdonttellstudypack.html

Robyn Opie is the author of more than 80 published children's books. She has been writing for children for over 10 years; most of her books are sold around the world and many have been translated into foreign languages. Robyn also writes for film and her family feature film, co-written with partner Rob Parnell, is in development with a US producer and director. To find out more about Robyn, her books and how to write for children, please visit her website: http://www.robynopie.com/

Character Archetypes by Dan Acuff Ph.D.

Welcome to Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie. Today, I'm proud to have a guest blogger, Dr. Dan Acuff, an expert in products and programs for kids and youth, who wrote an article for us with tips to help create characters for stories.

Character Archetypes
by Dan Acuff Ph.D.
stories-toys-games.com

“Great characters make great stories”.

For sure you’ve heard this slice of storytelling wisdom. Quite true. Great characters married with a unique and compelling plotline and effective writing can be your ticket into the world of published authors.

Now let’s up the odds. Let’s add an important element into the character mix: character ARCHETYPES. Character archetypes are character types that have remained constant down through the ages. There has always been a king, for example, along with his queen and cadre of princes, princesses and warriors. There have always been heroes and villains and jesters.

Here is a listing of most all the possible archetypes:

___HERO
___REBEL
___VILLAIN
___HEROINE
___VICTIM
___UNDERDOG
___MOTHER
___SEEKER
___BUFFOON
___FATHER
___CREATOR
___JESTER
___RULER
___INNOCENT
___SIDEKICK
___WARRIOR
___CHILD
___ORPHAN
___QUEEN
___TEACHER
___MAGICIAN
___KING
___CAREGIVER
___DARKSIDE
___PRINCE
___GIANT
___WITCH
___PRINCESS
___MIDGET
___DESTROYER
___WISE OLD WOMAN
___WISE OLD MAN
___MYTHOLOGICAL, eg: TROLL, GHOST

An examination of the character archetypes in the hugely successful Star Wars series reveals a brilliant use of archetypes. We have two wise old men in Yoda and Obie Wan Kenobi. We have the hero (prince) Luke Skywalker and his Princess Leia. There is one of the greatest villains of all time in Darth Vader and a quite attractive rebel in Hans Solo. Add to this the jester, C3PO and the genius R2D2 along with the brute/beast archetype of Chewbaca and great character archetypes abound.

In the children’s story arena, look at Winnie the Pooh. Pooh is a loveable and innocent buffoon mixed with a bit of the unlikely not quite hero. Piglet is a great innocent also and sidekick. Owl is wise – questionably - and Eeyore is the nay-saying simpleton.

The enduring successes of many Disney stories is in large part due to effective character types. Mickey Mouse is heroic – and this quality is combined with a certain innocence. Goofy is aptly named as a jester, and Huey, Louie and Dewey are the mischievous kids. Oilcan Harry stands out as a villain in early Disney. Heralded as one of the greatest Disney stories is the Lion King. All the archetypical pieces are in place here. The innocent lion cub, Simba, the murdered king and father archetype, Mufasa, the loving mother Sarabi, the treacherous villain uncle Scar, the wise advisor baboon, Rafiki, and the jesters in Timon and Pumbaa.

When you sit down to first put pen to paper, characters and character archetypes are a solid place to start. Most stories have a central character. What archetype? Hero? Innocent? Warrior like Max in Where the Wild Things Are? What is the central character’s goal and what character archetype stands in his way if any? Can you bring in the fun that a jester archetype provides?

It’s all about identification, drama/conflict and fun. There are essentially five types of identification – or ways that readers relate to characters:

* Nurturing Identification: The reader is drawn to nurture or be nurtured by a character.
* Like Me: The reader experiences a character to be like himself/herself.
* Emulatory: The reader wants to be like the character in some ways.
* Entertaining: The reader is simply entertained by this archetype.
* Disidentification: The reader is attracted to or repelled by (or both) a villain character.

Given the central idea and theme of your story, a key is to determine which character archetypes will bring about which kinds of identification.

Children’s stories often have only a few characters. The dynamic between these characters, that is how they interrelate with each other, is largely a function of their archetypes. Using the chart above, think your archetypes through and create your cast of characters with the archetypes firmly in mind.

All rights reserved Dr. Dan Acuff

Note: Dr. Dan Acuff is a globally recognized expert on products and programs for kids and youth. As a consultant he has worked with over 50 major corporations such as Disney, Mattel, Hasbro, Scholastic, Western Publishing, Lucas Film, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and Nickelodeon. He is author of What Kids buy and Why – The Psychology of Marketing to Kids.

He is now offering a variety of services for child and youth authors and inventors of toys and games. Services include viability evaluations, maximization work, artwork and prototype making. His website is: stories-toys-games.com

Thanks for the article, Dan. We appreciate you sharing your knowledge and experience.

Until next time, merry Christmas to all!

Best wishes,

Robyn Opie

www.robynopie.com

Snowy's Christmas Blog Tour with Sally Murphy

Welcome to Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie. Today, as part of Snowy's Christmas blog tour, we're lucky to have an interview with Sally Murphy, author of children's books. poetry and educational titles.

In previous blog entries, you'll find advice on "how to write" and "how to get published". Sally's interview is a little different, as it focuses on another important role of the author - marketing and promotion.

Thanks for visiting my blog as part of your blog tour, Sally.

For those who have just tuned in, tell us about Snowy’s Christmas.

Thanks Robyn. Well, Snowy’s Christmas is a very Australian Christmas story, featuring a white kangaroo called Snowy who discovers on Christmas Eve that being different from the other ‘roos is the very thing that makes him special. It is (loosely) an Aussie version of the Rudolph story.

The illustrations, by my clever brother in law David Murphy, are bright and playful, with lots of very Aussie touches.

Why a blog tour?

Well, David lives in Canberra and I live in rural Western Australia, so it’s pretty hard for us to get together for in-person appearances. On top of that, we both have day jobs, spouses and children, so being away from home for long stretches of time is difficult. But we wanted to get the word about our wonderful new book out to as many different people as possible. What better way to overcome the physical barriers and still get the word out than a virtual tour, moving from blog to blog to talk about our new book. And, as well as being good promotion, it’s lots of fun too.

This blog tour is a little different than others you’ve done. How and why?

I’ve had two previous tours – for my chapter book The Big Blowie and my verse novel Pearl Verses the World, and each of these were conducted over consecutive days (for example, Sunday to Saturday), which is quite a common way to conduct a tour. However, the Snowy tour is going for eleven weeks – just one day per week. So every Sunday for eleven weeks I’m visiting a different blog.

The reason I’m doing it this way is because, when I started planning the tour, I couldn’t choose the best time to do it. The book was released on October 1 and Christmas is (obviously) December 25, so I couldn’t decide whether it was better to do the tour when the book was first released or later when people were more likely to be doing their Christmas shopping. Then I hit on the idea of spreading the tour out by doing just one stop per week.

What else do you do to promote Snowy and your other books?

Lots of things. I have an author website, www.sallymurphy.net, a blog www.sallymurphy.blogspot.com, and a blog specifically about Christmas and Snowy at www.aussiechristmas.wordpress.com. I put details of my latest books in my email signature lines. I do school and festival appearances and media interviews. I run writing workshops. I write articles for other people’s blogs and websites – and other things as opportunities arise.

Sounds like a lot of work. Why do you do all that yourself? Isn’t that the publisher’s job?

Well, yes, publishers do promote my books. They send out review copies and media releases. They promote the book at trade shows, and develop point of sale materials. But most successful authors know that they also need to be involved in promotion. Promotion budgets are small for each book, and the publicity person at a publishing house will have many books to promote, whereas as the author I have usually only one book at a time coming out, so can throw all my energy into promoting that one book. It is in my best interest to ensure that my book sells. And, to be honest, I enjoy spreading the word about my book.

So being a writer isn’t all about writing then?

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! There is an image of authors sitting at home in front of typewriters or keyboards churning out words which are printed out, sent off to publishers then magically turned into books. For me, that is quite a long way from reality. Yes, I do sit at my desk and write – but actual writing of new stories is a small proportion of what I do. The rest of the time is a mix of things – reading, studying the craft, promotion, networking, research, looking for markets, preparing submissions, revising... It is a big juggling act really to do everything else but still find time for writing. After all, if I stop writing, I stop "being" a writer. And I’m in the business because I love writing. Fortunately, though, I enjoy the other stuff, too, so it’s all good.

Thanks heaps for having me here, Robyn. Thanks for being here, Sally.

Snowy’s Christmas tells the tale of a young kangaroo who doesn’t like being different, until Christmas arrives and, with it, a surprise for Snowy. There is something that only Snowy can do to help Santa – and suddenly he knows that being different can be a good thing. Available as a hard cover picture book, Snowy’s Christmas is a gentle Christmas story suitable for kids of all ages. You can learn a little more about the book by visiting the website of publisher Random House Australia.

I hope you enjoyed the interview with Sally Murphy. Feel free to leave a comment. Or, if you have any questions you'd like answered on my blog, please email me. If you'd like to find out more about "How to Write a Great Picture Book", please visit http://www.robynopie.com/howtowriteagreatpicturebook.html

Happy reading and writing,

Robyn Opie

http://www.robynopie.com

Snowy's Christmas blog tour dates:

Week One: October 4 2009
Deescribe Writing Blog - http://www.deescribewriting.wordpress.com

Week Two: October 11 2009
Write and Read With Dale - http://livejournal.com/users/orangedale/

Week three: October 18 2009
Alphabet Soup Blog - http://www.soupblog.wordpress.com

Week Four: October 25 2009
Let’s Have Words - http://www.letshavewords.blogspot..com

Week Five: November 1 2009
Sally Murphy’s Writing for Children Blog - http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com/

Week Six: November 8 2009
Aussiereviews Blog - http://aussiereviews.blogspot..com/

Week Seven: November 15 2009
Samantha Hughes’ Blog - http://samantha-hughes.blogspot.com/

Week Eight: November 22 2009
Robyn Opie’s Writing Children’s Books Blog - http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com

Week Nine: November 29 2009
Stories are Light - http://sandyfussellblogspot.com/

Week Ten: 6 December 2009
The Aussie Christmas Blog - http://aussiechristmas.wordpress.com/

Week Eleven: 13 December 2009
Tales I Tell - http://belka37.blogspot.com

Snowy's Christmas Upcoming Blog Tour

Welcome to Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie.

Today, I'm announcing the blog tour for a newly released picture book by Sally Murphy, illustrated by David Murphy, and published by Random House Australia. The picture book is called Snowy's Christmas.

Here is a little teaser for Snowy's Christmas:

Snowy’s Christmas tells the tale of a young kangaroo who doesn’t like being different, until Christmas arrives and, with it, a surprise for Snowy. There is something that only Snowy can do to help Santa – and suddenly he knows that being different can be a good thing. Available as a hard cover picture book, Snowy’s Christmas is a gentle Christmas story suitable for kids of all ages. You can learn a little more about the book by visiting the website of publisher Random House Australia.

Sally Murphy lives in Western Australia and has many roles - author, teacher, mother and book reviewer. She's been writing all her life and Snowy is her twenty ninth published book. David Murphy is Sally's brother in law, but more importantly he has illustrated comics, graphic novels, newspapers, picture books, arts publications, commercial commissions, and fine art pieces.

Now to the blog tour dates:

Week One: October 4 2009
Deescribe Writing Blog - http://www.deescribewriting.wordpress.com

Week Two: October 11 2009
Write and Read With Dale - http://livejournal.com/users/orangedale/

Week three: October 18 2009
Alphabet Soup Blog - http://www.soupblog.wordpress.com

Week Four: October 25 2009
Let’s Have Words - http://www.letshavewords.blogspot..com

Week Five: November 1 2009
Sally Murphy’s Writing for Children Blog - http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com/

Week 6 November 8 2009
Aussiereviews Blog - http://aussiereviews.blogspot..com/

Week 7 November 15 2009
Samantha Hughes’ Blog - http://samantha-hughes.blogspot.com/

Week 8 November 22 2009
Robyn Opie’s Writing Children’s Books Blog - http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com

Week 9 November 29 2009
Stories are Light - http://sandyfussellblogspot.com/

Week 10 6 December 2009
The Aussie Christmas Blog - http://aussiechristmas.wordpress.com/

Week 11 13 December 2009
Tales I Tell - http://belka37.blogspot.com

Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you enjoy the Snowy's Christmas blog tour with Sally Murphy and David Murphy. Plus, the other bits and pieces you'll find on my blog between now and Christmas. Ooh, the festive season is getting scarily close. Maybe soon I'll be able to share some information on the movie my partner and I are working on with a producer and director. Please wish us luck.

Best wishes,
Robyn Opie
http://www.robynopie.com