Month: February 2009

First Great “Haul of China” winner announced, are you next?

Heads up, everybody. The First Great Haul of China winner was announced at http://www.cynthealiu.com. One lucky contestant gets to take home a genuine Terra Cotta warrior souvenir straight from Xi’an, an autographed copy of THE GREAT CALL of China … AND… a gift certificate to Amazon.com. ARE YOU NEXT?! If you have not entered, you have until tomorrow, March 1st, 11:59PM CST. http://www.cynthealiu.com.  P.S. EVERYONE TAKES HOME A SWEET PARTY FAVOR.

Read More

Ack! Apologies for the series article hiatus!

Hey everyone,

So sorry about the series article hiatus. I was swept up in a publicity frenzy over the weekend, and I’m pushing some serious deadlines to get some stuff done for the release!

Stay tuned to learn more about the parties happening TOMORROW for writers, friends and Snoop fans! (DID I HEAR FREE-TIQUES?!)

We’ll pick up where we left off  on the article series when things die down a little.

Yours,

Cynthea (and Snoop!)

Read More

BEHIND THE BOOK: How to write for a children’s or teen book series – Part V (sample chapters cont’d)

Yesterday, we talked about how to study writing style. The next thing you’re going to do is examine what happens in the first few chapters of other books in the series so you know what you should cover in your own sample chapters. How?

Read the first few chapters (or roughly 25 pages of books in the series). If you want, write a simple paragraph about each chapter you read.

Read More

BEHIND THE BOOK: How to write for a children’s or teen book series – Part IV (sample chapters)

Yesterday, we talked about cover letters, outlines, and synopses. Today we’re getting to one of the most important parts of a proposal. THE SAMPLE CHAPTERS. Here’s where you’re going to prove your worth. And for series writing, it’s not necessarily about flaunting your style of writing, it’s about showing that you know how to write in the style of the series.

Read More

BEHIND THE BOOK: How to write for a children’s or teen book series – Part III (elements of a proposal)

Yesterday, we discussed what to look for when researching a children’s or teen book series. Now we’re going to talk about developing your idea for the next book into a pitchable concept. Let’s break down what you’ll be putting together.

The Proposal

Assuming, you’ve already inquired about the guidelines from the publisher or packager, you have now reached the stage where you have been invited to submit a proposal.

Read More

BEHIND THE BOOK: How to write for a children’s or teen book series – Part II (a study checklist)

Yesterday, we covered how to find children’s and teen book series that you can write for. Now I’m going to assume that you have some good idea of whom you will try to approach. You’ve verified the publisher or packager accepts new ideas for stories, and maybe you even have some guidelines from them about the series.

For S.A.S.S. I received a series concept letter from my agent (which came from the publisher).

Read More

BEHIND THE BOOK: How to write for a children’s or teen book series (Part I)

Are you curious about how authors get in on multi-author series books like S.A.S.S. Students Across the Seas?

Do you want to understand what skill set and experience is required to write for any established series?

Would you like to know how to approach a publisher to get your idea sold?

Then this is the article series for you. In the coming days, I’ll talk about how to get started writing for a series based upon my own experience with S.A.S.

Read More