Write a Better Children’s Book (and while we’re at it, an invitation)

They say 80 percent of those who read books also have at
least one book they’d like to write. And I agree with David Henry Sterry, who
wrote in a HuffPo blog post that “a staggering number” of those would-be authors
want to write books for young readers.

Some aspiring children’s book authors are parents or grandparents
or teachers whose reading of books with children has sparked ideas for their
own creative work. Some are artists with books they want to illustrate. Some
are writers who’ve never lost touch with their childhood love of stories and
the fresh way you see the world when you’re young. Some are accomplished
writers for adults who are brave enough to venture into new forms for young
(and demanding!) readers.

With one of Alaska’s best-known authors, Seth Kantner, and
his accomplished illustrator Beth Hill, I’m teaching a workshop for aspiring children’s authors. For three hours on Saturday, Oct. 4, we’re going to
consider common misconceptions about children’s books along with what makes
certain titles saleable and enduring. We’ll also discuss the project ideas and
manuscript excerpts of workshop participant from an editorial and artistic
perspective, with a focus on what the writers should do next as they pursue
completion and publication.

To teach this workshop with Seth and Beth is a huge honor. Seth’s
Ordinary Wolves has a forever place
on my shelves—and that was before I discovered how engaging and insightful he
is in person. (If you haven’t yet studied with him, I recommend you come up
with a children’s book idea pronto, so you’ll have an excuse to talk shop with
him for a few hours.) Beth’s illustrations for his new book, Pup and Pokey, are radiant, and I’m
eager to find out more about how the two of them collaborated.

Our workshop is one of several events that bring the three
of us together to celebrate Alaska Book Week and the launch of our new books:
for Seth and Beth, their first title for children; for me, my first literary
novel for grown-ups.

True story: Cold Spell
is my fourteenth title in print, and this will be my first-ever book launch,
including the workshop plus all this with Seth and Beth:

Good times, good friends. Come celebrate with us!

Co-founder of 49
Writers and founder of the independent authors cooperative Running Fox
Books, Deb Vanasse has authored more than a dozen books.
Her most recent is Cold
Spell, a novel that “captures the harsh beauty of the terrain as well as
the strain of self-doubt and complicated family bonds,” according to Booklist. Deb lives and
works on Hiland Mountain outside of Anchorage, Alaska, and at a cabin near the
Matanuska Glacier.