49 Comments
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Adrianna C's avatar

Picture books are not the hardest to write. Did you seriously just compare them to the likes of Pulitzer winners and National Book Awards?

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Kate McKean's avatar

I did! Picture books are incredibly hard to write well and get published. They probably take less time and/or intellectual rigor than other books like, say, The Power Broker or whatever, prize winners or not, but most people think they can write them well because they are short and for children, and those people are mistaken.

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Dean's avatar

I wanted to leave a positive review of Jing Li's memoir, Red Sandals on Amazon and was given a notice about "unusual activity" on my account which prevented me from reviewing. I followed guidelines when previously leaving reviews so I don't know what this is about nor has Amazon responded to my inquiry. So....let me say Thumbs up! to Jing Li for her fascinating story here.

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HOLLI REBECCA WILLIAMS's avatar

Good stuff!

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Joyce Ragard's avatar

Okay since you asked for arguments 😉How do you feel like typos with people’s names? Like, it’s Gandhi not Ghandi. And the only reason I know that is someone actually commented on a blog post and corrected the author! And, similarly, it is not Rhianna. What are your thoughts?

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Kate McKean's avatar

People should endeavor to spell people's names correctly! People should also forgive those who do not do so from time to time. (Purposefully misspelling someone's name or flagrantly not caring enough to check is rude and mean.) One does not earn points for pointing out typos, regardless. My given name is often misspelled and yes it annoys me but also ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

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Kristen Moeller's avatar

This is so good! I particularly love “No one is being successful AT you. (And mute/unfollow that person whose success makes you bitter.)” thanks for keeping it real!

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Jocelyn Gerard's avatar

I always, always, always talk about the books. 😊

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Saya, Mac & Cheese Productions's avatar

Dittoooo!

Love the inspiration trail... The Cut ➡ you ➡ now I want to do my own version for adults who feel they're adulting wrong and could use guidance ➡ and hopefully one of my readers will do their own spin.

Thanks for musing as you do.

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Kathy Halsey's avatar

Well, I got nothing to argue about! LOL I agree with this!

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Wendy Fry's avatar

Oh this is All. So. Good. And thank you for elevating picture books. I’ll clarify, if you’re in a profession that reads a lot of PBs it’s okay to write them without having your own kids. I read hundreds of picture books before having my own kids (as a k/1 teacher) 🥰

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Kate McKean's avatar

Absolutely!!! Kids are not a prerequisite to writing PBs.

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Michael Mohr's avatar

YES!!!! So freaking true and honest.

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Lori  Pohlman's avatar

Thank you for this! Entertaining and informative. I am saving it for a reread in the morning.

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Marg Moon's avatar

Great rules. I only ever talk about books I've enjoyed because some books are great, but not for you at this moment in time. Also, I respect the fact that it's hard to write a book, let alone get it published.

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Michael Mohr's avatar

Amen 🙏

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Deb Lund's avatar

This just makes me grin. All of it and especially the end. Amen.

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Tami Sawyer's avatar

The last one!!!

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Gillian Foster's avatar

Love your rules. Love the tone. Thanks for bothering.

Now we’re all set.

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