And Here's The Pitch...
The amazing gals over at KidLitArt (Wendy Martin and Bonnie Adamson) have done an amazing job over the last 25 weeks running the Kidlitart Picture Book Dummy Challenge. New to the Challenge? Here's a brief summary in their own (blog) words:
What is the Dummy Challenge?
A 25-week online group challenge to create and submit a picture book dummy.
Start date: January 6
End date: June 30
Who can join?
Anyone! Though geared primarily toward author/illustrators, writers who are not artists can benefit from portions of the dummy exercise, and illustrators without an original manuscript can use the process to create a dummy portfolio piece.
Want more info? Here's the official #kidlitart #PBDummy blog post.
So my son, Jake, absolutely LOVES pirates. We've read so many pirate stories, listened to so many pirate songs, watched so many pirate cartoons and had so many pirate adventures with so many of his pirate toys that writing/illustrating a pirate story seemed like the thing to do. We were at the dining room table one day drawing and coloring (pirates of course) when I asked him what kind of pirate story I should write. Without hesitation he answered, "Pirates Go Shopping". My PBDummy idea changed at least five times before I finally settled on Jake's original concept of "Pirates Go Shopping". Sorry, kiddo. Should have listened the first time.
Jump ahead 20-something weeks to last Thursday's #kidlitart chat and our discussion on pitching your PB idea to an agent and/or editor. As always, the tweet chat was fantastic, fun and full of valuable info. And just when we figure the #PBDummy Challenge can't get any better, Wendy Martin announces that there was a surprise for all #kidlitart #PBDummy Challenge peeps - she had arranged for an agent to review three PB dummies. Holy cow! How cool was that? Answer: VERY cool. Suddenly, "Pitch Fest" was born! Challenge members were asked to post a pitch for their dummy project on the #kidlitart blog. An agent (who shall remain secret until this Thursday's chat) agreed to review the pitches, pick her three favorites, and offer a detailed critique of each of the three winning dummies. Again - How cool is that?!?!
So after a couple of days of jumbling words around, here's my pitch for "Pirates Go Shopping":
"Pirates Go Shopping"
Newfound treasure?
AYE!!!
No place to bury it?
ARRGH!!!
What's a pirate to do? Go shopping of course!
Come on an adventure with Captain Goldbeard and his oddball crew as they set sail for The Big City and a monsoon of a shopping spree – the finest foods, the trendiest clothes and the latest high-tech gadgets. But these scurvy shoppers soon discover that no one in The Big City sells what they're really looking for.
Yeah, I ended it all with a preposition, but it seemed to work. I'm pleased with it, and feel I have a decent shot at earning the critique - against some pretty stiff competition mind you...
Win or lose the Pitch Fest, the Picture Book Dummy Challenge has been an amazing experience. I've wanted to write and illustrate a picture book for a long time, and Wendy, Bonnie and the wonderful and supportive group of fellow illustrators, painters and authors taking part in the Challenge have helped me come very close to finally completing the task. I hope everyone else involved feels the same way. I'm pretty sure they do.
This post wouldn't be complete without a pirate illustration. So here's a sketch I did for Jake at the dining room table a few weeks ago. The coloring is all his. The kiddo's an artist already. :)
What is the Dummy Challenge?
A 25-week online group challenge to create and submit a picture book dummy.
Start date: January 6
End date: June 30
Who can join?
Anyone! Though geared primarily toward author/illustrators, writers who are not artists can benefit from portions of the dummy exercise, and illustrators without an original manuscript can use the process to create a dummy portfolio piece.
Want more info? Here's the official #kidlitart #PBDummy blog post.
So my son, Jake, absolutely LOVES pirates. We've read so many pirate stories, listened to so many pirate songs, watched so many pirate cartoons and had so many pirate adventures with so many of his pirate toys that writing/illustrating a pirate story seemed like the thing to do. We were at the dining room table one day drawing and coloring (pirates of course) when I asked him what kind of pirate story I should write. Without hesitation he answered, "Pirates Go Shopping". My PBDummy idea changed at least five times before I finally settled on Jake's original concept of "Pirates Go Shopping". Sorry, kiddo. Should have listened the first time.
Jump ahead 20-something weeks to last Thursday's #kidlitart chat and our discussion on pitching your PB idea to an agent and/or editor. As always, the tweet chat was fantastic, fun and full of valuable info. And just when we figure the #PBDummy Challenge can't get any better, Wendy Martin announces that there was a surprise for all #kidlitart #PBDummy Challenge peeps - she had arranged for an agent to review three PB dummies. Holy cow! How cool was that? Answer: VERY cool. Suddenly, "Pitch Fest" was born! Challenge members were asked to post a pitch for their dummy project on the #kidlitart blog. An agent (who shall remain secret until this Thursday's chat) agreed to review the pitches, pick her three favorites, and offer a detailed critique of each of the three winning dummies. Again - How cool is that?!?!
So after a couple of days of jumbling words around, here's my pitch for "Pirates Go Shopping":
"Pirates Go Shopping"
Newfound treasure?
AYE!!!
No place to bury it?
ARRGH!!!
What's a pirate to do? Go shopping of course!
Come on an adventure with Captain Goldbeard and his oddball crew as they set sail for The Big City and a monsoon of a shopping spree – the finest foods, the trendiest clothes and the latest high-tech gadgets. But these scurvy shoppers soon discover that no one in The Big City sells what they're really looking for.
Yeah, I ended it all with a preposition, but it seemed to work. I'm pleased with it, and feel I have a decent shot at earning the critique - against some pretty stiff competition mind you...
Win or lose the Pitch Fest, the Picture Book Dummy Challenge has been an amazing experience. I've wanted to write and illustrate a picture book for a long time, and Wendy, Bonnie and the wonderful and supportive group of fellow illustrators, painters and authors taking part in the Challenge have helped me come very close to finally completing the task. I hope everyone else involved feels the same way. I'm pretty sure they do.
This post wouldn't be complete without a pirate illustration. So here's a sketch I did for Jake at the dining room table a few weeks ago. The coloring is all his. The kiddo's an artist already. :)
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