March book releases 📖, a virtual visit giveaway, and our top craft resources
Here's to our latest spring fledglings! Congrats to Soaring '20s Vicky Fang, M. O. Yuksel, Julie Rowan-Zoch, and Rajani LaRocca on their March releases. Learn more (and buy the books) in the Soaring '20s Bookshop or wherever books are sold.
Affiliate disclosure: If you order the book from Bookshop using the link above, we receive a small commission at no cost to you.
We love sharing our books with students! This month, exclusively for our newsletter subscribers, we’re giving away THREE free virtual classroom visits with Soaring 20s members Candy Wellins, Kelly Carey, and Rajani LaRocca! Enter via the form at the link below now through April 6th. Win bonus entries by following these creators on Twitter and/or subscribing to their author newsletters.
Enter here!
Welcome back to our series, 20 QUESTIONS!,
where we answer questions about writing, reading, and author life.
This month’s question:
“What’s your top craft resource for authors or illustrators?”
Valerie Bolling
“Though I suspect you may be looking for specific resources, I’m going to go more general. I think engaging in opportunities where you can learn about craft from multiple speakers, like conferences and 12 x 12 webinars, is the way to go. There’s also no substitute for reading voraciously in your genre to find valuable mentor texts.”
—Valerie Bolling, author of TOGETHER WE RIDE, illus. Kaylani Juanita (Chronicle, 2022)
M. O. Yuksel
“There are so many wonderful free online resources I’ve learned from over the years like Kidlit411, SubItClub, and websites of authors like Debbie Ohi, Josh Funk, Harold Underdown, and Tara Lazar. Attending workshops at the Highlights Foundation (which offers scholarships!), and Storyteller Academy have been instrumental. And I reference books like Writing Picture Books by Ann Whitford Paul, and Real Revision by Kate Messner all the time.” —M. O. Yuksel, author of ONE WISH: Fatima Al-Fihri and the World’s Oldest University, illus. Mariam Quraishi (HarperCollins, 2022)
Read more from the Soaring '20s crew here.
New Cover Reveals
New Book Deals
Join us for these events
Mar. 30-31 - Rajani LaRocca will appear at the University of Mississippi Center for the Study of Southern Culture Oxford Conference for the Book Children’s Book Festival. Learn more here.
Mar. 31 @ 8 p.m. Eastern (virtual) - 12x12 Book Chat with Kirsten Larson. Register for this free event here.
Mar. 31-May 26 - Valerie Bolling will teach "The Basics of Writing Picture Books" with Westport Writers. Learn more and register here.
Apr. 3 @ 4 p.m. Eastern (in-person) -Susan Kusel shares THE PASSOVER GUEST at One More Page Books. Register here.
Apr. 6-8 (virtual): Soaring '20s members will participate in a number of live and prerecorded panels for the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival. Panels include: "From Primary Sources to Published: How to Get Published in Children's Nonfiction," "Growing Your Social-Emotional Bookshelf: New Books to Teach SEL Skills," "The Littlest Learners: Exploring Our World through Preschool Storytime," "How to Turn an Idea Into a Chapter Book Series," "Diversity Needs Jewish Books: A Missing Piece of the Diversity Conversation." Full schedule and registration here.
Apr. 7 @ 7 p.m. Eastern - Intro to Writing Picture Books with Angela Burke Kunkel. Learn more and register here.
Apr. 9 - Valerie Bolling will appear at the BAM Festival. Full line up and info. here.
Apr. 10 @ 10:30 a.m. Eastern - Rajani LaRocca will read I'LL GO AND COME BACK at Picture Book Hour Live! At Brookline Booksmith. Learn more here.
Apr. 18 - May 30 @ 7 p.m. Central (virtual)- Kirsten Larson will teach the Writing Barn Workshop, "Reimagining Your Nonfiction Picture Book: A Revision Workshop."
Apr. 20 @ 6 p.m. Eastern - Susan Kusel and Sean Rubin's virtual Passover Storytime at An Unlikely Story. Register here.
Apr 23 at 11 a.m. Eastern - Rajani Larocca will Reading I’LL GO AND COME BACK at Silver Unicorn books. Learn more here.
Apr 25-28- Rajani LaRocca will appear at the Texas Library Association Conference. Register here.
May 28 10-11:30 a.m. Eastern (online) - Anna Crowley Redding teaches "So, You Want to Write a Children's Book" via Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. Learn more here.
Jun. 9-12 - Writing Science and Nature for Kids and Teens at Highlights with special guest Vicky Fang. Learn more here.