Tina M. Cho
  • Blog
  • About
  • Books
    • Rice from Heaven
    • Korean Celebrations
    • My Breakfast with Jesus
    • The Ocean Calls
  • School Visits
  • Work for Hire Projects
    • Other Writing Credits
  • Resources for Writers
    • Guest Blog Posts I Wrote
Picture

Welcome~A New Beginning

9/11/2013

57 Comments

 
My blog site received a face lift! What do you think? It's a new school year, and I've been taking new picture book classes, and so I figured it was time for a new blog look. So if you'd like to continue receiving my posts, please re-subscribe (located on the right). Thanks so much! And if you know of other links or perhaps your own blog that you'd like to have on my links page, please let me know. 

And now for a special treat..one of my critique partners, Hannah Holt of Portland, Oregon, just signed with agent Danielle Smith of Foreword Literary last month. I'm so happy for her. I wanted Hannah to share her story, and so I interviewed her.
Picture
Thanks again for having me over. :) -Hannah

Tina: How did you get started?

Hannah: One Christmas during graduate school, my husband and I didn't have money for presents, so I created handmade comic books. While I worked I wondered: what if I gave myself year to write a children's book? That was four years ago.

Tina: Have you taken any writing classes that have helped you in your pb writing?

Hannah: I took a poetry workshop from Linda Ashman, and I'd recommend it to anyone. But overall I'm pretty stingy selective when it comes to classes. My favorite writing resources are books, like WRITING WITH PICTURES (Uri Shulevitz) and WRITING PICTURE BOOKS (Ann Whitford Paul).

Tina: How did you know which agents to submit to?

Hannah: In the beginning, I didn't. My first round of queries was a random selection of agents from THE CHILDREN'S WRITER'S AND ILLUSTRATOR'S MARKET. (Rookie mistake!) It felt like playing roulette and resulted a bunch form rejections. After that ill conceived initial batch, I took a break from submitting to work on craft. I joined a few writing groups, and this crazy thing happened: my writing got better, and I made friends with other writers. When two of my friends signed with agent Danielle Smith, I started following her on twitter. I liked her right away.

Tina: How did you nab an agent?

Hannah: Well, because I followed Danielle on twitter, I knew about events she was participating in. My first attempt to catch her attention was at the #PitMad twitter party. She didn't bite.

A few weeks later, I tried again during #PitchMas. This time she requested a manuscript. I sent it to her and heard nothing for over a month.

While I was waiting, I signed up for WriteOnCon and posted a query in the forum. Danielle saw it and recognized my name from my previous query. She requested the second manuscript and offered representation within a week.

Tina: Any advice to writers who are looking for agents?

Hannah: Keep hope. Start something new while you are waiting (something other than a sequel!). Challenge yourself to write bigger, deeper, fresher. Find a balance between researching, networking, and writing. If you only have time for one thing... always choose writing!

Tina: How do you know when your manuscript is ready to submit?

Hannah: Critique groups help. My critique group always gives me great advice. Their feedback usually falls into one of four categories:

1) Not much enthusiasm & major revision suggestions

2) Not much enthusiasm & minor revision suggestions

3) Lots of enthusiasm & major revision suggestions

4) Lots of enthusiasm & minor revision suggestions

Here is how I interpret it:

1) My idea stinks, and I executed it poorly.

2) My idea stinks, but I executed it decently.

3) My idea is okay, but I executed it poorly.

4) I am ready to submit.

Thanks for having me over, Tina. Best wishes to everyone actively submitting! Good luck!

-Hannah

Hannah Holt is civil engineer turned picture book writer. She's a two-time Barbara Karlin Grant Letter of Merit recipient and Phillip E. Rollhaus essay winner. She lives in the Portland, Oregon with her husband Josh and their four young children. 
You can visit Hannah at her blog: 
www.LightbulbBooks.com
Kid Crafts | Kitchen Play | Children's Literature

Thanks, Hannah, for answering my questions. Hope this helps any of you who are agent-hunting! And thanks to all of you for stopping by! 

57 Comments

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Picture

    Tina M. Cho, children's author

    I'm a children's author and freelance writer for the educational market. Welcome!

    Picture

    Archives

    November 2022
    July 2022
    February 2022
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

    Click here to read previous posts at my old blog.

    Categories

    All
    Adria Goetz
    Agent Interview
    Asian American Women In Science
    Asian Festival Of Children's Content
    Audio Book
    Author Brand
    Author Email Signature
    Author Life
    Author Platform
    Author Presentation
    Author Signing
    Author Skypes
    Authors On Social Media
    Author Visits
    Award Winning Book
    BIC
    Book Birthday
    Booklist Review
    Book Query
    Book Reviews
    Books About Diversity
    Books About Inclusion
    Book Signing
    Breakfasts Around The World
    Chapter Book Series
    Children's Day
    Choices Christian Bookstore
    Common Core Book Activities
    Common Core Standards And Nonfiction Text
    Cora Cooks Pancit
    Coronavirus Korea
    Creating Extension Activities For Your Book
    Cynthea Liu's Critiques
    Difference Between Picture Books And Novels
    Different Like Me
    Diverse Books
    Diverse Christian Authors
    Diverse Picture Books
    Diversity
    Dorena Williamson
    Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young
    Faith Based Diverse Picture Books
    Faith-based Diverse Picture Books
    F&Gs
    Filipino Picture Book
    Focused Writing
    Focus Words
    Fonts And Clip Art
    Global Picture Books
    Goals
    Guided Reading Levels
    Haenyeo
    Hans Christian Andersen Award
    Harvest House
    How I Got My Agent
    How To Create An Educational Product
    How To Get An Agent
    How To Land An Agent
    How To Write A Lesson Plan For Your Book
    How To Write A Lyrical Picture Book
    How To Write A Picture Book Biography
    How To Write A Rebus
    How To Write For The Christian Market
    How To Write For The Educational Market
    How To Write Picture Book Activities
    Instagram Live
    Interview Joshua Hawkins
    Interview With Evelyn Christensen
    Interview With Hannah Holt
    Interview With Laura Murray
    Interview With Marie Harris
    Interview With Nancy I. Sanders
    Kibooka
    Kindergarten
    Kirkus Reviews
    Kokila
    Korean Celebrations
    Korean Holidays
    Korea's Independence Movement Day
    Landing A Book Contract
    Lexile
    Literary Christmas
    Little Bee
    Little Free Library
    Martin Literary
    Molly Holt
    Mother's Day
    Multicultural Writing
    My Breakfast With Jesus
    Nami Island
    New Year
    Nonfiction Picture Book Online Class
    North Korea
    North Korean Refugees
    Online Learning
    Own Voices
    Paid Critiques
    Pancit
    Parent's Day
    Piboidmo
    Picture Book Agent
    Picture Book Ideas
    Picture Book Island
    Picture Book Look Podcast
    Picture Book Subtitles
    Picture Book Timeline
    Pottery Barn Kids Instagram
    Preorder
    Professional Critiques
    Proverbs 16:3
    Publisher's Weekly Review
    Representation Matters
    Researching A Biography
    Rice Balloon Project
    Rice Form Heaven
    Rice From Heaven
    Rosemary Wells Lecture
    Scholastic Asian Book Award
    School Visits
    Self-publish E-book
    Social Media For Writers
    South Korea
    South Korea's Holidays
    Summer Activities For Writers
    Summer Author Visits
    Teachers Pay Teachers
    The Celebration Place
    The Girl's Guide To Manners
    The Ocean Calls
    Tuttle Publishing
    Twitter For Writers
    Using Twitter To Promote Books
    Virtual Author Visits
    Why Instagram For Writers
    Why Write Children's Books
    Why Writers Should Be On Social Media
    Word For The Year
    World Read Aloud Day
    Writer's Courage
    Writers In Summer
    Writing About Culture
    Writing A Graphic Novel
    Writing An Endorsement For A Book
    Writing A Novel
    Writing A Subtitle
    Writing Back Matter
    Writing Behaviors
    Writing Conference
    Writing Guided Reading Books
    Writing Picture Books
    Writing Priorities
    Writing Tips
    Xochitl Dixon

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • About
  • Books
    • Rice from Heaven
    • Korean Celebrations
    • My Breakfast with Jesus
    • The Ocean Calls
  • School Visits
  • Work for Hire Projects
    • Other Writing Credits
  • Resources for Writers
    • Guest Blog Posts I Wrote