One of my picture books is heading back to the drawing board... I think it needs a dismantling and reassembly. But another one is getting ready to hit the query trenches! May the odds be ever in my favor! #amquerying #writingcommunity #authormom

When your "writing chocolate" understood the assignment: #authormom #writingcommunity #dovechocolate

My baby and I have completed the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten challenge with our local library before she's even 1.5 years old! I love how much she LOVES books! Are you doing this with your little reader? #1000booksbeforekindergarten #authormom #raisingreaders #supportlibraries #nobannedbooks

When you're an #authormom, some nights, you get 3 hours of work done after the baby falls asleep, & some nights you get nothing done because the baby wakes up 3 times in the first 30 minutes so you give up. We'll try again tomorrow. I've got a baby to cuddle! #writingcommunity

📚If Sandra Boynton retold I Love You, My Little Unicorn 🚸Board book, ages 0-3 💕Sweet & playful baby bonding ⌛️#amquerying #kidlit #questpit entry 4 of 4 #q #pb

📚Mo Willems’ Pigeon x No, Fuzzball! x Secret Agent Splat 🚸Picture book, ages 4-8 👋Interactive! Breaks 4th wall ⌛️#amquerying #kidlit #questpit entry 3 of 4 #q #pb

📚While We Wait x Sisters First 🚸Picture book, ages 4-8 💕Heartwarming & lyrical 🧩Context clues for readers to guess the ending ⌛️#amediting, will be ready to #query in a couple weeks! #kidlit #questpit entry 2 of 4 #q #pb

📚Alexander & the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day gets a contemporary twist with the style of The House that Jack Built! 🚸Picture book, ages 4-8 😡SEL ⏳️ #amediting, ready to #query in around a week! #kidlit #questpit entry 1 of 4

Sneak peek at my 4 pitch decks ready for #questpit on Wednesday! Who else is participating??

Hi, #writingcommunity! I'm Colleen Bays! This will be my first #questpit & I'll be pitching #kidlit! 1. A punny, interactive, feline adventure PB 2. A FUN SEL PB with repetition 3. A sweet, rhyming PB with context clues to guess why it's a special day 4. A bedtime unicorn BB

This is so fun that kids won't know it's SEL! The text builds and repeats, and kids will beg to read it again! (This manuscript is starting rounds with a professional editor and will be ready by May!) #posterpit #w #cl

An interactive romp that kids will want to read again and again! They'll love to participate and see the surprise ending! #posterpit #q #cl

"Creativity isn't an algorithm." This interview reinforced most of what I've been leaning about the publishing industry... however, I found it encouraging to meet a CEO in a creative industry to be so passionate about creativity. #authorlife #authormom youtube.com/watch?v=XcSb...

#amwriting #authormom #debutnovel #dementia #authorsofbluesky

#amediting #kidlit #SEL #authormom

Yes, yes, and more YES! After spending 4 years doing library storytimes, I completely agree. If you are a children's book author or someone who reads to children, this is what you'll need to remember. There are so many quotable gems in here. Give her a "subscribe!" open.substack.com/pub/bachmanr...

Is there a calendar (and key) of all the different pitch events on X/Insta/Bluesky? And are there any specifically for picture books?

Current writing project: my debut adult novel! Hoping to crank out the rest of this first draft in April! 🤞 #roughdraftchallenge #debutnovel #amwriting #authormom

Who is doing the Rough Draft Challenge in April in Sarra Cannon's Heart Breathings writing community? I'm hoping to crank out the rest of my debut novel! #roughdraftchallenge #authormom #amwriting #debutnovel

I'm excited and hopeful to be back in the query trenches submitting a new picture book to agents! Wish me luck! #authormom #authorsofbluesky #querying #kidlit