Tidbits of Wisdom
Written by Shirley Raye & Jennifer on Sept 17th 2021
"FROM OUR FILES WE FOUND THESE TIDBITS OF WISDOM FOR BEGINNING EDITORS, BUT THE THOUGHTS ARE HELPFUL FOR Experienced WRITERS ALSO."
Barbara Marcus, Random House, said to read as many books as you can so you have a broader knowledge of the industry…hang out in bookstores…and take note of how books are designed, positioned and promoted.

Find a mentor and learn as much as you can.Joy Peskin, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, said that volunteering in community programs for juveniles gave her an understanding of how young people reason, talk, worry, and dream.

She falls back on that knowledge when reading manuscripts. Chris Satterlund, Scholastic, said he wished he’d known earlier how important it is to find your passion and pursue it with excellence. 

“Getting paid for your passion is a wonderful thing…but if you let that govern your choice you will miss out. We all need to pay the bills but we sacrifice much when that is our only driver.” Our workbook, Write a Marketable Children’s Book, also has many tips for writers.

Lara Starr, Chronicle Books reminds us that we must step back from books we loved as a child, and ask ourselves, “Who is the reader?” “Can you imagine the kid that will light up when a parent, teacher, or librarian puts this book in their hand?

Spend as much time as you can around people who read books with actual kids—that’s where the rubber hits the road. Teachers, librarians, parents, booksellers, authors, and illustrators do a lot of reading with kids and have a lot to say about what works, what doesn’t, and what makes kids’ eyes light up.”

Samantha Hagerbaumer, HarperCollins, sums up a great strategy for editors and writers— “Ask a ton of questions, read as much as you can, and work your butt off.” While you’re working your derriere off, please consider our workbook, Write a Marketable Children’s Book. It will guide you step by step in crafting your story.


Barbara Marcus, Random House, said to read as many books as you can so you have a broader knowledge of the industry…hang out in bookstores…and take note of how books are designed, positioned and promoted.

Find a mentor and learn as much as you can.Joy Peskin, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, said that volunteering in community programs for juveniles gave her an understanding of how young people reason, talk, worry, and dream.

She falls back on that knowledge when reading manuscripts. Chris Satterlund, Scholastic, said he wished he’d known earlier how important it is to find your passion and pursue it with excellence. 

“Getting paid for your passion is a wonderful thing…but if you let that govern your choice you will miss out. We all need to pay the bills but we sacrifice much when that is our only driver.” Our workbook, Write a Marketable Children’s Book, also has many tips for writers.

Lara Starr, Chronicle Books reminds us that we must step back from books we loved as a child, and ask ourselves, “Who is the reader?” “Can you imagine the kid that will light up when a parent, teacher, or librarian puts this book in their hand?

Spend as much time as you can around people who read books with actual kids—that’s where the rubber hits the road. Teachers, librarians, parents, booksellers, authors, and illustrators do a lot of reading with kids and have a lot to say about what works, what doesn’t, and what makes kids’ eyes light up.”

Samantha Hagerbaumer, HarperCollins, sums up a great strategy for editors and writers— “Ask a ton of questions, read as much as you can, and work your butt off.” While you’re working your derriere off, please consider our workbook, Write a Marketable Children’s Book. It will guide you step by step in crafting your story.


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About Writing Partner Biz
We are Shirley Raye Redmond & Jennifer McKerley, award-winning authors and writing partners. We are teachers, speakers, parents, and students. We love writing stories. We challenge each other to reach our individual goals, and we also like to share what we've learned with aspiring writers.

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WANT TO WRITE FOR KIDS?

Whether your want to write fiction or nonfiction, check out our workbook, "Write a Marketable Children's Book." It's not your typical how-to-write guide.

This guide reveals the step-by-step approach that Shirley Raye and Jennifer used to break into children's publishing and to keep selling.

You must write a MARKETABLE book in order to sell it,
and this workbook teaches:

  • HOW TO RESEARCH THE MARKET.
  • HOW TO CRAFT YOUR STORY TO TARGET THE MARKET.
  • HOW TO ESTABLISH EDITOR CONTACTS.
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