Hello everyone.

I finally signed up for full membership today as I so need to be surrounded by fellow 'creatives'(!), but I'm not sure where to post!

I wanted to join in with the young children's group but they're full up! (how does a group become full??). So I hope you don't mind if I join in with you, as I'm finding the advice and information you give so useful.

Are any of you authors/illustrators? Is there a separate forum for them?

I've been an artist/illustrator since 2000, after working in Graphic Design. I've had an art technique book published (The Complete Guide to Coloured Pencil Techniques) but I've recently started to pen my own 'short' childrens picture books. I've about 3 waiting to be illustrated but with 2 young children under 5, trying to find the time is near on impossible!!

Looking forward to getting to know you all.

Beverley


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Hello everyone.

I finally signed up for full membership today as I so need to be surrounded by fellow 'creatives'(!), but I'm not sure where to post!

I wanted to join in with the young children's group but they're full up! (how does a group become full??). So I hope you don't mind if I join in with you, as I'm finding the advice and information you give so useful.

Are any of you authors/illustrators? Is there a separate forum for them?

I've been an artist/illustrator since 2000, after working in Graphic Design. I've had an art technique book published (The Complete Guide to Coloured Pencil Techniques) but I've recently started to pen my own 'short' children's picture books. I've about 3 waiting to be illustrated but with 2 young children under 5, trying to find the time is near on impossible!!

Looking forward to getting to know you all.

Beverley

p.s. wanted to add a 'smiley' but can't find them!

Hello, Bev! Somone will be along shortly with more specific information, but I just wanted to say welcome to the site, and you do smilies by typing a colon followed by a bracket (semi colon and bracket if you want a wink).

Have fun!

Kate

Hello there Beverley. Sounds like you have a winning combination. Writing and Illustrating. I'm from a graphic design background too, and used to illustrate, but I've pretty much left that behind.

To upload something, you can really put it anywhere (most people mark it as "visible to Writewords Members only), then put a note on the forum in the Introduce Your Work area to attract a few readers - posting in a group only will probably only attract members of that group, and sometimes the groups can get very slow.

Even if you are not a member of a group you can read and post messages; there's no rule to say that non-group members can't reply to group discussions. The only thing you can't do is read work if members have marked it as "group only". You would have to join to do that.

Saw your book on Amazon. Looks good. Welcome aboard.

Colin M

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To upload something, you can really put it anywhere

that sounds a bit misleading. All you do is upload and classify it as fiction.

Hi Kate and Colin,

Thanks for the warm welcome. I'll continue posting here as a newbie but will also post for advice on young children, even if I can't post work directly there.

It may be some time before I've the confidence to upload anything, especially as my genre is pb's for young children and they all rhyme! A very difficult area to break into so I've read!!(But then I suppose every area is difficult to an unknown newbie!!!)

Excited to be 'talking' to other's hoping to break into the same field as myself - it can get very lonely at the computer and drawing board!

Bev

Thanks Kate, I did it!

No stopping me now!

PBs are notoriously difficult to sell. One stumbling block is that so much work is put into the rhyme that the story can suffer, and then make for difficult reworking, and then if you get the story right and the rhyme all working you get the argument that it won't translate.

Bev, have you come across Editorial Anonymous' blog here:

http://editorialanonymous.blogspot.com/

She's a children's editor in the US, and has a lot of interesting to say about pbs, and rhyme, among other things.

Emma

Thanks Emma,

I'll settle down and read it when I get a few moments.

Bev

Hi Bev, welcome to the site.

If a group is full and you want to join you can wwmail David Bruce (webmaster) and ask him if there are any members he can weed out of that group who haven't been active for a while - ie he might be able to make room for you.

BTW

: and ) equal
: and ( equal
; and ) equal
: and o equal

Thanks Casey, I'll do that.

Thanks for the welcome too!