Some Writing Tips from Children’s Author Sally O. Lee

Today I’m hosting Day 4 of a 5-day virtual tour for Sally O. Lee’s new book, Pop! Pop! Bam! Bam! In this post, Sally offers some tips for writers.

Sally O. Lee’s Writing Tips

If you are interested in writing a book, go for it! That is my first bit of advice. It doesn't do any good to have the manuscript and/or illustrations sitting in your file cabinet forever. No one can read it there.

* There are many ways to go forward. You can send your manuscript to a big-time publisher(s) and wait and see and hope for the best. If you are frustrated and want to get going on your project, then try a self-publishing company. There are many of them out there to choose from. I use Createspace, and I have been very happy with them. Because I do my own writing and illustrations and know how to do layout, then I can upload the print-ready files myself. They also have a-la-carte items like illustrators, editors, reviewers, etc. that you can pay for that can help you publish your book. The initial upload is free but the rest costs money.

* Once you get all these details ironed out, now you have the book on- line and you think, now what? To sit back and wait for millions of copies to be sold on Amazon most likely won't happen. This is where you need to give a little blood and sweat to get the ball rolling.

* Some of the things you can do are library readings, school readings, mailings, a gnarly web site, etc. Libraries love to promote local authors and will do everything they can to help you. It doesn't hurt to give a copy or two of your book to the library.

* If you do mailings, I suggest Vistaprint. They are inexpensive, very professional, and you can either upload your own files or choose from many selections on their web site. I have made postcards, posters, banners, t-shirts, hats, mugs, business cards, flyers, and more from them.

* Invest in a nice web site. This promotes your books and if it is clean and easy to read and fun, it is a great way to get the word out. You can design a web site on your own. I use Register.com, and I am very happy with them. But there are many of them out there to choose from.

* If you want to copyright your book, you can find the Washington, DC Copyright office on Google, and it only costs about $30, and you just send them 2 copies and the form.

* Submit your book to various award submissions. There are a ton of them out there, and the Caldecott is not the only one! Once you get on a few mailing lists, you will be plugged in.

* I think this sums it up. Good luck. It is very satisfying and gets it off your coffee table.

With all the publishing options today, it is not hard anymore to get your book published. And you can basically publish it for free! It is also important to note that after you publish your book, you can’t sit around and wait for miracles to happen. You need to get your book out there and no one else is going to do it for you unless you have a publisher. So books readings and mailings can be very important. 

About Sally O. Lee

Award-winning author, Sally O. Lee earned her BA in Studio Art and Art History (with distinction) from Colby College and then went on to study graphic design and painting in Boston (Art Institute of Boston) and in New York City (New York Studio School). She has had several shows of her work and received an art grant from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology to conceive and create a series of paintings, and from this came her 2002 exhibition- A Journey Into Abstraction. Some of Ms. Lee’s paintings are in various private collections in the US.

In recent years, Ms. Lee has begun to write and illustrate children’s books. Some of them deal with the struggles of living with some form of handicap…or, as the author prefers to call it, imperfection. Many of her illustrations have been published and she has earned both academic and public recognition for her important work in children’s books. She has had illustrations published in Worldlink Magazine, IEEE Magazine, and several other publications. Sally has illustrated and written 29 books for children.

About the Book

School shootings are a topic no one wants to talk about, especially with young children. Yet, they do occur, so many young children are fearful. This is the story of an angry man who goes in to a school with a gun and hurts people. It is also a story about those who survived and how they coped.

Find out more about Sally O. Lee and her books at http://www.leepublishing.net