By Stephanie Bearce
Hey Friends!
We Ninjas want to hear from YOU! As most of you realize we host the always fun and exciting NF Fest in February. For the rest of the year, we try to help the nonfiction community with information right here on the Nonfiction Ninja Blog.

We would LOVE to hear from YOU! What do you want to learn about? What burning questions tug at your nonfiction heart? Do you want to know how to snag the perfect agent? Curious about mentor texts? Need Pat Miller's recipe for perfect doughnuts?

Please leave a response in the comment section below, about what you would like to learn this year. (I've given a few suggestions, but feel free to get crazy and creative.) Everyone who comments will be entered into a drawing to receive one of two FREE manuscript critiques from our well-published Ninjas. (Full PB or NF proposal)

Just tell us what would you like to learn more about?

• Idea Generation
• Research Tips
• Promotions and Social Media
• Queries and Submissions
• Editing and Revision
• Using Mentor Texts
• Writing Proposals
• Something NOT on this list!!! Tell Us!!

We are anxiously waiting to hear from YOU! Please give us your wish list. (We want to be your nonfiction Santa Claus!)

By Christine Liu-Perkins

When I began writing for children, revising was difficult for me. My first drafts were decent, but when critiques came in, I didn't know how to implement the suggestions. Sure, I could tweak words here and there, but I couldn't see the entire manuscript in a new way that enabled substantial changes. I was not at all ready for the kind of revisions editors would ask for.
 
I was surprised to discover that even well-known authors work through revisions. For example:

• Candace Fleming's initial version of The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia was deemed "boring" by the editor. Understanding the difference between fact and truth led to her riveting final book.
• Jim Murphy described the pain of deleting passages to focus the narrative of what became The Crossing: How George Washington Won the American Revolution. 
• Kathleen Krull had only one sentence left intact of Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez after revising with the editor.
• Melissa Stewart struggled with the structure for No Monkeys, No Chocolate through "10 years, 56 revisions, and 3 fresh starts." Take a look at her Revision Timeline for a chronicle of her process.

 
Clearly, if I wanted to publish, I had to learn how to revise.
If you're interested in revising skills, here are some sources that can help:

• Sneed Collard offers:
  • a book: Teaching Nonfiction Revision: A Professional Writer Shares Strategies, Tips, and Lessons (with classroom exercises by Vicki Spandel)
  • a podcast (and transcript) in which he introduces his thoughts on revision
  • an article about revising on the paragraph level
• Kate Messner's Real Revision: Authors' Strategies to Share with Student Writers has insights and exercises for various steps in revising fiction and nonfiction, plus tips from multiple authors.
• Anatomy of Nonfiction: Writing True Stories for Children by Margery Facklam and Peggy Thomas is a terrific guide for creating nonfiction from start to finish. Chapter 10 focuses on revising, and also handling critiques.
• Candace Fleming recommends six steps for revising nonfiction picture books.
• Melissa Stewart offers several video mini lessons on writing and revising
• Pat Miller shows how her Substitute Groundhog changed through thirty drafts over three years.
• Michelle Cusolito finds using dummies helpful
• Helga Schier explains doing rounds of revision using post-it notes
• For revising both fiction and nonfiction, check this list of resources provided by editors Harold Underdown and Eileen Robinson.

Have you found other sources helpful? If so, let me know in a comment below. I still have lots to learn!
 
 
 
 
 

By Stephanie Bearce
​
​Writers love writing. What we don't love is promoting. But the truth is, promoting is a part of the job, and rather than whining, we need to put on our big-girl panties and get to work!

​Last week we talked about getting reviews. They ARE important. But that's just the first part of your promotion plan. The next step is to build a promotion team.

Remember how you're NOT supposed to use our mom, your kids, or your crazy aunt Hilde to critique your manuscript? Total opposite for promoting that baby book of yours. Contact everyone you know and ask for their help. Sure some people are going to say no, but you are a writer. You're used to rejection. AND you're wearing those big-girl panties. You can take it.

A promotion team is simply a group of people willing to help by sharing your media posts. The team will help you broaden your platform and expand your audience reach. Maybe you only have 10 FB friends and you've never heard of twitter. No worries - your promotion team will be lending you their platform by sharing your posts and promoting your book. 

Make it easy on them by creating posts that are attractive and fun. Canva is a free graphic art tool that will make your social media posts look professional. (Watch out though - it's fun and can be addicting!) You can create posts for  holidays and special events and share them with your promotions team.  All they have to do is hit share on their favorite social site.

You don't need a big team. A dozen dedicated team members is better than a hundred half-hearted promoters. Make your team feel special by giving them the inside scoop on your publishing process, sharing your triumphs and disappointments, and of course, showering them with your genuine gratitude.

You can ask your team to post reviews on Good Reads and Amazon.  Have them request that their local library purchase your book. Ask if they are willing to pre-order copies of your book. And have your team spread the word to their friends and family that you have a NEW BOOK!