Onwards and Upwards!

I attended my first Webinar yesterday held through Writers Digest. It was an intense and interesting 90-minute session on the craft of writing picture books. 

During this webinar, I learned about technique and structure, and what the industry is currently looking for. It was a great course, and one that I would definitely recommend to any aspiring children's writer. But as the speaker kept talking, and clicked through each slide, I quickly began to realize that the stories that I have written have managed to break all or most of the industry "do's and don't's". 

Well...isn't that just great?

I can admit that I was feeling pretty down on myself throughout the day (my husband can attest to my crankiness!). All my hard work and time spent editing, and money spent on professional proofreading, it seemed like such a waste. The picture book industry's editorial calls have changed, and unfortunately, not in my favor.

But then I remembered that the type of books that have become staples in my house mainly rhyme, or have no central character, or even a conflict. They venture a little off the beaten path, and seperate themselves from the standard beginning-middle-end type of books. They are quirky classics.

My ego is not that big, and I know that if I want to be published, I will have to go back to my stories and revise, revise, revise (if not scrap and begin again). But when my son handed me my "dummy" book containing one of my stories, and asked me to read it to him (again), I felt my spirits rise.

After all, I had at least one fan.