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Madeline Smoot

Query Letter Basics

Query Letter Basics

It’s been a bit since I’ve talked about query letters for kid’s books, so I thought it was time to review them again. I always think that the best query letters answer two questions: What is this book about? & Why should I care? However, there’s way more to a...

Why did your character do that?

Why did your character do that?

I need you to ask yourself a question: why does my character in my children’s book act the way they do? Because if you don’t know this, then I need you to go figure it out. Put yourself in their shoes and look deep. A part of you is actually in every character, so you...

How Old Is Your Main Character?

How Old Is Your Main Character?

Does it matter how old your main character is? Absolutely. This isn’t adult fiction where your main character can be just any old age. We are writing children’s books, and children’s books have very specific age ranges for specific types of novels. They are: Chapter...

How Purple Is Your Prose?

How Purple Is Your Prose?

Everyone wants to craft the perfect sentence and then the perfect paragraph, page, and book.  And to do that, you want to use evocative, colorful language. At least, you want to use colorful language as long as it doesn’t bleed into purple prose. What is purple...

The REAL Hero of the Story

The REAL Hero of the Story

Who is the real hero of your children’s book? The one that should triumph because their motivations are so just and pure. The one character that is usually so sure of themselves, nothing and no one can change their minds. I’m of course talking about your villain. Now,...