Yes, We Are Real Writers—An IVY AND THE MEANSTALK Giveaway

IVY AND THE MEANSTALK is here—hooray! In the year+ since Ivy’s first adventure (IVY’S EVER AFTER) made its way out into the world, I’ve been blessed with some pretty incredible experiences. Getting a starred review from School Library Journal was pretty darn cool, as was having IVY’S EVER AFTER named a Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year this past April. And, of course, being invited to be a part of Project Mayhem, because let’s face it—one of the best things about middle-grade writers is what a wonderful sense of community and camaraderie we have.

I’ll be celebrating MEANSTALK’s release with a giveaway below, and please don’t forget that you can read chapters from both IVY books—and watch the book trailer—at my newly updated website, www.dawnbooks.com.

But first—on to my blog post:

“When are you going to write a book for adults?”

I get this question a lot. I bet many of you do, too. It’s not that people think that writing for children is bad, but often there’s a mindset that writing a book for kids is somehow less of an accomplishment than writing a book for adults. After all, writing a children’s book is easier, faster, and less work, right? You get to use smaller words and less sophisticated vocabulary. Your chapters can be shorter—your entire book, too, for that matter. And aren’t most children’s book writers only using it as a stepping stone to break into the more substantive, more important realm of adult literature, anyway?

Such attitudes don’t give us children’s writers enough credit. We face definite challenges that writers for adults do not. Writers for adults are writing for other adults. They’re a member of their own target audience. Writers for kids, on the other hand, must attune themselves to an audience that they’re not a part of. This means we have to be particularly imaginative and creative. We have to find a way to connect to young readers, to put ourselves into the shoes of characters far younger than ourselves. We have to have very rich inner children.

And yes, we are more limited in our choice of vocabulary. And sometimes—but not always, especially with the ever-increasing length of children’s fantasies—our books must be shorter. This means we face the added challenge of economy of language and length. We have to tell an enticing, fully developed story in less space and with less word choices than are available to adult works.

And I wish the people who think being a children’s book writer is easy would realize that we, like those who write for adults, face the same long publication journey. We write the same query letters, get the same rejections. We have to have the same dogged persistence in the face of very challenging odds.

Yes, we are “real” writers—give us the credit we deserve!!

Your thoughts? I’ve got a couple of signed copies of IVY AND THE MEANSTALK to give away. Ah, heck, I’ll throw in a signed copy of IVY’S EVER AFTER to the winners, as well. Please leave your comments below for a chance to win.

All my best,

-Dawn Lairamore