I am re-reading A Wrinkle in Time and began to think over how this book inspired me as a child. I was an avid reader even as a very young child, but this is the book that truly inspired me to want more out of reading and eventually lead to my love of writing.
I still remember checking it out from the library and being so enthralled with the story that I begged my mom to buy it for me at the next book fair - remember those? I am convinced, now MANY years later, that the detailed descriptions in this book helped shape my creative mind. If Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace could move out of this world to save Dr. Murray then surely I could do anything I wanted, right? Amazing thought really, but books do inspire children. They cause them to think, to push the envelope of this world, and to reach out for the impossible.
For me, publishing in the children's market should always be about inspiring growth and thought in your readers. If you are doing it for the money, what's the point? You'd make a heck of a lot more in a sales job or desk job with any major corporation. In one month I will begin querying for the first time. I am excited and nervous and scared all at the same time. I have finally completed a story that I want to release on the world. I have polished and edited and hesitated long enough. I give myself one more month to finish up any last minute things and then I will put all fear aside (just like Meg did) and go for the gusto. Go big or go home right? And I am not querying because I hope for a large advance, or for the excitement of seeing my name in print - though all are good things. No, I am querying because my dream of all dreams is for children to read my story and for it to make them think the way A Wrinkle in Time made me think.
So, if like me, you have been putting querying off. If you have been holding on to that manuscript for fear, but deep down you are proud of it, know that it is polished, and know that it is the best you can offer. Then Go BIG! Good luck querying and may God grant you a request for a partial or a full!
Now, tell me, what stories inspired you?
M.B. :)
I still remember checking it out from the library and being so enthralled with the story that I begged my mom to buy it for me at the next book fair - remember those? I am convinced, now MANY years later, that the detailed descriptions in this book helped shape my creative mind. If Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace could move out of this world to save Dr. Murray then surely I could do anything I wanted, right? Amazing thought really, but books do inspire children. They cause them to think, to push the envelope of this world, and to reach out for the impossible.
For me, publishing in the children's market should always be about inspiring growth and thought in your readers. If you are doing it for the money, what's the point? You'd make a heck of a lot more in a sales job or desk job with any major corporation. In one month I will begin querying for the first time. I am excited and nervous and scared all at the same time. I have finally completed a story that I want to release on the world. I have polished and edited and hesitated long enough. I give myself one more month to finish up any last minute things and then I will put all fear aside (just like Meg did) and go for the gusto. Go big or go home right? And I am not querying because I hope for a large advance, or for the excitement of seeing my name in print - though all are good things. No, I am querying because my dream of all dreams is for children to read my story and for it to make them think the way A Wrinkle in Time made me think.
So, if like me, you have been putting querying off. If you have been holding on to that manuscript for fear, but deep down you are proud of it, know that it is polished, and know that it is the best you can offer. Then Go BIG! Good luck querying and may God grant you a request for a partial or a full!
Now, tell me, what stories inspired you?
M.B. :)
I remember the first time I read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe...it was a magical experience. Good luck with your querying! I will be querying on a novel for the first time soon, too. Fingers crossed that someday our books will be in kids' hands!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jess and the same to you! :) And yes, C.S. Lewis is another fantastic storyteller for sure. When I read that book I often think, wow this book breaks so many of the over preached writing rules, yet here it is a classic that has stood the test of time.
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