Children’s literature – Page 2

What do you think are the most popular genres?

Published on November 22, 2017November 28, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell7 Comments

Is your genre one of the top percenters?

I hadn’t given this much thought, until reading a great article on Medium by Erica Verrillo from the Writing Cooperative. And boy howdy, the stats were eye-opening. Erica gives stats on most popular genres with readers, agents and includes which genres make the most money.

What surprised me most?

Most books sold by genre…

#1 – Children’s Fiction sells more than three times the number of adult books.
#1 in sales – Children’s fiction
#2 – Adult General Fiction came is second in sales.

Agents most requested genre…

First Choice of Agents is NOT Children’s books, although these books are number one in sales.#1 – Request by agents is YA Fiction.
YA Fiction #1 requested
#10 – Last on the lists for Agent request is Women’s Fiction. I’d expected this to be higher.
Agents work on commission of 15%.

The genre that makes the most money…

#1 – Dollar maker is Romance and Erotica, this includes self-published romance.

#2 – Crime and Mystery novels
#3 – Inspirational and Religious books, (go figure.) This includes self-help books.
#4 – Fantasy and Science Fiction

Click and read Erica’s article to discover all the nitty-gritty details.

What are the most popular literary genres? By Erica Verrillo

Where did your genre fall?

Any surprises?

Will any of these stats change your approach to writing?

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Write with confidence when you discover your strength

Published on May 19, 2017May 18, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell20 Comments

Identify what you’re good at and grow stronger.

That’s right. We stand a little taller and walk with confidence when we’re proud of something. So play to your strong stuff.

It’s also important to think about our weaknesses.

Me, my biggest weakness is tenses. I mix up the present and past tense all the time. Can’t help it so I’ve learned to accept this as a flaw and seek out help from grammar experts. Oh spelling, I’m terrible at spelling. Thank God for spell check.

A strength, imagination. I have a vivid imagination. Some of the crap that pops in my mind would get me committed to a state institution if I shared it all. LOL

But another weakness I have is finishing the damn story.

I’ve dozens of story starts, but like a coon dog with a good nose, I run off every time the wind blows a scent my way. There are dozens of files on my computer and several notebooks lying around with story ideas. Sigh…

So how does knowing all of this help make me a better writer?

We can write to our strengths if we know what they are.

In the article below by Jennifer Tzivia MacLeod suggests that once we identify our weaknesses we can find workarounds or get help.

Becoming a writer: Why knowing your strengths and weaknesses MATTERS by Jennifer Tzivia MacLeod

She gives a long list to get you started. I’ve shared a couple of my weakness and strengths, now what about you?

After you read her article, let me know what you think.

Did you find a strength or weakness on her list?

What is your writing strength?

Care to confess a weakness?

Talk to me – I love reading your comments.

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How to instantly improve your story

Published on May 1, 2017May 3, 2018 by Jean M. Cogdell22 Comments

By putting a little zing in your writing with power words.

Super Heroes - Jean's Writing

Now I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but I’m not promising to instantly make you a NY Times bestseller. No, that’s gonna take a whole lot more information than I possess. However, should I ever be so fortunate as to ascend to such lofty heights, I’ll be in a better position to share the climb.

But back to improving. That’s where I’m at now. Tweaking and changing and learning how to better grab my readers. To that end, I’ve found a couple of terrific posts.

Use Power Words to Spice Up Every Page of Your Book or Website by Judy Cullins

317 Power Words That’ll Instantly Make You a Better Writer by Jon Morrow

In these articles, they write about using powerful, thought-provoking words that will not only grab but also hold the attention of a reader. Both Ms. Cullins and Mr. Morrow also provide an extensive list of “power words” that help us get started.

Words Have Power - Jean's Writing — **Use the right one!**

What did I glean from their posts?

Words have power but use the right ones.
Smart speakers, as well as writers, sprinkle power words without drawing attention to them.
Power words invoke emotion.
A story will be bland and dull without a few power words.
Not all power words are the same. Some invoke passion, others greed, fear, joy, or create comfort and curiosity.

Here is today’s challenge.

Check one of your favorite books, are power words used in the first paragraph?

Look at your current WIP, do you have power words to grab a reader?

Will adding a power word or two make the paragraph better?

What do you think?

Talk to me – I love reading your comments.

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Images courtesy of Pixabay

Want to know why you need to leave a review?

Published on March 17, 2017March 15, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell8 Comments

Do you know why this is important?

I mean really important?

It helps a writer? Yes, of course. But there is more to it than that.

When we eat out, we leave the wait staff a tip. Even if the service is lousy, we leave a tip. Might be small, but we leave something behind. The staff worked hard to provide the meal, and our tip our acknowledgment. We may never return to that restaurant again, but that’s okay.

The same thing holds true for a book. The author works hard to produce a product for readers to enjoy. Some will enjoy the story more than others, but everyone should leave behind a tip (review.) Short and sweet, or long and eloquent, leave a review it doesn’t matter.

Don’t know what to say? Here’s a tip: read what others have said and to get ideas, to prime your thoughts into your own words.

Don’t have time to write a wordy review? Click on the stars but leave behind that tip with a one or five star review.

Remember to let the author know you read their book. The best way to do that is to write a review. Leaving your footprints in the sands of Amazon and Goodreads is important.