I’m taking it easy the month of July, and I hope you do, too!
Lessons from my first After School Birding Club
This year, I hosted my first-ever After School birding club. It had a fantastic level of interest: 23 new birders signed up!
I wasn’t nervous about lots of things. I have done lots of after school clubs. I like kids. And I know birds. And I know they show up at this school, because I’ve birded there before and had some fun feathered friends visit.
I was nervous because of the unknowns: how would the kids do sitting and listening? Would they be able to write in their journals outside? Would they do OK without binoculars? What if it rained all four weeks? What if someone had a bathroom emergency when we were outside of the school?
I made plans for as many contingencies and emergencies as I possibly could.
But you can’t plan for everything. You can’t plan for unexpected bathroom emergencies, sprinkles of rain, or birds deciding not to be there. We had pencils break, we had kids walk very fast ahead of the group and very slow behind the group. We had kids who would rather write poetry and kids who only wanted to look at one bird and were done.
I forgot to ask the PTO to limit the grades to 2-5, so I had a range of ages from K-5th grade, and that was hard. Luckily the older kids stepped up to help the younger kids read their checklists. And after the first week, I requested additional parent help.
Things weren’t all bad! We had kids who found a nest, kids who learned to recognize birds, kids who spotted hawks and helped each other with words they couldn’t read. The vast majority of young birders didn’t mind not using binoculars at all. I was able to get some lovely laminated bird guides for a reduced cost since this was an educational club and I know the kids loved them. They had tons and tons of questions and loved seeing bird photos, learning bird songs, and being outside.
My main takeaway: I loved hosting birding club. I can’t wait for next year when we will all be a bit more experienced!
Lessons from Write Your Own Book Club
Every year, I host an after school club called “Write Your Own Book Club.” It’s open to grades 2-5, and we meet for an hour after school for four weeks. Every year, I go in expecting to teach the kids some things about writing: voice, character, and plot.
Every year, they end up teaching me something.
- This year one young writer brought in a different stuffie every week. Each became the main character in her stories. The other kids LOVED getting to meet each stuffie. Merchandising works!
- These kids never hesitated to write in their own voices!! Don’t try to write like someone else. Write like yourself.
- When you can’t write, draw. These creative kids often told the cutest stories through facial expressions and background details – thunderstorms, or darkness, or sparkles really deepened the tone of each story.
Here’s the thing. I’ve been writing longer than these kids, but that doesn’t mean I’m a better writer. We can all learn something from the people around us. I often think that newer writers are more willing to question the rules of the game. They will write run-on sentences or drop characters in then pull them out, or have main characters do something completely unexpected. The stories may need to be fine-tuned, but they are never dull.
Listening to new writers can make me (and you) a better writer.
How to Write a Children’s Book
It’s not easy to learn how to write a children’s book. I teach a class on writing picture books for McDaniel College every spring, and we cram a lot into eight weeks. It’s really too short of a time to write a full developed picture book. But once the manuscript is strong and polished (after lots of critiques and revision), what next? What are the next steps to getting published?
I get this question a lot from the authors I work with on Reedsy. I believe this is the first and most important question to consider.
- Do you want to follow traditional publishing or self-publish?
Both of these paths have pros and cons. But before you can choose, you need to know what they mean.
Traditional publishing means you submit your work a publishing house that decides to buy your manuscript, pay you an advance, send you a contract, find an illustrator, pay for the publication work, and market the book. If you’re lucky, the book will sell enough copies that you will earn out the advance and someday you’ll get royalty checks.
Self-publishing means you do all of this on your own. You find the illustrator, you pay the illustrator, you pay for the printing, you pay for the marketing and distribution.
Traditional publishing is slow. And there are more details to understand. Some publishers take manuscripts from writers that don’t have agents, but many don’t. And finding an agent is tough. You need to have more than one manuscript prepared and polished so the agent knows you are someone they can work with long term. The agent only makes money if you sell manuscripts and books, so agents don’t sign clients unless they are viable business partners.
Traditional publishing also means you need to know the rules of the writing game. You need to know how to format your manuscript, how to write a query letter, how to write a synopsis, and how to write a great story. You need to know what is selling in the current market. You have to read lots of books written for the same age group that you plan to write for. You need to understand how illustrations work with your story.
Traditional publishing requires an investment of time and the development of knowledge. But once a publisher decides to work with you, you can be sure you’ll get paired with an incredible team. You’ll have editors, copyeditors, art directors, and marketing and publicity.
Your contract will include an advance. It will be a nice amount of money, but not life-changing. When your book sells, you’ll get something like 8-10% of the cover price. You’ll earn about 1.99 on each book sold. But you won’t get that money for awhile. You need to pay the publisher back for the advance. So if you got a $5000 advance, you need to sell 2,512 books before you have paid back what you owe. Only then do you get royalties. There’s some info online that estimates most books sell less than 2000 copies.
If you decide to self-publish, you have to make all of these decisions about design, editing, illustration, layout, printing, publicity, promotion, marketing, sales, sales tax, events, and more on your own. It’s a LOT. It’s hard. Yes, you get to keep more of the cost of each book sold. But you have to put up all of the initial money, too.
Many people want to only create e-book versions of their children’s book in order to minimize printing costs. This model works for YA, and perhaps some middle grade. But it’s not worth it for picture books. Kids are not reading e-books the way adults do. And adults don’t buy e-book versions of picture books. Especially at young ages, books are an alternative to devices.
If you want to sell a lot of copies of your self-published books, you will need to think about where you can sell. I recommend skipping book festivals and books stores. You’re just competing against every other book there. Look for places that attract customers who are interested in your subject matter. So if you write about dogs, see if you can sell books at a dog daycare or pet store.
This is only a quick overview of the most basic, first question to consider. There are most questions to resolve, and I hope to address them in future posts!
Birding the Rachel Carson Trail in Winter!
I’m so thrilled that this winter I’ve been able to get outside and go 
For All the Cheese Lovers
If you love cheese, you won’t want to miss my new story in the February 2026 issue of Highlights for Children!
Book an Author Visit this year!
Gifts and Gratitude
Have you joined me on Birding the Rachel Carson Trail yet? No? Now is the perfect time. Become a subscriber at any level, or leave a tip in the tip jar, and you will receive the gift of the 2026 Bad Bird Photos Calendar! The 2026 Bad Bird Photos Calendar features absolutely awful photos of adorable birds and some largely irrelevant insider info about each bird. These photos will have you squinting with uncertainty and questioning if I know how to use a camera! There’s nothing quite like the 2026 Bad Bird Photos Calendar.
I received a wonderful gift recently. My manuscript won a Work in Progress award from SCBWI. SCBWI is the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. It’s a worldwide professional organization for creators, and I’ve been a member for over a decade. I’ve met incredible people through SCBWI, made friends, professional contacts, developed my skills and supported others. It’s really a gift to be a member, and I’m grateful for the recognition of this manuscript and its potential!
WIP Award Announcement
Join me on my “Joy Project”
You’re invited to join me on my new adventure, something I’m calling my “joy project.” It’s all about writing, birding, walking, and learning – and you can come along with me even if you’re not in Pittsburgh.
Let’s go Birding the Rachel Carson Trail!
Every season for a full year, I’ll walk the trail in parts and pieces and track the birds (and other things) I see on the way. I’m sharing each essay on my Substack page. There’s lots of other great content there, too.
I hope you’ll choose to drop something in the tip jar for “Birding the Rachel Carson Trail” and the many wonderful creatives who share their passions and joys, too.
October To Do List
October used to be the eighth month in early calendars. Here are eight things to do this month.
- Read a banned book during Banned Book Week (and all year).
- Catch a lucky leaf. Go on a run and if you catch a falling leaf midair, make a wish!
- It’s dew season. That means it’s cool at night, but not cold. Go for a morning walk and look for spider webs decorated with dew drops.
- Bake some barmbrack. his traditional Irish cake that may, or may not, give us a glimpse into the future.
- Confirm you can vote in next month’s elections. Local elections matter just as much as national elections. The deadline in PA is October 20.
- Have you gotten your flu shot yet? If not, do it today! The best time to get it is between September and October.
- Celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day and learn about the indigenous people in your community!
- Go birding on October Big Day on October 11!
Let me know which activities you plan to try this month!
Barmbrack cake has hidden items, so choose your slice carefully!