I’ve been working in children’s book publishing in various roles for nearly 20 years now (whoa!). A lot of clients come to me with a manuscript they want me to critique, or a picture book they want me to project manage. They have a first draft and a dream. But many don't take into account some of the very basic points about traditionally printed and published picture books. And how could they? As they say: "If you know, you know." But...what if you don't know? Answer: You com

One of the ways I've been handling being on lockdown during the COVID pandemic is by going outside at least once per day. Most days, around work and distance learning hours, my family and I kick around a ball or garden in our backyard, take long nature walks around our (mostly rural) village, and keep busy teaching the youngest of us to ride a bike. I am lucky to be smack dab in the middle of nature, but my mind and my heart go out to those who don't have such access to the o

Welp, I had grand plans of posting a new picture book review more than once per week. But alas! Homeschooling, freelance editing, children's book writing, cooking, cleaning (and gardening!), eating and sleeping have taken up most of my time. I made this bread...and then ate almost all of it My little hyper-local community (I live on a dead-end street called a "close" in a semi-rural English village) has been actively bolstering each other during the pandemic. Non-quarantining

Hi, everyone! Happy what-day-is-it? As I mentioned here last week, I placed an order to my local independent bookstore, in order to: a) stock up on picture books before I wasn't able to leave the house for long (which, now in the UK, we're not) b) support my local indie bookshop, many of which are going to be struggling to survive at the moment c) support picture book authors and illustrators whose books are publishing in these "wild & uncertain times" Some books from my orde

As I mentioned in my post on Monday, I am thinking of you all and hoping you stay well and safe during the pandemic. I had drafted this blog post over a month ago, back when the world was a different place. I thought about not posting it today. But I am so proud of this project and how it's affected the world in a positive way, that I decided to go ahead. Especially during troubling times, celebrations are still important! It's been exactly two years since A Day in the Life o

Happy almost Valentine's Day, #kidlit lovers! Whether you celebrate this "holiday" or not, I want to tell you about something I really love: Photo by Aung Soe Min on Unsplash Self-publishing projects! Yes, I have worked in "traditional" children's book publishing for 15 years. Yes, I love working with big publishers like Scholastic, Disney, NatGeo Kids, and Bloomsbury. And double-yes, I love working with writers and illustrators who seek to publish traditionally. But there is

It's been two years since I started of Alli Brydon Creative, my children's book editorial and writing business! Here, have a slice of cake with me Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash The first year was incredibly successful, with such projects as editing/project managing A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo (which keeps on going and going), writing nonfiction for Scholastic Clubs, and signing on with my agency, Painted Words. Feel free to click back to my blog post from last year

A lot of discussion goes on in the #kidlit world about the all-important Query Letter. Do editors and agents even read them? How do I format one? Should I mention that I follow this editor on Twitter? Do I say how much I like the other books on their list? How personal/not-personal should I get? I can only speak for myself as a children's book editor, of course, but I have to say: when I acquire a book for a publishing house, I don't read most of the query letter. I jump stra

I am touched and a little overwhelmed. Last Friday, Tara Lazar featured my blog "Alli Brydon Recycles" for Day 25 of Storystorm (which you can read more about here). In this blog post, I spoke about taking your own old picture book ideas and turning them into something new. As a result, a huge number of new readers subscribed to my blog. Thank you, and welcome! It's freaking freezing out here, amirite? I hope you took away something valuable from that post, enjoyed my silly r

Oh my, friends! What a summer it has been so far. We're hitting the beach. We're spending time with friends and family. We're doing math exercises. We're eating too much ice cream (is that even a thing?). We're going to museums. I'm writing up a storm. And we're READING READING READING! The kidlit librarians and I are on a first-name basis. There are some amazing and hilarious picture books that I wanted to share with you. Our current favorite: The silly language alone is gua

This year has been a pretty monumental one: I started Alli Brydon Creative in September, which was a huge leap of faith for me. Only four months in, I'm already busier and more fulfilled than I ever could have imagined! I've been enjoying a wide variety of interesting projects that satisfy all parts of my creative mind, and I'm constantly amazed by the quality and quantity of work that passes across my desk. And next year, I'll be adding "published author" to my list of accom

...because it's PICTURE BOOK MONTH! Picture Book Month (PBM) was started by these wonderful children's book authors and illustrators, and this nifty graphic (above, created by Joyce Wan) can be found on their site. Consider becoming an ambassador of Picture Book Month, like I just did! Look who else recognizes this Month of Months: National Education Association Children's Book Council American Library Association Teachers All the kids! What I love about Picture Book Month is

Having been a children's book editor for nearly 15 years, I sometimes take for granted the things I know about the creation, craft, and publishing of picture books. Nearly every time I work with a wonderful new client through Alli Brydon Creative, I realize that I've got another bit of info stored away in the filing cabinets of my brain that I should dust off and place face-out on the shelves. (yes, I actually imagine my brain is like a large room full of filing cabinets!) So