Self-publishing enhanced eBooks gets easier every day. One new advance is the Vook publishing platform, a comprehensive, cloud-based tool that allows authors and publishers to turn any document into a professionally styled eBook, complete with embedded images, videos and other multimedia. Vook's platform then makes it easy to distribute the finished e-book to Amazon, iBooks and BN.com. Another is Demibooks Storytime, a new e-reader app for the iPad  that offers a multipublisher retail marketplace for interactive children’s books created using the Demibook Composer eBook platform. The Storytime app means retailers have another outlet besides the Apple store, which can be difficult to search. The app is integrated with Facebook and allows users to share content.

Both these companies are helping self-publishers and small presses create content and market on par with the big houses. If you're even considering publishing your own eBook, take a look. And stay tuned for the next big thing, which is surely coming soon.

"Write to express, not to impress." These six words are the backbone of mystery writer Bernadette Pajer's advice for writers in a recent blog post. It's brilliant in its simplicity, and it works.

Writing for young adults? Write to express, not to impress. Otherwise you'll come off as an out-of-touch adult trying to sound cool.

Writing for preschoolers? Write to express, not to impress them with your silly-billy, goofy-woofy word play. Clever is good, condescending is not.

Creating a blog post? Write to express. Don't pile on the five-syllable words plucked from the Thesaurus; just say what you mean in your own language. The same applies to letters to editors and agents, articles for writing publications, and workshops you might be leading at writing conferences. If we don't understand what you're saying, all those fancy words are wasted.

Write to express. The concept is really a writer's bread and butter, yet so easy to forget. Take a moment to remind yourself with Pajer's post.

According to book industry experts, the hottest trend today is the young adult and children's market. Just look at the popularity of the Twilight series and the more recent Hunger Games trilogy. As a parent or adult, you have a wealth of experiences on which to draw making the children's book market the perfect place for you — the author — to make your mark.
 

Mining the Field

As an adult you have you have the unique ability to look back on the wonderful world of childhood. From your perspective you can use your writing to help children negotiate the fine line between their current life and the steps they are taking toward adulthood. This can be through a picture book, a read- aloud book, a graphic novel, a chapter book, or longer fiction.

One of the most important issues you will deal with when writing for children and young adults is remembering your youth while keeping current with today's culture. Children of today are exposed to more, at a faster pace, than you were in your youth.

.    Are your characters relevant to children today?
.    Are core issues the same?
.    Is your culture the same or different form the target audience?
.    Are you able to connect with your readers via your writing? (Consider your words, tone, syntax, and more)
 

It's important to know what children of your target age group are interested in, and what activities take up their day. One good way to do this is to keep abreast of what activities parents do with their children. An easy way to research this is to study parenting websites such as Ella's List.

Out of the Box

Children's literature is defined by certain genres.

.    Picture books
.    Poetry and verse
.    Folklore
.    Fantasy
.    Science Fiction
.    Realistic Fiction
.    Historical Fiction
.    Biography
.    Non-Fiction

If you hope to be published it is important to know where your writing fits within the children's literature genres. Publishers are very specific about what they expect from writers and rarely allow creativity outside the box. For example, unless you are a published author you cannot expect to have creative license to write a picture book that is longer than the standard length, which these days is usually under 1000 words.
 

Read, Read, Read

Reading is a writer's best friend. Whether you read at home or read aloud to a group of children, it is imperative that you stay current with what is happening in the children's publishing industry. One of the best places to find the latest children's book news is at your local library. Most local libraries have read- aloud time for children and volunteering there is a great opportunity for you to see what appeals to children. Some libraries will allow you to read aloud from your own works. This is an awesome opportunity for you to get instant feedback from your target audience, see what works in your story, and what still needs revision.

Bravo to you for your commitment to write for the most exciting audience — children. The children's book world is a wonderful place where you will discover welcoming friends and groups of other writers. Here are a few tips to help you with your writing and motivation:

.    Join a children's writing group
.    Join a book club
.    Write at the same time every day
.    Attend a children's book festival
.    Attend a writing conference
.    Submit stories to writing contests

Remember, while writing for children can seem lonely at times, you are not alone. Do not view other writers as your competition. Join other writers in writing groups in your local area or online. Sharing ideas is a fantastic way to boost your own creativity.

Anna K. lives in Australia with her three sons. When she's not writing children's books, she's organizing fun activities and traveling with her family.

In this recent article from the UK, one in five parents has scrapped traditional fairy tales in favor of kinder, gentler versions. While we've long been used to Little Red Riding Hood hiding from the wolf with her grandmother in the closet (rather than being eaten and then cut out of the wolf's stomach by the woodsman who rescued them), parents are now seeing less-obvious dangers lurking in classic stories: Rumblestiltskin has themes of kidnapping and execution, Goldilocks and the Three Bears condones stealing, and Cinderella sends the outdated message that young women should stay home and clean house. While you may roll your eyes and wonder just how far this generation of parents will go to sanitize their children's world, remember that this is your audience if you're writing fairy tale type books. Don't necessarily change your approach (unless you agree that bedtime stories should be soothing and safe, which can be a reasonable view), but do know that you'll be targeting your marketing and tone of the text to fit either parents who protect, or those who still rejoice at things that go bump in the night.

We all know that it's now mandatory that writers do the lion's share of their marketing, regardless of how they get published. We also know that social networking is one of the easiest, and cheapest, ways to get the word out. But how much time do we really need to spend on blogging, Facebook, Twitter, etc.? The Skinny on Social Networking, a terrific article by Rob Eagar, the founder of WildFire Marketing, offers blogging do's and don'ts, tips on the frequency and content of your posts, and tells when you should use Facebook and Twitter. It's a great blueprint for a busy author.

Throughout history writers have used archetypes to craft characters. Archetypes are broad character outlines that explain general behaviors and motivations of particular personalities. They're universal and easily understood. The Hero, the Martyr, the Sage, and the Warrior are archetypes that appear in many classic stories from around the world.

While you don't want to base your characters too closely on familiar archetypes (this can bleed into stereotypical characters), understanding the core traits of a type, and using those traits as the foundation for an original character, can be very useful. If you know a Warrior needs to protect boundaries (emotional, physical, spiritual), how will he react when confronted with a Trickster?

How to Use Archetypes in Literature When Creating Characters for Your Novel from Writer's Digest give some tips on the topic, and lists good books to read to help you understand archetypes. Others I recommend are Awakening the Heroes Within by Carol Pearson, and Archetypes for Writers by Jennifer Van Bergen.

"Networking" is the key phrase in publishing today. Network with other writers to find a critique group, attend conferences, learn the market. Network with agents and editors at those conferences to get your manuscript read. Social networking on Facebook, via Twitter, blogs, and other avenues builds your fan base. If you're a hermit, you're going to have a tough time getting your book out there. Author Robin Mellom tells how networking landed her an agent for her first young adult novel, Ditched, a Love Story, published in January by Disney/Hyperion. Early contact with an agent came because of her blog, which just goes to show that if you put yourself out there in every way you can, something's bound to pay off.

Many authors leap into the blogosphere with enthusiasm, build their blog for a couple of months, then lose momentum. But nothing ever disappears from cyberspace — your blog's still out there, and if it's neglected it sends a message to readers that maybe your writing is growing stale as well. What's the solution? Author Lisa Dale offers these 6 Tips to Resuscitate a Dying Blog. She's got some fun ideas for how to involve your readers and get your blog back on its feet. Then you'll be in a good place to promote your next book as soon as it's published.

For most of our 22 years in business, our advice to aspiring authors has pretty much been the same:

Write  a  great  manuscript,  research  publishers,  assemble  a  submissions package, send it off….and wait.

If you’re one of the lucky ones,  your wait will end with a contract offer.  If you’re like  most  writers,  the  cycle will  be completed by another  rejection letter.  Not the most fulfilling process, but it was the only process that worked. But things have changed.  We've entered a new era of publishing,  one that  offers  a fundamental  shift  in  power.   Writers  can,  if  they are so inclined, completely sidestep the traditional  publishing structure and take on a more entrepreneurial role.  The means to produce, distribute, sell and promote one's writing are now within the reach – and budget – of almost every writer. No era of fundamental change arrives without uncertainty, confusion and fear, and today's publishing environment is  no exception.  For writers who have gone about their business the same way for years, talk of eBooks, apps and the like may strike a discordant, even unsettling note.

That's all perfectly understandable – the dust kicked up by the rapid pace of change makes it hard to see a clear path to a promising future.  But here's the good news: the dust is settling, and the road ahead is finally becoming clearer. And, we believe, it's a road that can take writers to some very exciting places.

We see the future of children's writing as having three key components:

1. In the New Media Environment, Craft Is King

More now than ever, the ability to write well and tell a compelling story reigns supreme.  The days when a publisher could turn a subpar work into a hit by sheer force of marketing dollars is over.  Today’s big sellers are the result of one thing:  word of mouth.  Parents talking to other parents.  Kids talking to other kids.  Bloggers championing their favorite authors and titles. The impact of this is simple to see:  Bad books don’t get recommended by word of mouth. Good books do.

The new model for a hit book is a slow build, a rising tide of organic buzz about a great read. It’s all about the quality of the writing and the story.  

2. The Author Has The Power to Choose His or Her Path to Publication

Choice = power.  And you now have choices.

You  can  still  go  the  traditional  route,  submitting  your  manuscripts  to publishers.  It’s as valid a way of reaching the market as it ever was.  But now you can choose to opt out of that model.  Self-publish, create eBooks for the Nook and Kindle, build an App for the iPhone or Android.   It’s all possible, it’s all  eminently doable and it’s all  now a completely legitimate means of publishing your work and reaching millions.

No more  waiting  around  for  someone  else’s  arbitrary  decision.  You  have control.

 
3. Authors Need to Think Like Marketers

Whether you self-publish or get a contract from a big publisher, the reality is the same:  you must learn how to market and promote yourself and your work. With the barriers to publication gone, you’ll have lots of competition for the attention and dollars of your audience.  That’s the bad news. The good news? Almost  no one really  understands  how to  effectively  promote their  books. Once you learn a few key concepts, you’ll have a huge edge.

I know what  you’re thinking: “Arrggghhh!  I’m a writer,  not a salesman! I don’t want to spend my time promoting myself!”

So listen up:

  Marketing is just a fancy name for communication.  And, as a writer, communicating is your strong suit!

We aren’t talking about going door-to-door to hawk your wares.  Promoting in the  modern  media  environment  is  actually  a  whole  lot  of  fun.  Imagine blogging in the guise of one of your characters (perhaps your antagonist stops in from time to time to torment the hero in the comments section!), creating a story to send out on Twitter — 140 characters at a time, creating a fun online game for your Facebook page, visiting with a classroom full of giggling young fans…..

Meeting  your  readers,  connecting  with  parents,  sharing  yourself  with  the world: these aren’t acts of drudgery.  They’re endless opportunities for joy and fulfillment.

We believe that we have entered into a new golden age of publishing, one in which the pathway to success is clear and open to one and all.  Things are hardly perfect — revolutions take take to settle into normalcy — but the outlook is bright.  So work your craft, exert your power and get out there and tell the world about what you're doing.  The future is yours.

The publishing world's latest snub-fest raised the stakes this month with two developments:

* Barnes & Noble announced that it will not carry any Amazon-published titles in its stores. This includes Amazon books published and distributed by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt under the publisher's New Harvest imprint. Originally, B&N had vowed to only exclude Amazon eBooks from its stores, but now it's included hardcopy books as well from the online retailer's publishing programs. Some independent bookstores have taken the same position. (A similar reaction happened when Amazon announced its purchase of Marshall Cavendish Children's Books in 2011).

* As of February 10, Penguin has yanked all its eBooks from OverDrive, the public library digital lending system. Penguin had only offered backlist titles digitally to libraries, but now even those won't be available. My guess is this is in part prompted by OverDrive partnering with Amazon to allow library patrons to borrow eBooks via wireless download to their Kindle devices. The article did go on to say that "Penguin is in talks with other vendors in hopes of restoring eBook lending." (By the way, Penguin is not the only big publisher to restrict eBook lending.)

Okay, I get it. Everyone hates Amazon. And I understand that the retail giant's strong-armed pricing policies have raised the hackles of competitors. But can we step back for a moment and look at the irony of this situation? Since Barnes & Noble purchased Sterling Publishing in 2003, it hasn't made any of its eBooks available in Kindle format, though Amazon does carry the hardcovers. I've always been able to read OverDrive books on my Nook, a Barnes & Noble device. And when did B&N cease to become the bully that put hundreds of independent bookstores out of business?

Publishers are continuing to side with B&N (a huge purchaser of their books, at a discount publishers can control), and against Amazon (a huge seller of their books, though at its own terms). Amazon and B&N are pitted against each other, as you'd expect from direct competitors. And independent stores are fighting for their lives, trying to side with no one.

Who's left out of this equation? Authors, illustrators and consumers. The people who create the products, and those who buy them. The very lifeblood of the industry.

Authors who happen to be published by Marshall Cavendish or New Harvest now can't find their books in many stores. Readers who are cash-strapped, have trouble seeing the small print in physical books, or who physically can't get to the library are now having some publishers dictate which books they'll be granted access to. And consumers who desperately want to buy the next book by their favorite author are being told they don't truly love books if they only purchase them at the best price they can find.

Capitalism is messy, and doesn't always play nice. But it's the system we've got. It's time for big publishers and retailers to figure out how to co-exist. Maybe it will come down to Amazon and Barnes & Noble having exclusives on the books they carry, so consumers know which retailer they'll go to for each title (like going to Sears if you want a Lands' End jacket because JC Penney doesn't carry that brand). Maybe all will agree on price points that everyone can live with. Perhaps authors and readers will put enough pressure on publishers that more eBooks will be available at the library. And certainly publishers should list on their websites where their books are available, so authors can know if the sales outlets are extensive enough to even warrant a manuscript submission.

But ultimately publishers and retailers have to figure this out. Because in capitalism, the creator and consumer are king, and the middleman can always be replaced.