Greg Pincus

I actually try to ignore my bad habits in a first draft. Then i often do a bunch of global searches after (one for “just”, for example!) and then focus more going firward #kidlitchat

TOPIC: How do you recognize and deal with bad habits in your creative process? Like overusing the word "like." Or relying too heavily on the same illustration POV. Or sentence fragments. #kidlitchat (late…but for completeness!)

Hello, my #kidlit loving friends! There's a #kidlitchat coming up here on Bluesky at 9PM Eastern (and, oddly enough, also at 6PM Pacific). If you want to join for an hour of fine chatting among fine folks, please do!

I’ll be opening up to queries for a week, from Sun. Nov 29 – Sat. Dec 5. Hopefully that will be enough time to (mostly) miss any major holidays. Based on past experience and what other agents have recently been reporting, I anticipate getting 500–1000 queries in that week.

I've heard you say this quite a few times over months of #KidLitChat, so I say DO IT. No more waiting! Embrace your passion projects. I've only been hearing agents and editors encourage us to write our 'weird' lately. Thats the best path forward IMO.

Thank you all for joining in another #kidlitchat... something that happens every Tuesday in this reality. Hope to see you next week, too!

As I told @bonnieadamson.com, this #kidlitchat topic is hard for me since everything has always gone exactly as I expected.* I will be interested to hear the stories, though. (*ignoring the things that didn't)

TOPIC: We all have plans, strategies and expectations when we launch ourselves into the kidlit world--and then reality happens. What's the biggest course correction you've made so far in your career? How is it working out? #kidlitchat

Wanna come join us #kidlit loving folk today at 9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific for #kidlitchat here on Bluesky? I think it’ll be fun if you do. Hope to see you then!

I'm excited, if a bit late, to announce my workshop, "Publishing Trends, Market Shifts, and Opportunities," coming up October 27 and 29 via Boyds Mills. $59. There will be handouts and a recording. Details and registration here: boydsmills.org/workshop/pub...

Thank you all for sharing your ideas and expertise here at #kidlitchat. We should do a group visit, I tell ya! But until then... let's keep meeting here weekly. See ya next Tuesday!

... Oops! The shameless self-promo works better if you include the link for the thing you're promoting! Here's the information about my Selling Yourself (Without Selling Yourself Short) courses: vbartles.com/workshops/sy... #KidLitChat

Two things : do you have a best or worst #authorvisit experience as a writer, teacher, librarian or kid? Also, I totally recommend @debbieohi.com 's #SchoolVisit "handbook" #kidlitchat

I think, too, a lot of this depends on the age group of the presentation. I think many of us have talked with teachers/librarians rather than kids, so that's a totally different thing. But a good school visit with kids is magical #kidlitchat

TOPIC: Let's talk school visits - getting 'em, planning 'em, doing 'em - and other presentations, too, from book fairs to anywhere else. What do you charge for? What do you do swag for? How do you tune a presentation? And what else?! #kidlitchat

#kidlitchat is almost here! Today at 9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific, we #kidlit folk shall gather here on Bluesky and chat, as the prophecy foretells. Or cuz we want to. I don’t know for sure. But I do know I hope you join us! See you soon….

Thanks for joining in another #kidlitchat. When I think about what I want in fellow chatters... it's y'all! So thanks for sticking around, and see you next week!

Good editors or critiquers make me a better writer with their thoughts and notes. It's not that they offer solutions (usually) but they help me understand what will make something better on levels that I'm not reaching. That's what I look for. #kidlitchat

We know the answer is "Winning lottery numbers in advance and poptarts" obviously, but we are looking for the less conventional answers today here at #kidlitchat

TOPIC: What do you want from a creative partner? Anyone from a critique partner or beta reader to an agent, editor or art director. In your journey to shape a project, what are you looking for: validation, support, a dash of cold water, or...what else? What takes you to the next level? #kidlitchat

Didja know that there's gonna be a #kidlitchat at 9PM Eastern/6PM Pacific today here on Bluesky? It happens every Tuesday, in fact - an hour of #kidlit chatting, camaraderie, and desserts that could only be better if even more of you joined the fun. Or maybe not better but bigger, at least. Join us!

Thank you all for joining in another #kidlitchat (where we started with 15 years of topics put in a file and are finally running low. Honest, that's how it happened.). Looking forward to seeing you all next week!

So far, we have a lot more saving of ideas than we do of ways to know which idea to go to. I think that's cuz it's often just one idea screams out or you go through a bunch and shrug and pick one.... No magic involved. Just a decision. #kidlitchat

I find that when I'm working on an idea, I do 'store' the new ones that pop into my head. I try not to be distracted by the shiny new thing, so putting them away for later is my best bet.... #kidlitchat

TOPIC: It's the fall equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere - bringing to mind harvesting ideas and storing them up for winter. Do you stockpile ideas, characters, words, or anything? And how do you decide which idea of yours is ripe for starting? #kidlitchat

Let’s have a #kidlitchat at 9pm Eastern today here on Bluesky, shall we? I mean, we do this every Tuesday, I know, but for sure today let us #kidlit folk gather and chat for an hour! See ya then!

I am always grateful that so many of you say "yes!" each week to #kidlitchat. I think this is very wise, of course, but I might have bias and, of course, there are 'acceptable no' reasons in our bylaws. :-) And do I hope to see you all here again next week? That's another "yes!"

Have any of you ever said 'no' to an offer on a manuscript or a job assignment? #kidlitchat

One of the hardest things, I find, is when dealing with notes and knowing when something might be a great idea BUT might not be a great idea for what I'm trying to accomplish. Saying no to the note but yes to the "hmmm. this area is creating this reaction in someone" is not always easy #kidlitchat

Sure, we got to this #Kidlitchat topic because neither of us could say no to it. But I'm otherwise actually pretty good at the 'no' thing. Usually :-)

TOPIC: Let's talk about saying "no!" We get demands on our time, get notes that might pull our story away from what we intended, and even our characters can tell us to go places we don't want to. How do you know how and when to say no to... anything? #kidlitchat

YO! Just cuz I haven't said it yet doesn't mean there's not a #kidlitchat coming up at 9PM Eastern/6 PM Pacific today here on Bluesky. Come talk with your #kidlit pals for an hour. You'll rue the day if you don't!* See ya soon! (*rueing possible but not guaranteed).

Dear editor: imagine once a week you could come chat with your #kidlit friends, broadly guided by a topic but really to build community. We call it #kidlitchat, and this amazing beast happens every Tuesday. You should join us, cuz the folks who come each week are THE best. See ya next week!

Admittedly, my long ago choice of comp as "Webster's Dictionary" probably didn't work for everyone as meaning "every word in my book is in it, so that's the connection" but we want to try and communicate in a way that's true to ourselves/our work, too #kidlitchat

I am not an editor, but I think comp titles often aren't helpful unless your whole pitch makes it clear why those titles are legit comps. You could use The Hunger Games for teen action or dystopia or political intrigue or tone or female lead, etc., so how is it relevant for your book? #kidlitchat

I think querying well is about clarity. What is it about your manuscript someone just has to know? How can you describe it/tease it/synopsize it in a way that makes someone say "yes. I get it. I will take a peak."? #kidlitchat

Ahhh. Here at last. Querying about what I've missed and going back to read through #kidlitchat....

Allow me to remind you or break the news that there's a #kidlitchat here on Bluesky at 9PM Eastern/6PM Pacific today. In either case, that means we #kidlit folk will be chatting for an hour, and we all think you should join us. Hope you can make it!

Thanks to all for joining in another #kidlitchat and bringing us up to date on YOU. Looking forward to seeing you next week!

Note: If you do a search for #KidLitChat for liveposts Tue nights, make sure you look under RECENT tab (it defaults to "Top"). Or you can do what I do & use @deck.blue. youtu.be/-5N2CZRIit4?...

TOPIC: It's time to check in with what's been going on in your creative world since June. (Yes! Another quarter gone!) Victories large and small, plans, goals--it's all part of the journey worth sharing and celebrating! #kidlitchat

Tuesday! #kidlitchat! 9pm Eastern! On Bluesky! I hope you can join us for an hour of #kidlit yakking. And if so… I will see you soon!

Thank you all for joining in to another #kidlitchat. You're all ideal chatters, as far as I'm concerned, and I look forward to seeing you here next week, too!

Bonnie and I know it's impossible to have a #kidlitchat today without thinking of Dolly Parton and the 300 million+ children's books she put out into the world via her Imagination Library. I think I speak for us all when I say what a remarkably wonderful legacy that alone is....

TOPIC: Do you have an ideal reader in mind when you're working on a manuscript or illustration? Is it you or someone you know... or is it just an idea to help guide you? If you don't, what helps you guide your work for its audience? #kidlitchat

Come join us #kidlit folk at 9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific here on Bluesky for our every Tuesday #kidlitchat. It’s an hour of fun, I tell ya, and we would love to see you chatting!

Thank you all for sharing your favorites with us here at #kidlitchat. It is amazing the power of what we read as kids (and for many of us... as adults, too!). And we'll see you here next week, I hope!

I ran into this online snd thought about how our childhood reading stays with us #kidlitchat

TOPIC: We know your TBR stack keeps growing! How about old favorites? Are there books you read as a child/teen that you keep coming back to, that never disappoint "older you"? #kidlitchat

Tuesday and #kidlitchat go together like <insert comparison>! Join us at 9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific/<other time zone, ideally interesting> today here on <social network> and chat for an hour with your #kidlit friends. <pithy comment>! Looking forward to seeing you… <note to self: fill in template!!!>