How to Get Ready for the Storystorm 2024 Grand Prizes!

Thank you for your patience! I took a break from Storystorm duties for a while to focus on other things…and now I’m back! BOOM, KAPOW, MEOW!

Firstly, please gather your ideas.

Then, sort them.

Separate pebbles from seeds.
Sift for diamonds.
Do your ideas pass the litmus tests?
You may have to draw a diagram first.

Are you ready?

Once you have ideas that you like, start fleshing them out. If you’re a Grand Prize winner, you’ll have the opportunity to share your BEST FIVE IDEAS with a kidlit agent. They’ll respond with feedback recommending which ideas may be best to pursue as manuscripts. (Saves time writing stories that won’t be marketable!) To present your ideas in the best light, I recommend writing them out like jacket flap…you know, that marketing copy on the inside cover of a picture book. Here’s jacket flap for my September 2023 release, FLAT CAT:

Flat Cat was born flat. He wasn’t squashed by an out-of-control ice cream truck, or smushed in a waffle iron. He was just flat. This slick, sly cat could stray and roam anywhere he pleased, keen and unseen. And wouldn’t you know it, Flat Cat liked it just like that.

That is until one day, when Flat Cat accidentally fell splish-splosh right in the wash. And when he emerged from the dryer, Flat Cat wasn’t flat at all. He was adorably puffy and downright fluffy!

Go to your local library (which may be in your own house) and read as many jacket flaps as you can to get a feel for them. You can also read jacket flap marketing text online at book retailers.

Then start writing your own for your upcoming masterpieces! If you’re a GRAND PRIZE winner, five of these pitches are what you’ll present to a kidlit agent to receive feedback.

FIVE Grand Prize Winners will be chosen next week, to be paired with these amazing kidlit agents: