I had a great afternoon doing online picture book critiques yesterday for SCBWI Florida. A lovely and talented bunch. One thing that came up several times was “The Rules of Threes.” Some thoughts on this: For those who don’t know it, it’s a picture book writing theory where every should happen in threes. Protagonist’s quandaries: share three of them. Attempts to solve issue: show three of them. I see it several times a day in submissions, and I have concerns:

I've been reading a TON of picture book submissions lately, from agents, Twitter pitches, conference attendees, etc. Easily 20 per day. One question that keeps nagging at me when I read them is: How is this story going to stand out? #PBChat The polite way of stating this is: What is the hook? The blunt way of stating this is: What is the point?

Ever wonder why it can take a while between “We’d love to publish your picture book manuscript” and actually working on your book with your editor? Here are some steps that an editor has to do after making the offer: - Create a P&L (a profit and loss sheet). This has all financial details: advance, royalties, retail price, sales expectations.

My Step Into Reading book “I Love My Tutu!” pubs today. Oddly, I was inspired to write it after reading Evelyn Waugh’s novel “Vile Bodies”, about a pack of posh Brits in the 1920s. To explain: In the novel, one wry character uses the expression “Too, too much!” to express delight, and “too, too” made me think of “tutu”. I wondered if I could find a way to use the phrase “tutu, too”, which felt extra-silly, and this story is the result.

Spent the night editing the picture book I wrote today. Used the same principles I apply when I'm editing at work: 1. Does every word count? I literally stopped and examined every single word, over and over. Is each one needed? Are you sure? Can you convey the idea in fewer words? Cut, cut, cut. Pause. Reread. Cut again. Then again.