FableVision Learning | Live Wire Blog

NY Times best-selling author and illustrator Peter H. Reynolds loves encouraging people to publish their writing and art. Do you have dreams of sharing your creations? Check out the following tips from Peter — and don’t wait to take the next steps on your creative journey!

Peter writes….

1. Keep a Journal. This may be the single most important thing I ever did to ensure I captured my daily creative thoughts. Many times I would write letters to my daughter Sarah — sharing how I saw the world. This is a great way to focus your writing and spark new ideas. In fact, I drew my book The North Star in my journal. The trick is just getting it down — and then sharing it.

2. Just Do It. It’s the old Nike thing — “just do it.” It’s true. When kids ask me how they can do what I do, I tell them: “Just keep practicing — draw every day — you just keep going — it’s the only way to get better and find your own style.”

3. Publishing — Lite. I get nearly daily requests from people trying to “get into the business.” And I advocate for very low-level self-publishing.

• Share! Take your story or picture book, even in rough form, and photocopy and staple it. Now do a couple of things. Give a few copies of your book away. Strategically give copies to two or three teachers who teach students at ages that match the level of your story. Or sell them for 50 cents a copy.

• If you’re feeling more ambitious, do the web print-on-demand thing. If you can sell 25 copies to friends and relatives, then it’s a sign you’ve got a support network ready to cheer you on. The real test will be if you get requests for additional copies.

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