If you're new to the Update, you may not know that we publish a monthly subscription-only newsletter for aspiring and working children's book writers that's jam-packed with market leads, advice, inside info and much more. It's called Children's Book Insider, and we've been sharing it with subscribers across the globe since May, 1990!

Here's a look at what's in the current issue of Children's Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children's Writers:

Market Tips:

* Publisher Seeks Literary Nonfiction for Classroom Use
* Publisher Seeks Innovative Fiction, Nonfiction
* Magazine Seeks Drug Education Articles for Middle Schoolers
* Details on the Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award
* Upcoming Conferences

In-depth Articles:

* Finding the Spirit of Historical Picture Book Biographies - Get a jump on this hot market segment!

* Lessons from My Copyeditors - Cool tips that will instantly improve your writing.

* Developing Your Characters - How to give your characters real purpose.

* Establishing The Status Quo - Give your characters a strong starting point to let them shine.

* The Art of Branding Your Writing - How to stand apart from the competition and design the writing career you want.

If you enjoy the information offered in this e-mail update, wait 'til you see what we've got in store for you each month in the pages of CBI! A one year subscription to CBI costs as little as $29.95 and includes a special bonus gift.

For more information and to order, go to http://write4kids.com/aboutcbi.html

>>> ITEM 7 - eBook Spotlight: I've Written a Story...  What Do I Do Now?

This eBook was a natural to create.  Rarely did a day go by when we weren't asked "I have a story, what do I do with it?".  We still get asked that all the time, but now we can say "Funny you mention it.  We have this eBook...."

I've Written a Story...  What Do I Do Now? is a collection of insider tips, little-known techniques and real-world advice of the sort you might get if you had lunch with a successful author, or were able to pick the brain of a top editor. We’ll go beyond book submission issues (formatting, query letter writing, etc.) and provide tips about copyright, agents and money, and we’ll share some great tips about submitting magazine articles, too.

Here’s how the eBook breaks down:

* EXCLUSIVE SUCCESS CHECKLISTS: These are some of the most popular articles we’ve ever published, presented together for the first time. Our checklists are easy to use step-by-step guides that you can use to make certain your manuscript is tight and ready to go. Run your manuscript through these checklists and you’ll have a big advantage over the competition!

* SUBMISSION SECRETS: We’ll cover formatting, essential submission techniques, query letters, plot synopses, special tricks to stand out from the slush pile, insider tips and much more. 

* AGENTS, COPYRIGHT & MONEY TIPS: The lowdown on copyrights, the pros and cons of getting an agent, getting paid, how to research a publisher before signing a contract. 

* MAGAZINE SUBMISSIONS TIPS: Exclusive insight about selling your work to magazines.  

And oh yeah, it's really cheap at $15.95.

To get instant access to this eBook, just visit http://write4kids.com/nowwhat.html

>> ITEM 8 - Feature Article: It's All in the Details  By Laura Backes, Publisher of  Children's Book Insider

During spring break we always visit my mother-in-law in southeast Florida, in an area populated by legions of World War II-era Jewish retirees from New York. One day we were at an indoor flea market, and I noticed a man selling big Kosher pickles from barrels. The sign behind him read: Eat a pickle while you shop! "I wonder if he puts the pickles on a stick," I said to Jon. Sure enough, as we watched, an elderly woman approached, pointed to the half-sours, and was handed a pickle speared like a Popsicle. I turned to my husband. "Now there's something you're not going to see anywhere else," I said.

If my life was a story, this incident would speak volumes. None of the resident shoppers seemed to think a pickle on a stick was unusual; they either walked by or nonchalantly ordered one the way I'd order a cup of coffee. But that pickle stand firmly placed the flea market in a Jewish community. And my reaction to it labeled me as an outsider— growing up in the Midwest, I was more likely to eat a hot dog on a stick than a pickle.

When writing, a well-chosen detail needs no explanation. It can give texture to a setting and establish a character's relationship with her surroundings. The author doesn't need to elaborate for the reader ("I've never seen anyone eat a pickle on a stick before," said Laura. "They don't do that where I come from. These people must have a different cultural background than me."), or even dwell on the detail for more than one sentence. Plant it and move on. Trust that a good detail will do its job, giving life to the scene playing out in the reader's imagination.

Some details are more important than others, and it's often the significant details that are hardest to subtly work into the text. With historical fiction, the author wants to show daily life from a different time and place, but can't have the characters remark upon it ("Look! People riding horses down the street! It must be because they have no other mode of transportation."). The details have to be brought to the characters' attention through the plot ("Look! That horse just splashed mud all over my new petticoat!"). Other details are so crucial that changing them affects the entire story. In Gary Paulsen's novel Hatchet, 13-year-old Brian Robeson is marooned in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash. All he has are the clothes on his back and a hatchet. Paulsen knew he had to give his protagonist a tool in order to survive, but a hatchet— as opposed to, say, a Swiss Army knife— provides Brian with the minimum of what he needs (a means to start a fire and build other tools) and nothing he doesn't (a can opener, screw driver and toothpick). It forces Brian to remain as close to nature as possible. If Brian survived the plane crash holding a rifle, he'd then have a weapon instead of a tool, and his relationship to his surroundings would have been very different.

But it's just as important to carefully choose the background details. In Denise Vega's novel Click Here, the protagonist and her best friend try out for the school play. The tryouts and play itself are minor plot points, used to illuminate larger issues going on in the book. Jilly lands the lead role, while Erin (the main character) is cast as an ear of corn. This beautifully illustrates how each girl feels about herself early in the book, and who holds the power in the relationship.

In the short texts of picture books, each detail affects the illustrations as well as the plot. Because authors have fewer words, many details are implied. In Wilfred Gordon MacDonald Partridge by Mem Fox, illustrated by Julie Vivas (which I often use as an example of a near-perfect picture book), Wilfred is a small boy who is trying to help his elderly friend Miss Nancy find her memory. He asks several people in the retirement home what a memory is, and they give him different answers (something as precious as gold, something that makes you laugh, something that makes you cry). Then Wilfred searches for things to give Miss Nancy that embody the qualities of a memory. When he gets to "something warm," Wilfred goes into the hen house and takes a "fresh, warm egg from under a hen." Nowhere else in the story does Fox describe where Wilfred lives, but this detail shows the reader that his home is in the country, or at least rural enough to have a hen house in the backyard. If Wilfred had instead walked down to the beach to find a warm stone in the sand, the illustrations would have had an entirely different feel.

So consider your details carefully when you write. Every image, large and small, can create a lasting impression on the reader. Because sometimes a pickle is more than a pickle— it might be a tasty snack on a stick.