Wanted: Illustrators and Authors ages 4+!

As a young child I would read about contests for authors and illustrators. I always wanted to enter one but never believed I was good enough. I certainly was never acknowledged for any illustrations in school and my short stories were personal, just for me.

Even as an adult, I never thought my stories were worth writing, let alone becoming published. Even after my Mother telling me to write a children's book, I still didn't think I could. So, what changed? Good question.

I just wrote. Suspense fiction. Then I took an on-line writing course and became extremely discouraged. No encouragement. I pretty much gave up. Everyone was right, I wasn't a writer and certainly not an illustrator.

Then I heard about a writing teacher, Brian Henry, and went to a few of his seminars. I followed his blog, researched everything I could find about writing, agents, links from blog to blog to website. Hours and hours I spent reading this and that. I took his writing course and learned, listened and researched more and more. Then I started to submit my suspense and to my utter surprise, I was accepted in several on-line magazines! I can tell you I cried tears of joy! And that is how my journey began.

Now, I want to help other young people.You see, art is subjective. Everyone has an opinion and there are no wrong opinions. This I have learned. What I perceive to be beautiful may be viewed by someone else as simple, plain, ugly and so on. I have read books only to wonder how they ever became published. Not my taste but that's my point.

The stories/books I like to read aren't necessarily favoured by everyone. And that's ok. We are all different. We are all unique. That is what young people need to know. In fact, being different is what makes us individuals.

As you can see the snake image here is the very first illustration of Sally I did years ago. Quite different, isn't she? Practice, looking at books, pictures, images on the computer, that's how Sally ended up going from the cute green snake to the detailed reptile in Sally the Snake -The Quest to the Beginning. I still sometimes have difficulty viewing myself as an Illustrator. It takes effort. Writing comes easier for me. But without doing it, you'll never know if you can and you may very well surprise yourself! I did!

At my after school program a young boy, 9 years old, ripped up his wonderful illustration because it wasn't chosen in a colouring contest the program held. This was distressing to see. He was in tears. It's hard for young people to take rejection. Unfortunately with dozens of choices, and only a few "prizes", not everyone can be picked. Rejection isn't fun, it's hard. Many of us take it personally. Illustrating for me stresses me out occasionally, then I realize I can re-do something I'm not happy with or even eliminate it altogether which I have done!

Rejection happened quite often when I submitted Sally to literary agents. That was hard. And so discouraging. Then I learned how some of my favourite authors were rejected close to 100 times! And now they are best sellers.

I can't say every submission will be posted, however I can say I will do my very best and if not posted, names and locations may be mentioned as well.

Here is your first tip: FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES. Guidelines are criteria the author/illustrator must follow in order to be considered for publication. If these guidelines are not met, the submission is automatically rejected, no questions! Also, ensure your submission fits the genre and interests described. Failure to do so will also result in rejection.

I realize these criteria may feel demanding, however as I mentioned earlier, we all have unique interests. If we didn't there wouldn't be a variety of...anything!

GUIDELINES: Submit your short stories and illustrations. Please keep the stories to 500 words or less. This limit may change in the future. Send in your illustrations in jpeg format. Make sure to include your name, and age and the area in which you live. Ages 4-13. Submit to: michelle@mothernaturesheroes.com

I would love to see illustrations of wildlife, magical creatures, nature of any kind. Nothing violent or graphic. Those won't be posted.

Stories again in the nature theme, wildlife, action adventures, danger. I love mysteries, suspense. A great animal adventure mystery? Yes please! Ensure your story has a strong beginning. The first sentence or paragraph must grab the reader. Make the characters connect with the reader, even if they are "the bad guy", they have a story, a past. Pair your story with an illustration if you like although this is not required.

I will post at a later date some tips I have learned from all the research. They may come in handy in the future for a young writer!

Remember, we are all Mother Nature's Heroes, all deserving of life, together.