On Writing & Publishing
Eric’s answers to frequently asked questions about writing and publishing.
Advice on Writing & Publishing
People often ask Eric for advice on writing and publishing, and while he wants to be helpful, he generally prefers not to comment on other people’s work or to recommend publishers to them. Eric feels that he is a writer, not an editor, and he can only say how he does his work and cannot tell others how to do theirs. In addition, Eric tends to refrain from offering advice on how to get published and the business of publishing because he entered the industry so long ago. However, Eric would like to pass along the following list of resources that he hopes will be useful for you.
On Writing and Publishing: Recommended Resources
- How A Book is Made; Written and illustrated by Aliki, Harper & Row, New York, NY
- Writing With Pictures: How to Write and Illustrate Children’s Books; written and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, NY
- Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market; Writer’s Digest Books, Cincinnati, OH
- Or write to: Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators 8271 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048 USA, http://www.scbwi.org/ for information about their workshops and newsletter and blog
- http://www.bookpublishing.com
- http://www.underdown.org
On writing and creativity:
What advice do you have for young aspiring authors and illustrators?
Eric Carle: “I often tell people about the four magic letters: DO IT. I want to be encouraging but I can only offer the example of my own experience, which is just one approach. There are many wonderful picture book artists to learn about, which is important. But you must use your own imagination. You have to just do it.”
What do you do when you get stuck creating a book or illustration?
Eric Carle: “Writer’s block or any kind of creative crisis is part of the creative life. You have to go through it. There is no avoiding it.”
A story about punctuation:
Eric Carle: “The first book that I completed on my own was 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo. Since I was not so sure about spelling, grammar and commas, I made it a wordless book. My editor Ann Beneduce reassured me, ‘I am interested in ideas, not grammar and punctuation.’ How encouraging!”
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