More Unicorn and Yeti Books!

It has been so much fun writing the first three Unicorn and Yeti books! Katie Carella at Scholastic is the best editor I could ever hope for. Hazel Quintanilla brings Unicorn and Yeti to life so fantastically with her fun illustrations. Sarah Dvojack designs the books! And so many other people at Scholastic do so many things that I don't even know about. It is amazing! I have gotten fan letters and photos and nice reviews. After many years of writing, it really has been a dream come true. Of course, this is many thanks to my awesome agent, Sean McCarthy.

So, I am thrilled to share that Katie Carella has acquired three more Unicorn and Yeti books! We're working on them now and I'm looking forward to sharing more details when I can. I absolutely love the look and feel of the entire Scholastic Acorn line and am thrilled to get to be a part of bringing three more Unicorn and Yeti books into the world! Yippee!!!

Friends Rock

Unicorn and Yeti book 3 releases today! Friends Rock makes the Unicorn and Yeti series a sparkly trio of books for kids who are learning to read (or just like fun stories!) Like the first two books, there are 3 stories in this third book. In Friends Rock, Unicorn and Yeti are learning to share… a swing, peaches and ice cream, and a sparkly rock, and of course they figure things out in their Unicorn and Yeti way.

My agent, Sean McCarthy, is doing a giveaway of all three books in the series to celebrate. If you’re on Twitter then hop on over to enter. Here’s his tweet:

Sean McCarthy@mccarthylit

Happy #bookbirthday to UNICORN & YETI: FRIENDS ROCK by @heatherayris & @HazelQuintanil9! To celebrate, I’m doing a #giveaway for all THREE Unicorn & Yeti books! To enter, simply: 1) Follow @heatherayris and @HazelQuintanil9 2) Retweet this! A winner will be chosen on 10/4/19

"Friends Rock"

What Has Happened?

What has happened? I've unwittingly abandoned my little blog that I started so many years ago at the encouragement of my wonderful critique partners. It sure has been a fun journey. How things have changed from way back when I would shudder to post a word anywhere online. Now I blab all over the internet and moderate Sub It Club where I am just happy to be able to keep up in the chat room when I can.

'My' Library
photo courtesy of Zeke & Torsten

The thing is, now I'm a full-time Branch Librarian and that work (along with being a parent of three busy kids and helping run a garlic farm, ever so slightly as my husband tries to make it for me) can be all-consuming. Patron use of 'my' library has grown tremendously over the past year and a half. I am proud to have helped it become an even bigger part of the community and am so pleased that so many people are using the library to their advantage. Of course, I may say 'my' library but it belongs to everyone, that is one of the fabulous things about libraries! I am just the caretaker. Be that as it may, with all of this newly used energy going to the library, something had to give. And though it was not in my plan it seems that blogging has been it.

But I have managed to keep writing books. I mean, I suspect my agent would be disappointed with me if I stopped and frankly, I would be unhappy with me as well. I am sad to say that I have posted none of my news here until now, but my agent Sean McCarthy and I have sold a series of books to the new Scholastic Acorn imprint for beginning readers and it is so very exciting! UNICORN AND YETI: SPARKLY NEW FRIENDS releases on April 30th! I feel so lucky to be working with amazing editor Katie Carella and the fabulous team at Scholastic. Hazel Quintanilla is Unicorn and Yeti's illustrator and I could not be more thrilled with how she has brought them to life. I just love them so. The release of two more Unicorn and Yeti books: A GOOD TEAM and FRIENDS ROCK follow in July and October. Pretty cool huh? If you want to see the info and happenings with my new series I invite you to come check out my new website HeatherAyrisBurnell.com.

Thank you to all of you who still frolic here for writing advice, agent and publisher listings, and even sign up for my newsletter. I have not decided what exactly I will do with this blog. But this is not really the end. I, of course, have ideas for migrating the well-used info to my other sites where it can still be useful, but for now and really the foreseeable future, I am leaving it up for you to use if you need it.

Write on my friends!

Enter to Win a First 5 Pages & Query Letter Critique!

Today's the day! KICK! JUMP! CHOP! THE ADVENTURES OF THE NINJABREAD MAN is out from Sterling Children's Books! Here's the back cover blurb: When sparring gets stale, Sensei whips up a new challenge--the Ninjabread Man. The mouthwatering martial artist may be fresh from the oven but his skills are sweet, spicy, and sure to bring some kick to the dojo.

The book is illustrated with cut paper illustration created by an artist team known as Bomboland. I want to show you more! You can look inside the book on Amazon if you like.

So, what can I do to celebrate?

Ninjas Read is doing a Twitter giveaway. It ends at 10pm so if you're on Twitter jump on over and retweet this real quick:
https://twitter.com/NinjasRead/status/916027694051135488

I shared my query letter for THE NINJABREAD MAN on the Sub It Club blog. Plus my agent Sean McCarthy and I talk about why it worked! So, if you're writing a query letter go take a look at Sean's insights.

Here on my blog I'm doing a critique giveaway because, why not? I want to do something! Yes, I specialize in picture books but I've written and edited in all sorts of genres so, writers of all genres are welcome to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Me, in PW? aka I HAVE NEWS!!! YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!

Publisher's Weekly -- it's the place to go to read about book deals. It can be so fun to read, and to see the people I know from around the web getting book deals. For me, it's inspiring to read about what children's books will be coming out in the future. The Publisher's Weekly Rights Report helps me see what types of books are selling and who the agents and publishers involved are. Reading the weekly report is another good way to get to know the publishing world. Of course, when you really want a book deal it can perhaps be not as fun to read becuase you wonder if you are ever going to see yourself listed there, but it helps to remember that if you are a writer you have to be in it for the long haul.

For me, it has finally happened. My book deal is listed in the Publisher's Weekly Rights Report! It is amazing to see myself there. I have wanted to have a book announcement for so long in general. Of course, I have known about my book deal but seeing it there announced to the kidlit book world makes it feel all new and exciting again. If you don't want to follow the link I will show you here:

I am super excited about this book. It's punny. It involves cookies, and ninjas. Stuff I love! My agent really helped encourage me to write even better than I thought I could. Zaneta Jung and the team at Sterling Publishing are so enthusiastic and supportive. The cut paper illustration style that Bomboland does are fresh and fun. I cannot wait to see how it all turns out!