Join New York Times bestselling and award-winning children’s book author Joanna Ho, and children’s book author Caroline Kusin Pritchard as we dive into storytelling - the craft, the industry, the creative life - with fellow kidlit authors, publishing professionals, and folks outside the children’s book world. Storytelling happens in many spheres beyond books, and we will draw insights and connections from all over to improve our craft and lives as writers.
Grab a drink, cozy up and explore storytelling with creative minds inside children’s publishing and beyond.
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Join New York Times bestselling and award-winning children’s book author Joanna Ho, and children’s book author Caroline Kusin Pritchard as we dive into storytelling - the craft, the industry, the creative life - with fellow kidlit authors, publishing professionals, and folks outside the children’s book world. Storytelling happens in many spheres beyond books, and we will draw insights and connections from all over to improve our craft and lives as writers.
Grab a drink, cozy up and explore storytelling with creative minds inside children’s publishing and beyond.
Ep. 20: Finding Audience: Cynthia Leitich Smith on Story as a Circle and Making Magic Out of Nothing
Kidlit Happy Hour
1 hour 53 seconds
1 year ago
Ep. 20: Finding Audience: Cynthia Leitich Smith on Story as a Circle and Making Magic Out of Nothing
Here are select highlights from our conversation with NYtimes bestselling, award-winning author Cynthia Leitich Smith:
Story as a circle, gathering, and communal effort
Figuring out where your voice can best serve and where your heart beats with hope
Building on “and” instead of “vs”
Inviting people into the conversation AND being a part of the conversation
Social media dynamics as both tricky and powerful
Approaches to book promotion that start locally
How we can never surrender progress made by generations before
Only asking kids to take on battles we’re willing to engage in ourselves
Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee) is a NYTimes bestseller, 2024 Southern Mississippi Medallion Winner, and 2021 NSK Neustadt Laureate. Her titles include HEARTS UNBROKEN, which won an American Indian Youth Literature Award, the anthology ANCESTOR APPROVED, an Indigenous PETER PAN retelling titled SISTERS OF THE NEVERSEA, HARVEST HOUSE, which is one of five Bram Stoker Award® Nominees for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel, and—the BLUE STARS series, also by Kekla Magoon and Molly Murakami. Cynthia looks forward to ON A WING AND A TEAR for middle graders. She is the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint of HarperChildren’s.
Website: https://cynthialeitichsmith.com/
IG: @cynthialeitichsmith
Kidlit Happy Hour
Join New York Times bestselling and award-winning children’s book author Joanna Ho, and children’s book author Caroline Kusin Pritchard as we dive into storytelling - the craft, the industry, the creative life - with fellow kidlit authors, publishing professionals, and folks outside the children’s book world. Storytelling happens in many spheres beyond books, and we will draw insights and connections from all over to improve our craft and lives as writers.
Grab a drink, cozy up and explore storytelling with creative minds inside children’s publishing and beyond.