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    • Home
    • Books
      • What's In Your Pocket?
      • Who Gives a Poop?
      • Something Rotten
      • Bugs Don't Hug
      • Little Monsters
    • Learning
      • Educators
      • Writers
    • Bio/Media
    • Contact

  • Home
  • Books
    • What's In Your Pocket?
    • Who Gives a Poop?
    • Something Rotten
    • Bugs Don't Hug
    • Little Monsters
  • Learning
    • Educators
    • Writers
  • Bio/Media
  • Contact

Writing is a journey . . . Join me.

My Posts on Writing Craft

STEM Tuesday Posts

Sound Maps

Procedural Writing

Reading Like a Writer

Reading Between the Facts 

Comparing Two Books

Peeking into the Mind of a Scientist

Begin at the End

Figuring on Figurative Language

Getting into Character

Backmatter Matters

Tackling a Planet-Sized Topic

Title Talk

Writing about Change

Other Blogs

Simple Acts Save Lives

Nonfiction Authors Dig Deep

Simple Acts Save Lives

 Read this Authors for Earthday post which could have been the last chapter of ​Something Rotten. 

Rules & Roadkill

Nonfiction Authors Dig Deep

Simple Acts Save Lives

 A Nerdy Book Club post about becoming a writing rebel.  

Nonfiction Authors Dig Deep

Nonfiction Authors Dig Deep

Nonfiction Authors Dig Deep

 A post on Melissa Stewart's Celebrate Science blog about my inquiry approach. 

Using Big Ideas

Writing Science Books

Nonfiction Authors Dig Deep

A post on Elizabeth Dulemba's site about principles to guide onfiction writing.

Path to Publication

Writing Science Books

Writing Science Books

Cathy Hall's post on The Muffin looks at what it takes me to get from first to last draft. 

Writing Science Books

Writing Science Books

Writing Science Books

A post on the GROG blog about the ins-and-outs of writing about science for kids.

WRITING EXERCISES TO EXTEND LEARNING

Asking Questions (K-3) (docx)Download
Sound Map (All ages) (docx)Download
All About Voice (Grades 3 - Adult) (docx)Download
All in the Details (Grades 3 - Adult) (docx)Download
Tree Guts (Grades 3 - and up) (docx)Download

Links You Might Like

Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

Largest professional organization for kidlit with a searchable author/illustrator list 

Celebrate Science

 Melissa Stewart's fabulous blog focused on teaching about nonfiction kidlit. 

Nonfiction Monday

 A round up of recent nonfiction. 

Kid Lit Frenzy

Alyson Beecher's great reviews and challenges.

Authors by State

 Kim Norman's state-by-state listing. 

STEMTuesday

Monthly themed lists of middle grade STEM Books, lesson plans, writing craft and author interviews. 

Professional Critiques

Contact

Manuscript Critiques

I Critique

  • Nonfiction picturebooks
  • Fiction picturebooks
  • Nonfiction chapter books  
  • Nonfiction middle grade 

Format

  • In an email, send a 1-2 sentence summary or pitch, your vision for future drafts, 3 specific craft-based questions, and where you feel like this project is in the writing process.
  • Limit submission to 10 full pages (note, for middle grade, this usually means submitting either the proposal or the first chapter).  For format guidelines, use "From Keyboard to Printed Page" from SCBWI. 
  • Please submit as a MS Word document (or comparable) to sipsey21 (at) gmail (dot) com.

You Receive

  1. Comments written on the manuscript. This does not usually include extensive line-editing, rather it provides examples or highlights areas that we may want to discuss further.
  2. Questions to help you think more deeply about the project.
  3. A 20-minute follow-up Skype or phone conversation. 

Fees & Timeline

  • Flat fee: $75.00.
  • Turn around time is typically 1-3 weeks

Testimonials

"Heather is amazing at dissecting a manuscript and pointing out why the pieces aren't fitting or serving the "big idea." 


"I'm blown away by her feedback. And very thankful for the time and thoughtfulness she invested in the critique."


"In the decades I've been writing, I'm sure I've had hundreds of critiques--many of them spot-on, helpful and generous--but yours stands apart as the best I've ever received. "

                                                                                                                                                                                              Tay Berryhill


Heather L. Montgomery

Copyright © 2020 Heather L. Montgomery - All Rights Reserved.

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