This presentation was given by Sean McCollum through the WriteForKids organization. Any misinformation is the fault of the note taker. Much of Sean’s works are nonfiction education books. He often does work for hire for education publishers.

Q: What is a digital nomad?
– Digital work is done by people who live overseas. They can do writing, programming, and other functions over a computer.

Q Vetting resources for nonfiction?
– Wikipedia is a good place to start especially if you know nothing about a topic. Then move from there to other sources.
– Smithsonian
– Scientific American
– He asks experts in the field.
– 1500 words may have over 30 links for footnotes showing the author’s research. Help the publisher with fact-checking

Q How has travel influenced your fiction?
– He keeps journals of his travels.
– He wrote blogs while hiking from Mexico to Canada. It took five months.
– Book: one for all:
– To be an interesting writer if to live an interesting life.
– Continue experiencing new things’ Way to keep live moving
– Contests helped him focus on what to work on for that story. It interweaves the author’s focus.kitlit411 website

Q: How do you select topics?
– If I were a kid, what would I want to learn about?

Q: How do you address the language barrier in international travel/ writing?
– His friend can speak several languages well.
– Most people speak English.
– Native do appreciate attempts to speak in their language

Q: Please define Lexile in regard to educational nonfiction?
– It is the measurement of reader ability of text in a book.
– Amazon will have Leslie listed for children’s books.
– A good online resource is https://lexile.com/ and provides software that can test the reading ability of your text. It puts you in the ballpark for age groups. (A Lexile rating might be nice to include in a cover letter to an editor -mlg)
– Writer’s Digest Children’s Writer’s Word Book aligns with Lexile.
– Way to submit to a new editor to mention Lexile reference. Most people with education are interested in Lexile.

Q: Work for hire
– W4H Is very popular with education publishers.
– Work for Hire does count as a publisher’s credit.

Q: How to become a writer for hire?
– Establish contacts through writing conferences
– Being in a critique group with authors of different skill levels.
– Knowing other people in the craft. Know someone who knows somebody.
– In writing communities you can find fellow writers who share the same interest. Pay it forward.

Q: How to find publishers who of education books.
– Go to authors sites who write the type of books you write. See who their publishers are. Look up that publisher’s website for submission guidelines.

Q: What is your system for writing nonfiction?
– Book reading A to Z.
– Get an assignment and start reading about the topic. Read about the person, era, and other related information. He will create scratch files and create bullet points on a list of interesting things learned during research. (Save your resources later for documentation)
– Create an outline.
– Editors will respond with their notes.
– Editors will often have access to an expert on a topic that the book is about.

Q: How do you save your data when traveling around the world?
– Write items in a notebook and mail it to a family member
– All work is on his laptop. Many will have a cloud to save.

Q: How to resist buying items from around the world
– The fictional character (cartoon?) Cathy has this advice. If it looks good in Guatemala it stays in Guatemala.
– If he buys a new shirt he must remove an old shirt.

Q: How do you handle social media?
– Jason Reynolds does social medial well.
https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Jason-Reynolds/403685768
– Todd Olson: book lost in the clouds> did a video game climbing a mountain. Engaging and brings in elements of the book.
http://todolson.com/
– Your social media presence has to fit with the type of person you are.
– He, personally, has spent a lot of effort and not seems very much beneficial returns.
– Getting involved in online groups is a way to enhance your presence.
– Here is an idea offered by the interviewer: Some authors bundled their efforts into marketing with other authors. The authors will visit schools as a group as well as book signings. Each combines their fan base with the fan base of the author’s fan base and can build a strong combined base. It would-be authors that same a similar emphasis. On the website for nature fiction/nonfiction, you may have games, articles for parents, and other related interests on the website.

Q: Have you ever encountered a dangerous situation?
– In New York working contract works in scholastic. He was in NY during the attack on Sept 11th. He was 6 blocks away when the towers fell.