Tools – Page 7 – Susan Uhlig

Resizing Photos for Use on Websites

Posted on November 22, 2015 by Susan Uhlig

kitten headshot I find fellow writers (and illustrators) who struggle with getting their book cover images and pictures of themselves in the correct format to upload on websites. In fact, they might have as much of a startled look as this little guy does.
Here’s a how to…
GENERAL GUIDELINES
or WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW FIRST

Determine what formats are acceptable. Most common ones are: jpg (jpeg), png or gif. (This is the ending after your file name.) Most pictures out of a camera will be .jpg. When scanning an image, you can usually choose your format.
Check to see the required size for the document or website. Often this will be listed in k or mg (thousand or million). It may be listed in pixels. For example on the SCBWI.org website for book covers or profile pictures, it says: “(must be less than 4MB and a jpg, png, or gif).”
Save your picture with a new name (or duplicate and rename) and work on the copy, so you don’t lose the original high quality image. VERY IMPORTANT!
Crop your picture if necessary before resizing. For a cover image, crop to cover only. For an image of you, it depends what the image is for. Many times you’ll want a head and shoulders shot, versus the whole body.
After you resize save your picture under the new name again.

FOR MAC USERS
Cropping on a Mac

Using FINDER open your duplicate picture in PREVIEW by double-clicking on the copy of the image you want to change.
Choose EDIT on the menu bar.
Click on SELECT ALL. (dotted lines will show around the image)
Sometimes my computer lets me use the mouse pointer as a double-headed arrow to drag the image from corners or sides. Other times, I have to follow the next two steps below. (I’m sorry I don’t why it is different at different times!)
Choose TOOLS on the menu bar.
Click on CROP and use your mouse to click and drag a frame around the portion of your picture that you want to keep. (The icon for your mouse pointer will be a plus.) You can move the frame in or out by the dots on the sides or corners.
When satisfied, go back to TOOLS and click on CROP. Your picture will be “cut down” to the image you want.
Happy with your cropping? Go to FILE on the menu bar and click on SAVE. If not, go to FILE and click on REVERT TO and choose the older “new original” file.

Resizing on a Mac

Using FINDER open your duplicate picture in PREVIEW by double-clicking on the copy of the image you want to resize.
Choose TOOLS on the menu bar.
In the popup window click on ADJUST SIZE.
You’ll see a FIT INTO ___ PIXELS drop down arrow at the top of the new window. Click on the arrow. Choose 640 x 480 or 320 by 240.
Near the bottom of the window a message will flash saying “Calculating Size.” It will tell you how big the picture was and how big it is now. If too small, choose a larger dimension of pixels.
Happy with your image size? Click OK to save.

FOR PC USERS
Cropping on a PC – using Microsoft Office Picture Manager
(If you have Microsoft Office products, you probably have Microsoft Office Picture Manager.)

- Open your duplicate of your picture in Microsoft Office Picture Manager either by opening the program and locating the copy of the image OR using FILE EXPLORER (windows explorer on older PCs to navigate to the copy of the image and right click so you can choose EDIT which will probably open your file with MS Office Picture Manager.
- On the TOOLBAR at that top click on EDIT PICTURE.
- In the popup window on the right, choose CROP.
- Drag black line icons from corners or from each size to crop image. You can move these in or out.
- Click OK.
- Happy with your cropping? Go to FILE on the menu bar and click on SAVE. If not, click on UNDO and start over.

Resizing on a PC – using Microsoft Office Picture Manager
(If you have Microsoft Office products, you probably have Microsoft Office Picture Manager.)

- - Open your duplicate of your picture in Microsoft Office Picture Manager either by opening the program and locating the copy of the image OR using FILE EXPLORER (windows explorer on older PCs to navigate to the copy of the image and right click so you can choose EDIT which will probably open your file with MS Office Picture Manager.
  - On the TOOLBAR at that top click on EDIT PICTURE.
  - In the popup window on the right, choose RESIZE.
  - In the new popup window you can choose, PREDEFINED WIDTH X HEIGHT (or Custom width x height or percentage of original width x height)
  - Using the dropdown arrow choose WEB – LARGE or WEB – SMALL, E-MAIL (large or small). After you select one, look at the difference between the old size and the new size. It will show you in pixels!
  - Click OK.
  - Happy with the size? Go to FILE on the menu bar and click on SAVE. If not, click on UNDO and start over.

ANOTHER PC PROGRAM
Windows 10 will open a program when you click on a photo that also allows cropping, but I don’t see resizing. You can get to it by going to Windows icon in the left bottom corner, then clicking on PHOTOS.

- - As before, make a copy of your original picture first!
  - Go to website. http://picresize.com/
  - Select picture by clicking on browse to find the picture on your computer.
  - Click continue.
  - In the new window you can Crop if needed.
  - After you’ve cropped, rotated, etc., you may make your picture smaller in Resize Your Picture by clicking on the drop down arrows.
  - I wouldn’t recommend Special Effects.
  - Click on I’m Done, Resize My Picture!
  - Now you can View Image or Resume Editing your picture.
  - When happy with it click Save to Disk – you will not get a chance to rename your file, which is why it is so important to have a copy of your original file first.

cropped photo courtesy of morguefile.com

Are List Serves a Service or a Waste of Time?

Posted on September 24, 2015October 30, 2019 by Susan Uhlig

The answer–depends how you use them.
Yes, you can be signed up for too many, or for ones that don’t really fit your needs or interests. Or you can waste your time reading and talking too much or on off-topics. (Much of this applies to Facebook pages or groups as well.)
However, I believe that used judiciously, list serves can be useful. There are one-way list serves–basically announcements that provide information. And two-way list serves, which are
online communities. I’m addressing the latter here. Writing (or illustrating) is mostly a solitary activity. Meeting with other creative face to face isn’t always possible, but a list serve can be a good substitute.
Let’s talk about several ways people are involved.
Lurking
All this means is that people are reading, but not participating in the conversation. They don’t comment, nor start new topics, nor share good and bad news. We call them “lurkers.” Does this mean they can’t get anything out of the posts? Of course not. They can glean lots of information from what others are saying. But…if they have a question and don’t ask it on the list serve, how will they get it answered?
One of my friends had been lurking on a list serve and because I “out”ed that she was there (she had invited me to it), she decided she’d better introduce herself. Nervously, she wrote a post of intro and commented on a topic that the group had been discussing. She asked me to look over her post before she sent it. “Is it okay?” she asked. “Definitely,” I told her. “Go ahead and post.” She did, and guess who commented?! Andy Boyles of Highlights. Just by making an intelligent comment on a list serve she had a short conversation with an editor.
Posting
Posting means participating in the conversation. It can include sharing information from good articles or tips you’ve read, links to resources and events, your own posts on a topic from your blog or on a website, information about the publishing industry, etc. It’s a place to ask and answer questions, get opinions or quick feedback, find potential critique partners, learn about opportunities, meet people, and make friends.
List Serve Etiquette
Although on many list serves you are welcome to share about yourself and your successes, on no list serve should your posts be all about you. Remember that word conversation. Don’t shout about “me, me, me.” Instead, engage others by rejoicing with their successes, commiserating when appropriate, etc. Ask and answer questions.
Never attack someone. (Also known as flaming.) If you disagree with something, be polite when expressing yourself. Don’t participate in a long and involved argument; simply state your opinion and move on.
Never make rude comments about another children’s writer or illustrator, editor or agent. Yes, sometimes we gripe in general about a situation, but don’t make libelous statements. You also don’t want to create an overall view of yourself as a complainer. As Thumper says, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.” You’ll stay out of a lot of trouble by following that little rule.
If you want to share someone’s words/thoughts from a post on a list serve, ask the author’s permission. It’s fine to share links.
When replying, don’t quote the whole message you are responding to (and definitely not a whole digest).
If you want to start a new conversation, start a new topic instead of commenting on a previous topic. A back and forth conversation is called a thread. Basically, it’s good to keep the same thread under one subject heading.
It’s nice to sign your name. Some lists will ask you to post your email address as well.
Be gracious. People will make mistakes, including you.
Types of Groups
Groups are hosted by a provider, such as Yahoo or Google. They can be open or closed. An open group is one anyone can join. Closed groups are often invitation only, or the person desiring to join must be approved by a moderator. Groups can be by location, genre, organization, work group, or any limitation or category someone dreams up.
How List Serves Commonly Work
Most list serves can be used in three ways:
• Individual emails to your inbox each time someone posts
• Daily digests – a collection of the days posts with headings emailed to your inbox
• Reading posts online
It’s usual to be able to reply to posts via email, to the sender directly, to the whole group or online. Starting a new topic can be done online or by sending an email to the list serves email address.
Some list serves have moderated posts, which can either be someone approving posts before they go “live” or someone who just watches out for problems.
It’s also usually easy to unsubscribe from a list that no longer meets your needs.
Why I Use List Serves
I use them for community, for staying in touch with people I don’t see often, for help and information, and have even gotten job leads.
I’d be interested in hearing what others think about this topic.
(bird on a wire picture courtesy of morguefile.com)

Craft, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing, Tools

Reducing Word Count

Posted on August 13, 2015June 5, 2019 by Susan Uhlig

Reducing word count is especially important to magazine writers and to picture book writers since those types of writings have such low word counts. But, novelists have word limits, too. However, there are other reasons, besides the literal number, to cut words.
To my mind there are four areas to focus on for reducing word count.
First, cutting chaff.
photo courtesy of morguefile.com
grain & chaff Chaff from dictionary.com:
“the mass of husks, etc, separated from the seeds during threshing”
“something of little worth; rubbish (esp in the phrase separate the wheat from the chaff)”

This applies to all types of writing. Pieces of chaff are those weasel words and overused words. Weasel words slip into our writing no matter what the topic. Some of my personal culprits are: so, then, that, just, really. Overused words I’m responsible for include: looked, turned, as. Here’s authorculture’s list of ten most overused words in fiction. This link includes overused phrases as well as words.
While searching for references, I found another meaning for weasel words in an article by Richard Nordquist: “A modifying word that undermines or contradicts the meaning of the word, phrase, or clause it accompanies, such as ‘genuine replica.'” Or in other words, doublespeak, implying something that is not true or perhaps meaningless. Read the article here.
Adverbs are often chaff. If the verb is strong enough, is the right verb, you don’t need a verb with a modifier. (e.g. dashed versus ran quickly.) But there’s something else we do with adverbs and other phrases and that’s water down our message. Again, turning to an article by Richard Nordquist, I like this definition of hedging: “In communication, a word or phrase that makes a statement less forceful or assertive.” Read the examples, if not the whole article to spot hedge words and phrases.
Adjectives could be chaff, too. A specific noun is better than a nonspecific noun with an adjective. What creates a better picture in your mind? A big car or a Hummer? The big car ran into the small car versus The Hummer crashed into the Smart car–the latter makes me shudder.
Next area, passive writing.
Finding passive verbs and making them more active, not only cuts word count, but livens the reading. (e.g. was climbing versus climbed and started to pedal versus pedaled) I like what the University of Wisconsin says here about active versus passive. Be a Better Writer explains passive verbs and continuous verbs.
I’m going to add “seems” and “seemed” to this category, as well. “She seems to want the dog.” “He seemed mad.” You’re the author. Does she want the dog or not? Was he mad or wasn’t he? Are you wanting the reader to guess? It’s also a form of telling. Let us hear what she thinks about the dog. Show us his anger. It may not actually cut words, but the writing will be stronger.
Third area, tightening.
Each time I reread what I’ve written, I find unnecessary words and/or phrases. (The original said: “I find words and/or phrases that are unnecessary.” Two words cut.) Getting rid of unnecessary words does more than make sentences shorter. The meaning becomes clearer. The writing is less cluttered.
When I tighten, I might cut whole paragraphs or scenes. (First attempt, the sentence was: “When I tighten, I might also have whole paragraphs or scenes that aren’t needed.” Four words cut.) If a paragraph/scene doesn’t “move the story forward,” doesn’t show character, or have important plot details, try reading the story without it and see if it leaves a hole or not.
Sometimes, we only need a simple transition instead of complete details. For example, “He jumped out of bed.” versus “He yawned and rubbed his eyes. After scratching his armpit, the boy flipped back the covers, slid out of bed and landed on his feet.” Yes, the latter is more interesting. But is it necessary to the scene? If every action is described in detail, then we’ll also follow him to the dresser where he opens a drawer and pulls out underwear, a shirt and pants, and puts them on along with his socks and shoes. We could have a whole page before he gets downstairs to breakfast where there’s conflict waiting. Repeat that every day of the story and the reader will be bored because nothing is happening.
In picture books, there’s a special form of tightening. That’s taking out what the illustrator will put in. We don’t usually need to describe the character’s outward appearance in the text–there will be a picture. Ditto, setting.
In picture books we also leave out things that are not important or slow down the story. I remember hearing Pat Zietlow Miller talking about her lovely book SOPHIE’S SQUASH. There’s a marker in the book. Pat said she first had the marker being the marker that Sophie wasn’t supposed to use. But the point of the marker is that it was used to draw a face on the squash. We don’t need the marker’s backstory. The drawn face on the squash is what is important.
We also don’t explain in picture books. In MR. PUSSKINS: a love story by Sam Lloyd, the cat uses a phone and the little girl drives a car. Both work without any explanation or excuse.
The final area to cut is individual words in the next to final draft.
When you are almost done with the manuscript, look at each individual manuscript page and see if you can cut five words, or twenty words. I’ve heard this suggestion from a number of authors ranging from Peg Kehret to Linda Sue Park to Richard Peck. At a recent conference, Richard challenged us to make the first line of the story fit on one line. This tightening strengthens the punch of the words.
Hard work? Oh, yeah. But worth it.

Market Prep, The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing, Tools

MS Wish List

Posted on July 30, 2015March 6, 2025 by Susan Uhlig

photo courtesy of morguefile.com
UPDATE: FYI, I am no longer on Twitter aka X. Many kidlit people are on BlueSky.

If you’re on twitter, you’ve probably seen the hashtag #MSWL. If you’ve read the SCBWI Insight, you’re aware of it, too. Maybe you’re still wondering though how useful it is. Or maybe you have no idea what I’m talking about. In either case, keep reading.

On the webpage itself you can find a collection of wish lists from a specific agent or editor. For example, here’s a sampling from editor Cheryl Klein who has recently gotten involved with #MSWL.

Cheryl Klein
@chavelaque (her twitter handle)
After long thought and much perplexity, to be very brief was all that she could determine on with any confidence of safety. All tweets here my own. (her twitter bio)
Brooklyn, NY
cherylklein.com
She’s interested in MG, YA, Nonfiction, Women, Diverse, Picture Books.
July 29th: I also want more MG/YA narrative nonfiction in history & science. Again: stakes, characters, good writing. Women & diversity a plus. #MSWL
July 29th: But the idea has to unfold thru v. real characters & a story w/ stakes, action & smarts. Ex OPENLY STRAIGHT, MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD #mswl
July 29th: I always want Big Idea books — PB/MG/YA whose story shows the character exploring a philosophical/political/personal idea or problem #MSWL

Interesting quick look at Cheryl and what she wants to see, right?

As of today, July 30th, there are 255 agent profiles listed on this website. There are also 130 editor profiles, 44 editorial assistants, and a number of other categories. Go here to see who they are. Once you have clicked on the type of person you are interested in, you can use the sort for categories such as Children, MG, Humor, etc. Editors, Agents, etc. are listed alphabetically by first name or by Agency name.

Does a listing on this site mean you can submit to that agent or editor? If you have something that fits their wish list, by all means. But if not, don’t.

Look at this query tip:

aba Sulaiman · 21h
“Although this isn’t what you asked for, I hope y–” Stopstopstop. Pointing out that your book isn’t on my wishlist won’t help you. #querytip
Which reminds me, you can also click on Pub Tips, which will give you publication tips, including the query tip above.

There’s also a Queries tab, which lets you get a look at some query responses such as these:

Eric W. Ruben, Esq. · 2d
Q1 YA: Dark subject matter and gritty MC. Not my style but might be good for someone else. Pass. #tenqueries
Laura Zats @LZats · 2d
Q456:C MG. Too introspective and not enough of a romp for me. #500queries #everyquery
There’s also an Ask Agent tab. Here are a few samples:
Linda Epstein @LindaEpstein · 1d
@CharleyPearson Only resend a “completely revised” ms if it’s “COMPLETELY revised.” Otherwise it’s just annoying. #askagent

Do you have to be on twitter to use this site? Yes, and no. If you want to see more tweets related to a specific tweet, yes, you’ll be directed to twitter. Do you have to have your own twitter account to read tweets? No. Do you have to have your own twitter account to read this website? No.
If you have more questions about the #MSWL hashtag, feel free to ask.

The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing, Tools

Kids Reading Books and Saying What They Think

Posted on May 21, 2015March 6, 2025 by Susan Uhlig

image courtesy of Phaedra Wilkinson on morguefile.com

I recently ran across some blogs of preteen and teen bloggers because of MMGM (Marvelous Middle Grade Monday). Which made me interested in looking for more teens blogging about books.
It’s fun seeing how articulate these kid bloggers are and what they are interested in reading. These kids are promoting good books now, which is so exciting. It was also fun seeing the books we like in common. We may be many years apart in age, but we share a love for some of the same stories.

What does that mean for me as a writer? It’s a reminder that inside at some level we are still the same no matter what age we are. We still have hopes and dreams, struggle with issues of self-esteem or failure, have worries in our lives, etc. Those universal experiences are what make it possible for our stories to reach others and for others’ stories to reach us.

It also is giving me a chance to see what books are appealing to some of today’s kids. (I have grandsons and we discuss books they are reading, but no granddaughters, so don’t get much firsthand experience on the girl side.) And, yes, this means my to-be-read list is getting longer and longer.

In case you are interested in checking out these young reviewers yourself, here’s some I found.

Personal Websites:
The Paige Turner
Cindy Reads A Lot

Libraries:
This LA County Library has a teen review board! What a great idea!
Oh, look, the New Hampshire Nesmith Library does something similar.

Other:
Teen Ink is a magazine that features book reviews (and much more) by teens. Of course, at this age, many are reading “adult” books, too.
LitPick Student Book Reviews features reviews from kids all over the world.
Reader View Kids is a company that posts kids’ book reviews.

Like many blogs, I found ones started by teens that have lasted a number of years and then the teen (or now adult) quit posting. Even found one library system that quit having teen posts although the old ones are still up.

If you know of any teens blogging about books, I’d love to hear about it.