Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Marathon Stats

The numbers are in! 126 people reported their final tallies for the February 2011 Picture Book Marathon. Forty people created 26 picture books in February, and another 10 ran the extra mile, creating a few more. Those 50 finishers represent 40% of the final tallies reported.
Also, from the final tallies reported:
  • 14% (17) created between 20 and 25
  • 20% completed between 13 and 19
  • 20% completed between 5 and 12
  • 6% completed between 1 and 4

Twelve percent of the original 425 people who signed up for the marathon “ran” the distance. Thirty percent ran all or part way (or at least, reported that they did).

If you’d like to know how that stacks up against last year’s marathon, 150 people originally signed up for the 2010 marathon, 45 reported final tallies, and 24 completed 26 or more picture books.
An evaluation of the 2011 marathon will be landing in your email inbox sometime today. We would truly appreciate your feedback, as we use it to try and improve the experience. When you finish the survey you’ll be given a link to print out a completion certificate. 
Some of you may also be interested in a “finisher’s” sweatshirt that was added to the marathon shop.

The winner of the travel mug was Linda Hoffman Kimball. Congratulations Linda, and thank you to all who sent in your final tallies!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The Next Step

Congratulations!  Sure felt great to flip the calendar to March, didn't it?  But, now what? 

JUDGING and REVISING these new PBs seem impossibly daunting, right?  Here's what I did last year to transition from running the marathon to revising the marathon.  Perhaps it'll work for you also.


I revisited each manuscript and wrote a one or two-sentence synopsis.  This exercise helped me see if there truly was a coherent story within what I had written.  Some of the results surprised me.  Next I chose my top ten ideas and submitted the synopses to my critique group (and agent) for comments.  I then chose three to focus on for intense revisions.  Only after that did I consider the other manuscripts.  If this process sounds feasible, give it a go. 

BTW--Nathan Hale (the illustrator and PB author who designed our marathon logo) is inviting folks to "vote" for a favorite PB amongst the ones he created during this marathon.  Good luck limiting yourself to just one!  Check out his blog at http://spacestationnathan.blogspot.com/

It's been a pleasure running with you.  Good luck with your gems! 

We hope you'll join us again next February.