Are You Finding the Passion In Your Nonfiction? Check Out "Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep: 50 Award-Winning Children’s Book Authors Share the Secret of Engaging Writing"

SCBWI board member and author of over 100 nonfiction books for young readers Melissa Stewart has a vision to change how nonfiction is understood - by students, teachers, librarians, and yes, even we writers and illustrators!

As the recent cover copy of the book edited by Melissa and published by NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) describes it:

In Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep: 50 Award-Winning Children’s Book Authors Share the Secret of Engaging Writing, some of today’s most celebrated writers for children share essays that describe a critical part of the informational writing process that is often left out of classroom instruction. To craft engaging nonfiction, professional writers choose topics that fascinate them and explore concepts and themes that reflect their passions, personalities, beliefs, and experiences in the world. By scrutinizing the information they collect to make their own personal meaning, they create distinctive books that delight as well as inform.

The book includes essays from many SCBWI members as well, featuring the perspectives of:

• Sarah Albee
• Chris Barton
• Donna Janell Bowman
• Mary Kay Carson
• Nancy Castaldo
• Jason Chin
• Lesa Cline-Ransome
• Seth Fishman
• Candace Fleming
• Kelly Milner Halls
• Deborah Heiligman
• Susan Hood
• Gail Jarrow
• Lita Judge
• Jess Keating
• Barbara Kerley
• Heather Lang
• Cynthia Levinson
• Michelle Markel
• Carla Killough McClafferty
• Heather Montgomery
• Patricia Newman
• Elizabeth Partridge
• Baptiste Paul
• Miranda Paul
• Teresa Robeson
• Mara Rockliff
• Barb Rosenstock
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Anita Sanchez
• April Pulley Sayre
• Steve Sheinkin
• Ray Anthony Shepard
• Anita Silvey
• Traci Sorell
• Tanya Lee Stone
• Jennifer Swanson
• Stephen R. Swinburne
• Don Tate
• Laurie Ann Thompson
• Pamela Turner
• Patricia Valdez
• Sandra Neil Wallace
• Laurie Wallmark
• Jennifer Ward
• Carole Boston Weatherford
• Lee Wind (full disclosure - the author of this post)
• Paula Yoo
• Karen Romano Young

A very cool part of the project is that "100 percent of the proceeds will be divided among the National Council of Teachers for English (NCTE), We Need Diverse Books (WNDB), and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)"

And some behind the scenes information from Melissa:

“The idea for this book traces back to the 2017 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention in St. Louis, Missouri, when I was fortunate to participate in a panel titled ‘The Secret of Crafting Engaging Nonfiction’ with two of the most talented children’s nonfiction authors of our time—Candace Fleming and Deborah Heiligman.
“During our discussion, moderated by educator and children’s nonfiction enthusiast Alyson Beecher, we dove deeply into what fuels our work and why we routinely dedicate years of our lives to a single manuscript. As we compared our thoughts and experiences, we came to realize something critically important—each of our books has a piece of us at its heart. And that personal connection is what drives us to keep working despite the inevitable obstacles and setbacks.
“Several other nonfiction authors attended our presentation, and afterward they praised our insights. That conversation helped us all understand our creative process in a new and exciting way. And it eventually led to the essays in this anthology, which are our way of sharing an important—and often unrecognized and underappreciated—aspect of nonfiction writing with educators and students.”

More information about the book is available on Melissa's website here.