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I'm Lorraine Orman, and I write books for children and teenagers. This website will tell you a little about me and a lot about my books.
So far I've written:
| • | four books for primary-aged readers |
| • | three for intermediate (or middle school)-aged readers |
| • | two for secondary-aged readers |
| • | lots of short stories (I have also co-edited an anthology of short stories for children). |
I live in the best place in the world. That's Omaha Beach, which is an hour's drive north of Auckland, New Zealand. Just imagine four kilometres of silky white sand and crystal-clear water. Sometimes when I go down to the beach I'm the only person on the whole four kilometres of sand. I love walking beside the sea and watching the seagulls and dotterels and oystercatchers - and thinking about my stories.
Please come in and explore Story-Go-Round - and find out how much the sea and the shore have influenced my work.
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In this Thoughts column I will be writing comments about events and trends in children's literature. It's not intended to be a blog - I don't have enough important thoughts to maintain a blog - but I will be passing on opinions about things that affect my life as an author.
Local publishers are obviously being hit by the current recession.
More and more publishers are announcing that they are not accepting unsolicited manuscripts except those sent in by agents, and in some cases they are only publishing commissioned work. Publishers seem to be staying with the tried and true, rather than taking a punt on a new author or a non-mainstream story.
This makes life even more difficult for writers trying to get that crucial first book published. My advice for writers in this situation is to analyse the book market very closely (What is being published? Why did it get accepted?), take every opportunity to get your name known in local children's literature networks (join organisations, do volunteer work, publish on the internet, write book reviews, write articles), and have your manuscripts assessed by a professional assessor (it costs money but it's worth it).
You also need a great deal of determination - and a significant helping of luck!
Local publishers are obviously being hit by the current recession.
More and more publishers are announcing that they are not accepting unsolicited manuscripts except those sent in by agents, and in some cases they are only publishing commissioned work. Publishers seem to be staying with the tried and true, rather than taking a punt on a new author or a non-mainstream story.
This makes life even more difficult for writers trying to get that crucial first book published. My advice for writers in this situation is to analyse the book market very closely (What is being published? Why did it get accepted?), take every opportunity to get your name known in local children's literature networks (join organisations, do volunteer work, publish on the internet, write book reviews, write articles), and have your manuscripts assessed by a professional assessor (it costs money but it's worth it).
You also need a great deal of determination - and a significant helping of luck!
