49 Comments

tell people about the books you love for sure!!!

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this is the *best* dose of reality i've seen in a bit!!

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Agree with 100% of these rules 🙏 and I even re-read to see if I was rounding up, but I am not!!!

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This is GOLD!

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Love these rules. And the one about typos? I want to make that go viral. Amen!

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Two debts of gratitude: hadn't read that Rules article in The Cut and omg it's fantastic. AND because you wrote about Tomorrow and Tomorrow and TOmorrow last week (the week before? before that? time is a construct) -- I just finished and am so sorry it's over, and am now raving about it to all & sundry. So thank you 2x ... and that's even without the publishing advice!

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author

I'm so glad you liked the book!!!!

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Such wonderful advice. Also like the ideas about humility so much and for example not pretending we have read it all -- embracing our own insecurities makes us better writers! Recently read Kehinde Wiley talking about this in terms of painting.

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So true. Thanks for this!

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As we say here in New Orleans, Yeah you right.

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Best rules about publishing I've ever seen, Kate!

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Dang. Damn straight. I struggle not to use 'em but 🙌. Inspiring, edifying, kick-ass. Sign up. And go write the friggin' book to boot.

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So good Kate.

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Feb 7, 2023Liked by Kate McKean

Great AND helpful.

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Love your rules. Love the tone. Thanks for bothering.

Now we’re all set.

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Great rules. I only ever talk about books I've enjoyed because some books are great, but not for you at this moment in time. Also, I respect the fact that it's hard to write a book, let alone get it published.

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Oh this is All. So. Good. And thank you for elevating picture books. I’ll clarify, if you’re in a profession that reads a lot of PBs it’s okay to write them without having your own kids. I read hundreds of picture books before having my own kids (as a k/1 teacher) 🥰

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author

Absolutely!!! Kids are not a prerequisite to writing PBs.

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