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March 22, 2016 by Betsy Bird

Press Release Fun: Matt Bird and The Secrets of Story

March 22, 2016 by Betsy Bird   4 comments

WritersDigest

Reprinting PW deal announcements is not what I tend to do.  Today, however, we’ve a rather extraordinary occurrence.  Some of you may know that my husband Matt Bird is a bit of a blogger and screenwriter in his own right.  Add the term “published author” to that description now.  Publishers Weekly has just announced Matt’s latest book deal.  In short:

Bird Shares the ‘Story’ With WD

Matt Bird sold world English rights to The Secrets of Story to Phil Sexton at Writers Digest. Bird, who has an M.F.A. in screenwriting from Columbia, runs the popular writing blog Cockeyed Caravan, which offers tips and instruction on narrative craft. Stephen Barbara at Inkwell Management represented Bird, and the book, which is subtitled Innovative Tools for Perfecting Your Fiction and Captivating Readers, is set for fall 2016. Barbara compared Secrets to such iconic screenwriting guides as Robert McKee’s Story and Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat, calling it the “21st-century answer” to those titles.

Lest you feel this is simply pure nepotism, I will point out that Matt’s book has much to say to you children’s and YA authors out there.  He speaks regularly on the podcast of editor Cheryl Klein and James Monohan (The Narrative Breakdown) and his advice on The Ultimate Story Checklist has been of particular use to those who write books for kids and teens (note that the link I just included starts with an image of Harriet the Spy).

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For more information, see Matt’s post here.

Hurray!

Filed under: Press Release Fun

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Matt Bird

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

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About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Joe says

    March 22, 2016 at 8:14 am

    Congrats to your husband!

    And that checklist is phenomenal. If I ever get around to writing a book…

  2. Stephanie Calmenson says

    March 22, 2016 at 2:12 pm

    Great news — congratulations to Matt!

  3. Kathi Appelt says

    March 23, 2016 at 10:12 am

    Such great news! Congratulations!
    K

  4. Tricia says

    March 23, 2016 at 1:28 pm

    Whoa! That checklist is amazing. Thanks and congrats!

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