Kevin McNamee

Children’s Writer

About Me

     My name is Kevin McNamee.  I currently live in Yonkers New York, along with my wife and daughter.  I grew up in The Bronx, which doesn’t entirely deserve the bad rap that it gets.  My experiences there have given me a wide assortment of characters and plots to choose from.  Although I may need to clean some of them up quite a bit to be suitable for the children’s market.

    I’ve been writing since I’ve learned the alphabet, but I’ve just started writing seriously for children about four years ago.  I was watching my nieces fight and it gave me an idea for a sibling rivalry story, there was no looking back.

    I continued to write and I started submitting my work for publication.  Before long, I had amassed an impressive collection of form rejection letters.  But I was determined to improve and learn all I could about writing for children and the children’s market, so I did the following…

· Read Harold Underdown’s Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing for Children

· Read Writing Children’s Books for Dummies

     Despite their titles, they hold a lot of practical information about writing and the children’s market.  I also…

· Joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)

· Joined two terrific critique groups that I found through SCBWI, one for prose, one for poetry

· Purchased the Children’s Writers and Illustrators Market annually for invaluable information on where to market my work.

 

      If you happen to be a writer and you’re just starting out, I highly recommend that you do all of the above.  If you happen to be a writer and you’ve done all of the above, good for you!

     As I’ve been educating myself about the children’s market and striving to improve my writing, I’ve noticed the following:

1. My rejection letters are getting nicer

2. I’ve had some successes.  Here they are…

 

Title                                                        Genre                                      Date of Publishing

It Will Never Work                             Short Story                            April 2008

The Soggy Town of Hilltop               Picture Book                         Fall 2008

The Sister Exchange                            Picture Book                         Winter 2009

Lightning Strikes                                  Picture Book                         Winter 2009

What Is That Thing?                            Picture Book                         Summer 2009

 

… and I’m trying my best to add to this list.  I have a varied inventory of picture books, poetry and short stories available and am actively seeking publication.

 

Happy Writing,

Kevin

Below are a few pictures from the “Read Aloud Jamboree” I attended at P.S. 5 in the Bronx

Here’s me reading Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, one of my all time favorite children’s books.

I read the manuscript from my upcoming book, The Sister Exchange.  It was a hit with Grades 2-4.  They liked the humor and could identify with the sibling rivalry theme.  They even told me afterwards why they agreed with the main character.  It was great feedback.

Attending the Jamboree was a lot of fun.  The kids were great!  When I said that I was a published author, one kid’s eyes went wide.  He asked me, “Are you famous?”

 

My answer: “Not yet but I’m trying.” :-)

Here’s a special thank you I received from Class 303/331 at P.S. 5