Jacinta Lou – Writer

Tag: Kidlit

  • My Writing Journey: Successes and Future Goals for 2026

    My Writing Journey: Successes and Future Goals for 2026

    2025 has been and continues to be quite a year. In so many ways.

    On a personal level – I have had success with my writing. The highlight of course my contract with Wombat Books for two early readers.

    In addition with my adult writing I had a tribute to my Dad published in the latest Grieve Anthology. And one of my poems will be published in an upcoming anthology, Her Beauty and Her Terror.

    And, drum roll please, Jacinta Lou has appeared in print for the first time in a wonderful fundraising anthology of whimsy put together by Tasmanian author, Ann Martin.

    The Ballad of Jubal Jacques includes some of Tasmania’s best authors and illustrators. I might have to believe I’m a writer 🙂

    My stories, Aisha and the Olive Tree, and The Book are both in the style of fables and I really enjoyed writing them. The book is available on amazon and all proceeds are for refugees.

    So what is happening now? Well it’s been non stop writing and submitting. The submitting has been picture books. I live in hope I will publish one at some stage. But I’ve expanded my writing to include longer fiction for children.

    I entered a junior fiction short story into an anthology competition and I’m currently working on a young adult short story for another anthology competion.

    So next year I will continue to work on early readers and junior fiction generally and of course, picture books. But my major focus will be a young adult novel I shelved in 2021.

    I found the novel recently and I really enjoyed reading it so I think it’s worth finishing. I’m working with other kidlit novelists to hold each other accountable by setting targets. According to the schedule I have until March to complete the first draft. I’m thirty thousand words in so it feels achievable? What’s it about? Well all I will say for now is that it’s a thriller; full of mystery and intrigue!

    My goals for 2026? It will be the year I learn to build a new webpage. The year my first novel will be sent for appraisal and the year I learn all I can about marketing and school visits in preparation for my 2027 book launch.

    And like every writer, I’m also hoping for more contracts.

    2025 has been a challenging year for children around the world being subjected to hardships and danger no child should endure and if I could give those children one gift, it would be hope.

    Hope for humanity and hope for a peaceful and just future.

    I’m deciding to go forward into 2026 with hope!

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  • Celebrating My First Book Contract: A Writer’s Journey & Imposter Syndrome.

    Celebrating My First Book Contract: A Writer’s Journey & Imposter Syndrome.

    This week I was thrilled to announce I have a two book contract with Wombat books. Two early readers and I am absolutely thrilled. So thrilled and excited I have plastered the internet with the news. I may have gone a bit over board ?

    As writers we work alone. Writing, editing and thinking. Most of the work we create never sees the light of day. Dealing with rejection becomes a way of life. It can feel like a waste of time. I’m sure from the outside it looks like it. But writing is not just a calling. It’s a craft. A skill. And like any skill it requires practice.

    For the last few years I have been writing picture books. I have had success by being awarded an ASA/CA mentorship in 2024. I was also matched in the ASA’s Picture Book Matchmaker. My pitch resulted in a request from the publisher to see the manuscript. To date, there have been no contracts. Yet.

    So when I decided to enter my first attempt at an early reader into Wombat Books open submission in February this year, I did so with zero expectations.

    You can imagine my shock when they asked to see the manuscript!

    Months of rewrites followed and creating another book for the series, and I was offered a contract.

    Throughout the process I felt like the success of this story was unearned. It was my first attempt at an early reader. I had completed several junior fiction courses but hadn’t made it happen. I felt like an imposter.

    Imposter syndrome strikes again. And this is why we have writing groups. ( imposter or impostor? Both are correct so for consistancy on my blog I choose imposter! Despite AI underlining it. I choose to ignore AI)

    Without my kidlit community I wouldn’t have submitted this story. Without my fabulous critique buddies I would have given up on the edits and rewrites. Without their support and encouragement I would have failed to see that all my work on picture books had been the rehearsal for this moment. And without the perseverance of Wombat Books to get me over the line, I wouldn’t have made it.

    So even though we create in solitude – we succeed as a community!

    That’s why I have plastered the internet with my success. Not just for me, but for all the kidlit community.

    I promised myself a new website with my first contract so stay tuned while I try to make that a reality.

    I can’t wait to hold my books in my hands!

    Stand by for even MORE plastering of the internet!

    Thank you

    Jacinta Lou

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  • My Latest Poem

    published today on the Australian Children’s Poetry Website.

    The March by Jacinta Lou
      • Time to go on! – Submission ‘Stage Fright!’

        Time to go on! – Submission ‘Stage Fright!’

        Like most writers, I started writing books for children when my children were small. I’ve lost all trace of anything written back then, but I still have some scribblings I did for my eldest granddaughter, which I may resurrect at some stage.

        In 2021, I did a picture writing course with Zanni Louise through the Australian Writers Centre and I fell in love. I did another course in 2022 through The Sunshine House, and I sent out a couple of stories to the crashingly loud sound of silence!

        I have been active in critiques groups and the kidlit community, so I decided 2023 was the year of assessments. Time to get my existing stories into shape to send out into the world. Or to shelve them. I had assessments with editors and of course, CYA. It’s been hectic!

        So here I am in the closing scenes of 2023 getting ready to send my stories out into the world of publishers!

        I still don’t think they are ready and I’ve heard stories of writers who have taken decades to write the perfect story, but I’m not sure I have that amount of time, so ready or not, here they come!

        I have zero expectations, but it was my plan to have stories to send out, so I’m sticking to the plan!

        I belong to a couple of fabulous critique groups and one in particular has a very encouraging cheer leader who brings us along with her enthusiasm. Yes! We can do this! Eeek – I hope at least one of us has success. That’s the best thing about writing for children. Although we all strive for the same thing, there is no sense of competition and we genuinely celebrate other writer’s success. Well, maybe there is a little disappointment, but we are mostly very excited for every writer who succeeds!

        So, in the past week, I have entered two stories to ‘Pitch it’, run by Just Write for Kids Australia, yesterday I was successful in booking two spots in the Australian Society of Author’s Literary Speed dating, to be held later in October and I sent a story out to a publisher! Tomorrow I’ll be sending out more stories and then I will start work on my next batch, patiently waiting in the wings, to get them ready to go out into the world!

        I’m not great at sending things out. I seem to get ‘stage fright’ once I know I am writing a submission and I stutter and stammer and write ridiculous things in my cover letters. Well I did last year. I cringe thinking about it. But in my defence, I did have pneumonia, so everything made perfect sense at the time. And why is it, typos and repeated words etc ONLY become visible AFTER you hit send?

        It’s been a year, so hopefully there have been so many submissions, commissioning editors will have forgotten me. Please let them forget!

        So, I’m on track. My babies are going out into the big wide world of publishing and I wish them every success in finding a home. I will welcome them back at any time, but I may push them out somewhere else and give them the best chance. I really don’t want them to be homeless.

        Now to work out how to conquer ‘submission stage fright’ and write great covering letters! Ironically, I have never experienced actual stage fright. Perhaps writing means more to me 🙂

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      • The Morning After CYA

        The Morning After CYA

        The CYA conference 2023 is over, oh and before I forget, CYA stands for Children, Young Adult, and Adult Writers’ and Illustrators’ Conference. Well worth a look for writers and illustrators of all genres. Any way, back to what I was saying. The conference is over so for me, getting manuscripts ready for the competitions, booking assessments and preparing submissions, attending assessments and the conference over four weekends on zoom has kept me busy from January till yesterday and I am exhausted.

        Was it worth it? Yes, I think so. Too tired to tell right now. But I’m going to say YES! I received some great feedback both positive and constructive and listened to some great presentations along the way. In the breaks we were put into breakout rooms on zoom and so it was also a great opportunity to meet other writers. I have a better idea of where my writing sits and even though no contracts were offered to a chorus of dancing unicorns, the dream is still alive. Well at least it will be once I’ve had some sleep.

        Assessments can be confusing and I’m sure I looked like a stunned mullet half the time as I worked my mind around the differing views of editors on the same manuscript. But that’s part of it. Finding a home for your writing is about finding the person who sees it the same way you do, or who can give you feedback to get it where you want it to go.

        It’s challenging sitting and listening to words that don’t support your vision of your amazing, perfectly crafted manuscript. And I’m sure it’s challenging for editors to give constructive feedback. It’s a lot easier to receive these words in written form via manuscript assessments, but I decided to do it via CYA this year and I’m glad I did. I think. I got to meet some amazing editors and there aren’t many opportunities to meet face to face, especially in Tasmania.

        My approach to assessments was just to listen and take notes as you only have 15 minutes to look at two picture books. So I probably bumbled through responses when asked questions. I wanted to know what they thought. But they wanted to know about me as well. I’ll be better prepared next time – and yes, there will be a next time.

        My only question was, do my stories have potential? And it seems the ones I had assessed do so now I have to do the ‘Verk’, as Jen Storer would say, and edit, rewrite, restructure until I feel they are ready for another assessment or I submit them to publishers. And that’s a whole other journey!

        Stay tuned as I work to keep the negative Nellie and imposter syndrome at bay!

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      • CYA – First Assessments – Self Belief Growing!

        CYA – First Assessments – Self Belief Growing!

        Is it too early to ask for CYA gift cards for Christmas?

        I had two assessments this weekend and I’m so relieved I didn’t shred my stories and run away and hide. Turns out both editors are of the opinion I can write which filled my heart with joy!

        Both of these editors had different stories so I got feedback on four stories which will help me decide whether to keep working on them now, or in the future.

        No offers of contracts with unicorns cheering in the background but a real feeling I am heading in the right direction!

        I have more assessments to come. Hoping for more useful feedback! Wishing for unicorns 🙂

        Imposter syndrome, feeling like nothing you do is good enough etc is incredibly annoying and can be debilitating. It is for me.

        I’ve struggled with self belief for ever, so when someone thinks something I did was good, it feels like, wow – happy dance, huge smile, want to hug the world! And its a genuine surprise.

        I will take this external validation and tuck it into my growing self belief in myself as a writer. I must have a little bit of belief, right? Or why am I doing it?

        The most important message I gained from these assessments is to trust myself.

        I am a writer and I will publish books for children!

        I really want to succeed so I don’t want this pesky Negative Nellie who lives in my head to muck things up for me. Might be a story in that.

        How have you silenced your negative self talk? Perhaps you have never had any? Love to hear your stratagies!

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        © Jacinta Lou 2023

      • Imposter Syndrome and CYA

        Imposter Syndrome and CYA

        CYA is happening!

        It’s two days till I meet my first editor for a CYA assessment. I’m looking at the stories I sent her and I want to pull them back through the internet and throw them in the bin. What was I thinking?

        But – the money has been paid, the assessment booked and I’ve had my lesson on how zoom operates during assessments so there is no going back.

        It’s been months since I booked my first assessments. Yet it feels like it’s happened way too quickly!

        As my anxiety grows, I wonder what it is I’m scared of? I made such a mess of submitting my stories (I was recovering from pneumonia) but the amazing folk who run CYA untangled the mess and stories were sent to editors. Are they the best stories? No. Does it matter? Well, maybe, but no.

        These are assessments, not pitches, so the hope is the editor will give me enough guidance to improve my stories. Assessments, not pitches. I keep reminding myself.

        Of course, in the back of everybody’s mind, including mine, is the hope the editor will be so impressed they will ask to see your stories again. Wouldn’t that be amazing!

        In fantasy land, they come to the assessment with a contract ready for you to sign while unicorns cheer from the sidelines!

        But we don’t live in fantasy land…except when we are writing!

        The real fear is they will look at my stories and wonder why I bothered. A bit like I am wondering now. Am I exposing myself to these wonderful editors as someone who cannot write? Is this how others feel two nights before assessments begin?

        I’ve seen similar posts on FB and in writing groups so I know I’m not alone, but those other people can write. What if I can’t!

        Of course, none of this could be happening and we wouldn’t be having these amazing opportunities without the amazing CYA team. Particularly Tina and Shawn. They dealt with my stress and booboos when submitting like the true professional they are. I’ll be better next year – I promise! And of course if I’m making mistakes, there must be others? Tell me there were others.

        And thank you to the editors and industry reps who are spending the time assessing and talking to those of us who will be hanging off their every words, hoping they will move us forward in our quest to be published!

        Hats off to the CYA Team! And best of luck to my fellow writers and illustrators who are facing their fears and putting themselves, and their work in front of the industry we all want to be a part of.

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      • Leaving the comfort zone: Websites, Instagram, Facebook and more!

        Leaving the comfort zone: Websites, Instagram, Facebook and more!

        Deciding to become a full-time writer means I have also had to learn to use social media and more! What happened to the image of the writer tapping away day and night, producing reams of typed or handwritten pages? There may be some who can still do that, but for most of us trying to establish ourselves in the children’s book industry, we need to have a social media presence before we have a book published!

        The first course I did with the Australian Writers Centre led us through the maze, which is the industry, and gave us guidance on how to navigate it. That’s on top of writing amazing stories!

        Websites, Facebook pages, Instagram accounts. All things publishers are looking for. Can you promote your book? Have you a presence out there in the world? Have you followers?

        I knew how to use Facebook so, tick! But I had to learn Instagram and I’m still learning but I have over 400 followers, so tick.

        Websites. Well, this is it so far and I’ll admit it’s not great. I’m trying to learn more, but it has got me beat.

        Soooooo the first thing I will do when I get a book contract is pay someone to build me a super dooper website. In the meantime, please be kind to my attempts. I am way out of my comfort zone.

        Oh, and did I mention, I’m sure I did. The most important part of becoming an author is writing an amazing story!

        Is there an app for that? Stay tuned. Next time, we will talk about AI (artificial intelligence) from the perspective of someone who cannot build a website!

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      • So Much has Happened!

        So Much has Happened!

        As I sit here tonight, I’m reflecting on the last six months. Has it only been six months? So much has happened!

        I made a decision. This year is the year of assessments and honing my craft! So I began the year with two manuscript assessments with a publishing house. Several manuscripts found their way to Sally Odgers at Affordable Manuscripts and I entered a few in the CYA aspiring competition. More feedback!

        I booked assessments with several editors and publishers at CYA and they will take place in July. I’m so nervous but there is no backing out now. The manuscripts are in their hands! Well probably in their email inbox waiting till closer to the date!

        I’ve completed courses and workshops with the ASA, Jen Storer, Zanni Louise’s Sunshine house and Larrikin House. Learning about this industry gives me insight into how to navigate it as well as tools to support other creatives as we journey together.

        I’ve been active in my SCBWI critique group and two private groups of fantastic aspiring writers from around Australia.

        I became the New Books and Awards coordinator for the SCBWI Australia East blog which gives me the chance to see how many amazing books are being created and published by members, and I have been active as the social media person for SCBWI Tasmania as well as a committee member.

        We recently partnered with TasWriters to put on StoryGig in the last weekend in May. I was very fortunate to be asked to present one of my unpublished works to children in the Square. Posy the Pink Witch certainly made an impression! I also had the opportunity to read one of my works in progress to a room full of established creators at a SCBWI networking event! Yes I was terrified but what I have discovered about those who create for children, is everyone is incredibly supportive.

        Getting to know Tasmanian creatives has been a highlight of this year! Oh, did I mention, SCBWI Tasmania also held two Sketch and Scribble events so far this year? We did! Both at the beautiful Botanical gardens!

        So where I am at now is finishing off courses. Creating new work while many of my stories are waiting to be assessed and doing lots of walking on the beach to nurture my soul.

        I can’t believe half the year is almost over!

        I’ve submitted two stories to publishers. Both to more than one publisher. So far I have been met with silence except for one email letting me know it wasn’t what they were looking for at this time. I was excited someone had taken the time to read it and respond!

        I hope, after my assessments, I will have the courage to submit more!.

        This week I’ll be working on my latest manuscript and weighing up the critiques I have received from my wonderful critique partners.

        Talk again soon!

      • Last week in the hen house

        Last week in the hen house

        Last week, I watched Rex and his seven chooks meet up with a family of native hens (Turbo chooks). The hens didn’t seem to mind sharing the paddock with the turbos but Rex had other ideas and confronted them. The Turbos weren’t phased by the bossy rooster, but did slowly move back from where Rex had his hens. I couldn’t get close enough for a photo but watched as the two families sorted out the space.

        The following day, just after I opened the hen house, a cheeky currawong flew in and tried to get some vegetable scraps. I have never seen a rooster move so quickly to get back into the hen house yard and chase the cheeky currawong away, empty beaked. Feathers did fly and Rex strutted back and forth for about ten minutes, guarding the hen house. The currawong waited till Rex was at the far side of the paddock and went in, with his mate, to clean up left over scraps. They won’t cross Rex again in a hurry.

        One of the joys of living in the bush, is watching birds sort out the pecking order, so to speak.