Meet the March Guru: Jolene Gutiérrez
We are very excited to feature our March Guest Guru who brings a wealth of knowledge and information to us and will give a rating and feedback to four lucky Rate Your Story Members this month. All you need to do is request her, and if there are available spots and your manuscript seems like a good fit, you will receive this benefit.
If Jolene's spots have been filled - not to worry -- Lynne Marie serves as our back-up Guest Guru each month and will also be taking on four requests. Please read her Interview and take advantage of all the underlined takeaway tips and more before submitting. Meet the Guru: Lynne Marie (rateyourstory.org)
What brought you to children’s books? I’ve been a school librarian for nearly 30 years, so I’m surrounded by children’s books. My love of writing came earlier, though--I had an amazing second grade teacher who offered to “publish” students’ writing. Holding the typed, published version of my own words was the best feeling, and I decided then that I wanted to be a writer.
What do you love about children’s books? I love children’s literature because of the variety of topics covered and the honesty with which they’re covered. As a librarian, I base so many of my lessons around books that exist. I also recommend books for other teachers’ lessons, for class novels and as part of my readers’ advisory, and for bibliotherapy. I love that I can use picture books to teach lessons to my students from age 5 to 18, and I love that I have adult patrons who want to read middle grade and young adult novels. I love that graphic novels are such a popular genre and that audio formats are vast, because these options give my struggling readers, my students who are challenged by visualizing stories, and my English language learners lots of choices. And I love that we are seeing more diverse stories. All readers deserve to see themselves, their families, and their experiences reflected in books.
Name something you loved / enjoyed as a child and how you’ve drawn upon that for a book. I love watching/learning from animals, so I drew on that love for the character of Oliver in my picture book Mac and Cheese and the Personal Space Invader. Oliver is trying to figure out how to be a good friend, so he watches the class guinea pigs and tries to learn social skills from them. As you might imagine, that doesn’t go so well. ;)
Share a little bit about your first book. If multi-published, feel free to discuss your latest book. My most recent book, Too Much! An Overwhelming Day is based on my own (and my kids’) experiences with sensory sensitivities/sensory processing disorder. My hope is that this book will help readers with sensitivities feel seen and help others better understand what an overwhelming day feels like. There’s also rich backmatter vetted by occupational therapists that provides more information and resources around building a sensory “diet” and supporting your own sensory needs.
Share a little bit about any other books and how you drew upon your interests or experience to write / research them. I drew on my love of helping animals in my nonfiction middle grade book Bionic Beasts: Saving Animal Lives with Artificial Flippers, Legs, and Beaks. I love untold histories and was honored to partner with my co-author Minoru Tonai to tell the story of his family’s experience in our upcoming 2025 book Unbreakable: A Japanese American Family in an American Incarceration Camp. And my now-grown kids and I worked on manuscripts during the quarantine and those stories centering Latine experiences will be coming out soon. My daughter Shaian and I wrote The Ofrenda That We Built (August 2024) about our family’s Day of the Dead ofrenda and my son Dakota and I wrote Mamiachi and Me (January 2025) about an all-female mariachi group.
What do you like about fiction? Non-fiction? I love that fiction can be used to weave a story that touches readers’ hearts and allows readers to feel seen. I love that nonfiction can help readers grow their curiosity and knowledge.
What do you consider yourself lucky about (St. Patrick’s Day question)?
I feel so lucky to be surrounded by family and friends who love me, celebrate me, and support my writing. Even though it took years of practice and perseverance, I feel fortunate to have been able to grow my craft, connect with critique partners and other kidlit friends, and sign with my amazing agent, Kaitlyn Sanchez. Thanks to Kaitlyn, I feel lucky that my manuscripts have found their homes with brilliant editors who take such care in ushering my books into the world, and I am so thankful that I’ve been able to create books with both of my children and co-author books with other friends as well. And I’m so lucky that I get to teach with students and co-workers I adore in a beautiful historic Chapel library at a school that values all learners.
What does a story need to make it a favorite for you? It needs to take my breath away and/or touch my heart. I need to finish reading the story and hug it to my chest. Because I’m a librarian, I’m picky about the books I keep on my own shelves at home because I know I can put my hands on many books through my school library and public libraries. So the most important books to me are the books that I finish reading and think, “I need a copy of that book on my shelves.”
Share a story that you love and why. Watercress by Andrea Wang and Jason Chin is one of my all-time favorite books because it couples amazing storytelling that allows readers to learn and grow. There’s a reason this book has won so many awards—it’s perfection!
What is a common issue you see in the manuscripts you critique? Being too didactic/telling too much. This is something I see in manuscripts I critique and something I’m guilty of in my own writing. Rather than trying to teach and preach, think about how you can put your readers into the scene and allow them to experience your story.
Please share a Submission Tip with our Members. Even after you’ve revised and polished your manuscript, your work is not quite done. Be sure that you do your homework on the person/people you’re submitting to. Read their #ManuscriptWishList if they have one or peek at their social media, their agency or publishing house’s website, recent deals they’ve done, etc., to get a feel for their interests and preferences. If your manuscript seems to be a good fit, customize your query letter and follow all the submission requirements. If you’re only supposed to send the first 10 pages, do that. If you’re encouraged to upload 3 picture book manuscripts, do that. This is your first chance to show an agent or editor that you know a bit about them, that you’ve put in the time and effort to follow their requirements, and that you’re an easy person to work with.
Please share a Revision Tip for our Members. When I’ve edited a manuscript as much as I can with my eyes, I start using my ears. I use a voice recorder app on my phone to record myself reading my manuscript aloud. Oftentimes, I’ll hear edits that need to be made during my initial read-through, but after that, I play back my recording, close my eyes, and listen to the story. Is it flowing in the way it should? Is there language that I stumble over when reading? Do I want to rephrase certain parts? Are there bits I could cut? Are there pieces missing? By giving my eye-reading a break and focusing on my ear-reading, I oftentimes uncover edits that will make my manuscript stronger.
Name subjects you would like to read about. I’d love to read any little-known history or powerful biographies. I appreciate stories about various types of families, food, celebrations, traditions, and experiences. Stories that allow kids to feel seen and to experience big feelings are wonderful, and I love learning new things, so any manuscripts with fascinating facts and interesting information is a plus in my book.
Name subjects you would not like to read about. Even though I’ve written a couple of rhyming manuscripts, I’d rather not critique rhyming manuscripts. I also feel like things that we see frequently in picture books like anthropomorphized animal stories, common holidays, and basic concepts (alphabet, numbers, etc.) can be tough to tackle unless they’re written in a unique way.
Share something you wish we had asked you about, but didn’t! Hmmm. . .well, I’d like to talk about my writing schedule. I know we often hear that we need to be writing every day, and I want to say that I’m someone who doesn’t. I work full-time and I have a long commute, so some days, I don’t write at all. Because I’d heard that message of the importance of writing every day, I’ve tried getting up early and writing, but I already have to get up at 5:00 in order to get to work on time, so that didn’t work for me. I’ve tried writing in the evenings, but some (most) evenings, I’m too tired. Now, I write when I can. I carve out moments and my writing (and mental health) are better because of it. So, for those of you who are feeling guilt and struggling to find a time to write each day, consider letting that expectation go and see if that feels better for you. <3
Share a fun fact about YOU! I grew up on a farm and was surrounded by so many different types of animals! In the house, we had fish, snails, lizards, hermit crabs, parakeets, and hamsters. Outside, we had horses, donkeys, pigs, cattle, goats, sheep, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, dogs, and cats, and I raised toads from tadpoles in the tanks we used to collect rainwater. I loved them all, but the horses and toads were my favorites.
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