CONSULTING







		As an author of over thirty books for children and an award winning writing teacher for almopst that long, Barbara Bottner can help you with your manuscript. She does line editing as well as complete manuscript revision, depending on your needs. When your book is ready, she will recommend editors, agents, and publishers. She received a "Distinguished Teacher Award" from the New School for Social Research in 1990, and has taught there as well as UCLA, Otis Parsons, and privately, both in Los Angeles and Miami. Her ex-students include Lane Smith, Peggy Rathmann, Laura Numeroff, Bruce Degan, Joe Ranff (Toy Story), Barney Saltzberg, April Halperin Wayland, Sheri Brownrigg, Jacqui Hann, Diana Cain Bluthenthal, Beth Spiegal, Laurie Friedman, Nancy Hyashi, Laura Forman, Marsha Carrington, Antoinette Portis, Robin Rector Krupp, Diane Greenseid, and many more. She has been a speaker at conferences around the country and in Bologna. Her work includes picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels and Young Adult novels. She's written for television, animation, and film. Her lyrics for Sesame Street were performed by Jim Henson. She's reviewed children's books for the New York and Los Angeles Times Book Reviews.

	Antoinette Portis Author of award-winning, New York Times Bestseller Not a Box, Not a Stick, and forthcoming A Penguin’s Story "Barbara Bottner’s writing class was a life-changing experience for me. I got in touch with my voice. I wrote my first story that really worked. I learned how to let my inner 5 year-old tell me what she wants to say. (Which it turns out, is what 5 year olds want to hear.) Barbara takes a can-opener to your brain and turns you upside and shakes you to see if anything good falls out. Or your head is a piñata full of ideas and BB helps you clobber that thing open and then you sit together and sort through all the candy and pick out the good stuff (the stuff with chocolate.) She unerringly knows what the really good stuff is and she teaches you to recognize it, too. This is a learning that stays with you. (I know which ideas to pursue—the ones with the most juice, the ones I feel the most connected to.) Then she helps you shape your manuscript and keep it true to its reason for being. I wrote Not A Box in her class, and went through the editing and dummying process in her class. When the dummy was deemed done by Barbara (a big moment!) it was time to send it out. AND I got published through a contact Barbara gave me." Laura Numeroff Author of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie and sequels "When I was nine years old, I knew I wanted to write children's books when I was a grown up. I was heavily influenced by Eloise and Stuart Little. My life took a turn when I decided, at 15, to follow in my older sisters 's footsteps and go into fashion design. I hated it! I ended up majoring in communications. Tried photography, didn't like it, tried animation, not for me, tried radio broadcasting. In my last semester at Pratt Institute, I found out about a class at Parsons called Writing & Illustrating Children's Books. I decided to take it as I hadn't lost interest in the field, I just never thought of making a career out of it. The first thing I remember when meeting Barbara, was that I wanted to be her. She was vibrant, enthusiastic, encouraging, as well as a published author. She was my role model. A light went off and I realized that my original dream was to become a children's book author, and that I was in good hands. She gave the class an assignment to write and illustrate our own book. With Barbara's guidance and nurturing, I came up with Amy For Short. When I brought it in and she she liked it, that was enough for me to set up appointments at several New York publishers. After four rejections. I actually sold it to McMillan. I dedicated it to Barbara." Barney Saltzberg Author/Artist of over thirty picture books "In 1979 I signed up for Barbara Bottner's class in writing and illustrating picture books without really knowing much about the field. From the moment Barbara walked into the classroom, my life changed. Her enthusiasm and knowledge of the world of children's books swept me off my feet and I've been writing, illustrating and publishing ever since. Barbara has a knack for giving her students assignments which are thought provoking and provide the seeds for which many wonderful stories have grown. There is no such thing as writer's block in Barbara Bottner's class. If you follow her instructions, story ideas will follow. An idea is important, but it's just the beginning and luckily, if you're her student, you're in luck. There is an art to critiquing and Barbara is a master. She is able to nurture and guide her students in a completely supportive environment. That is much more difficult to do than one might imagine. Egos can be bruised and damaged. You have to be so sensitive to each budding writer. Barbara has been the birth mother to so many classic books it's remarkable. If she received a holiday card from every book baby she helped deliver, she could wallpaper her entire neighborhood with the sentiments! I now teach a class once a year in writing and illustrating picture books and so much of what I do is from what Barbara Bottner taught me. She is a master teacher. A master mentor and a spiritual coach to anyone lucky enough to have been her student! And on top of all of that, Barbara Bottner beams warmth and has an infectious sense of humor! She is a true gem." Denise McKenna Doyen AFI grad, T.V. director, author of forthcoming Once Upon a Twice, Random House "I was initially surprised when I realized that we had been meeting a full year… Because in many ways it feels like we students are all still "just beginning" on our published-book journeys. And then I thought about all the adjustments and changes that have happened with so many in the class and our material -- and, well, of course it has been a year. And a year of very hard work: learning to focus, to both cherish and share the thoughtful critique, to take criticism with grace and enthusiasm, and to be willing to rewrite or rethink one's choices without becoming paralyzed or disillusioned, seeking the craft without losing the joy. The "magic" of which you speak. Writing people I run into, have conversations with, ask me what I like so much about you as a teacher. And I always say "she demands her students write their passions and that makes all the difference." It is true. Camille is probably the most dramatic example in our class. I think of her fantasy dolphin-portal piece… and now, her Muslim girl in the Midwest novel and well, it is a transformation from hay to gold. So, thank you Rumplestiltskin. And as I spin my own story, your belief in my pages and me, that there is substance, art and heart there, means the world to me." Gail Israel "Once upon a time, when someone asked me what I did, I would run down a list of things that occupied me during my day. Then, in an almost inaudible voice, I would add that I wrote children’s books. This admission was usually accompanied by a sudden inability to make eye contact, profuse sweating and even twitching, as if I were a dog stuck in some bad dream. I couldn’t help it. That’s how claiming to be a writer made me feel. But if claiming my writing felt like I was stuck in a bad dream, sitting down to write made me feel like I was stuck in a nightmare. I’d stare at the empty screen in front of me, sweat a little, twitch a little and then somehow find myself captivated by a website dedicated to selling wigs for cats. I wasn’t exactly churning out the words. But that was two years ago. That was before I met the woman who turned out to be my fairy godmother—Barbara Bottner. Barbara isn’t your traditional fairy godmother. She isn’t into the whole sparkly-dress-magical-spell thing and she has never told me to stop writing by midnight or else my computer will turn into a pumpkin. She is far more creative, clever and gifted than any of the top-notch fairy godmothers from any fairy tale I’ve ever read. Barbara has the gift of inspiration. But she doesn’t just inspire in her students a passion to write. She inspires in her students a passion to write their deepest truths. And it has been through this truth seeking that my own best writing has emerged. Over the past two years, armed with just her pencil, her insightfulness and her commitment to teaching, Barbara has managed to coax and cajole me out of my nightmare and into my desk chair. She has challenged me with her relentless insistence that I be the best writer I can be. For that, I am forever indebted. Now, I boldly go where I could not go before (to my office) and sit down in my chair to do the hard work that is writing. It is still a challenge and sometimes it still makes me twitch. At those moments I have to refer to the words that Barbara wrote to me when I told her I was going to give up writing and deliver pizza instead: “I don’t eat pizza but if I did I wouldn’t order it from you since you’re a WRITER!!!!!!!!!!!!!” She’s right. And I’ll even look you in the eye while saying it." Anthea Brown Artist/Author, just signed with a New York agent "Barbara Bottner has an instinct for a writer's true voice. She roots for it in the way that a pig with a good nose roots for truffles, and she wont be waylaid by a false scent. I arrived in her class with an idea for a picture book, The Alphabet Party, that I was sure was quite brilliant. I presented the first draft to Barbara, only to hear, "Interesting but have you got anything else?" For Barbara's next class I bought some pages that I'd written about a funny ten-year-old girl called Jessica who was a self-designated behind the couch reporter. I was convinced that middle grade wasn't really the age I should be writing for, but Barbara thought differently. She encouraged me to keep writing and in six months I had the first draft of a short novel, which is something I could never have accomplished alone. Barbara Bottner has an instinct for the emotional truth and she is a trusty guide for any developing writer who wants to find it." Eloise Freidman Author, just signed with a top agent "Being in Barbara Bottner's writing workshop class has been a marvelous experience. Barbara challenges us to think and to open our stories into fresh and insightful areas. I've learned much about improving my characterization, plot, drama and suspense from Barbara. I've gained the confidence to know that under her guidance and our great group, I can write a strong magical story. Applying Barbara's principals, I've written The Ugliest itch of All and have secured the services of a top agent." Dorian Cirrone Published author "Many years ago I read an early version of one of my Lindy Blues chapter books in Barbara Bottner's workshop and got some great advice from Barbara on how to revise it. I later got similar advice from an editor and eventually sold that book and another one with the same character. " Laura Forman Published artist/ author "Barbara's critiques have always involved far more than the formal mechanics of good writing. She has challenged me to write from a position of absolute human-ness. To do this requires embracing the fullest range of possible responses to a maddeningly complicated universe. From the mundanely conventional to the sublimely idiosyncratic, every world view and personal history is worth considering. I cannot recommend Barbara highly enough." Marsha Gray Carrington Published author/artist "I had dreamed of illustrating children's books for almost 20 years, when one day I decided to take a night class in Children's Book Writing and Illustrating. That class was with Barbara. After taking the class once a week for about 10 weeks and then working with her in a private class for about a year, I finally realized my dream. I am now working on my 6th book, due out next year! Kudos to Barbara...she is a dynamic teacher and an inspiration!" Barbara Schwartz Emmy Award-winning writer of Rugrats Barbara Schwartz won the SCBWI Writers' Day, Ventura/Santa Barbara Region Special Mention, Middle Grade Category for her middle grade novel. "Barbara is a brilliant editor. She sees exactly what is needed and gives notes clearly, with sensitivity and enthusiasm. She is the best writing teacher I have ever had. Among her many talents, she knows exactly how to give a scene depth and make it sing; turn great characters into profound ones; and, achieve the tricky balance between dialogue and description to create a seamless flow. I believe her editorial input is a crucial step to take--even for professional writers-before submitting a manuscript to publishers and/or agents."