Meet Our August Guest Guru: Jill Nadler

Every month, Rate Your Story features one Guest Guru who will give Ratings and Feedback to each of four lucky Members! Those who want to be considered for this opportunity should read this article, consider its contents when choosing your manuscript, submit early in the month and be sure to request consideration for a Guest Guru Slot from Judy, our Inbox Coordinator.

To really learn about Jill, please consider buying one of her books here: https://amzn.to/4c5KmeA

What do you LOVE about children’s books? I love how universal truths about what it means to be human (even if it’s a book about aliens or kittens or alien kittens) can be distilled into a seemingly small package.  

What brought you to children’s books? My mom was a professional storyteller. She created a program to teach movement to young children through stories called Motion Potion. So, I grew up telling stories and teaching my mom’s program in pre-schools. That’s where I started making up stories to do with the kids.  

Name something you loved / enjoyed as a child? I loved living in my imagination. I was a HUGE reader as a child and loved nothing more than getting lost in a book. 

What do you look for in a project to make it a favorite? I’m a sucker for humor, puns, clever concepts, wordplay, feisty characters, offbeat characters, and stories that speak to me on multiple levels. I love a story that seems goofy and funny on the surface but has a deep underlying truth. 

Share a story that you love and tell us why. I adore Kelly DiPuccio’s book ZOMBIE IN LOVE. I love the humor, but I also feel deeply for the main character (a zombie named Mortimer).  

What is a common issue with the submissions you receive? (Or, if you are not an editor or agent, but a Rate Your Story Judge or critiquer, common issues in manuscripts that don’t work). I’m not an editor, but as a critique group leader, I’ve had the chance to critique lots of stories. I think one of the biggest mistakes I see is a lack of theme or too many themes. By theme, I mean…what is your story about? What is the deeper truth? What are you trying to say? When this is muddled, the story is muddled and doesn’t leave me feeling satisfied. 

A lack of character arc is also a common problem I see. What does the character want/feel at the beginning of the story? How do they change by then end? Why and when does that change happen? 

Our Rate Your Story 2022 Word of the Year is Professionalism. In terms of becoming a writer, what does this word mean to you? I think it’s about respect. Respect for other writers. Respect for ourselves and our own work. Respect for the agents and editors we’re submitting to or working with (understanding that they are just people trying to do the best they can.) Most importantly, Respect for our readers. 

Please share a Submission tip with our Members.  Work hard on distilling your story down to a few short sentences that convey the plot, theme, and tone of the book. If this is difficult, it probably means the story itself still needs work. (This is where you might notice that you have too many themes). 

Please share a Revision Tip for our Members. I’m going to jump off the answer from above. I find it very helpful to write a pitch paragraph or a logline for my stories as I’m trying to revise. It helps me crystalize what my story is about. Whenever I find this difficult if means the story itself is muddled. 

Name subjects you would like to read about, or, if you are an Editor or an Agent, see in your in-box. I love funny, quirky stories as well as stories that spark my curiosity. 

Name subjects you would not like to read about, or, if you are an Editor or an Agent, see in your in-box.  Sad, sappy, overly sweet books make me want to eat glass. 

Share a fun fact about YOU! I have worked as a stilt walker, a Christmas elf, and one of the perfume ladies at the mall. The perfume job was good practice for my writing career. People used to run from me screaming, terrified that I was going to spray them with something. It was not unlike submitting picture books to agents. It really helped me build a thick skin for rejection. 

Oh, and I once tossed my bra off the Eiffel Tower.

Also is there anything in particular you want or don't want to give rating and feedback on? Nothing religious, please. And see the above “glass eating” comment. Other than that, I’m good with anything. 

ABOUT JILL: Bio: Jill Ross Nadler is the chief Storyologist at Page Turner Adventures, an award-winning multi-media production company that creates content for kids on the page, stage, and screen. Jill really is a Storyologist with a passion for storytelling in all its forms. She graduated with a degree in Theater from the University of Buffalo, studied acting at the University of London, England, and received a certificate in children’s television from Rockport College. She started her career in television as a FOX Kids’ Club Host where she won an Emmy for best children’s special and has written and produced content for the Travel Channel and Scholastic. Jill is also a children’s book author and has written ten books for Heinemann Publishing (a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). She’s also the author of the picture book SUCH A LIBRARY! which School Library Journal called an absolute delight, and the author of five independently published picture books that have been developed into animated adventures for Page Turner's Adventure Library, an online subscription program for families, schools, libraries, and theaters. In addition to her work with Page Turner Adventures, Jill is the KidVision Producer for South Florida PBS where she develops original educational programming for kids and occasionally appears as her alter ego Storyologist Page Turner.