Dreaming About Writing a Children's Book? A New Online Community Will Help Make Your Dream a Reality

Ft Collins, CO, Feb 17, 2009 (PressReleasePoint) - They call themselves the Fightin' Bookworms. They are more than 3,000 strong and they have one goal in common: becoming successful authors of children's books. And they're creating quite a ruckus in the writing community.

They are the members of The CBI Clubhouse, the members-only community that launched in January and has become one of the most talked-about publishing related sites on the web. Packed with video, audio, ebooks, articles, messaging and much more, The CBI Clubhouse takes the daunting task of learning how to craft and submit children's book manuscripts and turns it into an exciting -- and attainable -- quest.

The site is the brainchild of Jon Bard and Laura Backes, co-founders of Children's Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children's Writers. Since 1990, Bard and Backes have taught thousands of ordinary people how to get started writing children's books. Now, with this interactive and member-driven site, they have given voice to the wide, and often wild, array of talent in the children's writing field. The vibe is upbeat, supportive and irreverent and, based on the feedback evident on the site's public "graffiti wall", a huge hit. (You can view the unedited wall for yourself at http://cbiclubhouse.com/sign-the-wall.)

All genres of picture books are discussed and taught about on the site, from picture books and easy readers straight through to teen and young adult novels. The site features interviews with top authors, video Q&A sessions, audio podcasts, webinars and much, much more.

And the cost? About the price of a single mocha latte each month. And that includes a subscription to the Children's Book Insider ?newsletter in addition to site access.

"The goal was to give people an extraordinary amount of information and access to a huge number of fellow writers for support and camaraderie, and to charge as little as we possibly could while still putting food in our dog's dish," Bard said. "The folks are flocking here and the dog's not going hungry, so it's all good."

Think you have what it takes to be a Fightin' Bookworm? Head over to http://cbiclubhouse.com and check it out for yourself.

# # #

Since 1990, Children's Book Insider has helped thousands of people embark on careers as children's book writers. CBI is headquarted in Fort Collins, Colorado and is run by the husband and wife team of Jon Bard and Laura Backes. For more information about Jon, Laura and CBI, visit http://write4kids.com.