Thursday, October 29, 2009
Character Inspiration, Part 4
Are you writing a middle-grade or young adult story with female protagonists dealing with self-esteem issues? For an intriguing source of real girls talking about beauty and self-esteem, look at Dove's campaign for Real Beauty at http://www.dove.us/#/cfrb/ . The Reality Diaries they posted two years ago were great (gone now, what a shame), featuring compelling video from young adults that was both heartbreaking and inspiring. The current campaign leans towards the younger set. For provoking thought on the beauty and self-esteem subject, watch the videos "Evolution" and "Onslaught" http://www.dove.us/#/features/videos/default.aspx[cp-documentid=7049579]/. "Evolution" TOTALLY makes me think of Scott Westerfield's "Pretties" series. Scary.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Character Inspiration, Part 3
For a truly inspiring young adult character, go here: http://tavi-thenewgirlintown.blogspot.com/ to see the ever interesting Tavi Gevinson. She's thirteen and she blogs about fashion- even skipping school to go to NYC Fashion Week!!! Someone, please, write a book about a character like her- I wanna read it, and I'm too lazy to write it. How cool is she? If you're thinking she's a Gossip Girl wannabe, think again- she is 100% unique, and not what you expect. For a taste of her unbelievable realness check out her dance video on 10/9/09 to ABBA.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Character Inspiration, Part 2
People of Wal Mart. Looking for a freaky neighbor/crazy science teacher/carny to interact with your character? Look no further. This is no celebration of individual fashion, it's a "satirical social commentary of the extraordinary sights found at America’s favorite store". Random stealth photos taken of patrons of the mass merchandising giant end-up here. Hysterically funny, revolting, horrifying - you can't tear your eyes away. As you might imagine, this site is not for those who are easily offended.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Character Inspiration, Part 1
We all know that reality is the best place to find characters for fiction, but what to do as a writer when you spend most of your day sitting at home glued to a computer? When your only human contact in a day may consist of "do you want fries with that?" and "sign here, please", you can spot your protagonist, villain or other supporting characters in photo blogs on the web. I will post some interesting resources in this next series of posts starting with:
The Sartorialist I am an armchair fashionista - like many a football fan, I partake from the sidelines having neither the physical attributes nor the stamina (or bank account) to actually participate. The Sartorialist, a fashion photo blog meant to "showcase the wonderful and varied sartorial tastes of real people", fills my fashion cravings with photos of real people, gives me vague hopes of fashion redemption, and provides interesting people to turn into characters. Yes, many of the people are young, pretty, thin adults (many make me think of Scott Westerfield's character, Tally). But there are also those who are older, have intriguing faces or are even (gasp!) pleasingly plump. They may not be kids, but with every person I look at, I wonder what they do for a living, why they wear what they wear, and how they would relate to a child. As of August 2009, Scott Schuman (he who IS the blog) had a book published, so you can thumb though and have a copy for your writing reference shelf.
The Sartorialist I am an armchair fashionista - like many a football fan, I partake from the sidelines having neither the physical attributes nor the stamina (or bank account) to actually participate. The Sartorialist, a fashion photo blog meant to "showcase the wonderful and varied sartorial tastes of real people", fills my fashion cravings with photos of real people, gives me vague hopes of fashion redemption, and provides interesting people to turn into characters. Yes, many of the people are young, pretty, thin adults (many make me think of Scott Westerfield's character, Tally). But there are also those who are older, have intriguing faces or are even (gasp!) pleasingly plump. They may not be kids, but with every person I look at, I wonder what they do for a living, why they wear what they wear, and how they would relate to a child. As of August 2009, Scott Schuman (he who IS the blog) had a book published, so you can thumb though and have a copy for your writing reference shelf.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Elana Roth Wrap Up
I frequently say (more like ALWAYS say) that this is a business of opinion. Seems like we as writers often forget this. Do you love every book that has ever been published? Do you read every genre? Of course not, and editors and agents are people like us, and therefore, no different. They have opinions and preferences, likes and dislikes.
This was readily apparent in Elana's "Be An Agent for a Day" presentation. She took twenty real query letters she has received (identifying info. removed), including some from authors whose books she decided to rep and sold and she gave us fifteen minutes (!!) to read them and pick six we would follow-up on. This technique was borrowed from Nathan Bransford by her own admission, and it was an eye-opener.
Once you've read through an agent's eyes for even only fifteen minutes, you get how sometimes arbitrary the selection process is. In our group of twenty some odd participants, we were all over the board in terms of opinion, and were also surprised at what Elana revealed to be letters that caused her to request more samples.
For me, this was both depressing and hopeful. Sometimes a submission may be the sixth or sixteenth or six hundredth "whatever you think makes your story unique" story that the agent has seen, and she's just plain tired of them. Or maybe she's just plain tired- you know how things all seem uninteresting when all you want to do is sleep? Yikes! Yet sometimes, despite the query letter having a high degree of suckiness, some little thing tickles an agent into requesting more info. Woo-hoo!
My point is, this is a subjective business. This may work in your favor or not. Get used to it, get rejection, get over it and try again.
This was readily apparent in Elana's "Be An Agent for a Day" presentation. She took twenty real query letters she has received (identifying info. removed), including some from authors whose books she decided to rep and sold and she gave us fifteen minutes (!!) to read them and pick six we would follow-up on. This technique was borrowed from Nathan Bransford by her own admission, and it was an eye-opener.
Once you've read through an agent's eyes for even only fifteen minutes, you get how sometimes arbitrary the selection process is. In our group of twenty some odd participants, we were all over the board in terms of opinion, and were also surprised at what Elana revealed to be letters that caused her to request more samples.
For me, this was both depressing and hopeful. Sometimes a submission may be the sixth or sixteenth or six hundredth "whatever you think makes your story unique" story that the agent has seen, and she's just plain tired of them. Or maybe she's just plain tired- you know how things all seem uninteresting when all you want to do is sleep? Yikes! Yet sometimes, despite the query letter having a high degree of suckiness, some little thing tickles an agent into requesting more info. Woo-hoo!
My point is, this is a subjective business. This may work in your favor or not. Get used to it, get rejection, get over it and try again.
Friday, October 2, 2009
NaNo Hamlet
It's that time of year! National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) will be here in less than 30 days, and any interested writer needs to decide in that time to do or not to do.
A writer friend feels the way that I do-the "years participated" section of a NaNoWriMo profile looks neat and tidy if there is a pattern-consecutive years, every other year, two years on, one year off... Of course, this means I have to do the first or the last, as I have now completed it two years in a row. It's silly, but there it is.
I can't decide.
On one hand, I'm a firm believer in Anne Lamott and Stephen King's "sh#tty first draft" theory of writing, and NaNoWriMo is a great way to unload those burdensome ideas that clog up my brain.
On the other, I don't have a particular story in mind this year-a first. And once I start NaNoWriMo, I must finish it.
Do I face a blank page without any ideas on November 1st, or do I take a year off?
Thoughts?
A writer friend feels the way that I do-the "years participated" section of a NaNoWriMo profile looks neat and tidy if there is a pattern-consecutive years, every other year, two years on, one year off... Of course, this means I have to do the first or the last, as I have now completed it two years in a row. It's silly, but there it is.
I can't decide.
On one hand, I'm a firm believer in Anne Lamott and Stephen King's "sh#tty first draft" theory of writing, and NaNoWriMo is a great way to unload those burdensome ideas that clog up my brain.
On the other, I don't have a particular story in mind this year-a first. And once I start NaNoWriMo, I must finish it.
Do I face a blank page without any ideas on November 1st, or do I take a year off?
Thoughts?
Monday, September 7, 2009
Elana Roth, Literary Agent
I promised information on Elana Roth, and here are the links to get you started until I can write a post about hearing her speak at SCBWI Western WA events this week.
Profile on agent query: http://agentquery.com/agent.aspx?agentid=1027
Her own blog: http://elanaroth.com/
Caren Johnson Literary Agency blog: http://www.johnsonliterary.com/blog
Insider info from one of her local clients, David Patneaude on the SCBWI Western WA blog: http://chinookupdate.blogspot.com/2009/08/getting-to-know-elana-roth-and-david.html
Q&A on Joelle Anthony's blog March 26, 2008: http://joelleanthony.com/uncategorized/qa-with-elana-roth/
Interview on Alice's CWIM blog January 26, 2009: http://cwim.blogspot.com/2009/01/agent-interview-elana-roth.html#links
Follow her on Twitter.com: http://twitter.com/elanaroth
And if you are really nosy with time on your hands:
Check out her pottery: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7348580
Her photostream on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elanaroth/
Profile on agent query: http://agentquery.com/agent.aspx?agentid=1027
Her own blog: http://elanaroth.com/
Caren Johnson Literary Agency blog: http://www.johnsonliterary.com/blog
Insider info from one of her local clients, David Patneaude on the SCBWI Western WA blog: http://chinookupdate.blogspot.com/2009/08/getting-to-know-elana-roth-and-david.html
Q&A on Joelle Anthony's blog March 26, 2008: http://joelleanthony.com/uncategorized/qa-with-elana-roth/
Interview on Alice's CWIM blog January 26, 2009: http://cwim.blogspot.com/2009/01/agent-interview-elana-roth.html#links
Follow her on Twitter.com: http://twitter.com/elanaroth
And if you are really nosy with time on your hands:
Check out her pottery: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7348580
Her photostream on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elanaroth/
Thursday, September 3, 2009
The Queen of England Judges a Book by the Cover
At the bookstore, the Queen of England (see profile on the right for explanation), who is picture-book age, determined that she wanted a particular book to come home with her. A young adult book.
I was so worried about appropriateness of content after noting the trendy cover art, that I didn't even read the title. I offered her ANY picture book she wanted. Nope. When I asked her what she wanted, she said it must be blue, it must have pink hearts on it. And it must have swirly letters. This, of course, was what the YA book looked like.
I went back to eyeball it, and the heavens parted and angels sang, for lo, it was Fifteen by Beverly Cleary. A book I remember from my pre-teen years as being pretty tame, and especially so when compared with some of the edgier works that grace the YA shelves these days. It came home with us- I figure she can read it later when age appropriate.
But what sticks with me is that this was a good reminder about how people select books. Despite what we all want to think- that the hook we work so hard to craft in that first sentence will grab a reader-much of book sales rely on capturing a reader's attention before they even read a word. Covers are generally not transparent, so something other than your words has to convince a person to pick-up the book first.
You put a lot of thought into what goes between the covers, but someone else is going to create what goes on the outside to entice a reader. A lot is conveyed in cover art, and it is usually designed to appeal to the book's target audience. Ever notice how genre book covers have certain similarities? Don't believe me? Go check- wander those aisles and examine color and font and cover art. All those visual cues lead up to what a person will initially think your book might be about. Can you guess what yours should (or might) look like, based on what you see?
Children's and YA covers and book design on Jacket Whys , Jacket Knack, Mishaps and Adventures, Apple and the Egg
The NY Times Book Design Review
And a last thought: Reader customizable covers? What would you put on the cover of classics? Look at My Penguin!
I was so worried about appropriateness of content after noting the trendy cover art, that I didn't even read the title. I offered her ANY picture book she wanted. Nope. When I asked her what she wanted, she said it must be blue, it must have pink hearts on it. And it must have swirly letters. This, of course, was what the YA book looked like.
I went back to eyeball it, and the heavens parted and angels sang, for lo, it was Fifteen by Beverly Cleary. A book I remember from my pre-teen years as being pretty tame, and especially so when compared with some of the edgier works that grace the YA shelves these days. It came home with us- I figure she can read it later when age appropriate.
But what sticks with me is that this was a good reminder about how people select books. Despite what we all want to think- that the hook we work so hard to craft in that first sentence will grab a reader-much of book sales rely on capturing a reader's attention before they even read a word. Covers are generally not transparent, so something other than your words has to convince a person to pick-up the book first.
You put a lot of thought into what goes between the covers, but someone else is going to create what goes on the outside to entice a reader. A lot is conveyed in cover art, and it is usually designed to appeal to the book's target audience. Ever notice how genre book covers have certain similarities? Don't believe me? Go check- wander those aisles and examine color and font and cover art. All those visual cues lead up to what a person will initially think your book might be about. Can you guess what yours should (or might) look like, based on what you see?
I love how some trends show-up on so many books, you have to wonder how any one of those books stands out. I'm sure there is a good dose of circadian mimicry- one look worked, so other books in that genre that come along should try and grab the same attention.
I also find horror stories about covers interesting. We've all heard about the book with a character of one race, showing a different race on the cover, or a different physical look (she's supposed to have long red hair, not short blond!) or a cover that screams romance when the story inside is really more sci-fi/fantasy.
Check out book cover websites and blogs for information on cover art and book design, and ponder what your book's look might be:
Children's and YA covers and book design on Jacket Whys , Jacket Knack, Mishaps and Adventures, Apple and the Egg
The NY Times Book Design Review
And a last thought: Reader customizable covers? What would you put on the cover of classics? Look at My Penguin!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Literally Light a Fire to Finish Your Work in Progress?
Much like lovers in love with the idea of being in love, some writers (a LOT of the ones I know, OK, fine, me, too, sometimes) appear to be not in love with writing, but in love with being a writer with writer angst. When we gather, whining commences about characters not doing what we set out to do, or having writer's block, or being uninspired. It's just a rite of passage- apparently, you are officially labeled a "real" writer when you have writerly issues. And you discuss them loudly with other writers.
So here it is in a very public way. I do not need more ideas or story starters. I've never had writer's block. My writing problem (ahem) is finishing my own works when I have no deadline or monetary compulsion to do so. I meet or come in early on deadlines given by clients and editors, but on my own projects, not so much. Books and sources for revising works abound, but I have been looking for resources (free ones) with suggestions on how to finish a work in progress first draft, in my current case, one of my novel manuscripts. Thought I'd share some links with you.
To start you off, an amusing quiz from Writer's Digest:
http://www.writersdigest.com/article/?p_ArticleId=5126
Useful tidbits and help from children's author Holly Lisle:
http://hollylisle.com/fm/Articles/wc2-3.html
Anne Lamott's shi##y first draft method does not work for children's author Linda Sue Park- see what does in this transcript on Verla Kay's website:
http://www.verlakay.com/Pages/139FinishingANovel.html
If all else fails, burn your house down. Author Timothy Hallinan's thoughts and useful information- he was moved to finish things when his house burned down with his WIP and backups in it:
http://www.timothyhallinan.com/writers.php
And if you need someone to tell it like it is, try author Kristy Kiernan's blogpost:
http://kristykiernan.blogspot.com/2009/05/on-finishing-your-novel.html
So here it is in a very public way. I do not need more ideas or story starters. I've never had writer's block. My writing problem (ahem) is finishing my own works when I have no deadline or monetary compulsion to do so. I meet or come in early on deadlines given by clients and editors, but on my own projects, not so much. Books and sources for revising works abound, but I have been looking for resources (free ones) with suggestions on how to finish a work in progress first draft, in my current case, one of my novel manuscripts. Thought I'd share some links with you.
To start you off, an amusing quiz from Writer's Digest:
http://www.writersdigest.com/article/?p_ArticleId=5126
Useful tidbits and help from children's author Holly Lisle:
http://hollylisle.com/fm/Articles/wc2-3.html
Anne Lamott's shi##y first draft method does not work for children's author Linda Sue Park- see what does in this transcript on Verla Kay's website:
http://www.verlakay.com/Pages/139FinishingANovel.html
If all else fails, burn your house down. Author Timothy Hallinan's thoughts and useful information- he was moved to finish things when his house burned down with his WIP and backups in it:
http://www.timothyhallinan.com/writers.php
And if you need someone to tell it like it is, try author Kristy Kiernan's blogpost:
http://kristykiernan.blogspot.com/2009/05/on-finishing-your-novel.html
Monday, August 3, 2009
Insert Ad Here
The Seattle Times ran a piece yesterday from columnist Danny Westneat discussing the fact that three technologists from Amazon filed last month for a patent for technology that embeds ads in e-books. Check it out at : http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannywestneat/2009584124_danny02.html
If you really want to read it, check out the application here at the Patent Office: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=1&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=20090171750&OS=20090171750&RS=20090171750
If you really want to read it, check out the application here at the Patent Office: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=1&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=20090171750&OS=20090171750&RS=20090171750
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Geordi Brings the Smackdown! or Near Death Experience + Years of Kid Lit Experience = "The Rainbow F#@%ing Fish!"
We frequently hear about how children's book editors dislike books with agendas or outright "lessons to teach". They aren't the only ones.
LeVar Burton, the host of the Reading Rainbow television show on PBS (or depending on your age and TV-viewing preferences, Geordi from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Kunta Kinte from Roots, or even that guy from The $10,000 Pyramid- my personal favorite-what can I say, I'm old), recently commented on books for the "worst/most overrated" children's book list on The American Scene.com . Side note: When you follow that link, be prepared for some serious ripping on various well-known pieces of kid lit with some long flaming and replies, particularly about The Giving Tree, including comments from Shel Silverstein's mom (or are they?).
Scan down to July 21st, 2:05 am, and find the comments from Mr. Burton after another commenter suggested The Rainbow Fish be added to the list, to remind yourself that there are people out there who read kid lit and think seriously about the messages sent in a story, whether implied or openly stated.
Mr. Burton's comments are dated about a week after he was injured in a five car crash in West Los Angeles, but I'm betting that had little bearing on his passionate response. His first comment is snarkier (the one that starts with {eep!} "The rainbow f#@%ing fish!.."), his second has the same message but in a more scholarly form, and the American Library Association's advocates for intellectual freedom will be pleased to see in that second post that he wouldn't ban any books from any islands. If you think Mr. Burton's assessment is harsh, check the reviews of the book on Amazon.com. Look familiar? After at least twenty-five years of children's reading advocacy, Mr. Burton surely knows what he is talking about.
The message for us as writers? Kid's books DO send messages. What does yours say?
LeVar Burton, the host of the Reading Rainbow television show on PBS (or depending on your age and TV-viewing preferences, Geordi from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Kunta Kinte from Roots, or even that guy from The $10,000 Pyramid- my personal favorite-what can I say, I'm old), recently commented on books for the "worst/most overrated" children's book list on The American Scene.com . Side note: When you follow that link, be prepared for some serious ripping on various well-known pieces of kid lit with some long flaming and replies, particularly about The Giving Tree, including comments from Shel Silverstein's mom (or are they?).
Scan down to July 21st, 2:05 am, and find the comments from Mr. Burton after another commenter suggested The Rainbow Fish be added to the list, to remind yourself that there are people out there who read kid lit and think seriously about the messages sent in a story, whether implied or openly stated.
Mr. Burton's comments are dated about a week after he was injured in a five car crash in West Los Angeles, but I'm betting that had little bearing on his passionate response. His first comment is snarkier (the one that starts with {eep!} "The rainbow f#@%ing fish!.."), his second has the same message but in a more scholarly form, and the American Library Association's advocates for intellectual freedom will be pleased to see in that second post that he wouldn't ban any books from any islands. If you think Mr. Burton's assessment is harsh, check the reviews of the book on Amazon.com. Look familiar? After at least twenty-five years of children's reading advocacy, Mr. Burton surely knows what he is talking about.
The message for us as writers? Kid's books DO send messages. What does yours say?
Fall Programming Is Set- Time to Renew or Join SCBWI Western Washington
Fall is on it's way, and with it, a whole new year of SCBWI Western Washington offerings View speakers and opportunities to have your work viewed by publishing pros here.
We'll kick-off fall with chances to meet with and learn from Elana Roth, agent with Caren Johnson Literary Agency in limited space paid sessions in addition the usual presentation. I'll post more links from the web about her in a later post.
One of the other extra opportunities is from Gergory K. Pincus, screenwriter (Little Big League and movies for ABC, NBC, the Disney Channel among other credits), poet, guy who has a middle grade novel, The 14 Fabulous Fibs of Gregory K. under contract with Arthur A. Levine, and man who loves social media.
His own site: http://www.thehappyaccident.net/
His blog: http://gottabook.blogspot.com/
He's a contributor on: http://guyslitwire.blogspot.com/
His profile on IMDB: http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0683912/ if you want to see more film/TV credits
Should you search for him on the web, do not confuse him with endocrinologist Gregory Goodwin Pincus, the now deceased scientist to created the Pill.
We'll kick-off fall with chances to meet with and learn from Elana Roth, agent with Caren Johnson Literary Agency in limited space paid sessions in addition the usual presentation. I'll post more links from the web about her in a later post.
One of the other extra opportunities is from Gergory K. Pincus, screenwriter (Little Big League and movies for ABC, NBC, the Disney Channel among other credits), poet, guy who has a middle grade novel, The 14 Fabulous Fibs of Gregory K. under contract with Arthur A. Levine, and man who loves social media.
His own site: http://www.thehappyaccident.net/
His blog: http://gottabook.blogspot.com/
He's a contributor on: http://guyslitwire.blogspot.com/
His profile on IMDB: http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0683912/ if you want to see more film/TV credits
Should you search for him on the web, do not confuse him with endocrinologist Gregory Goodwin Pincus, the now deceased scientist to created the Pill.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Young Adult Steampunk Fantasy- or Why the Network WORKS
Two lawyers walk into a bar...
and talk about their friends and families. One lawyer describes how her foolish but creative sister-in-law is writing YA fantasy novels, and the other mentions she has a friend whose first YA fantasy novel was just released. The second lawyer e-mails the info. on a book event to the first lawyer, who sends it to her sister-in-law. The sister-in-law is intrigued by the website already set-up to support the book, as it appeals to her fascination for all things steampunk. Even though she cannot make it to the signing, she will buy the book.
The Lesson: the networking thing works.
I haunt the YA shelves in bookstores, but if it weren't for two lawyers chatting, I would not have known about the steampunk fantasy, Eyes Like Stars http://theatre-illuminata.com/ the week it hit the shelves.
Your personal network is a powerful asset. Use it!
(Oh, and it wasn't a bar, and the lawyer is very supportive of her writer sister-in-law. : )
and talk about their friends and families. One lawyer describes how her foolish but creative sister-in-law is writing YA fantasy novels, and the other mentions she has a friend whose first YA fantasy novel was just released. The second lawyer e-mails the info. on a book event to the first lawyer, who sends it to her sister-in-law. The sister-in-law is intrigued by the website already set-up to support the book, as it appeals to her fascination for all things steampunk. Even though she cannot make it to the signing, she will buy the book.
The Lesson: the networking thing works.
I haunt the YA shelves in bookstores, but if it weren't for two lawyers chatting, I would not have known about the steampunk fantasy, Eyes Like Stars http://theatre-illuminata.com/ the week it hit the shelves.
Your personal network is a powerful asset. Use it!
(Oh, and it wasn't a bar, and the lawyer is very supportive of her writer sister-in-law. : )
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Business Hydra 1, Jazz Cat Manuscript 0
I've listened to a lot of grousing from artists and writers alike about craft versus commerce, but for me as a newbie, it's a no-brainer. My family cannot exist on Top Ramen alone, I have no skill in the area of "suffering" for my art, and I would like to have something published before I have to depend on Depends. Writing in a vacuum and ignoring the market would kill my budding career.
I have been debating which of my projects get my time and which will sit. A NaNoWriMo novel whose first page garnered an "I'd read more" from both an agent and an editor at the SCBWI Spring Conference gets top billing, but I need something else to work on in between marathon bouts with the novel.
I ran most of my more interesting works past both of my critique groups to gauge reactions, and all met with positive interest, so it comes down to the reality of marketability.
My inner business geek reared her misshapen many-headed hydra self from the dark recesses of my mind, and snapped teeth at my jazz cat story. The heads hissed, "It's taking up precious time that could be spent on a more marketable work!" "Maybe later when you are actually published!" and "Feed me Seymour- Hey! Is that Brendan Fraser?"
After wiping the drool off of the floor from head number three, I have put the jazz cat to bed for now.
RIP
I have been debating which of my projects get my time and which will sit. A NaNoWriMo novel whose first page garnered an "I'd read more" from both an agent and an editor at the SCBWI Spring Conference gets top billing, but I need something else to work on in between marathon bouts with the novel.
I ran most of my more interesting works past both of my critique groups to gauge reactions, and all met with positive interest, so it comes down to the reality of marketability.
My inner business geek reared her misshapen many-headed hydra self from the dark recesses of my mind, and snapped teeth at my jazz cat story. The heads hissed, "It's taking up precious time that could be spent on a more marketable work!" "Maybe later when you are actually published!" and "Feed me Seymour- Hey! Is that Brendan Fraser?"
After wiping the drool off of the floor from head number three, I have put the jazz cat to bed for now.
RIP
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Editor - Krista Marino
Post Western Washington SCBWI Spring Conference 2009 :
These notes are from material I found on-line, a one-on-one critique of one of a work-in-progress, and any other information gleaned from the opening panel of presenters at the conference.
Krista is a San Diego native, where she began her career as an editorial assistant at Harcourt Children's Books, working for Michael Stearns (see post from last week on agents from the Spring SCBWI conference). She continued working at Harcourt in New York, and moved on to became an associate editor at Delacorte Press (part of Random House Books for Young Readers). Her title at Delacorte these days is Senior Editor. Oh, yeah, and there's this little ting about being named SCBWI Member of the Year in 2006...
Krista's just looking to fall in love with a middle grade/young adult story. She doesn't do cute- she's more on the darker edge of fiction (she has not been buying much of lighter fare lately), but she does like works with comedy in them. She prefers quality over quantity. As many of the works she's edited in the last few years are trilogies or series, she is now looking for amazing stand-alone books.
Some acquisitions from the last six to nine months:
Books in the Celebutante series sold by agent Michael Bourret
Kiss My Book sold by agent Michael Bourret
Carrie Ryan's next YA novel by agent Jim McCarthy
Victoria Laurie's next two YA novels by agent Jim McCarthy
Maze Runner series by James Dashner by agent Michael Bourret
Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (both of the above mentioned agents work there) seem to have a lot of success selling Krista what she wants to see.
Some recent or soon to be released books:
Forest of Hand and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (agent Jim McCarthy)
As I type, I have a ticket to a nice warm place for a two week vacation burning a hole in my pocket (although by the time you read this, I will already be there and blogger "scheduled posts" will be posting this for me), and I am running-out of time to aggregate information, so here are the places I found Krista Marino on the web:
From Alice's CWIM blog
A couple of posts including paraphrased notes on the "best way to run a career" from a speaker panel in 2007, and Krista's thoughts on writing for teen boys in 2006.
Shelli's faeriality.blogspot.com:
An interview with Krista in February 2009 on marketing advice and her publishing house.
SCBWI-AZ The Journey interview in 2007:
An interview with Krista from 2007
And, if you are SCBWI International member, you can access the full transcript of a moderated chat by Stephen Mooser with Krista Marino in 2006. It's nice and lengthy with lots of information.
My critique session with her was great. Given that my meeting with her was in the last hour or so of the conference before the last keynote speaker, she was still alert, kind and thoughtful for the ten minutes we had. She has edited a number of YA novels in my general genre with styles that I thought were similar to mine, and I was curious to see how she would react to the voice in the work in progress that I did for NaNoWriMo 2008. I actually did not get a chance to run the piece by my two critique groups until after the deadline to submit the pieces for the manuscript consultations, so what she saw was pre-critique group. Her reaction to the voice and humor were positive, and she provided some excellent criticism that will help guide my revisions, and also showed that my critique pals' suggestions were on the mark and the changes I've already done are in the right direction.
If you get the chance, and your work is in the right arena for what she likes to read and edit, I highly recommend a manuscript consultation with her.
That's it for now, and this concludes my posts on editors and agents from the conference.
These notes are from material I found on-line, a one-on-one critique of one of a work-in-progress, and any other information gleaned from the opening panel of presenters at the conference.
Krista is a San Diego native, where she began her career as an editorial assistant at Harcourt Children's Books, working for Michael Stearns (see post from last week on agents from the Spring SCBWI conference). She continued working at Harcourt in New York, and moved on to became an associate editor at Delacorte Press (part of Random House Books for Young Readers). Her title at Delacorte these days is Senior Editor. Oh, yeah, and there's this little ting about being named SCBWI Member of the Year in 2006...
Krista's just looking to fall in love with a middle grade/young adult story. She doesn't do cute- she's more on the darker edge of fiction (she has not been buying much of lighter fare lately), but she does like works with comedy in them. She prefers quality over quantity. As many of the works she's edited in the last few years are trilogies or series, she is now looking for amazing stand-alone books.
Some acquisitions from the last six to nine months:
Books in the Celebutante series sold by agent Michael Bourret
Kiss My Book sold by agent Michael Bourret
Carrie Ryan's next YA novel by agent Jim McCarthy
Victoria Laurie's next two YA novels by agent Jim McCarthy
Maze Runner series by James Dashner by agent Michael Bourret
Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (both of the above mentioned agents work there) seem to have a lot of success selling Krista what she wants to see.
Some recent or soon to be released books:
Forest of Hand and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (agent Jim McCarthy)
As I type, I have a ticket to a nice warm place for a two week vacation burning a hole in my pocket (although by the time you read this, I will already be there and blogger "scheduled posts" will be posting this for me), and I am running-out of time to aggregate information, so here are the places I found Krista Marino on the web:
From Alice's CWIM blog
A couple of posts including paraphrased notes on the "best way to run a career" from a speaker panel in 2007, and Krista's thoughts on writing for teen boys in 2006.
Shelli's faeriality.blogspot.com:
An interview with Krista in February 2009 on marketing advice and her publishing house.
SCBWI-AZ The Journey interview in 2007:
An interview with Krista from 2007
And, if you are SCBWI International member, you can access the full transcript of a moderated chat by Stephen Mooser with Krista Marino in 2006. It's nice and lengthy with lots of information.
My critique session with her was great. Given that my meeting with her was in the last hour or so of the conference before the last keynote speaker, she was still alert, kind and thoughtful for the ten minutes we had. She has edited a number of YA novels in my general genre with styles that I thought were similar to mine, and I was curious to see how she would react to the voice in the work in progress that I did for NaNoWriMo 2008. I actually did not get a chance to run the piece by my two critique groups until after the deadline to submit the pieces for the manuscript consultations, so what she saw was pre-critique group. Her reaction to the voice and humor were positive, and she provided some excellent criticism that will help guide my revisions, and also showed that my critique pals' suggestions were on the mark and the changes I've already done are in the right direction.
If you get the chance, and your work is in the right arena for what she likes to read and edit, I highly recommend a manuscript consultation with her.
That's it for now, and this concludes my posts on editors and agents from the conference.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Editor - Connie Hsu
Post Western Washington SCBWI Spring Conference 2009
These notes are from information I picked-up from attending sessions from this editor.
Connie Hsu is an assistant editor at Little, Brown and Company Books for Young Readers (referred to hereafter as LB) which is a group within Hachette Book Group USA, and home to Stephanie Meyer (you know, Twilight). LB is known for being more commercially driven, more about the best sellers.
They are always looking for more multicultural books, and they are a little concerned that although young adult paranormal and fantasy books are still popular, the market may be saturated. They are looking for romance - commercial, beachy reads. They already have vampires and ghosts. In picture books, the more character driven picture books are doing well.
LB has moved to a paperless submission process, and only accepts submissions that are agented, editor-requested or are Hachette employee referrals. The editors use e-readers.
A "no" to a manuscript from one editor at LB is a no from the whole house. And once a manuscript is declined by an editor there, it is a wholesale NO on that work unless they ask for revisions. So make sure you (or your agent) really know what an individual editor wants.
The LB submission process is very selective and they have a long string of steps that includes two committees a manuscript must pass before being acquired. Since the beginning of this year, Connie has received over 200 submissions. Of those, she has only taken ten to the initial committee of editors that have the power as a group to accept or reject a manuscript. On two of those works she had spent a lot of time working with the author to revise over a course of months.
None of them made it past the committee to be acquired.
Thus far, she has only actually acquired two books overall.
This editor is pretty funny in person. She says she takes everything- picture books to young adult, but not as many picture books- she only likes them if they are about dead animals. She claims she likes the morbid and the strange, and that she is "young, hungry and completely weird".
She says that the e-book market is indeed growing, but that it will not affect picture books much due to the nature of picture books. She does think, though, that it may affect paperback sales.
Connie says alphabet and counting books are uphill battles- the more elements you add on make it even harder to do right, because they are for three-year-olds, so sophistication and too many elements don't speak to that audience.
She generally likes alliteration, but watch out for starting a picture book for example, with a lot of hard consonants in a row- difficult to read.
She loves it when animals talk about their humans. And speaking of animals, in picture books, she likes real 100% true animal stories- Marley and Me, Chowder, but not so much fiction starring animals.
Connie will look at a manuscript no matter what. If it is not for her, but she thinks the writing is strong, she may take it down the hall to a co-worker.
In queries, Connie thinks you should be able to describe your book in 200 words or less.
She does not care as much about plot, story and concept- she cares about the writing. If she likes the voice and talent, she'll ask for more.
Next time: Krista Marino
These notes are from information I picked-up from attending sessions from this editor.
Connie Hsu is an assistant editor at Little, Brown and Company Books for Young Readers (referred to hereafter as LB) which is a group within Hachette Book Group USA, and home to Stephanie Meyer (you know, Twilight). LB is known for being more commercially driven, more about the best sellers.
They are always looking for more multicultural books, and they are a little concerned that although young adult paranormal and fantasy books are still popular, the market may be saturated. They are looking for romance - commercial, beachy reads. They already have vampires and ghosts. In picture books, the more character driven picture books are doing well.
LB has moved to a paperless submission process, and only accepts submissions that are agented, editor-requested or are Hachette employee referrals. The editors use e-readers.
A "no" to a manuscript from one editor at LB is a no from the whole house. And once a manuscript is declined by an editor there, it is a wholesale NO on that work unless they ask for revisions. So make sure you (or your agent) really know what an individual editor wants.
The LB submission process is very selective and they have a long string of steps that includes two committees a manuscript must pass before being acquired. Since the beginning of this year, Connie has received over 200 submissions. Of those, she has only taken ten to the initial committee of editors that have the power as a group to accept or reject a manuscript. On two of those works she had spent a lot of time working with the author to revise over a course of months.
None of them made it past the committee to be acquired.
Thus far, she has only actually acquired two books overall.
This editor is pretty funny in person. She says she takes everything- picture books to young adult, but not as many picture books- she only likes them if they are about dead animals. She claims she likes the morbid and the strange, and that she is "young, hungry and completely weird".
She says that the e-book market is indeed growing, but that it will not affect picture books much due to the nature of picture books. She does think, though, that it may affect paperback sales.
Connie says alphabet and counting books are uphill battles- the more elements you add on make it even harder to do right, because they are for three-year-olds, so sophistication and too many elements don't speak to that audience.
She generally likes alliteration, but watch out for starting a picture book for example, with a lot of hard consonants in a row- difficult to read.
She loves it when animals talk about their humans. And speaking of animals, in picture books, she likes real 100% true animal stories- Marley and Me, Chowder, but not so much fiction starring animals.
Connie will look at a manuscript no matter what. If it is not for her, but she thinks the writing is strong, she may take it down the hall to a co-worker.
In queries, Connie thinks you should be able to describe your book in 200 words or less.
She does not care as much about plot, story and concept- she cares about the writing. If she likes the voice and talent, she'll ask for more.
Next time: Krista Marino
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Editor - Joelle Dujardin
Post Western Washington SCBWI Spring Conference 2009:
These notes are blurbs of information I picked-up from attending sessions from this editor.
There are a number of good interviews on the web with various editors from Highlights magazine, not to mention all the great information on submissions they put on their website, so I won't go into detail on those subjects. The focus here is on Joelle's preferences and thoughts and anything that I have not heard or read before, or gives an inside scoop on Highlights.
Joelle is Associate Editor at Highlights magazine, one of the best markets to try and place short works. After beginning her publishing career at Henry Holt and Company, she spent several years at Carus Publishing in both the Cricket Books and non-fiction magazines arena, before being moving to Highlights in late 2004. She edits fiction for independent readers, nonfiction for beginning readers, and verse.
At Highlights, they run manuscripts through ALL of the editors for comment, and (as is our entire industry) it is subjective. You may pass the same work before one editor at two different times and get differing opinions each time.
In Joelle's opinion, Highlights' intent is to be "not opposed to change, but not spear-heading it."
Reading the reader's mail part of the magazine will give you a lot of insight into the readers that Highlights serves.
Highlights buys all rights, but it is the Highlights custom (NOT expressed in contracts) to share rights with the author if they re-sell a piece to another market, like foreign rights. The split is generally 50%. Some authors have even made more money on pieces that Highlights re-sold multiple times than on a published book!
Highlights does a lot of non-fiction by subject matter experts, but they also do take works from people who interview the subject matter experts and write a great article. They like to see full back-up- get the experts to read and approve your article before sending it in. Also, it is a good idea to include ideas and material for sidebars or other angles kids can get out of the article. Kids want things that are relevant and usable. Make sure you give information organically, without a lot of exposition.
Highlights tends to avoid personifying animals or using their POV in non-fiction.
With science articles, they like to portray science as a self-correcting process, not just a body of facts. It is okay to show that we do not have all the answers, and that it is a learning process.
Highlights refers to their younger fiction as "Thirteen-point fiction", due to the type size they use for those pieces. Topics should not be too babyish , as they still have to please older readers (up to twelve years old).
In fiction submissions, Highlights likes to see all genres represented. Via the 2008 Highlights Fiction Contest, they discovered that sci-fi is a comfortable fit for Highlights. They are trying to branch-out and go for more variety, beyond "typical Highlights" stuff.
In the magazine, there are some mixed piece pages- even if something does not show a by-line, that does not preclude that type of material from being open to submission.
For fiction, Joelle personally likes it to bring her to another place, and she would rather see too much than too little in terms of variety of submissions. Leaving a story synopsis ending hanging in your cover letter is okay with her (not required or preferred, just okay if that is the way you want to write it), since she generally skims the cover letter and looks directly at the story.
Submissions are by snail-mail, but Joelle usually asks for revisions via e-mail.
Next time: Connie Hsu
These notes are blurbs of information I picked-up from attending sessions from this editor.
There are a number of good interviews on the web with various editors from Highlights magazine, not to mention all the great information on submissions they put on their website, so I won't go into detail on those subjects. The focus here is on Joelle's preferences and thoughts and anything that I have not heard or read before, or gives an inside scoop on Highlights.
Joelle is Associate Editor at Highlights magazine, one of the best markets to try and place short works. After beginning her publishing career at Henry Holt and Company, she spent several years at Carus Publishing in both the Cricket Books and non-fiction magazines arena, before being moving to Highlights in late 2004. She edits fiction for independent readers, nonfiction for beginning readers, and verse.
At Highlights, they run manuscripts through ALL of the editors for comment, and (as is our entire industry) it is subjective. You may pass the same work before one editor at two different times and get differing opinions each time.
In Joelle's opinion, Highlights' intent is to be "not opposed to change, but not spear-heading it."
Reading the reader's mail part of the magazine will give you a lot of insight into the readers that Highlights serves.
Highlights buys all rights, but it is the Highlights custom (NOT expressed in contracts) to share rights with the author if they re-sell a piece to another market, like foreign rights. The split is generally 50%. Some authors have even made more money on pieces that Highlights re-sold multiple times than on a published book!
Highlights does a lot of non-fiction by subject matter experts, but they also do take works from people who interview the subject matter experts and write a great article. They like to see full back-up- get the experts to read and approve your article before sending it in. Also, it is a good idea to include ideas and material for sidebars or other angles kids can get out of the article. Kids want things that are relevant and usable. Make sure you give information organically, without a lot of exposition.
Highlights tends to avoid personifying animals or using their POV in non-fiction.
With science articles, they like to portray science as a self-correcting process, not just a body of facts. It is okay to show that we do not have all the answers, and that it is a learning process.
Highlights refers to their younger fiction as "Thirteen-point fiction", due to the type size they use for those pieces. Topics should not be too babyish , as they still have to please older readers (up to twelve years old).
In fiction submissions, Highlights likes to see all genres represented. Via the 2008 Highlights Fiction Contest, they discovered that sci-fi is a comfortable fit for Highlights. They are trying to branch-out and go for more variety, beyond "typical Highlights" stuff.
In the magazine, there are some mixed piece pages- even if something does not show a by-line, that does not preclude that type of material from being open to submission.
For fiction, Joelle personally likes it to bring her to another place, and she would rather see too much than too little in terms of variety of submissions. Leaving a story synopsis ending hanging in your cover letter is okay with her (not required or preferred, just okay if that is the way you want to write it), since she generally skims the cover letter and looks directly at the story.
Submissions are by snail-mail, but Joelle usually asks for revisions via e-mail.
Next time: Connie Hsu
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Editor - Sarah Shumway
Post Western Washington SCBWI Spring Conference 2009 :
These notes are merely blurbs of information I picked-up from attending sessions from this editor. I'm presenting the editors from spring conference in the order of quantity of information, saving the editor with the most for last.
Sarah joined Katherine Tegen Books (an imprint at Harper Collins) six months ago, and is now building her own list. She is "wide open" for middle grade and young adult fiction. Literary, commercial - she wants to see it all.
I did not have a lot from her, so here is a great link to fill that gap. Laura Purdie Salas, a significantly published author, did an interview/workshop a few weeks back with the Institute of Children's Literature on finding markets for your manuscripts. The interview and answers are on-line, and she does such an excellent job of giving some nice basics for market research.
Next time: Joelle Dujardin
These notes are merely blurbs of information I picked-up from attending sessions from this editor. I'm presenting the editors from spring conference in the order of quantity of information, saving the editor with the most for last.
Sarah joined Katherine Tegen Books (an imprint at Harper Collins) six months ago, and is now building her own list. She is "wide open" for middle grade and young adult fiction. Literary, commercial - she wants to see it all.
I did not have a lot from her, so here is a great link to fill that gap. Laura Purdie Salas, a significantly published author, did an interview/workshop a few weeks back with the Institute of Children's Literature on finding markets for your manuscripts. The interview and answers are on-line, and she does such an excellent job of giving some nice basics for market research.
Next time: Joelle Dujardin
Friday, May 22, 2009
Literary Agent Update - Nathan Bransford
Post Western Washington SCBWI Spring Conference 2009 update:
I did not attend any sessions that featured Nathan as a speaker, but he did state in the opening panel that he is open to just about anything, except picture books and early readers, and that he'd rather see too much than too little.
For the next two weeks, I will be on vacation sans electric umbilical cord and laptop, but through the wonders of prescheduled posts, there will be two posts per week with information on editors- Sarah Shumway, Joelle Dujardin, Connie Hsu and Krista Marino.
Have a great weekend!
Aloha, A Hui Hou Kakou!
I did not attend any sessions that featured Nathan as a speaker, but he did state in the opening panel that he is open to just about anything, except picture books and early readers, and that he'd rather see too much than too little.
For the next two weeks, I will be on vacation sans electric umbilical cord and laptop, but through the wonders of prescheduled posts, there will be two posts per week with information on editors- Sarah Shumway, Joelle Dujardin, Connie Hsu and Krista Marino.
Have a great weekend!
Aloha, A Hui Hou Kakou!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Literary Agent Update - Kelly Sonnack
Post Western Washington SCBWI Spring Conference 2009 update:
On cover submissions: "I'm pretty easy." She will read on in an e-mail query to see the writing sample even if the query letter is not catchy- She gives the benefit of the doubt.
It is important to do a two sentence pitch- especially for picture books.
In query letters, if your publishing credits are small, local, not well known, make sure to explain a bit about the work and publisher so she can understand.
If you have no publishing credits, leave that out entirely.
If your book is long, example of a 130,000 word novel, don't tell her that in your cover letter. It usually signals to her that there is a lot of cutting that needs to be done. She said leave it out, and let her fall in love with the work first before letting her find out how long it is.
On the other end of the word count spectrum, she says it is almost impossible to sell a novella right now.
Make sure you give a full sense of the work in your cover letter- don't leave an editor or agent with a cliffhanger in an effort to get them to read a snippet if you are submitting to someone who only goes off of query letters.
She thinks a thirteen-year old protagonist is way too young for a YA novel.
In the last few months, especially with picture book authors, she'll ask to see other picture book manuscripts to see what is in the future for the author.
A short paragraph or sentence about your other works in progress might intrigue her if she likes your writing but the specific work that you submitted is not a fit for her.
Don't panic if you do not have previous publishing credits. A lot of Kelly's authors are debut authors, and for her, it is all about the story- credentials won't guarantee a work will be acquired.
She's interested in graphic novels.
Tomorrow: Nathan Bransford
On cover submissions: "I'm pretty easy." She will read on in an e-mail query to see the writing sample even if the query letter is not catchy- She gives the benefit of the doubt.
It is important to do a two sentence pitch- especially for picture books.
In query letters, if your publishing credits are small, local, not well known, make sure to explain a bit about the work and publisher so she can understand.
If you have no publishing credits, leave that out entirely.
If your book is long, example of a 130,000 word novel, don't tell her that in your cover letter. It usually signals to her that there is a lot of cutting that needs to be done. She said leave it out, and let her fall in love with the work first before letting her find out how long it is.
On the other end of the word count spectrum, she says it is almost impossible to sell a novella right now.
Make sure you give a full sense of the work in your cover letter- don't leave an editor or agent with a cliffhanger in an effort to get them to read a snippet if you are submitting to someone who only goes off of query letters.
She thinks a thirteen-year old protagonist is way too young for a YA novel.
In the last few months, especially with picture book authors, she'll ask to see other picture book manuscripts to see what is in the future for the author.
A short paragraph or sentence about your other works in progress might intrigue her if she likes your writing but the specific work that you submitted is not a fit for her.
Don't panic if you do not have previous publishing credits. A lot of Kelly's authors are debut authors, and for her, it is all about the story- credentials won't guarantee a work will be acquired.
She's interested in graphic novels.
Tomorrow: Nathan Bransford
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