It's that time of year again. If you are interested in attending the SCBWI Western Washington Fall Retreat, here are some links to editor-specific information on the editors who will be guiding the retreat.
Jill Santopolo, Executive Editor, Penguin's Philomel Books imprint
http://www.jillsantopolo.com/index.html
http://chavelaque.blogspot.com/2010/07/editorial-palavering-jill-santopolo.html
http://throwingupwords.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/kyra-interview-with-editor-and-author-jill-santopolo/
http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2008/08/author-editor-interview-jill-santopolo.html
http://community.livejournal.com/thru_the_booth/14716.html
Nancy Mercado, Executive Editor, Roaring Brook Press
http://twitter.com/editorgurl
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/345003-nancy?shelf=some-books-ive-edited
http://www.jacketflap.com/persondetail.asp?person=115691
http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2008/04/editor-interview-nancy-mercado-on.html
http://www.cynthealiu.com/new-5-page-critique-from-executive-editor-nancy-mercado-roaring-brook-press/
Showing posts with label SCBWI Western Washington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SCBWI Western Washington. Show all posts
Friday, September 10, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Editors and Agents Galore
Registration is open for the SCBWI Western Washington Spring Conference 2010, and it is full of seasoned pros to learn from! Check it out: Jordan Brown, Lisa Graff, Elizabeth Law, Lynne Polvino, Michael Bourret, Sara Crowe, Edward Necarsulmer IV and Paul Rodeen.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
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.
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
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Literary Agent Update - Michael Stearns
Post Western Washington SCBWI Spring Conference 2009 update:
This guy is pretty funny in person.
(Added 5/22/09 Why eat light when you can have the full meal deal? Make sure you click on the comments so you can see Michael's own helpful cross-ex and redirect on this post.)
Still likes literary novels that have plots. Example - A Northern Light- repped by agent Stephen Malk.
On plot: think of it as complication and follow through, not just in action, but in character.
He can tell quality of writing in two pages.
Take time in building worlds and choosing names of places and characters. Work hard to make them right.
He kind of likes lists (think Bubba in Forrest Gump)- this was quite a surprise to me.
Tomorrow: Kelly Sonnack
This guy is pretty funny in person.
(Added 5/22/09 Why eat light when you can have the full meal deal? Make sure you click on the comments so you can see Michael's own helpful cross-ex and redirect on this post.)
Still likes literary novels that have plots. Example - A Northern Light- repped by agent Stephen Malk.
On plot: think of it as complication and follow through, not just in action, but in character.
He can tell quality of writing in two pages.
Take time in building worlds and choosing names of places and characters. Work hard to make them right.
He kind of likes lists (think Bubba in Forrest Gump)- this was quite a surprise to me.
Tomorrow: Kelly Sonnack
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Literary Agent Update - Stephen Malk
Post Western Washington SCBWI Spring Conference 2009 update:
Still not looking for new clients.
In a "first pages" session, Stephen told us that he always reads beyond the first page of a manuscript, unless it is clearly something that he does not handle, like an adult book. He wanted to make sure that we were not stuck in "first page mentality".
He mentioned that he tends to not like books that start with dialog, especially in a picture book.
As for alliteration, he thinks you have to go all the way, or use it sparingly.
He loves absurdity (think author/illustrator Adam Rex).
He's thinking that at some point, really short middle grade novels like Frecklejuice will make a come back, but that real/true animal stories will be played-out soon (think Marely and Me).
At least two of his cats were adopted from shelters.
Tomorrow Michael Stearns
Still not looking for new clients.
In a "first pages" session, Stephen told us that he always reads beyond the first page of a manuscript, unless it is clearly something that he does not handle, like an adult book. He wanted to make sure that we were not stuck in "first page mentality".
He mentioned that he tends to not like books that start with dialog, especially in a picture book.
As for alliteration, he thinks you have to go all the way, or use it sparingly.
He loves absurdity (think author/illustrator Adam Rex).
He's thinking that at some point, really short middle grade novels like Frecklejuice will make a come back, but that real/true animal stories will be played-out soon (think Marely and Me).
At least two of his cats were adopted from shelters.
Tomorrow Michael Stearns
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Hi from the SCBWI Western Washington Spring Conference
I'll be posting content from my notes for those of you who couldn't make it to the conference, live way too far away (a hearty welcome to my readers in Peru, Spain, Sweden, Israel and India), or even those who were there but just plain missed some of the comments in the sessions today.
Today was only day one, and hoo boy, do I have a pile of great tips and tidbits from and about editors, agents and authors to share with you already!
First things first- congratulations to one of my critique group pals for a winning entry in the joke contest at the conference today- you go, Grumpy Old Man!! You make ASWAAGS proud!
It is going to take me a while to get all this conference information in readable shape, so in the meantime, here are examples of things to come:
-Updates on the literary agents already posted on this blog thus far (Stephen Malk, Michael Stearns, Kelly Sonnack, and Nathan Bransford).
-Notes on editors from the conference
-Great quotes from the presenters
Find out who said s/he really only likes picture books about dead animals, which of the editors used to work for one of the agents, who is young, hungry, and completely weird; who really wants graphic novels; and which venerable children's magazine is now accepting sci-fi in fiction submissions.
Stay tuned!
Today was only day one, and hoo boy, do I have a pile of great tips and tidbits from and about editors, agents and authors to share with you already!
First things first- congratulations to one of my critique group pals for a winning entry in the joke contest at the conference today- you go, Grumpy Old Man!! You make ASWAAGS proud!
It is going to take me a while to get all this conference information in readable shape, so in the meantime, here are examples of things to come:
-Updates on the literary agents already posted on this blog thus far (Stephen Malk, Michael Stearns, Kelly Sonnack, and Nathan Bransford).
-Notes on editors from the conference
-Great quotes from the presenters
Find out who said s/he really only likes picture books about dead animals, which of the editors used to work for one of the agents, who is young, hungry, and completely weird; who really wants graphic novels; and which venerable children's magazine is now accepting sci-fi in fiction submissions.
Stay tuned!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Jury duty + jazz = writing research
Writing sure seems to involve a whole lot of stuff that isn't writing.
At the SCBWI Western Washington Fall Retreat in 2008, I started a story that includes a feline who is all about jazz, as the protagonist's best friend. And what do I know about jazz?
Very, very little.
After receiving positive feedback from multiple sources on the work, I owe the story some quality time. This cat's voice won't be ignored--he keeps talking in my head (what? you didn't know that writing is the only profession where people are actually encouraged to adopt multiple personalities and hear voices in their heads?) and the idea of finding oneself through music is taking over the story, so I need to know what I'm writing about.
In fact, I REALLY have no excuse to not work on it, because when fate drops the founder of one of the top independent jazz labels, Origin Records, right into your lap (well, next to me - in a jury box at a criminal trial) you have no right to ignore the story that begs for the help sitting right next to you. The universe has spoken in a big way.
And that means more research. But research leads to writing, yes? Yes! And I can think of a lot more painful ways to spend my writing-less writing time.
So, recommendations in hand from my new favorite source, I embark on the jazz journey. If you are a jazz newbie, come along with me, and together, we can admire new musical territory with my main character. If you are a jazz...oldie?, you can laugh and shake your head at my pathetic stumbles through the genre. Either way, enjoy yourself! I intend to.
At the SCBWI Western Washington Fall Retreat in 2008, I started a story that includes a feline who is all about jazz, as the protagonist's best friend. And what do I know about jazz?
Very, very little.
After receiving positive feedback from multiple sources on the work, I owe the story some quality time. This cat's voice won't be ignored--he keeps talking in my head (what? you didn't know that writing is the only profession where people are actually encouraged to adopt multiple personalities and hear voices in their heads?) and the idea of finding oneself through music is taking over the story, so I need to know what I'm writing about.
In fact, I REALLY have no excuse to not work on it, because when fate drops the founder of one of the top independent jazz labels, Origin Records, right into your lap (well, next to me - in a jury box at a criminal trial) you have no right to ignore the story that begs for the help sitting right next to you. The universe has spoken in a big way.
And that means more research. But research leads to writing, yes? Yes! And I can think of a lot more painful ways to spend my writing-less writing time.
So, recommendations in hand from my new favorite source, I embark on the jazz journey. If you are a jazz newbie, come along with me, and together, we can admire new musical territory with my main character. If you are a jazz...oldie?, you can laugh and shake your head at my pathetic stumbles through the genre. Either way, enjoy yourself! I intend to.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thirty-One Flavors - Agent Week - End, and how to find literary agent info on your own
Song playing on brain (I'm too cheap to own an i-pod, yet): Lawrence Welk Show end song- "Good night, (ba-da, dada), sleep tight, (ba-da, dada), and may your dreams come true..."
So we've reached the end of Thirty-One Flavors- Agent Week, and hopefully, you found some of it interesting and useful. And if not, maybe you found it diversionary, giving you an excuse to read something "work-related" and as my best writer pal, A , says, "something to do besides organize my sock drawer".
Tips and resources for finding info on agents:
...work smarter, not harder. Save yourself the effort of using multiple search engines, or worse, only getting results from one search source-do a Metacrawler search. Metacrawler aggregates info from Google, Yahoo! Search, MSN Search, Ask Jeeves, About, MIVA, LookSmart and more, and is one of my faves- I've been using it since the mid-nineties when it was first created at the UW (Go Huskies!) and have not looked back. Use Metacrawler to find lots of hits on your agent name, and start reading.
Agentquery.com A free source that lists agents, their AAR (Association of Author's Representatives) membership status, what fiction and nonfiction genres they do, what their current submission status is and how to submit to them, any special interests- VERY KEY! - And if you are lucky, some facts and tidbits on them, as well clients lists, previous agencies they've worked at, and links to info about them- i.e., interviews posted on blogs, etc. There are also partial listings of new deals from Publisher's Marketplace (a paid database, see below) on the agent's profiles, but not as many or as recent as available from Publisher's Marketplace itself. Of course, the info is only as current as the agent keeps it, but it appeared that the agents I looked at were editing their profiles regularly. This site also has a nice lists of agent and other writing blogs. Agent Query is geared to help nonfiction and fiction authors of books as well as writers of short-story collections and children’s book authors. They don’t have much information that will help writers of poetry collections, screenwriters, playwrights, or freelance magazine writers.
Publisher's Marketplace.com Although it is $20 a month, it does give very recent deals information and a contact database that provide "inside" information. As a member, there are other bennies, too. See the website for more info. Deals info shows you what works and agent has sold sell, who they sell it to (i.e., what editors are receptive to their offerings), and what sort of deals they cut. Sometimes you can find deals info. on the agency website for a larger agency, but that's hit and miss. This source makes that search easy.
Check forums, chat rooms, bulletin boards and newsgroups for threads that relate to the agent of interest- like those on AbsoluteWrite.com.
And the resources that you should check when you come upon an agent you know nothing about- i.e., NOT from an SCBWI resource. Sad, but true, there are literary predators out there, you need to protect yourself and do your homework to make sure you don't become prey.
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Writer Beware website - the agent section
Last- when it comes to submitting to an agent, take your submission guidance from the source closest to the agent- the agent's own blog, agency website, etc. Do not take it from one of the free databases just in case the database has not been updated. In a couple of cases, I found conflicting submission process info., or info. that had not been updated in one place or another, so make sure you get it from the most authoritative source - the agent or his or her agency.
I may add more to each agent profile after the conference if I learn of any additional or different material. Keep your eyes out for it.
But wait, there's more! I did not serve-up thirty-one flavors. Yet.
I still have the Queen of England living in my house for the bulk of the day, and when she starts a full day of practicing her monarchical skills this fall, I will be free to post more frequently. In the meantime, I will be continually adding agent info and editor info as I come upon it, and I will post it in the thirty-one flavors format in the future, just not all back to back in one week.
In fact, I may go beyond thirty-one...check back regularly to see what's new!
So we've reached the end of Thirty-One Flavors- Agent Week, and hopefully, you found some of it interesting and useful. And if not, maybe you found it diversionary, giving you an excuse to read something "work-related" and as my best writer pal, A , says, "something to do besides organize my sock drawer".
Tips and resources for finding info on agents:
Read the agent's own agent blogs, websites, and agency websites. This should be obvious, but I figured my list would be incomplete if I did not start with it. And how to find those things if you do not already have a URL, agency name or web address? Do a little searching, but
...work smarter, not harder. Save yourself the effort of using multiple search engines, or worse, only getting results from one search source-do a Metacrawler search. Metacrawler aggregates info from Google, Yahoo! Search, MSN Search, Ask Jeeves, About, MIVA, LookSmart and more, and is one of my faves- I've been using it since the mid-nineties when it was first created at the UW (Go Huskies!) and have not looked back. Use Metacrawler to find lots of hits on your agent name, and start reading.
Agentquery.com A free source that lists agents, their AAR (Association of Author's Representatives) membership status, what fiction and nonfiction genres they do, what their current submission status is and how to submit to them, any special interests- VERY KEY! - And if you are lucky, some facts and tidbits on them, as well clients lists, previous agencies they've worked at, and links to info about them- i.e., interviews posted on blogs, etc. There are also partial listings of new deals from Publisher's Marketplace (a paid database, see below) on the agent's profiles, but not as many or as recent as available from Publisher's Marketplace itself. Of course, the info is only as current as the agent keeps it, but it appeared that the agents I looked at were editing their profiles regularly. This site also has a nice lists of agent and other writing blogs. Agent Query is geared to help nonfiction and fiction authors of books as well as writers of short-story collections and children’s book authors. They don’t have much information that will help writers of poetry collections, screenwriters, playwrights, or freelance magazine writers.
Publisher's Marketplace.com Although it is $20 a month, it does give very recent deals information and a contact database that provide "inside" information. As a member, there are other bennies, too. See the website for more info. Deals info shows you what works and agent has sold sell, who they sell it to (i.e., what editors are receptive to their offerings), and what sort of deals they cut. Sometimes you can find deals info. on the agency website for a larger agency, but that's hit and miss. This source makes that search easy.
Litmatch.net Another free source that lists agent info., but less than Agentquery. What this site has though, is submissions tracking tools and submission history from users, so you can see what other responses other writers get from the agents, and response times, etc. The submission info is only as good as the data entered by other writers, and how often the agents update their profiles, so again, it is hit and miss.
Check with other writers, editors, etc. Of course, ask your peers and critique group members what they know, and beyond that, some of the info. I liked the best about agents was found in interviews with agents posted on other writer's or writing-related people's blogs and websites. There are some great blogs/sites out there for initial source info. on agents. A few favorites specifically for that:
Cynthia Leitich Smith's blog
Verla Kay's agent workshop transcripts
Alma Fullerton's website
Alice Pope's CWIM blog
Alan Rinzler's blog
Guide to Literary Agents website and blog. Electronic (paid subscription) source. But, the blog contains some free info, as well.
Check forums, chat rooms, bulletin boards and newsgroups for threads that relate to the agent of interest- like those on AbsoluteWrite.com.
And the resources that you should check when you come upon an agent you know nothing about- i.e., NOT from an SCBWI resource. Sad, but true, there are literary predators out there, you need to protect yourself and do your homework to make sure you don't become prey.
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Writer Beware website - the agent section
Last- when it comes to submitting to an agent, take your submission guidance from the source closest to the agent- the agent's own blog, agency website, etc. Do not take it from one of the free databases just in case the database has not been updated. In a couple of cases, I found conflicting submission process info., or info. that had not been updated in one place or another, so make sure you get it from the most authoritative source - the agent or his or her agency.
I may add more to each agent profile after the conference if I learn of any additional or different material. Keep your eyes out for it.
But wait, there's more! I did not serve-up thirty-one flavors. Yet.
I still have the Queen of England living in my house for the bulk of the day, and when she starts a full day of practicing her monarchical skills this fall, I will be free to post more frequently. In the meantime, I will be continually adding agent info and editor info as I come upon it, and I will post it in the thirty-one flavors format in the future, just not all back to back in one week.
In fact, I may go beyond thirty-one...check back regularly to see what's new!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Thirty-One Flavors - Agent Week - Kelly Sonnack
Where she fits in my flavor spectrum: Bubblegum milk chocolate raspberry truffle with brownie bits.
Kelly Sonnack recently became an agent at Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. after three years with powerhouse Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. Before her life as an agent, she worked for publisher Reed Elsevier as an Acquisitions editor under their Academic Press imprint. At this time, Kelly is not accepting unsolicited submissions in adult fiction or adult non-fiction. Some of the titles Kelly has represented include: Steve Watkins' DOWN SAND MOUNTAIN (Candlewick) and GOAT GIRL (Candlewick); Merrily Kutner's ALPHABET MAGIC (Roaring Brook); Jin Pyn Lee's THE ELEPHANT AND THE TREE (Running Press); Candace Ryan's ANIMAL HOUSE (Walker); Heather Leigh's HEY LITTLE BABY (S&S/Beach Lane Books); Neil Johnson & Joel Chin's THE FALLING RAINDROP (Tricycle Press); and James Burks' graphic novel GABBY AND GATOR (Yen Press). Kelly is a frequent speaker at conferences.
Ok, let's bring out the tasting spoons:
Her interests as an agent include all types of children's literature-(picture books, middle grade, young adult, and graphic novels). She has a soft spot for picture books, but can only handle so many. In picture books and middle grade fiction, Kelly looks for a good sense of humor, stories that stretch a young reader's imagination, and an authentic voice. She would love to see more clever, quirky, smart and well-written middle grade fiction in her slush pile right now, as she sees a need for it in the market. In young adult, she really likes literary and coming of age stories, and appreciates literary voices and character-driven stories with heart. In non-fiction for children, she enjoys projects that inspire and stimulate the minds of our younger generations. She'd also like to see more growing-up memoir for kids- growing up in different countries, identity, living across cultures, and she likes graphic novels, as she thinks the time is ripe for them.
In general, she's looking for a narrative voice that authentically captures the feelings of the age group for whom it is targeted. Beyond voice, she's always looking for good stories told in fresh and interesting new ways. She loves manuscripts that have a clever, or witty sense of humor. With picture books, she tends to go for the silly and zany. With middle grade and YA, it’s important to be subtle and not force humor on the reader. Also, re: MG and YA, she's rarely attracted to overly dramatic. She believes a character does not need to be slamming doors, screaming, or sobbing hysterically for the reader to be affected.
She rejects manuscripts that aren't the type of material her agency accepts, do not have an original idea, or have been overdone, like bedtime picture books, or Da Vinci Code type thrillers. Also heading for the rejection pile are works that just aren't "there" yet. She strongly suggests working with writing groups, professional editors or other writers, and really polishing a work before sending it off.
In picture books, she sees way too many manuscripts that rhyme, and "there are some editors who won’t even look at books in rhyme, and a lot more who are extremely wary of them, so it limits an agent on where it can go and the likelihood of it selling. It’s also particularly hard to execute perfectly." Aside from rhyming, she also sees way too many picture books about a family pet or bedtime.
In juvenile fiction, first chapter, she hates to see a whiny character who’s in the middle of a fight with one of their parents, slamming doors, rolling eyes, and displaying all sorts of other stereotypical behavior. She hates seeing character “stats” (“Hi, I’m Brian, I’m 10 years and 35 days old with brown hair and green eyes”). And she also tends to have a hard time bonding with characters who talk to the reader (“Let me tell you about the summer when I...”).
From an interview: "Write something that I simply can’t ignore. Come up with an original idea that you know could work in the market. Understand what is working today, and read the books that you’ll be competing with. What about YOUR book is going to make a potential book buyer take it to the checkout counter? That is what we’re going to be asking ourselves when we evaluate your book. "
Some of her words re: cover letters: "You should be able to create a 1-liner to describe your book, and then explain what makes your book unique or interesting. Look at the back covers of books to see how publishers pitch their releases. And please don’t tell us that your book is going to be the next Harry Potter, will sell a million copies, or that it will be the next blockbuster starring Leonardo DeCaprio. No matter how you try to word it, this just sounds unrealistic and unprofessional."
"3rd paragraph should list any relevant writing credentials, or experience that relates to the writing of this book. And when I say relevant, “writing copy for technical programming manuals” is not relevant unless you’re submitting a book on programming manuals."
Mmmm-mmm! Tomorrow's flavor: Nathan Bransford
Kelly Sonnack recently became an agent at Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. after three years with powerhouse Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. Before her life as an agent, she worked for publisher Reed Elsevier as an Acquisitions editor under their Academic Press imprint. At this time, Kelly is not accepting unsolicited submissions in adult fiction or adult non-fiction. Some of the titles Kelly has represented include: Steve Watkins' DOWN SAND MOUNTAIN (Candlewick) and GOAT GIRL (Candlewick); Merrily Kutner's ALPHABET MAGIC (Roaring Brook); Jin Pyn Lee's THE ELEPHANT AND THE TREE (Running Press); Candace Ryan's ANIMAL HOUSE (Walker); Heather Leigh's HEY LITTLE BABY (S&S/Beach Lane Books); Neil Johnson & Joel Chin's THE FALLING RAINDROP (Tricycle Press); and James Burks' graphic novel GABBY AND GATOR (Yen Press). Kelly is a frequent speaker at conferences.
Ok, let's bring out the tasting spoons:
Her interests as an agent include all types of children's literature-(picture books, middle grade, young adult, and graphic novels). She has a soft spot for picture books, but can only handle so many. In picture books and middle grade fiction, Kelly looks for a good sense of humor, stories that stretch a young reader's imagination, and an authentic voice. She would love to see more clever, quirky, smart and well-written middle grade fiction in her slush pile right now, as she sees a need for it in the market. In young adult, she really likes literary and coming of age stories, and appreciates literary voices and character-driven stories with heart. In non-fiction for children, she enjoys projects that inspire and stimulate the minds of our younger generations. She'd also like to see more growing-up memoir for kids- growing up in different countries, identity, living across cultures, and she likes graphic novels, as she thinks the time is ripe for them.
In general, she's looking for a narrative voice that authentically captures the feelings of the age group for whom it is targeted. Beyond voice, she's always looking for good stories told in fresh and interesting new ways. She loves manuscripts that have a clever, or witty sense of humor. With picture books, she tends to go for the silly and zany. With middle grade and YA, it’s important to be subtle and not force humor on the reader. Also, re: MG and YA, she's rarely attracted to overly dramatic. She believes a character does not need to be slamming doors, screaming, or sobbing hysterically for the reader to be affected.
She rejects manuscripts that aren't the type of material her agency accepts, do not have an original idea, or have been overdone, like bedtime picture books, or Da Vinci Code type thrillers. Also heading for the rejection pile are works that just aren't "there" yet. She strongly suggests working with writing groups, professional editors or other writers, and really polishing a work before sending it off.
In picture books, she sees way too many manuscripts that rhyme, and "there are some editors who won’t even look at books in rhyme, and a lot more who are extremely wary of them, so it limits an agent on where it can go and the likelihood of it selling. It’s also particularly hard to execute perfectly." Aside from rhyming, she also sees way too many picture books about a family pet or bedtime.
In juvenile fiction, first chapter, she hates to see a whiny character who’s in the middle of a fight with one of their parents, slamming doors, rolling eyes, and displaying all sorts of other stereotypical behavior. She hates seeing character “stats” (“Hi, I’m Brian, I’m 10 years and 35 days old with brown hair and green eyes”). And she also tends to have a hard time bonding with characters who talk to the reader (“Let me tell you about the summer when I...”).
From an interview: "Write something that I simply can’t ignore. Come up with an original idea that you know could work in the market. Understand what is working today, and read the books that you’ll be competing with. What about YOUR book is going to make a potential book buyer take it to the checkout counter? That is what we’re going to be asking ourselves when we evaluate your book. "
Some of her words re: cover letters: "You should be able to create a 1-liner to describe your book, and then explain what makes your book unique or interesting. Look at the back covers of books to see how publishers pitch their releases. And please don’t tell us that your book is going to be the next Harry Potter, will sell a million copies, or that it will be the next blockbuster starring Leonardo DeCaprio. No matter how you try to word it, this just sounds unrealistic and unprofessional."
"3rd paragraph should list any relevant writing credentials, or experience that relates to the writing of this book. And when I say relevant, “writing copy for technical programming manuals” is not relevant unless you’re submitting a book on programming manuals."
Mmmm-mmm! Tomorrow's flavor: Nathan Bransford
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Thirty-One Flavors - Agent Week - Michael Stearns
Where he fits in my personal flavor spectrum: chocolate raspberry truffle.
Michael Stearns has his own blog, and I suggest a visit there if you want to get to know him and his particular flavor of wit. No time? Want more than that? Here's my summary from a few interviews, his blog, agentquery.com, and other free resources on the web.
Michael Stearns is at Firebrand Literary, as of April 2008. Firebrand Literary is a subdivision of Auden Media Corporation, which is owned by Michael Stearns and Nadia Cornier. The agency's main focus is on teen and middle-grade lit. They are also starting a separate book-packaging company called Tinderbox, but Tinderbox will not employ Firebrand authors, so it is a one or the other choice for authors.
From the Firebrand website:
"Michael Stearns brings nearly twenty years’ publishing experience to Firebrand Literary. Formerly editorial director and foreign acquisitions manager for HarperCollins Children's Books, and Senior Editor, Director of Paperback Publishing for Harcourt Children’s Books, he has worked on hundreds of books for children and adults.Among the many bestselling and award-winning books he’s published are A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly; Tangerine by Edward Bloor, The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls by Elise Primavera, Whales on Stilts by M.T. Anderson, Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge, the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane, and the Chet Gecko Mysteries by Bruce Hale. He has taught a dozen classes on writing, edited three anthologies of original stories, and published a half dozen pieces of his own fiction for both adults and children. He received his B.A. from the USC School of Cinema-Television, and his M.A. from Hollins University, where he also won the Andrew James Purdy Short Fiction Prize. "
Yep, he's kind of big deal in children's publishing. Now for some tasty licks:
He wants his list to be 75-80% novels, 20% picture books, but don't get too excited, PB people, as he is only doing PB's from referrals and writers whose work he knows and trusts. This 80/20 split is the make-up of his lists as an editor at Harcourt and Harper. He wants a story that he just can't put down. He is "keenest" for both teen and middle-grade fiction, and in terms of genre books, he's much more interested in non-Tolkienesque fantasy, paranormal romance, comic coming-of-age, and thrillers (all with some literary spin). He responds well to wit; not dorky funny but genuine wit. Nothing makes him happier than commercial novels with literary chops- ie, the writer has skill and voice, and recognizes character as a key to all good storytelling.
He flees far and fast from issue novels. It's okay if the issue comes wrapped up in a compelling plot, but the plot and character and the writer's control of voice always have to come first. He abhors pitches for children's books. He does not do non-fiction, chapter books, nor emerging readers. His ten commandments for writing for children: Thou shalt not: talk down to your readers, sermonize, strain to rhyme, use cutesy names (his example: Marilyn Mouse, Clarabelle Cow, Leon Lion), waste words, indulge in self-consciously "poetic" writing, be afraid to cut your favorite lines, not love language, send first or rough drafts, obey ANY rule to the detriment of good writing. For his explanation of each of these, see the posts on his blog.
He wants to work closely with clients to develop projects and guide their careers, and does not waste time making nice. He is interested in a career over the long haul-working with a writer over many books and years. The three books he's probably most proud of as an editor are the books where he had a great relationship with the author that grew over the course of the book.
He knows foreign rights from his corporate work, and knows the UK market very well. As an editor, he was impressed with the work Stephen Malk (and Barry Goldblatt and Gail Hochman)did to bring him manuscripts that totally fit his interests at the time, and he hopes to be that kind of agent himself.
He's a Mets fan, claims he has no "poker face", is unmarried, child-less and debt-free (Egads, NO! I did not go looking for that info, it was in a tongue-in-cheek response to an interview!). As a child reader he liked Roald Dahl, Edward Eager and Beverly Cleary, then discovered sci-fi /fantasy at age ten or eleven. At twelve, he mapped-out Heinlein's juvenile titles by their writing formula, showing events in a single plot structure.
That's it for now, tomorrow: Kelly Sonnack
Michael Stearns has his own blog, and I suggest a visit there if you want to get to know him and his particular flavor of wit. No time? Want more than that? Here's my summary from a few interviews, his blog, agentquery.com, and other free resources on the web.
Michael Stearns is at Firebrand Literary, as of April 2008. Firebrand Literary is a subdivision of Auden Media Corporation, which is owned by Michael Stearns and Nadia Cornier. The agency's main focus is on teen and middle-grade lit. They are also starting a separate book-packaging company called Tinderbox, but Tinderbox will not employ Firebrand authors, so it is a one or the other choice for authors.
From the Firebrand website:
"Michael Stearns brings nearly twenty years’ publishing experience to Firebrand Literary. Formerly editorial director and foreign acquisitions manager for HarperCollins Children's Books, and Senior Editor, Director of Paperback Publishing for Harcourt Children’s Books, he has worked on hundreds of books for children and adults.Among the many bestselling and award-winning books he’s published are A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly; Tangerine by Edward Bloor, The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls by Elise Primavera, Whales on Stilts by M.T. Anderson, Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge, the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane, and the Chet Gecko Mysteries by Bruce Hale. He has taught a dozen classes on writing, edited three anthologies of original stories, and published a half dozen pieces of his own fiction for both adults and children. He received his B.A. from the USC School of Cinema-Television, and his M.A. from Hollins University, where he also won the Andrew James Purdy Short Fiction Prize. "
Yep, he's kind of big deal in children's publishing. Now for some tasty licks:
He wants his list to be 75-80% novels, 20% picture books, but don't get too excited, PB people, as he is only doing PB's from referrals and writers whose work he knows and trusts. This 80/20 split is the make-up of his lists as an editor at Harcourt and Harper. He wants a story that he just can't put down. He is "keenest" for both teen and middle-grade fiction, and in terms of genre books, he's much more interested in non-Tolkienesque fantasy, paranormal romance, comic coming-of-age, and thrillers (all with some literary spin). He responds well to wit; not dorky funny but genuine wit. Nothing makes him happier than commercial novels with literary chops- ie, the writer has skill and voice, and recognizes character as a key to all good storytelling.
He flees far and fast from issue novels. It's okay if the issue comes wrapped up in a compelling plot, but the plot and character and the writer's control of voice always have to come first. He abhors pitches for children's books. He does not do non-fiction, chapter books, nor emerging readers. His ten commandments for writing for children: Thou shalt not: talk down to your readers, sermonize, strain to rhyme, use cutesy names (his example: Marilyn Mouse, Clarabelle Cow, Leon Lion), waste words, indulge in self-consciously "poetic" writing, be afraid to cut your favorite lines, not love language, send first or rough drafts, obey ANY rule to the detriment of good writing. For his explanation of each of these, see the posts on his blog.
He wants to work closely with clients to develop projects and guide their careers, and does not waste time making nice. He is interested in a career over the long haul-working with a writer over many books and years. The three books he's probably most proud of as an editor are the books where he had a great relationship with the author that grew over the course of the book.
He knows foreign rights from his corporate work, and knows the UK market very well. As an editor, he was impressed with the work Stephen Malk (and Barry Goldblatt and Gail Hochman)did to bring him manuscripts that totally fit his interests at the time, and he hopes to be that kind of agent himself.
He's a Mets fan, claims he has no "poker face", is unmarried, child-less and debt-free (Egads, NO! I did not go looking for that info, it was in a tongue-in-cheek response to an interview!). As a child reader he liked Roald Dahl, Edward Eager and Beverly Cleary, then discovered sci-fi /fantasy at age ten or eleven. At twelve, he mapped-out Heinlein's juvenile titles by their writing formula, showing events in a single plot structure.
That's it for now, tomorrow: Kelly Sonnack
Monday, March 23, 2009
Thirty-One Flavors - Agent Week - Up first: Stephen Malk
With the onset of spring comes a great boon to weary winter minds: The Annual SCBWI Western Washington Spring Conference. One of the many amazing opportunities that this conference affords writers is the chance to have work reviewed by professionals. But who to pick? It's like going into the ice cream store and being tempted by all thirty-one flavors, every single one a scoop of creamy cool deliciousness just waiting to be plopped into paper cup and smothered in hot fudge sauce...
I would like to eventually meet the agent and/or editor of my dreams (something along the lines of bubble gum chocolate raspberry truffle with those little brownie bits topped with pralines), but the reality is that none of the conference choices quite fit my particular interests in terms of a whole career package. This is not a judgement call on them as professionals (because there are some serious heavy -hitters in the line-up this year ), just a realization that you have to know who will fit what you are looking for, and what I am looking for just doesn't happen to be offered. I see bubble gum, and I see chocolate raspberry truffle- some without nuts, some without the brownie bits. Only a few pralines in sight.
How did I know this, when the information available in the conference materials is a menu of appropriately tightly written brief sound-bites?
Research. (How many calories are in that bubble gum flavor?)
In this business of opinion and subjectivity, researching your possibilities is of utmost importance. No sense wasting your time and theirs, by trying to offer bubble gum to an editor who really likes, knows and wants rum raisin. Authors are relatively easy to find, and agents are, too, if you have the time and motivation. Editors preferences are surprisingly hard to find via the web, but some can be found. But it really does take time spent. No secrets to agent info, just time and persistence.
I thought I'd share the research I did on some of the talent coming to our conference. Nothing new here, and you can find this stuff for yourself, but here it is. I tried to capture info from free resources like Agentquery.com, and a few interviews on various websites, beginning with
Stephen Malk.
Where he fits in my personal flavor spectrum: bubble gum chocolate raspberry truffle with those little brownie bits
Locals in our organization know him as "that guy that sold Justina Chen Headley's debut YA novel at auction resulting in a two-book contract in just a few days". The rest of the world knows him as "that guy who opened the San Diego office of Writer's House Literary Agency in 1998 http://www.writershouse.com/". Do I need to say it? Stephen Malk is a big name in our world. Being the West Coast rep for the venerable Writer's House (and that he also spent four years at powerhouse Djikstra Literary Agency http://www.dijkstraagency.com/) is no small thing, and his client list proves it: John Scieszka, Lane Smith, Adam Rex, Elise Primavera, Karma Wilson, Sonya Sones, Gris Grimly, Jennifer Donnelly, etc. It figures that his background is all children's books, books, books all the time. His grandparents and parents both have owned children's bookstores, and he even worked in his parents' store for six years beginning at age sixteen.
He states in one interview that he's not interested in whatever is "hot" right now, and that he sees a lot of manuscripts that are trying to jump on the latest trend bandwagon. He'd like to see more manuscripts with unique voices, unique well-developed characters and good writing, and believes that writers should take their time to really polish a work before submitting.
He believes writers should read as much as possible beyond the classics and popular titles- educating themselves about their field, and he recommends every writer to read Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom. If he requests revisions before signing a client, it shows interest, and he is curious to see how the writer handles it, as revisions are a part of his process.
He likes music, has a fantasy baseball team, likes Orangina, Cadbury Fruit and Nut Bars, sour patch candies, collects bobbleheads, had at least two cats in 2005, (Dinah and Henry), and figured the writing world wants him reading submissions and doing deals rather than blogging. He does not watch much tv, aside from Sportscenter, Curb Your Enthusiasm, VH1 classic, Alton Brown and the Food Network, and prefers coconut over chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookies. He gives a long list of books he likes in this transcript of an interview at Verla Kay's website: http://www.verlakay.com/34malk_8-05.html .
No, I did not quite find this amount of detail on everyone, but stay tuned tomorrow for the equally riveting Michael Stearns.
I would like to eventually meet the agent and/or editor of my dreams (something along the lines of bubble gum chocolate raspberry truffle with those little brownie bits topped with pralines), but the reality is that none of the conference choices quite fit my particular interests in terms of a whole career package. This is not a judgement call on them as professionals (because there are some serious heavy -hitters in the line-up this year ), just a realization that you have to know who will fit what you are looking for, and what I am looking for just doesn't happen to be offered. I see bubble gum, and I see chocolate raspberry truffle- some without nuts, some without the brownie bits. Only a few pralines in sight.
How did I know this, when the information available in the conference materials is a menu of appropriately tightly written brief sound-bites?
Research. (How many calories are in that bubble gum flavor?)
In this business of opinion and subjectivity, researching your possibilities is of utmost importance. No sense wasting your time and theirs, by trying to offer bubble gum to an editor who really likes, knows and wants rum raisin. Authors are relatively easy to find, and agents are, too, if you have the time and motivation. Editors preferences are surprisingly hard to find via the web, but some can be found. But it really does take time spent. No secrets to agent info, just time and persistence.
I thought I'd share the research I did on some of the talent coming to our conference. Nothing new here, and you can find this stuff for yourself, but here it is. I tried to capture info from free resources like Agentquery.com, and a few interviews on various websites, beginning with
Stephen Malk.
Where he fits in my personal flavor spectrum: bubble gum chocolate raspberry truffle with those little brownie bits
Locals in our organization know him as "that guy that sold Justina Chen Headley's debut YA novel at auction resulting in a two-book contract in just a few days". The rest of the world knows him as "that guy who opened the San Diego office of Writer's House Literary Agency in 1998 http://www.writershouse.com/". Do I need to say it? Stephen Malk is a big name in our world. Being the West Coast rep for the venerable Writer's House (and that he also spent four years at powerhouse Djikstra Literary Agency http://www.dijkstraagency.com/) is no small thing, and his client list proves it: John Scieszka, Lane Smith, Adam Rex, Elise Primavera, Karma Wilson, Sonya Sones, Gris Grimly, Jennifer Donnelly, etc. It figures that his background is all children's books, books, books all the time. His grandparents and parents both have owned children's bookstores, and he even worked in his parents' store for six years beginning at age sixteen.
He states in one interview that he's not interested in whatever is "hot" right now, and that he sees a lot of manuscripts that are trying to jump on the latest trend bandwagon. He'd like to see more manuscripts with unique voices, unique well-developed characters and good writing, and believes that writers should take their time to really polish a work before submitting.
He believes writers should read as much as possible beyond the classics and popular titles- educating themselves about their field, and he recommends every writer to read Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom. If he requests revisions before signing a client, it shows interest, and he is curious to see how the writer handles it, as revisions are a part of his process.
He likes music, has a fantasy baseball team, likes Orangina, Cadbury Fruit and Nut Bars, sour patch candies, collects bobbleheads, had at least two cats in 2005, (Dinah and Henry), and figured the writing world wants him reading submissions and doing deals rather than blogging. He does not watch much tv, aside from Sportscenter, Curb Your Enthusiasm, VH1 classic, Alton Brown and the Food Network, and prefers coconut over chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookies. He gives a long list of books he likes in this transcript of an interview at Verla Kay's website: http://www.verlakay.com/34malk_8-05.html .
No, I did not quite find this amount of detail on everyone, but stay tuned tomorrow for the equally riveting Michael Stearns.
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