What she likes

As I mentioned in this post, while I've got plenty of picture books on the shelf (though I have yet to determine which will be allowed into little hands and which will stay in perfect condition), I've never collected many board books. Now that I have a little one our board book library is increasing, thanks in part to your suggestions.

While baby clearly has little idea why we keep holding these boxy little pages in front of her she does seem to have some preferences. What they say about babies being attracted to high contrast images must be true, because she loves looking at this book:

By the same token Hungry Caterpillar always keeps her transfixed (I guess its a classic for a reason!). I think the bold shapes are easy for her to see, and the colors very appealing.

Here is another favorite, which I quite adore. Like I posted here, the story is so sweet and the artwork so delicate and beautiful. I love the combination of graphic shapes with collaged textures.

Lastly as a side note, when she's not looking at books baby just loves to look at her birds. She just stares and stares. Remember when we found them on a BRG weekend at Libby's? That was very lucky because they are baby's very favorite thing to look at. We first hung them in the living room and began to notice her gazing at them. When we brought her up close they would never fail to produce a grin, so we moved one string above her changing table. Now every time we change her, she looks up at them and smiles ear to ear.

Model call

On occasion, publishers do photo shoots to get just the right shot for a cover image. Because photo shoots can be pricey, they're generally only done if the right stock photo can't be found.

I've never worked on a book where we've done a photo shoot for the cover...until now.

I won't mention which book it's for just yet, as I'd rather wait until the cover is final, but I was absolutely fascinated by the process, and thought I'd share.

This past Friday was the model call.

The designer takes care of setting everything up (in this case we used a coordinator who scheduled everything), so all I had to do was show up. Before the model call, model agencies send online portfolios of the models that meet the criteria that we've specified (age, height, hair and eye color, etc.). The designer and the photographer will both review the portfolios individually and pick which models they want to show up at the model call. As the editor, I was given the option of reviewing the portfolios as well, but I chose to just look at a sampling to make sure that the designer and I were on the same page. We were.

The model call was in a very simple, spare room. The designer and I (and my assistant for part of it) sat at a table near the entrance. The photographer set up his equipment. The coordinator of the shoot was out in the hallway with the models, taking their names, studio, and giving them numbers on stickers to wear so that we could keep track of who we liked. One by one, the models would come into the room, we would greet them, and look through their portfolios quickly. Most of them had tear sheets we could take and number to remember who we liked. Two had their portfolios on an iPad, which was a cool use of technology, I thought. Then the photographer would take some shots of them at different angles, highlighting the type of shots we would most likely be doing at the photoshoot, making sure to get the important angles. He spent more time with the models he liked.

It was fascinating! And really, really fun. Although it was exhausting, too. I felt like I was a judge on America's Next Top Model--the theme song "you wanna be on top?" kept running through my head. I found it interesting that neither the designer nor the photographer felt the need to take notes--they were both visual people, and remembered the models they liked and didn't like. I took notes, and felt really judgmental as I did: "Nose too big. Nice skin. Neck too short. Too awkward. Not pretty enough." etc. Although, of course, they were all beautiful in different ways. Some were just obviously not right for this project. Some had the right look, but didn't take direction well, didn't know how to pose.

"You must be the editor" the coordinator said to me at the end of the day. "Yes, how did you know?" "You're taking notes. You're into words." Ha.

For the most part, we were all on the same page, although there was one girl that I liked that the others didn't as much. I thought the model was gorgeous. The photographers thought others were better suited. "Her beauty feels a little too generic, a little cheap" the photographer said. "Not unique enough." I could see what he meant.

We chose five or so girls that we were most interested in based on what we saw during the call, although we won't choose officially until we review all the photos the photographer took. I plan on sending our top choices to the author to weigh in, too. The coordinator immediately emailed the agencies to put holds on the models we liked, and got a message back saying that one of them was already booked. The models were going to model calls all day, for the most part. One told us that she had been to eight that day alone. Apparently there were a lot of fashion week calls.

Overall, it was a fascinating look into a part of the business I didn't know much about.

The actual photo shoot is this Wednesday. More next week!

from the BRG archives: Sometimes it's easier than you think

Last week, I sent in a ms. for a children’s book – my name won’t be on it, and I’m not getting royalties, and the publisher probably wouldn’t want me to name it here anyway. So I won’t. It’s the second book I’ve ghostwritten for this artist and publisher (and of course, but I better say it anyway, the artist is not one of the BRGs! They write their own books!).

My usual method is to procrastinate and agonize about that and (once I finally settle down) write most passages over and over – but for some reason I didn’t do that with this project. I just calmly did the research at odd moments here and there (well, maybe it wasn’t quite THAT effortless, but that’s how it seems now)….and when I was ready to write, I did. (I put that in bold because I think it’s important.) I didn’t fiddle or fuss, when I knew something I wanted to say, I poured it into my laptop or Neo. Once, I think. Maybe I wrote some parts a few times, and I did a clean up at the end, but the point is that I didn’t agonize over any of it. I thought about what was interesting in the research and then wrote it down when I was in the mood to do so. I alo told the artist the main idea I had for the fictional part of the story and she loved it – and it was fun to talk about it with her, too.

When I was done with the ms., the artist and I went over it together (I thought if we did it together it would be easier and go faster. It did!), and amicably crossed things out– my goal had been to get rid of half. But:
“I LIKE the page about Lincoln!” she said. I said we could at least take out the fact that the statue of him in the Capitol is missing the left ear (that was its state when Lincoln died and the sculptor decided to leave it unfinished.) “I think that’s really interesting!” she said, sketching it. There were a few conversations like that, but we did take out a third of it.

I went home, rewrote a few things the next day, and the day after that, rewrote a little more and sent it off. I liked it; but had a (slight) sense of unease. It couldn’t be THAT easy, maybe it was all garbage, was I deluding myself? (etc.) But about a week later I got an email from the editor saying she loved it and thought kids would be “really excited” about it.

I’m going to remember this incident. Maybe it can always be this easy – and even if it can’t, agonizing doesn’t help! So, I have some new rules (as if I need more rules!). But these may really HELP me and I believe in the almost-magical power of writing things down or saying them out loud. This blog is both. So – although these may be incredibly obvious to others, here’s what I’ve learned.
1. Don’t wait to write until I have “enough time,” or a long stretch of uninterrupted time. That will never happen. (Until I really get into it and then no one CAN interrupt me, because I won’t hear or notice them.)
2. DO wait until I know what I want to say and am sure it’s interesting to me.
3. Don’t rewrite as I go along – just keep going and clean it up at the end.
4. Don’t worry about what other people will think of it: just please myself -- at least until the first draft is done! Don’t even worry now about what I will do then -- hey, maybe I’ll read it over and like it a lot!
5. Maybe when it’s time to take things out, get someone to sit with me the way this artist did? It made it SO much easier and more relaxed to just sit there in a café together, crossing things out and talking as we did it…

I hope I remember these things and act on them – it really boils down to trusting myself to know what I want to say and then just saying it.

Once ( a long time ago!) I made a list of things to avoid in future boyfriends and showed it to a new friend who, instead of commending me, started laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“That you would have to remind yourself of stuff like this.” (I don’t remember what was on the list but I can imagine). Maybe these writing rules are equally obvious to others….but I DO have to remind myself of them – WANT to remind myself!

This is a really long post…but no one has to read these things! And I do promise to make my next one shorter. But I won’t edit and rewrite: I’ll just pick a shorter topic.

Originally published Aug. 23, 2006

Problems an editor can't fix

In addition to writing children's books, I do a lot of editing, and when it comes to fiction (non-fiction is completely different in this way) I've concluded that there are some problems that an editor just can't fix.

An editor can take a good idea (even if the person can't write at ALL) and help the author make it better. She may even be able to help the author find the story. But she can't make a dull story, or point of view, interesting, or turn well-written description into a story -- she can't give the author something to say.

When it comes to something to say, people either have it or they don't.....you can help them write it, or even figure out what it is (I've done this with illustrators, and it's fascinating and inspiring -- to me, anyway!). But you can't give it to them or teach it to them.

I'm mentioning this because I think this pretty basic idea -- having something to say -- is often lost in the discussion of 'story arcs' and the like. What do I mean by something to say? An angle of vision-- a way of looking at other people and the world that's your own -- fresh and original -- deeply felt (or I guess very amused or just fascinated could count too?). If you want to write fiction, an editor can help you craft that into a story with a beginning and a middle and an end and all the other things that make books satisfying for readers. It's a lot easier for the editor if you have those three already, but even if you don't, an editor can help you find them.

And she can suggest ways of making the story more intriguing or faster-paced. She can suggest how to make it richer or deeper by adding add a secondary plot or more characters; or suggest that a different point of view might work better.....but the sad fact is that not everyone who wants to write has something interesting to say.

It has to start with that, not with wanting to have a book published. There's a big difference between those two points of departure!

fixed!

I fixed the part one of the interview below. Now the questions are in! I hope that makes it easier to read.

more Q&A WITH the questions attached. my attention problems...

Hi all, here are some more of my mom's comments WITH the questions first! I HOPE this makes more sense to all of you!

ME: When was did you first notice that I had attention problems?

MOM: I began to notice that you had a little attention deficit when you were pretty young. But I would not have used that term. I just remember being aware that it seemed noteworthy that I had to ask you a half dozen times if you wanted orange juice or tomato in the morning. I recall being sort of astonished that you wouldn't answer. You were always pretty wired at home. Do you remember asking us to count laps as you ran around the house? Your uncle Ted was probably the first one to comment on your temperament. You were tiny, I mean maybe just weeks old when he held you and said, wow she is very alert. Your hair stuck up like you had been electrocuted. I mean you were wired. You were well behaved in school but let it all hang out at home. You were never mean or destructive, just lively and we did enjoy you.

ME: Was this apparent at home or just in school?

MOM: Your fourth grade teacher (who had a hyperactive son) was the first professional to mention it to us. Or maybe the third grade teacher said it in a very vague soft way. But Mrs. A. referred you to a neurodevelopmental pediatrician

ME: I remember going to a doctor to be tested but I was never told what it was for. I thought it was some sort of intelligence test. It really stressed me out. Why didn’t you guys explain what it was for? Or did you and am I just not remembering?

MOM: I am afraid I don't remember what I told you about why you were going. I usually try to explain things so I would imagine we said it was because the teacher thought you were having trouble paying attention. The funny thing is, that you were first referred for a test to see if you had auditory processing problems. That came up negative. And the Dr. who wrote an evaluation on you, left it up to us, to decide if you should be tried on stimulant medication.

ME: Bridget was a huge bookworm. I really didn’t like reading all through school. I don’t remember you forcing us to read but I do remember having to read a number of books during the summer months as a requirement to get into the next grade. I always tried to get the smallest book possible. You really can’t make someone be a reader I guess! Were there any tricks you tried on me? Or did you just let me be?

MOM: I do think I tried to get you to read. We went to libraries and bought books and encouraged you to read during the summer for fun. But it just wasn't fun for you. I wonder if you would have liked books on tape when you were younger. You seem to enjoy them now. You could have listened while you did other things. I would tell parents of kids who don't seem to enjoy reading to try that.

Things to Do If You Are a Mole: An Original List Poem

I’ve written dozens of “things to do” poems. One of them, Things to Do If You Are a Pencil, was published in the anthology Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems, which was edited by Georgia Heard.

Things to Do If You are a Pencil

Be sharp.
Wear a slick yellow suit
and a pink top hat.
Tap your toes on the tabletop,
listen for the right rhythm,
then dance a poem
across the page.

I enjoy writing "things to do" poems….thinking about what life might be like for inanimate objects, animals, elements of nature, etc. The poems can be thought of as poems of address--apostrophe--in which I speak to pencils and moles and the rain and the sun...or just as someone daydreaming about and personifying the subjects of the poems.

**********

I’ve selected one of my personal favorite “things to do” poems for posting today.

Things to Do If You Are a Mole

By Elaine Magliaro

Make your home
in the damp darkness
underground
unknowing of snow
and stars
and summer breezes.
Live among roots
and rocks
and sleeping cicadas.
Excavate tunnels
in the moist brown earth.
Listen for the soft music
of seeds sprouting,
worms wiggling,
rain pattering on your grassy roof.
Spend your days in a world
of unending night.

**********

Here are three “things to do” poems about space that were written by my elementary students in 1998:

Things to Do If You Are the Sun
by Teddy B.

Explode your fiery volcanoes.
Reach your flaming arches
millions of miles into space.
Show off your sunspots.
Heat up your solar system.
Shine on the planets for
billions of years.
let your light give life to Earth.
Spin all the planets around you.
Don’t let the planets
get lost in space.


MOON
by Joey G.

Spin around the Earth.
Come out in the evening.
Put on your silver dress
and dance in the night sky.
Shimmer like a pearl.


What to Do If You Are the Sun
by Lila M.

Shine on the planets
and their moons.
Give Earth dawn and dusk.
Stretch out your arms of light
and wake people up in the morning.
Hug Earth with your warmth
and help living things grow.
Show off your glorious crown
during a solar eclipse.

***************

At Wild Rose Reader, you find my post Shadows on Snow: Revisiting an Old Poem.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Dori Reads.

MY LACK OF SKILLS FROM BACK THEN...

I have to say... I learned a lot about myself from asking my mom all sorts of questions. I think the way I'm going to do my mom's interview is post little bits per day. Here's a good bit:

Question:
I remember when I asked you to read my first attempt at a novel. You said something like: “Bridget is the writer in the family. You should stick to art,” or some such. You later explained why you said that. You really thought my writing would be terrible and was trying to save me from embarrassment. But this is why I ALWAYS ask you for advice on my writing before anyone else--because you are honest and I value your opinion. I think we have the same taste in writing and art. Sometimes honestly is hard to swallow, but it always works out for the best. What did you think of my early writing attempts? You can be honest. I won’t cry.

I think you struggled with writing in school for the same reason that sometimes made it hard for me to figure out what you were trying to tell me in everyday conversation. You tended to start telling me something as if I was inside your brain. I remember having to ask lots of questions to figure out where your ideas were coming from. This is a really simplistic example; "Mom, she was there when it happened." And I would be totally puzzled and have to say, who what where and when. Consequently your writing was confusing. I think you also had trouble organizing. Remember your little index card to help with a math test. You were allowed to bring one index card with some helpful facts to a math test. You filled both sides with microscopic letters and numbers with no spaces between them. It was like looking sanskrit . Your notebooks came home with huge holes where you must have erased right through the paper. I used to marvel at them. Basically your attempts to help yourself learn, produced chaos. So I was astounded when you began to write coherently. when you were in your twenties. I think that part of your brain just matured late."

For some more questions and answers you can read them here.

INTERVIEW WITH MY MOM

I did a little interview with my mom about getting us kids (in particular me) to read and other things. For whatever reason she sort of stuck a lot of the answers to the questions together so I'm going to post this without the questions. To make this make sense, Bridget and Kaila are my sisters. Bridget is 2 years younger and Kaila is 7. I'll be posting the rest of the interview on my blog in the coming days. I hope that my "story" will give kids with attention problems hope!


--------------
PART 1

ME: I remember you used to read us a lot of picture books. Can you name us some of your favorites? What were some of Bridget and my favorites?

MOM: One of my favorites was Chris Van Allsburg's The Wreck of the Zephyr. I can still picture the illustrations even though it has probably been twenty years since I have looked at the book. I also loved the sense of mystery and wonder it provoked. It's funny but something about it reminds me of a picture of an imaginary scene we had hanging in my childhood home. I used to stare at it and imagine going there. I called it "babyland". I guess the connection was just that it stirred my imagination. We did not own picture books with colorful illustrations

You of course loved the wild and wacky, In The Night Kitchen. And when I was desperate to get you all to sleep, I would choose the lilting refrain of Goodnight Moon. I loved the colors in those illustrations.


ME: Was there anything you got sick of reading?

MOM: The only books I used to get bored reading were the ones which I guess were supposed to teach kids vocabulary. I remember one that was given to you that was sort of like a picture encyclopedia, with pictures of everyday objects and little bears thrown in to make it more kid friendly. I really avoided books with crappy illustrations.

ME: Kaila (my third sister and seven years younger) seemed to be a little different than us. What were some of her favorite books? I remember she liked a book about a bear by himself. It doesn’t seem like a book that Bridget and I would like. Perhaps this is because we had each other and Kaila WAS by herself… in a way?

MOM: Bridget loved the Berenstain Bear books. I think Kaila did too. Kaila did love Bear by Himself. It was such a quiet little book. I liked it too, I guess because I agreed with the message, which was that sometimes you are your own best company. I think so many kids think they are "losers" when they are alone. But this book put a real positive spin on being alone.

ME: I remember that you read both picture books and novels. It was a mixture. I really loved that. Why did you decide to do that?

MOM: Bridget and Kaila both liked to collect the Berenstain Bear books. Bridget especially loved reading chapter books together. It probably took us quite awhile to get through some of them. I think she liked looking forward to the next chapter. We read the Roald Dahl books, BFG, and Witches. We also read Robinson Crusoe and another book--So Far from the Bamboo Grove--together. She remembers that Aunt Carol got us a signed copy of that one. Bridget did think that made it special. I think going from picture books to novels was a natural progression as you got older and developed bigger vocabularies. Its funny, you didn't like to read on your own, but you did have a good vocabulary and always did very well on standardized tests.

ME: Dad also used to make up stories sometimes and I think both Bridget and I loved that. I think it really encouraged us to be creative. Do you remember that? Did you ever participate?

MOM: Yes, Dad did enjoy making up stories. He would be a natural at that. He is the best one in both of our families at recounting funny things that have happened to him , in a very entertaining way. I think you are too by the way. You have a knack for mimicking people. I did make up stories too, but I think Dads were more memorable. You may not recall this, but I did tell you a made up story about walking upside down. i really used to love looking at the ceiling and pretending to walk on it.

ME: Did your parents read to you when you were little?

MOM: My mother always read to my brother and I. We had an old anthology of children's literature. I think I just loved the fact that we were all snuggled up together peacefully. We had her undivided attention in such a positive way. I could tell that she was enjoying it too. That is what I enjoyed most about reading to my children. The stories in those old books were less memorable than the time spent together. However, I do remember the first book that was ever given to me..

ME: I know there wasn’t a good selection back then and books were only printed in 2 or 3 colors, but do you have any favorites from then?

MOM: My sister gave me Eloise. I just loved it. I think it was the first book that I could call mine. It had a lot more illustrations than the old books and they were colorful and funny.

How to Achieve Balance Between Your (Sheesh, I Hate This Word) Platform and Your Writing

This week the indomitable Katie Davis has agreed to fill in for Grace (who is on a 2-week school visit marathon). Katie Davis has published nine books and appears monthly on the ABC affiliate show, Good Morning Connecticut, recommending great books for kids. She produces Brain Burps About Books, a podcast about kidlit, a blog and monthly newsletter. Smart about marketing, books and balance, we're so glad Katie has agreed to share some of her insights with us here:


Don’t freak out when you read what I’m about to write. I’ll tell you the trick in a second.


My platform consists of my blog, a monthly TV appearance on a local CT morning show to promote kidlit, a monthly newsletter, and a weekly podcast. Then there’s the usual tweeting, emailing, book promotion, and Facebook distraction. I also write and illustrate books, do a bunch of literacy-based volunteer stuff, and I have two teenagers, a very easy husband, and Mango the Adorable Dog.

When people hear about all this stuff I do they usually say, “Where did you get those extra hours in your day?” or “Well, you have more energy than I do!” or “You are insane.”

One of those comments is true but I’m not telling which.

I do get a lot done, but it’s not as much as I make it seem. I know how to do the whole smoke and mirrors thing. It gives the impression that I’m doing everything ALL the time.

To answer the question set up by my title, think REPURPOSE. It’s my new favorite word. Actually, Grace Lin inspired the subject of this post when she asked this very question on my podcast. She queried whether it was okay to re-use the same material for a blog post and a newsletter (or something like that). I believe it is definitely okay. And therein lies the smoke and the mirrors.

Even though it seems like I’m doing a lot – and don’t get me wrong, I am – I’m trying to make the most of what I do by getting more use out of each endeavor. I had a college friend who used to call this time-deepening.

How does this work? Here are the steps:

Say my Good Morning, CT gig is coming up. I’ll read the books I’m recommending (duh), then grab the covers off the internet. I send my producer the covers and blurbs about a week in advance so they know what images to show while I’m on. While I’m doing that, I have my newsletter open, and upload the images there, entering in the blurbs. I used to write my own copy for each book, but now with the added demands of the podcast, I’ve given that up and simply use the publisher’s description. I send an email to the authors, illustrators, and sometimes the publishers telling them I’m taking the book on TV and could they please send me a unique bit on the book’s creation for my newsletter. I offer writing prompts to facilitate that, and sometimes get some great “interviews” that way. Often I’ll also interview that same author on my podcast, so now I’ve time-deepened my reading and prep efforts once via the TV show, once, the podcast, and once through the newsletter.

I’ve also repurposed for my blog via my podcast because I write show notes for every episode and use them to help me with the accompanying blog post once the episode is ready to upload. I have started to time-deepen my podcast editing session by doing non-thinking activities while listening. When I hear something that requires cutting, I’ll click back over to Garageband, do my editing as necessary, and whenever any linkable comment comes up, I’ll go back to the open blog post window and make the bulleted note (because I always write up what’s in the episode so people will know what I covered…in case they especially do or do not want to listen)!

Because this post is so long, and I’m writing in detail what I do, it seems like a huge complicated effort, but because I re-use content across my various delivery systems it’s not as overwhelming as it seems. I’m not trying to be disingenuous, I do know it’s a lot, it’s just not as much as it appears to be.



If you are going to repurpose your content, there is one important point to stress. I think it’s crucial to include unique material in each category so, though you’re repurposing, you’re just overlapping. In other words, my podcast will give listeners something new that, if they also subscribe to my newsletter, they won’t have read. Or if someone reads my blog there is always something unique that they won’t see or hear in the podcast, the TV clip or the newsletter.

Doing all this re-using gives me time for my writing and illustrating. I get up and answer the bulk of my email first thing, over coffee. I try to schedule my time by tweeting only in the morning and evening (the operative word being try). I don’t always succeed. But I love doing all this stuff. It’s fun for me. When I feel overwhelmed, I remind myself that I don’t have to do it. Or I let something slide. Because in the end, what really matters is doing what I love, which is writing for children. Oh, and promoting other people’s books. Oh wait. Also supporting literacy and…

I think I’m going to need to repurpose my repurposing

Ten weeks

A big thank you to Rebecca for blogging in my absence over the past couple months!

Its been ten weeks since I had a baby and I think its fair to say life as I knew it has been turned on its head. There are of course the obvious changes: the day is now structured around the needs of a tiny, hungry, brand new person who doesn't care much for my to do list. I'm lucky if I can get one errand done in a day.

Time has slowed to a snail's pace when it comes to cooking and laundry, but its also flying by. Baby grows and changes at light speed. She's gone from 6 pounds 11 oz to almost 13 pounds in her short life, from seeing only a foot in front of her to being able to track me from across the room, and most remarkably gone from a distant, sleepy gaze to broad faced grins like these:

The grins are the best. They make my heart explode with happiness. I would do anything for them.

But the biggest change that first hit like a mac truck and has since been winding its way through my thoughts has to do with the way I think of myself. Like most artists and writers, I've always leaned pretty heavily on my work to define who I am. Its what makes me feel different and special and unique, the thing that I have to offer the world. Strangely that is shifting. Having a kid is perhaps the most commonplace thing a person can do. It doesn't make me different at all, if anything it makes me more like everyone else. But it feels so profoundly beautiful in all its commonness.

There is a quote from one of my new mom books that I love:

"A few weeks ago, my baby gave me a flower. Never mind that ... it was missing a few petals, or that he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to let it go. It was-and is-the most gorgeous flower ever given or received. Silver and gold wouldn't buy it from me ... These aren't just my hands anymore; they belong to a lineage of mothers a planet wide and millenia old. I was a woman on an April evening in a kitchen in my corner of the world, catching time between the pages of a baby book, and at the same time, I was my mother, her mother, a mother somewhere on another continent carefully tucking a flower into the pocket of her shirt, a flower you couldn't buy from her with silver or gold. We don't know each other, but all over the world and all through time, we're gathering up wilted flowers and misspelled love notes, and every single one of us knows the singular ache that's love and pride and sadness all mixed into one."

-The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding

Part of me feels sad that the life I had is gone- no more staying up all night to finish a painting or feverishly devoting every waking thought to a story idea. Now my time is scheduled and my job is to make the most of the time I have in front of the computer, when I have it. But I also feel deeply excited about this new life. Mother love is fierce and unending. As I find my way back into making books I do so with a wilted flower in my pocket.

How to Mingle at Publishing Events

This past weekend was the Annual SCBWI Winter Conference in NYC. I had no official duties (unlike last year), but as always when I'm in town, I enjoy attending the VIP Cocktail party, and then the Kidlit Drink Night after party (hosted by Fuse #8). The main problem with these events is that there are just too many people to talk to everyone I would have liked to.

I do remember a time as a younger editor when I didn't know as many people as I do now, when I found it harder to mingle. And I also imagine these events can be intimidating to attend as an author or illustrator. So, I thought I'd give some tips on how to mingle at publishing events. I know most of these tips are pretty standard, and to give full disclosure, I don't actually abide by all of these, but here goes:

1) The best "pick-up line" is to simply say "hello" and introduce yourself. Honestly, everyone at these type of events should be there to mingle, and even if they're not, they at least expect others to introduce themselves. If you recognize someone, whether an author or editor or Twitter friend, go up to him/her and say hi. Then again, if they look like they're deep in conversation with someone else, wait until they're not as engaged to approach them.

2) Have a goal/agenda for the event. Maybe there's an author, illustrator, agent, art director, or editor, etc. you've always wanted to meet and know will be there. Make your goal to meet that person. Maybe you're shy: make your goal to introduce yourself to at least one stranger. Maybe your goal is to get at least two business cards, and/or give your card to at least three people. Turn it into a game!

3) Don't be afraid to ask for help. I'm totally happy to introduce people to each other. I wish people would ask me more to introduce them to others. In general, I think people like to feel helpful.

4) Don't get drunk. It's fine to have a little liquid courage in you, but remember that this is a professional event. Nobody wants to be around someone who is sloppy. Don't embarrass yourself.(Okay, not that I've never gotten drunk at a publishing event myself...)

5) Have some conversation topics prepared. Maybe it's a current event, or asking what people are reading, or what they think of the award winners, etc.

6) Don't be afraid to introduce yourself again, or ask someone to remind you of their name. I go to so many different conferences and events. I may remember faces, but not usually names. And I never expect people to remember me. So don't worry about offending people you know you've met but can't remember. And it's always helpful to people to reintroduce yourself to remind them of who you are.

7) If you're introverted and/or shy, don't worry--I'd say at least 75% of the people in publishing are, too!


8) And finally, not to be cliche, but: Have Fun! These events are FUN! You're in a room of people who love books as much as you do. What's not fun about that?


As for the rest of the conference, I was following the action on Twitter over the weekend while I finished up an edit. There are also great interviews and wrap-ups of the different talks on the official blog here.

ereaders

I started this as a comment to Meghan's post, below, but it kept getting longer and longer.

One of the kids I babysit for (a girl, 8) got a Nook for Christmas and says a lot of the books she wants aren't available for it. I know everyone is going to say "What books?" and when asked that question, she couldn't remember.

As for me: I live in the country and I must say, it would be HEAVEN to be able to get any book I wanted, instantly. I don't think I'll ever be much of an ereader, though, unless they ALL let you see the pages turning the way the ipad does -- that really is cool. I'm a fast reader and read the last line on one page awhile I turn to the next, so the screen going blank/blank completely ruins the reading experience for me. It takes me out of the world of the book. If I had unlimited funds, I might get ipad just so I could read in bed and read anything.

But then what would I do when I travel? I have to bring a laptop. It would be too heavy to carry a laptop for my writing (which is already too heavy!) AND the ipad. The Macbook Air is light enough to carry around, and Kindle books can be downloaded to it....but it's expensive, and what good is that for reading with the screen going blank or black at the end of every page?

Back to the ipad: if it could handle Word, I'd be tempted: very tempted. You can use the USB camera port on it for external keyboards, and a mouse, too......but I just don't think it would work well for long documents. I'd miss Word, which has become so automatic for me (I have been using it for over 20 years) that I don't even need to think about it, I just write with it. It's become part of my brain, in almost an Ender's-game-like way.

Has anyone found a good Word substitute that works on the ipad? If there is one, I could adjust and might be even more tempted!

The ipad is very cute, and lots of the applications are fun. My favorite is the one that labels all the stars and constellations in the sky WHERE YOU ARE STANDING, from your point of view! The kids I babysit for never use this or any others, though: they just play games on it. And one of them is a reader, the kind of reader who LOVES to read. He's ten, and when he reads, he reads books: printed books.

IF YOU HAD TO PICK AN E-READER

I just wrote a post about how BN is being sued for its Nook. At the end I compared the Nook with Alex, which is created by Spring design (you can see these two devises on my blog), and said I'd go with the Nook. Then I was thinking about it and said if I HAD to pick an e-reader I'd buy a Nook. A Nook color I guess (I'm adding the color part here). The iPad is an amazing devise but let's face it--it's a laptop without the keyboard. I already have a small 12 inch laptop. Why would I want another? I find that the iPad is too big and heavy to carry around and I would want something a bit smaller to lug on the subway because that's where I'd use it most.

So... what would YOU pick?

meghan

p.s - I think Alvina has had several?

Dear Goldilocks: An Original Fairy Tale Poem

I have another poem from my unpublished collection Excerpts from the Fairy Tale Files. I really enjoyed taking on the persona of fairy tale characters and speaking in their voices in many of the poems in the collection—as I did in For Sale and Not All Princes Are Cut from the Same Cloth.

The poem I have for you today was composed in the form of a letter written by an angry Mama Bear to Goldilocks.

Dear Goldilocks,

You little brat. You little scamp!
You sneaked into our summer camp
And ate my little baby’s bowl
Of porridge, broke his chair, then stole
Upstairs and napped on Baby’s bed.
You ripped the new embroidered spread
His Grammy gave him yesterday.
This time you may have slipped away.
But if you ever come back here,
I’ll grab you, Goldie, by the ear—
And cut off all you curly hair!
You are not welcome!!!!!

Yours,
Ma Bear




Here are three of my favorite picture book versions of the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears:

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Retold & illustrated by James Marshall

**********

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Retold by Jim Aylesworth & illustrated by Barbara McClintock
**********

The Three Bears

Retold & illustrated by Paul Galdone

**********

At Wild Rose Reader, I have the rough draft of an original poem titled It’s Snowing Again!.

You’ll also find the Poetry Friday Roundup over at Wild Rose Reader.

RESEARCH

Libby has been busy doing research and I have as well. I meant to post about this on my own blog but got really distracted and ended up posting funny videos I found on YouTube on Library Raps on the Dewey Decimal system, etc. They're entertaining.

Anyhow, this is something I do when I get into research:

I watch movies I need on the time periods, such as one on Kennedy because he died in the 60s. When I find what I'm looking for I freeze frame and take photo:



In this case I was looking for reporters. I am doing a book on a boy who added stars to the US flag. After they got added reporters flooded his school to interview him. In my nuttiness, I want to see what it looked like in 1960. Thus, the need for films from that time period. Mad Men is also a good way to go. The first season took place in 1960. I'll have to rewatch part of that. Oy. Lots to do!

meghan

Research

Usually the boys I babysit for aren't too interested in my books and writing. But when the topic was TRUCKS, all that changed. The four-year old lugged down a volume the size of an old encyclopedia (all devoted to trucks) and began eagerly turning the pages and explaining the various vehicles. The ten-year old supplied the names KIDS use, and some of the sound effects.

Soon I had quite a long list of truck names and sounds, and both boys helped me pick the ones that would be the most popular with kids....but the ten-year old wasn't sure we had made the right choices.

"I know! To find out what kids really like, let's look at Mitchell's trucks."

It was quite a collection, and encompassed most of the house, and, with his brother's Leggo creations and planes, the entire dining room table.








There were far too many to include (these pictures do not do justice to the range of the collection, but you get the idea), so we asked him to show us his favorites.



By the end of the afternoon, I was confident that I'd made the right choices, and liked the names of the trucks and Mitchell's onomatopoetic sound effects, too. At home, I made my final selection and then, while trying to get the sounds right, found this amazing Web site: the sounds of every truck on our list and many more. Here, for your listening pleasure, is a plain bulldozer. There are many more exotic ones.

On Monday, or maybe as I write this, my agent is sending the ms. out to editors -- but whether anyone buys it or not, I had a lot of fun researching it and writing it.

And that, this year, for me (I am NOT presuming to advise anyone else), is the point. If *I* don't have fun doing this, I might as well "be an accountant or something."

The quote is from Anna, in one of her posts on this blog. I forget what the main topic was, but she, while acknowledging some of the disadvantages of being an artist (and let's face it, there are MANY), concluded: "At least I don't have to dress up in a suit and be an accountant or something."

Not that there's anything wrong with being an accountant, I'm very grateful to mine. He makes probably about 20 times what I do -- but, at least when I'm doing research and writing books like this one, I do enjoy what I do. For a long time I thought of my writing as a way to make money, and when I thought of it that way, I put myself under the kind of pressure that wasn't productive, and felt, was, poor all the time, too. If you can count on your writing or artwork to make money: GREAT. Lucky you! I know, I know, it's not just luck, it's talent and hard work as well. If you've made it, well done! Bravo!

I'm just saying that for me, thinking of it this way works better. If I genuinely enjoy what I write, and can make enough money from my freelance work and babysitting to live on (and as our loyal readers know, now I do), I really can't lose.

MY EBOOK EXPERIMENT

I've been posting away on the topic of ebooks on my new blog: CHILDREN'S BOOKS - THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY (Scroll past the repeat...). There are also a few other blogs to check out on that topic as well.

walkinginpublic.wordpress.com

www.eisforbook.com

Hey, I'm not one to do all this talk and no action. I feel like I can't complain about ebooks or fully talk about the ins and outs of all of this without trying it out myself. So, here's what I want to do: I want to take one of my out-of-print books and turn it into an ebook using BN's Pubit.



Here's the question:
Do I:
1) give it away for free, as in list it for 0.00 dollars? (If I CAN do that)
or
2) sell it for .99 cents?
or
3) sell it for over 9.99 and get 60% instead of the standard 35%?

I'm right now leaning toward giving it away for free. Why give anyone any money for it? I'm already giving it away on my website for free so why not continue the gesture? Then again, perhaps that will ruin the experiment. Will it? Do I need to sell it for 99 cents like everyone else to see what will really happen?

I need your votes so vote now!

Thank you!

Marketing Q&A

I was interviewed over at the blog Market My Words on Monday. Check it out the Q&A here, and comment for the chance to win some ARCs!

What I Really Want to Do is Direct

On Sunday, at Powerhouse Arena in Brooklyn I met a true New York icon, Spike Lee. With his wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, he wrote the picture book Giant Steps to Change the World, illustrated by my client Sean Qualls. Tonya read the book while Sean showed the audience his artwork and the three then answered questions from adults and kids alike and signed books for their fans.



The topic of today's blog post... What I Really Want to Do is Direct (thought I'd sneak in a plug for my client's book by drawing a connection with Spike Lee. Tricky, huh? Buy Giant Steps to Change the World wherever books are sold).

A couple of entries ago, I said that I would tell you about my ninth and tenth 2011 resolutions in a later post. Well, the time has come...

9. Write the picture book already.
For YEARS I have had a picture book title in my head. I even wrote down the first line once, but I have never attempted to write the next line and certainly not the whole manuscript (or revise that non-existent complete manuscript to my satisfaction). Why not? I know from working with so many picture book creators that crafting a picture book is the work of a certain kind of brilliance. I worry that trying my hand at writing a picture book would send the wrong message to those clients. Would they find it disrespectful that I should dare to think I could do what they do? For so long I have said that I'm not a writer, I'm not the one to create a great character or start a story and carry it through to resolution; I'm skilled at helping writers and advocating for their careers. Am I to be one of the fools who attempts to write a picture book but doesn't realize how difficult it is to write a successful one? All of these are real concerns of mine, but to be honest...the biggest impediment has been the fear that it won't be any good...and if it's no good what does that say about me as a representative of children's book authors. But as Sondheim wrote in Company "Don't be afraid it won't be perfect...the only thing to be afraid of really is that it won't be."

All that to say... My ninth resolution is to write the picture book already. And not to wait until Dec. 31st to do it. I am challenging myself to sit down and write a draft when I have the time and head space to do it and to revise and tinker with it some as well. The goal is not to make it perfect or make it sell, but to be active with it in 2011 so it doesn't eternally become relegated to the "this idea I have" folder in my mind.

10. Actively pursue more Middle Grade and YA fiction projects / represent more novelists. Unlike most agents, author/illustrators comprise the majority of my client list. I treasure being a part of the picture book world and enjoy its rewards (see my last post on The Caldecott Call). But yes, I am also actively looking for more fiction to round out my list.

What am I looking for?

*I have many author/illustrator clients who have expanded their audience by creating graphic novels or highly illustrated book for older readers alongside their picture books as Grace has done with the Year of books, Ling & Ting, and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (see also Jarrett J. Krosoczka’s Lunch Lady series and Matt Phelan’s The Storm in the Barn). I think the use of “beyond the spot” illustration in middle grade fiction (and to a lesser degree in YA fiction) will continue to grow. I would welcome submissions of this ilk. Of course, Jeff Kinney makes it look simple…but it’s not. I am looking only for submissions in this category from true author/illustrators. I am not looking for another diary or journal format book for older readers, but an original piece of fiction in which the art naturally tells part of and enhances the story. I love when art adds humor to a funny book like in The Strange Case of Origami Yoda or gives further insight into a character in more serious fiction such as The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian.

*Humor: I think there is room in this market for more laugh-evoking fiction. I am not looking for potty humor (unless you are Dav Pilkey, don’t try it) or adults writing what they *think* kids will find funny (how irksome it can be to hear the writer coming through a first person child narrator). King Dork by Frank Portman and An Abundance of Katherines by John Green come to mind as great examples of humor in YA. The True Meaning of Smekday is a personal favorite for middle grade readers in addition to Jarrett J. Krosoczka’s in-the-works Platypus Police Squad series. Perhaps even better are books that can make you laugh out loud AND tug at your heartstrings, like Lisa Railsback’s Noonie’s Masterpiece.

*Retellings: I am a sucker for a great, unique retelling. I’m not talking about Austen (can you get better than Clueless? Plus, I already have Scones and Sensibility by Lindsay Eland on my list) or Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, or other Shakespeare usual suspects. My client, Pamela Keyes, debuted as a YA author last fall with The Jumbee, a retelling of the Phantom of the Opera set in the Caribbean in modern day. And how about Neil Gaiman’s version of The Jungle Book, the Newbery Medal winning, The Graveyard Book? That’s what I am looking for.

*Interesting settings and places in time: I am not looking for the next civil war, depression, Holocaust or 1960s story. I am looking for the next Al Capone Does My Shirts, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, Ninth Ward, Revolution or the upcoming Bird In a Box by my client, Andrea Davis Pinkney. That doesn’t mean send me manuscripts about Alcatraz, Evolution, Katrina, France, and Joe Louis. Like the titles, I listed, I want manuscripts that exhibit personal stories that a 21st century reader can still relate to with fully developed (not stock) characters. I want to see a rarely used locale, time period or historical event shaping the story and the protagonist without dominating the text.

*Wow this author can write: While it can be difficult to sell a straight, contemporary middle grade or YA novel in this publishing climate there are books that are so wonderfully written that they cannot be ignored. If you can write as well Tim Tharp, Sara Zarr, or Francisco X. Stork, please be in touch immediately.

*Plot matters: Yes we need to like a character, and “voice” can separate a submission from the stacks, but when a writer can sustain a tight, page-turning plot…that’s the jackpot. Great examples of such successes are Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta and Paper Towns by John Green.

*High-concept: This is what most agents are looking for and is much harder to define. A lot of high concept books are becoming the “Big Books” that publishers want. Paranormal Romance and Dystopian titles can be considered high concept, but I am not looking for manuscripts in those categories. The Invention of Hugo Cabret with its use of wordless spreads almost like silent movie stills is definitely a high concept book. Of course, format innovation is not the only way to yield a high concept label. Some of my favorite books are the Lemony Snicket books which set themselves apart not only through their great packaging but also through tone, narration, and word choice that couldn’t be found in other children’s books published at the time. To be clear, high-concept doesn’t always mean high-art. There are entertaining, independent reads that are definitely high-concept.

High-concept to me also means something more substantive than a hook. I am probably not the right agent for a simple YA love story with the twist being that the guy is a fallen angel. If you can tell me not just that your manuscript “is great for readers who like Harry Potter,” but give me a very clear idea and make me want to read the book with a simple, specific phrase or tagline, that’s great. Also quick comparisons help (ex. Frog & Toad meets Law & Order was used in my pitch to editors for Platypus Police Squad).

Let me also be clear that I am not looking for high-fantasy, very technical science fiction, horror, issue novels, or quiet coming of age fiction. I am not commenting on the value of manuscripts that fall into these categories; I am telling you that I am not the best agent for such work. In fact, I tend not to gravitate toward genre fiction, but genre bending fiction (like the part satire, part mystery, part contemporary YA The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart).

(Quick practical matter) If you choose to submit a novel to me, please follow my submission guidelines which can be found on my page at Publisher’s Marketplace. Here you will also find further information about my client list (please note: I do not post all deals on this site). More information on Writers House can be found at our website www.writershouse.com. Please do NOT send me specific questions about your work or my submission process (or what I said in this post). I simply do not have time to answer those questions individually. Non-client writers should only email me if with their submission. Also, if your manuscript falls into one of the categories that I said I am not interested in seeing, please understand that this is a matter of personal taste and needs. I ask you not to send me your work “just in case” I might make an exception. There may very well be another agent who is the right match for you. I wish everyone the best of luck in finding the right home for their work.

The phrase “what I really want to do is direct” can connote a lack of appreciation for the success one has achieved in their current vocation. I picture it said by someone incapable and received with an eye roll. I want to make clear that I love working with author/illustrators and that my call for novelists does not mean I am abandoning those clients who I have been working with for years or the medium they use to express themselves. Far from it. Instead, I am looking to stretch different agenting muscles and fill what seems to be a curiously open section of my list. As for writing my own manuscript, if you ask “will it take you away from full devotion to representing your clients?” Did I just roll my eyes? Sorry.

This will be my last weekly blog entry (at least for Tuesdays and for now). Next week, we welcome back Blue Rose Girls regular, Anna Alter, from her maternity leave. I have really enjoyed filling in for Anna here and hope my entries have been helpful and fun for you to read. I do hope to do some guest posts in the future. If there are specific topics you would like me to explore, please leave suggestions in the comments.

Rebecca Sherman is a fabulous agent with over 9 years of experience at Writer's House. Her clients include Lunch Lady author/illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka, the Scott O'Dell Award Winner Matt Phelan, Caldecott Honor Illustrator Brian Pinkney and Blue Rose Girls Anna Alter and Grace Lin. You can follow Rebecca on twitter @rebeccagent.