Liar Gets a New Cover

Thank goodness.

Now everyone can go out and buy a great book by a fabulous author.

(Though if I were Bloomsbury, I would be calling the cost of rejacketing the book "marketing money", because they've gotten as much publicity as they could want. Thppt.)

Were-Tigers Have Eaten My Head

My question is, When should a writer approach licensing agents?
Last month I got a small deal from a big house for a fantasy novel about were-tigers. I think that trying to push this as a line of plush toys and baseball caps isn't a terrible idea. At least will cost nothing (to make the approach) and might spark some cross-promotional possibilities. What do I do?

1. When the writer has a fan base for his were-tigers. Until then, licensing agents are laughing up their sleeves at you. So is everyone else.

2. When the writer has sole merchandising rights, as iterated in his contract. Don't try to sell rights that belong to your publisher.

And the Minnetonka Salty Pickle Award Goes to....

I just got my publicity questionnaire from a large house, and I noticed that it doesn't ask questions about specialized publications that might review my book, or specialized awards that my book might be a good candidate for. ("Specialized" meaning specifically related to the topic of the book, as opposed to standard children's lit stuff.) Will they be offended if I share this information? How do I find out if they are willing to follow up on it? Should I give the same info to my editor?
Also, is it normal that the publicity contact would not want to give the author a list of the reviewers who have been sent advance copies?

Ah, awards. It seems like there are more and more out there.
I was recently asked by one of my authors to submit her book to an "award" that, upon investigation, we found to cost $200 to enter and which runs out of some RenFair in West Virginia.

That answer was no.

So your answer is: maybe. There are smaller, more specialized awards out there that we wouldn't mind submitting to (the Giverny, for instance). But it depends a great deal on:

1. How much does it cost to put a book in the running? The Newbery, for instance? $0.00. We just send books to the committee.
Some legitimate awards have entrance fees, but an entrance fee does and should always make me think twice.

2. How many people will hear about the winners of the award? Some "award" winners will be noticed only by the 212 other people who submitted a book for one of the 16 different "awards" certain charlatans are giving out. And when the entrants have each paid $200 to enter, I'm guessing the award's organizer is awarding himself a Bahamas vacation.
I also don't care if a small but earnest group of Rocky Mountain hicks wants to give an award. Know who awards mean the most to? Teachers and librarians. Will they hear about the award?

3. How good will such an award sound if we put it on the book jacket or in the marketing materials? "The Podunk Vermont Award for Excellent Depiction of a Bovine" is not something we want to publicize. "The Willa Award for Women Writing the West" sounds a hell of a lot more like something you'd buy, doesn't it?

So no, they won't be offended, but do phrase your email to them in a way that says you're not trying to tell them how to do their jobs. Something along the lines of "Here are some awards you might want to consider entering my book for. Would you let me know which, if any, you decide to pursue? Thanks much, your author." It doesn't hurt to copy your editor on that correspondence.

It's normal that Publicity wouldn't want to give names of reviewers, yes. But which publications they sent review copies to isn't any secret. They're very, very busy, though. If you just haven't heard from them, in my experience it's because they've sent the book to everybody who counts and they don't understand why you can't just wait to see who does or doesn't review your book.

(I know, the waiting is terrible. Authors and the waiting are a bad combination. Keep yourself busy however you can.)

In Which I Form an "Opinion"

If your publishing house acquired a debut novelist with radically ambitious marketing ideas (eg: corporate-sponsored book tour; alternate reality game played by fans in real time around the country; basically, any idea that hasn’t yet been proven effective for the book):
1. How likely would you support those efforts?

You pretty much answered your question with "hasn't yet been proven effective".
You must understand that every debut novelist and writer of any sort has a catalog of ideas about what might be done to promote their special book.

Ideas that may indeed be

• original
• daring
• innovative
  

Ideas that are also almost certainly

• based on a fundamental lack of experience in selling books
  
• moderately or massively expensive, in cash and staff involvement

It can be easy to think that the equation should be as simple as "I have ideas, publishers have money". Doesn't your publisher want to invest in your book?

Yes, your publisher does. But not in any way that might prove a complete waste of money, because people get fired over stuff like that.

Why in god's name would they invest in a tactic they have no reason to think would succeed, when they have other tactics they could spend that very same money on (please note: the only money they have to spend on that book) that will quite likely succeed?

2. If you found the ideas sound and would pledge support, what form of support would likely be offered (contacts/mailing lists, media training, money…)?

Ok, so let's assume you've somehow given the publisher a reason to think a particular tactic would succeed (outside of "it would be so cool" or "it totally worked on my neighbors"). What support would be forthcoming would depend entirely on the idea and how sound we'd found it.

3. If you would deny support to any ideas outside of those previously tested and proven (eg: book review copies, press materials, author page on house website), on what would you base this opinion?

On what would I base my opinion about "previously tested and proven" tactics?!

Wait, wait, back up. "Opinion"?!?

All right, maybe I've misunderstood the question. I am taking a deep breath.
I don't feel I can really help you understand marketing decisions any more than to say that we do need a reason to think a marketing tactic or strategy would work. Not a guess, not a theory, not an opinion. The tactics we use don't always work the way we'd hoped, but at least we were basing them on previous experience, facts, studies, and a realistic understanding of how the book business works. If you can bring some or all of those things to the discussion of radical new tactics, we'll listen.

Yes, We Have No Editors Today

I just came back from the ALA conference and I'm still as confused as ever as to who does what and who talks to who in the world of publishing. I assume that most of the publishing people I see at an event like that are marketing people, but I remember meeting an editor from a small (but quite well-known) children's press who, when learning I was a librarian, said "maybe I'll see you at ALA." To what extent, then, do editors wear different hats and might I see them pop up at these events sometimes? Also, where does an event like ALA rank on your radar screen as far as reaching possible buyers?

Certainly Marketing and Publicity are regular attendees at events like ALA and BEA. Those events are also lousy with editors and other publishing professionals. Both events rank high for us-- they are usually our best chances to connect with the librarian and bookseller communities.

Getting a chance to talk to committed booksellers and librarians--who are or may become movers and shakers in their respective areas-- is of tremendous help to editors, if we can manage a conversation amid the bustle.

Keep in mind that we are continually avoiding twits who think they'll submit a manuscript or pitch a project to us in person, regardless of our submission guidelines. So don't be surprised if editors don't have a badge on or "accidentally" have their badges flipped. If someone we don't know shows up and asks if there's 'an editor' in the booth, we will scan the booth carefully before lying our asses off.

Give Me Your Tired, Your Confused, Your Huddled Masses Yearning to Know What the F***'s Going On...

In which you have questions... a lot of questions. Jeez, you have a lot of questions.

Q1. Given these recessionary times, are nervous publishers holding back on making decisions to take on a book? I have a legitimate, well established agent and my novel was submitted to several of the bigger publishers precisely three months ago and no decision has been made about a deal from any of the publishing houses. Q2. Is it indicative of the depressed market, taking much longer to make decisions? Q3. As agents go, do publishers give them a pecking order, and so my agent may be lower in the pecking order? I'm so frustrated right now, because my agent is not giving me any reasons as to why. Even though I asked, I'm just told they'll be in touch. I'm not badgering or taxing anyone's time by any stretch, and I'm certainly not the impatient type. Just trying to figure out what's happening.


I'm a writer from Texas and I recently signed with a literary agent. About five weeks ago, my YA fiction novel went out on its first round of submissions to a collection of major publishing houses and....I haven't heard a thing! I'm going looney. Q4. What happens once an agent submits to a publishing house? Q5. How long does it take for an editor to read a submission? Q6. Do they contact the agent if they're interested or just plow forward in preparation for an offer? Q7. Do you think it's a good thing or a bad thing that I've yet to receive a response?


I'm in the exciting but wretched Waiting Place: my full MS has been requested after a query + three chapter submission. Three questions, which might be difficult to answer but here goes: Q8. From roughly what proportion of partial submissions do you then request the full? Q9. Of those fulls you request, what proportion of manuscripts would actually be acquired? Q10. Are you more likely to request a full if you met the author and got on reasonably well with them at a conference or workshop, or would that have no bearing whatsoever on your decision? Q11. Or if the author had already been published, would that be more persuasive? I know answers would vary for each editor, but I'm interested to get just a rough idea, if that's possible!

Q1. No, they're just paying a bit less for them.

Q2. Sometimes we kind of waffle about manuscripts, figuring if it's something special the agent will get in touch to tell us about the interest it's getting at other houses, and then we can put it at the top of our priority list. (We know we're being lame when we do this. We're too busy, dammit.)
It is indicative of the depressed market that some of our colleagues have been fired and those editors remaining are expected to do more with less, which, considering what we were already doing with how little, is a mathematical impossibility.

Q3. Sure. But the pecking order will vary editor-to-editor: I have a couple of agents who are very frequently on my wavelength. I love them.

Q4. Something similar to this.

Q5. Varies. A couple hours, sometimes. Overnight, maybe. Or four months from now.
Yes, that's right. Deal with it.

Q6. I'll usually let the agent know I'm interested, because I want to be kept abreast of whether I have any competition from other houses. If I know I have an exclusive, though, then I might not.

Q7. Either. Neither. Could mean nothing.

Q8. Probably 1 in 10. But that's really, really going to vary per editor.

Q9. Perhaps 1 in 10 again. I'm guessing, though-- I'm certainly not keeping a tally sheet.

Q10. Having the sense that the author is a pleasant, sane, professional person who will not be a pain in my ass during editing does buy some points, yes. Not enough to forgive crap writing, though.

Q11. Depends what they published, where, and how well it did.

Waiting is tough, I understand. It can seem like you'd need a theoretical physicist to explain why time seems to move so much more slowly around publishing houses.

But I imagine it feels the same way to the people who supply firehouses with equipment. Why haven't the firefighters responded to the new line of hoses? Are they ever going to place an order? What are they so busy with, anyway?

Authors should attempt to cope with this by keeping themselves extremely busy as well-- setting lots of deadlines for yourselves for creative tasks, errands, self-promotion, etc etc etc.

Current Events in Steampunk

I'm currently at the intern level, but have big dreams to enter the publishing industry after I graduate next spring. I subscribe to a fair amount of industry blogs, and do my best to stay current with news and trends within publishing. One of the most common pieces of advice that I read online is to always keep an eye on the NYT bestseller list or the stacks of new books at the big bookstores in order to figure out what's hot in publishing. However, I also have learned that it takes months, at the very least, for a book to go from submission to shelf.

Is it just a Catch-22 that in order to stay current, I have to be at least a year behind what's actually being accepted and published, or do you have any advice for other ways to keep up with current trends?

re: Catch-22
No. Still very much worth it.

re: Current trends in acquisitions
Steampunk, steampunk, steampunk.

This Week in Publisher Gossip: Untrustworthy Narrators and Publishers

Let's say you have a book told in first person. The narrator describes herself as black, with very short hair, and is mistaken for a boy early on in the book by teachers and fellow students.

The narrator is a compulsive liar, but unlike some of her other claims in the course of the novel, no doubt is ever cast on this description.
And the book is by an author whose protagonists are never white.

Now let's say you're Bloomsbury. Your books for ages 14-18 always have a photographic cover, but they don't always have a face on them. There are no minorities on their covers.

So what do you put on the cover of this book?

Here's the answer:
They're clearly very proud of themselves, since they also put this striking image on their catalog cover.

Well, I am appropriately stricken. And outraged, nauseous, flabbergasted... I wish I could say I can't imagine what they were thinking, but in fact I do have a guess. I just can't imagine why they thought no one would notice.

This is a very good book and an awesome author. But please, don't pay for Bloomsbury's book. Buy the Australian edition.
UPDATE: Bloomsbury has changed the cover! Yay!

The Publishometer: How to tell whether a manuscript will be acquired

I am an unpublished author trying desperately to be a published one. I feel I am a good writer and follow all the guidelines. I know publishing is a business first and foremost, but when I see yet another celebrity with a children's book in the works, it's disheartening. Plus I'm really, really jealous! My question is: Would a publisher choose a mediocre book written by a celebrity over a well written book by a no-name just because it may sell better?

There are essentially three variables at work:

• Quality of Writing
• Consumer Interest in Topic
• Degree of Celebrity

Editors want to weight things in terms of Quality of Writing. But editors also know that the Public -- the book-buying consumer -- cares a hell of a lot more about Topic and Celebrity than Writing. And yes, publishing is a business. So use this guide:

Quality of Writing:

• Transcendent -- 50 points
  
• Excellent -- 45 points
  
• Delightful -- 40 points
  
• Good -- 35 points
  
• Decent -- 30 points
  
• Drivel -- 20 points
  
• Culpable -- 10 points
  
• An abomination to anyone above the IQ of an orangutan -- 0 points
  

Consumer Interest in Topic:

• I WANT that! -- 110 points
  
• My kid won't shut up about that -- 90 points
• My kid likes that, and so do I -- 70 points
• My kid likes that, but I'm pretty tired of and/or annoyed by it -- 50 points
• Hmm. Maybe? -- 30 points
• No, thanks -- 20 points
• Ew, really? -- 10 points
• You couldn't PAY me to expose a child to this, and I'm writing to my congressman -- 0 points

Degree of Celebrity:

• Hollywood royalty -- 120 points
• Hollywood and widely recognized -- 100 points
• [Other field] and widely recognized -- 80 points
• Not widely recognized, but still a certain amount of celebrity -- 60 points
• Not recognized by anyone outside of books, but with a good track record -- 40 points
• Not recognized by anyone outside of books, but previously published -- 20 points
• Unknown -- 0 points
• Famous for something people actively want to keep their children away from -- 0 points

Anything over 120 points total is going to be published.
Anything under 90 points total is going straight to the recycling bin.
The stuff in between has a chance, but may be a long shot.

So, for instance:

Celebrity: Unknown
Topic: No, thanks
Writing: Transcendent
Result: NOT PUBLISHED

Celebrity: Hollywood royalty
Topic: Ew, really?
Writing: Orangutan
Result: PUBLISHED

Feel free to play with this publishometer to your heart's content.

Stolen Ideas

How Publishing Really Works is throwing an anti-plagiarism day today.

Plagiarism is easy to spot and prosecute when actual wording has been lifted from another work, but stealing characters, plot structure, and ideas is a gray and murky area.

Obviously some ideas, like "a kid who finds out he has special powers and has to go away to school to learn about them", are general enough that nobody's stealing from any particular source when they write yet another one of these. And there's no question literature is rife with repeated tropes and deliberate allusion. That's all ok.

But then there are the cases where there's really no question where the ideas came from... and no sense the author expected you to make the connection. I can think of a particular author's characters who have shown up more than once in other books... with no indication that it was "an homage" of any kind.

Over and over I get asked about the danger of writers' ideas being stolen at publishing houses, and I roll my eyes, because it's not a danger at all.
And because when it comes to stealing ideas, as heartbreaking as it is, the danger (though still not so common) is most likely to come from other writers.

Reading: Not Such Hard Work

I used to work in children's publishing and in the last few years have been in and out of the loop. I love children's books and although I am currently part of a children's reading group, I always feel like I'm not reading enough of the new stuff--which is how I felt when I was an editor! I saw that in a recent post you gave advice that a good editor has to read a lot of children's books and "speak intelligently about the books that are our current competition" and is "good at predicting reader and market response." At work, I'm trying to plan a program around children's books--can you suggest one or two good web-sites that would bring me up to date with the market/awards and help me keep current? And being outside of publishing right now, is there a way to still predict that reader/market response? I guess I'd like to keep myself "fit", if you will, regardless of whether or not I return to the industry.

Spending a lot of time in bookstores is a good first step-- not only reading, but thinking about what sections and displays they have, what books are on those displays, what books are not.

Enroll in a mock Newbery and a mock Caldecott (and possibly other mocks) in December/January. Then read the actual winners and honor books in the various ALA awards. Spend some time with the Notables Lists (there's gold in there).

Check out other awards, like the National Book Awards, the Edgars, the ODell, the Horn Book...

Watch the NYT bestseller lists and read those books, and think about what appeals to people about them (whether it appeals to you or not). Read the trends. (I am not so into zombie books, but I've read three or four of the new ones.)

Keep up. Read mostly new books. That way when you browse Booklist, PW, the Horn Book, SLJ, Kirkus, etc, you'll already know something about the books being reviewed, and you'll learn more from the reviews.

Find ways to talk to other people about books. Other perspectives and opinions about books are fascinating, and remind you to think about things in new ways. That's an important skill for editors, and it's a good skill for everyone else.

... And if all of this is sounding like a lot to do, IT IS. (Which is why only the people who really enjoy this work make it far in the industry.) It's also a load of fun. I get to the counter of bookstores with a pile of cool books, and I think with secret glee, "This is my job!"

This Blog Makes Me Feel Lazy

http://pimpmynovel.blogspot.com/

Quick Answers (My Favorite Kind)

I am embarrassed to be asking this, but I recently heard someone use a publishing term and realized I may have been pronouncing it incorrectly for a long time. Those early copies of books that publishers send out for reviewers to read, are the A.R.C.s? Or are they arks?

They are written ARC or A.R.C., and they're pronounced both "ark" and "ay-ar-see". They're also called galleys.

My family spends an inordinate amount of time at the library (2-3 times per week) and since our library has a great acquisitions budget and tons of new books, we get a pretty good sampling of New Stuff Out There. And we notice a subclass of really annoying book cover design and want to know why? Why does the industry think that novels with absolutely NO FLAP COPY are a good idea? I can see leaving off the dust jacket for a library book--maybe it cuts down on cost, or maybe it just gets too thrashed. I can't see what is wrong with putting a short summary on at least the back of the book, saying what it is about. Sometimes there is nothing, sometimes there are endorsements for other books on the back (which kids actually don't care about), and sometimes (rarely) there is a 3-sentence paragraph from the middle of the book that tells absolutely nothing about it. Like, you can't even tell what genre it is. Nearly all of these are midgrade novels, and the majority of them are from Random House (although there are others as well).

Nine times out of ten my kids can't figure out what the book is about, and so they slide it right back on the shelf where it came from. I look at the Library of Congress info sometimes, but it still doesn't take the place of flap copy. Is there some kind of secret marketing reason for this?

Yes. Idiocy.

I had a YA manuscript shopped by a former agent. The editors who saw it generally liked the writing and the plot, and asked her to send more work by me their way. They turned it down pretty universally because they did not connect with the MC.

In retrospect, I wonder if I made a mistake when I wrote the story in 3rd person POV, seeing as this manuscript was YA and that's the preferred viewpoint in the genre.

If I rewrite this in first person -without- major plot changes, can I submit it to these editors again? I did not receive any revision requests.

No. Send it to new editors. Send new work to the old editors.

If you have the time I'd love to get your opinion on the Russian Federation ruling against a book reviewer. The original article is here.

I can't decide if it's hilariously stupid or weepingly stupid.

I am new at the children's writing process, and I have a question. I am looking to hire a children's book editor, agent, and illustrator. I am not sure where to go and how to hire someone. Do you have any advise?

Yes. Stop that.
If you want an agent, then you want to sell your book to publishers. Which means hiring an illustrator is a bad, bad idea. And only hire an editor if you really think you need one, because the publishers you'd like to work with have editors on staff who will be disinclined to work with you if the freelance editor has taken the book in a direction they do not want. (Of course if you just need an editor because you have no grasp of English grammar or punctuation, feel free. It doesn't seem like that's the case, but do note that it's "advice." "Advise" is a verb.)

My folktale novelization is clocking in at an intimidating 140,000 (it is a long, involved folktale to begin with). I know this is "too long" for YA, especially for a first book.
I expect I'll get a form rejection for mentioning that word count, so my question is, do I submit anyway and see if the writing sells it, or should I pitch it as a two-book set? Without revision for that purpose the first book would not (IMHO) be satisfying on it's own.
Should I just finish some other (shorter) novel first and try for the longer one as a second book? (I'm only being slightly sarcastic. I do have other ideas that are less involved than this one and should be shorter.)

Starting with something shorter might work better, truthfully. But you can try submitting it without a word count if you really want to. I know that unless the writing knocked me on my ass from page one, I would seriously doubt that all those words are necessary. And maybe not even then.

I'm a recent convert to your blog and love reading both your thoughts and the responses of the anonymati. You may not want to spend time on this topic, but I just had to share the following quote from a recent Newsweek article singing the praises of Kindle (March 30, 2009, "Curling up with a Good Screen," by Jacob Weisberg).
"In the future, it [Kindle] could become the only publisher a bestselling author needs. In a world without the high fixed costs of printing and distribution, as the distance between writers and their audiences shrinks, what essential service will Random House and Simon & Schuster provide? If the answer is primarily cultural arbitration and editing, the publishing behemoths might dwindle while a much lighter-weight model of publishing emerges."
Ugh, after following your blog, I can only imagine how much crappy writing is going to get "published" if we "shrink the distance" between writers and audiences! Please, please, please, give us editors who will wade through all that for us!!! Hooray for what you do, and here's hoping you can keep on doing if for a good, long time.

Regardless of the fact that statements like the one quoted above sometimes make me want to ululate in despair, the fact is that when we "shrink the distance" between writers and audiences, it means those most inclined to self-publish will be able to be ignored just as completely and at shorter range. There will still be a place for talented writers and the editors who help stop the rest of them from drawing attention to themselves. Possibly it will be an even brighter future, where the authors who are sure they don't need the interference of an editor can find out for themselves just how much the public appreciates the unedited them.

Back to Front

When an agent/editor asks for the first three chapters of your fiction manuscript, does that include the prologue (prologue, chapter one, chapter two) or is the prologue optional?

If your prologue is optional to the story, then you can leave it out of your submission.
But then if your prologue is optional to the story, I'd recommend you leave it out of the book.

I get a little itchy when faced with a prologue; experience says most prologues will be better as chapter 1, or worked piecemeal into the main story, or left out entirely.

The place for backstory is not the front of your story.

Definitions for the Perplexed: "Pre-Published"

STOP SAYING THIS.

If this continues, I'm going to lose my anonymity fast, because I will be the editor at pitch sessions singing loudly with my fingers in my ears.

It's not like "pre-med" or "pre-law", because publication is not a degree you can earn. It's not like "pre-cancerous" because if you fail to get your unsightly manuscript checked by a doctor, it won't turn into a published book.

Who needs to describe themselves like this, dammit? People with such fragile egos they can't stand not to have something to brag about yet? You're also "pre-dead," you know. And pre-my-foot-up-your-ass.

You're not fooling anyone but you.

Consistency, Thy Name Is Not Editor

Q1: Would you please explain the difference between the YA and Teen categories, and itemize the grades that correspond?

Most people I know use YA and teen fairly interchangeably.

But you're really over-thinking this. The thing to remember when you're having a little obsessive freak-out about age range terminology is this: there's no secret dictionary that book professionals have agreed upon. When someone in the business says "chapter book", they might mean ages 6-9. Or 5-10. Or 3-7. Or they might be talking about any book with chapters.

So don't worry about this stuff too much, ok? If you want to be safe, you could just reference the ages that you think are applicable. And as long as you don't think your rhymed picture book about trucks is "middle grade" and you don't say you've written a "fictional novel", we have reasonably forgiving expectations of how closely your terminology matches ours.

Q2: Would a novel with a prevented-suicide subplot (grade 9 characters) be too dark for grades 7-8? Would it fall into YA or Teen section?

No. Yes.
That is to say, yes, it would get shelved in the YA/teen section. And no, it would not necessarily be too dark for 7th- and 8th-graders. They shop in the YA section all the time.

I Won! I Won! What Do You Mean, Who Else Was in the Running?

Okay, so we all know that publishers pay around $10,000 each to have books featured on Amazon's recommendations...do they also pay for shelf space in bookstores, the way food manufacturers pay for prime space in grocery stores?

Hell yes. (It's called co-op.)

And if so, should an author ever bother with a small, award-winning publisher who has very little marketing budget, or is that almost as bad as self publishing, because even with great reviews, the public may not be readily able to find the book?

Depends how small and how award-winning. Some smaller publishers are still well worth your time. Some less so. I would think very hard before publishing with a house that offers less than 10 children's books per season. But if that's likely to be the only house that will take your manuscript (because of very niche topic, etc), then it's still a publication credit, and can help you a bit on your way somewhere else.

It's not the same thing as self-publishing. Anytime you get paid for your work rather than you paying for the privilege of publication means someone besides yourself thought your work had a chance in the marketplace. The difference between real publishing and self-publishing always boils down to competition.

I hear self publishers say (not infrequently), "I'm glad I self-published, because I got to do the book just the way I wanted."
A trophy won for being best in your league (whichever league that is) means at least something. But buying yourself a trophy? Even if it means the trophy looks just the way you wanted it to, that doesn't count.

Bookstores and Not-Bookstores

Let's say your book is available for purchase through a number of prominent online retailers like Powells, Amazon, B&N -- even places like Walmart and Target online. Given the prominence of online shopping nowadays, is it worth sweating and fretting if Borders and B&N don't also carry your book in their brick and mortar stores?

Short answer: Yes. Sorry.

Longer answer: Not necessarily. (I know, I'm a contradictory person.)

Look, available through Amazon and B&N.com doesn't mean much. It's the digital equivalent of being available in a warehouse-sized bookstore on a dusty shelf somewhere in the back. There's no guarantee someone will find the book.

But there's more than one book doing quite well out there --quite well by anyone's measure-- which was not picked up immediately by B&N. Which is really why you should all be shopping at independents-- they're the ones making or breaking it for a lot of the lesser-known books out there.
A book is skipped by B&N, but the independents pick it up and sell the heck out of it, and they get the ball rolling. The next time the publisher's sales reps visit B&N, they'll point out how well this book (the book B&N had no faith in) is doing at the indies, and then B&N will think, "Oh, hmm. Maybe there's some money to be made there." And then B&N picks it up.

The "sorry" part comes from the fact that a hell of a lot of America still does its book shopping at B&N, and that's the part of America we like. The book consumers we would use to wipe our feet on are shopping at Target and Costco.

And let's also remember that what "doing quite well" means for a book is not how it ranks on some cosmic, absolute scale. It's a comparison to how well the publisher expected it to do. So if your publisher is a behemoth corporation that paid $300,000 for your book, and the book sells 25,000 copies in its first year, then the book has FAILED. But if your publisher was in a more sane mood when it offered on your book and when it determined the 20,000 copy print run, then selling 25,000 copies means the book did GREAT.

Bad, Bad Author! I'm Going to Shake My Finger at You! (And then, you know, forget your name entirely)

I queried an agent I thought would be a great fit with me and my work at an agency. His assistant adored the MS but the agent did not and passed on it. Another agent at the same agency is an agent to one friend and one colleague of mine who both urged me to query the second agent regardless of the earlier rejection from the first agent. I thought this was greatly frowned upon.

Yes, generally.

I don't want cause trouble. And if I do query the second agent, should I mention the first agent in the query?

Yes, absolutely. The trouble you'll be in for submitting to the agency again (if they have a problem with that) will only be greater if they feel you've attempted to hide the fact.

Freelancing: Short vs Long-Range

I share your distaste for self-publishing, although I've never put it quite as succinctly as you do. However, at the 2-year college I attend, there's a literary arts club that produces a free, self-published journal showcasing the collected works of literary and visual art submitted by students and staff. All of the work submitted to the journal does not, by dint of submission alone, make it into the journal. Rather, the work goes through a process of review and rejection or acceptance by members of the literary arts club. The club designs the cover and layout of the book and raises the money for the publication through various activities throughout the year.

My creative writing instructor is a strong proponent of freelancing. In her classes, she'll host workshops and bring in authors who have made a living through freelance work. This particular instructor advocates submitting to the journal produced and self-published by the club because it gives the author credibility in the publishing field. So I suppose my question is: If a book is self-published by an organization that solicited for and reviewed submissions, is that quite as bad in the eyes of publishers as vanity self-publishing?

It's not quite self-publishing, so no. If you have in mind to publish that work anyplace else, be sure you understand what rights you've granted the journal (and what rights they understand you've granted them). Do also submit to other journals, etc. One publication (especially one at your college) does not a resume make.
Or, of course, you could only submit to more generally recognized journals. If the reason you're submitting to your college publication is because it's close and you haven't realized proximity doesn't matter in this stuff, or because you have the sense that the bar is lower at this publication, well... neither of those are acceptable attitudes for a freelancer who wants to be successful.

I'm Very Busy and Successful and Have Completely Forgotten You Said You Would Look at That Months Ago

There is a website - tied in with a publisher - which runs articles and short stories from their authors. I contacted them to ask if they accepted submissions or if all the short stories were commissioned.
I received a lovely response from the webmaster explaining that the stories were in fact commissioned but that the editor had agreed to take a submitted story under consideration if I felt it would fit the website.
I had a minor heart attack and wrote a short story specifically for the site and submitted it about 6 weeks after receiving the email.
3 months later, I had not heard back and I sent a follow-up mail to the webmaster - really checking to find out if it was a silent rejection.
She apologised for the delay and explained that the editor was VERY busy. She confirmed that the editor always responded to submissions but that currently there were a lot of projects happening and she could not make any promises as to how long it would take for my story to get read. She ended the email saying that there would be no hard feelings if I wished to withdraw it due to the length of time it was taking.
I responded, agreeing to leave the story with them.
It has now been 6 months. I feel I should not get in touch again unless I wish to withdraw my (exclusive) submission - nagging is clearly not helpful. I could just leave it with them forever (selling one short story will not pay my rent!) but I'm starting to worry that I'm looking a bit sad and desperate. If the editor hasn't read it by now, it clearly isn't a priority (and why should it be) and maybe I should just move on?
From your side of the desk:
* is leaving it (as an exclusive submission) with an editor who has expressed no interest pitiful?

Not necessarily. If that's really the only place you'd like to see that story published, there's no harm in letting some time go by.
And the ideal author (from an editor's point of view) is one who keeps her/himself very busy--spending time working, creating, and submitting rather than worrying. So try to be that kind, or, failing that, simply try to give the editor that impression.

* is withdrawing it after 6 months (or a year or whatever) due to lack of response acting like a primadonna when I was offered a special opportunity to submit?

No. If that's what you want to do, feel free.

Quick, Pretend You're a Publicist! Yes, Like That, But Blonder.

Would you mind explaining what an agent/editor means when they say they would like a 'one sheet,' more specifically as it applies to fiction?

This is a term borrowed from the movie and music industries. It's a single page that conveys all the most important things about your book in the simplest, more straightforward style.

These things might include:

• your name and contact info
• your BRIEF bio, including any recognizable people you know who could blurb you, "ins" in the media, etc. Do NOT say you "think you can get the book on Oprah." For God's sake.
  
• a BRIEF explanation of what the book is about
• the value inherent in the book ("over 200 recipes!" / "reviews 50 philosophical approaches with over 300 dirty jokes!")
• the trend the book speaks to ("1 out of 150 children is diagnosed with autism" / "with over 50 new websites and blogs and 3 new magazines launched in the last year, rogue taxidermy is the new knitting")
• who will buy this ("proactive moms who don't know how to tell their toddlers they have to stop nursing")
• reasons people will buy it ("perennially favorite topics dinosaurs and bedtime combined" / "an antidote to the diabetic epidemic of Fancy Nancy")
• pretty much anything else you think will help sell the book.
  

I don't ask authors for this, because that's asking authors to be pros about marketing and publicity and it's pathetic what some people think is marketing and publicity. Certainly it's good for authors to think about M&P, and it's lovely when you find one who is a pro.

But don't send a one-sheet to people who don't ask for it. There are enough people in publishing to whom it's still foreign that you run the risk of the recipient thinking "WTF? What industry do you think this is?"

Hooray for Newbies

Hello, I have a few small stories and ideas for children's book. But I can not find anything that tells me what I need to do or where to submit ideas and pieces. Could you please give me some pointers? I have book from the library on editors and agents, but its has nothing in it about children's books. Is there another book somewhere or a website or something that I can get to? I also need it to have specifics on what to send and how to send it. Thank you it would greatly be appreciated.

Anonymati! I call you to arms. Or rather, to the comments.

You, Represented By You

I’ve searched for an answer for this but can’t find it!
What happens when you query an agent, they ask to see several things at once, and like one or two mss but not the rest? I am a published author but have a few pb mss and a new MG ms. Agent is very interested in the novel but not the picture books. If I sign with the agent, does that mean that I continue submitting all the other “stuff” on my own that the agent doesn’t care for while agent submits the novel? Is that a common thing to happen where an agent only submits some of the authors work (the mss they like)?

It's not uncommon, and yes, you can submit the work your agent isn't interested in on your own.

Just don't reference your agent in the query/original submission.
(a) Generally, if you have an agent, your agent is submitting for you, and that's what editors expect.
(b) Mentioning your agent makes it sound like maybe you expect the submission to be treated as an agented submission, but if your agent's not behind it, then it hasn't been through the filter that awards it special consideration at publishers.
(c) Editors are also sensitive to the possibility of author scams (see post below 'cunning stupidity'), so a submission from someone who has an agent but whose "agent" isn't sending the submission raises a red flag.

But talk to the agent in question about this: there are lots of different styles of agenting, and you won't know which one this agent has until you ask her.

What Do You Mean It's a Popularity Contest?

I read that one of the biggest risks for everyone in the business—publishers as well as authors- is advances that don't ever earn out. This makes me think editors (even if they like a submission) will not buy a manuscript from an author that has had a previous book that did not earn out. However, I wonder, how could an editor at another house know that a book did not earn out?

We can't. If you tell us what you got paid and how many copies the book sold, we'll be able to take a guess.

Would word spread on the "Editor's Grapevine" so that editors at other houses would also not want to buy a new manuscript from an author whose previous book did not sell out?!

Unlikely.

Also, I heard on Book TV on c-span many years back, that if your first 3 books did not sell out, that you should change your name. True? And on the same subject, how do editors feel about taking on an author whose book sells out, but makes little or no more money?

Ah, we seem to have experienced a change in terminology here. We've gone from talking about earning out to selling out. "Selling out" means nothing for publishers, so I'm not sure what you meant by it.

If you mean selling through; ie if bookstores returned your first three books in high numbers, then yes, a change in name might be a good idea. Booksellers look at the track record of books by an author, and if the record they see is "nobody wanted this; just nobody", then they're going to be pretty hesitant to take anything new.

Clarification: I mean changing your name on the printed book. That is, for booksellers, not your publisher. You still have to tell your publisher who you are.

First Pages: Active Again

Sorry about the delay.
The Anonymati are back in business.

For those new to the first pages clinic, please observe the (rapidly rising) number of pages in the queue (in the right hand column).

Cunning Stupidity Strikes Again!

I find a message on my voice mail from someone "representing" a manuscript. In faith and courtesy, I return that call, only to discover that the manuscript was written by the caller.

In short: This person has deliberately deceived the editor they'd like to work with, in a way that is then immediately revealed to the editor.

What exactly do you suppose is my reaction?

((To those people (who I suspect will never see this blog), I ask:
Do you ever justify saying something because you perceive it as "sort of" the truth?
Do you think that counts if the person you say it to perceives it as completely a lie?
If lying to people to get what you want (eg, a call-back) is is worth it, is it worth it if it means you won't ever get anything else?))

Well, I'll tell you: While on the phone, I'll be perfectly pleasant, because I've had enough of being yelled at by defensive, petulant strangers as I ever care to. (And that's what you get when you call dipshits on their mistakes, fyi.) But no matter how fantastic your manuscript is, I will never, not ever, work with you.

There's just nothing as bad as a devious imbecile.

Death By a Thousand Alphabet Books

There are editors of adult books in my publishing company. Sometimes they refer manuscripts to us that they think are "for kids". I'm sure they're very good at their jobs, so this is meant in the most respectful way possible: They're morons.

Because this week, "for kids" applies to an illustrated alphabet book of B-list 1970s sitcom actors. Because it's an alphabet book.

I've been the recipient of scores--perhaps hundreds--of utterly unmarketable alphabet book submissions, and I think it's time to address this problem.


There is a particularly pernicious myth in the common psyche that the most basic, fundamental book for children is an alphabet book. That might have been true once upon a time... a hundred years ago. When there were essentially no children's books.

"But children still need to learn the alphabet, don't they?" say the people at conferences who are trying to make me have an embolism. For them, two diagrams:

Of course some --even many-- published alphabet books are not about teaching the alphabet. The alphabet is simply used as a structure for conveying other information. (A structure so overused as to be a publishing cliche.)

And some alphabet books do this well. But most alphabet book submissions are not alphabet books out of clever new ideas, but out of laziness.

Want to be published more than you want to do work? Know a bunch of words that start with the various letters of the alphabet? You're all set! Rant over. Thank you for listening.

Oh, I Am Newly In Love

With this blog. Seriously. Go read.

And it makes me think perhaps there should be a touch of balance after the post The Intern Thinks She's Found Something below.

It's true that as authors, you shouldn't count on interns having any power.

Let us be sure to remember, though, that interns are not worthless. (Indeed, my office would quickly be awash in a backlog of work none of the editors have time to do without the (forever blessed) intervention of interns.)

And while some interns will not go on in publishing, I would need my fingers and toes to count the number of fully-grown publishing professionals who I happen to know worked their way up from internships. Me included. (No doubt there are many more among the people I know; I just don't know it.)

And as authors, you should always, always be nice to interns and editorial assistants. They're low on the totem pole now, but give them a few years and they will be in a position to kick your butt for being a jerk to the interns and assistants beneath them. Fyi.

Definitions for the Perplexed: Lay-Down Date

A "lay-down date" is also called an "on-sale" date, but please don't mix it up with "release date" or "publication date".

The last two are soft terms used by publishers and booksellers to indicate an approximation of when books will be on shelves. The first two are "put it on sale before this date and there will be legal repercussions" terms.

Most books do not have lay-down dates.

1. The only books that get a firm on-sale date are books for which the publisher is expecting (or just really hoping for) a strong and immediate demand.

2. The vagaries of shipping mean that some bookstores will always get their shipments ahead of other bookstores.

3. Which means that if bookstores who get the next Harry Potter (eg) early are allowed to start selling them immediately, the other bookstores are S.O.L. and will lose a bunch of revenue to the bookstores who were lucky enough to get their shipments first.

4. In which case the publisher will be immediately inundated by furious calls from the bookstores that haven't gotten their books. Furious. Inundated.

5. Thus: lay-down dates. Everyone gets a chance to receive the books, and then everyone has to wait for the starter's pistol to start selling them.

6. Plus! The more the publisher can pack the first wave of sales into a single week, the better their chance of getting on bestseller lists. Do publishers want to be on those lists? Hell yes, they do.


And now for a question I can't answer: Why are most lay-down dates on Tuesdays?
Nevermind the (sometimes absurd) theories that Millions found through the intensive method of (ahem) googling it. Go read it from someone who actually did their research.

Far From the Madding Slush

I've seen mentioned in various places that it's important to belong to organizations like SCBWI and to mention it in your cover letter/query. How do you feel about that?

There are many lovely things about the SCBWI. I've been a member myself.

The overarching thing that's great about the SCBWI, though, is that it gives everyone who already knows their way around the industry a place to send newbies instead of trying to give the uninitiated several mountain-sized clues oneself.

Membership in the SCBWI indicates a willingness to learn, and that absolutely counts for... a tiny little bit. Because it doesn't indicate an ability to learn, or an ability to write.

Willingness to learn is important, sure, because it shows you know there is something to learn.
But it really just puts you on the step above the dreadful amateurs who think they'll send the story they wrote for their grandchildren (the single story they've ever written) to a publisher and see what happens; the crazies who feel the world owes them a publisher for having written something (the single something they've ever written) of such genius and power; the maniacal jerks who think the only thing that stands between them and wild success is "persistence," defined as "pressuring, harassing, and stalking publisher staff."

Joining the SCBWI is a good thing, and if used well, it can be a great thing. But it's not going to the school of SCBWI that will get you published. It's graduating.

High-ho Bissell Powerbrush Deluxe, Away!

Janet Reid on buying vacuums and following directions.

I heart you, Janet.

The Intern Thinks She's Found Something

Hi, I just had a student intern at a very good independent publishing house ask to see a full ms. How much does her input count in the editors' consideration/acceptance of my book?

Zero.

Sometimes we like our interns. Sometimes we like them a lot. Every once in a while we'd strongly like to hire them, but even then they've got years of editorial work ahead of them before they're ready to make acquisition decisions themselves.

So if they reallyreally want us to read a manuscript they found, we will (but maybe not today. Or this week. And if it gets a bit buried it may be a month or two).

Interns are not automatically esteemed, and they shouldn't expect to be. The point of an internship is that they get the opportunity to make a great impression on the people they might work with, and may become esteemed through performance.

Maybe the editor who reads it (eventually) will love it. If so, she'll be the one to argue for the acquisition. And if so, then the intern will have earned several points for choosing something that house might like to publish. Generally we're just looking for interns who will only pass us hypothetically publishable manuscripts, instead of every vaguely cute thing with no hook at all.

Some Editors Are More Anonymous Than Others

What do you recommend as the best way to find out which editors edited which books? I want to select books with certain similarities to my stories, and then submit to those editors.

It's not easy to find those answers. Editors stay in the background a great deal-- deliberately. So the best you can do at most houses is to submit to the imprint which published the books you admired.

Sometimes googling a title and the word "editor" will come up with something, but at most houses they don't put up web pages listing most of the books an editor has worked on. But some do.

Classes for the Perplexed

As the children's librarian of the Bank Street College Library, Lisa Von Drasek is often asked to review manuscripts from faculty and graduate students to evaluate if they are "publishable". She writes, "I find that in these discussions about children's book publishing there is a knowledge gap."

Know someone vaguely clueless? Please, pass the word on.

This class is a nuts and bolts class for anyone who is thinking about submitting a manuscript for publication to get an overview of the business or just wondering how a children's book gets published.

A new class Children's Book Publishing 101
June 30 Tuesday, 5 pm - 8 pm
$125 (not offered for credit)
Registration Deadline: 6/22

Ever wondered how a children's book gets published? Bank Street College Children's Librarian Lisa Von Drasek will provide an overview of children's book publishing. What does an editor do? Do I need an agent? Is there a market for my idea? How do I submit my manuscript? What is a book proposal? What is the deal with self-publishing? We will follow the process of children's book publishing from manuscript to bound book in the bookstore. Please note: This is an introduction only. Manuscripts will not be reviewed.

Class is at Bank Street College of Education
610 West 112th St.
NY NY 10025
For more information 212.875.4649
http://www.bankstreet.edu/newperspectives

Lisa Von Drasek is the Children's Librarian of the Bank Street College of Education. She teaches pre-k through 8th grade as well as children's literature to graduate students. A member of the National Book Critics Circle, Lisa has reviewed children's books for School Library Journal, The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Book World, and is a contributor to the Barnes and Noble Review and EarlyWord.com. She has been named a 2007 Mover and Shaker by Library Journal as a leader in the field of librarianship. Lisa has served as a juror on the New York Times Best Illustrated, the Newbery Committee , American Library Association's Notable Children's Books, and the Bank Street College of Education's Children's Book Committee. Over the last twenty years, Lisa has been a retail book buyer, retail book seller, marketing and sales associate for publishing houses, public children's librarian, school librarian, reviewer and teacher.

CSK: Redux

First, I want to thank everyone who has participated in this conversation. The people who have commented here, who have commented on other blogs, and who have emailed me directly have all helped me think harder about this, and explore the issue that was bothering me—and which I now see should really be approached as several issues.

As you know, I’m not the first to raise these concerns.
Marc Aronson, Esme Codell, and Mitali Perkins have all been a part of this discussion ahead of me, and Andrea Davis Pinkney’s thoughts are not to be missed.
I hope, however, that I have something to say that will add a little this debate.

As the primary award for black authors/artists and black topics in the industry, the CSK weilds a psychological force on the industry's ideas about who deserves recognition and for what, and I think that by trying to serve two masters, the CSK is in effect diminishing both its objectives.

Issue 1: There Are Too Few Black Authors and Illustrators in Children’s Books
No argument. But… thus, we need an award honoring black authors and illustrators?

When I think of this question in terms of other people, I see little harm and much value in the practice. I respect and admire the motivation behind wanting to laud outstanding members of a community that has a lot to be proud of—and which yet struggles with incohesiveness and disadvantage. I know the people who support the CSK are not my—or anyone else's—enemies. They are smart, sincere, and proactive people—people I am proud to call colleagues.

But… it's naive to think that the only effects the CSK has are the ones outlined in its description and mission statement. And when I think of this in terms of myself—putting myself in a parallel scenario, for instance being given an award for being a woman in a particular profession—then I do see the harm.

Women compete separately from men in athletic competitions because in terms of athletics, women have a handicap. Basing the CSK on race, I think, runs the very high risk of implying that the people contending for the award are handicapped in some way, so that they must compete separately. The prejudice that black people face in America today—whether the instances are deliberate or unwitting—is not their handicap. It’s America’s. I think it’s very important for all of us to keep making that distinction. Black participants in this debate can certainly never forget it—but they must remember to keep sending that message to others. Separate is not equal.

But let’s say that the CSK committee wishes to continue the practice of honoring black authors and illustrators separately. If the primary purpose of the award is to do this, then the CSK is doing itself a disservice in only allowing black topics.

If the goal is to have more black authors and illustrators in children's books (which I think is a wonderful goal), then that goal would be best served by recognizing work in any topic by black authors and illustrators.

Issue 2: There Are Too Few Black Stories in Children’s Books
Again, no argument. But if the primary purpose of the Coretta Scott King is to honor the publication and exploration of black topics, then the award is doing itself a disservice in only allowing black authors and illustrators.

If the goal is to have more multicultural and/or multiracial children's books published (which I also think is a wonderful goal), then that goal would be best served by recognizing work on that topic by any author/illustrator.

Issue 3: But Isn’t the Real Problem That There Are Too Few Minorities in Publishing?
This is a multiple choice question.
a. Yes.
b. God, yes.
c. Hell, yes.
d. Are you f***ing kidding me? Yes!

I would posit that it's this more than any other thing that keeps the number of minorities represented in books low. As many of you have intuited, this is not because the people in publishing are racist themselves—at least, not deliberately. The people I work with are kind, hardworking people who want to be responsible—socially, environmentally, personally. But that’s not to say they couldn’t use a little help.

Let’s be clear, though—the CSK, whether in its current form or in any other possible form, is not going to have any impact on this problem.

Want to do something about this? Initiatives to address the ludicrous dearth of anyone but upper-middle-class white people in children's publishing would be a tremendous thing for the industry. As has been pointed out before, internships are the gateway for many beginning editors, and no publisher can afford to pay its interns a liveable wage, if they pay them at all. Thus many people starting out in publishing are leaning on their families—and it’s relatively wealthy families that can support their children as they get started in publishing.

I would highly recommend a grant program for minorities who are applying for internships in publishing. Yes, that’s discriminatory, and can be called racism (or reverse racism, if you like). But I wouldn’t be against it. I think such an initiative would speak directly to what we all see as a problem.

If somebody wants to set up a grant program like this, I will pledge $1,000 of my own money toward it.

Issue 4: It’s Not That You Don’t Know What It’s Like To Be Black, It’s That You Can’t Know What It’s Like To Be Black
Here, I think, is one of our biggest problems, and the negative effect that the CSK doesn’t want to admit it’s having on publishing.

There are still plenty of people who think this—as one response to my original post wrote, “…hell, the CSK doesn't have to suggest that you cannot understand what it's like to be black in America unless you are black (for the record, that's not what the award suggests). I'll say it, because it's true.”

In a wider cultural sense, our progress towards a less divided nation is hurt by the attitude among many black people that others cannot imagine what it is to be black—and that to try—to want to go beyond sympathy to empathy—is not only foolish, it's disrespectful.

We who know the tremendous power of books to allow readers a complex and world-expanding experience of another person's point of view should know better than that. And we who hope for a world in which there is no separate-but-equal have to understand that the first thing to go has to be the 'separate' part.

I can bear witness where people outside of the publishing industry—and indeed where black people within the publishing industry—cannot: there are many people who are afraid to attempt to publish a book that describes current-day black experience without a black person to vouch for its authenticity (implicitly or explicitly) because of this attitude and the scorn and rejection such a book risks before it.

I strongly recommend inviting more people of other races into the fight to make black people an equal part of the American dream. Many people have posed the question of whether there is any intrinsic value in white people writing about non-white people. To them I say, Are you kidding me? The more people who are not like you want to know what it is like to be like you—and the more you praise and celebrate them for the effort—the better our world is going to be.

Many of the upper-middle-class white people in children's publishing would love to be more involved in this fight. But as the preeminent award around that issue, the CSK is implying that the only people worth recognizing for their efforts to tell black stories are black people, and the only stories worth recognizing black people for are black stories.

Blog Interviews: For Kids, By Kids

Merry, one of this blog's longtime readers, is doing an author interview on her blog on Thursday.

The author: Erica Kirov
The fun part: adults and kids are asking questions

Merry writes:

Erica is multi-published, under several pennames, and on the 28th we’ll be discussing her latest release – the first in her middle grade series: Magickeepers: The Eternal Hourglass
Erica will be hanging around in the comments section, and the entire discussion will be moderated and kid-friendly. It’s a great opportunity to learn about a fabulous new novel and talk with the author.
If you’re a reader or writer, a fan of middle grade or a parent who might like to introduce their kids to the author – I’d love to see you there.
To learn more about the books and author, the website is : http://www.magickeepers.com/

Kids come up with some great questions. I was at an event where one kid asked, "If you could be any kind of bubble gum, what color would you be, and what special powers would you have?"
You've got to admit, it's better than another question about where writers get their ideas.
I encourage everyone to get over there and ask an interesting question.

Come Learn From the Experts! If You Haven't Learned Your Lesson Already

Publishing veterans Diane Mancher and Karen Mender are launching Self-Publishing Book Expo, an event that will focus on self-published books and the companies that produce them. SPBE will offer attending authors a place to exhibit and sell their books to the general public--and agents and publishers . . .

This is as far as I got before I snorted so hard I dropped my sandwich (and it was a good sandwich!). "Agents and publishers" are going to attend, are they?

Then again, I might be tempted to go (in disguise) just for the stories I could bring back. But only if I can get in free.

The website is here http://www.selfpubbookexpo.com/

The All Access Pass

And what's your take on this frenzy of social/business networking, anyway? I'm on Facebook, JacketFlap, LinkedIn, Filed-by-Author, Goodreads and Twitter, mostly just so I can say I am. I feel it would take all day EVERY day to effectively exploit the various platforms.

It makes me tired just thinking about it. It's enough of a commitment for me to maintain a blog. But you guys tell me: Should I tweet (or facebook, or etc)? Why?

Who Needs Friends When You Have a Writing Community?

I’m a regular reader of your blog, and I was wondering if you could help us put the word out about an effort to help out this amazing woman. An online auction is being held in May to help her with medical bills associated with her stage 4 colon cancer. I’ve pasted info about it.below. The URL is: http://bridgetzinnauction.wordpress.com/

This is Bridget. Three things happened to Bridget in February:
1. She got an agent for her young adult novel.
2. She got married.
3. She found out she had Stage Four colon cancer.

More at April Henry's blog (which is good to read anyway)

Submissions: Quick Answers

When a publisher states that they are accepting submissions for "spare of language picture books for young readers" does this mean they are expecting illustrations also? I realize that under "normal" circumstances publishers don't want illustrations with manuscripts, but does this qualify as a normal circumstance? My confusion lies in the fact that for these types of books the photos/illustrations are such an integral part, if not dominating aspect, of the book...

No, you're welcome to just submit text.

I have submission paralysis. My picture book has only one word per page, which sounds crazy, but the irony between the illustrations and the words is what makes the story intriguing. When submitting the MS, is it reasonable to include brief 5-10 word descriptors in parentheses next to the actual written word for the page? It makes sense to me, but I'm sure it could cause someone to throw my MS out their window, followed by a blog entry of "what NOT to do." So...what SHOULD I do with this format?

Including brief notes on the illustration only where absolutely necessary for understanding the text is acceptable. It's unlikely that a manuscript will be acquired this way, but it's possible. (Once Upon a Banana.)

I have a picture book manuscript that (cross my fingers) is ready to submit. I've targeted a publisher, but then I hit a dead end. I feel I should send it to a specific editor, but have no idea how to get a contact that will be a good fit for my story. Is it kosher to call a publisher and ask for names? I just feel like that is way out of line.... Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

My readers may have some specific suggestions... but it my experience having an editor's name doesn't make your manuscript more likely to be read by that editor.

If an author submits a ms to Editor A at "Big Deal" publishing house and it is rejected, is it reasonable for the author to resubmit the same ms to Editor B at the same publishing house thinking that Editor B, being a different person, might have a different opinion of the ms?

If you're talking about the same imprint, a no from one person is meant to be a no from all of them.

When I read in submission guidelines that I can expect to receive a response in four months and six to eight months have passed without word, I am not surprised. I am, however, uncertain how to proceed. Do editors resent follow-up letters at this point? I have sent several and get immediate rejections. I'm left to wonder, were they considering my manuscript and decided I wasn't worth the trouble?

Are we calling follow-up letters eight months later "trouble"? Because any house that thinks that's troublesome is not worth your trouble. I would assume your letter just lit a fire under them.

I've written a picture book manuscript and used it as a visiting author at local elementary schools. I do storytelling and creative writing lessons with the children based on the format of my book, and the visits have been very well received. The teachers say they can't wait 'til my book is published because they want to use it in the classroom. My question is this. Should I keep submitting to regular publishing houses in the hopes that this will be successful with the general public, or should I target educational publishers and what I perceive to be a more limited audience?

This is a question that can only be answered by someone who knows what your manuscript is about and how appealing it would be to a trade audience. There's generally more money to be made in trade publishing, but if your topic/treatment won't be of interest to parents, then educational publishing may be the way to go.

Remember when I asked you a while back about whether an email follow-up would be proper to a top editor at a very top house who had requested the manuscript? You said you wouldn't mind, but snail might be safer. Well, I waited 5 months and sent a very nice letter. That was March 13th and I haven't heard anything yet. I'm not going to follow-up again for a long time, but do you think it's a good sign that I haven't heard anything? (I enclosed a SASE with the letter, which she could easily have used.) Perhaps agents who have it have contacted her, I'm not sure. I've had some very close calls with this so far. Any thoughts about the follow-up process to ease me through the weekend?

No, I don't think 5 months with no word is a good sign. But it could be no sign at all: sometimes (especially with top editors) no response for ages means they haven't even read the manuscript.

But what's this about agents (plural?) who have the manuscript contacting her?
I'm afraid we may have an instance for a light tap with the clue stick.
1. Don't send your manuscript to agents and editors at the same time.
2. I certainly hope there isn't more than one agent who thinks they're representing this manuscript? Agents don't share.
3. If not, you aren't under the impression that agents who don't officially represent you would be sending your manuscript to editors? They would never do that. Reputable agents, that is.

My publisher is a well-known and highly respected company. Yet they move at a glacial pace. My first nonfiction book with photographs took them years to publish (though it looked lovely when it finally came out). Now they keep procrastinating on my second book. It would have been a new and exciting subject if they had published it when it was supposed to come out (i.e., years ago), but now several adult books have been published on the same subject so mine looks less exciting at least from my viewpoint. They already paid me the entire advance (partly due to an accounting mistake that they did not want to bother to correct), but I am still upset that although they are saying it will come out in 2010, little has been done on it, and I am beginning to think it will get postponed again. What to do?

Look at your contract for a "failure to publish" section. Have they exceeded their time limit? You could threaten to pull the book. Depending on the contract, you might have to pay the advance back in that case, though, so don't threaten unless you're willing to follow through.

Is the market for mid-elementary picture books much smaller than the market for younger-aged picture books? I've tested my book over a few months with different age groups, and while the younger kids still enjoy the story, it's really ideal for 2nd, 3rd, 4th graders. It's a bit longer (1700 words) and, while ultimately uplifting, it does deal with death. Should I attempt to categorize it in a cover letter, or just let the editor read and decide for his/herself?

It's a smaller market, yes. And the market for books about death for that age group is quite small. So I would suggest when you describe it, you do your best to convey the widest possible audience for it--while still being realistic, of course. You don't want to make the mistake of a recent submission I saw, in which under 'age group' the author had written "cats".

The CSK Is Dead (Long Live the CSK)

The Coretta Scott King Award will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year.
Established in 1969, and given annually to outstanding black (the committee's page says African-American) authors and illustrators, it's been a meaningful way to invite black people into the children's book field and highlight their contributions.

Who among us thinks Coretta Scott King is a pretty awesome person? Who among us thinks it's a great thing that the CSK award got started?

Everyone? That's what I thought.

Now, who among us thinks it's still a good idea?
Who among us thinks it's getting highly ironic that an award started in an effort to honor and continue Dr. King's efforts in working for peace and civil rights only honors one race?

Now, lots of people do not understand what it means to be black in America. They understand racism in the abstract, but they don't understand racism in action.

One of the things being black in America means (for example) is being a bright young woman who graduates from an Ivy League college and goes on to a successful career in a highly competitive field, and who has three family members who have died in police custody.

That's racism in action.

And one of the things being black in America means is that the vast majority of heroes and heroines and 'regular people' of all types in books, in movies, and in TV shows, look nothing like you.

That's racism in action.

So there's a need to encourage stories, books, TV shows, films, etc that show all kinds of races as heroes, as heartthrobs, as neighbors. Encouraging people to see the world from points of view other than their own is a wonderful thing. Encouraging people to see people of all races as simply people is a wonderful thing.

But that's not what the CSK is doing. If the CSK were in charge, male writers wouldn't be able to comment on what it's like to be a woman. The CSK is saying that you cannot understand what it is to be black in America unless you are black.

Giving an award for creating art about the experience of race is a wonderful thing. But giving an award for creating art and being a particular race?

That's racism in action.

I am sure none of us are among those cheerful idiots who feel that electing our first black president means that racism is dead.
Racism will be dead when we can elect a president of any race without talking about race once in the process. Racism will be dead when whole generations grow up without any real idea of what racism means.

Racism will be dead when the only race that people recognize is the human race.

But we are never going to get there as long as standing up for civil rights means standing up for just one race or another. Yes, we must act in acceptance of what the world is, right now. But the world will never be more than what it is right now if we do not also act in hope for what we want the world to become.

Criticism, Commentary, and Calmness

I read various blogs where YA books are reviewed, often thoughtfully, sometimes with added snark (Reviewer X). Sometimes in the comments the author will chime in to thank them profusely for liking the book, or maybe defend themselves a bit, in a non-confrontational way. Is it acceptable for authors to do this? From what I've seen it curtails any further honest discussion of their book (especially if someone didn't like something).

Acceptable? As with many aspects of the internet, what people can do, they will do.

You're right that conversations on blogs sometimes get more polite and less honest when it becomes clear that the author is a reader. There's not much to do about that.

But authors should strive for a detached relationship with the criticism and commentary their works will encounter. You knew when you wrote the book that most people wouldn't appreciate it as much as you do, right? Or in the same ways?

It's important to remember that this is one of the magics of creating art, and one of the heaving frustrations. Ideally, your work will mean something personal to your readers, and that necessarily means it will be something different from what it meant to you.

So try to let go. Be philosophical about it, and remember the author's prayer:

God, grant me the courage to offer myself to others, the wisdom to let my work be what others most need it to be, and the serenity to hope that it irritates the jackasses of the world at least as much as they irritate me.

QueryFail, AgentFail, EditorFail, and Prom Dates

An unnamed author to Janet Reid:

Querying agents is like asking someone to the prom. You want the one asked to feel special, not like "I'm only asking you because none of the popular girls would go out with me." To stretch the metaphor, I give a big #agentfail to agents who complain about the number of queries they get. Oh really? 500+ guys have asked you to the prom this month? And you just can't decide which of them to go with? Gee, must be tough being so reputable and popular. Sure, I appreciate that agents have a hard job, but so do I. Quit whining. (Er, them, not you, Janet :D)

This is a good analogy. But maybe not a great one.

It is meaningful for editors and agents to remember the compliment many authors are paying us when they query.

(This is sometimes hard to do, because some of the people querying us are not complimenting us. They clearly know nothing at all about us--whether that's proven by spam emails or through querying something we don't represent/publish. Those queries are the equivalent of the guys who shout propositions at you from moving cars.
Those queries aren't "I think you're pretty and interesting; will you go out with me?"
--they're "Hey you, with the tits!")

It's also meaningful for authors to remember that it's not 500 in a month. It's more like 1500. And like any highschooler, we have a lot of other things to do besides going to prom and dealing with hopeful dates. So it's tough on both sides.

It's fine to expect some sympathy from agents and editors. As long as it's ok for us to expect some sympathy from you.

And There, Hanging from the Car Door, Was a Bloody, Severed.... Rhyme Scheme

I just found your website, and find it to be very helpful. However, I haven’t been able to find the answer to one particular question I have: exactly how does one format the manuscript for a RHYMING picture book - that is, one with stanzas. Do I format it like a poem (single spaced within a stanza, and double spaced between stanzas), or double spaced with 4 spaces between stanzas. Your answer would be GREATLY appreciated.

It doesn't matter. Leaving a break where you anticipate page breaks might be a good idea, and would make sure you've considered how the manuscript will page out in a standard picture book length.

I would suggest you don't format it in running text, like that's going to make the rhyme scheme more subtle or something. Remember that many editors are very sensitive and skittish around rhymed text, so it's not a good idea to present them with something that doesn't look like it's going to rhyme but surprise! it does. To many editors, it's like finding a spider in a candy box. Shock and horror? Not the response you're going for.

Yes, some editors like spiders. But even so, be sure there's a good reason for the manuscript to be in rhyme. "I like it that way" is not good enough.