I'll come out of the wood-work today to talk a little about this post over at Kristin Nelson's blog. Yes, young and in the industry. It's true. I am one of these people of whom she speaks. Yes, 25 year old me. And most of the editors I deal with at other houses are hovering at around 30 at the oldest. A lot are closer in age to me. We all started at the same time, and have grown together.

And why aren't editors older? Well, there are the seasoned vets, but remember...it's an industry of women. A lot of us have plans of having families and not being tied to a desk all day. I'm still figuring out where I fit in with all of that. How do I keep a career going after I have a baby? What happens if I move away from New York and can't rise the ranks as an editor in a house anymore? Do I freelance? Write? I just had a huge fight with the boyfriend about this very topic. Being a woman is tougher than a man when it comes to this decision. When does my career get weighed against the other stuff? Can I keep both? Do I want to?

But I digress.

Being young is not a disadvantage in what I do specifically. I don't know how it would be at an imprint focusing on an older audience. But as a children's editor, it's kind of an edge. I still remember what it felt like to be a kid, since it wasn't that long ago. It's not silly for me to watch The O.C. or flip through teen magazines. Hell, my sister is 15. I have a major in.

The only things I need are experience in editing and business. And that's the same in any field when you just need to learn the skills of the trade.

But let's hear from you. How do you feel about young editors? I know it's sometimes awkward for me to tell an author much older than me that things are wrong. Is it weird for you? Or does it not matter?

A few months back I posted about how not to piss me off if you want to submit something to me or offer yourself up as a writer. Well, it happened again. Not as severely ineptly this time, but still.

Friday I receive a simple, to the point email asking for confirmation that this email address is where one can send submissions. Well, yes, this is, but did I get to it immediately? No. I was busting my ass to get a manuscript out the door. Yesterday the email was been forwarded back to me, with no note at the top. Friday to a Monday. The only thing saving this woman was that it wasn't an unprofessional note, and she didn't use a pink font like that last lady.

But clearly this is a problem. What kind of response time does that really allow for? Am I really expected to email people back that are not at the top of my priority list of actual work I have to do? And what happened to standard protocol of giving someone a week to respond?

This makes it difficult for me to write back and say "Sure, submit something to me." I clearly can't just ignore the email, because at this rate, I'll get bombarded daily. But part of me wants to say "Yes, this is the correct address, but please don't expect me to do anything with what you send because you already pissed me off" or "Sure, send a submission, but next time don't expect me to respond within a day. You aren't that important."

So, writers, aspiring writers, anyone out there hoping to get published, do me a favor and tell your friends to tell their friends and spread the word: don't become an annoyance before you even really open your mouth to show me what you can do.

We've known for some time that my commitment to blogging isn't the most soundly cemented thing in the world. I go in and out, debating whether I want to keep doing it or not, and also considering the basic problem of whether I have time for it. As you can see from the last few weeks, I really haven't. Manuscript season hit a peak, and I haven't read a book for pleasure since my vacation in August. Tonight was the first night in over a month when I didn't take home a manuscript and my bag felt uncomfortably light. And now that things are slowing down again at work, other things are picking up (tutoring, clay studio, boyfriend) and I'm wondering how much time I have for this. I am a big disappointment. I know. I am ashamed.

So, for now at least I have a post, which I suppose if you stretch yourself is on topic with the commitment I've sort of touched upon.

Today's Thursday Styles in the NYTimes had an article about hand-holding. An actual article in the freakin' New York Times about hand-holding. Who knew? Being in somewhat of a newlywed phase myself, I was intrigued.

I've never liked hand-holding that much. It's hard to walk that way. Your hand gets sweaty. Do you hold hands the traditional way, or the interlaced fingers way? What happens if there's a height discrepancy? Is holding hands even practical or feasible? Also, sometimes PDAs are kind of gross. I've stared couples down who were furiously making out in public. Like that one time they were coming up the escalator at Barnes and Noble and I just stared until the guy opened his eyes, turned bright red and stopped. Granted it's not quite that, but I dunno. Sometimes it's just cheesy.

I guess people agree with me:

Among more than a half-dozen students at the University of Maine, there seemed to be two universal truths: that hand-holding is the least nauseating public display of affection and that holding hands has become more significant than other seemingly deeper expressions of love and romance.

“It is a lot more intimate to hold hands nowadays than to kiss,” said Joel Kershner, 23. Because of that, he said, reaching for someone’s hand these days has more potential for rejection than leaning in for a smooch at a party where alcohol is flowing.

Libby Tyler, 20, said it was “weird that hand-holding is more serious,” but true. “It’s something that you lead up to,” she said.

There is nothing casual about it any more, said Rachel Peters, 22. “Hand-holding is something that usually people do once they’ve confirmed they’re a couple,” she said.

It's almost as if we've become so casual in terms of stages in physical intimacy, and sex happen so quickly, that something innocent like hand-holding winds up at the deeper level of intimacy rather than the nascent stages of romance. What a weird system we have now.

I have to admit though that now that I have someone who takes my hand, I started to get something out of it. And I get sad when he doesn't. Maybe this is why:

“With spouse hand-holding you also stop looking for other signs of danger and you start feeling more secure,” said Dr. Coan, who led the study. “If you’re in a really strong relationship, you may be protected against pain and stress hormones that may have a damaging effect on your immune system.” Perhaps it is why so many people crave it.

I like the idea that it actually makes you healthier.

How do you feel about it? What do you get out of it? Oh, and hold my hand a little and get me to hang around longer.

I know, I know. Where have I been? I'm too tired to even talk about it.

I'm really too tired to even blog right now, but wanted to leave you this:

Where has this place been my whole life?

I am having a problem with a book. One of my first draft manuscripts that came in is Book #2 in a series where Book #1 was incredibly difficult to work on, and ended up with not so nice reviews. I knew the book was uneven, but it came with a ridiculous set of revisions requested by the editor at the publisher. I had a feeling the end result would fall flat, but after you're so invested you can't see the forest for the trees anymore. And at a certain point I stopped caring.

Now, Book #2 is in the works, and the troublesome editor is still doing her thing again. She wants an overhaul on the first draft. At first, my reaction would be to wail and weep and bang my head against the wall. Only...she's not wrong. Everything she's pointed out as flawed in the book is right. In fact, she's pretty smart and the book COULD be better all around. Sure, one can rationalize that she's overreacting based on bad reviews. Heck, I've entertained the idea that her notes are what screwed up Book #1 and gave it the bad reviews in the first place. But her job would be on the line with an unsuccessful series. And really, we all just want a good book.

So the problem? The author has been run around so much on Book #1 and then the outline for Book #2 that I know she will not take this well. I know her heart isn' t in it anymore for sheer exasperation because of this less-than-cordial editor and her penchant for excessive revision notes. So what's a girl to do? I need a good book, and I need the author to comply to the changes, but I don't want to hurt her felings. And I don't want her to run screaming from the project.

My strategy? Sadly right now it's hang my head and sigh.

This is a stupid expression, since what's the point of having cake if you can't eat it? But that's not my point. I just wanted to share a stupid little quirk of my job today.

When the bosses go pitch proposals to publishers they try to be creative and have some kind of prop or gimmick that fits with the proposal. When we've sold mysteries, they wear detective hats. When they do romance series, long stem roses often go along.

Yesterday I got sent to buy a dozen cupcakes. This was a job once relegated to our editorial assistant, but as we haven't had one since our summer help left, I was sent to supply the buttery goodness for a last pitch meeting. What is with cupcakes these days? They are freakin' everywhere. I would have gone to one of the trendier, and probably cheaper places, but since this happened on my way to work I went to Whole Foods in Union Square, near my office. I had to get pretty ones. They definitely were pretty. Yellow cake cupcakes with floral-inspired icing on top in all kinds of pretty colors. Want to take a guess at how much they cost per cupcake?

I'm not waiting for you.

$4.99. A cupcake.

I spent $60 on cupcakes! Thank god for reimbursements.

But the kicker is, only 6 fit in a box. So my boss takes one look at the boxes and decides they are too pretty too take all of them to the publisher. So we kept 6. These things are so big and rich that the most anyone has been able to eat has been halves or quarters. So, I stole one and took it home yesterday to the boyfriend. But today there were still 3 whole cupcakes left in the fridge. So yet another one goes home to the boyfriend.

Do I feel bad? Ha. Just don't tell my boss that he and I have eaten $20 worth of the cupcakes originally intended for a pitch session.

As established as I get in my career, and as inexperience becomes less and less of one of my limitations, I still have those areas of weakness that threaten to handicap me time and again. There is one of note that I notice in times of crisis such as this one, when the artist hunt begins again and I have to start calling agencies around the city and country and talk to people I don't know.

I get scared of placing phone calls to people I don't know.

Give me email. Let me say it without being face to face or voice to voice. But please don't make me cold call people.

I suppose this stems from being shy as a kid. Maybe it explains why I do what I do for a living. Mostly my nose is still in books, and I have to express myself in writing. But the phone, no matter how technology advances, can never be replaced. It has the all the forwardness and urgency that situations require sometimes, and lacks any air of passive aggression.

I almost always have to gear myself up for making a string of phone calls like this. I sit there and stare at the numbers and work out what I'm going to say ahead of time. And then I stare some more. I have to give myself little pep-talks, "This is what artist reps are for. This is their job. You're not being annoying. It's part of the business." And then I stare at the numbers again. Ultimately this cuts into serious productivity time. But at least it's not crippling.

Being an assistant at the beginning of my career helped wear down the edges of this fear and get me more comfortable on the phone. I can field incoming calls no problem. Now I just have to work on placing them. It doesn't happen when I'm calling someone I know, or who I've spoken to several times before. Just the unknowns or people I'm nervous around. (Boys have counted in this demographic in the past...thankfully we're beyond that now.) But I hope someday I'll have gnawed away at this limitation enough so that it's no longer cutting into my usefulness. It's really quite silly.

What irrational fear would you happily do without?

So, both Neil and April's comments on the last post about interactive formats has prompted this jumbled train of thought of mine that has two major chunks:
1. The kinds of things we take seriously
2. Making decisions for ourselves

I'm not entirely sure how they tie in, but here are the reactions as I had them....

First, I began to think about prestige and forms of writing that are respectable versus those that aren't. It ties in a bit to all the debate about whether chick-lit is a respectable form of literature or just a light-weight genre for the less-serious or less-educated or less-literary reader. I'm not really weighing in on one side or another, but gauging from the kinds of books I work on and happen to enjoy a lot, you can take a guess where I stand. But the underlying question is still there. Would the adult publishing world really have a place or any respect for entire lines of "choose your own adventures" for grown-ups? What would really differentiate these from the kids' version? Where would we even shelve these books? Would we go so far as to have the most major of life's decisions be available to flip through at our finger tips? Have a baby or not? Say yes to his proposal or not? Should we raise the kids this way or that? See what I mean? Or maybe, just maybe, the only thing that would really make the format "adult" would be the sex. If so, then I'm really surprised erotica hasn't run amok with this format. I mean, think of the possibilities!

But back to the BIG question: would it hold any weight? My guess is no. It would be an ugly red-headed step-child of a genre. And I think the novelty would wear off for most readers really quickly. I could see myself picking up one of these books on a lark, but would I commit myself to a whole series? No. That's why I think it's stayed pretty well anchored in the children's and teen markets alone where readers cling to characters and formats and fads.

So...to dig a little deeper, what's the real hook of a "choose your own" format? Decision making. Control. As adults we have to make lots and lots of decisions that children don't. We have to run our own lives our own way and we answer to nearly no-one (in theory...see previous post about what we tell our parents...). When we read books, aren't we looking for distraction? Don't we want to avoid having to make yet another decision? I mean, sometimes just picking what book to read is hard enough. Personally, as fun as it might be to see how the different endings play out, I have to weigh all that out enough in my head about my own life as it is. When I read, I just want someone to tell me a good story. Make me think, yes. But don't make me decide anything other than whether the author has done a good job distracting me or not.

But kids...kids don't yet have all that weighing on them. And a "choose your own" format is empowering for them. Finally! They get to pick who is the right guy for the girl. They can decide whether to say yes to the first boy who asks you to the prom, or wait for guy #2, who might just be a little better. Think about how cool that is for a child. To finally have someone ask YOU what YOU want. Who wouldn't want that before they really know what life as a grown-up is all about?

I miss being a kid....

A comment from yesterday's post prompted me to ask this question: Have I not mentioned that two of my YA series are interactive choose-your-own-ending series? Really? I need to read back and refresh my memory.

The choose your own format has always been a fun, popular one, and actually hasn't gone away. Eileen mentioned wishing they had it for grownups and in fact, there are adult interactive series that I've seen. This one came out a couple of years ago, and I don't know if it did well or not. I have a children's book editor/packager-trained mentality about these things which says "if one book did well, you have to do a series...". But this one has no series, so maybe it wasn't successful enough to warrant a round #2.

Interactive series are great, because the possibilities are literally endless, especially depending on how complex a format you have. Sometimes it can be simple, a build up and then one decision point, with a few alternate endings. Somtimes the story can branch a few ways. Sometimes it can be so complicated you literally need a flow chart to keep track of it all. The other benefit is that all the books can stand alone. You don't have to stick to the same character and world or come up with new ways to torture the same person over and over again.

As far as teen series go, I can think of several off the top of my head, all of which have debuted within the last year, and two of which have just hit stores this summer.
Scholastic's Follow Your Heart series
Random House's Choose Your Destiny series
HarperCollins's Hook Up or Break Up

Dafina, an imprint at Kensington, is putting out their own interactive dating series next year geared toward the African-American market.

So are fun formats for all ages still viable and in demand? Yeah, I'd say so.

The manuscript season is slowing down...until all the revisions come in back to back in a few weeks. One more letter to go out, and I can breathe.

Today's post is about funky formats. Being that I work in children's, and we do a huge range that extends down to preschool-age books, I am very familiar with all the creative formats that books get. One of our licensed programs has lift-the-flap books, board books, shaped board books (cut into the shape of the cover art), touch-and-feel, and now we're moving into the world of movable parts and pop-ups. It's all very fun, though because you have to be pretty creative with the artwork and think about what parts can move, where you could put a fun texture, or where a flap could go to lift up and see more art underneath.

But there's a format that I haven't thought much about since my childhood, and don't really see so often anymore, and that is the Scratch and Sniff. I loved my Scratch and Sniff books. Such fond memories...I'd know exactly which pages to skip completely and then keep sniffing at the good smells like "chocolate chip cookie" or "strawberry jam." Some smells were just delicious and some you wondered about entirely. And this brings me to the point of my post.

On behalf of a colleague who doesn't know I have a blog, I wanted to plug this kind of wacky new book of hers: a Scratch and Sniff book for grown-ups! Check it out here or here. And here's the cover and Julie's blurb:

BACKSTAGE WITH BETH AND TRINA: A Scratch-and-Sniff
Adventure
By Julie Blattberg
Illustrated by Wendi Koontz

BACKSTAGE WITH BETH AND TRINA: A SCRATCH-AND-SNIFF ADVENTURE is a novelty/humor book for grown-ups (in fact, it's the first scratch-and-sniff book EVER for adults). It tells the story of two groovy rocker chicks whose goal is to get backstage at the rock show and...uh...“hang out” with the band. The scents range from cherry lip gloss to smoke to latex to vomit—in true rock-and-roll style. And no, it’s not autobiographical (though the illustrator did draw me into one of the spreads—I’m in the front row with my camera trained on the long-haired singer-dude).

So, what do you think? What formats have you always wanted to see for grownups?

I apologize for the lapse in posts. As I warned, I had a lot of manuscripts coming in. In fact, 3 have hit my desk since last Wednesday. I've read 2 of them, written an editorial letter on 1, and will be writing the second by later today and tomorrow. I'm now reading the third to get a letter out by next Wednesday. The schedules have been a mess, since 2 of the books are in teh same series, and ended up on the same schedule because Book 1 is being published really soon. But...I'm managing. Today I might even clear my desk of some lingering items that have been set aside in order to keep these books rolling.

So, now for a real post.

The hot topic of the day is boys and books. Two posts from other bloggers to fuel the thoughts. First, check out Bookseller Chick's two posts.
Then, click over to Jason Pinter's post about imprints.

Getting boys to be readers and grow up into men who read has always been a tough task. I have two brothers and neither of them were really readers. My dad reads a lot, mostly non-fiction, and is one of the biggest reasons I'm such a big reader myself. But somehow it didn't get passed on to my brothers.

The boyfriend is a voracious reader. Maybe even more than me (though I would posit that if he worked on books for a living he might not be able to read as much in his free time either). He goes through them so quickly. His library right now makes mine look pathetic. And he was a reader as a kid. I'm not sure to what extent having a librarian for a mother impacted this, but when I think about his reading habits, he's surely the exception to the rule.

I don't know that many boy-kids who love reading either. One of my students though (Jack, age 10) is a ferocious reader. But he's always complaining to me that there's nothing for him to read. He's reading well beyond his level just because he's exhausted all the children's options for boys his age.

As a children's editor I always wonder why I don't have much to work on by way of boys' series. But it's not really that tricky of a question--they are a tough sell. So, I have to ask, is that a vicious cycle we're setting for ourselves? What starts it: boys who don't read therefore we don't bother putting out books for them? Or there are no books for them so they don't read?

And then what happens to those boys when they grow up? That's really where Jason Pinter's side question comes in. There are a million imprints for women, and really none for men. Chick-lit also has almost no equivalent in the male world. How has publishing ended up such a women's industry? Is that healthy?

So...I had a bad bad thing happen today. Bad bad bad. An illustrator quit a project. Yes, this is the same one whose agent yells at me all the time. Well, negotiations happened a little while back when the series got renewed for 4 more books. At the time I went ahead and found possible new artists, since we had a feeling he might not be on board. on the new books. The money they were asking for was unreasonable as it wasn't like I had an increased budget. So samples were procurred, but then negotiations were successful and terms agreed to. Now, months later, on the verge of the first of those 4 new books starting, the contract review stage backfires, and he will not be doing the books. Nasty letters from lawyers, bridges burned, blah blah blah...

You know who's life becomes difficult? Yes, you're so smart. ME!

Dear god...tomorrow is going to really suck on top of everything else coming in this week...

The only consolation I have is that I won't have to work with that bitch of an agent anymore. Even if I have a terrible time finding someone who can mimic this artist's style, at least the creation of the 4 books will be less of a headache. Just remind me of that when I start complaining down the road, okay?

You know how you should never complain about being bored at work? Here's why:
I have 3 first draft manuscritps coming in by the end of this week. I have to read 1 of them for early next week. I have to read the other two for right after Labor Day. All three need revision letters. I have a fourth manuscript that I am currently line-editing that I need to get done by Monday, on top of all the reading. I have a fifth manuscript on that new project that I just need to read so that I know what the revision notes will mean when I get those in from the publisher. All 5 books are YA, which means they all run a page count of 250-300 pages. Anywhere from 50-65,000 words per book. Think kids books are shorter and easier? You are WRONG.

AAAAAAHHHH.

Just remind me that I love my job. And don't be pissed if I don't have time for blogging starting later this week.

Now, for a real topic, I'd like to discuss things we do or do not tell our parents. I am considering this in both general and specific terms. Generally, it makes for good storylines in YA books, as kids will always have things they don't want to tell their parents. But specifically, I am in a situation where I cannot yet tell my parents something important that will ultimately need to be revealed. My situation is kind of silly, in that in the long term it will not be an issue. The truth is: I am dating my roommate. Now, for parents from a traditionally-minded Jewish background, this is simply not okay. Nor is living with a significant other prior to marriage. Do I really care about those things? Not so much. Might I live with the boyfriend in an official capacity and not by accident before getting married? I'd say it's a really strong possibility.

Parents are tricky creatures, and often children can predict pretty accurately what's going to piss off their parents and how life might just be easier if they avoid that topic. I know my father well, and I know he would not approve. He's been pretty clear that he expects his children to live lifestyles that he approves of while he is still financially supporting him. And the reality is that I'm an adult, who is no longer financially dependent on my parents, and therefore theoretically free to live my life the way I want. However, does one ever really want to alienate themselves from their parents? Is it normal to always live in some kind of fear of what will be approved of or not approved of? How long should guilt be this effective?

In your adulthood, what have you not told your parents? And why?

I apologize for the slow posting week. I am still getting my grounding back at home and with work. The weeks of hell haven't yet hit, but they are about to, and I am busy preparing for some intense manuscript reading before the end of September. I have 3 (count 'em: 3) first draft manuscripts coming in before September is up. That means 3 editorial letters to write, which means making sure there's someone else in the office reading them with me so that I can compile notes from both of us. It's going to be some tight turn around. Whee!

Somehow I also managed to land another series in my lap, and this one at least is already in progress. One of the boss ladies manages her own series on occasion, without using us editors, only on this one she realized "Uh oh...gonna have a problem...need help!" so I'm getting oriented to it and will take it over on Book #2. It's another YA project, so it seems my niche is getting well defined. My current project load looks like this:
- 4 YA series (2 of which are alternate ending/choose your own adventure types)
- 1 illustrated, early chapter book series
- 1 illustrated board book project (but this will only be 2 books)

And I mostly only see more YA titles on the horizon, and maybe a few middle-grade projects. But, I like it this way. Some people enjoy working on the illustrated picture books, but I like the novels.

Wow, I totally didn't intend on talking about work today. But now...now I got nothing. I'll be better next week, I swear. Or maybe not...

Indeed. The vacation hath ended, and life resumes. This is fantastic in many ways, and sad in others. Of course, I sat down at my desk this morning only to get yelled at about some contract correspondence I knew nothing of, and find out that the one thing I asked to get done while I was out did in fact NOT get done. Awesome!

In any event...the vacation!

Well, I had a lovely week away, and it was just long enough to make me ready to come home. Seattle was lovely, and had the better weather of my two cities. It was nice to see cute neighborhoods, eat good food, drink good beer, and hang out with my friends Ben and David. I also had the pleasure of meeting up with Brooke, and got treated to more good beer and some yam fries, which was really sweet. We talked about the hazards and benefits of the blogging life, the writing life and, of course, boys. (I don't think I'll ever be too old to have those kinds of conversations.) It was a real highlight of my stop in Seattle.

San Francisco was a horse of a different color, both weather-wise and daytime spenditures. What a weird city! I'd been there before, but I guess I was too busy shepherding around a bus full of 48 teenagers to really pay attention to what a strange place it is. I mean, the microclimates are enough to drive you mad. How does anyone keep straight what neighborhood is foggy and humid with the one that is always clear and chilly? Drove me nuts. But still a pretty place to spend a few days walking around, eating more good food, and seeing things I don't normally get to see.

I also got to read 4 whole books this week. 4! I left with the 3 that the boyfriend gave me, and had to purchase 2 more in San Fran at the very cool City Lights Bookstore. So, what I took with me were:

The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho: I swear he gave this to me as a joke because he knew I'd a) read it in an hour, b) groan, and c) say "Didn't I read this before when it was an Isaac Bashevis Singer story or Salman Rushdie?" If you like cheesy allegory, go for it. Otherwise, it's just a waste of as much time it takes you to read 150 pages.

An Invisible Sign of My Own by Aimee Bender: This I really liked, having read one of her books of short stories. She's really out there, playing with realism in a more risky and offbeat way than Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and since she's not really a magical realism writer, that's actually really bad comparison. In any case, her prose is deliciously clear, her imagery is incredibly vivid, and her characters really quirky. If you can get past how wacky her imagination is, you'll like it.

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler: I had reservations about this one, since I'm not usually big into 1930s murder novels. But I really liked it. The benefit for me is that I haven't seen the movie, so I'm going in the right order. Still...just having watched To Have and Have Not the week before I went away, it was really hard not to picture Bogie and Bacall saying the dialogue, which was a great feel. I was surprised how modern the prose read, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.


Now...what I purchased:

Beware of God by Shalom Auslander: This is a book of funny, irreverent stories about Jews and all the hypocracy that comes with them, as written by an Orthodox ex-pat (at least I think he's an ex-pat...if not, he's living quite the life of cognitive dissonance). I'm not sure universal these stories are if you aren't familiar with the idiosyncrasies of the Jewish community, but he's also incredibly funny and again, just really great, clear prose. It was a quick read because I was enjoying it too darn much (a story called "Holocaust Tips for Kids" = written just for me, I swear), and the stories didn't drag on too long at all. I loved this.

Veronica by Mary Gaitskill: I've only read the prologue thus far. But I can already tell I'll like her writing. Review to follow.


In spite of all these lovely parts of vacation, I was really ready for New York yesterday, and I'm happy to be home. It was weird being on the road, visiting friends who work full days, and just kind of yearning for my day to day routine. I guess I'm kind of a grown up. Sigh...

And now, on my desk for the week: major follow up of everything that is going to hit really hard. The rest of August is going to be rough for this editor, with three first draft manuscripts coming in in the next 10 days (god willing...if they are on schedule), a bunch of other books to proof, and artwork to shepherd around. But...I suppose this is what I signed up for and it's better than being bored!

After obviously hitting an emergency request in the last 45 minutes I was at my desk (of course...when I had nothing else pending for the week and had taken care of it all)...why can't people ever be on top of their deadlines?), I am now officially on vacation! Ah, soooo happy. Off to Seattle and San Francisco I go, where the weather is nothing like it is right now in steamy ol' NYC.

Blogging commence upon my return next Sunday. Have a great week!

I did a few screening interviews today for the editorial assistant job, mostly because the boss ladies are each on vacation on and off for the next few weeks so no-one is in the office at the same time. This was the first time I really sat down to try to get a sense of someone and if they'd be good in a job that I used to have. The interviews were pretty interesting, if only because it makes you go back and consider what image you had of this person in your mind when all you had to go on was a resume. Each was solid in their own ways, but very different. One was a real sophisticated seeming Brit who took the leap across the pond to get into some real publishing here. The other is a girl who is more of a country girl (from Wisconsin, then school in upstate NY) who is working her way up into a sophisticated city-life. Contextually their activities make so much more sense now.

I couldn't help but compare these girls, both smart and capable, and consider how the location of their upbringing was influencing me. One the one hand I had this sweet, young-seeming girl from Wisconsin, who was a little green and unrefined in her speech, and on the other this seemingly sophisticated British citizen, whose accent alone exudes professionalism. Then of course were the clothes. The Wisconsinite wore a suit with pearls, and looked a little as if she were playing dress-up in Mom's clothes--but still looked as if she were taking a preliminary interview with me seriously. The Brit wore a pretty, sleeveless dress that I should have asked where she purchased because I would totally wear something like that. Still, the air was casual, like she knew this wasn't the formalest of interviews.

Walking away, I know who I immediately gravitated more towards, but do I think they both couldn't do the job? I bet they both would be solid editorial assistants. But what I saw was two different kinds of proactive, tenacious women, each of whom had traveled pretty great distances (literally and metaphorically) to try to get a job I used to have. I related to both of them. I clearly resonated with the Midwestern girl, who made the most of small-town upbringing and small college campus opportunities, trying to make it in the big city. And then I saw a girl with internships like my own, with a wide range of interests, but who has a passion for children's books. Each of them, now that I think about it, will have their own culture shock as they adjust to life in New York City. Still...the smarts were there in both, and the organization, and the drive...so now it all comes down to personality. Who do I think the bosses will like more? My guess is the Brit, if only because she exudes put-togetherness and confidence.

I wonder how I came across in my interview, and if my boss saw what she was getting, or took a chance which ended up paying off. That sounds egotistical, but I know she's happy with me. Having done lots of interviews over the last six months, it's hard to pinpoint what they're looking for because they haven't seem to have found it. Part of me just wants them to find another me. I don't really know what that is, but I wish I could find her! (Or him...but a male me would be a funny thing to behold...)

And the other thing I've learned from all this? I'm super-glad I don't work in HR.

With everyone bitchy about everything, this just made my day...I love this city.


Wednesday One-Liners Keep Things on Track

Conductor: This is an express, uptown C train. You heard right: an express C train. Next stop: 125th Street. If you need local service on the Upper West Side, please transfer across the platform to the D, as in "Daddy done did it" or B, as in "bad boy Bobby Brown" train.

--C train, 59th St

Conductor: This is a Brooklyn bound B train. Like bitch.

--B train

Conductor: We are currently being held in the station because of some other A train fucking us all over.

--Uptown A train

Conductor: Never give up on life. Keep hope alive. This is 30th Avenue.

--N train, Astoria

Conductor: Thank you for riding the C train and remember: smile and the world smiles with you.

--C train

Conductor: You can switch to the A train across the platform. However, I would much rather you stay on this train.

--Downtown C train, 14th St

Conductor: This train is very crowded. If you cannot fit, please step back and wait for the next train. If you manage to get onto this very crowded train, look at the person next to you and tell them, "Howdy!"

--Queens bound F train

Conductor: Step in and stand clear of the good news.

--F train, 34th St

Conductor: Hello, and welcome to the mobile sauna bath.

--A train

Conductor: This is 175th Street. This is an A train to...This is an A train to... to nothing! Hey, does anyone know where we're going?

--A train, 175th St

Conductor: All right, there's a 3 train across the platform. Hurry up and make your connection, people. Get to steppin', get to steppin'!

--1 train, Times Square

Conductor, angrily: Yo, stand clear o' the closing doors o' my choo-choo!

--PATH train

via Overheard in New York, Aug 2, 2006

Yesterday I had rant, today I have a mere list of items. I guess not every day can be so elaborate.

Winners:
- Authors who do fabulous jobs on revisions. Hooray!
- Frigid air conditioning at work. I have not gone outside since arriving this morning, and on this 100+ degree day, I am content.
- New music on the iPod. Today it's Sufjan Stevens and the Decemberists.
- Tutoring again. I miss my kids, and of course...the cash.
- Finding out that Seattle is in fact an easy city to get around in.
- Getting a new cell phone and having it NOT be a RAZR. I'm so glad I avoided that trend faux pas.


Losers:
- Photo research that involves the following items and beyond: cows, corn, tractors, wheat, combines, barns, you get the idea...
- Mel Gibson, but what else is new?
- Having to be an HR person again for this dumbass editorial assistant job. Hopefully we'll find someone we like that can stay longer than a summer.

On the fence:
- The boyfriend just told me that his friend just had a baby and they named him Cassius (with an eye toward calling him "Cash"). I do not know how I feel about this. Insert line from "Coming to America" here.

So, the good stuff outweighed the bad stuff...but then again, I'm posting this before my subway ride home in the head mentioned above. Wish me luck.

This rant will likely seem minor to anything Miss Snark or other agents must deal with regularly when being queried by authors, but it's still annoying nonetheless. There was an article recently in a children's writer newsletter about publishers who seek series writers and how to go about contacting them if you're unpublished. Naturally we were listed in the article, so many unpublished wannabe children's writers are contacting us. Okay, that's fine. We're happy to look at samples and see if there's someone great in the mix somewhere. Granted we don't have that many new projects all the time, and no way to give all these people work, but it never hurts to have an eye out for new talent or that person who will make your series the best it can be.

But the impression I'm getting from some of the people contacting us is that we're desperate for writers and will take anyone and therefore the author contacting us is doing us a favor somehow. And also, there's this sense of casualness about it that's making me a little crazy. Here's the specific example of what bothered me this morning:

Last Thursday the editorial assistant comes into my office saying, "There's this lady on the phone who says you told her to call about writing a sample from an outline. Can I transfer her?" First, I did no such thing. Second, certainly I'd have given her my direct line. Third, no way am I taking a call like that when I have no idea who this person is and what she really wants. So, I told the EA to give her my email address and to contact me that way.

15 minutes later I get an email that is less than elaborate and frankly pretty rough around the edges that references that article in the newsletter and says she doesn't know the proper approach for this. The concluding line of the email was "Can you help me?" That was it. No offer of her own samples, her strengths, what she wants...not much of anything. Yes, I would definitely have responded to her. But I didn't do so on Friday. It just wasn't at the top of my list. This morning I open my inbox to find the same email forwarded back to me from this woman with the simple one-liner "Did you get this?" as the message.

Does anyone see what's wrong with this? I don't even know where to start. A) Do some research before you get in touch with anyone who would be helping YOU out. Find out what the protocol is. B) Never be that casual at the beginning. Even if you can't find out what the protocol is, just write a formal letter! Professionalism never ever hurt. You can still get across your personality and charm while staying professional. Hell, if you can, I'll notice it more. C) Never follow up 2 days later with a simple "Did you get this?" I mean, first it's only 2 business days. Count 'em: 2. I have real work to do! Second, refer to Point B and be professional! What's wrong with a "Dear X, I'm wanted to follow up with you about the query I sent on X day (noting of course that this should be more than 2 days prior)"?

The kicker? This lady says she's a professional grant writer. Shouldn't she know better? I'm not even sure how to respond or if I want to. I'm already turned off.

UPDATE: I just checked back on the time stamp of the second email...it was not sent today. It was sent Friday. A day later. UGH.

I have little to post about other than this: MY BABY IS HERE!

A few advanced copies of Book #1 of my new series that I absolutely adore just got here, and I'm jumping off the walls. This is my first really sentimental attachment to a project, and I'm sooooo psyched. Everything about this series came out well. The writing is great, the covers are great, and it's just been the biggest pleasure to work on. Plus, it's the first series I've really edited on my own since the beginning.

Aaaaahhh!!

In other news...has anyone been watching Project Runway, and if so, do you get the impression that the producers are pulling the strings much more so than previous seasons? I'm getting irked.

I wanted to post yesterday, but I was too freakin' irritated by the end of the day to do it and still spell things correctly. So I waited till now.

Yesterday I had one of those boss run-ins where the authority figure in question finds a random thing to fixate on and won't let go. And of course, it had to do with my favorite topic in the world: book covers. Seriously, if you don't understand why I hate working on book covers after this kind of example, I don't know what'll do it.

This particular book is #12 in a series that is right now going to 16 books. This means we've already done 11 covers. So, please tell me why now after all this, does the boss want professionally done proofs of the cover art before we even send the finished mechanical to the publisher? The answer is: just because it's something to have control over.

Yesterday's issue all boils down to the color red. I am having a major fight with the color red. Because apparently one cannot get a cover to just be red, which is ironic as it's a primary color. No no, what we got was first orange, then less orange, and the only other covers we had that were more true red, were actually purply in tone. Why is red so easily screwed up?

Well, it turns out that neither our screens nor our color printer were truly representing the color that the designer was intending for us to see. So he's yelling at me that our equipment sucks, and my boss is yelling at me that he's not giving us red, and here's poor me, stuck right smack dab in the middle, unable to grapple with the triviality of this situation. It got to the point where the boss wanted me to FedEx the designer a red folder that she felt was the red she wanted. Seriously?

I wanted to kill myself.

Apparently there is just no real way to make sure you're looking at the color you think you are. But now, today, I have to take these files to the color lab people and get them to give me a color iris print-out. And actually, I'm happy to go take a walk and get out of here for a little bit...

What are your bosses' crazy fixations?

For all that I'm still bored out of my mind, today was a good day.

First, my boss just went over my concept for the first book of the step-siblings proposal and she liked it! Now there's a difference between liking it and still changing it, and just liking it. She just liked it! I don't have to revise it except to give it a better ending. How's that? I'm totally psyched right now. Look at me--I can plot a book!!

Now I have to plot 3 more...But I have an idea for Book #2 and we have rough blurbs for #3 and #4, so it shouldn't be too hard. I feel so accomplished!

Next up, an editor from a new publisher client of ours really liked a chapter outline we sent her on a very complicated, interactive series. I love getting that kind of positive feedback from someone fresh, especially when the task is challenging.

So all in all, it's a happy day. I deserve a drink!

I really hate to say this, since you guys gave me very serious answers to the autograph conundrum, but...

My intern is signing the book. She got a huge kick out of it, as interns do...

Please don't hurt me.

In other news, I'm terribly bored right now as every last book I'm working on is in the hands of someone else at the moment and I have nothing to do....

So, I'm almost embarrassed to post this, since I'm sure someone out there will be angry or offended or something, but I think it's kind of funny. I've talked before about author aliases, especially on series which can have more than one writer. Well...what do you do when there need to be author appearances, autographs, etc?

Today I got a request in from a library somewhere in the midwest, requesting an autographed copy of a book written pseudonymously. They'd like to auction it off. So...this author isn't a real person. I mean, a real person wrote the book, but not under that name, and more than one person was involved in said writing process...

So, what do you? Anyone want to take a stab at it?