How to use this Page

The above slide points out two things I think are extremely important to the success of your self-published book. IMO, cutting corners on the cover design and copy editing can make a big difference in how many copies you sell.

The report found that getting help, paid or unpaid, with editing, copy editing and proofreading provided a 13 per cent bump in earnings. Those who added cover design to that list saw a 34 per cent increase over the average. Interestingly, ebook formatting help added only an extra 1 per cent.

It was estimated that about 68 per cent of authors who’d spent money on their book would recoup that cost within 12 months. For the rest, no amount of lipstick could improve the story. So make sure your foundation is good and go through all the steps you would to get a solid, interesting story.

Writers with agents earn three times more than those without. Romance writers earn 120 per cent of the average, but science fiction, fantasy and literary writers do much worse earning 38 per cent, 32 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.

Those who had already had books put out by traditional publishers earned 2.5 times more than authors who’d been rejected by traditional publishers or who had skipped the traditional route all together.

The Taleist survey found that most self-publishers are “old hands” with 40 per cent having been writing for more than ten years, and 60 per cent for more than five years. Only one in ten were newbies, writing for less than a year.

Getting positive books reviews is important. In book stores like Amazon, getting reviews is key to getting your book recognised by the site’s recommendation algorithm. The survey found that those authors who submitted to book review blogs has slightly higher than average reviews and revenue. But those authors who submitted their book to popular reviewers on Amazon received 25 per cent more reviews than average and 32 per cent more revenue.

What respondents did to seek reviews actively:

The authors who did best, however, did everything except pay for reviews: They gave away review copies, submitted to book review blogs and the mainstream press, sought popular reviewers on Amazon and asked their readers through email lists etc.

The results of the recent self publishing survey by Taleist.com shows Authors who submitted to popular reviewers on Amazon received 25% more reviews than average and earned 32% more revenue for their latest release.  But there can be potential risks, so spend the time to do your research. Getting a review for your fantasy book with a top Amazon reviewer who doesn’t like fantasy is not going to help your book.

Here is the link to the top Amazon reviewers: http://www.amazon.com/review/top-reviewers.

Did you know you do not need a Kindle to read an ebook from Amazon. Under its promise of “buy once, read anywhere”, Amazon provides free apps to read Kindle books on computers, smartphones, and tablets. Even if you have a Nook, you can use the Amazon App to read their books and everyday they have four Kindle book deals. These apps can be downloaded from Amazon here.

Here is the link to purchase Not a Gold Rush – The Taleist Self-Publishing Survey [Kindle Edition]

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

There are three main file types currently associated with eBooks:

• EPUB (.epub) – Short for “electronic publication,” this is the most popular open standard format for eBooks that allows DRM (digital rights management). It is also the format used with all the major retailers EXCEPT Amazon/Kindle. With EPUB, reflowable content ensures that text is displayed in the optimal manner for each eReader or smartphone device.

• Mobipocket (.mobi) – An eBook format that allows users to add a blank page at any point in the text for notes, bookmarks, corrections, and drawings.

• Kindle (.azw) – Amazon’s proprietary format is based on mobipocket, but it comes with its own DRM protections.

1) Once your book has been converted to ePub format, it’s too late to fix a typo! So proof your files for spelling, grammar, and syntax. Remember you are now your own editor! It is up to you to make sure the document you convert to an eBook is meticulously proofread. Even if you pay a company to do the converting for you, you still have to have it perfectly edited, so you might want to consider paying someone to edit your book prior to conversion.

2) Don’t use tabs or the space bar to format paragraphs and individual lines. While it may look the way you want it in a Word or text file, tabs and spaces wreak havoc when converted to eBook format. Use the “Format/Paragraph” menu or alignment buttons in the toolbar of your text-editing program if you want indents.

3) Use standard fonts such as Times New Roman or Courier New. Not all fonts are supported by the eBook format and eReaders. The standard text size is 12 point size font for body text and 14-18 point for chapter titles. Another reason to use Times New Roman: Any special symbols may not convert properly to ePub when using other fonts.

4) The publisher’s name and address, date of publication, copyright info, ISBN number, and other credits should be included on the first two pages of the document.

5) Don’t resize your images in Word or a text editor. All images must be in .png, .jpg, or .tif format, 72 dpi, and in RGB color mode. Do all image resizing outside of the document with image editing software, then reinsert them in your document.

6) If you pay a company to format your manuscript to an ebook, check to make sure of their specs. In general, you will need to resize large images to 300 pixels high if you would like them to display in-line with text. Cover and full-page images should 800-1,000 pixels high by 550-700 pixels wide. Logos or simple images should be 75-100 pixels high.

7) All images (except full-page images) should be set in-line with text. Do not wrap text around images.

8) Tables, sidebars, and inserts will not display properly in ePub format, so extract this type of content and list as ordinary text. Of course, you can always included them as images.

9) Do not include any elements that refer to page numbers other than your formatted Table of Contents. Pages in your document will not coincide with the “pages” on any given eReader.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Andrea Offermann was born in Cologne, Germany, and grew up in the countryside close to the city, in an old horse stable converted to a house, surrounded by a wild garden. During a visit to the US she fell in love with Art Center College of Design and eventually moved to California to study at the school. She graduated in 2005 with a BFA in Illustration, and stayed for another year to work as an illustrator and fine artist.

At Art Center, she had the chance to take several print making classes and fell in love with the different techniques, especially the intaglio technique of drawing with needles and then etching the line into the surface. Later she took further intaglio classes at a printmaking school in Italy, and the love of line work has influenced my style very much since.

In spring 2006 Andrea moved back to Germany and is now living in Hamburg and exploring different areas of illustration such as children’s books, graphic novels and editorial work, while maintaining a close connection to fine art. Her work has appeared in numerous publications such as Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, 3×3, Illustration Now!. Her illustrations were chosen for the Bologna children’s book fair exhibition and in spring of 2013 my portfolio received the Grand Prize at the showcase of the SCBWI winter conference in New York.

Andrea’s work space. Here is Andrea and her process:

Inspiration:

In this case the inspiration for the art was more literal than usual. I had seen a beautiful exhibition with art work by Dürer and fell in love with his wedding portraits. I wanted to do wedding portraits of a frog and a hare.

Thumbnail:

My thumbnails are always tiny and really just convey the idea of what I would like to do, with very very rough direction and composition.

Sketch:

I then scan the thumbnail in and print it out enlarged, then take it to my light box to trace the rough composition and then build the more refined sketch on top of it.

Line:

I scan the final sketch in and print it out, then use charcoal paper to transfer the drawing onto stretched watercolor paper. The charcoal line from the transfer paper is usually very dark, so I erase most of it away until I have a faint line left. Then, using copic multiliner pens or pen and ink, I draw the final image.

Painting:

When the drawing is finished I paint with watercolors on top of it. I paint in thin layers and build the color up slowly, adding texture and details bit by bit.

Final Image

How long have you been illustrating?

For about 8 years.

Did you go to school for art?

Yes, I went to Art Center College of Design.

What types of classes did you take?

I went through the regular illustration curriculum, focusing on editorial and book illustration. I was also particularly drawn to classes in printmaking techniques and took classes in intaglio both at Art Center and at Il Bisonte printmaking school in Italy.

Do you think the classes you took in college influenced your style?

Yes, I think especially the printmaking classes influenced my style, also several classes where we experimented with techniques such as glazing and rendering with different media.

Have you seen your style change since when you first started?

Yes definitely. My work was pretty much all over the place when I started, I was trying different things to see what would work best for a given assignment. Now I think a style has evolved, and I hope it will keep evolving, I keep trying new things and am hoping to be able to continue experimenting.

What is your favorite medium to use?

I love to work with pen and ink and then color with different media. Lately I have also started using paper silhouette.

Did any of the contacts you made in college help you get your first job or any contract?

Yes fellow illustrators at school brought me in contact with editors they had met with and eventually I got my first book contract in the US through one of those contacts. Also I was introduced to the gallery where I first showed my art at through illustrator friends.

The school itself had also set up some meetings with publishers and companies before graduation, and one of my first jobs also came through those meetings.

What was the first piece of art that you sold?

It was a series of intaglio prints titled “Magellan”.

Has your artwork won any awards?

Yes, most recently my portfolio won the showcase at the SCBWI winter conference in New York. My artwork was also chosen for the Bologna childrens book fair exhibit, has appeared in the books of Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, 3×3, Illustration Now!, won 1^st place of the AltPick awards, and was on the shortlist of the competition to illustrate “Life of Pi”.

What book was your first? When was that?

The first book I illustrated was a picture book for German publisher “Carlsen” entitled “Keine Angst vor Schafen”, written by Will Gmehling. The book was published in 2008.

How did the contract come about?

I had met with an editor of Carlsen publishing at the Frankfrut book fair in 2006. Many European publishers make appointments with illustrators at the Frankfurt book fair, there are even open portfolio reviews where you can stand in line and show your work. After the fair the editor contacted me to ask if I would be interested in illustrating a picture book for Carlsen.

How did you get chosen to do the cover  for the middle grade novel, The Boneshaker?

A designer I had met with had kept my postcard of “Pink Elephants” from an earlier meeting and when Clarion was looking for an artist to illustrate the cover of “The Boneshaker” she gave the card to the editor of the book.

Did you do any interior art for the book?

Yes, I did 13 black and white interior illustrations for the book.

Do you think you will branch out to doing illustrations for picture books?

Yes, definitely, I love illustrating books for all ages and actually just finished illustrating a picture book for an Austrian publisher (Nilpferd in Residenz), “Der Eisdrache (The Frost Flyer)” written by Troon Harrison, which I already mentioned earlier. This story was a great pleasure to illustrate, after illustrating several books for older children it was fun to work for this kind of book again, I hope I will always be able to maintain a balance between working on different books for different age ranges.

Do you think you will ever write and illustrate your own book?

I have been writing for a little while now and am hoping that I will be able to present my own story ideas sometime in the future.

How did you get the contract to illustrate The Midnight Zoo with Candlewick?

I was contacted by the art buying department who had seen “The Boneshaker” and my illustrations for the competition to illustrate “Life of Pi”. They thought that the sensibility of the illustrations would work well for Sonya Hartnett’s story.

How did Little, Brown, & Company find you for Ghost Knight?

I met with an art director at Little, Brown who saw my portfolio and immediately mentioned that they were looking for an illustrator for Ghost Knight. The author Cornelia Funke had specifically asked for an illustrator that could depict architecture, so I did a sample piece first to show how I would illustrate the cathedral, and both Little, Brown and the author liked the piece.

The same question for The Poisons of Caux: The Shepherd of Weeds with Knopf?

Similar story: I had met with the art director ad showed my portfolio. A year later she contacted me to inquire if I would be available to illustrate the book.

I have heard illustrators complain about how fussy publishers are with the covers of their books. Did you find doing a book cover more challenging?

Publishers definitely take great care when it comes to putting together the cover, since it’s the first thing that the audience will see, and it will be surrounded by other book covers geared towards the same audience, it needs to stand out but work for the audience at the same time. Also, many different departments have a say in what the cover should look like, so the decision making process can take longer then with interior art. It has happened to me that a cover was completely finished and then rejected by the sales department because they decided to go a completely different route, target a slightly older audience, not use illustration at all etc.

Is it harder to get published in the US when you live in Europe?

I think it’s more difficult to introduce your work to the publishers, but once the connection is established I don’t think there are great difficulties, the communication takes place mostly via email, artwork can be sent digitally or via FedEx.

What is the children’s book market like where you live?

The German speaking market is much smaller, publishers are maybe a bit more hesitant, they plan with much smaller print runs, so the advances are smaller too.

Have many languages do you speak?

German and English and tiny bits of French and Italian.

Have you ever visited the USA?

Yes, I studied in California and try to travel to the US about once a year to meet with publishers, go to conferences or show openings.

Have you published any of your illustrations in magazines?

Yes I do editorial illustration every once in a while.

Do you use Photoshop with your illustrations?

I use Photoshop for retouching or making small changes. Also, for magazine illustration and for the two “graphic novel” stories I wrote and illustrated I decided to use mostly digital coloring.

Do you own a graphic tablet?

YES! I love my graphic tablet.

Did you set up a studio in your house?

Up until now I was working from a studio in my apartment, but I will be moving into a shared work space in July.

Do you try to stick to a schedule to get your illustrations done?

Yes definitely. Especially when projects overlap I find it necessary to have a schedule I am working with. It happens often that deadlines are moved around, so it is very important for me to know how much time I will need for certain projects to be able to confirm new dates.

How many books have you published?

10 so far, in September the 11^th book, “Der Eisdrache” written by Troon Harrison, will be published.

Have you gone to any of the big conferences for Children’s Illustrators and Writers?

Yes I have attended the summer conference in LA twice and the winter conference in New York twice as well.

What are your career goals?

I would like to keep illustrating stories that are meaningful and that reach audiences all over the world and of all age levels. It would be wonderful to one day be able to write and illustrate my own books. Most of all I want to keep learning and experimenting and growing, and make art and stories that touch audiences.

What are you working on now?

As I said I just finished a picture book for an Austrian publisher. Right now I am finishing up a book cover for a YA novel for a US publisher that I am very excited about, we tried a few interesting things with this cover, I am very much looking forward to seeing it in print. Next I will be illustrating a graphic novel, I am very happy about this new challenge.

Are there any painting tips (materials,paper, etc.) you can share that work well for you? Technique tips?

Hmmm… unfortunately my technique is not very unique, as far as materials go I love using lanaquarelle hot pressed paper and copic multiliners for the line work, for watercolor I use mostly Windsor Newton.

Any words of wisdom you can share with the illustrators who are trying to develop their career?

Stay motivated and patient, keep educating yourself, stay in touch with colleagues and share information. When I started out I had a great critique group of illustrator friends, and it helped me so much to be in touch with them and get critique and motivation, help and ideas through these meetings and talks. Now I feel very lucky to be part of the SCBWI mentorship program and have the opportunity to meet and be in touch with all these fantastic illustrators. Unfortunately travelling to the US is far for me, so I can’t see everybody as much as I would like to. I can only encourage you to look for a crtique group around you and if there is one join it, its such a gift to be able to share your thoughts on your work and learn from each other.

Thank you Andrea for sharing your artwork, journey, and process. I have a lot of people write me to let me know how much they love Illustrator Saturday, exactly because of talented illustrators like you. Please let us know when you have an another book or another success story to share. I will be happy to show if off to let everyone know.

If you would like to visit Andrea, here is her website: http://www.andreaoffermann.com If you like Illustrator Saturday and Andreas work, please take a moment to leave Andrea a comment about her post. It is really appreciated.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

So you have a written and successfully gotten a publisher to offer you a contract. Now is the time to start thinking of how you plan to market your book. One of the first things that comes to mind are school visits, but you could use some help in figuring out how to maneuver that whole avenue. Well, I am going to point you to a great site – School Visits Experts. Once you visit them I am sure you will agree they share great information on there site. It was founded by Alexis O’Neill. You may already know Alexis, since she has been the SCBWI Regional Advisor in California for the last 18 years and has helped so many children’s writers and illustrators. I know everyone who reads the SCBWI Bulletin and everyone on the West Coast knows Alexis, but for those who live in other places, have a stack of SCBWI Bulletins waiting to be read, or haven’t read one of her books, this might be your first encounter with Alexis.

ALEXIS O’NEILL is the author of THE RECESS QUEEN(Scholastic), THE WORST BEST  FRIEND (Scholastic), LOUD EMILY (Simon & Schuster), ESTELA’S SWAP (Lee &  Low), THREE IRISH TALES (Kindle), and other award-winning picture books as well as a museum education consultant and an instructor for the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. Her nonfiction works have been published in Spider, Cobblestone, Calliope, Faces, and Odyssey. Her newest book, THE KITE THAT BRIDGED TWO NATIONS: HOMAN WALSH  AND THE FIRST NIAGARA SUSPENSION BRIDGE (Calkins Creek Books, September  2013) will be launched this fall at Niagara Falls in both New York and Ontario, Canada. Alexis writes “The Truth About School Visits” column for the SCBWI Bulletin, offering advice to published authors and illustrators on the art and business of doing presentations. www.alexisoneill.com . www.SchoolVisitExperts.com .

She was also the recipient of the California Reading Association’s Dr. Marcus Foster Memorial Award 2010 for making significant and outstanding contributions to reading throughout California. www.californiareads.org

Thought I would share this book trailer for Alexis new book, since I’m always pointing out good trailer, so a little bit will wash off on you and help you down the road. Here is the book trailer for The Kite That Bridged Two Nations — coming September 2013!

Here’s Alexis:

Mistake #1. Opening weakly

Solution: Get attention! Invite the audience in immediately with a startling statement or image, a communal action (singing, chanting, clapping in rhythm) – anything that commands attention and shows the kids that the program is in your capable hands.

Mistake #2. Being unaware of audience reaction

Solution: Learn to “read” the room.  Are kids getting restless? Beginning to chat? Turning away from your presentation?  Time to switch up the content or pace and get them refocused.

Mistake #3. Speaking too softly, quickly or monotonously

Solution: Practice breathing, projecting, slowing the pace and speaking with lots of expression. Even if you think you have a voice like a foghorn, it will sound strained to those in the back of the multipurpose room.  Be sure to use a microphone. And don’t talk to the screen or easel – face your audience.

Mistake #4. Using visuals or props that are hard to see

Solution: Aim for the kids in the back of the room.  Make props oversize. Be sure everyone has a clear view of your props and the screen.

Mistake #5: Going overtime

Solution: Appoint a timekeeper to give you warnings at 10 minutes, 5 minutes and the end. Keep your eye on the clock so that you can adjust your pacing.

Mistake #6. Failing to create an ending with impact or with a call to action

Solution: If you like to incorporate a Q & A into your assembly, don’t end with it – place it just before the ending. Wrap up by sending the group out with one last anecdote, a summary of the points you made in your presentation or an appeal for them to do something (Be sure to read! Write! Start a book club!)

SchoolVisitExperts.com is a place for published and soon-to-be-published authors & illustrators to find and share advice on how to create and deliver quality programs for kids, teachers and librarians. This is the place to find guidance on

• Designing meaningful programs
• Managing the business side of school visits
• Getting hired
• Evaluating the impact of your program
• Working effectively with children, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and hosts

The ultimate purpose of SchoolVisitExperts.com is to help you deliver presentations that have a positive, meaningful and motivational benefit for students, teachers, librarians, educational specialists, administrators and parents, increase your visibility and assist you in your quest to secure engagements.

For Advice on how to start looking for a school visit, read this article from Alexis: http://schoolvisitexperts.com/?p=589

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Back in April I had two posts Titled What is a Story Architect’s at Paper Lantern, followed by an article from their writing toolbox about building chapters. Today I bring you another terrific article from Paper Lantern’s Toolbox. You know the information has to be good, when Lexa Hillyer and Lauren Oliver are the ones behind the scenes.

Here are the two links, in case you missed them in April.

http://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/what-is-a-story-architect/
http://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/building-chapters-tips/

In life, most of us avoid conflict. We want to get along and we want everything to go smoothly. However we also know that other people’s conflicts are fantastically interesting. We watch shows called “Desperate Housewives, not “Happy Functional Women.”

This doesn’t make us sadists… it makes us story-lovers. We don’t go to brunch on Sunday to hear about how calm everyone’s Saturday night was—we go to find out about scandals, secrets, surprises, and spectacles. Conflict requires action, and inspires triumph.

Pin this over your desk: NO PAIN, NO GAIN. Both in life and in narrative.

As a fiction-writer, CONFLICT IS YOUR BEST FRIEND. Does this mean your characters should always be throwing half-finished martinis on each other’s dresses, staging battles, or balling their fists and shouting to the heavens? No, of course not.

The whole notion of conflict is to give characters an issue to resolve, aka, to give them a trajectory, a goal, a forward motion of some kind.

CONFLICT => TENSION => ENERGY => DIRECTION => NARRATIVE.

Why is this such a big deal? Too often, our early drafts of novels are boring !!!!

Ever secretly worry that your story is only interesting to YOU? Well conflict is your cure. As readers, we’re compulsive about conflict—we love it, and the more we get, the more we hungrily read along. “How the heck is she going to get out of this one?!” we exclaim, eagerly flipping the pages.

Though of course there are always exceptions to a rule, most people would prefer to read a completely unoriginal story with great narrative drive than read a fantastically inventive, beautifully written book with no direction or point. How do you ensure your novel is the conflict-filled, compulsively readable kind?

First, examine your novel chapter by chapter. How many beats make things harder for the main character? More specifically, does it get more difficult for the character to achieve her established goal? If not, try out PLL’s five tried and true conflict tricks:

 1) ADD STRANGE FRUIT TO FRUITLESS SEARCHES. First draft: Character A asks around for information but comes up with no answers. Change to: Character A does a search and comes up with utterly surprising results that set her on a new course.

(Throw in a curveball that even YOU weren’t expecting!) For instance, a girl searches files for information on her adoptive family. She discovers—gasp—her parents were part of a magical circus. OR she discovers—gasp—her parents are the parents of the boy she loves. She’s in love with her own brother! As you can see, these reveals can pull the plot in extremely different directions

2) ESCAPE ISN’T SO EASY. First draft: Character A narrowly escapes harm. Change to: Character A gets injured, captured, or forced down an unexpected path.

-How can this lead to new plot potential? How will the character get better, what will the injury require him to do next or prevent him from being able to do next? How will he break out of captivity or what will he learn from being held? Where will the unexpected route lead him? Who will he run into there

3) HOLD GRUDGES! First draft: Two characters argue, but come to reconcile their views or agree to disagree. Change to: two characters argue. The disagreement becomes explosive, leading to violence, a drastic measure, or swearing allegiance to a third party.

-How can this open new possibilities for the story? Force the characters to work through the conflict by making more mistakes and truly grappling through the book rather than resolving quickly and cleanly.

4) WE LIKE BIG BUTS AND WE CANNOT LIE. When in doubt, insert a BUT. She tried to sneak in undetected, BUT… She planned to kill him, BUT… She asked him to the dance, BUT.

5) MAKE MISTAKES. Are all the character’s difficulties coming from external forces (bad timing, storms, coincidences, society, other characters’ evil machinations/ villainy) or internal forces/ character-agency (making mistakes, overreacting, wanting something too much, essentially making a dangerous, risky or bad choice)?

-When in doubt, try to use more character-agency to create hurdles. The most interesting problems to solve are the ones we’ve in some way created ourselves!

-A few storms and bad guys are often necessary for good story-telling too, though.

So go ahead, awaken the Inner Demon/Diva/Desperate housewife. Don’t worry—you’ll get to save your characters in the end… Just don’t let them off the hook before then!

If you are attending the New Jersey SCBWI Conference this weekend, make sure you look for both Lexa and Lauren. They will be there. Since I will be there too, I will report back next week hoping to share some of the information so no one feels left out.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

When her Mom framed the rooster she drew in kindergarten, Susan Eaddy decided that she wanted to be an artist. She has been building on those basic skills learned at age 5 and never lost her love for “ClayThings”.

When she grew up, she worked as an Art Director in educational book publishing for 8 years. She illustrated over 80 educational books and covers in many different media, and won awards for her paper sculpture. She became the Art Director at RCA Records Nashville, receiving a Grammy Award Nomination for the art direction of the “Los Super Seven” CD package.

Susan Eaddy After 7 years she left RCA to open ClayThings Illustration. Today, she works entirely in polymer and modeling clay, and has appropriated every kitchen tool in the house for her art.Her ClayThings appear in magazines, books, catalogs, advertising, greeting cards, wallpaper, kitchen textiles & other licensed products. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband & Mr. FuzzBoy the fat cat. She is a long-standing member of the SCBWI and is the Illustrator Coordinator for the Midsouth Region.

Here is Susan explaining her process:

I usually use plasticine or modeling clay, which never hardens. It is oil based and melty in the summer, hard as a rock in the winter, so I use ice in the summer and a heating pad in the winter.

I use needle tools, knives, onion bags, buttons, screen, rubber stamps, canvas and plastic texture sheets or ANYTHING for texture, garlic press and /or a clay extruder for hair and grass, pasta roller to roll flat sheets of clay, and food processor for mixing large quantities of a particular color.

Here are the steps:

1. Create a tight sketch.
2. Begin to fill in my background first, using the smush method with thumbs and fingers.
3. Build individual critters or leaves or people, one at a time and layer them into place.
4. Photograph the finished artwork in my studio with a professional camera.
5. Put the raw digital file into my computer, import to photoshop for final clean up. tweaking and preparation to final size for my clients.
6. Upload to an FTP site for clients.

Here are a few videos that show the illustrations coming to life.

Next:

Here’s the video:

Some of Susan’s Book Covers:

Have you always lived in Tennesse?

No, I grew up in FL, but have been in TN now most of my life.

Did you ever take any art lessons?

Yes, My parents always encouraged me, and I took art lessons in 6^th grade one night a week. When I was in high school, I wrangled my schedule so that I had 4 hours of art every day in my senior year.

What was the first art related thing you got paid for?

I won a contest sponsored by Phillip Pickens Realty in the 7^th grade. Their office was in an old house across the street from the school and they wanted students to paint their office/house. I won $25 and they got to keep the painting.

How did you did the job as art director at an educational publishing house? Which one was it?

When I found that I was moving to Nashville after college, I researched the publishers there and discovered Incentive Publications. Their artwork and covers had a beautiful trade book look to them, so I made a general pest of myself until they hired me first for free lance, then as in- house illustrator and finally as AD.

When and what happened to make you decide you wanted to add children’s book illustrator to your resume?

When I was in fifth grade, my mother gave me a workbook of poetry with space for illustration. I LOVED that book and decided that I wanted to combine my 2 favorite things, art and reading, and hoped that one day I could be an illustrator.

Did you take any classes on doing clay illustration?

No, when I was AD at incentive, I was able to illustrate the projects that interested me and free- lance out the rest. So during that time I experimented with every sort of medium, including clay. I had found my love.

What types of things do you do think helped develop your clay work?

My interest in layering, and cut paper, plus I like getting my hands dirty. And probably the biggest thing is that I like NOT knowing what I am doing, so the process is constant discovery. I am driven by my curiosity in how the piece will turn out, as I figure out how to solve each problem as it comes along.

Have the materials you use changed over the years?

Well, I used to use plasticine exclusively, but now I do use some Sculpey as well.

Have you ever tried to write and illustrate a children’s book?

Yes! I have a drawer full!

I see that you have done a lot of clay illustration for Ladybug Magazine. How did that happen?

I had sent postcards to them for years. Once I even got a postcard back saying thanks but no thanks, my style was not a good fit. Wah! I was crushed, but I continued to send them postcards. Then one day, Sue Beck called and gave me a chance. ( she was not the one who had turned me down) Yay! And now I have done quite a few for Carus with LadyBug, Spider, Click and Babybug.

What types of things do you do to get your work seen by publishing professionals?

I send promotional postcards, maintain a presence on childrensillustrators.com and go to SCBWI conferences.

Do you have an agent? If so, who and how long have the represented you?  If not, would you like one?

I have been working with Karen Grencik from Red Fox Literary since Fall of 2012. She just sold Poppy’s Best Paper to Charlesbridge, my first PB as author! The clay was not a good fit for this ms, and the fabulous french illustrator Rosalinde Bonnet will be doing the illustrations.

I would love to have a real 3-D sculpture like what you do hanging on my wall. Have you ever thought about using a permanent clay material to create lasting 3-D pictures to sell?

Yes, I do use Sculpey from time to time and it works as a wall hanging in a shadow box, since it can be baked. It has a different look and feel from the plasticine & I usually paint the clay instead of mixing colors. My Sculpey pieces are smaller, and it is a bit trickier to work with, I think.

Do you ever do any paintings?

No, not anymore…I used too, when I was AD at both Incentive and RCA. I did paintings for book covers and magazine ads. I love to draw and I went through a period of time a couple of years ago where I revisited using watercolor. But I found that I missed the clay too much! and I felt I was spreading myself too thin.

How many picture books have you published?

Papa Fish’s Lullaby, First look at Trucks, First Look at Aircraft, and First Look at Rescue vehicles.

I see that Papa’s Fish’s Lullaby was published by Cooper Square Publishing. Could you tell us a little bit about this publisher and how you landed the contract to illustrate the book?

Actually Papa Fish was published by Northwords Books for Young Readers, but about 6 months after its release, the company was sold to Cooper Square. Again, I had been sending out postcards to my list for years… and I was contacted by the AD who was working with Northwords. She said,” I have had your postcard on my bulletin Board for the last year and a half, just waiting for the right project!”

Is the illustration of the mouse holding the monkey’s hand coming out of the library an illustration from a book?

That was an illustration for Babybug Magazine. Quiet Mouse. And I was thrilled to find out that it won the SCBWI Magazine Merit Honor award for 2012.

First Look at Aircraft is a board book published by Soundprints. How many illustrations do you have to do for a board book?

These books are unusual because they are published in conjunction with the Smithsonian and they wanted a realistic component in addition to the clay artwork. So in each there are 5 clay pictures and 5 photographs. It was so interesting, because I had to have all of my clay aircraft, trucks and rescue vehicles approved by a museum curator at the Smithsonian!

How did you get hired by Soundprints to do those books?

I had exhibited my work at a licensing show in NYC called Surtex. Someone from the Smithsonian stopped by my booth and was especially attracted to my clay trucks. She told me that they partner with Soundprints for some of their children’s books and that she would mention my work to the Publisher. So in May, I sent follow-up emails to both Smithsonian and Soundprints, (never getting a response) and in August I sent a mock- up of a truck board book to Sound Prints. I heard nothing. But then in February I received an email saying that they wanted to do a series of books with me. Yay!

Why is the Smithsonian (Smithsonian First Looks) on one of the books. Did they buy the publisher? You have illustrated a few book with Studio Mouse. How did you find each other?

I am not sure exactly how it works. It is a dual copyright between the Publisher (Trudy Corporation) and the Smithsonian on all 3 books.  Soundprints, and Studio Mouse are imprints of the Trudy Corporation. However, I think the Trudy Corp has now been bought and is operating as Palm Kids!

When you add a new layer of clay to an illustration, do you have to do anything to help adhere it in place?

With plasticine the smush method works every time. When I am using Sculpey, I use Sculpey Bake & Bond, before I bake.

Have you gotten any work through networking?

I met Karen Grencik of Red Fox literary through SCBWI at the LA conference.

Do you do any art exhibits to help get noticed?

No, since my work cannot be hung, I don’t do galleries. But I did have a booth at Surtex for 5 years where I displayed large prints of my work.

How long does it take to do an illustration?

It is a three-part process. The first part is research. I want to make sure that my animals and/or characters and settings are accurate. I go to the library and search the Internet, gathering materials to educate myself about whatever I am illustrating. For Papa Fish’s Lullaby it took me six weeks of solid research before I even put pencil to paper.

Next I do rough sketches and then tight drawings of the pages. It takes anywhere from one to three days to get the drawing and composition to my satisfaction. Then it takes me another day or so to work out the color scheme.

By the time I start working in clay, most of the hardest work is over! The actual clay work on Papa Fish took as little as three days for some spreads and as much as six days for others. The final size of each original is 11×17 inches.

Do you ever use Photoshop?

Yes. I could not do my job without it.

Do you own a graphic tablet? If so, how do you use it?

Yes. A Wacom. I am just more comfortable with a pen than a mouse and I use it exclusively when doing Photoshop work.

This is cool. It is a kid’s activity (app) on Ladybug Magazine’s Website for fun. Check it out. http://www.ladybugmagkids.com/activities/artscrafts/make-your-own-starry-night

How much time do you spend working on your clay illustrations?

I spend as much time, actually MORE time, researching, drawing, figuring out composition and palette as I spend doing the clay. By the time I get to the clay, most of the problem solving is done and I can PLAY!

I noticed that you have a studio set up in your attic. Do you try to work in a cooler place in the summer?

No, it’s a small house and I’m lucky to have a dedicated space. And the clay is not very transportable. I have all of my tools and mountains of clay at my fingertips in my studio. It’s easier to bring in ice than it is to take over another part of the house. (much to my husband’s relief)

What is the most important tool that you use?

Oooohhh do I have to choose only one? If that is the case it would be an exacto knife, but if I get more it would be the needle tools, knife, garlic press and a tiny flat blade for scooping.

Do you take pictures or do any research before you start a project?

 Oh yes, I lOVE to research!! I have to watch myself, because I can so easily get carried away in the fascination of learning new stuff! I do take photos and I love using the iPad as an easy way to access my research photos.

As Illustrator Coordinator, what types of things have you done with the Mid-South SCBWI chapter members?

We have a monthly Illustrator Meeting in Nashville. We sometimes pay a model, sometimes we just bring in work on which we want feedback. If someone has been to a distant conference (LA, NY) they bring back notes to share. We trade tips and moral support and I am ALWAYS enriched by our gatherings. Sometimes, in addition, we gather to sketch in a graveyard or hear a lecture at the Frist Art Museum. We currently have an SCBWI Illustrator Showcase in the Main Library in Nashville, we’ve had an Illustrator Day with the fabulous Laurent Linn. I maintain a public Midsouth Illustrator’s Blog and encourage members to post their works in progress. We also have a private PictureBook critique blog. We’ve just created a video guide to Putting Together Your Portfolio. I serve on the Midsouth Fall Conference Committeee & oversee all Illustration related matters such as our Illustrator Intensive, Portfolio Showcase, Illustrator Contest, and all Illustrator breakouts ( as well as other fun tasks).

I see that you attend the Bolgna Children’s Book Fair in 2012. Since most of us only dream about attending, could you tell us a little bit about it. Did it help to promote your work?

I had ALWAYS wanted to see what the Bologna Book Fair was about. When I discovered that my work had been chosen to be part of an SCBWI Portfolio I decided that now was as good a time as any. And by staying in monasteries, I was able to travel on a shoestring. While I did not get any direct foreign rights deals there, I met fabulous, fascinating people of great talent, and attended seminars on cutting edge issues in childrens’ publishing. One of the BEST parts for me, was meeting and getting to know the International Team. My contact with them led to school visits in Hong Kong earlier this year. There is a project in the works with Julie Hedlund, whom I also met in Bologna. In 2014 three of us Southern ICs plan to travel to Bologna.( Elizabeth Dulemba and Bonnie Adamson) I’m not sure what to expect, but one NEVER knows where things will lead.

You can see Susan’s sketch book journal at: http://claythings-susaneaddy.blogspot.com/

Any exciting projects on the horizon?

We’re still working out all the details so I can’t reveal specifics, but if all goes forward I will be illustrating one of Julie Hedlund’s delightful picture books.

What are your career goals?

To write and illustrate and have my books published and in the hands of kids!

What are you working on now?

I’m writing a PB right now. The Midnight Brownie  is in at least its 500^th draft ;o) and I am doing clay sketches for it as I write. I’m also finishing up my journal from a recent trip to China and working on a new iMovie short with my clay critters.

Are there any clay tips.(Example: Something you love – the best place to buy – a new product that you’ve tried – A how to tip, materials etc.) you can share that work well for you? Technique tips?

Well, I do stalk the Micheal’s website for coupons and buy quantities of both Plasticine(modeling clay)and Sculpey and fun looking texture sheets or rubber stamps when they have 40 % off. If using Sculpey with a texture sheet lightly dust it with powder first so it doesn’t stick. They have some great books on working with Polymer clay  too. Go there and browse!

Any words of wisdom you can share with the illustrators who are trying to develop their career?

I know that you hear this a lot, but perseverance is key. In these days of American Idol and instant celebrity stories you may expect quick success and allow yourself to become discouraged. Quick success IS the exception, wonderful if it happens, but it isn’t the norm. If you love children’s books just keep at it, and surround yourself with other people who love it as much as you do. And try to surround yourself with people who are better than you and LEARN from them. And I know this is going to sound like an ad, but truly, the SCBWI conferences are invaluable for career development, networking and inspiration. Being surrounded by hundreds of people who are passionate about what YOU love??? It doesn’t get much better than that.

If you would like to visit Susan, you can find her at: www.susaneaddy.com. If you have a few minutes, please take the time to leave a comment for Susan. Thanks!

Thank you Susan. I loved seeing your process videos. You make me want to try my hand at clay. Looks like a bunch of fun. Please remember to keep us informed of all your future successes. We’d love to hear about them.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Below are the winners for May’s First Page Critique with MELISSA FAULNER, Editorial Assistant, ABRAMS Books for Young Readers and Amulet.

Hope you enjoy what the winners sent in and reading Melissa’s thoughts on the four.

THE BALLOON FIX (PB)
By Jennifer Ann Reinharz

Willa loved her balloon. The Grand Marshal gave it to her. It was pink, happy and just the right size for her hands. She did not like the long ribbon. It always got in the way.
{Illus. note: So she cut it}

Snip. Snip. Snip. Hiss. The balloon shrunk. Smaller. Smaller. Smaller. Until it looked like a flat, rubber, pancake.

“Mommy, fix it!” she wailed.

“Sweetie, the balloon has a hole. There’s nothing I can do.”

“Daddy, my balloon popped! Fix it!”

“Take a deep breath. I can’t fix it, but I’ll get you a new one.”
Willa took a deep breath.

She opened the junk drawer and found a screwdriver, a pencil, and a purple glue stick. Lining up the tools, she began to sing, “My balloon broke. It’s ok. I’ll fix it.” But the screwdriver pinched, the glue clumped, and the pencil was too thick.
{Illus. note: to plug the hole in the balloon}

So Willa went back to the drawer. This time she found a stack of sticky notes, a bunch of paper clips, and an elastic band. “My balloon broke. It’s ok. I’ll fix it.”

When that didn’t go very well, Willa took another deep breath.
“Help me,” she begged her brother.
{Illustrator note: He is coloring. Crayons are stored in a coffee can}

“Your balloon deflated. You can’t fix it,” he said. “Just do something else.”

Willa spotted his coffee can. It reminded her of the marching band. She dumped the crayons out.

HERE IS MELISSA’S CRITIQUE:

THE BALLOON FIX
Jennifer Ann Reinharz

What a great concept! I think that most children (and their parents) can absolutely relate to having that one object to which they form a swift and lasting attachment, and sadness that follows when it inevitably breaks (or pops as the case may be). What I really liked was Willa’s resourceful attitude, and her conviction that she can fix the balloon—this teaches children creativity, problem solving, and perseverance, even in the face of doubt.

The narrative style here is light and clean, which I think works well. However, I found myself wanting just a bit more detail at times (nothing that would overwhelm the text). For example, it says that the Grand Marshal gave Willa the balloon, but I don’t know that it will be clear to young readers what a Grand Marshal is, and why he/she would have balloons to give away. Additionally, while I like that Willa runs to the junk drawer to fix the balloon herself, it doesn’t feel as though this action logically follows talking to her parents. Her dad mentions he can’t fix it, but perhaps we need to see that moment of decision when Willa decides to fix it herself. I also like the use of her song to create repetition, but, again, this doesn’t feel quite connected to the rest of the story/Willa’s character. Why does she sing this specific song? Does Willa love to sing? I think a lot of these questions could be addressed by developing Willa a bit more as a character. Is she the type of little girl who loves to fix things herself? Is she always tinkering with things? Answering questions like these might also help flesh her out and better highlight her initial decision to trim the ribbon herself.

Overall, this is a good start! I think the author just needs to work to further develop Willa as a character, which will help inform the decisions she’s making and her actions throughout the story.

The Seven League Boots by Joyce McPherson (MG Fiction)

Once upon a time a girl named Madeline lived in the village of Villamyra in the kingdom of Myristica, a peaceful kingdom seldom bothered by ogres or sorcerers or even fairies, though there was a kulack who attended the king in the castle. Madeline lived in the inn with her father, who was the innkeeper. She liked to listen to the tales travelers told of journeys and quests, but in all her ten years she had never been farther than the Myra Bridge at the edge of the village.

One day in late spring, Madeline hugged a basket of laundry as she made her way to the clothes line behind the inn. She imagined she was carrying a treasure chest across a barren waste to ransom a forgotten princess. The castle loomed in the distance. Her arms ached, but it was just a few more steps and she would be there.

At last. She set down the basket with a bump, and the smell of soap wafted upward. She glanced at her treasure and saw only a limp heap of laundry. It was hard to be a treasure hunter while smelling soap. She reached for a dish towel and wondered why nothing ever happened in Myristica.

By the time the first row was hung, a fresh breeze had sprung up and snapped the towels like sails on a ship, or…like flying, she thought. She caught up a rag and held it above her head, then raced as fast as she could, braids whipping behind her, across the yard. “I’m flying like a bird,” she called.

“You don’t look like a bird.”

Madeline glared in the direction of the voice and saw Herbert coming around the corner where the chicken house stood.

“I thought you were helping your dad in the smithy today,” she said.

“He had enough help for one day. Somehow the bellows caught on fire.”

He looked so glum that Madeline instantly forgave him for his first comment.

HERE IS MELISSA’S CRITIQUE:

THE SEVEN LEAGUE BOOTS
Joyce McPherson

What works well about this opening page is that the reader is quickly pulled into the detail and imagery of the story. Madeline is clearly an intriguing character who has spirit and dreams which extend far beyond her seemingly adventure-free life. (Doing laundry is an adventure no one is excited about!) I also really enjoyed the line about the towels snapping in the breeze “like the sails on a ship.” What lovely imagery!

My biggest overall concern, however, is exactly how much information is packed into this first page. While I think it’s good to include a lot of relevant details early on to help establish the reader in the story, a lot of the world-building details here are being “told” to the reader instead of “shown.” If Madeline is our main protagonist, then perhaps it would make more sense learn about the kingdom using her as a lens. Her character has to be able to carry us through an entire novel, so the reader should feel a strong connection with her. For example, since she’s interested in adventure, perhaps as she’s walking with the laundry, she’s also keeping a weathered eye out for ogres or sorcerers who might steal her treasure chest, even though Myristica is a peaceful kingdom seldom bothered by magical creatures, etc. That’s one possibility to organically work in the details about our setting/the world while also learning a bit more about the protagonist. I think that will also help to slow down the pacing a bit, which, even on the first page, feels a bit rushed.

Definitely a strong and intriguing start. I’d definitely flip to page two!

MOUTH OF THE SOUTH by Patricia Nesbitt – MG historical

Fingers of July sunlight snaked through the interlocking foliage overhead and scattered brown diamonds across the lazy waters of Sugar Creek. Patsy and Olivia paddled barefoot, ankle-deep, down the main channel, stopping ever so often to turn over a rock or scoop up petals blown into the water from near-by mimosa trees.

They tucked the feathery mimosa clusters into their hair and behind their ears. Sweat beads still sprinkled their foreheads from the bike ride down Arnold Drive to the creek.

“Does it have to be for two weeks?” whined Olivia. “Why not just one?”
Eleven-year-old Patsy shrugged. “Dunno. Just is, I guess.”

“You’re NOT going to like it, you know.”

“That’s what you keep telling me—for a gazillion times now. But this is Girl Scout Camp, not church camp. It’s bound to be different.”

“ALL camp is the same: bad food, hot cabins—it’s JULY, for crying out loud–, and boring crafts.” Olivia bent over to scratch a chigger bite. “Not to mention the other obnoxious campers whose parents sent them to camp to get rid of them for two weeks. Tell your mom you feel sick and can’t go.”

Patsy turned over a large rock, watched a crawdad wiggle away, and swished her hands in the water to clean off the mud. Olivia isn’t usually such a sour-puss, she thought. I bet she’s worried about something.

“No can do,” said Patsy. “You know how Mom is…Money’s already spent.”
Olivia batted at a low-hanging cluster of leaves. “Besides, Miss Queen of I-Hate-Change, why on earth would you want to spend time away from home with a bunch of total strangers?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking camp might be…,” began Patsy.

“I know an adventure,” finished Olivia. “You’ve said that for weeks. But what if…”

HERE IS MELISSA’S CRITIQUE:

MOUTH OF THE SOUTH
Patricia Nesbitt

I’m a definite sucker for rich imagery and detail, so I really enjoyed this opening paragraph! There’s a sort of tangibility to the prose here that really pulls the reader in, allowing them to immediately sink into the setting. However, it’s a good idea to be vigilant about overdoing it, since an overload of detail can sometimes cause confusion. In the second sentence, for example, it says they paddled barefoot (which makes me think of swimming), but were only ankle-deep in the water? It’s also good to be aware of making sure the details included feel organic and don’t disrupt the flow of the story.

The great thing about this first page is that we really get a strong, immediate sense of the dynamic between Patsy and Olivia and the conflict between them (though it isn’t clear from the first page, obviously, whether Girl Scout Camp will be the focus of the entire novel). These are clearly two girls who have been friends (probably best friends) for a while, and it seems as though we’re being set up to read about a summer during which that dynamic is changing. My concern, though, is that it’s not entirely clear which of the girls is the protagonist of the story. We’re given insight into Patsy’s thoughts (though, I’m always a bit wary of that particular device as it can feel a bit overused), but opening with Olivia’s question threw me a bit. Perhaps it could help to work on developing more of the details through Patsy, if she’s the intended focus.

Additionally, I had a question about the categorization of this as middle grade historical fiction. A lot of the dialog feels very contemporary, especially words like “sour-puss” and “gazillion.” If this is indeed intended as historical fiction the author will definitely want to check certain phrasing to make sure it’s appropriate to the setting.

This is a great start—I’d definitely keep reading.

CALL OF THE CROW by Debbie Emory, middle grade fantasy

The last breath of spring floated in the air as Festy, a bright blue boggart, flew out of the dark forest that stood behind the town library. The moon cast light through the glass walls, giving the books inside a mysterious glow.

A bucktooth hung down either side of Festy’s snout as the small dragon-like creature drew in his widespread wings and crept into the library through the book return slot. He knew exactly where to go.

Once inside the lobby, Festy flung open the double doors as though they weighed no more than his big toe. Blue dust shot out of his tail as he flew to his favorite corner to perch on a polished wooden shelf. He ran his claw across a line of books until he found the familiar worn cover. “There you are,” he said.

He tapped on the front, but the face of the world famous human did not move as it normally did. “William? You there?” Festy said in his British accent.

“Celebration is starting soon.”

The ghost of a dark-haired gentleman floated out of the book. He wore an old-fashioned plush velvet suit with puffy sleeves. The high collar of his white ruffled shirt made it look as if his head sat on a large platter.

“Tis I.” The ghost of William dusted off his clothes before pulling a tall wool hat out of the book. “Shall we join the others? I do hope we haven’t missed the dance of the gnomes. Charming fellows.”

Before the two could leave, Festy heard the slam of the metal flap on the book return slot. His pointy ears stood up straight. “Hear that?” He knew no one in the small southern town of Caryville would be dropping off anything so late at night.

HERE IS MELISSA’S CRITIQUE:

CALL OF THE CROW
Debbie Emory

A very intriguing first page! It’s a wonderfully descriptive opening, that strikes a nice balance between a playful tone and the mystery involved with sneaking into a library at night in order to fetch a book ghost (who I assume is William Shakespeare). This may be something that’s addressed later, but I immediately began to wonder at the mechanics of summoning the ghost of William. Is he the only ghost that can be summoned from the books in the library? If there are others, why aren’t they joining as well? With fantasy, I find it’s good to be very clear about the limitations of the world.

I also think that the use of dialog here is nice, and includes a nice flow of detail that feels very natural. Though, I did wonder about calling attention to Festy’s British accent—if he’s going to be the protagonist of the story, does this need to be drawn to the reader’s attention? Perhaps there’s a more subtle way to do this? Maybe the author could call out William’s more posh accent in relation to Festy’s?

The pacing here also feels just right for a younger middle grade read. There’s a good balance of detail and plot development, and you’ve set some nice conflict at the very end of the first page that definitely has me curious about who just entered the library!

Melissa, wonderful job! I’m excited about meeting you at the June Conference. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and expertise with us. I know it is very appreciated.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

I met Tori years ago at one of the first events I put on as Regional Advisor of the New Jersey Chapter of the SCBWI. I got to see the effort that Tori put into her books and making sure her work was seen by editors and agents.  She is represented by the Liza Royce Agency and was one of their first clients.

Tori’s interest in children’s books began when her daughter was born. She fell in love with picture books after spending countless hours at the library reading to her daughter. By the time her sons were born, she was inspired to write her own stories and quickly became hooked on writing. She also studied picture book illustration at the School of Visual Arts. Tori joined New Jersey SCBWI and attended writing conferences where she learned the ins and outs of the publishing industry.  Writing and illustrating children’s books became an unexpected, exciting second career for her. She has expanded her writing for children of all ages and is currently working on a historical fiction novel.

Her debut picture book, What Will It Be, Penelope? hits the book shelves on June 4th.

You can meet Tori Corn (author)and Dannielle Ceccolini (illustrator) at The Corner Bookstore tonight to celebrate the publication of What Will It Be, Penelope?

Wednesday, May 22nd – 6:00 p.m.

RSVP: (212) 831-3554 or cornerbook@aol.com

Here are a few questions I asked Tori that I thought you might be interested in reading:

Can you tell us about your journey with What Will It Be, Penelope?

Watching children try and decide what flavor ice cream they wanted is what inspired me to write the story. Sometimes my youngest son would hold up the line at the Mr. Softee ice cream truck! Of course there’s a bit of me in the story. I’ve been known to take forever to decide something silly like which soap to buy at Target! Penelope was the first picture book I wrote that wasn’t written in rhyme. I’m embarrassed to tell you how many versions there are!

How long ago did you write What’s Will It Be, Penelope?

It’s hard to say. I wrote the first version about seven years ago but I put it aside and didn’t look at it for years. It was way too long, around 850 words, which is a common mistake for picture book writers who are just learning their craft.  It took me a while to figure out how to tell a story in only 500 to 600 words.

Did you do revisions? 

Did I do revisions? All I did was revisions! And once I sold the manuscript, I still had to do more revisions!

What did it feel like to sign that first contract? 

It was a really special day for me, especially since I’d been envisioning the moment for such a long time.

Can you tell us a little bit about Sky Pony Press? 

Sky Pony is a wonderful publisher.(I’m not biased.) Launched in fall of 2011, it’s the children’s book imprint of Skyhorse Publishing. Their list includes picture books, middle grade, young adult, educational books and reissues of some well-loved classics. Since their first list in Fall 2011, Sky Pony now has over 100 books in print. I feel so blessed to have Penelope on that list. Next year, I’ll have another picture book called Dixie Wants an Allergy on the list too. What I love about Sky Pony is that they make decisions quickly and are capable of producing their books in record time. I signed my contract in Jan 2012 and I was holding a copy of my book in my hands in May 2013! Amazing.

Did you have any input into choosing the illustrator?

No I didn’t, but I’m glad that Sky Pony chose Danielle Ceccolini to do the illustrations for What Will It Be Penelope?  In general, the publisher chooses the illustrator, not the author.

Do you ever think you will try your hand in illustrating one of your books? 

Yes! I was an art major at SyracuseUniversity. I love to draw and paint!  As a matter of fact, I illustrated the cover for my website. You can probably tell by looking at it that I was a textile designer because of the textures and the prints on my character’s clothing.

I took picture book illustration classes at The School of visual Arts and began working on a book dummy for my picture book called Sometimes I Wake in the Middle of the Night. Hopefully I’ll finish illustrating it someday. And you never know, maybe I’ll write and illustrate a story about the mice on my website! www.toricorn.com

Do you have any other books on the horizon?

I’ve written eight picture books and I’m currently working on a historical fiction novel.

What types of things have you done to help get prepared for your book launch? 

Well, for one thing, I had a website developed.  I’ve also purchased some cute Penelope giveaways to give to kids after I’ve read my book during school visits. I’m hoping the children will go home and ask their parents to buy my book and these items will help them remember the name of my book!

Do you have any words of wisdom to share that would help unpublished writers? 

The most important advice I can give writers is to be thoughtful when deciding who to send their manuscripts to. This cuts down on the amount of (and type of ) reject letters you get. For instance, I only sent my manuscripts to editors and agents that I met at SCBWI conferences and I didn’t send them to everyone, only those whom I felt were seriously interested in my stories. That way, I only received encouraging reject letters! Most of them had excellent editorial comments so instead of feeling bad, I actually felt  inspired to work harder to improve my manuscript.

My second piece of advice is for writers to envision their books getting published. That’s really important. Someone once told me to “Stay on the road and keep looking forward” which is what I did. I think it’s also important to join a writing group so you can have your manuscripts critiqued often and learn what other authors are doing right and wrong.   And remember, if a few people are saying the same thing, you should listen. That said, always stay true to yourself.

Thank you Tori for sharing your experience with us. Best of luck with the book. Stop by www.toricorn.com to see Tori’s new website.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Hi everyone!  Fellow illustrator Kristi Valiant (who has an adorable book about dancing penguins coming out later this year; everyone go preorder it) has a very informative blog post on promotional postcards for illustrators (you know, the ones you make and send out to art directors several times a yaer hoping that someone says "YES!  I love his/her work and have the perfect project for this art style!")  In any case, I wanted to share this post with you, because it is a great resourse for illustrators who are promoting themselves, their artwork, or their upcoming books.

Kristi Valiant Promotional Postcards Blog Post

Alicia Schwab has worked as an illustrator and designer for nearly twenty years and holds a BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Her career began in Hannover, Germany where she co-founded and co-owned a graphic design company. During those years she developed her illustrative voice producing illustrations for newsletters and books. After returning to the States, she continued working at design firms in Minneapolis, Minnesota as well as producing illustrations for newsletters, websites, and food packaging. For more than a decade, Alicia has concentrated on illustrating for the editorial and children’s book market. She is a member of SCBWI since 2001, and in 2012 she became the SCBWI-Minnesota Illustrator Coordinator for that region. Outside of the studio, Alicia enjoys speaking to the community and schools about her work.

I  begin with an idea in my head and start sketching on paper to figure out who my characters are and what they want. Let your subconscious have a say too. Try to let ideas flow without judging them. This sketch was drawn on a large sheet of tissue paper and I used the lower edge to redraw a character from another piece. When I scanned it into the computer a funny accident happened. I noticed the little person looks as if she is trying to tell the audience a secret. A lightbulb flashes and I have a new direction, the girl gives the boy butterflies whenever he sees her.

There is a lot of body language that need to be worked out between the two of them. I tried several different ways of how they hold their hands and position their arms. Some things look great in the sketch stage but then don’t work when fleshed out into solid shapes with the paint.

I sketched several different arms and hands separately and pasted them in place in Photoshop to see what works and get the proportions right. I also chopped up the original sketch and spaced the two a little farther apart.

For the purpose of this example, I have gone back into the final art to simulate the color studies I did for the background areas. Normally, I work this out as I paint. Three areas: the far hill with the tree, the path and the foreground.

I am fairly happy with everything. I went back into Photoshop and fiddled with his right arm some more.

How long have you been illustrating?

I have loved drawing all my life. As a child, my art allowed me to express the ideas I had not yet learned the vocabulary for. This would prove to be a useful tool later in life. But professionally, I started taking illustration jobs a year after college.

When did you decide you wanted to illustrate a children’s book?

Growing up, I loved drawing and I was surrounded by great picture books. It only seemed natural to me, to try to make my own picture book as soon as I learned how to write words (at about age seven). My passion for children’s books continues to this day.

I see you attended the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Do you think the art classes you took in college helped you develop an illustration style?

I hold a BFA in Graphic Design. The program has a strong foundation in studio (fine art) classes. I took extra painting classes that helped a lot with color theory and composition. I also acquired a strong knowledge of computer graphics skills that has enabled me to stay competitive as an illustrator/designer. The program did not offer illustration courses at that time, so I have learned on my own and taken additional children’s book illustration classes through MCAD, in Minneapolis.

What was the first thing you did where someone paid you for your artwork?

After college, I moved to Germany co-founded a graphic design company. I began by doing editorial illustration and my work won an award, the “1997 Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture & Design” back in the States. Each spread featured a pop-up with a riddle to solve.

How did you end up starting a graphic design company in Germany?

I’ve always had a curiosity for what is over the next horizon. I had studied abroad for a semester in college and was  looking for a way to go back. I figured if I could support myself, I might be able to travel in my free time.

What made you leave Germany and move to Minneapolis?

It was a great experience, I enjoyed living, working and traveling in Europe. But the time came when I wanted to live back in the States near my family.

Have you done any work for children’s magazines?

Not yet, but I have done work for the children’s section of a newsletter: “Just Coz” for Smiths Medical.

How did you get to illustrate the book titled, Great Group Skits?

I acquired this project through a networking connection. I had a great experience working with Search Institute Press on the book, GREAT GROUP SKITS, written by Lynn Grasberg and Gina Oldenburg. I enjoyed working with the text and creating chapter head illustrations in black/white.

How did you get involved in illustrating Good Grief, Finding Peace After Pet Loss?

This project also came to me through a networking connection. Although the author, Sid Korpi self-published this book, I did not work directly with her on this project. Sid had a clear vision and marketing plan for the book that worked out really well.

Have any of your books won any awards?

The book Good Grief, Finding Peace After Pet Loss has won 4 awards: 2011 Green Book Award—(Category: Animals).
2010 Premiere Book Award—”Best Book of the Year”, (Category: Self-Help).
2010 Reviewers Choice Award from Reader Views (Category: Inspiration/Spirituality).
2010 IPPY—Independent Publishers Book Award (Category: Pets/Animals).

Is Good Grief, Finding Peace After Pet Loss a self-published book? How is the book doing?

Yes, it is and it has done really well. It is still receiving good reviews from readers as well as the recipient of several awards. The book is not only well written but is well designed which lends itself as a reliable source to comfort those who are grieving the loss of an animal companion. Having been through this a few times myself, I was able to connect the illustration with the audience.

How did you get the job to illustrate St. Catherine University: Guide to Reflective and Intentional Giving?

Through word of mouth from networking. The Twin Cities creative community is like a small town, everybody knows everyone. It is vital to network and stay connected. http://www.aliciaschwab.com/books/book01.html

How long is the book? How many illustrations did you do for the book?

I created seven full bleed, campus scene illustrations to enliven nostalgic, fond memories of alumni experiences at the university. I was asked to incorporate a circular theme into the artwork. I always love a challenge, so I worked the theme into the gesso ground.

I see you became the illustrator Coordinator for the Minnesota SCBWI chapter in 2012. How did that happen?

I have been a member of SCBWI since 2001. I have volunteered for several organizations over the last +twenty years. I started volunteering for SCBWI a few years ago and found it a rewarding experience. When the position became available I applied for it and have been the IC for over a year now. I feel strongly about being part of a supportive community that helps people find their potential as a children’s book writer and/or illustrator.

What is your favorite medium to use?

Currently, my favorite is acrylic paint.

As Illustrator Coordinator, what types of things have you done with the MN SCBWI chapter members?

I develop workshops to help members learn the craft, marketing and business of children’s book illustration. We have been also exploring newer areas of the industry by offering workshops on Picture Book Apps and Ebook publishing. Last year, we hosted our first Portfolio Show at our regional conference, which was well attended. For the future, we are looking at doing a One-Day-Intensive for illustrators and one for writers. It has been a rewarding experience to work with Quinette Cook, RA and Jessica Freeburg, ARA of the Minnesota SCBWI chapter.

Have you taken advantage of showing off your portfolio at one of national conferences?

This last February, I participated for the first time at the New York Conference and Portfolio Show. I would recommend any SCBWI member to take part in this event or the portfolio opportunities at LA Conference. You will learn a lot.

Do you see yourself writing and illustrating your own book someday?

I have held fast to my childhood dream of becoming a published author/illustrator. I am in several critique groups for writers and for illustrators.

Do you have representation from a artist rep or an agents?

I am currently not under representation but am actively seeking an agent.

Not counting your paint and brushes, what is the one thing in your studio that you could not live without?

I love my sunny studio, but it is chilly most of the year being that it is located in our basement, so I drink lots of hot tea.

Do you take pictures or do any research before you start a project?

I do, I use myself as a model with a big mirror. Because the client is local, I was able to make my own reference photographs for the book for St Catherine University. This helped tremendously to understand the campus layout, the position of the sun, the building proportions and the greenery.

Do you think the Internet has opened doors for you?

Sure, social media, blogging and access to information via search engines has really helped me grow as an illustrator.

Do you use Photoshop with your illustrations?

I currently use Photoshop in the sketch stage of the project and the fiddle with a few things for the finish. It is a deep program and enables me to utilize it in a variety of ways.

Do you own or have you ever tried a graphic Drawing Tablet?

I use a small Wacom Bamboo tablet when I need to draw on the computer. I would love to upgrade someday to a larger unit.

Do you think your style has changed over the years? Have your material changed?

My style has changed a lot since the mid-90′s, but so has my target market. The type of editorial illustration I sold in Germany is different than what was being bought stateside at the time. It taught me to be flexible. I used to work in ink and watercolor, then dabbled vector art while working traditionally in acrylic.

How do you market yourself?

I do blogging, social media as well as send out promotional postcards. I also advocate networking and getting involved in a professional organization such as SCBWI.

What are you working on now?

I am currently writing/illustrating a picture book about a very curious dinosaur.

Do you have any material type tips you can share with us? Example: Paint or paper that you love – the best place to buy – a new product that you’ve tried – A how to tip, etc.

Currently, I paint in acrylic paint on watercolor paper. I use forks and different things to scrape into the gesso to create the background texture. Experiment. Play. Make a mess. Acrylic is forgiving in that you can edit out the areas you don’t like by painting over it.

Any words of wisdom on how to become a successful illustrator?

Draw everyday. Study what children’s book art is being published by visiting the library and the bookstores. Join a critique group. Read voraciously in the genre you want to illustrate in. I learned in Germany the best way to get to know a culture and its people is by learning the native language. Illustration is not just “pretty pictures” but is also a form of communication. The “culture” that it conveys is the specific use of language in the written word. For example, you wouldn’t create the same kind of illustration for picture books as you would for the young adult fiction genre. Understand what age group you are aiming for, and you will better understand your audience through the way they communicate.
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Louise Fury is attending the NJSCBWI June Conference and doing critiques. She is with the L. Perkins Agency that was founded in 1987 by Lori Perkins, a former newspaper publisher and editor. They specializes in many different genres. Currently there are five agents representing approximately 200 authors to the publishing industry.

The Agency has agents in 11 foreign countries and works with an established film agency. The L. Perkins agency works hard to stay ahead of the curve and makes it a priority to help their authors stay ahead of the pack. In 2010 they broke new ground by being the first (and currently ONLY) agency to hire a literary agent who works exclusively in the digital marketplace.

Louise Fury is a senior agent at the L. Perkins Agency and specializes in romance, all kids and young adult material and pop culture nonfiction. She has sold books to both traditional and electronic publishers including Random House, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Samhain and others. Louise encourages authors to have one foot in traditional publishing and the other in the digital-first arena. Actually Louise has reported 26 deal to Publishers Marketplace during the last 12 months, which is extremely good.

Here is Louise’s Wish List.

I am looking for writers with a unique voice and an unforgettable story.  I’m particularly drawn to stories with a strong protagonist.

I want delicious adult romances with creative plots, sexy liaisons and unique characters that sweep me up in their love story and leave me smiling and sighing and longing for the romance to last forever.

Yesterday we talked about Paper Lantern Lit, Lexa Hillyer, Lauren Oliver, who are part of this  years NJSCBWI conference and what they were doing with authors, editors, and Stephen Barbara. Today, I thought I would share a great article they wrote to help authors improve their writing. Here it is below:

Chapters are kind of like socks—something we writers and editors use ALL the time, but hardly ever think about. We all know that most novels are anywhere from 40,000 words to 140,000 words long, and we all know they’re broken up into units called “chapters.” But how often do we stop to ask why? How do you know you’re getting the most from a chapter?

We see this challenge in two parts: WHAT goes in the chapter, and HOW it goes in.

Let’s start with the juicy WHAT, first.

Chapters must give good, purposeful content that moves the story forward, that’s what! Unlike socks (ew), a chapter is something you should be able to sink your teeth into and get some real nutrients from it. Let’s consult the magic 8-ball of chapter content questions:

1) What is the main character’s goal in this chapter? How does that goal evolve? (I.e., is the main character thwarted, or does her goal get more urgent?) If there’s no goal, what would make a good goal for the chapter? It should be based on the character’s overall goal in the book! If her goal in the story is to find missing treasure, then perhaps the goal in this chapter is to first dig up the map, or confront the pirate who buried it.

2) What happens in this chapter? Is there action, and does it naturally lead to more action? If not, what new actions might lead to consequences that increase the urgency or difficulty of the goal? (Here’s the thing about goals: we should be making it more and more difficult to get to while simultaneously more and more seemingly necessary.) For instance, perhaps the pirate who buried the treasure has mysteriously vanished, and now your main character must solve the mystery of his disappearance! Or maybe the character’s mother plans to sell her home, and now she needs that treasure more than ever.

3) What new information is learned? (And why now?) If not much is learned, what “clue” might be inserted into this chapter to help set us up for the actions and reveals of future chapters?

4) Does the chapter seem urgent? Does it have tension? If not, what would make everything more pressing, more dire? What might be causing the tension to deflate? Watch out for moments where things are getting easier for the characters, where they seem to be fed the answers. Instead, there can be clues leading them forward, but there should also be obstacles keeping us interested! Remember that you are supposed to be making things more complex and challenging—that’s good narrative!

5) Unity of action. Is the action contained to one location? Does it focus on a single event? Is there a logic to where and why it comes to an end? If you close your eyes, can you easily picture this chapter? Can you describe the action in a sentence? (Think: It was Mrs. White, with the wrench, in the drawing room).

6) Is there causality from one chapter to the next? Remember that the goal in chapter A should lead directly to the goal in chapter B, either linearly (“I had to talk to character M and he told me to go talk to character N”) or because some obstacle encountered in Chapter A redefines the goal in Chapter B (“I got shot at while talking to character M and now I need to go to the hospital, which has replaced talking to character N as my immediate goal.”)

7) Where have we come from? Have the actions, revelations, and emotions of the chapter been properly “seeded” in previous chapters? If not, what would be a few specific places earlier in the book where we might get enough information or “clues” to prepare us for what happens now?

8) Where are we going? What are the elements of this chapter that you’d like to see “pay off” later in the book? In novels, unlike in life, everything must serve a purpose. Even small developments should have some impact on the plot—a.k.a. that development should cause something important to happen later, throw a wrench into the narrative making the goal harder to get to, or aid in a significant reveal later on. Otherwise, it’s simply filler!

Now on to the HOW!

That is, how are we building this baby? What’s the appropriate structure of a chapter? Get ready… we’re about to tell you how to win a game of writing Jenga.

1) Importance of Innies. Is the chapter “in” strong? Does the opening “hook” you from the beginning with a surprising or vivid first sentence/paragraph? Are you peeking around the doorframe or leaping right into the middle of the room? Variety is the key. Experiment with the three A’s of openers: Action, Atmosphere, or Attribution (i.e. dialogue that is quickly attributed to a character). Either start in the middle of a scene with a sound (Splat! The burger hit him in the face), or with vivid description and mood (A dark, feathery form swooped across the fading skyline like a streak of black ink across the gray) or in the midst of a conversation (“How dare you call me selfish! I’m only trying to help you,” Cindy said, raising an eyebrow at me.)

Read the Rest

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

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ComiXology’s Chip Mosher of Marketing and PR moderated a panel with Jeremy Atkins of Dark Horse, Dirk Wood of IDW, Mel Caylo of Archaia, and addition Hunter Gorinson of Valiant Comics with the goal of sharing tips and pro experience with indie creators and future marketers on Friday, March 29^th at WonderCon. The result was quite an entertaining panel featuring their professional blunders and secret discoveries about he ins and outs of comics promotion.

Mosher started out by asking for the embarrassing stories each had accrued in their work experience, “professional blunders” that contained teachable moments. Atkins admitted to the cringeworthy common mishap of hitting “reply all” on an email and copying a person specifically to be excluded from a conversation, with plenty of sympathetic groans from the audience. Mosher’s own tale of woe was equally relatable, reading an e-mail from Emerald City Con and then forgetting to reply afterward, thereby losing booth space for BOOM that year. Wood was more circumspect about his failures, noting that “25% of marketing is what I would call blunders” that can lead either to success or to a “thud”, and that he finds it impossible to tell which will happen in some circumstances. Persistence, he advised, is the key to forge ahead despite an unpredictable market.

Caylo dredged up his own worst moments with a story of “drunk tweeting” from the wrong account, declaring his love for someone, a tweet that remained up on a company account overnight whereas Gorinson stuck to the ever-present bugaboo of typos in press releases regardless of how many times the releases are checked before sending them out. Wood’s observation that some blunders can have positive results prompted the panel to consider whether they had similar lucky moments. Wood, particularly, “stumbled into successes” by having random, unlikely ideas for promotion like sending Godzilla costumed promo agents to “smash” stores, something that met with great success. The panel quickly turned interactive, fielding questions from the floor, and the first question, probably also the first on everyone’s mind, was how to run PR and marketing strategies on a shoe-string budget.

Mosher wittily commented, “This guy thinks that we have budgets” to his fellow panellists before Caylo took up the question with what became perhaps the strongest message of the panel event: “It’s all about relationships”. He suggested that those seeking press for comics go to shows, have e-mail conversations that are “not always pitching”, so that it’s easier when you do want to ask a favor to bring it up. He also added that “offer giveaways” on sites that increase “cross-promotion” are a very smart move. Atkins, who was particularly earnest and animated throughout the panel suggested that Twitter is a major player in promotion for building and continuing to cultivate professional relationships, including the retail industry in your list of contacts. Wood spoke to the indie creator’s situation trying to get books distributed. “Nothing speaks louder than a consignment situation”, he said, and pointed out that Top Shelf started through delivering consignment issues to comic shops, “giving books” to shops and allowing them to sell them rather than seeking solicitation. This involves “relentless beating of the pavement” since there is “no replacing grassroots”.

Atkins used this idea to springboard into a gambling metaphor: “In gambling and in life, you only win when you can afford to lose”. You shouldn’t expect return immediately, he warned, but trying different approaches and continuing to do so as long as possible is key. Mosher had strong feelings on the subject, reflecting on the example of a student protester who brough the New York Stock Exchange to a standstill by busking for dollar bills all day, then throwing a hundred bills onto the exchange floor. It was the perfect example, for Mosher, of “getting attention at low cost” and using the least resources to garner the “biggest impact”.

Gorinson focused on knowing your material and audience to get attention. Knowing the pitch well, and the many angles from which it might be interpreted, breaking out of narrow genre definitions, for instance, may win the day. He recommended top comics news sites as vehicles for spreading the word, as well as working “with anyone and everyone”, including small blog sites. Mosher’s experience at BOOM confirmed this premise. Starting out publishing only 4 to 7 books a month, he scoured blogs, put people in press lists, and sent them PDF review copies in an era before most comics companies were using PDFs in this way, and thereby grew a press list of 400 contacts.

Wood added that looking at comparable publishers and types of titles to the comic you are trying to circulate is a good starting point, looking to see how and where they are doing their marketing and focus your attack in that way. A common pitfall the panellists all agreed on is when creators send a pitch to a company for a comic series that’s a 12 issue proposal or longer. Companies aren’t willing to take the risk, they advised, and a 3-4 issue format is much more appealing at the outset of a project.

A follow up question from the audience regarded strategies to capitalize on the rash of superhero movies and growing movie fans who might never have read a comic. Several panellists felt that there’s no one single approach to bring film fans into comics, but a more surefire method is to “start them young”, reaching young readers with comics visual literacy. Mosher agreed, stating that there are more kids comics today than in the past decade, and comics continue to have unique qualities of storytelling that continue to appeal as a child grows up reading them. Gorinson added that Free Comic Book Day is an excellent opportunity to “get into as many shops as possible” and reach new, young readers. Mosher and Caylo both returned to the subject of cross promotion between films, tv, and comics, like the inclusion of ashcan comics in dvd box sets to show fans what comics alternatives are available for their favorite products.

A direct marketing question from the floor focused on the similarities or differences between selling comics and other products, like household items. Atkins felt there was very little difference at all, except that it’s more possible in comics to “know who that person is” you are targeting since “They are me, or some version of me”, as a comics fan. He continued with some other salient advice, such as “You have to believe in what you’re selling” and believe that you are “one of the best advocates for it”. Gorinson felt that marketing comics is different from marketing other consumer products because he often feels an “obligation” to live up to the quality of the work he’s promoting in his own efforts.

Gorinson and Atkins also suggested doing some research into major news sites to find out who on staff might be a comics fan, “finding” that contact, or locating dedicated geek blogging attached to news sites. Atkins and Mosher commented that using social media makes reaching out to news writers more and more direct. Mosher admitted that not everyone may have the desire or “skill set” to promote their comics properly despite attempts, and in that case, he advised, you should find a friend who thrives on that kind of work and collaborate on promotion.

The final big topic addressed by the panel, and one which inspired some lively reactions from the speakers, was the use of transmedia and multiple media formats to draw attention to comics. Caylo said that it’s all about “synergy” between comics, films, and related video games, based on his work at Archaia. Atkins clarified, however, that adding transmedia content to promote comics, such as an app or video game should still be “meaningful to the overall story.

I posed a last question to the panel before it came to a close, wondering what the biggest pros and cons are to using social media as a promotional tool. Gorinson replied that you have to be “clever” in different ways to use social media properly for this purpose, while Mosher commented simply, but with some emotion, “Trolls!” as his biggest con. Caylo was the most personally engaged by the question and gave the following run down: social media’s benefits are “accessibility” and the quickness and “ease” of getting the word out about your product, especially when doing it for free. The “dangers”, however, are that “You are open to trolls and people who want to bait you”. “Ignore them”, he recommended, since once they “engage” you, they’ve “got you”. Block them if necessary, and learn to take “the bad with the good” when it comes to social media.

The panel was surprisingly lively, with all the panellists more than willing to share from their personal struggles to find the golden balance when it comes to marketing with limited budgets, and each expressed an obvious commitment to the survival and growth of worthy comics through good strategies and trying innovative methods to see what works for each book and each particular situation. Building personal relationships, watching out for the wrong kind of blunders, and learning from them when they occur, were paramount for these indie publishing marketers.

Photo Credits: All photos in this article were taken by semi-professional photographer and pop culture scholar Michele Brittany. She’s an avid photographer of pop culture events. You can learn more about her photography and pop culture scholarship here.

Hannah Means-Shannon writes and blogs about comics for TRIP CITY and Sequart.org and is currently working on books about Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore for Sequart. She is @hannahmenzies on Twitter and hannahmenziesblog on WordPress.

Ask anyone who’s been in a writers critique group, and you will hear that there is no better way to hone your craft.  Ideally, a critique group gets you where you want to go as a children’s writer.  But what if you can’t find a group to go to?

Start one of your own.  I know, it’s a little scary.  But it’s worth it.  (Trust me:  I’ve been in critique groups since 1995. All that critiquing helped me reach some major publishing milestones!)  So here goes, a few pointers from my own experience:

GET THE WORD OUT.

The best way to let like-minded writers know that you’re starting a group is to contact the SCBWI critique group coordinator listed on your regional chapter’s website and/or newsletter. This chapter volunteer collects names of ‘critique seekers’, and sorts them according to geographic location.  If there is not a group in your area open to new members, he or she shares your contact information with interested writers who live and work in the same area so you can network on your own.  Another route is to contact local community education programs and universities offering ‘writing for children’ courses, and ask the instructors to make an announcement to students about your intention to start a critique group.

GATHER ESSENTIAL FACTS ABOUT POTENTIAL MEMBERS.

Start a file with everyone’s email, phone number, address, websites. Ask basic questions: what genres and for which readerships do you write? When can you meet—mornings, afternoons, or evenings—and which days of the week?  How often do you want to have meetings:  once a month, twice a month or weekly?  Where are you located and how far are you willing to travel for the meetings?  Do you want to read/critique manuscripts at the meetings or outside of the meetings?  Do you want to share marketing information at the meetings or focus only on the craft inside of the critique group?  Answers to these questions will assist you in structuring the group for maximum mutual benefit, and get things off to a strong start.

FIND YOUR MEETING SPACE. 

This is a matter of choice and luck.  The first place to look for free meeting space is your local library.  Most have a community room for small groups, and if there is room, you may be able to schedule the space up to a year at a time.  Other options include bookstores, coffee houses, and members’ homes.  As long as the venue is comfortable, relatively quiet and convenient to all members, your location will work well.

SET YOUR FIRST MEETING.

Set the date, gather members and get going.  The agenda for a first meeting should be to discuss and set ground rules, and to simply get to know one another a bit.  Sample work might be read to the group so others can get an idea of your writing ‘personality’, but no real critiques should be done at this first gathering.  You might hand out tips on critiquing the work of others, and a checklist of literary elements to look for in a manuscript.  There’s a lot of information about the critique process on various websites, as well as entire books on the subject. Two excellent books are: HOW TO START AND RUN A WRITERS’ CRITIQUE GROUP by Carol J. Amato; and THE WRITING GROUP BOOK:  CREATING AND SUSTAINING A SUCCESSFUL WRITING GROUP by Lisa Rosenthal.

KEEP IT GOING.  Encourage each writer to take their work up a notch with upbeat yet honest comments. Listen with patience and respect.  Motivate one another.  Commiserate and celebrate together.  Keep up the good work.

Submitted by

Dianne Ochiltree, www.ochiltreebooks.com

Author of MOLLY, BY GOLLY! The Legend of Molly Williams, America’s First Female Firefighter, 2012 Bronze Medal winner, Children’s Literature, Florida Book Awards

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Chuck Sambuchino who writes the Guide to Literary Agents Blog from Writer’s Digest had another good post and is sponsoring a book give-a-way of Kathy Leonard Czepiel, author of A VIOLET SEASON
(Simon & Schuster), named one of the best books of 2012 by Kirkus Reviews.

She is the recipient of a 2012 creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and her short fiction has appeared in Cimarron Review, Indiana Review, CALYX, Confrontation, Brain Child, and elsewhere.

Czepiel teaches writing at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, where she lives with her husband and two daughters. Learn more about Czepiel
and her work at her website.

As an added bonus, Chuck posted five of Kathy’s tips on writing the first draft of your novel. So read and learn, then visit Chuck to leave a comment and maybe win a copy of Kathy Leonard Czepiel’s award winning YA Fantasy Novel.

1. Make an outline. Then be willing to leave it behind. Writing an outline forces me to think through some big questions before I begin. But I follow it the way I travel with my husband sans kids: “Hey, Honey, look at this weird little mountain on the map. Wanna check it out?” And pretty soon the story has taken a turn. Sometimes the side trip changes everything, and I revise my outline. Sometimes it’s a dead end. Then I have my outline to get me back on track.

(Learn how to start your novel.)

2. Think of your first draft as the clay, not the sculpture. Imagine that what you are doing is digging up clay, just a hunk of stuff from which you’ll create something later. Much of it will be messy and unrefined, but that’s not your problem now. Your job is simply to get from the beginning to the end. Keep digging! When it’s time to write a second draft, you will have your raw material.

3. Every time you think about how pedestrian and clumsy and downright awful your first draft is, remind yourself that no one else has to read it. I don’t show my first draft to anyone. I already know it needs a lot more work, and I even know what some of that work will be, so asking someone else to read it would be pointless (and embarrassing). If you don’t know what your first draft needs, then by all means, ask for help. But if you decide not to show it to anyone, it may be best not to tell anyone about it either. Otherwise, your well-meaning friends will keep asking you how it’s going, and you will have to distract them with beer or chocolate or witty conversation on another topic (my personal favorite).

4. Don’t let a lack of research slow you down. I write historical fiction, so I do a lot of research, but I only do a little bit to get started. When I began drafting my debut novel, A Violet Season, I needed to know that violets were grown in the Hudson Valley beginning in the early 1890s, and that wet nurses had become somewhat obsolete by the turn of the century, when infant formula was invented. As for the details—how to pick violets, how much wet nurses were paid—in my first draft, I made them up! If I’d been concerned about research too soon, all those trips to the library (and the violet farm, and the Lower East Side of New York City, and so on) might have prevented me from ever finishing that first draft. Instead, I use CAPS in my first drafts to indicate where details need to be filled in later.

(Read author interviews with debut novelists.)

5. Set a deadline. A Violet Season was written over four summers—each summer, another draft. This was a crazy schedule, I know, but in some ways it was perfect. There was a clear end to the summers (sadly), and to my drafts. If you don’t have a deadline, you run the risk of one draft spilling into the next, and you may never feel a sense of closure or accomplishment. This is really important in a business in which we often work alone and without recognition. When you finish your draft, celebrate! Then start the next one.

GIVEAWAY: Kathy is excited to give away a free copy of her novel to a random commenter. Comment within 2 weeks; winners must live in Canada/US to receive the book by mail. You can win a blog contest even if you’ve won before. (Please note that comments may take a little while to appear; this is normal).

Deadline for leaving a comment ends on March 20th, so don’t delay.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

I am an architect with an architecture degree from the University of California, Berkeley. I currently reside in Oakland, California. Most important, I love illustrating and storytelling and it all started when I was very little…

One of my most vivid and earliest memories as a young child was my drawing of an old man sitting on a stool. I couldn’t believe how lifelike he turned out! I showed my grandmother who immediately told my mom, “Did you know your daughter can draw?!” I fell in love with drawing ever since. Everyday after school I would watch cartoons and then try to create my own characters and stories. My school notebooks were often filled with more outlandish doodles than actual notes.

Here’s April:

Before I do any sketching at all, I will read a manuscript over and over many times.  Sometimes I even close my eyes and just brainstorm ideas.  This step is important to me because this is when all the initial images and emotions I get from a story start forming in my head.  I also start doing research and compiling photos at this point as I did for Summoning the Phoenix: Poems and Prose about Chinese Musical Instruments.

Then I start on rough thumbnail sketches.  Since I have a hard time drawing at a very small scale, my thumbnails are usually at half size.

Next I refine my thumbnail sketches.  I know that for this particular spread, I wanted the background to have a grandiose feeling of wind, waterfalls, and mountains that was reminiscent of a traditional Chinese painting.  This was the imagery that popped into my head when I did my initial brainstorming.

Sometimes I have a couple of options with different compositions.

Once the final thumbnail sketch is chosen, I will work on the final, full size sketch.

I scan the image into my computer and color in Photoshop.  Here is a final illustration of a girl playing the guzheng from Summoning the Phoenix: Poems and Prose about Chinese Musical Instruments (Shen’s Books, 2013).

How long have you been illustrating?

I have been drawing since as far back as I can remember.  I was definitely that kid in school that had her notebooks, binders, and backpack covered in doodles.  So technically I have been illustrating for almost my entire life.  But professionally, I started in January 2012.

I see you are an architect. When did you decide you wanted to illustrate a children’s book?

After being in the architectural profession for many years, I realized that I could never be totally passionate about building design.  I needed to do something that gave me the freedom to be more creative and whimsical.  So in 2009 I enrolled in a children’s book illustrating course at UC Berkeley Extension and I instantly fell in love with the combination of storytelling and art.  I knew this was the direction I wanted to go in.

Did you go to school for art? If so, where and what did you study?

No, I studied architecture at UC Berkeley.

What was the first thing you did where someone paid you for your artwork?

I recently had an art exhibit at a local ice cream parlor for the Oakland Art Walk.  I sold a few pieces from that show.

Have you done any work for children’s magazines?  

No, but I would love to!

I see that you are represented by Kendra Marcus at BookStop Literary Agency.  How did that come about?

Kendra was one of the speakers at the South San Francisco SCBWI Illustrator Day last September.  Her straightforward attitude and experience in the children’s book industry really stood out to me.  Another huge plus is that her office is located in the Bay Area.  Although I didn’t formally meet her at the event, I invited her to check out my art exhibit a few weeks afterwards.  It turns out she remembers my work from the Illustrator Day (which is always a good sign) and a week later we met up for coffee.

It looks like you have a signed a contract with Creston Books. Will this be your debut book?

No, the contract with Creston Books has a longer schedule (release date Fall 2014) so my debut book will actually be with Shen’s Books (2013).

Can you tell us a little bit about the book and how that contract came about?

Creston Books is a young, local publishing house started up by author and illustrator Marissa Moss.  In fact, the debut list of books is coming this Fall.  I met Marissa at her children’s book party this last summer.  At the time she was looking for an illustrator for a manuscript she had acquired.  She sent me the story to see if I would be interested.  The fictional story is comprised of beautiful, minimal text and strong imagery about a family living in a fishing village.  Once I read it, I accepted the offer.  The book is appropriately titled Village by the Sea.

It looks like you also are illustrating a non-fiction book with Shen’s Books.  How did that contract happen?

The author Emily Jiang picked up my postcard from the SCBWI LA Conference last year and thought that I would be a good fit to illustrate her book, Summoning the Phoenix: Poems and Prose about Chinese Musical Instruments.  Luckily, the publisher agreed.

Do you have any desire to write and illustrate your own book?

Yes, I would love to write and illustrate my own book.

Have you put together a portfolio geared for the children’s book industry?

Yes, I prepared a portfolio for the SCBWI LA Conference last year.  It’s a work in progress because I am constantly switching out and adding new pieces to it.

Have you made any book dummies to show off?

Yes, I have a couple of book dummies for stories that I have written and illustrated.  One story is about a magical fish ball called Little Me and the other is about an adventurous beagle called Frank the Monster.

Not counting your paint and brushes, what is the one thing in your studio that you could not live without?

My computer, but my coffeemaker would come in at a close second!

Do you try and spend a certain amount of hours every day working on your art?

It seems like for the last year, I haven’t gone one day without working on some kind of art project for at least a couple of hours.  Lately I have been working like crazy to meet the deadline for my first book.  I actually have to remind myself to get up and stretch every so often.  It’s hard to step away when I am really immersed in my work.

What is your favorite medium to use?

At the moment, it’s pencil and digital.

Do you take pictures or do any research before you start a project?

Researching is very important to me before I begin a project especially for the nonfiction book about Chinese musical instruments I am working on with Shen’s Books.  In this case, researching on the Internet was not adequate since I needed to have a good detailed look at each instrument.  Fortunately, there is a local Chinese youth symphony that allowed me to take photos during their practice.  I was able to get a firsthand look at how the musical instruments were played, what they sounded like, and what they looked like in real life.  All those elements eventually shaped the final artwork.

Do you think the Internet has opened doors for you?

Yes, the Internet is definitely a great marketing tool and is a convenient way for people to view my portfolio.  I was really opposed to social media sites at first but then I came to terms with the fact that it’s a necessary evil because it’s one of the main ways that people interact and stay connected nowadays.  So now I have learned to embrace it and to have fun with it.

Do you use Photoshop with your illustrations?

Yes, I scan my pencil drawings and then color them in Photoshop.

Do you own or have you ever tried a graphic Drawing Tablet? 

I own a Wacom Bamboo tablet.  It’s pretty basic but does the trick so far.

Do you think your style has changed over the years? Have your material changed?

I am constantly learning new things and refining my craft.  So I have definitely evolved as an illustrator but there are certain elements of my style that has carried through.  Initially I was set on being a traditional artist.  My medium of choice was either watercolor or colored pencil.  Then I ventured out and tried using Photoshop to tweak and then color the illustrations.  To me, it’s just another artist’s tool and I have never looked back since.  Now I am more comfortable with experimenting with other materials or I may even go back to using watercolor in the future.

How do you market yourself?

Besides using the Internet (updating Facebook, Twitter, my blog), I attend SCBWI events, hand out postcards, participate in art shows, and enter in art contests.  Bottom line is I try to get myself out there as much as possible because I never know who is going to see my artwork.

Do you have any career dreams that you want to fulfill?

I often daydream that I would follow in the footsteps of illustrators that I admire: Chris Van Allsburg, Brian Selznick, Shaun Tan…just to name a few.  Not only do they all have long lasting careers, but their work has also branched out into the world of film and animation.  If you’re going to dream, why not dream big!

What are you working on now?

I am working on my two book illustration projects, submitting a proposal for another art show, and developing some of my own stories and illustrations.

Do you have any material tips you can share with us? Example: Paint or paper that you love – the best place to buy – a new product that you’ve tired – A how to tip, etc.

I could not function without my iMac, Photoshop, Epson large format scanner, and Cuisinart Grind and Brew Coffeemaker.

Any words of wisdom on how to become a successful illustrator?

I strongly believe that if you work hard and stay focused, you can achieve anything.  Success will follow naturally.  Stay inspired and don’t be discouraged because the path to success is different for everyone.  Last but not least, remember to have fun!

Thank you April for sharing you journey and process with us.  Please let us know when you picture books come out. We’d love to see them and cheer you on. You can visit April at: www.aprilchu.com

If you have a moment I am sure April would like to read your comments.  I enjoy reading them, too, even if I don’t have time to reply to all of them. Thanks!

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Every book sold on the market needs an ISBN Number and a bar code, so if you are planning to self-publish a book, you will need both of these things, too.  Retailers use these numbers to track and catalog your books, and to report your sales.  

I am not saying you should run out and purchase these right now, because it will depend on the choices you decide to make. You may decide to accept a package from a company that includes these numbers. You could run into an editor who wants to buy your book and that would change everything.

That being said you should realize what they do for you and your options.

ISBNs are sold like any other commodity by Bowker www.bowker.org and a few authorized re-sellers. And to accommodate the needs of these self-publishers, they made individual numbers available for the first time.

In addition, Bowker is actually registering your publishing company when they issue you your numbers, not your individual books. This is a key step for many self-publishers and that’s a pretty good reason to get an ISBN as well.

Bowker sells most of the ISBN numbers and discounts according to the amount purchased. The cost of buying just one is $125, so it is better to buy a block of numbers, because you will need more than one anyway. Most publishers these days are going to publish at least five (5) versions of a book (Hardback, Softback, EPUB, MOBI, and PDF), each of which requires an ISBN.

Smashwords will tell you that retailers such as Apple and Sony will not accept your Smashwords book unless you have a unique e-ISBN and everything on Smashwords is an e-book, but there isn’t a special e-ISBN, just plain old ISBNs.

Owning a block of 10 ISBNs is usually enough for two different books. Those who purchase blocks of 10 ISBNs are usually self-publishers who have researched their needs before making a purchase and realize this is the most cost effective purchase for their needs. The price of 10 ISBNs is $250.

The Bookland EAN Barcode is an essential component of booksellers handling of the book. You must provide a retail price for your barcode. Cost $25

The largest book retailers, as well as many book wholesalers, require books to display the Bookland EAN barcode graphic symbol which carries the ISBN. At the point of sale in a bookstore, the ISBN is scanned and all related information about the title is accessed in their sales system — identifying the price correctly and subtracting a copy from their inventory etc.

In the US, the first digit of the add-on data indicates which currency the price is expressed in — so for US dollars, the designated digit is a 5. So an add-on of 51995 indicates a price of US$ 19.95. The largest US retailers such as Barnes and Noble now require the use of EAN-5 barcode on books they handle. Scanners in American bookstores cannot read the Bookland EAN code without the corresponding 5-digit add-on. Publishers who don’t comply with this requirement may be penalized.

Please remember what I said last week, writer’s who want to self-publish need to do there homework and try to hold back their enthusium in order to make the right choices, so please check back for my weekly post or start researching on your own if you can’t wait. Just make sure you do your homework before you jump in with both feet. Click here to read 1st Self-Publishing post

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

If you have decided to self- publish, there are lots of things you need to know and consider. Don’t think you get to wiggle out of doing your homework and making a plan on the steps you need to take and things you need to consider.

The biggest mistake writer’s make, is thinking their story is ready after they have finished writing their book. Whether you go the traditional route or want to self-publish, it is always a mistake to run out and seek someone to publish your book after the first draft. You should pat yourself on the back, because you have accomplished something that eludes many writers and you have a right to be excited and proud, but 99% of the time it is not ready for publication. You have just taken step one of the publication process.

So many self-published books could have made money for the author, if only they could take control of that excitement of finishing that first draft.  Even if it is your fourth draft and is the best book ever written, don’t mess it up by accepting a bad contract. There are companies who try to act like real publishers, who will take anybody and any book and offer a contract. The author is elated and jumps at the offer. Don’t do That!

I am convinced these companies do not give any thought as to the quality of the content. Sometimes I wonder if they even take the time to read the books submitted. They offer production, distribution, press release, and design and artwork, but it is all so inferior that even if the first draft of the book was well written and unique, it ends up being so ugly and made from such poor quality paper that no one, other than friends and family would purchase the book. Then they throw on an extremely high price, like $25 for a picture book, which further dooms the sale of the book.

These pretend publishers realize everyone has friends and family and will get those sales and occasionally they might get someone who really promotes their book and sells more than 50 copies.  For all their work these motivated authors end up making maybe a total of $150. When if they had taken their time, did their homework, and made the right choices, they could have put out a good book that people actually read and would have made money for them.

There are so many things to consider and now so many forms of publishing your book. At the beginning of the year, I promised to start including self-publishing in my post. Next week, I will start pointing out steps you need to take, places to consider, and what they bring to the table, new formats and how to make that happen, and how to get your book seen and distributed.

Hope you’ll stop back.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

By Karen Cioffi

Can you think your way to writing success?

Yes! Let’s take a look at a perfect example: Chicken Soup for the Soul. It took the authors 144 attempts to land a publisher.

One hundred and forty-four submissions. What if they gave up after 25, 50, or 100 rejections?

Co-authors Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen had a positive mindset and clear vision. They had focus and determination. They knew exactly what they wanted – for Chicken Soup for the Soul to be a New York Times best seller. In fact, according to Canfield, the number one reason for being stuck and not realizing your potential or goals is the lack of clarity.

Canfield and Hansen fulfilled their dream with positive thinking, clarity, and perseverance.

Whether you call it positive thinking, a positive attitude, or a winning mindset, it’s the strategy of having a dream, creating a plan, projecting the positive results of that plan, and taking the necessary actions to accomplish your writing goal.

Part of positive thinking is the importance of determining your true motivation. In other words, what is your purpose? Why do you want to succeed? And, what do you want to succeed at?

All this matters.

You need to know and be focused on what you want, what success means to you, and exactly what you want to succeed at. You also need to know your motivation, your purpose. Do you want to:

• Write and market as a hobby or just pass the time?
• Earn a supplemental income to be able to buy the extras you can’t afford now?
• Make a full-time living at writing and marketing – be able to support yourself?
• Become rich?
• Become successful in the writing and marketing world?
• Become a famous author?

Will becoming a New York Times bestselling author be your pinnacle? Or, is your heart set on becoming a multi-millionaire, or a billionaire? Maybe you simply want to be a career author, getting contracts for your work on a regular basis. What about a freelance writer who works regularly? Only you know what success means to you.

This strategy of a positive mindset and positive projection is nothing new. In 1953, Norman Vincent Peale made the psychological term ‘think positive’ popular via his book, The Power of Positive Thinking. And in 1958, Napoleon Hill, using Andrew Carnegie as inspiration, wrote Think and Grow Rich.

Now it’s referred to as the scientific realm of positive psychology, and more and more people are being made aware of the positive mindset strategy — especially through sources such as The Secret. Adding to this, super successful people like Oprah, Deepak Chopra, Louise L. Hay, Dr. Wayne Dyer, and Tony Robbins enthusiastically proclaim the benefits.

Harnessing this ‘mind power’ can lead to writing success, better health, wealth, and even happiness. This is the premise behind the strategy and many believe it really works.

So, what does it take to create and nurture positive thinking?

Hill wrote, “All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination. Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth.”

Seven Steps to Writing and Online Marketing Success

1. 1. Answer the questions raised earlier. What do you want to succeed at and why? Take time and think carefully about these questions. Determine exactly what success is to you. Imagine it and see it clearly.
2. 2. Put your vision into words and other visuals. Write it out in detail and make it readily visible. Read it every day . . . envision it every day. Canfield and Hansen put projection notes all over the place, even in the bathroom. This is a visualization technique and you can also use images or objects to help with your projection.
3. 3. Create a realistic writing and marketing plan. Again, you will need to make it detailed. List the steps needed to go from point A to point B? TIP: Include learning the ropes as part of your plan. Even if you’re already a pro, there’s always more to learn. Learn the craft of writing and learn and test marketing strategies to find those that will work for you.
4. 4. Give yourself a timeline. Don’t leave your success plan open-ended. State when you will achieve the success you want. It may be six months, it may be a year — just be sure to be realistic. Make it doable. This will help keep you on track.
5. 5. Don’t just talk the talk. You must walk the walk. This means do the work. Take the action steps necessary to attain your objective. Go into it realistically, knowing it will take time and effort.
6. 6. Keep positive. No matter how positive you are, there will be times when negativity rears its head. Simply stop it in its tracks. One technique is to recognize negative thoughts when they come. Suppose you’re taking all the right steps, but you just can’t seem to make it all work. You begin to doubt your ability. Take note of those thoughts and actually replace them with the vision of attaining your goal. Talking to friend, peer, or coach is another strategy to help you get back the ‘right’ mindset. You can also repeat simple positive affirmations such as “I am a successful writer; I am a successful marketer; my efforts are successful.” Come up with ones you feel comfortable with and are appropriate for you.
7. 7. Keep focused and persevere. To help keep focused, prepare weekly writing and marketing plans and read them every morning, then actually act on them. It’s hard to lose focus if you keep your objective front and center. A coach or mentor can help in this area also. And in regard to perseverance, Norman Vincent Peale said, “It’s always too soon to quit.”

Nothing in life is guaranteed to go smoothly, so expect the unexpected. Know where you’re heading, envision where you want to be, and ride through any obstacles that may come your way.

What are your thoughts on the power of positive thinking to boost your freelance writing career?

Karen Cioffi is a multi-award-winning author, freelance/ghostwriter, editor, and online marketer. For more writing and marketing tips, go to her site and sign up for her free newsletter, The Writing World.

By Sarah Raff

Two hundred years after the initial publication of Pride and Prejudice, commodities marketed to Janeites overwhelmingly emphasize Jane Austen’s powers as an advisor. Shoppers can choose among volumes called Finding Mr. Darcy: Jane Austen’s Rules for Love or Dating Mr. Darcy: The Smart Girl’s Guide to Sensible Romance; The Jane Austen Guide to Life, Happily Ever After, Modern Life’s Dilemmas, Dating, Good Manners, and coming soon, Thrift; older miniatures such as Jane Austen’s Little Advice Book, Jane Austen’s Little Instruction Book, Jane Austen’s Universal Truths; books called The Jane Austen Companion to Love and to Life but also the 2013 Jane Austen Companion to Life mini wall calendar; and works of fiction masquerading as advice, with titles such as The Jane Austen Marriage Manual, Dear Jane: A Heroine’s Guide to Life and Love, What Would Jane Austen Do?, and even Jane Austen Ruined My Life: a novel. This visibility of her so-called guidance helps to reveal how attractively Austen perfected the didactic tradition of the eighteenth-century novel. Austen’s predecessor Samuel Richardson aspired to be a guide for his readers on matters of romance and conduct, but no one today looks for counsel in A Collection of such of the Moral and Instructive Sentiments, Cautions, Aphorisms, Reflections, and Observations contained in the History, as are presumed to be of general Use and Service or any of the other volumes of extracts he compiled from his novels. Meanwhile, a drawback of Austen’s marketability as an advisor is that it risks branding Austen’s admirers as sexually and socially desperate. So at least my students tell me. Far from the companion who guarantees one’s literary distinction, Austen the mentor can be a style-cramper for young women in just the way that Mrs. Bennet is for Elizabeth Bennet: association with her suggests that one lacks a romantic partner and is willing to make an unseemly effort to get one.

What I find remarkable in this latest twist to Austen’s reception is how precisely yet incompletely it follows cues set up in the opening sentence of Austen’s best-loved novel. There, Austen takes Richardson’s notion that reading can turn things around for your romantic life and gives it a utopian dimension, offering up a narrator who can help readers not just with counsel but with limitless powers for active intervention in the world. When Pride and Prejudice’s narrator adopts what initially seems to be the tone of an advising aunt to give the reader’s implicit antecedent question, “will my beloved ever propose to me?” the coy but distinctly encouraging answer, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife,” she offers to write us the love story we want through the sheer force of her magical thinking and ours: her control over the fictional world will extend into our world and dictate the behavior of that particular man whose name we have mentally substituted for the general term, “single man.” By an entirely different logic, the words “universally acknowledged” hint that the narrator is prepared to extort a proposal for the reader from the man in question by using group pressure against him. In a society ruled by the gentleman’s code requiring that if it is generally supposed that a man will marry a particular, willing woman, he is honor-bound to propose to her, power to make matches goes to anyone who can persuasively articulate universal opinion, as the narrator here proves that she can do. The reader’s romantic hopes get an additional boost from the sanguine expectations of others—how could the narrator and a whole universe of acknowledgers be mistaken?—and from the sense that, since she herself acknowledges her beloved’s want of a wife, she belongs to a prestigious group, one whose alliance with herself can only further her chances with her beloved.

Of course, the trap laid for that straight, nubile woman and every reader willing to identify with her soon appears. The next sentences of the novel oblige the reader to recognize that the universe whose apparent prestige was the basis for her romantic optimism has boundaries: standing outside it are the single man himself, whose “feelings or views” may, the narrator warns, be “little known”; the intelligent Mr. Bennet, who sarcastically asks whether marrying a Bennet daughter was Mr. Bingley’s “design in coming here”; and indeed the narrator, who abruptly revokes her opening promises, prepares to draw a mustache on her once-flattering portrait of the reader, and transforms her own persona. Suddenly, the advisory figure to whom the reader confessed the name of her beloved no longer looks like that comfortable confidante, benign and wise, who was ready to grant the reader’s desire and testify to the dignity of that desire, but rather like Mrs. Bennet: liable to misjudge the desires of eligible men, unable to tell the difference between a vulgar local community and the world, abjectly desperate to find her protégée a husband, likely to sink rather than raise the reader’s social status and marriageability. Having unwarily accepted the matchmaking services of this Mrs. Bennet-like figure, the reader now seems to stand condemned before the new, Mr. Bennet-like narrator coming into view, who articulated that opening sentence not to endorse its assurances but to ridicule them.

By taking Austen as fairy godmother or pathetic yenta, the Janeite and anti-Janeite camps ignore this last transformation in the narrator. Perhaps their doing so represents an insight: after all, the narrator soon eases the pressure of her threatened scorn by offering up for our identification the magnificent Elizabeth Bennet, who demolishes the law that desire for a husband makes a woman contemptible. That Pride and Prejudice, with its wealth of generalizations about love, inspires so many readers with the hopeful, even euphoric eagerness for rules that it sends up in Mary Bennet, Mr. Collins, and the reader of its opening sentences suggests that Austen retained a fundamental allegiance to advice-book tradition she knew so well how to mock.

Sarah Raff is Associate Professor of English at Pomona College. She served as the foreign fiction correspondent for Publishers Weekly from 1997 to 1998. Her upcoming book about Jane Austin’s erotic evolution will be published by Oxford in September 2013.

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Image credits: (1) The submissive reader by Rene Magritte, 1928 via wikipaintings.org. (2) Altered version of Dear Abby star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Original photo by Ben McCune, 2006. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

The post Happy Birthday, Pride and Prejudice! Would you find me a date? appeared first on OUPblog.

So for those of you who write picture books, I thought you may be interested in reading this article written by Simone Kaplan.  She has more than two decades of insider experience at major publishing institutions such as Henry Holt and Company and HarperCollins Publishers, during which she’s personally accepted, edited, and rejected hundreds of children’s picture books. She knows how the words you write must spark the interest of an editor or agent.  Don’t miss signing up for her free monthly newsletter filled with good information about writing picture books.

Beginning with Beginnings

by Simone Kaplan

The thing about the beginnings of manuscripts is that they are important. In terms of the overall narrative, they’re not more important than any other parts of your manuscript—say middles or endings. But because editors, agents, and children read them first, they have to show, right from the start, that what follows is worth reading.

Publishing professionals receive and read hundreds of manuscripts a month. They don’t have time to read every manuscript through to the end. They start at the beginning, so the beginning has to grab their attention, pique their interest, and indicate either that the author can write or has a good idea in order to read further. If you write a good beginning, editors and agents will read on to find out if you can develop a compelling plot, create credible characters, and sustain reader interest. If you don’t write a good beginning, the manuscript is likely to be rejected before the reader gets to the end of the first page. Just as important is the response of the ultimate “reader” of the picture book: the child who is hearing the words and who either is, or isn’t, engaged by the end of the first few spreads. Thousands of picture books line the shelves of libraries and bookstores; yours needs to engage the reader from the beginning.

So the big question is: How do you write a beginning that makes the reader—either the professional reading a manuscript or a child—want to read further?

The solution is simple to articulate but difficult to achieve. There are no rules when it comes to writing, but there are some helpful ideas. And one idea that helps answer the question posed above is that of dramatic structure. Having a structure helps anchor your narrative and gives you a way to think of plot. Plot has been analyzed and described by many critics across many genres and eras. For our purposes, though, a plot is simply a way of organizing a series of related incidents, events, and situations leading to a satisfying resolution. It’s helpful to divide the plot into three sections: the beginning, the middle, and the end. This arrangement starts with the first section: the setup, or beginning.

A good beginning does three main things:

1. It introduces your main character or characters—the who of your story.
2. It introduces the circumstances and situation, showing your reader the world in which your story takes place, and gives the reader a sense of what the story is about—the where of your story.
3. It introduces the desire/need/conflict that is going to drive the character and the story—the what of your story.

That’s why beginnings are sometimes called “setups”: they establish what the story is about, engage your reader’s interest, and make him or her want to continue to read.

A good rule of thumb is that the beginning should take up about one-quarter of the book. If you think of a standard thirty-two-page picture book and do the rough math—which allocates a single page at the beginning to the half title, a spread to the title and copyright/dedication, and a single last page of the book—you have twenty-eight pages, or fourteen spreads, to tell your story. That means the beginning should be about three to four spreads. If you’re thinking in terms of a 1,000-word-count guide, that means 250 words. When you consider that the trend these days is toward even shorter books (600 words or less), you don’t have a lot of time to set up your story and engage your reader.

It’s not easy to do, but it is possible. Since you don’t have a word to spare or a sentence to waste, you need to be economical. The most economical way of starting your book is to find a way to introduce all three elements at once. The best openings establish the situation in which the protagonist finds him- or herself combined with the dramatized action, the conflict, or the expression of a desire.

A skilled writer can establish mood and tone and write an opening that contains the premise and the situation of the whole book. You can—and should—aim to do the same. At the very least, you should set up the who, the where, and the what of your story. It’s been done in almost every good picture book you can read. And you can do it too. Examine some of your favorite picture books to see how they are set up; you can learn a lot by analyzing some good beginnings and seeing how the masters handle the challenges. Then try to apply the principles that worked for them to your own work and create beginnings full of promise and excitement.

© 2012 Picture Book People, Inc.

Simone Kaplan is a picture book lover, editor, consultant, and writing coach, and is dedicated to making you a better picture book writer. She provides creativity-enhancing, skill-building, heart-expanding support for the creators of picture books so they can write the best possible books they’re able to write.

You can find out more about her work at http://www.picturebookpeople.com, or reach her at simone@picturebookpeople.com ro read more about working with her at http://www.picturebookpeople.com/services.html

Don’t miss signing up for Simone’s free picture book newsletter.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

By Francesca StaAna

Everyone hits their comfort zone at one point or the other. Whether it’s a kid who won’t exert enough effort to get A’s instead of B’s, or a sales rep who’s contented with merely reaching his quota, those who are in their comfort zones operate at low-risk, neutral state.

Freelance writers usually find themselves in it when they’re earning a satisfactory amount of money and have collected a respectable number of works for their portfolio. And while there’s certainly nothing wrong with staying in your comfort zone for a short time (go ahead, bask in your achievements—you deserve it), lingering in it for too long can be dangerous.

Resting on your laurels for an extended period of time can lead to the atrophy of your talents and skills. This is why you should never allow yourself to become too complacent. Instead, strive to improve your craft and work to attain new heights every so often.

Snap Out of It

Getting out of the comfort zone can be especially difficult for freelancers mainly because there’s isn’t really anyone to push you out of it. No solid boss dangling a promotion, no professors urging you to get A’s, and no parents checking your report card.

That’s why it’s important to always keep an eye on your work and writing habits. If you find yourself in that “way too comfy” state in your freelance career, be sure to do something different in order to shake things up.

Consider the following ideas:

Fly Solo – A lot of freelance writers thrive on platforms such as Elance and oDesk—and for good reason. These websites offer convenient solutions for connecting freelancers with clients, and they can really take the pain out of project hunting. However if you’ve been at it for quite a bit, you may want to consider setting out on your own and finding work yourself.

Do the legwork. Go ahead and build a website and find ways to promote yourself. Look into other ways to find clients, such as cold-calling (or cold-emailing), SEO, or social media marketing. Doing so will not only improve your marketing skills, but it can also allow you to broaden your client base and find more challenging (and possibly more lucrative) projects. Not to mention, you’ll get to keep 100% of your earnings and you won’t have to go on low bidding wars with others.

Get out there—literally – Some writers (introverted ones, in particular) take comfort in the fact that their job doesn’t require a lot of face time. Thanks to the power of the web, acquiring clients and delivering the work can all be done remotely. And to top it all off, you don’t even have to leave the house and you don’t have to worry about making awkward small talk.

Yes, finding clients online can certainly be easier and the chances of you embarrassing yourself in front of prospects are relatively low. However, doing it and only it can limit your growth and potential.

Sure, the online route is effective, but you know what – so is having real world meetings. The former may be more convenient, but actually going out there and meeting people opens up potential for deeper relationships. Not to mention, you’ll get to hone your social and speaking skills in the process.

Instead of focusing all your efforts on online strategies, consider attending a real live event every once in a while. Check out your local Chamber of Commerce and see if there are any networking opportunities that you can grab. Any small biz gatherings in your neighborhood? Go for it. Or head to EventBrite.com and search for events in your industry.

Networking events can certainly help you connect with potential clients, but as a bonus, these things are also rich in opportunities for collaborations, partnerships, and even friends. So don’t just attend for the sake of reeling in clients; go out there with an open mind and have fun while you’re at it.

Deliberately go above and beyond – Starting today, make it a point to over deliver and go above and beyond in your projects. Is your client expecting the first draft in 3 days? Submit it tomorrow. Wake up earlier. Work a little harder this time. Deliberately exceed expectations and strive to deliver work that’s beyond your caliber. Will it be difficult? Yes. But doing these things will undoubtedly make you a better writer and service provider as well.

How about you – what do you do when you’re feeling too comfy in your career? Please share your tips in the Comments below!

Francesca is the founder of Credible Copywriting and specializes in writing blog posts, web content and press releases for startups, Internet companies, and mobile app developers. She’s currently developing Copywriting 2.0, an online course that teaches aspiring copywriters the ins and outs of the biz. Sign up here and get notified when course launches.

I've been a fan of Jo Knowles ever since reading Lessons From A Dead Girl and even more so after See You At Harry’s (Candlewick, 2012) plus I love her fun and positive tweets from @JoKnowles on Twitter. I've also heard great things about Jo's Pearl and Jumping Off Swings, so am looking forward to reading those next!

 Jo has a master’s degree in children’s literature and taught writing for children in the MFA program at Simmons College for several years. Some of her awards include a New York Times Notable Book of 2012, Amazon's Best Middle Grade Books of 2012, An International Reading Association Favorite 2012 Book, an SCBWI Crystal Kite Award, the PEN New England Children's Book Discovery Award, and YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults. Jo lives in Vermont with her husband and son. Her next book, Living With Jackie Chan, a companion to Jumping Off Swings, will be available September 2013.

Q: What's your writing process? What was your writing process for SEE YOU AT HARRY'S?

So far for all of my books, I've just started writing and discovered the book as I went. Not surprisingly, my first drafts are big messes. After I clean things up a bit and have a basic rough draft, I create a storyboard to help me get organized and figure out the themes, plot and rhythm of the book.

Storyboard from Jumping Off Swings.

The storyboard process I use I learned at a workshop with Carolyn Coman. Basically, you get a sheet of paper that's large enough to fit enough squares to represent each chapter of the book. Then you follow these steps:

1. Think of a scene with the strongest image that best represents that chapter. Draw it as best you can in the first box.

Part of a storyboard series from READ BETWEEN THE LINES, Jo's newest project.

2. Write a very brief phrase that describes the point of that chapter and write it in the bottom of the box.

3. Think of the strongest emotion conveyed in the chapter and write it at the top of the box.

Repeat for each chapter, one per box.

Part of a storyboard series from READ BETWEEN THE LINES, Jo's newest project.

This leaves you with a big visual that illustrates the movement of the book both actively and emotionally.

Part of a storyboard series from READ BETWEEN THE LINES, Jo's newest project.

Since my books tend to be less action driven and more emotionally driven, seeing the book this way is a big help. I can see the spikes of emotion and how they play out in the text, and where I need to insert more or less action, or emotional peeks.

Seeing the images also helps me to think about how stagnant certain chapters or groups of chapters might be, and helps me pinpoint where I need to move my character around more. (For example, in PEARL, Bean spent way too much time on the roof, which was her place to escape. I don't know that I would have realized this if I hadn't drawn a storyboard and had that visual.)

Q: What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Remember that getting published is not a race. I recently read a blog post by someone who had taken three years to sell her first book, referring to her journey as "The Long Road to Publication." Long road? Three years?? Oh my.

In reality, I think the average time it takes most people going the traditional publishing route is more like ten. I think people tend to measure success on how quickly they can sell their first book. This is a shame because speed has nothing to do with it. I think longevity AFTER you sell your book would be a better marker.

Childhood restaurant that inspired Harry's in SEE YOU AT HARRY'S.If you want to be an author, you need to take time to learn the craft and learn it well. Read a thousand picture books. Study the rhythms of your favorites. Type out the text and close- read it without the pictures. Pay attention to the types of details that are in the text versus the ones that are implied or easily and more effectively shown in the illustrations.

The next step is to learn how to revise. To learn how to listen to feedback and make the best use of it. I can't tell you how many aspiring writers I've met who have told me they didn't want feedback because they felt their work was as polished as it could get. But they hadn't shared it with anyone but family members!

One of the hard lessons I learned when I first started out was that I really didn't understand what revision meant. When an editor suggested a revision without a contract, I happily addressed the changes she proposed, but not to the degree I should have. I tweaked, I didn't revise. There is a very big difference.

Revising is rewriting. Not rearranging. Not fixing typos. Not deleting a sentence here and there. That’s what you do at the copyediting stage. Better to learn this with critique partners guiding you than with an editor who doesn’t have the time or patience to teach you him- or herself.

There is just so much to learn and so many early mistakes to be made when you're first starting out. It's worth it to take your time and get lots of feedback from other writers (and make those mistakes with them, not an agent or editor). Not only that, you will develop some wonderful relationships and create a community–a support network–which will be invaluable when you DO start submitting.

I am as impatient as the next person, but for new writers, I can't emphasize this enough: Please don't treat the time it takes you to get published as a race, or measure your journey against someone else's and use that as a marker for success and failure. Instead, think of your journey to publication as a travel experience to savor. The more you learn, the more people you connect with, the better prepared you will be for your final destination. And the more people you will have to celebrate your success with!

Q. What are you working on now? Any other upcoming events or other info you'd like to share?

I'm currently working on two projects. One is a contemporary YA novel called READ BETWEEN THE LINES. After writing JUMPING OFF SWINGS I swore I'd never write another book with multiple points of view, so naturally this book has ten. It's kind of a "day in the life" sort of story about how each character's actions affect the next. While I wait for my editor's comments on that, I've started a humorous middle grade/tween novel tentatively called FROM THE COMPLAINT BOX, about a boy who goes to a funky independent school and the adventures/mischief he gets into with his two best friends. When I told my agent I was writing something funny he said, "That's how you described SEE YOU AT HARRY'S and it made everyone weep!" So, he's suspicious. We'll see!

Where can find out more about Jo Knowles:

Jo Knowles website - Jo Knowles blog - Twitter (@JoKnowles) - Facebook

SEE YOU AT HARRY'S book page

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Also see other Inkygirl Interviews.

One of the assignments the writer’s attenting the Writer’s Retreat in March are facing is putting together a pitch for the novel they have written.

Goal is to pique interest in what you wrote and hear, “Tell me more!”

A pitch is a two or three sentence summary of your book. You want to: indicate the genre, the basic premise, and to generate interest to the point where the agent or editor wants to read your manuscript. A pitch should tantalizes the listener with a hook that sets your manuscript apart, so choose your words wisely.

To prepare you can:

1. Read movie descriptions.
2. Read the jacket of a few of your favorite novels – that’s the level of detail you want.

It should be a short and snappy, only be about 2-3 minutes long. Here are a few types of pitching techniques you can use:

1. The When a… technique brought to you by Craig Lewis

2. Hollywood-style: This is where you describe your novel as a mix of two other well-known books or movies. Hint: make sure the two you use were both profitable. For example: “It’s Twilight meets Harry Potter.” Then explain in the rest of your pitch.

3. The “Save the Cat” method: The idea is to come up with a sentence or two that describes your novel and includes the following:
• It should be at least somewhat ironic.
• It should paint a compelling mental picture.
• It should give an idea of genre and audience.
• It should have a killer title.

Blake Snyder, screenwriter and teacher, describes this method for coming up with loglines for film ideas in his popular screenwriting book Save the Cat, but it works for pitches, too.

Here are a couple from Blake’s book Save the Cat. They should be movies you know:

“A cop comes to L.A. to visit his estranged wife and her office building is taken over by terrorists.” – Die Hard
“A businessman falls in love with a hooker he hires to be his date for the weekend” – Pretty Woman

Start here, add some interesting details like who your hero is, what his goal is, why he needs it, what’s stopping him from getting it, then focus on the heart of the conflict and you’ll end up with a “knock their socks off” pitch. You cannot go wrong with this formula.

4. The 1,2,3 Log Line Approach:

First log line: a single sentence that includes:
The hero
The hero flaw
The life changing event that starts the story
The opponent
The ally
The battle or conflict

The second log line:
The character who changes & what changes

The third log line:
includes a sentence about the book’s theme. What the character learns? How he or she changes.

Now:

Since so many of us are using social media and are used to packing in lots of details in short sentence, you could hone into this mind thinking when start. Maybe going to Twitter and writing something or using your cell phone to text your pitch to see how it feels.

You can even get an app for your iphone to help you pitch. Here’s the link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pitch-your-book/id432755697?mt=8

Write and Revise: Try writing 10-15 short intros to your pitch. This is the hook. When done pick the best and polish it. If you nail this part you are almost guaranteed to be asked to submit.

Now it is time to describe your book in a bit more detail. Be natural, be excited, be funny (if that is you or part of the book) describe the key turning points of your story, but make it short.

Practice Make Perfect: Pitching can be nerve-wracking, but it gets easier if you do it often, so practice on your family, friends, and anyone else who will listen. The more you do the more relax you will be.

Formal Pitches: If you are doing a formal pitch to an agent or editor at a conference, then finish by asking if your novel sounds like something they’d be interested in and let the discussion evolve. If they request a portion of your book, then make sure you clarify what they are asking for – the first few chapters – the entire manuscript? Remember to ask for a business card and contact information.

Hope this helps! Even if you aren’t attending the Writer’s Retreat or a conference in the near future, you still should be prepared. Opportunities are all around. Don’t let one slip pass you by not being prepared.  I can’t get the memory of a writer I know meeting a publisher in line at a funeral and letting him know about her book, which ended up being the catalyst of her first published book. 

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy