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I am starting to set up a small Writer’s Retreat for this September in Avalon NJ, similar to what we did last year, which was a four day workshop with an editor and an agent. It included a one hour full manuscript critique with one of the mentors and a one hour 50 page critique with the other mentor, a first page session, a brainstorming session, group critiques, and pitch practice. The cost last year was $850 which included the cost of the house, the critiques, and most food.

Since the house is rented for the week, you have the choice to come early before the mentors get there to relax and work on your writing. I have not confirmed the mentors, yet. It would be nice to customize to fit the final group. I am looking to let two additional writers attend, so if you are interested in joining our group of advanced writers, please email me (Kathy.temean(at)gmail.com) for more details. Last year’s retreat was the best thing I have ever put together.It is a great opportunity.

Gregory Myers from Australia sent in this illustration called “Haru” that was commissioned by Tokyo Journal as part of a series on the seasons in Japan. Gregory is a freelance illustrator. Studied under Czech artist Petr Herel at Canberra School of Art, and Akira Kurosaki at Kyoto Seika University. He is based in Sydney, Australia. Hand-coloured scraperboard artworks like this one prove to be popular with his clients.

Ammi-Joan Paquette has been promoted to senior agent at the Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

Julie Just, who became an agent at Janklow & Nesbit in late 2010 after working at the NYT Book Review as children’s book editor, is moving to Pippin Properties on May 1. Pippin founder Holly McGhee says: “We were looking to expand our agency and had just signed a new office lease when we began talking to Julie. Since we are interested in representing our authors’ and artists’ work across all genres, including more YA and adult trade books as well, Julie Just is exactly the right fit.”

Greenhouse Literary Agency has hired Polly Nolan head up the UK side of their business representing children’s and YA authors. Currently associate publishing director, fiction, at Macmillan UK Children’s, she will start her new job on June 3.

At Simon & Schuster, Molly Lindley has been promoted to associate editor.

Alison Weiss has been promoted to associate editor at Egmont USA.

Amber Morley has joined Chronicle Books as marketing coordinator for their children’s division.

At HarperCollins, Dana Trombley has been promoted to senior manager, digital marketing, adding oversight for the marketing of all the digital-first titles published through the Impulse lines.

Angela James has been promoted to editorial director, Carina Press.

At Harlequin, Adrienne Macintosh has been promoted to editor, series, while Karen Reid moves up to associate editor, Harlequin Superromance and Charles Griesman has been promoted to editor, Harlequin Desire. In addition, Reka Rubin has been promoted to senior manager, subsidiary rights, while Amy Wilkins moves up to the manager, online engagement.

At Simon & Schuster Children’s, Nicole Russo has been promoted to deputy publicity director and Lydia Finn has been promoted to publicist. Russo has been with the company since 2005.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: Editor & Agent Info, Kudos, News, opportunity, Publishing Industry Tagged: Ammi-Joan Pacquette, full manuscript critiques, Gregory Myers, Ocean Writer's Retreat, small group of novel writers

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Superman is the ultimate law-abider. So it’s borderline traitorous for me to write a book about him that breaks some of the “rules.” Luckily, none go so far as to be criminal.

broken rule #1—Do not write nonfiction picture books on pop culture figures.

At first this may seem invalid because plenty of others have also broken this rule (and, for that matter, all of the other rules I’ll list). Yet this still comes up. It’s a commentary on commerce, not content. There can be editorial resistance to historic figures who are not part of traditional curriculum. Teachers are pressured to stick to material that will come up on tests; anything else can be perceived as a waste of time. Therefore, some editors worry that this situation will doom sales for a book on an unconventional topic. I am happy to report that the fact that Superman and his creators, writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, are typically not covered in social studies has not hindered classroom use of Boys of Steel. In fact, the book has multiple applications to curriculum, even if the Man (or Boys) of Steel will not be on the test.

broken rule #2—Do not write picture books about writers.

It does seem that a book featuring illustration after illustration of a person sitting at a desk would quickly become visually boring. But who says writers do nothing more than sit at desks? In writing any book there are challenges, and in writing any picture book there are additional challenges, and one of them is varying your images no matter what the subject. Boys of Steel contains only one image of Jerry at his typewriter. The rest is other kinds of adventure.

broken rule #3—Do not use dialogue in nonfiction picture books.

I’ve already written on this, but the recap is as follows: if you treat it like any other fact and source it appropriately, why not? In Boys of Steel, I include statements the Boys made in interviews but presented as dialogue. It livens up the text as dialogue tends to do, and it brings the reader closer to the protagonists. Yes, the lines of dialogue may have occurred at different times in real life than when they appear in the book, but this is a convention we regularly accept in nonfiction. No nonfiction is “pure” nonfiction—not even autobiography.

broken rule #4—With biographies, start with birth, end with death…or at least mention birth and death.

We are living in the Golden Age of Picture Book Biography, which allows writers unparalleled freedom in how we tell our true stories. Everything in the book must be factual, but not every fact must (or even can be) in the book. We need not present our tellings chronologically or wholly. Sometimes the birth and/or death of a figure are simply not essential details in our approach. (To the subjects, they were, of course, notable milestones.) I start Boys of Steel in roughly 1930, when Jerry and Joe met, and end it in roughly 1940, soon after Superman’s stratospheric rise. (I do address the rest of their lives briefly in the author’s note.)

broken rule #5—Refer to your main character by name.

Perhaps this is not quite a rule, but it certainly is the standard. Not counting the subtitle and author’s note, Boys of Steel contains the word “Superman” precisely zero times. This was not because I was hindered by copyright/trademark restriction or because I made an oversight. This was simply because I could. In my structure, the Boys create Superman toward the end of the story proper, which means I got that far without using the word; it then became a fun challenge to see if I could get to the end without it. Readers come away thinking I’ve used the word, but they are actually extracting it from images alone.

broken rule #6—Have a happy ending.

Real life sometimes doesn’t, so books about real life sometimes can’t either. Kids can handle the truth (relative to their age, of course). It does no favors to sugarcoat—or omit—certain tragedies. Every biography addresses struggles the protagonist faced en route to success, so why can’t the book end on a struggle? The illustrated portion of Boys of Steel does end on a high note, but the author’s note reveals that the Boys went on to face considerable suffering. Learning about injustice or misfortune or other unpleasantries may sound depressing, but often it is empowering. It can get kids fired up to help prevent similar situations in their own lives and to go do good in the world.

These are the kinds of rules even Superman would condone breaking.

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Tracy Campbell sent in this April showers illustrations.  She is a writer and an artist, living my dream. When she is not busy with her interior decorating business, she taps away on her laptop and writes for children, tweens, and teens. She also sharpens pencils, flips open paint lids, and yank off marker caps to draw and paint whimsical works of artfrom her second-floor studio in my 1841 farmhouse nestled high on a hill…assuming she doesn’t get distracted by howling coyotes marching up the gangway or by ribbon-streaked sunsets that take her breath away.  She has a whimsical shop where she sell greeting cards, inspired by all things warm and fuzzy. To view my Premier Collection, pop on over to www.tracycampbell.net/shop.html.

At Bloomsbury, Rachel Mannheimer has been promoted to editor.

Tracy Sherrod will join Amistad as editorial director on April 22. Previously she was the founder and proprietor of Tracy Sherrod Literary Services, representing Karine Steffans, Katori Hall, Kalisha Buckannon, and others (and prior to that she was an editor at Simon & Schuster).

Amistad is a division of HarperCollins, who publishes works by and about people of African descent, on subjects and themes that have significant influence on the intellectual, cultural, and historical perspectives of a world audience.

At Simon & Schuster, Nick Greene has been promoted to associate editor and Jonathan Cox moves up to assistant editor.

At Workman Publishing, Raquel Jaramillo, who has been acting creative director for two years, will return full time to her position as director of children’s publishing.

Following on Avon Impulse and Harper Teen Impulse in the US, Harper UK will launch a digital first women’s fiction and romance imprint in May. Harper Impulse, an imprint of their Harper Fiction division, aims “to find, publish and break new talent from debut authors, and import the hottest trends from the US.” Harper Fiction publishing director Kimberley Young will run the line , joined by content developer Charlotte Ledger, who worked previously at Chawton House Library as well as Mills & Boon.

They invite unrepresented submissions and are looking for everything from “short reads to epic sagas.” The company says they have received hundreds of manuscripts over the past month and have three acquisitions in the works. and has already received nearly 500 manuscripts in less than a month and has three acquisition deals in the works. Their editorial team will offer writing workshops and events “to give authors a diverse publishing experience.”

Publishers Marketplace reports: After Skyhorse and Start Publishing’s intended joint acquisition of Night Shade Books’ assets ignited public controversy over the original terms of sale (and now, after a revision, the sale “is in a holding pattern right now waiting for all the authors’ feedback”, a Skyhorse spokesperson told us) the two publishers have bought a different science fiction & fantasy publisher, Underland Press, for an undisclosed sum. The deal for the six-year-old press, according to a joint release, is part of Skyhorse and Start Publishing’s plans “to deepen their relationship to the genre community.”

Skyhorse publisher Tony Lyons said in a statement: “We are thrilled at the acquisition of Underland. We look forward to publishing 10–20 new books a year.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: Agent, authors and illustrators, Editor & Agent Info, Kudos, News, Publishers and Agencies, Publishing Industry Tagged: HarperCollins, Rachel Mannheimer, Simon and Schuster, Tracy Campbell

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According to editor Tamra Tuller at Chronicle Books, her company has won the BOLOGNA PRIZE FOR THE BEST CHILDREN’S PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR. It was announced in Bologna at the Ceremony organized to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Fair.

Here is the list of nominated publishers in North America:

North America

Chronicle Books, San Francisco, USA - www.chroniclebooks.com

Groundwood Books, Toronto, Canada - www.houseofanansi.com

Abrams, New York, USA - www.abramsbooks.com

Annick Press, Toronto, Canada - www.annickpress.com

Houghton Mifflin, New York, USA - www.hmhbooks.com

CONGRATULAIONS! CHRONICLE!

Stop back tomorrow to read about the Writer’s Retreat Weekend and the results of working on our pitches for the books we submitted.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: Book, Kudos, News, publishers, Publishing Industry Tagged: 50th Anniversary, Bologna Children's Book Fair, Chronicle Books, Winner of the Bologna Prize for Best Children's Publisher of the Year

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  This year’s winner of the Caldecott Medal is This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen (Candlewick Press, 2012).  This story is a big fish tale, but not in the way you might think. It’s also a small fish tale about a small fish who stole the hat of a big fish. He’s pretty sure he can get away with it, but stealing is wrong, isn’t it? Do you think he’ll get away with it? Do you think he should? This story certainly made me smile. Mr. Klassen does a superb job moving the story along with short sentences and illustrations that change ever so slightly as they move to the right and off of the page.

 The ALSC chose five honor books this year! Among them is Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Peter Brown (Simon & Schuster, 2012). This fun picture book is cleverly illustrated with just enough color to set an eerie mood. If picture books were horror movies, this one would be rated G. It’s just so much fun; I read it three or four times. Jasper Rabbit has this terrible feeling that carrots are following him. Is it his imagination? Or have the creepy carrots devised a plan to keep Jasper out of the carrot patch?

 Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen (Balzer+Bray, 2012) is my favorite of the picks this year. The story includes everything from a magic box of colorful yarn, to an evil archduke, to a sweet, young heroine who cares very much for her town. I like how the town gets more and more colorful as the story goes along. But the best part is the quiet, unassuming, and peaceful ending.

 This honor book simply titled Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Roaring Brook Press, 2012) is beautifully illustrated in different shades of green, one of my favorite colors. It sports minimal text and peek-a-boo cut outs on several of the pages, which tie one page cleverly to the next. As you may guess, all of the illustrations depict the great outdoors and the natural beauty of the world, and showcase trees, flowers, animals, vegetables, and more.

 One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo and illustrated by David Small (Dial Books, 2012) stars a polite, young boy named Elliot who decides he wants a penguin. I like Elliot; he has a lot of character. I like the combination of color and black and white for the multimedia illustrations. My favorite picture shows Elliot and the penguin skating in his room. This is a fun story that will make you laugh. And the twist at the end is the best!

 Sleep Like a Tiger by Mary Logue and illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski (Houghton Mifflin Books, 2012) is a dreamy, bedtime story with muted colors that fill up the pages. The paintings are a mix of fantasy and reality and, along with the solid text, tell the story of a young girl who doesn’t want to go to sleep. I just love the pictures of the dog asleep on the couch; just gorgeous!

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The week after my appearance on NPR (August 2012), I ritualistically checked my Amazon ranking for Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman.

The highest rank I saw:

It may never go higher. But then there’s the thing with Batman. He’s a loose cannon. Unpredictable. Could sneak up on you and you wouldn’t know it till your front two teeth were whirligigging across the sidewalk.

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Tricia Lawrence is the newest agent at Erin Murphy Literary Agency and attending the New Jersey SCBWI Conference in June. As associate agent, Tricia represents middle grade, young adult fiction and nonfiction and is looking to build her list of clients. She’s likes strong world building, wounded narrators, and stories that grab a reader and won’t let go. Tricia lives in Seattle, so you could say she is the “Pacific Northwest branch” of EMLA. With Ammi-Joan in New England and Erin in Arizona, they seem to have things covered, but of course, you do not have to live near an agent for them to represent you.

Tricia says, “I’m also beginning to look for younger books: picture books, early readers, chapter books as well as middle grade and young adult. I love all genres, but find that a story with a mystery is what I’m most drawn to. I love, love, love finding something new, whether it is a character that makes me laugh out loud to a character that continues to persevere in spite of everything being thrown at him/her. I would love to find books that are extremely high-concept, but that have an amazing main character. It really all comes down to character, doesn’t it?

I like historical, scifi, spec fiction, fantasy, paranormal (although the paranormal must be really original), contemporary, mystery/thriller, and adventure. I’m particularly drawn to books that focus on big educational transitions in a kid’s life (what it feels like to be leaving high school, that YA sweet spot or learning to navigate middle school coming from elementary school or learning to deal with school at all for younger readers). I must be reliving my own childhood years in school over and over again! I am also very interested in nonfiction for teens, on subjects covering babysitting to how to prepare for college in a fresh, original spin.”

EMLA is closed to unsolicited queries or submissions. We consider queries that come to us by referral from industry professionals we know, and individual agents are open to queries from attendees of conferences where they speak. So attending the June Conference in Princeton, will open this door for you. www.regonline.com/njscbwi2013conference

Here are some additional Tricia interview’s to read:

Forever Rewriting

Fresh As A Daisy

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: Agent, authors and illustrators, Events, opportunity, Publishers and Agencies, Publishing Industry Tagged: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary Agency, Tricia Lawrence

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Here is illustrator Joanne Friar’s painting of a rainy day done in acrylic gouache on HP watercolor paper and based on a poem from Robert Louis Stevenson’s “A Child’s Garden of Verses”. Joanne was featured on March 10th on Illustrator Saturday. You can use this link to see the whole post: http://wp.me/pss2W-4j3

Thought you would be interested in an interesting article written by Jeremy Greenfield for Forbes the other day, titled, How the Authors Guild Is Kind of Like the NRA and Why Scott Turow Is Wrong About Authors which rebutted an op-ed for the New York Times, written by Authors Guild president Scott Turow (who is also a lawyer and the best-selling author of legal thrillers like The Burden of Proof and Presumed Innocent). In this weeks article Turow, lamented that authors are under siege in the ebook era.

Turow’s angst all came about when last month, the Supreme Court decided to allow the importation and resale of foreign editions of American works, which are often cheaper than domestic editions. Until now, courts have forbidden such activity as a violation of copyright. Not only does this ruling open the gates to a surge in cheap imports, but since they will be sold in a secondary market, authors won’t get royalties.

Jeremy Greenfeld pointed out in his Forbes article that the vast majority of authors in the U.S. are not best-selling authors. Many of them have greatly benefited from the massive changes that have swept across the literary landscape in the U.S. Before the rise of ebooks, only a small fraction of them would have been able to live out their lifelong dream of becoming a published author. Now tens of thousands of them do it every month.

Below are a few excerpts from Jeremy’s article. The full article is worth reading, since you will not get the comparison of the NRA and the Authors Guild if you don’t read Jeremy’s whole piece.

(According to a recent survey of nearly 5,000 authors by Digital Book World — that Jeremy Greenfield authored — the top three reasons authors want to publish books are:

To build their careers as writers;

To satisfy a lifelong ambition; and

To write something that people are willing to buy.

To make money is fourth. The full study is available here.)

Some small percentage of those dreamers (an incredibly small percentage) go on to become Hugh Howey and Amanda Hocking. So, to the many of you out there who enjoyed Wool or My Blood Approves, thank some of the changes in book publishing.

The system that vaulted a talented (and lucky) few to the top is still thriving. Publishers are making just as much if not more money than ever before and the mega best-seller is alive and well. Check out the ebook best-seller list every week and you’ll see that big publishers dominate. Time and again, they are able to market and sell titles that spend months on the list. Want to sell millions of copies of a book? The same path that has always existed is probably your best bet.

But what if you’re not that talented (or lucky)? What if you don’t know the right people or nobody sees in your work what you see in it? Well, self publishing is now a viable option and a legitimate path to big sales numbers.

For some authors, the new publishing paradigm now offers them a choice between established publishers and publishing their own work themselves.

There are authors, such as narrative non-fiction and picture book writers, who are having trouble finding footing in the new era — and some of them write the most vital literature we have. Take Robert Caro, the author of several valuable and critically acclaimed tomes on Lyndon B. Johnson. Each of his books takes years to complete and probably can’t be done any other way. That kind of work takes investment and an appetite for risk; in the future, we may see fewer investments on Caro-like work. That would be a tragedy for American letters.

At this year’s Writer’s Digest conference in New York, there were nearly 500 attendees, enthusiastic writers who are interested in working on their craft and learning the business of publishing (disclosure: Writer’s Digest is a sister company to Digital Book World, my employer.) From what I heard, writers at the conference echoed the sentiment that now is the best time ever to be a writer.

“The vibe at the conference was incredibly upbeat,” Writer’s Digest community leader Phil Sexton told me. “Regardless of what challenges exist, most writers that we spoke to seemed to agree that we have far more publishing options and opportunities than we did even a few years ago.”

While there are things that the Authors Guild should oppose in defense of its constituents’ interests, it should not be done on a platform of “authors under attack” because that’s clearly not the case for the vast majority of authors. For most, this is the best time in history to be an author.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: article, News, Publishing Industry Tagged: Authors Guild, Dueling Opinion Pieces, Forbes Magazine, Jeremy Greenfield, Joanne Friar, NYTimes Op-ed, Scott Turow

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Best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert took to the net to determine which of three covers would grace her latest, a novel called The Signature of All Things.

(The winner.)

I love when we do this. Not like it happens very much at all.

I sort of did it for Vanished: True Stories of the Missing; I had only one cover to show, but I was asking for readers’ opinions. (Namely, if it was too creepy.)


I also sort of did it with Thirty Minutes Over Oregon; that time I had seven covers to show (one of which is immediately below), but I was asking for readers to weigh in not only on those covers but on the project as a whole.


And if given the chance, I’d love to make like Gilbert in the future, since the web allows publishing to be more collaborative than ever. Readers as co-creators.

Do you know of any other authors who polled the public on a choice of book covers?

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Don’t care which political side you are on, this is very cute!

NEW JERSEY – BERGEN COUNTY
New critique group forming for picture book, middle grade, and YA writers in Bergen County. WHERE AND WHEN: Initial meeting will be on Monday, March 11th at 7:30 pm at the Upper Saddle River Library– 245 Lake Street. Future meetings and group goals will be discussed and formulated that night.
INTERESTED? Contact SCBWI member Nona Maher at nona.maher@gmail.com

Eliza Wheeler’s illustrations’s for Kate Milford’s LEFT-HANDED FATE, a nautical fantasy set in 1813 about the wars in the Atlantic was sold to Noa Wheeler at Holt Children’s, for publication in Fall 2014. Eliza was featured on Illustrator’s Saturday.  Here’s the link: http://wp.me/pss2W-3Kp

At Pippin Properties, Elena Mechlin has been named literary agent and will continue managing the agency’s foreign and audio rights.

At Harlequin’s Love Inspired imprint, Giselle Regus has been promoted to assistant editor.

Amy Tannenbaumhas joined the Jane Rotrosen Agency as a literary agent. She was previously an editor at Atria, and will represent new adult, romance, and commercial women’s fiction authors.

Avideh Bashirrad has been promoted to vp, associate publisher for the Random House and Dial Press imprints, reporting to Susan Kamil.

At Harlequin, Mira executive editor Valerie Gray will retire at the end of March after more than 13 years with the company. As a result, Tara Parsons will move into that role in addition to her duties as executive editor for HQN and Luna. Also at Mira, Nicole Brebner has been promoted to senior editor, while both Leonore Waldrip and Michelle Venditti move up to assistant editor (Waldrip will also work on HQN titles.)

In addition, Susan Swinwood has been promoted to executive editor, HQN and Luna, while Margo Lipschultz moves up to senior editor. Finally, Emily Martin has been promoted to director of overseas publishing for the company.

Grand Central’s romance imprint Forever and their companion digital imprint Forever Yours will expand to publish 120 titles in 2013 and more than 190 titles in 2013 — up from 64 titles in 2012 — as part of a “major initiative” celebrating the imprint’s 10th anniversary. Forever will also add editorial and marketing staff.

Illustrator Hazel Mitchel, who was featured on Illustrator Saturday http://wp.me/pss2W-2pf sent in this book promotion opportunity:

Do you have a book on cows or ice cream? This may be of interest to you:

“One of my PR clients is a large homemade ice cream stand in Swansea, Mass. I am organizing a spring book fair and would like to have authors of cow and ice cream-related books appear for a book signing/ ice cream festival.

Also, we are going to have other signings throughout the spring, summer and early fall and would love to showcase your talent – free of charge. You will also get a free ice cream cone!

Please email me offline if your are interested in participating. The creamery is located about 20 mins. east of Providence and on weekends sells about 1,300 cones a day.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: authors and illustrators, Editor & Agent Info, News, opportunity, Publishing Industry Tagged: book signing opportunity, Elena Mechlin, Harlequin, Hazel Mitchell, Kate Milford, Liza Wheeler

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A UNIQUE CONFERENCE THAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• What is new in children’s nonfiction publishing
• How you can use your talent to create books, e-books, apps,
and other media
• Finding work and setting up a business in the children’s
nonfiction market
• How to sell and market your nonfiction products with 21st
Century technology
• Applying your expertise in fiction to a new genre: nonfiction
• The Common Core Standards and how your nonfiction books
and apps can meet them

Faculty and Panels Include:

• Trade nonfiction publishers • Authors
• Educational publishers • Illustrators
• Magazine publishers • Graphic Designers/Art Editors
• E-book and app developers • Editors
• Book packagers/creation houses • Educators

Who Should Attend:

Authors/writers; illustrators/artists; editors; designers; students of creative writing, graphic design, and media studies; and digital developers–whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or published.

Why the world of children’s publishing needs this conference and why you should attend

1. The new Common Core Standards have put an emphasis on Nonfiction like never before. At higher levels of education, children are expected to read more Nonfiction than Fiction.

2. Nonfiction is more popular than ever before, with several major children’s books awards allowing Nonfiction entries and choosing Nonfiction winners. There are an increasing number of Nonfiction-only awards.

3. It is easier for authors, editors, designers, and illustrators, to find work and to get published in Nonfiction than in Fiction.

4. The revolution in digital publishing is about to transform Nonfiction.

5. Apple iBooks Author free software is tailor-made for authors, designers, illustrators, and other content creators to develop and publish Nonfiction products.

6. Self-publishing is the perfect solution for niche, Nonfiction publishing.

7. Independent creation and publication of illustrated Nonfiction books, enhanced books, apps, and games are increasingly attractive to digital developers.

8. Skills and expertise in Nonfiction are highly transferable to Fiction.

9. This is the first-ever conference devoted specifically to Children’s Nonfiction and to finding opportunities for work, setting up your own businesses, and getting published in the Children’s Publishing Industry.

10. The conference is planned, professionally organized, and presented by people who have successful careers in Children’s Nonfiction Publishing and who are dedicated to transferring their knowledge of the industry to those who will carry it through the 21st Century.

Click here to register!

Cost:   Early Bird Registration: $390     After March 15: $430
Includes conference fee and all meals.
Low-cost housing in college dorms available. For more information, or for additional housing
options, click here.

Intensives, Manuscript Reviews, Proposal Reviews, Marketing Strategy Reviews, and Portfolio Reviews available as extras. Click here for details of One-to-One Critiques.

- See more at: http://www.childrensnfconference.com/#sthash.H3nN4RLJ.dpuf

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: Conferences and Workshops, need to know, News, opportunity, Publishing Industry, writing Tagged: Children Non-fiction Conference, educational publishers, State University of New York

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Chuck Sambuchino says Steve Kasdin who joined Curtis Brown in 2012 is looking to build his list of writers. Steve has over twenty years’ experience in books and publishing, beginning his career as the Mystery buyer at Barnes & Noble. He has been a Marketing executive at St. Martin’s Press, Scholastic and Harcourt, an agent at the Sandra Dijkstra Agency and worked on Content Acquisition in the Kindle group at Amazon.com. In addition to representing clients at Curtis Brown, he is also the agency’s Director of Digital Strategy, advising clients on all aspects of electronic publishing.

He is seeking: “The most important thing I’ve learned in over twenty years in publishing is also the simplest: plot sells. And the definition of what makes a great plot is also very simple: interesting, well-drawn characters thrown into unpredictable situations. I’m looking for: commercial fiction, including Mysteries/Thrillers, Romantic Suspense (emphasis on the suspense), and Historical Fiction); Narrative Nonfiction, including Biography, History and Current Affairs; and Young Adult Fiction, particularly if it has adult crossover appeal. I am NOT interested in SF/Fantasy, Memoirs, Vampires and writers trying to capitalize on trends.”

How to submit: skasdin [at] cbltd.com. Responds in 4-6 weeks. Please send a query letter about what makes your book unique, a 1-3 page plot synopsis, a brief bio (including a description of your publishing history, if you have one), and the first 40-50 pages of your manuscript as a Word attachment to the email. “Let me know in your query letter if I am reading your work exclusively, in which case, I shall give it priority. If the book has been self-published or previously published, please let me know all the details – publisher, date, etc.”

Click Here to read Chuck Sambuchino’s article: (Why you should only query 6-8 agents at a time.)

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: authors and illustrators, Editor & Agent Info, opportunity, Publishers and Agencies, Publishing Industry Tagged: Curtis Brown Literary Agency, Sandra Dijkstra, Scholastic, St. Martin's Press, Steve Kasdin

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Hachette publisher Michael Pietsch gave an interview with NPR recently where he said we're in golden age for traditional publishers:

I think we're in a golden age for books — reading, writing and publishing. And the ways that publishers can work to connect readers with writers now are the kinds of things that publishers have dreamt of doing since Gutenberg first put down a line of type.

The full interview is worth a read/listen.

Do you agree? Is this actually a golden age for publishers?

Art: Interior of a Gothic Church by Pieter Neefs

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My editor for Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman was the incomparable Alyssa Pusey at Charlesbridge.

Alyssa is like Batman (without the cave). Like Batman, she championed the underdog, which in this case was this project. Like Batman, she was not afraid, which in this case means she stood by the book—and me—even when concerns about fair use arose. Like Batman, she trusted her partner...Robin.

Alyssa (whom I did not know previously) acquired the manuscript in 2010. Funnily, in 2008, I had written an article about the research I did for the book (an article that morphed into the author’s note). At that time, I was not yet ready to reveal the actual name of Bill’s granddaughter Athena, so I referred to her by a pseudonym: “Alyssa.”

Given the countless alternatives (Amanda, Agatha, Alissa, etc.), that has to be taken as an omen, just as Bruce Wayne took that bat flying through his window as an omen.

One of the most impressive examples of Alyssa’s editorial prowess: in this image, she caught the fact that there was one missing line in the Chinese character for virtue. 


That’s some well-calibrated sonar.

In 2/13, Alyssa emailed me two photos documenting her work on the book. 

The “before” photo shows all the emails, layouts, legal correspondence, etc., collected during her three years of work on the book.


The “after” photo shows the final archive, after she removed all duplicates, “unnecessary” items, etc.


It took her a full work day to put together that archive. “Now,” she concluded, “it will live down in the Charlesbridge basement forever.”

Maybe she does have a cave after all.

Happy birthday, Alyssa.

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I have been saying for years that teen books provide great reads and fit into my life style so much better, because they are a quick literary fix. They remind me of buying a delicious gourmet frozen dinner – Pop it in the Microwave and voila you are happy and fed.  They are shorter, faster-paced, and designed to appeal to discriminating readers.

Apparently, I am not the only one who feels this way, because many of the readers buying books aimed at the teen market are no longer teenagers. But the numbers are more dramatic than we may have guessed. According to the Bowker study, 55 percent of customers who buy young adult books are 18 or older. In fact, the largest group of readers purchasing titles labeled “young adult” are actually 30 to 44 years old – not the target demographic for the books.

The teen readers genre, which is officially slated for readers 12 to 17, has crossed age lines over the past decade as series like “Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling,” “Twilight by Stephenie Meyer,” and Suzanne Collins’ dystopian trilogy “Hunger Game”s have appealed to adults as well as the younger readers at which they were aimed.

Just look at the first 9 months of Amazon’s “best of the month” picks. It included a young adult title in its “Top 10 list” four times – not on a separate “young readers” list but as part of its overall survey of best titles available. “Every Day” by David Levithan was selected in September, while “Shadow and Bone” by Leigh Burdago made the June list. “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green cracked the January list and “Daughter of Smoke and Bone” by Laini Taylor made it to the September roll call.

This leads us to publishers who now have coined the phrase “New Adult”. The School Library Journal has a good article with links to a number of sites that discuss how they see “New Adult” fitting into the market. http://blogs.slj.com/teacozy/2012/12/28/what-is-new-adult

New market research shows that 55 percent of those buying books labeled ‘young adult’ are in fact 18 and over, a trend that’s increasing, so it is something you definitely should be aware of if you write for teens. Five years ago, editors wouldn’t even look at a book that had an eighteen year old on their way to college or making their way out in the adult world – more proof that things are changing and with that more opportunities for writers.

10 books to read after the ‘Hunger Games’ trilogy

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: article, demystify, need to know, Publishing Industry, Young Adult Novel Tagged: Amazon, Bowker Market Research, Hunger Games, New Adult Books, Young Adult Books

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Sr. Editor Alexandra Copper at Simon & Schuster has moved over to HarperCollins as executive editor position.  She will be working on YA and middle-grade novels and some picture books.

At HMH Children’s, Mary Wilcox has been promoted to the newly-created position of vp, editor in chief.  In addition,  Adah Nuchi has been promoted to associate editor.

Christa Heschke has been promoted to agent within the children’s department, handling all foreign, domestic and subsidiary rights for children’s clients while actively building her own list.

At Penguin, Katherine Tiernan McCahill has been promoted to assistant director of the digital products group.

In Canada, former senior executives at D&M Publishers Chris Labonte, Peter Cocking and Richard Nadeau have founded Figure1 Publishing, devoted to books in the art & architecture, food & wine, lifestyle, illustrated history and business book categories. The reason I point this out is because of this quote: “Our goal is to become the premier publisher of high quality illustrated books in the country.” Think Chronicle Books, or Rizzoli.” Even though they are not invloved in children’s books, it might be a good place for illustrators to query for work. Cocking has been named creative director.

*****

Hazel Mitchel who was featured on Illustrator Saturday http://wp.me/pss2W-2pf 

has a new picture book “1, 2, 3, By the Sea” is available to buy on line.

Hazel is having a book give-a-way, too.  Use this link for a chance to win: http://tinyurl.com/c8donqt

*****

Shannon Hitchcock debut YA book The Ballad of Jesse Pearl came out in February – Published by namelos.

www.shannonhitchcock.com

*****

If you follow this blog and would like to announce a success or book coming out, please let me know.  If you sent me an e-mail and I missed it, please remind me.  I get hundreds of e-mails everyday.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: Agent, authors and illustrators, Editor & Agent Info, Kudos, Publishing Industry, success Tagged: Alexandra Copper, Christa Heschke, HarperCollins, Holt Mifflan Harcourt Children's, Simon & Schuster

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Over at Writer Beware, some important information about the various reasons why it's unnecessary to register copyright in a novel prior to publication:

Well, for one thing, you're fully protected by copyright law from the moment you fix your work in tangible form (write down the words). In countries that have an official copyright registration process--and many don't--registration provides no additional copyright protection. 

It does confer various legal benefits. Where available, official registration provides prima facie evidence of copyright ownership that can be used in court. In the US only, registration is a pre-requisite for filing a copyright infringement lawsuit. 

However, you are not in danger of copyright infringement at the submission stage. Many authors have an unreasonable fear of theft by agents and publishers--but good agents and publishers won't risk their reputations this way, and in any case it's easier just to work with you than go to all the trouble of stealing your work and pretending it belongs to someone else. As for bad agents and publishers...they aren't interested in your work at all, only in your money.

Check out the whole post.

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I have met authors who have spent over $25,000 to self-publish their own book in print. Not counting the content of the book, the quality of the illustrations, paper, cover was beautiful. This was before print on demand, so that same person now could self-publish the same book for less than half that amount.  But still that book had problems. Two many pages, too young of story for the writing and format.  This is something many new authors make and the reason I tell you not to rush your book out the door.

To have a good selling enjoyable picture book the illustrations and design has to go along with the text. Many times a new author will go with a Vanity/Subsidy publisher who offers to publish their book, because they can forego an agent, graphic and interior layout designers, editors, printers, advertising, distribution,  marketing specialists, and book publicists. But buyer beware, what type of artwork will they provide? The books I have seen have used low level artists or the pay so low, that an illustrator can’t give the book the time it needs to shine and the results are awful. I don’t know about you, but I buy most of my picture books because I love the artwork. Of course I have an art degree, so illustration is a big part of my life, but in my opinion a picture book must have enjoyable art or it will fall flat on its face. So spend a lot of time making sure you hire someone who can make it happen. But don’t be a control freak. You will stiffle the artist and not get the best out of them.

So hear I am preaching about the steps you need to take to help lift up the reputation and quality of Self-Published books. These are the steps you need to take even if you want to snag an agent or pique the interest of a mainstream publisher.

The First draft – just the beginning. This is where you write your story and then get your critique group to read it and give you their thoughts. They should be able to point out if they see any holes in your story. Whether they like your main character. Is he/she sympathetic? Too mean? Too dumb? Are there places in the manuscript where they were pulled out of the story?
Are their holes in your plot? Here is a list of questions you can ask them to answer:

Is the conflict strong, or is it contrived and something a conversation could resolve?

Setting? Does it seem real?

Are the senses involved? (description of smell, touch, taste, etc.)

Does the story hold your interest? If not, where did you lose interest?

Accuracy and consistency: Do the facts seem accurate, (no cell phones in the 1700s, for example) and are they consistent (blue eyes don’t turn green somewhere along the way.)

Were you able to suspend disbelief?

Does the story work? Do you want to read more?

With characters, ask yourself: Are the main characters three-dimensional? Sympathetic? Are other characters well drawn? Are motivations strong and clear?

Writing Style

Voice: Strong? Too passive?

Any problems with point of view? If there are multiple points of view, are the POV changes handled well?

Does the dialogue sound natural? Is the dialogue of each character distinct, or does everyone sound the same?

Does the dialogue move the story forward?

Were there too many “he said” dialogue tags, or awkward substitutes for “said?” (snarled, hissed.)

As to back story: Is it woven into the story, or are there any info dumps or “As you know, Bob”s (use of dialogue to dump information into the story.)

Is there too much narrative? Too many flashbacks?

Are the sentences clear, or do they need to be reworded to improve clarity?

Is the story well-paced, or does it slow in places?

Is there plenty of white space, or is the writing dense? (In other words, are the paragraphs short and interspersed with dialogue, or are they long blocks of type running a half page—or more.)

Second Draft – This is where you go back and correct the problems that rang true from your critiques.
Then you get your critique group and if possible, a few different people to read your story to see if you improved the story. Just because you rewrite doesn’t mean you have made the manuscript better. If you have, then it is on to the third draft.

You could also hire a consultant to read and critique your story to help you through this process, but that is additional money you will have to spend. This can run you $150 – $5000, according to the amount of pages, the amount of time, and the amount of expertise.

Third Draft – This is where you read every line and decide if each line is written to the best of your ability. Can the sentence be tighten? Have you repeated the same basic thought in more than one sentence? Have you repeated the same word a number of times? Have you overwritten a scene? Do you need every word? If you are writing in first person. Have you avoided starting your sentences with “I” as much as possible? Have you avoided the use of dialog tags where you can? Do your characters act age appropriate? Does your first page hook your reader? Do you have a sagging middle? Do you have a subplot? Do you have tension that builds to the climax? Are there words that can be changed to be more interesting word?  After making these changes, it is on to the 4th draft.

Fourth Draft – This is where you read the book aloud. How do the sentences sound? Do you hear anything that breaks the tension. Do you hear anything that takes you in another direction?

There are many roads to take to get to this point. Now you should be ready to submit your manuscript to publishers or decide on the plan you are going to follow to Self-Publish. Next week we will talk about your plan of action.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: authors and illustrators, children writing, Process, Publishing Industry, reference, Self-publishing, Tips, Writing Tips Tagged: doing your homework, Getting Your book Ready, Making a Plan, Self-Publish Your Book

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We have been talking about self-publishing for the last few weeks, so I thought you might be interested in reading about this annual contest.  The entry fee is high, but if you have a self-published book you think is good, entering this premier self-published competition could help get your book noticed. It is exclusively for self-published books.

Writer’s Digest hosts the 21st annual self-published competition — the Annual Self-Published Book Awards. This self-published competition spotlights today’s self-published works and honors self-published authors.

Early Bird Deadline: April 1, 2013

Wondering what is in it for you?

• A chance to win $3,000 in cash
• Get national exposure for your work
• Catch the attention of prospective editors and publishers
• A paid trip to the ever-popular Writer’s Digest Conference in New York City!

How to enter: register and pay online or download a printable entry form. (Early Bird Entry fees are $100 for the first entry, and $75 for each additional entry.)

Enter your book into one or more of these categories:

• Mainstream/Literary Fiction
• Genre Fiction
• Nonfiction
• Inspirational (Spiritual, New Age)
• Life Stories (Biographies, Autobiographies, Family Histories, Memoirs)
• Children’s/Picture books
• Middle-Grade/Young Adult books
• Reference Books (Directories, Encyclopedias, Guide Books)
• Poetry

One Grand Prize Winner will receive:

• $3,000 cash and a trip to the Writer’s Digest Conference in New York City
• A priceless endorsement for their book from the Writer’s Digest Editors–10 copies of their book for submission to major publishing review houses.
• A one-year membership for Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), the largest not-for-profit trade association representing more than 3,000 independent book publishers, courtesy of Brian Jud & Book Marketing Works, LLC.
• Guaranteed acceptance in a special sales catalog and national representation through 1,800 salespeople who sell to non-bookstore markets, courtesy of Brian Jud & Book Marketing Works, LLC.
• A one-year membership to Author-U, courtesy of Brian Jud & Book Marketing Works, LLC.
• A copy of Show Me About Book Publishing and consultation with Book Shepherd Judith Briles (valued at $500), courtesy of Brian Jud & Book Marketing Works, LLC.
• A guaranteed review in Midwest Book Review, courtesy of Brian Jud & Book Marketing Works, LLC.

Nine First-Place Winners will receive:

• $1,000 cash and promotion in Writer’s Digest
• A one-year membership to Small Publishers Association of North America (SPAN), courtesy of Brian Jud & Book Marketing Works, LLC.
• A guaranteed review in Midwest Book Review, courtesy of Brian Jud & Book Marketing Works, LLC.
• A one-year membership to Book Central Station where you can find lists of suppliers rated by previous clients, provided by Brian Jud & Book Marketing Works, LLC.
• An ebook titled Beyond the Bookstore by Brian Jud (with CD).

All Grand Prize and First Place winners will:

• Be featured on the Writer’s Digest website
• Receive a copy of The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, 4th Edition by Tom and Marilyn Ross.
• $100 worth of Writer’s Digest Books

Honorable Mention Winners will receive $50 worth of Writer’s Digest Books and be promoted on www.writersdigest.com.

All other entrants will receive a brief commentary from the judges along with a link to the entrant’s website (only if the URL is accurate) on writersdigest.com.

THE RULES:

1. The competition is open to all English-language self-published books for which the authors have paid the full cost of publication, or the cost of printing has been paid for by a grant or as part of a prize.

2. You may register and pay online for faster service.

3. Entrants must send a printed and bound book. Entries will be evaluated on content, writing quality and overall quality of production and appearance. No handwritten books are accepted.

4. All books published or revised and reprinted between 2008 and 2013 are eligible. (Writer’s Digest may demand proof of eligibility of semifinalists.)

5. All books not registered online must be accompanied by an Official Entry Form. Photocopies of the Official Entry Form are acceptable. You may enter more than one book and/or more than one category; however, you must include a separate book, entry form and the additional fee for each entry.

6. We accept check, money order or credit card payment for the required judging fee. The early bird entry fees are $100 for the first entry, $75 for each additional entry must accompany submissions. For books submitted after the April 1 early bird deadline, the fees are $110 for the first entry, $85 for each additional entry. Payment must accompany submissions.

7. All early bird entries must be postmarked no later than April 1, 2013. Entries submitted for the regular deadline must be postmarked by May 1, 2013. All winners will be notified by October 14, 2013. If you wish to receive confirmation that your entry was received before the deadline, we recommend using certified mail or some other tracking method to send your entry.

8. Judges reserve the right to withhold prizes in any category. Judges reserve the right to re-categorize entries.

9. Books which have previously won awards from Writers Digest are not eligible.

10. Employees of F+W Media, Inc. and Book Marketing Works, LLC and their immediate families are not eligible. Books published by Abbott Press are not eligible to participate.

11. Writer’s Digest is not responsible for the loss, damage or return of any books submitted to the competition.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: authors and illustrators, awards, Competition, Contest, Marketing a book, opportunity, Publishing Industry, Self-publishing Tagged: Self-Published Book Awards, Writer's Digest

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We have been discussing Self-Published books for the last few weeks and we have been talking for months about how the publishing industry is changing, so I thought I should make sure you don’t miss this article written by Wall Street Journal’s Alexandra Alter. It is an excellent article and one you really should read (the whole thing). It is long, but worth the five minutes of time. If for some reason you can’t take the time to read it, click on the above link and at least listen to the interview with Ms. Alter about her article.  But in the article, she talks about how Hugh Howey got his book off the ground.

This just might be the article that keeps you going when things seem bleak. I just ordered Part One  of WOOL on Amazon.  It is free for download to your Kindle.

Simon & Schuster has put down six figures for print rights to a post-apocalyptic thriller called “Wool” that it believes could draw the same readers that made “The Hunger Games” trilogy a success.

Simon & Schuster’s print-only editions of Hugh Howey’s Wool, which brought in over a million dollars as a self-published ebook was published yesterday. Howey’s long holdout for a traditional publishing deal came a reality and allowed him to keep his ebook rights.

Hugh Howey’s postapocalyptic thriller “Wool” has sold more than half a million copies and generated more than 5,260 Amazon reviews. Mr. Howey has raked in more than a million dollars in royalties and sold the film rights to “Alien” producer Ridley Scott. And Simon & Schuster hasn’t even released the book yet.

In a highly unusual deal, Simon & Schuster acquired print publication rights to “Wool” while allowing Mr. Howey to keep the e-book rights himself. Mr. Howey self-published “Wool” as a serial novel in 2011, and took a rare stand by refusing to sell the digital rights. Last year, he turned down multiple seven-figure offers from publishers before reaching a mid-six-figure, print-only deal with Simon & Schuster.

“I had made seven figures on my own, so it was easy to walk away,” says Mr. Howey, 37, a college dropout who worked as a yacht captain, a roofer and a bookseller before he started self-publishing. “I thought, ‘How are you guys going to sell six times what I’m selling now?’ “

It’s a sign of how far the balance of power has shifted toward authors in the new digital publishing landscape. Self-published titles made up 25% of the top-selling books on Amazon last year. Four independent authors have sold more than a million Kindle copies of their books, and 23 have sold more than 250,000, according to Amazon.

Publishing houses that once ignored independent authors are now furiously courting them. In the past year, more than 60 independent authors have landed contracts with traditional publishers. Several won seven-figure advances. A handful have negotiated deals that allow them to continue selling e-books on their own, including romance writers Bella Andre and Colleen Hoover, who have each sold more than a million copies of their books.

Print-only deals remain extremely rare. Few publishers want to part with the fastest-growing segment of the industry. E-book sales for adult fiction and nonfiction grew by 36% in the first three quarters of 2012, compared with the previous year. Mass-market paperback sales shrank by 17% in the same period, while hardcover sales declined by 2.4%, according to a recent report from the Association of American Publishers.

When “Wool” hits bookstores next Tuesday, publishing industry insiders will be watching the experiment closely. Simon & Schuster will release a $15 paperback and a $26 hardcover simultaneously, competing directly against Mr. Howey’s digital edition, which costs $5.99.

“We would have preferred to own all the rights, but that wasn’t going to happen,” says Simon & Schuster President and Publisher Jonathan Karp. “It was a very unusual circumstance.”

“Wool” became a viral hit last winter, a few months after Mr. Howey began publishing the five-part series on Amazon. The novel takes place in a postapocalyptic future where a few thousand remaining humans live in a giant, 144-story underground silo. Couples who want to have a child have to enter a lottery; tickets are distributed only when someone dies. Citizens who break the law are sent outside to choke to death on the toxic air. Those who are sent to their deaths are forced to clean the grime off the digital sensors that transmit grainy images of the ruined landscape to a screen inside the silo. The images are meant to remind residents that the world beyond the silo is deadly, but some begin to suspect their leaders are lying to them about what’s outside and how the world came to ruin.

Mr. Howey says he was watching cable news one day when he came up with the idea of a future where people get all of their information from a single, unreliable screen.

“Wool” landed just as the entertainment industry was searching for a high-concept, dystopian hit like Suzanne Collins’s young-adult “Hunger Games” trilogy or Justin Cronin’s postapocalyptic vampire novel “The Passage.” (Mr. Cronin blurbed “Wool,” calling it “an epic feat of imagination.”) The serial format helped build buzz and anticipation among binge readers who were desperate for the next installment, while the 99-cent price tag made each installment an easy impulse buy. “Wool” was the most favorably reviewed book on Amazon in 2012, with an average rating of 4.8 out of five stars. The novel seems to appeal to both men and women, and has attracted hard-core science fiction fans as well as general readers, much like “The Hunger Games.”

Mr. Howey grew up in Monroe, N.C., the son of a farmer and a schoolteacher. As a teenager he devoured popular science fiction books like “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and “Ender’s Game,” and always had a wild imagination. He studied physics and English at the College of Charleston, but dropped out his junior year to sail to the Bahamas. He cycled through a series of odd jobs, working as a yacht captain, a roofer, and a technician for an audio-video company. Four years ago, he decided to give writing a shot. He and his wife were living in a 750-square foot house in Boone, N.C. He was unemployed; his wife, Amber Lyda, was working as a psychologist. He had an idea for a story about a young spaceship pilot who travels across the galaxy in search of her missing father. He sold the novel, “Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue,” to a small Indiana publisher for less than a thousand dollars. Sales were meager.

“When he first published ‘Molly Fyde,’ I’d call his wife and say, ‘How many books has he sold? Should I go to Amazon and buy three more?’” says his mother, Gay Murrill, who owns a yarn shop in Charleston.

Mr. Howey kept trying. He got a 30-hour-a-week job at a university bookstore that paid only $10 an hour but gave him some flexibility. He got up at two or three in the morning to write, and wrote through his lunch hour and after dinner. He designed his own cover art, enlisting his wife and sister to pose in photos. He would often jolt up in bed in the middle of the night to scribble down ideas.

“It was almost a compulsion for him,” says Ms. Lyda. Ms. Lyda said she pleaded with him to leave his pen open on his nightstand, because the clicking noise of his pen kept waking her up.

“Wool” started as a short story that Mr. Howey dashed off in three weeks. He posted it on Amazon for 99 cents in July 2011. Within three months, the story had sold 1,000 copies. Mr. Howey was stunned.

“I told my wife, ‘Baby, we’re going to be able to pay a couple of bills off this short story,’ ” he said.

Readers begged for a sequel, and in November, Mr. Howey released another installment. He sold more than 3,000 copies that month. The next month, he released two more installments and sold nearly 10,000 copies total. In January, he released the final installment, for $2.99, and published all five as a single volume, for $5.99. Collectively, he sold 23,000 copies of all the editions that month. “Wool” shot up Amazon’s science-fiction best-seller list. Mr. Howey quit his job.

Literary agents started courting him. The BBC proposed a television deal based on the series. Most of the agents wanted to auction off print and digital rights to the highest bidder. Mr. Howey wasn’t interested. One agent, Kristin Nelson, said she didn’t think he should sign away digital rights, but that she could help him with foreign rights and film and TV deals. He signed with her in January of last year. They sold the series in 24 foreign countries. Several British publishers bid on the book, and Century won rights for a high-six-figure sum.

Ms. Nelson also sent “Wool” to U.S. publishers, and received a few low six-figure offers. Mr. Howey turned them down. Through Amazon’s self-publishing platform, he was collecting 70% of royalties, which amounted to nearly $40,000 a month. Most publishers offer a digital royalty rate that amounts to 10% to 15% of a book’s retail price.

That spring, Mr. Howey began selling the books on Barnes & Noble‘s BKS -2.57%Nook and Kobo’s e-reader and through Apple’s iTunes store. An agent at United Talent Agency began shopping film rights. Three studios bid on the book. 20th Century Fox and Ridley Scott, director of the blockbuster science-fiction films “Blade Runner” and “Alien,” optioned it. Indie writer and director J Blakeson is writing the screenplay.

After news of the movie deal broke, publishers pounced again. Mr. Howey flew to New York in May to meet with five major publishers. Four of them bid. Mr. Howey, who by then was making $120,000 a month, wasn’t swayed. Some of the publishers wanted to change the book’s title, a proposal that Mr. Howey called “comical,” since it would sabotage his online branding efforts. Others insisted that he immediately take down his digital edition, which would erase all records of the thousands of five-star reviews the book had accumulated, forcing him to start from scratch.

One meeting went better than the others. Mr. Howey sat down with Mr. Karp, the head of Simon & Schuster, who had heard about “Wool” from two of his top editors and from Dave Cullen, author of “Columbine,” a 2009 book profiling the shooters behind the 1999 mass killing. “When I read more about it and saw what a culture phenomenon it had become, I realized it was something we should take seriously,” Mr. Karp says.

Mr. Karp was unusually solicitous, asking Mr. Howey what kind of deal he would accept. Mr. Howey said he wanted a co-publishing deal, where he kept digital rights and Simon & Schuster held hardcover and paperback rights. Mr. Karp was noncommittal, and said he’d be in touch.

Sales soared over the summer. Mr. Howey and his wife moved to Jupiter, Fla. and bought a slightly larger house—900 square feet. Mr. Howey continued to write and self-publish new books, including a zombie novel and prequels to “Wool” that explore how and why the silos were built.

In October, Amazon discounted “Wool” for 24 hours as part of its Kindle Daily Deal, a discount program that highlights select titles. Amazon dropped the price on the “Wool” Omnibus, which has all five stories, from $5.99 to $1.99. Mr. Howey sold 20,000 in a single day. New offers from publishers poured in, some in the low-seven-figure range.

Then Mr. Howey’s agent got an email from Mr. Karp, asking if they would consider a print-only deal. Ms. Nelson says she wrote him back, “Is this for real?” and he wrote back, “Yes.”

Simon & Schuster now has to transform a digital hit into a traditional print blockbuster. The publisher is sending Mr. Howey on an 11-city tour, and has planned a bold six-figure marketing campaign that will capitalize on the film news and online reviews. They are releasing the book simultaneously in hardcover and paperback in an attempt to capture both the library and first-edition collectors market as well as retailers like Target and Wal-Mart WMT +0.85%. Much of the online marketing will fall to Mr. Howey, who has proved himself to be adept at digital self promotion. He’s still selling 50,000 e-books a month.

“A lot of the things we normally teach authors to do, Hugh has been smart enough to do himself,” says Richard Rhorer, who oversees marketing at Simon & Schuster.

Mr. Howey just returned from book tours in Germany, Scotland, Wales and England, where “Wool” recently hit the best-seller lists. He’s starting to feel more like an established author. “Publishing is changing so quickly that we are all equal experts,” he said. “We’re all trying to figure this out.”

Mr. Howey recalls feeling anonymous at a science fiction conference last summer in Chicago. He got excited for a moment when a woman approached him—he thought she wanted his autograph—but she was looking for the bathroom.

Nearby, fantasy writer George R.R. Martin, author of the best-selling series “A Song of Ice and Fire,” was signing hundreds of books. Mr. Howey went up and introduced himself. When it became clear that Mr. Martin had never heard of him, Mr. Howey told him his novel was No. 6 on Amazon’s list of science-fiction and fantasy best sellers, behind Mr. Martin’s five books. Mr. Martin gamely signed a book for Mr. Howey, inscribing it “To # 6—Keep trying!”

A few months later, Mr. Howey landed at the top of the list, just ahead of Mr. Martin.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: article, authors and illustrators, Book Contracts, Publishing Industry, Self-publishing, success Tagged: Alexandra Alter, Hugh Howey, Wall Street Journal, WOOL

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This is by no means the only things you can use to format and convert your manuscript to an e-book, it is just to give you an idea of the some of the things out in the market you can use. The Kindle, the Nook and the iTunes Bookstore (which services both the iPhone and iPad) now stand out as the most common targets for e-books. This has helped the e-book boom has helped consolidate formats a bit, but there still isn’t a single gold-standard editing product that guides users through the whole workflow and helps them check their results.

You probably will want to format your e-book for a varity of readers –  it helps to support as many of devices as possible. The Kindle, for instance, is notorious for not supporting ePub format files.

So here is a little information about the most common e-book formats and their drawbacks, so you can decide what to use to format your manuscript and create an ebook.

HTML:

If you are looking for only one fromat, HTML is more or less it. For one, it’s ubiquitous; almost every text-processing program can generate or read HTML. It also supports many features e-books will use: hyperlinks, font control, section headings, images, etc. Downside not everyone knows HTML.

But if you’re starting with a Microsoft Word or Open Document Format document, your best bet is to export it directly from the source application into HTML. Word users should do a “Save as…” using the “Web Page, Filtered” option, which strips out most of Word’s generated left over junk (cruft).

Exporting to HTML from your source program helps preserve the most crucial formatting and usually preserves sections and chapters: outline headers are turned into h1/h2/h3 tags, which most conversion programs correctly recognize. Some are even able to auto-generate tables of contents from those tags. Word typically does a good job generating TOCs without problems.

Microsoft Word (DOC or DOCX)

If you’re dealing with an original manuscript, odds are it’s probably going to be in Microsoft Word format. Almost every device on the face of the Earth can read or write Word documents. And the format has native support for most everything you could think of: formulas, chaptering, footnotes, indexes — anything that might show up in an e-book.

Word documents are best as a starting point for an intermediate conversion format, most likely HTML, rather than a format that can be converted directly into an e-book. In fact, most e-book conversion programs don’t accept Word natively as a source document type. They may accept Word’s sibling format, RTF, but that is already at least one stage of conversion away from the original and increases the chance that certain features might not make it through the conversion process. For example, RTF does support features like sections and footnotes, but the Calibre e-book creation suite, for one, doesn’t process them correctly.

OpenDocument (ODF)

OpenDocument is the format used by OpenOffice.org. Microsoft Word also supports ODF as one of it’s formats. it reads and writes.) Third-party OpenOffice offers extensions that let you export directly to e-pub formats. There are also a number of standalone applications, such as ODFToEPub. If you’re already used to creating your documents in ODF, your path to creating a finished e-book may be  shortened, slightly.

ePub:

An open, non-proprietary format. Uses XHTML as the basis for its document format. ePub is widely supported as an output format by various e-book production applications. iTunes only accepts ePub as a source format, so it couldn’t hurt to render a copy of your product as ePub no matter what other formats you use.  Books that require PDF-style page fidelity won’t work well in ePub.

Mobi and Kindle:

After Amazon bought Mobit, it made it into the basis for the Kindle reader’s own e-book format. Mobi supports digital rights management, but unencrypted Mobi documents can be read on the Kindle without issues.

PDF

PDFs can be read as-is in the majority of e-book readers, including the Kindle. It is best used when you want to maintain absolute fidelity to page layout — images, typefaces, etc. But this is the very feature that makes PDFs a problem in some scenarios. Other e-book formats are designed to work independently of any particular device resolution, so pages reflow automatically for each device. This is one of the reasons the Kindle didn’t make use of page numbers at first, since the page numbering for a particular book depends on what device or screen size you are using.

PDFs reproduce the formatting of the original page, no matter what the size of the destination device, so a PDF formatted at a certain size may be readable on a large display, but look cramped on a Kindle or Nook. If you plan to use PDFs, you may want to consider exporting your document with different page sizes for people using e-readers with small screens.

Calibre:

http://calibre-ebook.com/  Calibre is a free and open-source application marketed as a personal e-book management solution. It can be used as an e-book conversion utility.  It is powerful and may be the best place to start, especially if you want to distill output for multiple e-book formats. The program can accept ODF, RTF, ePub, Mobi, PDF and HTML. Calibre can also reformat documents unwrapping plain text that has too many line breaks or insert chapter breaks by looking for certain text structures (such as a line break, the word “Chapter” and then a number).

It doesn’t support DOC or DOCX documents, so anything coming from Word, so you will have to save it in another format first.  Serdar Yegulalp, a computer techology author says, ”Saving in either ODF or HTML from Word seemed to do the best job of preserving formatting and features, including things like monospaced formatting for code examples. Doesn’t process footnotes correctly.”

Sigil:

http://code.google.com/p/sigil/ Sigil is a multi-platform EPUB ebook editor – free open source. It’s an editor that exports to e-books (has a built-in document editor) it includes various tools for collating and assembling a finished e-book (such as a table-of-contents editor). Sigil’s main drawback is how it handles importing – only accepts HTML, plain text or existing ePub files as input documents.

Jutoh:

http://www.jutoh.com/ Accepts OPL files and has slightly more robust editing options. The cost is $39.

Adobes In Design is a full blown publishing solution, but it requires a lot more work and knowledge to generate a finished product than a simple conversion utility. Second is the price tag: It starts at $699.

TIP: Include a Table of Contents

An e-book that isn’t properly chaptered is difficult to navigate. Going to an arbitrary point in a book is not as easy as it should be. The Kindle, for instance, has no touch screen, so jumping around in a book without a table of contents is a chore.

If you have gone through the process of formatting and converting your own ebook, we loved to hear what you chose.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: demystify, How to, Process, Publishing Industry, reference Tagged: ePub, Formatting an e-book, itunes, Kindle, Mobi, Nook

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After many many delays and much speculation, a joint venture called Bookish was launched by Penguin, Hachette and Simon & Schuster.

(Disclosure time: I work at CNET, which is owned by CBS, which is the same parent company of Simon & Schuster. I'm also published by Penguin. All opinions expressed here are my own, and I don't have any insight into Simon & Schuster operations.)

Bookish is a site where you can save books to shelves, rate them, get book recommendations, read some original content, and, very significantly for publishers, buy books directly from the site in various formats. This is a big step for the major publishers into a direct to consumer vertical.

Right now the site feels like it's in beta. There seems to be social sharing built in but I wasn't able to get it to work yet, and even after adding books to my shelves I'm actually still not sure how to get recommendations except by just adding books to a very specific recommendation engine. There's nothing along the lines of Netflix's recommendations based on the things you've rated and told the site you want to read (at least, not that I've been able to find, and I suppose this could be coming).

I've been waiting for this site for quite a while, and had some conversations with people familiar with the direction of the site as it was being developed. Now that I've explored a bit and taken a look, I definitely think Bookish has promise. The design feels polished, the checkout path feels smooth, and I do think there's some value in a good recommendation platform.

But the concerns I had as Bookish was being developed remains. Basically: How often does someone need to visit Bookish?

Aside from the original content, unless you actually need a recommendation for a book or find the book buying process superior there doesn't feel like a specific reason to visit the site. How often do you find yourself needing a recommendation for a book? Maybe a couple times a year? And even if you do want a recommendation, is this where you'll seek it out? And if you want to buy a book, isn't it already easy to buy it through existing channels?

Perhaps more importantly, in the social book recommendation sphere, sites like Goodreads had a major head start and is growing in popularity. And it's done this by being a fun part of the entire reading experience. In addition to saving and rating books, which you can do on Bookish, on Goodreads you can track your progress, organize your books into shelves, and there's a seamless experience for sharing to Facebook.

But the crucial part of Goodreads is that it's social. I can see what my friends are reading and they can see what I'm reading, which is extremely fun. Shelves are conversation starters. It keeps me coming back to the site.

I don't see a similar reason to return to Bookish. As a platform it has promise. But unless they can find a way to become indispensable to readers it's hard to see it as a game changer. I'm not sure what will prompt me to return.

My feeling: Bookish could become the basis for a Hulu for books, a place where readers can gain access to exclusive e-book subscription plans or be a place for exclusive free content. They could really leverage the participation of the publishers. Right now it doesn't feel geared toward that, but the platform is there.

Or perhaps Bookish could finally be the place for something readers have clamored for forever: Bundled print and e-book editions.

Whatever it is, it seems to me that while it's a good first effort, the site needs another killer ingredient.

What do you think? Have you tried out Bookish and what do you think it should be?

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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

Filed under: Advice, authors and illustrators, demystify, How to, need to know, Process, publishers, Publishing Industry, reference, Tips Tagged: How to Self Publish Your book, Self-Publishing

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In January 2013, Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman entered its second printing with a few dents smoothed out.

In the acknowledgments, we…

…deleted a duplicate mention (Bill Schelly)
…added an inexcusable oversight (Robert Porfirio)
…changed “Dave Kraft” to “David Anthony Kraft”

On the endsheet we corrected the last word of the Bill Finger quotation from “story” to...

And on the back cover, we added select review excerpts (as chosen by sales and marketing).


We did not update the ending to say that Bill’s name has officially been added to the Batman credit line...but maybe for the third printing.

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For my first interview of 2013, I am extremely pleased to showcase super-talented author and illustrator Melissa Guion. Baby Penguins Everywhere may be her first picture book, but it certainly won’t be her last. It is interesting to note that I can interview several people and get responses as diverse as the picture books they’ve written. In other words, I could interview ten authors or ten illustrators and ask them the same or similar questions and each would have totally unique answers. But all of them are fascinating. I know you will find Melissa Guion’s interview fascinating as well. Enjoy!

First of all, congratulations on the publication of your first picture book Baby Penguins Everywhere! It’s a wonderful book and I hope we see more from you in the near future. 

1. Have you always enjoyed writing and drawing? And when did you decide that you’d like to be published?

MG. Yes, making books is probably my oldest dream. I wanted to be a gymnast for a while, after watching Nadia Comaneci at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. One out of two isn’t bad.

2. What’s the first thing you did when you got the news that your manuscript was accepted for publication? How did you get the news?

MG. I was actually hired without a manuscript! My future editor saw my artwork and emailed (via my agent) to say he wanted to give me a multi-book deal. I went into our first meeting fairly dubious, but it turned out he meant it. When I got home, there was an email in my inbox from the editor about how we might go about developing a story, and we were off.

When I got that email, I think I did all the obvious things like jumping around. I called my mom. I had champagne with friends that night to celebrate. The next day I told different friends and we also had champagne. I dragged it out.

3. How long did it take from acceptance to finished, shelf-ready book?

MG. People keep asking this and I keep guessing. I’m going to actually look it up right now… Start to finish, it took 2 1/2 years. That’s slightly misleading because, again, there was no manuscript. We made a handshake deal to do a penguin book in late 2009. I had a contract by the summer of 2010, and that’s about when I had my first dummy done. I turned in the final art in January 2012 and saw a finished copy in August 2012.

That’s a really long time. My second and third books will get done much faster, at least according to my contract.

4. How excited were you when you saw your finished book for the first time?

MG. I’m excited every single time I see it. I don’t know if that ever wears off.

5. How did you come up with the idea for Baby Penguins Everywhere?

MG. When I met my editor, I was a new mom and a first-time illustrator. My life was full of chaos. My editor suggested the premise of the lone penguin who finds a magic hat overflowing with babies. It felt applicable to every area of my life.

6. You also illustrated your book. What materials did you use to create the illustrations? Are they your favorite media to work with when creating art?

MG. I used pencil and watercolor. I thought about doing something experimental, but I already had plenty of challenges to deal with. Anyway, I really like watercolor. I love that it has a mind of its own.

7. Where can your fans go to learn more about you?

MG. I have a website, www.melissaguion.com. Readers can subscribe to my blog there. I try to update it a few times a month. I’m also on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BabyPenguinsEverywhere) and Twitter (@MelissaGuion).

8. Is there anything else you’d like to share with Frog on a Blog readers?

MG. If they’re ever in NYC, they need to go to Russ and Daughter, on Houston Street, for smoked salmon and horseradish cream cheese on a bagel. It’s the best! Penguins like it, too.

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