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My father was a writer and I am a writer. Writing and reading are in my blood. My grandchildren love to read and I am so glad because reading truly enriches your life. We have bookcases in almost every room of our house loaded with all kinds of books, paperbacks, hardcovers, board books, books for all ages and all purposes. Books can entertain or educate.


One book in our house even travels. It is a board book, shaped like a cat, with a springy tail topped with an orange pompom, and big googly eyes. We have had this book since the granddaughters were very young. In recent months it has mysteriously begun to travel. Instead of remaining in the bookcase in our family room it somehow manages to move about the house, finding its way to a new location every morning when we wake. It is always somewhere between the kitchen and our bedroom. It is usually in the pathway but sometimes is in our bedroom or even in the bathroom. Every morning it is in a new location and no one knows how it got there.


At first we found this a little creepy, spooky, eerie or just plain strange. Last night however the mystery was solved. While my husband was brushing his teeth, preparing to go to bed, he heard a noise outside the door. Curious, he opened the door and this is what he found. He took a picture so there would be evidence to back up his discovery.

All right, now I have an addendum for the tip I posted earlier: If an editor (or agent) asks for your full manuscript, send them the entire thing. Do not just send the chapters they haven't seen yet, unless they specifically ask you to.

Previously in the contest, the entrants submitted the first 3 chapters as part of their book proposal. I just got an email for chapters 4-10. Now, I was not on the initial reading committee, so I have never seen chapters 1-3. Even if I had, I wouldn't remember them since it's been several months since the initial reads. I now can't read this one until someone at BTP gets me the rest.

And as an FYI, these are blind readings I'm doing. I have no idea who the people are that are doing these things. But if it does happen to be you, remember these tips the next time you are asked to submit a full. It just makes the editor's life easier. And since I'm typing this with one hand while the other holds a sick, but fortunately sleeping, baby, I could use as much easy as I can get.

© Copyright 2006-2009 Madeline Smoot. All rights reserved. May be excerpted and duplicated for educational purposes.

This year, I'm running a one page summary contest. All entries should be a one page plot summary of a manuscript you have written. The top 5 entries will be posted and discussed on this blog (pending author approval of course). The top fantasy/sci fi/adventure/mystery summary will have its full manuscript requested for consideration for publication by CBAY Books. The top summary in any genre will have its full manuscript requested for consideration for publication by Blooming Tree Press. Since neither press is taking unsolicited manuscripts, this is a great chance to potentially have your work looked at.

To enter, email your summary to [email protected] by 11:59PM (PST) Tuesday, November 17. Obviously this is a special email that I have set up specifically for this contest, so you don't have to worry about your entry being lost amongst my normal email chatter. Also, that means that you should title your email the title of your work. Please then place your summary in the body of your email. Do not attach anything. If you submit your summary as an attachment, I will delete it without opening and reading it. Also in your email, please before your summary include a one sentence line telling me the genre and age group (chapter book, midgrade, or YA) that the book is intended for.

And finally, here are the rules. Please read them all:

1. This contest is open to any one page summary written for a fiction chapter book, midgrade, or YA novel.
2. No non-fiction.
3. Your summary must be for a work that you have already completed. If you win and I ask for your manuscript, you must be able to supply it immediately.
4. Your summary must be a plot summary. Do not include teasers.
5. Plot summaries must not exceed 300 words.
6. I know I said this above, but NO attachments. I'm serious.
7. All entries are due by 11:59 PM (PST) Tuesday, November 17. No exceptions.

© Copyright 2006-2009 Madeline Smoot. All rights reserved. May be excerpted and duplicated for educational purposes.

Tip of the Week: To get your one page summary started, try writing a single sentence for each chapter that highlights the main event.

Trying to write a summary for your own work can sometimes be a daunting task. This is a simple way to get yourself started if you hit a roadblock. It can also help you determine if you've missed something in your plot.

© Copyright 2006-2009 Madeline Smoot. All rights reserved. May be excerpted and duplicated for educational purposes.

Like I said yesterday, a one page summary divulges the entire plot of your novel. Another word for it would be a plot summary. So, to help people understand what I mean by plot summaries, I went and found a few good ones on the web.

The first one is the plot summary for Madeleine L'Engle's A Swiftly Tilting Planet. You can find it on wikipedia here. Just look at the part of the page labeled "Plot Summary," not all the other things on the page.

This summary does a good job of detailing out every major plot point in an interesting manner. Granted, it contains lots of spoilers, but that's exactly what an agent or editor wants in a plot summary. They want to see the entire plot arc.

Now because this book is one in a series, the plot summary does not have to introduce the main characters. It's assumed that the reader, in this case random wikipedia readers, are already familiar with the characters in question. If you are pitching another book in a series to an editor who is familiar with your characters, then you can also be as brief about your characters. Otherwise, you would want to tell a sentence about each major character.

Another great source of plot summaries are any of the study guides designed for students. As an example, I've linked to SparkNotes plot summary for Treasure Island. You can see the page here.

These plot summaries are designed for students who do not have time (or desire) to read the assigned books. In a short summary, SparkNotes, Cliff Notes, and the like tell the reader about key characters and all major plot and subplot points. These are the same things an editor or an agent needs to see when they are trying to determine if they would like to read a certain work.

So, keep practicing on those summaries. Remember, the best will have their manuscripts requested.

© Copyright 2006-2009 Madeline Smoot. All rights reserved. May be excerpted and duplicated for educational purposes.

While I was meeting with Future Intern today, she asked what our acquisition process was like here at CBAY Books. As I sat there telling her how we did it here in Texas-Small-Press-Land, it occurred to me that others might also want to see our process.

So, in an effort to be very clear (and as an excuse to play with Microsoft Vissio), I created a flowchart of the acquisition process. You can view the PDF here.

It's all color-coded, so you can see that there is a lot that the editor does (green) and very little the author (orange) can do. There are also eleven different times you can be rejected, a minimum of five times you can be asked to rewrite -- after all that process could easily turn into an endless feedback look -- but you have to follow all the little arrows, and in order, if you want to get published.

Now, of course, this is more the Blooming Tree way than CBAY. Since it's pretty much just me, I get to be editor, editorial board, marketing and publisher all in one. But I do make P&Ls, run market analysis, and consider a manuscript's merit. On the other hand, it's just me, not several committees. If I like the manuscript, the market's promising, the numbers work, you complement my house's list, and the money's there, you're probably going to get published. Of course, it's still pretty rare that all those things align. (Particularly getting those numbers to work. Tricky little numbers.)

And these are just the steps at a small press with only 7 people. Imagine what it's like at the large houses. Hopefully, this will help you put any rejection you may have ever gotten in your writing career in perspective.

It also demonstrates just how miraculous it is that anything ever gets published.

© Copyright 2006-2009 Madeline Smoot. All rights reserved. May be excerpted and duplicated for educational purposes.

For this week, I thought we could all brainstorm and share interesting, different, and creative ideas for release parties. Whether your book is soon to be published or you're still working on the first draft, at some point your book will come out. It's never too early to start planning for its release.

Here are some interesting things some of my authors have done:

PJ Hoover - At both of her release parties, Tricia gave away backpack tags for the kids. More unique than bookmarks, these little laminated cards clip on a kid's bag. When the kid takes the bag to school, other kids learn about the book. Sneaky.

David Michael Slater - is sending kids on a literary treasure hunt around town this year for the release of Book of Knowledge.

What are some successful things you've done at book releases? What good ideas do you have for future parties?

If you are willing to share, join us on Get Me Out of the Slushpile! for our discussion.

© Copyright 2006-2009 Madeline Smoot. All rights reserved. May be excerpted and duplicated for educational purposes.

I completely forgot to post this yesterday. It seems to be true that after pregnancy your brain is never the same again. Sigh. But in keeping with this week's party theme, here's the Tip:

Tip of the Week: Practice reading your book excerpt aloud.

Although not a mandatory part of release parties, many authors choose to read a passage from their book. This is a wonderful way to expose people to your book. However, if you read in a flat monotone, your book, no matter how exciting, is going to sound flat. I have worked in the kid section through to many boring adult events where the author spoke as if his/her voice had no inflection. They could be reading about the funniest or the most tragic thing, and it all sounded the same. This is not going to encourage the random book customer who stumbles upon your event to buy your book.

I once read (I don't remember where - if anyone knows let us know in the comments) that authors should consider taking acting classes. I don't know if I'd go quite that far, but definitely practice. And if you can practice in front of kids, even better. If nothing else, you'll learn if your excerpt is too long if it can't hold the child's attention.

© Copyright 2006-2009 Madeline Smoot. All rights reserved. May be excerpted and duplicated for educational purposes.

I've been futzing with my camera, trying to get the video onto my computer. Since I don't have a video link here, obviously I've been unsuccessful. I fear I may have to actually read the directions. I know. Horrible.

In the meantime though, I've been thinking of some general advice when planning a release party. Here's what I've come up with:

Do:
Hold your event at your home, a bookstore, a church, or some place similar.

Don't:
Hold your party at a conference center, a park, a bowling alley, or a convention center.

When you have your party, you want you and your book to be center stage. Holding your party at a very public place like a bowling alley or park can be distracting. On the other hand, if you pick a really large venue, then your party is going to look small no matter how many people come. Even with a couple hundred people at a party, it'll look tiny if the place seats thousands.

Do:
Have party favors for everyone who comes. People like to get free stuff.

Don't:
Give away your book to everyone there.

It's one thing to give a copy or two as a door prize, but resist the urge to hand a free copy of your book to everyone you meet. The whole point of a release party is to give everyone you know the opportunity to purchase your book and get it signed. Besides, if you give everyone a free book, the expense is going to add up fast. And as you all know, here at Buried in the Slush Pile, we are all about doing stuff as frugally as possible. Having bookmarks, backpack tags, small posters, reading guides, etc. are great freebies. Your book or even readers of your book are not so good.

© Copyright 2006-2009 Madeline Smoot. All rights reserved. May be excerpted and duplicated for educational purposes.

Today is party day, so I don't have time to do a long post. Hopefully I'll have some video of the party to post tonight, but I don't have anything right now.

But I do have a writing prompt for everyone. At most book release parties, there is a question and answer period, and the following question is almost always asked. So consider your own answer:

What inspired you to write your book?

© Copyright 2006-2009 Madeline Smoot. All rights reserved. May be excerpted and duplicated for educational purposes.

Normally I talk about other children's books, but this week I thought I'd tell you about a book specifically written for adults. I know. It's shocking. I've read a book for adults. But this specific book nicely works with this week's topic. I present:

A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization
By Deltina Hay

This book covers everything from blogging to social networks and bookmarking sites. If it can be done to market your book online, this book tells you how to do it. There are all sorts of tips and techniques in this book that you can easily use to quickly enhance your web presence. And of course most of the things are free and only take minutes to create.

Another good thing about this book is that it is accessible to multiple skill levels. Whether you're a beginner that struggles with Facebook or an old pro that does your own coding, this book has something to offer. Personally, I refer to the book all the time.

© Copyright 2006-2009 Madeline Smoot. All rights reserved. May be excerpted and duplicated for educational purposes.

One of the nice things about social networking sites is that they all seem to come with free badges and widgets. You can use these badges to promote your site. Some of them even let you customize what you place on them or choose the colors so that your badge will coordinate with the rest of your site.

However, with so many badges and widgets from different sites to chose from, there is always the chance that you can place so many badges on your site that they become overwhelming. You don't want to clutter the sidebars of your site or blog. Too many badges are overwhelming for the reader and often leads him/her to not click on any at all. You have to be selective in the ones you choose to permanently display.

For example, on Facebook alone I have the ability to create 7 different badges -- 1 for my profile, 1 for this blog's page, 1 for CBAY Books' page, and 1 for each of CBAY's different books' pages. Now if I place all 7 of those badges on my sidebar, they would just get lost. Instead, I just placed the most relevant Facebook badge -- the one for Buried in the Slush Pile's page.

The only other widgets I have on this page's sidebar all relate directly to this blog. Remember to place your own badges sparingly as well.

© Copyright 2006-2009 Madeline Smoot. All rights reserved. May be excerpted and duplicated for educational purposes.

Yesterday we talked about writing keyword rich text and practiced writing keyword rich bios. Today we'll discuss one of those places you can use those bios.

Now, I realize that most people are acquainted with Facebook, and that the majority of you already have profiles there. But have you considered how useful the place is for book marketing?

For starters, you can set up a page devoted to your book. I set up the following 4 pages this morning. To do all 4 pages, it took me less than 1 hour. You can see them by clicking on their badges below:

1. Add your blog using the Networked Blogs app.
   Then, when you update your blog, it automatically updates on your page.
2. Upload photos.
   You can add book covers, interior artwork, photos from events, fan art, etc.
3. Upload video -- like book trailers.
4. Post events.
   Let people know about release parties, contests, or other activities related to your book.
5. Have discussions about your book.
   Fans can ask you questions about the character or possible sequels or embarrassing personal questions you can then choose to ignore.

© Copyright 2006-2009 Madeline Smoot. All rights reserved. May be excerpted and duplicated for educational purposes.

For the past few weeks we've been discussing tips, techniques and writing trends in children's books. But a writer's job doesn't end with the completion of the novel. Oh no. There is so much promotional writing that authors do -- especially on the internet. There's blogging, Facebook, My Space, twittering, and so many other ways to connect with your readers and other authors on the Net. This week we are going to focus on a few of these. But before we jump into the world of internet opportunities, let's discuss how to write for the web.

Now many of you may already know this, but for the internet newbies, we should discuss the importance of keywords. These are the terms people use when searching the internet. (They are also what spyders use when categorizing pages on the internet.) They are incredibly important. So, you want to write text that is "rich" in keywords. An example of a keyword would be the term "children's book."

Of course, writing rich keyword text is good, but also using the right keywords is better. Some keywords are searched more often than others. For example, the term "children's literature" was searched on Google 110,000 times last month. Not bad. But the term "children's books" was searched 450,000 times. So, in the very first sentence of this post I had a choice of using the term children's literature or children's books. Both made sense in the context of the sentence. You can see which one I chose.

Now how do you know which terms are searched the most? The easiest (and free-est) tool is Google's Adwords Keyword Tool. Type in a potential keyword, and the tool will give you the number of times it was searched as well as the rankings of other similiar terms.

And that leads us to the writing prompt for this week:

One of the great places to place rich keywords is in the biography that you fill out for all those different profile pages. So, write a 25 word and a 50 word keyword rich biography. Remember to write it in 3rd person and to make sure you mention the title of your novel if it has been published or soon to be published. Otherwise, try to pack it as full of keywords as possible. You want your name to come up on search engines even when people don't specifically search for you.

If you would like feedback on your bio, post it at Get Me Out of the Slushpile!.

© Copyright 2006-2009 Madeline Smoot. All rights reserved. May be excerpted and duplicated for educational purposes.

Yesterday I wrote about the resurgence of episodic fiction in children's literature. Books like The Penderwicks and even The Graveyard Book exemplify this trend. Both books contain stand alone episodes. However they don't include some other traits found in classic kiddie lit. It turns out that not everything found in those works of bygone days is making a comeback.

For instance, omniscient narrators still don't make appearances in modern children's books. The POV these days is almost very close to the main character. Occasionally, there will be multiple points of view, but those are tricky to do well. Instead, most books use a limited narration that is so close to one character's view point, that it almost can be written in first person.

Another thing you won't find in a modern kid's book is author intrusion (or interruption if you prefer that term). In my favorite of the Narnia books, The Horse and His Boy, CS Lewis makes the following statement (badly paraphrased from memory by me): "In Calormen the children were taught to tell stories much the way English children are taught to write essays. But while people want to hear the stories, I've never met anyone who wants to read the essays."

Now, that is probably my favorite example of all time of author intrusion. It's funny, witty, charming, and horribly true. However, it has no place in a modern children's book. For one thing, it breaks the fictional dream and pulls the reader out of the story. For another, it takes the story off into a tangent. Modern books are written in a more concise, straight narrative form. Author intrusions these days just seem to stick out. I've yet to see one in a manuscript I've worked on that hasn't needed to be cut.

And finally, the various -isms -- sexism, racism, ageism, etc -- are completely unacceptable in modern literature. Gone (mercifully) are the days of perfectly PC books, but blatant or even subtle -isms that aren't in a book to specifically show how bad they are are unacceptable. And you wouldn't want to read them anyway. Reading the sexism in the original Tom Swift or the racism in the original Nancy Drew made me want to gag. Although instructive from a historical perspective of how bad it used to be, there is no need to duplicate those kinds of stereotypes today.

So remember, regardless of the type or style of book you are writing, try to avoid weird omniscient narrators, author intrusions, and -isms. The editor that has to work on your manuscript will appreciate it.

© Copyright 2006-2009 Madeline Smoot. All rights reserved. May be excerpted and duplicated for educational purposes.

Now everyone knows that good writing never goes out of style. And the recent resurgence of classic writing styles and techniques would be a great example of this.

It seems that in all sorts of books these days you encounter the kind of writing that you used to only find in books like Little Women or Anne of Green Gables. I am of course referring to the return of episodic children's fiction. You know the kinds of books I'm talking about -- the ones where each chapter has its own plot structure as part of the overall plot. In these chapters the protagonist has his/her own adventure that can also act as its own stand-alone story. Sometimes the book has multiple protagonists and different chapters are devoted to his/her own individual adventures separate from the group.

Now in some ways this type of book is harder to write than the standard novel. There is the overall story arc for the book, but each episode has its own arc. And just like the overall plot, these subplots have to be satisfactorily concluded. If you have the episodes running concurrently, this can leave you with a lot of loose ends to type up in the end.

On the other hand, this kind of book can be great for those people who like to write in bursts. Each episode should generally be able to stand alone. Yes, it's part of the overall plot, but it also is complete on its own. So, the different episodes can be written at different times. In fact they can even be written as short stories. During the revision stage the stories (if they are not to different or separate in time) can be combined into an overall plot.

And so that leads us to the writing prompt for the week:
Write a 500-1000 word chapter that could be a stand alone excerpt. (In other words something that works both as a short story and as a chapter.)

Remember if you choose to participate, post your chapter directly on the site at http://buriedintheslushpile.ning.com/forum/topics/episodic-exercise.

© Copyright 2006-2009 Madeline Smoot. All rights reserved. May be excerpted and duplicated for educational purposes.