Hi,

I am very excited to be heading for New Orleans to speak at their SCBWI Conference. Madeline and myself will be there this weekend and from what I have heard from many of my authors, this is a great bunch of people. So look out, here we come!

I'll let you know all about when I get back. Have a great weekend.

Miriam

Thought of the Day!
Do a kindness for someone you love today. One greater than you would do for your boss.

Morning Everyone!

It's been a long time since I posted but here is a tidbit before I fly out to New Orleans to speak at the SCBWI Conference this weekend!

Here are our titles that are just out or coming out for the fall. Let's give these authors a great big hand!

1. The Emerald Tablet - P. J Hoover - October 2008 - CBAY Books
2. Life in the Pit - Kristen Landon - November 2008 - Blooming Tree Press
3. The Book of Nonsense - David Michael Slater - October 2008 - CBAY Books
4. Letters from Camp Lizard: Hold on to Your Tail - Regan Johnson - October 2008 - Tire Swing Books
5. Dragon Wishes - Stacy Nyikos - October 2008 - Blooming Tree Press

Congrats to all of you!

Miriam

A BIG Thank You to Cynthia Leitich Smith for interviewing me about Blooming Tree Press. The links to the interview are below.

http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2008/08/publisher-update-miriam-hees-of.html

http://cynleitichsmith.livejournal.com/106603.html

Miriam Hees

Hi All,


I get asked this same question all the time. How has the publishing industry changed in a changing economy?


I think in many ways it has stayed the same, yet it has changed as well.

1. Readers will always read books.


2. Readers are now even more selective about what they read.


3. Price does make a difference in what readers buy.


4. The publishing industry must adjust to #3.


5. Publishers must work harder to "sell" their books.


6. Authors must work harder and find new venues to sell and promote their books.


7. Readers will always read books - publishers must have what they want available.

Now a question for you. In these ever changing times what do you see or think will be seen in the publishing industry?

Hi All,

I thought I'd share a few silly pictures of Madeline and I and our trip to Grauman's Chinese Theatre.


Here goes!

And last but not least "Sophia"

Congratulations to Sarah Ackerley, author/illustrator of Patrick the Somnambulist. Patrick is featured on:

Hi All,

I was reading my Children's Books Editorial Director, Madeline Smoot's blog, Buried in the Slush Pile where she posted about time management and lists. It is an awesome post and it got me to thinking. Lists are what we live by at BTP. I have 4 notebooks I carry with me at all times with lists on each and every thing that has been done, needs to be done, or things I am in the middle of working on. I know Bradford (Ready Blade's Editorial Director) and of course Madeline does, too.

So, to add to Madeline's post, how can you make the most of lists like we do?

• Have at least one Notebook - Now, not everyone needs 4 notebooks, but if you have a least one with you at all times it can save you stress and grief.



• Use Your Notebook - Every few days write down where you are in your project(s)(Include a date). List what you need to research, places you need to visit, or things you need to revise. Each time you add a new date, look back at previous list dates and make sure you have completed past lists.



• Note Your Progress - When you look at past list, it will shows you what you've accomplished. This should give you quite a lift as well as keep you from missing things that you should have done.



• Idea Pages - Remember to save a few pages in the back of your notebook for idea pages. I often get a fabulous idea somewhere, but by the time I'm near pen and paper I've forgotten what it was. To avoid not writing down the next Pulitzer Prize Winning Idea - write down every idea you get. When you look at it again it might seems horrible, but then again, it might be brilliant!

I know that only so much fits in this brain of mine, so I have to have lists. What other brilliant ideas do you have? Let us know!

Miriam

Hello All!

As promised, I am going to give a few pointers on making sure your manuscript is submission ready. These are not pointers on how to write or what to write, this is about how the manuscript will look and what goes with it. Are you ready? Here we go!

Submitting to Agent or Or Publisher

• Follow the Agent or Publisher guidelines exactly.
• If asked for a Synopsis, Query or Outline be sure to keep them precise and to the point.
• Do not submit a manuscript that has been put together at Kinkos to look like a book.

Page Format ( For all age books including picture books)

• Page format should be 8 1/2 X 11 with 1 inch margins and 12 point font.
• Double line space all pages.
• Include page number, last name and title on each page.
• Include name, address, phone number and email address on the first page.

Remember To

• Type your manuscript on a computer if possible.
• Send legibly printed pages.
• State if it is a simultaneous submission.
• Wait an appropriate amount of time before doing a status check.

As a publisher who receives hundreds of manuscripts at a time I wanted to explain what will make me take a manuscript seriously and what looks professional.

Please feel free to ask any questions you'd like regarding formatting and submitting.

I'm Back! From BEA and another conference. Both were very fun and very very tiring. I just love meeting new people and old friends.

It's now crunch time for fall releases and getting started on next years spring season. I'm excited about it and I'll post our Spring and Fall 2009 releases soon.

That's all I am posting today, but my next post will be a short and sweet lesson on getting a manuscript ready for submission. After teaching about it at this weekends conference I realized it was important to share with everyone.

Thought of the Day!
If writing didn't ever pay anything, would you still write?

Hello All!

Well, it's time for a plane ride to Los Angles. On Wednesday I travel to Los Angles to meet up with Madeline for Book Expo America and some classes with the (PMA) the Independant Publishers Marketing group.

I hope to accomplish quite a few things on this trip. One, I will be looking for foreign rights agents for my authors and two I will be meeting with lots of colleagues and friends in the industry.

I will also be attending a dinner, (ABC) The Association of Booksellers for Children, with Madeline. There will a lot of the top Children's booksellers there and in addition BTP is a sponsor of the dinner. We are giving away 500 copies of our newest picture book "Patrick the Somnambulist" to guests at the dinner.

All in all it is going to be a blast as far as I can see! If you are going to be there please send me an email to [email protected] so I can meet up with you to say hello!


Thought of the Day!
Say THANK YOU to a veteran today for bravely fighting for our freedom. They are the reason we can post to any blog we want freely.

Wednesday morning is when all the librarians are let into the Exhibit hall. We had until about 10:00am to have our area ready to go. Luckily for us, The Emerald Tablet ARC's arrived the night before for Madeline to pack up and bring to Dallas. Trisha (P.J. Hover) the author arrived and started signing her ARC's. It was quite thrilling for her to sign her very first publication.

Needless to say as soon as the attendees saw The Emerald Tablet and The Book of Nonsense were available to grab, we had a drove of librarians at our booth. Happily, we all explained that these 2 premier titles from our CBAY imprint were coming out this fall and that one of the authors was signing today! I think in total about 1,000 free copies were taken and as far as I can see, CBAY is about to have a great launch.

During all of this Bradford continued to fold our 2008 catalog for distribution, while Madeline and I explained about all of our titles over and over again. Not a bad thing to have to repeat in my opinion! There is nothing more I like to talk about than BTP books!

The exhibit hall closed at 5pm. I knew there were authors there I wanted to meet and I hoped the next day I would have time to search them out. Turns out a few of them found me!

Long time friend and multi-published author, Dottie Enderle, stopped by and told us about her book signing times. She joined Linda Joy, Gabe, Bradford and I for dinner. We talked about upcoming books, the conference and many other things. We called it a night to get ready for day 3.

More fun to come and more people to meet next . . .

Thought of the Day!
If you had the chance, which author would you like to meet most?

Hello All!

I have just arrived back from TLA (Texas Library Assoc. ) in Dallas, Texas. I had such a great time and met so many librarians, authors, friends and fellow publishing persons that it is still all buzzing in my head!

I don't want to forget to tell you everything so I am going to do this in different post.

A special thank you to Madeline Smoot (Managing Editor) and Bradford Hees (Managing Editor) for all the hard work they did these past 4 days at TLA. I couldn't have done it without you. You were both FABULOUS as usual!

On Tuesday before librarians came to see us at our booth, 5 Blooming Tree Press authors spoke at their "Cultural Diversity Panel" Ladies, you were amazing!

As I snuck in to watch them speak I realized I hadn't met 2 of them in person before. But that didn't matter - I knew them all instantly. Beverly Patt, Stacy Nyikos, Gabriele Goldstone, Lila Guzman and Linda Joy Singleton had all the attendees spellbound as they not only explained how their new and current books addressed cultural diversity, but how they came up with the ideas for their books and how it effected them personally and the people around them.

I watched proudly as attendees nodded, gasped, sighed and almost cried. The heartfelt way they made their presentations had whispers going on all around me. One librarian even asked me where they could get their books. I, of course, had the answer for them. Smile!

After a wonderful dinner, where Bradford and I were able to talk more with some of these fabulous ladies, I went to bed with a smile on my face. I knew it was going to be a great conference - and boy was I right.

More to come . . .

Miriam

Thought of the Day!
Friends and Family can make your day. Have you told them lately?

Blooming Tree Press will be leaving next week for Texas Library Association (TLA). We will have a booth with all our books, including freebies! Here is your chance to meet Madeline, Miriam and Bradford! Be sure and stop by to say hello. We'd love to put a face to a name.

See you there!

Miriam

Thought of the Day!
Success means different things to different people. Tell us what your measure of success is.

Hi Gang!

I just wanted to drop a short note to tell everyone we have a new website. It is there now with lots more pages of information in the works.

www.bloomingtreepress.com

This is going to be a site we will update very frequently and one that will have the latest titles, author, conference info and submission information available.

I hope you like it!

Thought of the Day!
Give me your description of a "day off".

Well Gang,

Along with all the titles we are getting ready to come out this spring and fall, we at BTP will be doing some traveling. If you are going to be at any of these places, be sure to drop us a line and let us know so we can meet you and say hello. [email protected]

Madeline Smoot will be speaking at the San Antonio SCBWI Conference March 15, 2008 in San Antonio, Texas.

Miriam, Madeline and Bradford will be at TLA (Texas Library Assoc.) Conference in Dallas, Texas April 15-18, 2008. We will have a booth there and we also will have BTP authors who are presenters on a panel.

Miriam and Bradford and staff will drop by the Austin SCBWI conference April 26, 2008 in Austin, Texas to give a high-five to Sarah Ackerley, author and illustrator of "Patrick the Somnambulist". Her first picture book will be released April 22, 2008! It is amazing!

Miriam and Madeline will be at BEA (Book Exp America) in Los Angeles May 27- June 1, 2008. **Miriam will only be there May 28-31**

Miriam and Bradford will be speaking at the "East Texas Christian Writers Conference" June 6-7, 2008 in Marshall, Texas.

Miriam and Madeline will drop by the Writer's League of Texas Conference, June 20-22, 2008, in Austin, Texas to say hello to a great friend of ours, Chuck Sambuchino, editor of Guide to Literary Agents and the assistant editor of Writer's Market (both Writer's Digest Books) who will be speaking there.

That takes us through June 2008. I'll let you know where we will be in the fall as soon as I can remember.


Other than that, things to remember.


"Knowing Joseph" by Judith Mammay will be released at the end of April or first of May 2008. This is a great middle grade book that deals with Autism. Don't miss our on this read!

"Life in the Pit" by Kristen Landon will release in June or July 2008. This is Young Adult fiction that is a delightful read!

More title details coming soon for the fall.

Thought of the Day!
They say the only certain things in life are death and taxes. Personally during this tax time I think taxes may be the death of me!

Hello Everyone!

I have been getting lots of emails with questions.

When are we are accepting submissions?

What is coming up at BTP?


Honestly I didn't know for sure myself, but now some decisions have been made and I am going to share them with you.

The Direction of Blooming Tree Press

We have been so very fortunate over the past 5 years to find great authors and illustrators, meet fellow publishing persons and basically get the BTP name out there. Because of this we have earned love and respect in this business and have more wonderful work to do that we could have ever hoped for. Thank you to all of you who have made that possible for us.

So now with 3 imprints:

Blooming Tree Press (Children's and Adult Divisions)

Ready Blade (our Graphic Novel Division)

CBAY (our edgier Children's Division)

. . . we are going full steam ahead. We have also hired a fabulous sales company who has taken BTP national. And on their first national sweep, Little Bunny Kung Fu was chosen as Border's Books "Original Voice" for February 2008. They have also seen to it that 8 of our other titles have been being picked up by the national chains.

With all this work to do, and so many books already contracted we have our list full through 2010. But we have a plan that will continue to include the yet-to-be published authors and illustrators. (All of you who have spoken so well of us and believed in us all along)

So here are the new submission guidelines (that will be posted on the website soon). These guidelines will be in effect until further notice. Please follow them carefully as it makes less work for us and for you.

1. We will no longer accept unsolicited submisions from Authors or Illustrators email or snail mail. (Any sent to the home office will be returned if the proper postage is included)

2. We will accept submission queries by all Agents. (email or snail mail)

3. We will accept submissions from all attendees of any conference we have spoken at for a period of 3 months. (All envelopes must be marked with the conference name, but we prefer email)

4. We will continue to finish reading and responding to any snail mail submission we have from the May 2007 cut off date and before at the Austin office.

5. We will address any submissions that are and have been in the "possible publication" stack. (You know who you are. You have been notified)

6. We will read and respond to all submissions from the November 2007 email call. Only 1 or 2 of all of these will be selected for a possible contract (if they fit our list), so good luck to all of you!


7. All authors/Illustrators who have publishing contracts with us who are still waiting for their book to come out - your time is coming. We are a bit behind, so if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Now for the Biggie that am so proud of!

8. We will be setting up a yearly literary award named "The Bloom Award" to celebrate the life of Mildred Bloom, Matriarch of Blooming Tree Press. This award will be for unpublished authors only. Each year's award will consist of a different genre, age group and imprint. This award WILL result in a publishing contract for one lucky winner. (disclaimer: if all parties can come to an agreement)

I am just so excited about this! Mama was all about giving chances to those who had the odds against them (she adopted me after all). She believed in hard work and the publishing world can be a hard hard place with few chances. So here is your chance compliments of Mildred. Information will follow no later than this fall.

We are still working on the rules and details, so don't ask what they are yet because we haven't written them.

Also know that we have gone almost all electronic/email for those who we are working with us. We have new toys that make reading submissions quicker and more efficient, so bare with us through this change.


I do hope I haven't ramble too much, but I felt everyone deserved an update.

Miriam Hees


Thought of the Day!
Did you know that one hug can go a long way?

Well Gang,

I just came back for a lovely time in Cocoa Beach, FL. Madeline (Editoral Director of BTP Children's Division) went with me and we met lots of wonderful writers and fellow publishing peoples.

I have to admit I thought it would be nice and sunny and warm, but instead for me, it was cold and windy. Of course I am a cold natured person. Other than the weather it was a fabulous beach setting.

I spoke on Friday night about how to get the most out of a conference. On Saturday I did one-on-one critques and then spoke on working with a small press. I did read one or two samples that sounded very interesting, but of course I will see how everyone writes when they send their work in.

In between critiquing and speaking I was able to sneak in and hear a few presentations (although I didn't get to hear Madeline's which was rumored to be fabulous!). Chuck Sambuchino, Editor of "Guide to Literary Agents", did a wonderful presentation on Playwriting - which I found out quickly is very different from Screenwriting. It seemed to be something that was near and dear to his heart as he had written quite a few himself and had seen them preformed.

I also met four wonderful agents who would definately be treasures to represent any writer's works. I hope that I can call all of these great ladies friends one day.

After the conference on Saturday, all of the speakers were taken out to a wonderful dinner and then a few of us stayed up a little longer playing pool (Chuck the pool shark was my partner), talking and singing kareoke (Madeline has a wonderful voice).

All in all it was a great time and now I am back at work. I am leaving for vacation next week and I know I will come back rested and ready to work twice as hard.

Thought of the Day!
What is the first thing you are going to do once winter thaws and you spring (or in Texas summer) peaks out?

Good Morning!

Well, I thought you would all like to know what is coming out this year from Blooming Tree Press. These are from our main BTP division and our two other divisions.

Ready Blade
Our Graphic Novel Division which has been in the works for 2 years. It's creator and Editorial Director is Bradford Hees.


CBAY
Is our edger children's division. It's creator and Managing Editor is Madeline Smoot.


Just remember these are tentative dates and there are titles that may be added or pushed back depending on their status. Congrats to all of these amazing authors and illustrators!


2008 Publication Release Dates

Tentative



Blooming Tree Press

Knowing Joseph – February 6, 2008 – Judith Mammay
Patrick the Somnambulist – April 8, 2008 – Sarah Ackerley
The Girls – April 15, 2008 – Smartwriters MG Winners
Life in the Pit – April 22, 2008 – Kristen Landon
Dragon Wishes – September 16, 2008 – Stacy Nyikos


Ready Blade

Series Camp Lizard
Volume 1 – Hold on to Your Tail – May 6, 2008 – Regan Johnson

Series The Light of Nor – Bradford Hees Author, Regan Johnson Artist
Volume 1 – October 11, 2008


CBAY

The Book of Nonsense – October 7, 2008 – David Michael Slater
The Emerald Tablet – October 14, 2008 – P.J. Hoover


Be sure to snag yourself a copy of these great books!


Thought of the Day!
Don't dread your birthday. The alternative is not good!

Well, it's 2008 and if you are anything like me, you look back at what you did and what happened in the year past. I know my son and business partner looks hard at the past year and measures his success or failure depending on what he accomplished in the previous year. That is a good thing to do, but I would like to remind him and you that accomplishments and growths can come from success, failures and just plain old life lessons.

I will be in Florida, speaking at a conference in a couple of weeks and I am going to go into more detail there about this but I wanted to share a little of what I think you should look at in the business of writing, publishing and life.

Blooming Tree Press grows more successful every year and it is thrilling to see. I am not just talking about the success of how many books we put out, what the figures are and what awards we win. That is important and imperative in order to stay in business, but lets look at what I learned.

For example, we put out a very important book called "Bad Girls Club" about abuse and mental illness. This book is amazing and is selling well, but more importantly we are getting responses from people who's life this book has touched. People who experienced the same thing or now know how to respond to someone who is in the middle of it. How amazing to be a part of that.

We also published books that were fun and exciting and may be the first book a child reads. These books may be the ones that shape a child's desire for reading for the rest of their lives. What an honor for us to be a part of that.

My personal assist came down with Leukemia. Anna Herrington (Assistant to the Publisher) has been undergoing treatment to save her life for months now. Amazingly enough on December 20, 2007 Anna received a stem cell transplant and will now be back to work in March 2008 cancer free. How wonderful to see life so fragile in someone so special and young and to see them win. We were a part of that.

For me, family Birthdays and Anniversaries came and went. . . Worked raced on . . . and then my mother died a slow and painful death. But she never stopped smiling the whole time. She showed me my whole life what strength, honor, living and loving was all about. . . even in the end. How Blessed I was to be a part of that.

I know that many if not all of you had similar experiences. Trials and happiness in 2007. Now what are you going to do with it? How is it going to help you in your Writer's Life?

I was just asked the other day, "What do you do when you get writers block?" I've never had writers block, just writer's what do I write next. I told this person to start at the end and work their way back until it became clear.

We all have that option. We know what happened in the past and now we can use it as strength to write in the future. Because what is a book but a little taste of life's experiences. Take your experiences from 2007 and use them as an excuse to write . . . not to wait.

Thought of the Day!
If today was the last day you could write, how long would you sit at your computer and type? What would you write about?

Well, folks. Here we are in 2008! I think it is going to be an amazing year. We have a lot of things going on here at BTP.

1. Little Bunny Kung Fu was chosen by Borders Books as their February 2008 "Original Voice". Can you believe it???? Congrats to Regan Johnson!

2. We have around 8 titles coming out! Wow!

3. Lots of submissions still yet to read and go through. If you have not received an answer on your past submission gives us a few more months. I will post here when we have gone through everything that has come to us via snail mail. At that time if you never received a response we will have an email address for you to ask status. If you were one of those who are being looked at via our email submission call, then that will be handled separately and take longer. Please remember, we are NOT accepting any unsolicited manuscripts at this time.

4. BEA 2008, BTP will have some of their titles displayed there. More info to follow.

5. TLA 2008 in Dallas! BTP will be there!

6. The Opening of our Graphic Novel Division. READY BLADE Our first 2 series titles will come out in 2008. Camp Lizard and Light of Nor. This is very exciting. We have been working on this new division for about 2 years now. Bradford Hees is the creator and Editorial Director of this division, but I know he will say he couldn't have done it without Regan Johnson, our fabulous Art Director. Thanks Regan! This is a great and different way to get kids (and adults) to read!

7. Tentative date for our yearly open submission call is September 1-20, 2008. This is our email only unsolicited submission call. We love this yearly call because we love finding new talent. More information to follow.

8. Our first annual Writing Award in memory of Mildred Bloom. Lots to be done to set this up so more information will follow. Needless to say this will be a yearly award that will give one lucky writer a publishing contract!

Well, that's it for now!

Happy New Year from all of us at Blooming Tree Press!

Miriam Hees

Dear Authors and Illustrators,
I want to thank all of you who have submitted your manuscripts to Blooming Tree Press. I am quite overwhelmed at the numbers and quite honored that you would think enough of us to want your work considered by Blooming Tree Press.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and 12pm November 25th, 2007 is the end of submissions times. This is your final chance to go to www.bloomingtreepress.com and then the "Contact Us" section to submit your final works. Be sure you are sending it to the correct submissions email address listed further down in the guidelines.

Once the deadline passes there will be no exceptions.If you have accidentally snail mailed your submission (and we have received some), they will be returned unread, so be sure to quickly email them to us before the deadline passes.

As you know, we are a small press, and to make us successful we can only choose a limited number of manuscripts to consider. Please don't think because we didn't choose yours that it is not good. It just means it was not right for us at this time.

Please note we will not be accepting unsolicited material for quite some time after this. All updates for the future will be posted on the website.

As the health of the lady this company was named after fails rapidly, you will find us working diligently, but quietly and respectfully. Don't be alarmed if we respond in a somewhat slower manner. We will still be doing our job behind the scenes.

Thank you again for the privilege of seeing your hopes and dreams. They have been and will always be treated with the utmost care and respect.

Until next time, keep writing and dreaming.

Miriam Hees
Publisher/Managing EditorBlooming Tree Press

I was visiting my mother in the hospital on Saturday and she thought it was getting cold outside. This made me realize that fall IS in the air (not here in Texas but in a lot of other places). For me it makes me stop and take a look at was has happened so far this year - what I have done or not done. Most of all it makes me want to take a deep breath, walk a little slower down the the street and think about the wonderful Holiday times I am going to spend with my family. Oh, the business goes on, you can be sure of that, but I think all of us need to spend quality time while we still have the chance with those we love.

Mother and I looked at a fall magazine together and she remarked how she remembered all the dinners we had cooked and when my kids were young, how much fun it was watching them play at her house. I realized I miss those times, too.

So, in the midst of writing and working and living your life, remember to work on making new memories to share. They are priceless.

P.S. The submission guidelines have been written for November and will be posted on the Blooming Tree Press website any day.

Thought of the Day!
What if we could be as loyal to each other as our pets are to us?


Have a great week!

Miriam Hees