So love this from Jill Corcoran Literary Agency's newest agent Eve Porinchak as a comment in the A Path To Publishing FB Group on why it takes so long to hear from agents/editors:
I've been in this group and reading all the posts for some time. I am a new agent with the Jill Corcoran Literary Agency, and interned with Jill for a year, reading all submissions. As a writer for the last 13 years, I know how very frustrating your situation is. Now that I'm on the other side, I'll share my thoughts: Just in the last few weeks, I have received hundreds of submissions. It takes SO much more time than I thought to get to them in a speedy manner, especially between other work duties and life events. I'm an efficient person…I read ms subs constantly, from my home, the doctor's office, on my phone before bed and upon waking. Still, I cannot imagine getting to all of them within a month or so. This weekend and next, Jill and I will be at conferences, and have two more next month. We are both traveling to NYC soon as well. So, unfortunately, sometimes reading queries is something we have to fit in. Fortunately, I LOVE reading them! I have no problem with people nudging me, especially because things can get lost in the shuffle, and I KNOW your time is valuable. I would definitely check the response times on the agent websites. And, yes, unfortunately many agents now say, "If you have not heard from us in XX amount of time, consider it a NO." I don't like this practice, but I totally get it, in terms of saving time (for them). Last thing…I have requested full mss that are just really really long, and it's taking me forever to finish them before getting back to potential clients. It's tough to read that many novels in a few weeks. I agree with the other commenters; be patient. The fact that you are getting requests for full manuscripts is a great sign. Keep on keepin' on!! Hope this helps.
Eve Porinchak, Junior Agent, Jill Corcoran Literary Agency
Eve Porinchak graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor’s degree in PsychoBiology. She has a degree in Early Childhood Education from Colby-Sawyer College and attended medical school at the University of New England.
Eve has always worked with children in some capacity. She taught Pre-K through First Grade, with a specialty in reading, she worked as a state foster care case manager, teaches creative writing to incarcerated teens, and serves as an aid worker in Tijuana orphanages.
An active member of SCBWI for 15 years, Eve interned at the Jill Corcoran Literary Agency where she was recently promoted to Junior Agent.
Fun Facts:
Subject to change so don’t hold her to them! ☺
• Favorite Books: Monster by Walter Dean Myers, You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers, and The Stupids (That’s right, you heard me) by Harry Allard & James Marshall
• Favorite Movies: The Breakfast Club (Most brilliant movie in the history of movies), The Blue Lagoon (Hey, at least I can admit it), Kings of Summer (BTW, if you haven’t seen this indie gem, go - run, don't walk - to see it now. GO!)
• Dream Job: A Quality Control Tester at Cinnabon (For real, that's a thing!)
• Death Row Meal: Lindsey Leavitt’s grilled cheese, vanilla cupcakes, gummy bears, white wine, Cinnabon
Eve Porinchak has eclectic literary tastes and is open to everything from picture books to young adult novels. She is currently looking for contemporary realistic fiction for teens that features unusual love stories with badass protagonists and cinematic writing.
From Eve: "Dark, edgy, psychological thrillers, gang-lit, realistic contemporary, mostly YA, but am open to anything. (I do love James Marshall's "The Stupids" after all!) smile emoticon Some of my favorite books to read over and over are: "True Notebooks" by Mark Salzman, "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers, "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn, "You Shall Know Our Velocity" by Dave Eggers, "The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson, "This Is For The Mara Salvatrucha, Inside The MS-13" by Samuel Logan. I am NOT a fan of fantasy; however, I love the Hunger Games, so that is the closest to fantasy-ish I will read. Also a huge fan of true crime, and loved NPR's SERIAL. If your story reads like a Tuesday night episode of "Dateline", send me your pages! Query me according to our guidelines. I am reading and responding to everything at the moment. PEACE!"
Send cover letter and the first 10 pages pasted into your email at eve at jillcorcoranliteraryagency dot com
Jill Corcoran is closed to unsolicited submissions. Jill is open to submissions by referral from dramatic rights, publishing and licensing professionals.
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Number of Readers that added this blog to their MyJacketFlap: 9
• Veteran puppeteer (and Muppeteer for Gonzo) Thom Stanley will puppeteers several of our characters for the 22 episodes of My Dad's Garage. Yeah, we’re coming unglued, too…
• Victor Yerrid, current Muppet and “Dad” on Sid the Science Kid,™ © has been an advisor to EverWitt on all things puppets for about two years.
• The My Dad’s Garage initial bible concept was overseen and mentored by Joe LeFavi, former head of publishing from the Jim Henson Company (current president of Quixotic Transmedia).
• Our film, camera and lighting work are all directed by Rick DeWitt, AFI MA cinematography, who has worked on films such as Goodfellas, One Last Cigarette, The Rookie, Cool World, Round Midnight, Rocky IV, and Betrayed.
• J.H. Everett is our concept artist, story developer, and lead creative force behind My Dad’s Garage. He has a PhD in history from UC Irvine and has written and illustrated 6 children’s books for MacMillan/Henry Holt and MMJ Press. He has worked as a concept artist for the Jim Henson Company. He was mentored in illustration by Roger Armstrong, Bob Singer, and Alice Provenson. He is also the founding artist ambassador for the Candy Palace charity.
I bet the most common first question I field after telling writers that my new book is Writing New Adult Fiction is, “What’s the difference between ‘new’ adult and ‘young’ adult?” My answer usually starts with a single word: sensibility.
WIN a signed copy of Writing New Adult Fiction by Deborah Halverson!
In comments, let us know if you are writing YA, NA or both and then head on over to and join the A PATH TO PUBLISHING Facebook Group to talk with 1,600+ likeminded authors, editors, agents and illustrators: https://www.facebook.com/groups/apathtopublishing/
We will randomly choose one person who both commented and is an A PATH TO PUBLISHING Facebook Group member to receive a signed copy of Writing New Adult Fiction by Deborah Halverson! Winner will be chosen and notified via comments in this blog on October 15, 2014.
BIO: Deborah Halverson is the award-winning author of Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies, Writing New Adult Fiction, the teen novels Honk If You Hate Me and Big Mouth, and numerous books for young readers. Deborah was an editor at Harcourt Children’s Books for ten years—until she climbed over the desk and tried out the author chair on the other side. Armed with a Masters in American Literature and a fascination with pop culture, she sculpts stories from extreme places and events—tattoo parlors, fast food joints, and, most extreme of all, high schools. She is also the founder of the popular writers’ advice website DearEditor.com. Deborah speaks extensively at workshops and conferences for writers and edits adult fiction and nonfiction while specializing in teen fiction, New Adult fiction, and picture books. She lives in San Diego, California, with her husband and triplet sons. For more about Deborah, visit DeborahHalverson.com or DearEditor.com.
The Colored Waiting Room
Elsie Timmons had gone through the wrong door. Maybe it was a mistake. All she knew was that her mama, Luther Mae, was hollering at the top of her lungs for her to "Bring her womanish behind back, right now!"
In fact, there didn't seem to be any other sounds at all on that late summer day in front of Dr. Baker's neat brick office building. Just the strange, trumpeting tone of Luther Mae Timmon's words.
"Girl, I said come back here!" Elsie had to turn around. Her mama's voice sounded shaky, that way it always did when Pap bought her a tiny sack of peppermints along with his paycheck, or when that big black phone would ring and she'd sit down hard, because somebody-some cousin or aunt, or uncle's first wife-had died.
Elsie had to shade her eyes; fall hadn't set in deep enough yet to dull the brightness of the Southern sun. As the automatic glass door began to shut, Elise could see her mother out there, slapping her thigh in frustration...no, it was fear! The navy pleats fanned in and out each strike, and Elsie imagined the nasty red welts that must be rising on her mother's Carnation-milk skin. Elsie put her brown hand on the door handle. She was torn, and just a little bit worried.
But before she eased her mother's mind, before she let herself go back to being the "sweet, levelheaded child" that everybody at Galilee Baptist said she was, she had to see.
From SUPER SCHNOZ AND THE GATES OF SMELL by Gary Urey, edited by Kristin Ostby and Kelly Barrales-Saylor (Albert Whitman)
My name is Andy Whiffler and I was born with a humongous honker.
I'm talking a nose so big it should have come with a warning label, a schnoz so enormous little people could use it as a sledding hill, a pie sniffer so massive that if someone was walking beside me and I turned my head suddenly to the left, I'd knock them out cold.
You get the idea.
The weird thing is that everyone else in my family has adorable little button noses. Noses so perfect they'd make a supermodel jealous.
There's a reason why I have a huge beak. When mom was pregnant with me, the pharmacist mixed up her pre-natal vitamins with a steroid for nasal congestion. The effect was disastrous. The steroid overstimulated a gland in my brain that made my nose grow and keep on growing. And I can never have a nose job because there's a major artery that connects from my nasal septum to my brain.
If I snip off my snout, I'm a goner.
Besides the lawsuit money, there's only one good thing that came from the ordeal-I have an amazing sense of smell. I'm talking super-power worthy. I was around the age of two when I first became aware of this talent. My earliest memory is sitting in the living room when a luscious aroma wafted into my nostrils.
Chocolate-chop cookies.
My nose told me the smell wasn't coming from our kitchen. I toddled out the door in my diaper and walked into the street. Since Mom was asleep on the couch and Dad was at work, no one saw me leave.
The sweet scent let me across a main highway, through an auto salvage yard, across a set of busy railroad tracks, and finally to the little white house with yellow curtains. The two-mile journey took me four hours to complete.
From DRAMA QUEENS IN THE HOUSE by Julie Williams, edited by Nancy Mercado (Roaring Brook Press, Macmillan)
The theater is lit up like an opening-night gala celebrating the first show of the season. It's graduation night, the second Thursday in June, and this gala is all about me.
JESSIE JASPER LEWIS...my name on the marquee in lights.
well, the marquee actually reads THE JUMBLE PLAYERS. But a dozen Japanese maples dotting the patio are sparkling with lights. All the windows in the old mansion part of the theater are twinkling, too.
And there IS a huge banner strung across the stage door that reads WAY TO GO, JESSIE!
My dad hops out of the front passenger seat and runs around to open the limo door for me.
My best friend Bits leans over me, letting out a huge sigh. "Oooooh! I never see it like this. I'm always inside by now."
"I know! It's gorgeous, isn't it?"
"Like Broadway!" From Bits that's the highest praise. "And tonight it's all for you!"
She gives me a shove.
I tumble out into the driveway. For such a tiny person-not even five feet tall-Bits sure is strong.
She slides out after me. "Let's go see what David's got to eat..." She's also skinny as a rail and always hungry. I'm always hungry, too. But when your five foot eight at fifteen that's a given.
Mom had gracefully alighted from the massive Hummer limo. I envy that grace. She and Bits are the same hight and so much alike you'd think Bits was her kid, not her niece. (My aunt Loretta looks like a linebacker.) Like Bits and unlike me, Mom has full control of all her limbs.
She grabs my dad's hand, and they lead the way towards the stage door.
Let me just say, that though we live a dramatic life, we are not accustomed to this extravagant mode of transportation. Okay, the truth is I've never ridden in any kind of limo before. And Hummers are-well, kind of disgusting. Plus, we live only two houses down from the theatre (572 steps to be exact), and my main transportation for going anywhere else has always been the city bus system. If it weren't for our tech director's other life running a limo service, we'd be in the theater van.
From BLIND SPOT by Laura Ellen, edited by Karen Grove (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Winter stopped hiding Tricia Farni on Good Friday.
A truck driver, anxious to shave forty minutes off his commute, ventured across the shallow section of the Birch River used as an ice bridge all winter. His truck plunged into the frigid water, and as rescuers worked to save him and his semi, Tricia’s body floated to the surface.
She’d been missing since the incident in the loft six months ago. But honestly, she didn’t come to mind when I heard that a girl’s body had been found. I was that sure she was alive somewhere, making someone else’s life miserable. Maybe she was shacking up with some drug dealer, or hooking her way across the state, whatever. But she was definitely alive.
Easter morning that changed.
“The body of seventeen-year-old Tricia Farni was pulled from the Birch River Friday night. A junior at Chance High School, Tricia disappeared October 6 after leaving a Homecoming party at Birch Hill. Police believe her body has been in the water since the night she disappeared.”
I couldn’t wrap my brain around it. Tricia was a lot of things, a drug addict, a bitch, a freak, but dead? No. She was a survivor. Something—the only thing—I admired about her. I stared at my clock radio, disbelieving the news reporter. Ninety percent talk, AM 760 was supposed to provide solace from my own wrecked life that weekend. I thought all those old songs with their sha-la-la-las and da-doo-run-runs couldn’t possibly trigger any painful memories. I guess when a dead girl is found in Birch, Alaska, and you were the last to see her alive, even AM 760 can’t save you from bad memories.
JENNIFER ARENA: Formerly an editorial director at Random House BFYR, Jen Arena has written over 50 books for kids under her maiden name, Jennifer Dussling, and under the pseudonym Tennant Redbank, including fiction and nonfiction, licensed and original. Some of the books she's written are Gargoyles, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Slinky Scaly Snakes, Pink Snow and Other Weird Weather, Fair Is Fair, Deadly Poison Dart Frogs, Gotcha!, and The Rainbow Mystery. Her books have been published by Scholastic, Grosset & Dunlap, DK, Scholastic, Kane Press, Two Lions, and Bearport Publishing and translated into French, Spanish, Korean, and Arabic.
Booklist called Jen's recent book 100 Snowmen "adorable and educational, too," and One Little Flower Girl, published by Scholastic, won an Oppenheim Gold Award and was featured on Martha Stewart's wedding website. She has a number of books coming to print soon including Besos for Baby with Little, Brown, Marta Big and Small with Roaring Brook/Macmillan, Lady Liberty's Holiday with Knopf/Random House and a biography for Grosset & Dunlap's Who Was . . . ? series. When she's not writing or editing, you can find Jen in her garden, on a volleyball court, or curled up with a good book. http://www.jenarenabooks.com/
Wendy Mcleod Macknight *****
I just finished video 8 and all I can say is: WOW! I want to thank Jill and Martha for developing and delivering such a wonderful, informative video course. Last year, I retired early, at age 50, to pursue my lifelong dream of writing books for children and young adults. I didn't know what I didn't know (well, I likely still don't!), but I trusted that with hard work and perseverance, I would magically become a published author. It didn't quite work out that way. I live in a small place in Canada and my access to conferences and courses is very limited. I discovered Jill Corcoran when searching for names of agents accepting unsolicited manuscripts (I still cringe to think of what is in her slush pile or deleted into the ether!) and through Jill, Martha. I have been writing, writing, writing, and reading about writing, but I knew I was still missing the mark and I knew my work was not as good as the work of the authors I so admire. So when I saw that Jill and Martha were offering this affordable course, I jumped on it - I think I was one of the first ones in. The beauty of this course is that they take you step by step, day by day through the process. And when you start having those "oh crap, I made THAT mistake, too?" moments, they seem to already know they are coming, and they encourage you to keep going, keep working through the process. I truly believe that the money I spent for this course is the best money I have ever spent on anything to do with writing. And not only do you get hours of content, you are able to go backwards and forwards and keep going back to the videos for a 6 month period. That is amazing!!! As I start my final rewrite I am more confident than ever. Do Jill and Martha promise that if you take this course you will become a published writer? Of course not. But if you are like me, and you are wondering why your baby is not being met with widespread enthusiasm and dancing in the streets, well this course is for you. I believe that by the end of this rewrite, I will have many agents asking to see the whole manuscript. And how I write and rewrite books will be forever changed for the better. Sorry to be so long-winded, but I really have to gush. If you are like me, money is tight. But this course is going to get you where you need to go!
Dolly Napal *****
Having Jill Corcoran and Martha Alderson in the comfort of your home, teaching you how to write and revise at your own pace for a full twelve months is the best thing that ever happened in my writing career. I live on a little rock in the middle of the Indian Ocean, where conferences and live workshops/retreats are a myth. Don't let the title fool you. This is not only a revision course. It's a fully comprehensive writing course for PB, MG, YA, and Adult writers, at any point in their career. You can go step by step, with one or two videos every week, or use it as I do. Watch the whole series, take some notes, and then go back, and do the step by step on each WIP needing revision. I'll be using the PLOTWRIMO videos to revise a few YA manuscripts, finish one manuscript that has been dormant for a couple of years, and for all new manuscripts to come. If you want to progress in your writing career, and have a few bucks to spare, this is where you should invest. Go for it. You won't look back. Thank you, Jill Corcoran and Martha Alderson. Your good humor and casual approach make this even more enjoyable.
See More Reviews Here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/apathtopublishing/
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTION on HOW TO REVISE YOUR ADULT, YA or MG NOVEL....and we are hearing from viewers that it works great for PB too!
Purchase here: vimeo.com/ondemand/reviseyournovelinamonth
In this 8 Video (5.5 hours) Series, Plot Expert Martha Alderson and Literary Agent Jill Corcoran provide step-by-step instruction on how to revise for a stronger and more promising story:
• Concept
• Structure and design
• Tension and conflict
• Character growth and transformation
• Pacing
• Cause and effect
• Meaning
• Hook
• Polish
• Prose
To complete the course in a month, watch two videos a week. Or, work at your own pace and take more or less time on the step-by-step exercises. You decide your revision pace as you explore and complete each video exercise based on your own individual needs in preparation for a major rewrite.
• 8 Instructional videos (available for viewing as many times as you would like for 1 year)
• 30 writing exercises- one for each day of the Revise Your Novel Month
Who will benefit from Revise Your Novel in a Month:
• Writers seeking to write a great novel
• Writers with a draft of a novel and uncertain how to proceed
• Writers with story problems
• Writers who feel blocked
• Writers who wish to move from where they are to where you wish to be
• Writers committed to improving your craft
• Writers interested in digging deeper into your story
• Writers needing help organizing for a major rewrite
PlotWriMo: Revise Your Novel in a Month is the perfect opportunity to revise what you’ve written with step-by-step instruction and daily exercise. Writing a great plot involves craft and skill and know-how. Before you undertake a major rewrite, first consider your story from all angles. You know you’re ready when you’ve checked all the essentials elements for creating an exciting story with compelling characters and a meaningful plot.
Here’s How Revise Your Novel in a Month Works
Revise Your Novel in a Month provides you with 8 instructional videos. Each video includes an in-depth look at specific plot elements and how to consider these essential story principles as you revise your story. Writing assignment(s) to guide you from draft to a finished novel provide you with step-by-step instruction how to analyze and revise your concept, characters, theme, plot and story before rewriting.
To complete the course in a month, watch two videos a week. Or, work at your own pace and take more or less time on the step-by-step exercises. PlotWriMo workshops are designed to fit into even the busiest of schedules. The workshops have no set meeting time. You sign in and watch video lectures, complete homework assignments, and ask questions in a public forum on a timetable that fits your needs.
You decide your revision pace as you explore and complete each video exercise based on your own individual needs in preparation for a major rewrite.
Revise Your Novel in a Month Workshop
can have from this....
1) Agent was thinking he wants a certain book but although in your mind it is a perfect fit, in his mind he is looking for a certain voice/character/plot that is not the same as the ms you sent him, OR
2) (and this is hard to hear) perhaps your concept/writing/first pages are not as strong as you think they are.
You have a couple of choices...
1)you can keep querying if you believe you have made the query and pages the best they can be, OR
2)you can take this as sign that is time to relook and re-evaluate your concept, then your characters, then your voice, then your plot, and finally...the way your words form together on the page.
The A PATH TO PUBLISHING Facebook Group. was created by Literary Agent Jill Corcoran and Plot Expert Martha Alderson as safe, smart, fun alcove for writers and illustrators to share and learn about the craft of writing and the book biz. This is NOT a place to sell your books but a hopefully wonderful place for us all to advance our skills, our creativity, and our dreams plus learn about upcoming A PATH TO PUBLISHING workshops.
A PATH TO PUBLISHING's goal is ensure authors and illustrators understand concept, plotting, character development, scene development, action and emotional arc development, as well has how to pitch your work to agents, editors, and readers.
I have now made the A Path To Publishing Facebook Group PUBLIC to create a safe, smart, fun alcove for writers and illustrators to share and learn about the craft of writing. This is NOT a place to sell your books but a hopefully wonderful place for us all to advance our skills, our creativity, and our dreams.
Come on over and let's talk about the craft of writing.
To learn about upcoming workshops please check out the A Path to Publishing Website.
A Path to Publishing is powered by an innovative interactive video chat platform that allows you to participate with Literary Agent Jill Corcoran and Plot Expert Martha Alderson aka The Plot Whisperer directly--as though you're in the same room. (think Skype on steroids!)
Whether you choose the NOVEL TRACK or the PICTURE BOOK TRACK, our goal is ensure you understand concept, plotting, character development, scene development, action and emotional arc development, as well has how to pitch your work to agents, editors, and readers.
No matter where you are in your publishing career, this program will help you write and sell your manuscript. You will receive insights and feedback on your work that you can act on immediately to take your manuscript to the next level.
With A Path to Publishing, you share your work and ask questions of the faculty live ... from the comfort of your home. It's an efficient, affordable way to learn, make connections, and progress down the path to publication.
CHAPTER BOOK TIPS by Jen Arena, author of 50+ books and most recently line manager of Random House Chapter Books.
Most kids’ book authors gravitate toward a certain type of books when they start out, usually picture books, middle grade, or YA (young adult), but there are many other formats—easy-to-reads, novelty, board books, graphic novels, and, one of my personal favorites, early chapter books.
So . . . what is an early chapter book?
Have you ever seen Rainbow Magic, Junie B. Jones, Ivy and Bean, or Captain Underpants? Those are all early chapter book series. The thing is, few people write naturally for this level. Here are some tips if it’s a format you’d like to explore:
1) Early chapter books are short . . . but not too short. You still have plenty of room to develop characters, build the action, and have a satisfying climax and conclusion. Usually an early chapter book is between 5,000 and 12,000 words.
2) Make sure the problem that needs to be solved is clear early on in the story. A good rule of thumb is to reveal it by the end of the first chapter.
3) Since the audience for early chapter books is kids who are fairly new to reading, the reading level should be on the low side (above 1.0 and lower than 3.5). You don’t want to frustrate the reader and have them put down the book. This means shorter sentences and simpler vocabulary. How do you find out a manuscript’s reading level? In a Word document, run the Spelling and Grammar Check (under Tools) with your Preferences set to Show Readability Statistics. At the end, a reading level will pop up (it will say “Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level”).
4) Try to keep the plot fairly straightforward. Elements like a switch in the narrator or a flashback might end up confusing a reader.
One of the nicest things about early chapter books is that, more than almost any other format, these books work really well as a series. So if you like writing for this age level, there’s a chance you could end up doing a lot of them!
Jen Arena: Formerly an editorial director at Random House BFYR, Jen Arena has written over 50 books for kids under her maiden name, Jennifer Dussling, and under the pseudonym Tennant Redbank, including fiction and nonfiction, licensed and original. Her first book, Stars, was published in 1996, and has never been out of print, and some of her other titles are Gargoyles, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Slinky Scaly Snakes, Pink Snow and Other Weird Weather, Fair Is Fair, Deadly Poison Dart Frogs, Gotcha!, and The Rainbow Mystery. Her books have been published by Scholastic, Grosset & Dunlap, DK, Scholastic, Kane Press, and Bearport Publishing and translated into French, Spanish, and Arabic.
Jen Arena's most recent book One Little Flower Girl won an Oppenheim Gold Award and was featured on Martha Stewart's wedding website, plus she has a number of books coming to print later this year including books with Amazon Children's Publishing, Penguin Random House and Little, Brown.
When she's not writing or editing, you can find Jen in her garden, on a volleyball court, or curled up with a good book.
http://www.jenarenabooks.com/
http://jillcorcoranliteraryagency.com/clients/#/jen-arena/
Thanks for participating in the Raffle. Our winner is Kim Pfennigwerth. Congrats, Kim!
Sign up for A PATH TO PUBLISHING online face-to-face writing workshops. Wether you choose the NOVEL TRACK or the PICTURE BOOK TRACK, our goal is ensure you understand concept, plotting, character development, scene development, action and emotional arc development, as well has how to pitch your work to agents, editors, and readers.
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 3/10/2015
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 12/20/2014
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Created by EverWitt Productions, the newest member of JCLA.
So, let’s talk talent… Our average creative partner has 20+ years experience, each!
So, let’s talk talent… Our average creative partner has 20+ years experience, each!
• Veteran puppeteer (and Muppeteer for Gonzo) Thom Stanley will puppeteers several of our characters for the 22 episodes of My Dad's Garage. Yeah, we’re coming unglued, too…
• Victor Yerrid, current Muppet and “Dad” on Sid the Science Kid,™ © has been an advisor to EverWitt on all things puppets for about two years.
• The My Dad’s Garage initial bible concept was overseen and mentored by Joe LeFavi, former head of publishing from the Jim Henson Company (current president of Quixotic Transmedia).
• Our film, camera and lighting work are all directed by Rick DeWitt, AFI MA cinematography, who has worked on films such as Goodfellas, One Last Cigarette, The Rookie, Cool World, Round Midnight, Rocky IV, and Betrayed.
• J.H. Everett is our concept artist, story developer, and lead creative force behind My Dad’s Garage. He has a PhD in history from UC Irvine and has written and illustrated 6 children’s books for MacMillan/Henry Holt and MMJ Press. He has worked as a concept artist for the Jim Henson Company. He was mentored in illustration by Roger Armstrong, Bob Singer, and Alice Provenson. He is also the founding artist ambassador for the Candy Palace charity.
• All of our current puppets and CGI effects are designed and made by J.H. Everett and Jay Roth. Jay Roth is the former owner of Electric Image and a long time movie industry vet involved in costume and effects builds for movies such as Aliens, Spaceballs, Terminator, and Stepford Wives (under the direction of Frank Oz from Jim Henson). Our character and build shop is top-notch under his direction. He is also responsible for managing our 3D animation.
• Our in-house graphic design is handled by JR Johnson, long time illustrator, graphic designer, and cartoonist for Starlog, Coast Times, and many other publications, plus former head of art at Penske Advertising.
• Our animation and design are headed up by famed designer/animator Bob Singer, former head of Hanna Barbera for 25 years. Yep, the guy that helped create Scooby Doo, Jonny Quest, the Flintstones, and the Smurfs - yep, that Hanna Barbera.
• Our Business administration is handled by our COO, Nadim Najm, and his father, Jamil Najm. Nadim is also the current publications manager for Rick Warren (Purpose Driven Life) on his diet book series, The Daniel Plan.
• Andrew Dihn is the main voice over artist and puppeteer for Jr. and many other characters. He is formerly a Walt Disney Parks ™ © puppeteer and voice for Turtle Talk with Crush ™ © and the park voice of Mater from Cars.™ ©
• Nashville singer/songwriter Aaron Brown is creating all of the music for the show - and it’s sound is pure American heartland, with a little bit of rock and roll thrown in for some great skateboarding by Jr. and Zoey!
• Andrew Dihn is the main voice over artist and puppeteer for Jr. and many other characters. He is formerly a Walt Disney Parks ™ © puppeteer and voice for Turtle Talk with Crush ™ © and the park voice of Mater from Cars.™ ©
• Nashville singer/songwriter Aaron Brown is creating all of the music for the show - and it’s sound is pure American heartland, with a little bit of rock and roll thrown in for some great skateboarding by Jr. and Zoey!
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 12/20/2014
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Reposting for subscribers. Sorry embedded video did not come through. Here is the link: Happy Holidays from Jill Corcoran Literary Agency http://youtu.be/65aK6azfRQA http://fb.me/1Sh4Go6Ey
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 12/20/2014
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 12/19/2014
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 10/10/2014
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This is the final weekend to buy our Novel and Picture Book Video Series for $75!
Here is what people are saying:
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/reviseyournovelinamonth
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/writesellpicturebook
Here's to all of your publishing dreams coming true!
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 10/2/2014
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Guest post by Editor & Author of Writing New Adult Fiction Deborah Halverson, Writer's Digest Books (July 24, 2014), Sylvia Day (Foreword)
YA fiction has a youthful sensibility that matches the age range of its 12- to 18-year-old protagonists. Let’s leave the under-17s out of this, though, since it’s really the upper edge of teenhood that plays into this discussion. The way these older teens process the world and their place in it differs greatly from the way new adults do the same, and those differences play into how YA characters process their fictional world and react to it. Teens don’t have much experience with the world yet, so even when they are intellectually advanced, their emotional and social naïveté causes them to judge, act, and react differently than they will in just a few years, after they’ve lived through the hard stuff we throw at them in a YA story. These older teens are often desperate to get out from under their parents’ thumbs, or from under other authoritative oversight, and they believe that when they do, life will be so much better. They are an optimistic bunch—usually overly so, thanks to their inexperience. Their ability to put things into perspective is still budding.
NA fiction features 18- to 26-year-olds fully engaged in wisdom acquisition. They’ve got that freedom they dreamed of—only, now they carry the responsibilities that come with it. Turns out, it’s stressful living a self-responsible life when just about everything in your life is in transition. New social circles, new jobs, new living situations…. There’s lots of exploring and experimenting going on, lots of planning and reassessing plans and reassessing again. This is why NA fiction includes first forays into careers—that’s still a time of experimenting and assessing the Life Plan that they’ll settle into as adults with spouses, kids, and committed careers. New adulthood is also the time when young people use the wisdom they’re attaining to form their world view (which includes things like faith, political views, personal well being) and to establish their identities. They began identity exploration in their teen years but give it a serious work-through during this phase.
All of this plays out in a fictional character’s priorities, concerns, words, and actions, and in what the narrative focuses on (especially if that narrative is a first person point of view, which essentially puts readers inside the protagonist’s head). The things your characters talk about reveal their priorities and perspectives, and the way they act or react to situations makes those priorities and perspectives clear. A teen might think, “Is this what love feels like?”, whereas a new adult might say, “How do I behave when I’m with him? What do I want in a guy, in thisguy? What do I need from a relationship?” All of these things—point of view, dialogue, action, word choice—contribute to a narrative’s sensibility.
So that’s why I say that the key difference between NA fiction and YA fiction lies is their narrative sensibilities. Yes, the ages of the characters are different and the settings may be different too (think high school versus college), but it’s the way the characters process their experiences that define the category. Send a seventeen-year-old protagonist to college early and she’s going to interact with that world through the emotions and social filters of a seventeen-year-old. Thus, it’s up to writers to make sure all the elements in our stories sync—character age, setting, problems, coping skills—so that the story is believable to its readership. NA characters talk and act like new adults and face problems that would befall new adults. If you don’t, you’ve got a YA that feels preachy or an NA that feels too young. And of course what we want is a book that feels right on target for our chosen category’s audience.
Luckily, as abstract as narrative sensibility seems to be, you can actively sculpt it from many different directions, using techniques and strategies for tangible elements like dialogue, plot choices, characterization, and even setting. That’s how I filled up an entire book with NA-focused writing advice, and why I dare to believe that writers will find Writing New Adult Fiction applicable as well
as informative.
as informative.
WIN a signed copy of Writing New Adult Fiction by Deborah Halverson!
In comments, let us know if you are writing YA, NA or both and then head on over to and join the A PATH TO PUBLISHING Facebook Group to talk with 1,600+ likeminded authors, editors, agents and illustrators: https://www.facebook.com/groups/apathtopublishing/
We will randomly choose one person who both commented and is an A PATH TO PUBLISHING Facebook Group member to receive a signed copy of Writing New Adult Fiction by Deborah Halverson! Winner will be chosen and notified via comments in this blog on October 15, 2014.
Here's to all of your publishing dreams coming true!
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 9/18/2014
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JacketFlap tags: #query, #writing, #agents, #character, #editors, #first pages, #novel, #plot, #publishing, Add a tag
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For those who requested the FIRST PAGES WORKSHOP & the QUERY WORKSHOP... Time yourself and read your query and/or pages out loud for 5-8 minutes. Now, come read that to The Plot Whisper Martha Alderson & me, Literary Agent Jill Corcoran at the A Path to Publishing OFFICE HOURS and receive a 7 to 10 minute critique. Then sit back and learn from all the others being critiqued.
Receive a critique of your First Pages, Query, Concept, or get help with your Characters, Where to Start your Story, Crisis, Climax, etc. It is your time...your choice.
The 2nd Thursday of every month starting Dec, 2014.
9:30-11:30am Pacific Time
CHOOSE from Active Participant or Observer.
ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS
8 authors will have 15 minutes each to work with The Plot Whisperer Martha Alderson and Literary Agent Jill Corcoran on whatever they want help with. They can read part of their manuscript, their query, energetic markers, concept, discuss plot, characters, etc and receive feedback which they can immediately apply to their work.
OBSERVERS
We provide space for 15 people to observe. These 'observers' do not participate/read their work but listen and learn from others.
http://apathtopublishing.com/office-hours/
Here's to all of your publishing dreams coming true!
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 8/31/2014
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I am often asked, how does a writer go about finding an agent. Here is a short list of sites I compiled and recently updated. If you have more, please put them in the comments and I'll add them to the post.
Websites for researching Agents
AgentQuery : http://www.agentquery.com/
Absolute Write: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=22
Writer’s Digest Guide to Literary Agents Blog http://www.guidetoliterary
Literary Rambles (Agent In-Depth Reviews) http://www.literaryrambles.com/
Preditors and Editors: http://www.anotherealm.com
For Kidlit - SCBWI Blueboards: http://www.scbwi.org/boards/index.php
QueryTracker: http://querytracker.net/
Lots of agent interviews, vlogs, blogs, twitters, etc all over the net. Google them and have fun researching.
Here's to all of your publishing dreams coming true!
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0 Comments on RESEARCHING AGENTS-Updated as of 8/31/2014 2:09:00 PM
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 8/28/2014
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Someone asked me the other day if I nix a manuscript based on the first page. Truthfully, I do.
The first page indicates your voice and the quality of your writing. As an agent with a pretty full list of clients, I am looking only for writers who are as good or better than the writers I already represent. Why? Because my reputation as an agent is based on my ability to spot talent. I owe it to my clients to uphold the reputation they have helped me build, to the editors I work with and hope to work with so I do not waste their time, and to myself.
Here are a few examples of what I consider fantastic first pages that represent each author's voice and talent. As I typed them out I realized that one thing that stands out to me in all these examples is the specifics the authors use.....
From A MATTER OF SOULS by Denise Lewis Patrick, edited by Andrew Karre (Carolrhoda LAB)
The Colored Waiting Room
Elsie Timmons had gone through the wrong door. Maybe it was a mistake. All she knew was that her mama, Luther Mae, was hollering at the top of her lungs for her to "Bring her womanish behind back, right now!"
In fact, there didn't seem to be any other sounds at all on that late summer day in front of Dr. Baker's neat brick office building. Just the strange, trumpeting tone of Luther Mae Timmon's words.
"Girl, I said come back here!" Elsie had to turn around. Her mama's voice sounded shaky, that way it always did when Pap bought her a tiny sack of peppermints along with his paycheck, or when that big black phone would ring and she'd sit down hard, because somebody-some cousin or aunt, or uncle's first wife-had died.
Elsie had to shade her eyes; fall hadn't set in deep enough yet to dull the brightness of the Southern sun. As the automatic glass door began to shut, Elise could see her mother out there, slapping her thigh in frustration...no, it was fear! The navy pleats fanned in and out each strike, and Elsie imagined the nasty red welts that must be rising on her mother's Carnation-milk skin. Elsie put her brown hand on the door handle. She was torn, and just a little bit worried.
But before she eased her mother's mind, before she let herself go back to being the "sweet, levelheaded child" that everybody at Galilee Baptist said she was, she had to see.
From SUPER SCHNOZ AND THE GATES OF SMELL by Gary Urey, edited by Kristin Ostby and Kelly Barrales-Saylor (Albert Whitman)
My name is Andy Whiffler and I was born with a humongous honker.
I'm talking a nose so big it should have come with a warning label, a schnoz so enormous little people could use it as a sledding hill, a pie sniffer so massive that if someone was walking beside me and I turned my head suddenly to the left, I'd knock them out cold.
You get the idea.
The weird thing is that everyone else in my family has adorable little button noses. Noses so perfect they'd make a supermodel jealous.
There's a reason why I have a huge beak. When mom was pregnant with me, the pharmacist mixed up her pre-natal vitamins with a steroid for nasal congestion. The effect was disastrous. The steroid overstimulated a gland in my brain that made my nose grow and keep on growing. And I can never have a nose job because there's a major artery that connects from my nasal septum to my brain.
If I snip off my snout, I'm a goner.
Besides the lawsuit money, there's only one good thing that came from the ordeal-I have an amazing sense of smell. I'm talking super-power worthy. I was around the age of two when I first became aware of this talent. My earliest memory is sitting in the living room when a luscious aroma wafted into my nostrils.
Chocolate-chop cookies.
My nose told me the smell wasn't coming from our kitchen. I toddled out the door in my diaper and walked into the street. Since Mom was asleep on the couch and Dad was at work, no one saw me leave.
The sweet scent let me across a main highway, through an auto salvage yard, across a set of busy railroad tracks, and finally to the little white house with yellow curtains. The two-mile journey took me four hours to complete.
From DRAMA QUEENS IN THE HOUSE by Julie Williams, edited by Nancy Mercado (Roaring Brook Press, Macmillan)
The theater is lit up like an opening-night gala celebrating the first show of the season. It's graduation night, the second Thursday in June, and this gala is all about me.JESSIE JASPER LEWIS...my name on the marquee in lights.
well, the marquee actually reads THE JUMBLE PLAYERS. But a dozen Japanese maples dotting the patio are sparkling with lights. All the windows in the old mansion part of the theater are twinkling, too.
And there IS a huge banner strung across the stage door that reads WAY TO GO, JESSIE!
My dad hops out of the front passenger seat and runs around to open the limo door for me.
My best friend Bits leans over me, letting out a huge sigh. "Oooooh! I never see it like this. I'm always inside by now."
"I know! It's gorgeous, isn't it?"
"Like Broadway!" From Bits that's the highest praise. "And tonight it's all for you!"
She gives me a shove.
I tumble out into the driveway. For such a tiny person-not even five feet tall-Bits sure is strong.
She slides out after me. "Let's go see what David's got to eat..." She's also skinny as a rail and always hungry. I'm always hungry, too. But when your five foot eight at fifteen that's a given.
Mom had gracefully alighted from the massive Hummer limo. I envy that grace. She and Bits are the same hight and so much alike you'd think Bits was her kid, not her niece. (My aunt Loretta looks like a linebacker.) Like Bits and unlike me, Mom has full control of all her limbs.
She grabs my dad's hand, and they lead the way towards the stage door.
Let me just say, that though we live a dramatic life, we are not accustomed to this extravagant mode of transportation. Okay, the truth is I've never ridden in any kind of limo before. And Hummers are-well, kind of disgusting. Plus, we live only two houses down from the theatre (572 steps to be exact), and my main transportation for going anywhere else has always been the city bus system. If it weren't for our tech director's other life running a limo service, we'd be in the theater van.
From BLIND SPOT by Laura Ellen, edited by Karen Grove (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Winter stopped hiding Tricia Farni on Good Friday.
A truck driver, anxious to shave forty minutes off his commute, ventured across the shallow section of the Birch River used as an ice bridge all winter. His truck plunged into the frigid water, and as rescuers worked to save him and his semi, Tricia’s body floated to the surface.
She’d been missing since the incident in the loft six months ago. But honestly, she didn’t come to mind when I heard that a girl’s body had been found. I was that sure she was alive somewhere, making someone else’s life miserable. Maybe she was shacking up with some drug dealer, or hooking her way across the state, whatever. But she was definitely alive.
Easter morning that changed.
“The body of seventeen-year-old Tricia Farni was pulled from the Birch River Friday night. A junior at Chance High School, Tricia disappeared October 6 after leaving a Homecoming party at Birch Hill. Police believe her body has been in the water since the night she disappeared.”
I couldn’t wrap my brain around it. Tricia was a lot of things, a drug addict, a bitch, a freak, but dead? No. She was a survivor. Something—the only thing—I admired about her. I stared at my clock radio, disbelieving the news reporter. Ninety percent talk, AM 760 was supposed to provide solace from my own wrecked life that weekend. I thought all those old songs with their sha-la-la-las and da-doo-run-runs couldn’t possibly trigger any painful memories. I guess when a dead girl is found in Birch, Alaska, and you were the last to see her alive, even AM 760 can’t save you from bad memories.
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 8/26/2014
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Follow the Money! A Freelancer’s Financial Life by Jen Arena
Invoices, W-9s, royalty statements. There’s more to freelancing than just writing—sometimes it means dealing with the financial side. Last week, I went back over the past year to get a sense of where the money was coming from. How much came from the books that I dreamed up and my agent sold? How much came from my licensed writing? I broke it down into percentages below.
I won’t tell you how much I actually made, but I’m relieved it’s significantly more than what The Guardian recently reported an average writer makes in a year. (To make things simple, I figured this out based on what I booked this year. So for example, if a received an offer on a picture book in May, I included the entire advance even though I may not get paid part of that advance until a year—or more!—later.)
 |
| Little, Brown Books for Young Readers pubbing Sept, 2014 |
The breakdown:
Advances (3 books): 29.9%
Licensed writing (5 books): 29.7%
Flat-fee writing (2 books): 24.6%
Editing: 8.9%
Royalties: 6.9%
Here’s a little explanation of each category in case the terminology is unfamiliar.
Advances. This is the way many traditional book publishing contracts are structured. The publisher offers the author an advance against a royalty. The advance is a dollar amount and the royalty is a percentage of sales income. So, as a simple example, a publisher could offer a writer a $5000 advance with a 5% royalty. The copyright is in the author’s name, and sometimes the author will earn money years later on this book through royalties. The author may also earn money from subrights, such as translations, book club sales, etc. My books 100 Snowmen and Besos for Baby were advance/royalty contracts.
Flat fee writing. For a flat fee contract, the idea is often generated by the publisher and farmed out to a writer. The publisher offers the author a flat fee to write a manuscript, for example, $3000. Once the author completes the project, she’ll see no more money afterward. Sometimes an author will have the copyright in her name, and sometimes she won’t. Fair Is Fair and The Rainbow Mystery were flat fee projects.
Licensed writing. A license is a brand, like Barbie or Sponge Bob, or a movie, like How to Train Your Dragon. The licensor hires an author to write a book about characters it created. Like with a flat fee contract, for a licensed contract, the author is paid a set amount (for example, $3000) and doesn’t receive any money after that. The copyright is in the name of the licensor. Blondie: Rapunzel’s Royal Pony and Monsters University: Roaring Rivals were licensed contracts.
Royalties. Once a book earns out its advance (see above), the publisher pays the author royalties. Looking at that original example, on a book that costs $10, the publisher would need to sell roughly around 10,000 copies at the 5% royalty for the author to earn out her advance. (10,000 x .05 x $10 = $5000) I’m still earning royalties on my books Slinky Scaly Snakes and One Little Flower Girl.
Editing. In addition to writing, I freelance edit manuscripts for publishers, agents, and authors. Freelance edit jobs are a great way to smooth out the rollercoaster of writing, because they’re usually paid quickly and can be finished in a couple of days or a week.
What’s the takeaway? For me, the key is diversity. These five areas are ones that have worked well for me, but your five (or three . . . or six) may be different. School visits, for example, can be another way for children’s book authors to earn money, or teaching creative writing classes. By diversifying your sources of income, you spread out the risk. One year, you may do well with licensed writing and not so well editing, and the next year, those two categories may be reversed. Diversity is a great thing to add to your freelance career in other ways, too, such as writing for different age levels, writing different formats and genres, publishing with small publishers and large, or publishing traditionally and self-publishing.
Don’t let yourself be pigeonholed into just one category—you might surprise yourself with the different talents you have!JENNIFER ARENA: Formerly an editorial director at Random House BFYR, Jen Arena has written over 50 books for kids under her maiden name, Jennifer Dussling, and under the pseudonym Tennant Redbank, including fiction and nonfiction, licensed and original. Some of the books she's written are Gargoyles, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Slinky Scaly Snakes, Pink Snow and Other Weird Weather, Fair Is Fair, Deadly Poison Dart Frogs, Gotcha!, and The Rainbow Mystery. Her books have been published by Scholastic, Grosset & Dunlap, DK, Scholastic, Kane Press, Two Lions, and Bearport Publishing and translated into French, Spanish, Korean, and Arabic. Booklist called Jen's recent book 100 Snowmen "adorable and educational, too," and One Little Flower Girl, published by Scholastic, won an Oppenheim Gold Award and was featured on Martha Stewart's wedding website. She has a number of books coming to print soon including Besos for Baby with Little, Brown, Marta Big and Small with Roaring Brook/Macmillan, Lady Liberty's Holiday with Knopf/Random House and a biography for Grosset & Dunlap's Who Was . . . ? series. When she's not writing or editing, you can find Jen in her garden, on a volleyball court, or curled up with a good book. http://www.jenarenabooks.com/
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 8/25/2014
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I am currently open ONLY to the following submissions:
I recently read ‘Flora and Ulysses,’ by Kate DiCamillo and ‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette’ by Maria Semple and LOVED them!
Both have a unique voice with an interesting take on their world. Plus, they made me laugh.
If you have a picture book, chapter book, middle grade, young adult or adult novel with this type of stand-out vision, I would love to read it.
Thank you and I look forward to reading your work,
Jill Corcoran
Jill Corcoran Literary Agency
WHAT MAKES A BOOK SELL?
What makes a book sell to a publisher, and sell-through to readers?
It is NOT how fabulous your website or blog is. It is NOT how many facebook or twitter friends you have, how many publishing links you forward or put on said website, blog, facebook and twitter. It is not how much editors and agents like you, though being a pain in the arse will NOT help you in any way, shape or form.
What sells a book is THE WRITING coupled with an ORIGINAL, COMPELLING CONCEPT!
You have heard that great writing will rise to the top and find its way. Yet we all know that not all great writing sells. There is marketing and sales to contend with, and even in my 4.5 short years of agenting I have had quite a number of books that editors loved and sales and marketing told them that it would sell, but just not enough....and the books are still not published. Breaks my heart. Breaks the editors' hearts. And oh, the author. So very unfair. BUT, publishing is a business and fair is not the leading part of the equation here.
But couple GREAT WRITING with an ORIGINAL AND COMPELLING CONCEPT and you are 75% there. The rest is luck, timing, bizarre unknown factors that none of us understand but we kill ourselves trying to, and kismet. When HARRY POTTER, TWILIGHT, WIMPY KID, 13 REASONS WHY, etc were brought to acquisitions meetings and given the green light, publishers made an educated guess that these books would sell. They make those educated guesses on other books (and in some cases pay big advances and pump marketing dollars into them) that are equally fantastic but for some mysterious reason never find their audience. I worked in marketing for a couple of decades and this is just how it goes. What made the Pet Rock, Silly Bands, Chia Pets, Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Bear Soap, etc sell? Don't know.
Is it all word of mouth? Is it superior product--maybe yes in books, but in Pet Rocks?
So let's talk about 'superior product in books'. In my opinion, the ORIGINAL, COMPELLING CONCEPT outweighs mediocre writing, but the better writer you are (LEARN YOUR CRAFT!) the stronger CAREER you will have as a writer be it traditionally published or self-published.
And to the self-published, $0.99 sales price may get you a heck of a lot of first time readers (if you are so lucky) but if your writing is crap, who the heck is going to buy your second book? Let me quote my friend and 80+book author Kathleen Duey: Almost no one expects musicians to get good on an instrument without years of lessons, books, years of practice. There is a similar learning curve for writing. (read full post here)
So, my advice to writers other than the all important LEARN YOUR CRAFT---
1. Brainstorm concepts and pitches before you commit to a new book.
Even if you love your your new idea....write 10 more to get your creative juices going and see if you can come up with something better and/or improve on your original idea.
Brainstorming without self-criticism is an excellent way to unearth your creativity.
2. If you have a critique group/agent--consider picking the 3 that you most want to work on and share it with them to see if you are on track to writing something truly original and compelling.
3. Find the manuscript voice you want to work with. This is not Author Voice--Author voice is your unique voice that permeates all your work, this is the Manuscript Voice--the tone you want to tell this particular story in.
4. Write 3 chapters in your chosen Manuscript Voice and see if it is working. Share it with your critique partners, and, if you have this kind of relationship, with your Agent. While these first chapters may end up in the dumpster as many first chapters do, it is the tone/ characters/ setting/ concept/ freshness/ uniqueness that must shine through. Sometimes we come up with an amazing concept but we just cannot write an amazing manuscript to do the concept justice. I find this all the time in queries....amazing concepts with pages that are not compelling. If you cannot write to the chosen concept, pick another one. You have a list of 10+. Or brainstorm again.
5. Be absolutely mindful of every character you choose to put in the book. Why are they there? How do they move the story forward? What is interesting about them that will make a reader care about following them from page to page to page? What would make a reader demand book 2 and 3 because they can't bear to say goodbye to these characters? This is a must even for stand-alones. Don't you love that feeling when you slow down at the end of a book because you just don't want it to end?
6. Plot the heck out of the book. If you are a pantsers (as opposed to an outliner), no problem. Just make sure you go back through one full revision with the plot in the forefront of your mind asking How can I make this book UNPUTDOWNABLE?
0 Comments on WHAT AM I LOOKING FOR IN SUBMISSIONS, FALL 2014-and yes, adult novels included:) as of 8/25/2014 1:49:00 PM
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 7/22/2014
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Martha Alderson and I talked for a long, long, long time tonight and realized that we truly want to share our passion with more people--we meant it when we said our goal is to help you all learn about the craft of writing and the book biz. What we are hearing is that the cost of the videos are a bit steep for some of you. To help, we have decided to drop the cost of all video series to $75. And, for the picture book series we will offer a $25 Pre-Order discount so for now the Picture Book Series is $50.
Also, with the incredible response to the one-day workshops, we plan to start offering them on a variety of topics approx. once a month. A schedule will be going up on apathtopublishing.com soon. The one-day workshops will also be $75.
Happy writing and revising, All!
For PLOTWRIMO: REVISE YOUR NOVEL IN A MONTH go to https://vimeo.com/ondemand/reviseyournovelinamonth
To pre-order HOW TO WRITE & SELL A PICTURE BOOK go to https://vimeo.com/ondemand/writesellpicturebook
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 7/21/2014
Blog: Jill Corcoran Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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WRITING IS AN ART. PUBLISHING IS A BUSINESS.
The word "Gatekeeper" regarding publishing is BS. I am not a gatekeeper as I am a woman/mother/wife/businesswoman (in that order!) that sees the opportunity cost of time with every client I work with, and Publishers are businesses that must make a profit (hello, are you a shareholder of any business that you hope will grow their stock price) and who invest not only time but a good deal of money In every book they publish...money includes but is not limited to rent, utilities, salaries of all 25+ employees that impact your book, development, production, marketing, conferences where they display and sell-in books to retailers, libraries, consumers, etc.
So enough with the gatekeeper argument. Don't blame agents and editors and publishers for not investing their time and money in your book. The books that are not chosen are books agents/editors/publishers did not see as a good investment of their time and money. It does NOT mean your book is not fantastic. It just means that the people you sent your book to did not choose to INVEST in it. And, if you choose to self-publish you are investing in yourself just as you invested your time and money to learn the craft of writing, and to write and revise your book. You are choosing to give up (opportunity cost) other things in your life that cost money and take time, to self-pub/market your book and in the end, there are no gatekeepers. Just choices.
FYI--I posted this on FB the other day but wanted to also post it here on my blog:)
Come on over to the A Path to Publishing Facebook Group to ask Plot Whisperer Martha Alderson, Literary Agent Jill Corcoran and 1,200 other agents, editors, writers and illustrators your questions. Created by Martha and Jill, the APTP FB Group is a safe, smart, fun alcove for writers and illustrators to share and learn about the craft of writing and the book biz. This is NOT a place to sell your books but a wonderful forum for us all to advance our skills, our creativity, and our dreams.
www.apathtopublishing.com
https://www.facebook.com/groups/apathtopublishing/
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 7/8/2014
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So here's the thing...(and this is NOT a sales pitch but what I truly believe) you will DEFINITELY have a better understanding of on how to solidify your story's concept, identify its energetic markers, plot your novel scene by scene, amp up the drama, flesh-out your characters and deepen the meaning of your story plus much more if you watch all 8 videos and COMPLETE the 30 writing exercises.
Martha Alderson and I wrote those scripts and then went off script to elaborate and drive home everything we know you need to both WRITE and REVISE your stories. In every workshop you do with us, you will be far better off watching all those videos first so you know, deep down know, the hows and whys of concept, writing and revising.
You have these videos for a full year so each time you watch/complete the 30 writing exercises with either one book or a whole bunch of books, you will learn something new. Just as each sentence/piece of dialog/scene should move your story forward and/or deepen your readers' understanding of your characters/theme/etc, so too does each viewing of the videos/completing the writing exercises move you, the writer, forward and deepen your understanding of the craft of writing.
I know, deep in my heart, that hanging with Martha and me for the next year via these videos, via the A PATH TO PUBLISHING facebook group, and if you choose via a workshop, that each one of you will grow into your best writer self. Armed with the tools and the self-confidence of truly understanding the craft of writing, each one of you will make your writing dreams come true.
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 7/4/2014
Blog: Jill Corcoran Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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paper books not dead
self-pubbed e-books part of whole
readers reject dreck
©Jill Corcoran 2011
Three years later and my haiku commentary stands:)
"The amount of time, heartache, frustration, and hell that these videos are saving me from is immeasurable." Kirsten Walgren Tulsian
"Don't let the title fool you. This is not only a revision course. It's a fully comprehensive writing course for PB, MG, YA, and Adult writers, at any point in their career." Dolly D Napal
"I have been writing, writing, writing, and reading about writing, but I knew I was still missing the mark. How I write and rewrite books will be forever changed for the better." Wendy McLeon MacKnight
"I felt overwhelmed with my latest revision. I feel like a weight has been lifted and I'm just on day one." Rick Rowe
In this 8 Video (5.5 hours) Series, Plot Whisperer Martha Alderson and Literary Agent Jill Corcoran provide step-by-step instruction on how to revise your
• Concept
• Structure and design
• Tension and conflict
• Character growth and transformation
• Pacing
• Cause and effect
• Meaning
• Hook
• Polish
• Prose
in preparation for a major rewrite of your novel.
To complete the course in a month, watch two videos a week. Or, work at your own pace and take more or less time on the step-by-step exercises. You decide your revision pace as you explore and complete each video exercise based on your own individual needs in preparation for a major rewrite.
• 8 videos (available for viewing as many times as you would like for 1 year)
• 30 writing exercises- one for each day of the Revise Your Novel Month
0 Comments on STATE OF THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY HAIKU as of 7/4/2014 7:51:00 PM
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 6/6/2014
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I am a huge fan of a fabulous first line. It truly sets the tone of your book and let's me know I am in for a great ride.
I often tell writers to read the first line, first paragraph, first chapter of books, tons of books...just the first....to see how those firsts effect them.
Then, go create a unique, enticing beginning.
First line from I'M NOT HER by Janet Gurlter, Sourcebooks Fire.
No matter how much I don't want to care, it's not easy bing stranded all alone in the middle of a crowded room, like the ugliest dog at the animal shelter.
and first paragraph...
No matter how much I don't want to care, it's not easy bing stranded all alone in the middle of a crowded room, like the ugliest dog at the animal shelter. Kristina shoved me into her shiny red Toyota like she's my fairy godmother, insisting I do the party "for my own good." But other than a few heys and disinterested stares, no one notices that I'm here. Before long, even Kristina forgets about me. Swept up by her friends and admirers, Kristina leaves my bathing in my own flops sweat.
I signed Janet Gurtler based on the first 50 pages of I'M NOT HER. There were no other pages back then but I knew Janet had a unique voice and a command of character. I wasn't wrong. Janet has gone on to selling 7 Contemporary YAs to Sourcebooks Fire.
Praise for I'M NOT HER
"Rich in characterization, Gurtler's novel wrestles with some serious issues and explores different means of coping (or escaping) yet manages not to be overwhelming or bleak. Just right for fans of Sarah Dessen and Jodi Picoult, this is a strong debut that attempts to answer the question, What does it really mean to live?" - Booklist
Check out Janet and all her books at her website: http://www.janet-gurtler.com/books.html
Need help with your story?
- Looking for tips to prop up your middle with excitement?
- Wish you understood how to show don't tell what your character is feeling?
- Are even you sometimes bored with your own story?
- Long to form your concept into words?
We can help you with all of that and so much more! View your story in an entirely new light. Recharge your energy and enthusiasm for your writing.
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 5/22/2014
Blog: Jill Corcoran Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: book biz, Effective Book Marketing, writing tips, Query Letters, editors, research, agents, revision, Add a tag
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JacketFlap tags: book biz, Effective Book Marketing, writing tips, Query Letters, editors, research, agents, revision, Add a tag
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTION on HOW TO REVISE YOUR ADULT, YA or MG NOVEL
REVIEWS
Wendy Mcleod Macknight *****
I just finished video 8 and all I can say is: WOW! I want to thank Jill and Martha for developing and delivering such a wonderful, informative video course. Last year, I retired early, at age 50, to pursue my lifelong dream of writing books for children and young adults. I didn't know what I didn't know (well, I likely still don't!), but I trusted that with hard work and perseverance, I would magically become a published author. It didn't quite work out that way. I live in a small place in Canada and my access to conferences and courses is very limited. I discovered Jill Corcoran when searching for names of agents accepting unsolicited manuscripts (I still cringe to think of what is in her slush pile or deleted into the ether!) and through Jill, Martha. I have been writing, writing, writing, and reading about writing, but I knew I was still missing the mark and I knew my work was not as good as the work of the authors I so admire. So when I saw that Jill and Martha were offering this affordable course, I jumped on it - I think I was one of the first ones in. The beauty of this course is that they take you step by step, day by day through the process. And when you start having those "oh crap, I made THAT mistake, too?" moments, they seem to already know they are coming, and they encourage you to keep going, keep working through the process. I truly believe that the money I spent for this course is the best money I have ever spent on anything to do with writing. And not only do you get hours of content, you are able to go backwards and forwards and keep going back to the videos for a 6 month period. That is amazing!!! As I start my final rewrite I am more confident than ever. Do Jill and Martha promise that if you take this course you will become a published writer? Of course not. But if you are like me, and you are wondering why your baby is not being met with widespread enthusiasm and dancing in the streets, well this course is for you. I believe that by the end of this rewrite, I will have many agents asking to see the whole manuscript. And how I write and rewrite books will be forever changed for the better. Sorry to be so long-winded, but I really have to gush. If you are like me, money is tight. But this course is going to get you where you need to go!
Dolly Napal *****
Having Jill Corcoran and Martha Alderson in the comfort of your home, teaching you how to write and revise at your own pace for a full twelve months is the best thing that ever happened in my writing career. I live on a little rock in the middle of the Indian Ocean, where conferences and live workshops/retreats are a myth. Don't let the title fool you. This is not only a revision course. It's a fully comprehensive writing course for PB, MG, YA, and Adult writers, at any point in their career. You can go step by step, with one or two videos every week, or use it as I do. Watch the whole series, take some notes, and then go back, and do the step by step on each WIP needing revision. I'll be using the PLOTWRIMO videos to revise a few YA manuscripts, finish one manuscript that has been dormant for a couple of years, and for all new manuscripts to come. If you want to progress in your writing career, and have a few bucks to spare, this is where you should invest. Go for it. You won't look back. Thank you, Jill Corcoran and Martha Alderson. Your good humor and casual approach make this even more enjoyable.
See More Reviews Here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/apathtopublishing/
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTION on HOW TO REVISE YOUR ADULT, YA or MG NOVEL....and we are hearing from viewers that it works great for PB too!
Purchase here: vimeo.com/ondemand/reviseyournovelinamonth
In this 8 Video (5.5 hours) Series, Plot Expert Martha Alderson and Literary Agent Jill Corcoran provide step-by-step instruction on how to revise for a stronger and more promising story:
• Concept
• Structure and design
• Tension and conflict
• Character growth and transformation
• Pacing
• Cause and effect
• Meaning
• Hook
• Polish
• Prose
To complete the course in a month, watch two videos a week. Or, work at your own pace and take more or less time on the step-by-step exercises. You decide your revision pace as you explore and complete each video exercise based on your own individual needs in preparation for a major rewrite.
• 8 Instructional videos (available for viewing as many times as you would like for 1 year)
• 30 writing exercises- one for each day of the Revise Your Novel Month
Who will benefit from Revise Your Novel in a Month:
• Writers seeking to write a great novel
• Writers with a draft of a novel and uncertain how to proceed
• Writers with story problems
• Writers who feel blocked
• Writers who wish to move from where they are to where you wish to be
• Writers committed to improving your craft
• Writers interested in digging deeper into your story
• Writers needing help organizing for a major rewrite
I. TRAILER
a. Introduction
a. Introduction
II. OVERALL STORY LEVEL
a. Video #1: HOW TO REVISE + CONCEPT & CHARACTERS
• Welcome
• How to Approach Revision
• Organization
• Concept
• Characters
• Story Titles
• Welcome
• How to Approach Revision
• Organization
• Concept
• Characters
• Story Titles
III. PLOT AND STRUCTURE LEVEL
IV. SCENE LEVEL
b. Video #5: CLIMAX
• Review
• Preparation
• Anticipation
• Event
• Reaction
• 3 Major Plot Lines
• Antagonist Crisis
• Review
• Preparation
• Anticipation
• Event
• Reaction
• 3 Major Plot Lines
• Antagonist Crisis
c. Video #6: BEGINNING & END
• Review
• Beginning
• Traits, Skills, Knowledge, Beliefs
• Cause and Effect
• Antagonists
• Review
• Beginning
• Traits, Skills, Knowledge, Beliefs
• Cause and Effect
• Antagonists
V. WORD LEVEL
a. Video #7: MANUSCRIPT VOICE + CHARACTER & ACTION
• Voice
• Transformational Journey
• Backstory Wound
• Subplots and Theme
• Crisis
• Voice
• Transformational Journey
• Backstory Wound
• Subplots and Theme
• Crisis
b. Video #8: FIRST PAGES + FINAL TEST
• Every Word Perfect
• Sentence structure
• Dialog
• Prepare for Rewrite
• Rewrite
• Every Word Perfect
• Sentence structure
• Dialog
• Prepare for Rewrite
• Rewrite
For more information about A PATH TO PUBLISHING see our website at www.APathToPublishing.com
0 Comments on Watch Video 1 for FREE: HOW TO REVISE YOUR NOVEL/PB with Plot Expert Martha Alderson & Literary Agent Jill Corcoran as of 5/22/2014 12:34:00 PM
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 5/13/2014
Blog: Jill Corcoran Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: writing tips, research, agents, revision, road to publication, Jill Corcoran Literary Agency, Add a tag
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JacketFlap tags: writing tips, research, agents, revision, road to publication, Jill Corcoran Literary Agency, Add a tag
PLOTWRIMO: REVISE YOUR NOVEL IN A MONTH - Trailer from A Path To Publishing on Vimeo.
In this 8 Video (5.5 hours) Series, Plot Expert Martha Alderson and Literary Agent Jill Corcoran provide step-by-step instruction on how to revise for a stronger and more promising story:
• Concept
• Structure and design
• Tension and conflict
• Character growth and transformation
• Pacing
• Cause and effect
• Meaning
• Hook
• Polish
• Prose
To complete the course in a month, watch two videos a week. Or, work at your own pace and take more or less time on the step-by-step exercises. You decide your revision pace as you explore and complete each video exercise based on your own individual needs in preparation for a major rewrite.
• 8 Instructional videos (available for viewing as many times as you would like for 1 year)
• 30 writing exercises- one for each day of the Revise Your Novel Month
Who will benefit from PlotWriMo: Revise Your Novel in a Month:
• Writers seeking to write a great novel
• Writers with a draft of a novel and uncertain how to proceed
• Writers with story problems
• Writers who feel blocked
• Writers who wish to move from where they are to where you wish to be
• Writers committed to improving your craft
• Writers interested in digging deeper into your story
• Writers needing help organizing for a major rewrite
PlotWriMo: REVISE YOUR NOVEL IN A MONTH
I. TRAILER
a. Introduction
II. OVERALL STORY LEVEL
a. Video #1: HOW TO REVISE + CONCEPT & CHARACTERS
• Welcome
• How to Approach Revision
• Organization
• Concept
• Characters
• Story Titles
III. PLOT AND STRUCTURE LEVEL
a. Video #2: TRANSFORMATION + GOALS
• Review
• Layers of Plot
• Transformation / Change
• Goals
b. Video #3: CONCEPT + ENERGETIC MARKERS
• Review
• Concept
• Energetic Markers
• Plot Planner
IV. SCENE LEVEL
a. Video #4: SCENES AND THEMES
• Review
• Scene and Summary
• Themes
• Character Motivation
• Antagonist
b. Video #5: CLIMAX
• Review
• Preparation
• Anticipation
• Event
• Reaction
• 3 Major Plot Lines
• Antagonist Crisis
c. Video #6: BEGINNING & END
• Review
• Beginning
• Traits, Skills, Knowledge, Beliefs
• Cause and Effect
• Antagonists
V. WORD LEVEL
b. Video #8: FIRST PAGES + FINAL TEST
• Every Word Perfect
• Sentence structure
• Dialog
• Prepare for Rewrite
• Rewrite
PlotWriMo: REVISE YOUR NOVEL IN A MONTH
I. TRAILER
a. Introduction
II. OVERALL STORY LEVEL
a. Video #1: HOW TO REVISE + CONCEPT & CHARACTERS
• Welcome
• How to Approach Revision
• Organization
• Concept
• Characters
• Story Titles
III. PLOT AND STRUCTURE LEVEL
a. Video #2: TRANSFORMATION + GOALS
• Review
• Layers of Plot
• Transformation / Change
• Goals
b. Video #3: CONCEPT + ENERGETIC MARKERS
• Review
• Concept
• Energetic Markers
• Plot Planner
IV. SCENE LEVEL
a. Video #4: SCENES AND THEMES
• Review
• Scene and Summary
• Themes
• Character Motivation
• Antagonist
b. Video #5: CLIMAX
• Review
• Preparation
• Anticipation
• Event
• Reaction
• 3 Major Plot Lines
• Antagonist Crisis
c. Video #6: BEGINNING & END
• Review
• Beginning
• Traits, Skills, Knowledge, Beliefs
• Cause and Effect
• Antagonists
V. WORD LEVEL
a. Video #7: MANUSCRIPT VOICE + CHARACTER & ACTION
• Voice
• Transformational Journey
• Backstory Wound
• Subplots and Theme
• Crisis
• Voice
• Transformational Journey
• Backstory Wound
• Subplots and Theme
• Crisis
b. Video #8: FIRST PAGES + FINAL TEST
• Every Word Perfect
• Sentence structure
• Dialog
• Prepare for Rewrite
• Rewrite
0 Comments on STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTION on HOW TO REVISE YOUR ADULT, YA or MG NOVEL as of 5/13/2014 12:30:00 PM
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 3/31/2014
Blog: Jill Corcoran Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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INTRODUCING Revise Your Novel in a Month Workshop
Congratulations! You have written a draft of a novel. You accomplished what many writers merely talk about and dream of doing – you have written an entire story from beginning to end. When you finish celebrating, it is time to revise: to re-envision and rewrite what you’ve written into a novel that agents, editors and readers will devour.PlotWriMo: Revise Your Novel in a Month is the perfect opportunity to revise what you’ve written with step-by-step instruction and daily exercise. Writing a great plot involves craft and skill and know-how. Before you undertake a major rewrite, first consider your story from all angles. You know you’re ready when you’ve checked all the essentials elements for creating an exciting story with compelling characters and a meaningful plot.
Here’s How Revise Your Novel in a Month Works
Revise Your Novel in a Month provides you with 8 instructional videos. Each video includes an in-depth look at specific plot elements and how to consider these essential story principles as you revise your story. Writing assignment(s) to guide you from draft to a finished novel provide you with step-by-step instruction how to analyze and revise your concept, characters, theme, plot and story before rewriting.
To complete the course in a month, watch two videos a week. Or, work at your own pace and take more or less time on the step-by-step exercises. PlotWriMo workshops are designed to fit into even the busiest of schedules. The workshops have no set meeting time. You sign in and watch video lectures, complete homework assignments, and ask questions in a public forum on a timetable that fits your needs.
You decide your revision pace as you explore and complete each video exercise based on your own individual needs in preparation for a major rewrite.
Revise Your Novel in a Month Workshop
from 119.99
The workshop (videos plus handouts) will be available mid-May and priced at $159.99.
Workshop includes:
• 8 Instructional videos (available for viewing as many times as you would like for one year).
• Downloadable homework handouts for each video.
• A supportive Facebook group created and visited by Martha and Jill.
• The opportunity to join Martha and Jill’s LIVE Q&A Office Hours to receive professional feedback on what works and what changes you need to make to improve your manuscript.
40.00
Join Literary Agent Jill Corcoran and Plot Expert Martha Alderson in an hour and a half LIVE VIDEO CHAT and receive professional feedback on what works and what changes you need to make to improve your manuscript.
Limited to 8 writers per 1.5 hour session.
Learn not only from feedback on YOUR work but by listening to the questions and Jill and Martha's solutions to other writers' questions to gain a deeper understanding of plot, character, scene, concept, etc.
Related Posts that may help you on your path to publishing:
1. What makes a book sell?
2. Activate your story!
3. Titles and Covers
Related Posts that may help you on your path to publishing:
1. What makes a book sell?
2. Activate your story!
3. Titles and Covers
0 Comments on BIG NEWS for A PATH TO PUBLISHING! as of 3/31/2014 12:13:00 PM
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 3/4/2014
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So let me give you a little of what the agent was thinking and what positive reaction you
1) Agent was thinking he wants a certain book but although in your mind it is a perfect fit, in his mind he is looking for a certain voice/character/plot that is not the same as the ms you sent him, OR
2) (and this is hard to hear) perhaps your concept/writing/first pages are not as strong as you think they are.
You have a couple of choices...
1)you can keep querying if you believe you have made the query and pages the best they can be, OR
2)you can take this as sign that is time to relook and re-evaluate your concept, then your characters, then your voice, then your plot, and finally...the way your words form together on the page.
If you want to learn more, a discussion about this topic is happening right now in the A PATH TO PUBLISHING Facebook Group.
Come on over and join the conversation!
The A PATH TO PUBLISHING Facebook Group. was created by Literary Agent Jill Corcoran and Plot Expert Martha Alderson as safe, smart, fun alcove for writers and illustrators to share and learn about the craft of writing and the book biz. This is NOT a place to sell your books but a hopefully wonderful place for us all to advance our skills, our creativity, and our dreams plus learn about upcoming A PATH TO PUBLISHING workshops.
A PATH TO PUBLISHING's goal is ensure authors and illustrators understand concept, plotting, character development, scene development, action and emotional arc development, as well has how to pitch your work to agents, editors, and readers.
0 Comments on You query an agent based on their #MSWL (Manuscript Wish List) and you get a rejection--my perspective on what the agent was thinking and how to turn this lemon into lemonade as of 3/4/2014 10:46:00 PM
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 2/16/2014
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There are 3 things that, for me, distinguish a great writer:
1)VOICE
2)CHARACTER DEV
3)PLOT
in that order.
Be unique. Be yourself. Be confident.
Sign up for A PATH TO PUBLISHING online face-to-face writing workshops. Wether you choose the NOVEL TRACK or the PICTURE BOOK TRACK, our goal is ensure you understand concept, plotting, character development, scene development, action and emotional arc development, as well has how to pitch your work to agents, editors, and readers.
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 2/14/2014
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Please join the APTP Facebook GROUP for posts and conversation about the Craft of Writing/Illustrating, Book Biz, etc with Agents, Editors and Writers. https://www.facebook.com/groups/apathtopublishing/
Unlike a semi-static FB Page, this is much more interactive/conversational.
See you there:)
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 2/11/2014
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Come on over and let's talk about the craft of writing.
To learn about upcoming workshops please check out the A Path to Publishing Website.
A Path to Publishing is powered by an innovative interactive video chat platform that allows you to participate with Literary Agent Jill Corcoran and Plot Expert Martha Alderson aka The Plot Whisperer directly--as though you're in the same room. (think Skype on steroids!)
Whether you choose the NOVEL TRACK or the PICTURE BOOK TRACK, our goal is ensure you understand concept, plotting, character development, scene development, action and emotional arc development, as well has how to pitch your work to agents, editors, and readers.
No matter where you are in your publishing career, this program will help you write and sell your manuscript. You will receive insights and feedback on your work that you can act on immediately to take your manuscript to the next level.
With A Path to Publishing, you share your work and ask questions of the faculty live ... from the comfort of your home. It's an efficient, affordable way to learn, make connections, and progress down the path to publication.
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By: Jill Corcoran,
on 2/3/2014
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Most kids’ book authors gravitate toward a certain type of books when they start out, usually picture books, middle grade, or YA (young adult), but there are many other formats—easy-to-reads, novelty, board books, graphic novels, and, one of my personal favorites, early chapter books.
So . . . what is an early chapter book?
Have you ever seen Rainbow Magic, Junie B. Jones, Ivy and Bean, or Captain Underpants? Those are all early chapter book series. The thing is, few people write naturally for this level. Here are some tips if it’s a format you’d like to explore:
1) Early chapter books are short . . . but not too short. You still have plenty of room to develop characters, build the action, and have a satisfying climax and conclusion. Usually an early chapter book is between 5,000 and 12,000 words.
2) Make sure the problem that needs to be solved is clear early on in the story. A good rule of thumb is to reveal it by the end of the first chapter.
3) Since the audience for early chapter books is kids who are fairly new to reading, the reading level should be on the low side (above 1.0 and lower than 3.5). You don’t want to frustrate the reader and have them put down the book. This means shorter sentences and simpler vocabulary. How do you find out a manuscript’s reading level? In a Word document, run the Spelling and Grammar Check (under Tools) with your Preferences set to Show Readability Statistics. At the end, a reading level will pop up (it will say “Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level”).
4) Try to keep the plot fairly straightforward. Elements like a switch in the narrator or a flashback might end up confusing a reader.
One of the nicest things about early chapter books is that, more than almost any other format, these books work really well as a series. So if you like writing for this age level, there’s a chance you could end up doing a lot of them!
Jen Arena: Formerly an editorial director at Random House BFYR, Jen Arena has written over 50 books for kids under her maiden name, Jennifer Dussling, and under the pseudonym Tennant Redbank, including fiction and nonfiction, licensed and original. Her first book, Stars, was published in 1996, and has never been out of print, and some of her other titles are Gargoyles, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Slinky Scaly Snakes, Pink Snow and Other Weird Weather, Fair Is Fair, Deadly Poison Dart Frogs, Gotcha!, and The Rainbow Mystery. Her books have been published by Scholastic, Grosset & Dunlap, DK, Scholastic, Kane Press, and Bearport Publishing and translated into French, Spanish, and Arabic.Jen Arena's most recent book One Little Flower Girl won an Oppenheim Gold Award and was featured on Martha Stewart's wedding website, plus she has a number of books coming to print later this year including books with Amazon Children's Publishing, Penguin Random House and Little, Brown.
When she's not writing or editing, you can find Jen in her garden, on a volleyball court, or curled up with a good book.
http://www.jenarenabooks.com/
http://jillcorcoranliteraryagency.com/clients/#/jen-arena/
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