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Happy Monday to you!  You want the goods?  I’ve got the goods.  Or, at the very least, a smattering of interesting ephemera.  Let’s do this thing.

First and foremost, you may have noticed the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards were announced.  The BGHB Awards are some of the strangest in the biz since they encompass the nonexistent publishing year that extends from May to June.  How are we to use such an award?  No cash benefit is included.  And traditionally it has been seen as either a litmus test for future book awards or as a way of rectifying past sins / confirming past awards.  This year it’s a bit of a mix of both.  Both 2015 and 2016 titles appear on the list.  You can see the full smattering in full here or watch a video of the announcement here.  And, for what it’s worth, I served on the committee this year, so if you’ve a beef to beef, lay it on me.

Since this news item appeared on Huffington Post I’m not sure if it is in any way true.  If not, it’s still a lovely thought.  According to HP, the cover artist of Sweet Valley High takes commissions.  Just let that one sink in a little.  I’m not interested, though.  Call me when the cover artist of Baby-Sitters Club starts doing the same.

It’s odd that I haven’t linked to this before, but a search of my archives yields nothing.  Very well.  Whether or not you were aware of it, The Toast has The Giving Tree in their Children’s Stories Made Horrific series.  Shooting fish in a barrel, you say?  Not by half.  It’s not a new piece.  Came out three years ago, as far as I can tell.  And yet . . . it’s perfect.  The latest in the series, by the way, was a Frog and Toad tale.  Sublime.

This Week in Broadway: Tuck Everlasting is out. Wimpy Kid is in.

In other news vaguely related to theater, Lin Manuel-Miranda is slated to star in a 2018 Mary Poppins musical sequel.  And no, not on stage.  On the silver screen.  This, naturally, led to the child_lit listserv postulating over how this could be possible since P.L. Travers had a pretty strong posthumous grip on the rest of the Mary Poppins rights.

So I worked for New York Public Library for eleven years.  Eleven years can be a lot of time. During my tenure I observed the very great highs and very low lows of the system.  I like to think I knew it pretty well.  Now here’s a secret about NYPL: They’re bloody awful at telling you about all the cool stuff they have going on.  Always have been.  For example, I’m tooling about the NYPL site the other day when I see this picture.

I stare at it.  I squint at it.  And finally I cannot help but come to a single solitary conclusion . . . that’s my old boss!  There.  On the left.  Isn’t that Frank Collerius, branch manager of the Jefferson Market Branch in Greenwich Village?  Yup.  The Librarian Is In Podcast seeks to simply talk “about books, culture, and what to read next.”  Frank co-hosts with RA librarian Gwen Glazer and they’re top notch. I haven’t made my way through all of them yet.  I’m particularly interested in the BookOps episode since that’s where I used to work.  And look!  I had no idea that Shola at the Schomburg was on Sesame Street.

Howdy, libraries.  How’s that STEM programming coming along?  Care for some inspiration?  Then take a gander at the blog STEM in Libraries where “a team of librarians with a passion for creating fun and engaging STEM programs for library patrons of all ages,” have so far created fifty-seven different STEM program ideas.

A helpful reader passed this on to me, so I pass it on to you: “The latest New Yorker magazine, dated June 6 and 13, may be of interest to you, if you haven’t yet seen it. It’s the Fiction issue, and in it are some essays by 5 authors, each subtitled “Childhood Reading”…with memories of the books, articles, package labels, events from their childhoods that shaped their idea of what reading is and can be. Having read a couple of these so far, I thought of you, and decided to mention them to you, in case you don’t regularly look at the New Yorker, and might not see them.”  Thanks to Fran Landt for the link.

In other NYPL news, I miss desperately being a part of the 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing committee.  Fortunately, the folks on the committee recently confessed to the books they’re finding particularly good.  So many I haven’t see yet.  To the library!

Daily Image:

You know who won the Best Bookmark Left in a Library Book Award the other day?  That’s right.  This guy.  Check it out:

Sure beats finding bacon.  I was forbidden to own these guys as a kid, so I’ve placed this little fellow in a prominent place on my desk.  Who wants to bet money that some executive somewhere is trying to figure out how to bring these back?  Let’s see . . . the last time they were made they were illustrated by Art Spiegelman.  So if Pulitzer Prize winners are the only people who can draw them, my vote for the 21st artist goes to  . . . ah . . . wait a minute.  Maus is the only graphic novel to ever win a Pulitzer?!?

by

E.C. Myers

—

When I discovered that two of my favorite childhood authors, Franklin W. Dixon (The Hardy Boys) and Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew), didn’t actually exist, my world turned upside down.

If this is a shocking revelation for you, I’ll give you a moment to take it all in.

Okay, still breathing? Good. Granted, the news may not be all that surprising considering that Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books are still being published today, around ninety years after the series first appeared in print. Not impossible, perhaps, but highly improbable that “Dixon” and “Keene” are still with us and churning out these adolescent adventures, though Frank, Joe, and Nancy haven’t aged much.

It turns out that the true creator of The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and a host of other classic characters from Tom Swift to the Bobbsey Twins, were dreamed up by a man named Edward Stratemeyer. He pioneered the concept of “book packaging,” hiring freelance writers to pen books under pseudonyms, according to his plot outlines. The first to write books as Dixon and Keene was a man named Leslie McFarlane.

A writer “ghostwriting” as another author is one of many ways a novel can be written as a “work for hire.” Sweet Valley High fans, I have more bad news for you: Francine Pascal did not write all those books herself! If you’re skeptical whenever a celebrity “writes” a book, you have good reason to be.

But there are many other kinds of projects that are considered “work for hire,” some of which even allow the author to claim what glory they may, including your favorite media-tie-in novels. The authors behind those Star Trek novels are real people! In fact, some of them are friends of mine, and I vouch for their authenticity.

Et tu, Francine Pascal?

It gets a little trickier to know who the creator is when a publishing company develops a series in house and hires a freelance author to write the books, either under their own name or a new pseudonym. You might be surprised when you check the copyright page of a book you love: If the copyright is given to the publisher instead of the author, chances are it was a work-for-hire novel, and the author doesn’t own the rights to the plot or characters.

You might experience a moment of disillusion, but does it really matter? Probably not. The author did write the book after all, and hopefully well, and most writing is a collaborative process between authors and publishers, as well as with other writers, editors, and agents. The important thing is whether the book is any good — as with any book.

In some cases the freelance author might have been given a very detailed outline and set of characters and been tasked with connecting the dots; in other cases, she might get minimum direction and have to come up with a story and characters to fit the premise on her own. There are projects that fall somewhere in between. Moreover, most writers pay the bills by writing lots of things other than their own books — that’s simply called getting “work.” Blog posts, speeches, thank you letters, greeting cards, instruction manuals… Credit can’t always be given where it’s due, and sometimes the only place a writer needs his name to appear is on the “Pay to the Order of” line on a check.

If you’re a writer, you might be interested in getting a work for hire assignment of your own. So how does that happen? Typically a publisher will reach out to an author directly or through an agent, or you might get the opportunity through your network of contacts. If you are invited to audition for the project, you would need to submit a sample chapter or two, following guidelines from the publisher (which were developed internally by one or more people). This gives the publisher a sense of whether your approach and writing style are a good fit for their vision, and to compare what you can bring to the project versus other authors vying for the job. I’ve auditioned for a few of these, and I like to write a chapter from very early in the book and one from the middle, which is a chance to show some growth in the protagonist and introduce a variety of settings, characters, and relationships.

Not that kind of Ghostwriter!

If you’re given some freedom regarding the plotting of the book, you may also have to draft an outline on your own — not unlike what you would submit in a book proposal when writing on spec. This outline might include a high-level Synopsis of the whole story, descriptions of the Style and Theme you imagine for the book, a list of Characters, and finally a Detailed Outline telling the story. Later, you may need to develop a chapter-by-chapter outline as well.

Work-for-hire books generally have a tight turnaround time from first draft to publication — we’re talking months instead of years — which can be very appealing in terms of getting your books on shelves and money in your bank account. But it also means you have to write both quickly and well, so it might not be for everyone. On the other hand, for some it could be a dream come true. Once I found out that Franklin W. Dixon was actually a bunch of different authors, I wanted to be one of them. And hey, I’m pretty sure I have at least one great Star Trek novel in me…

What are your favorite work-for-hire books or authors? Have you written a work for hire, or would you like to?

—

E.C. Myers was assembled in the U.S. from Korean and German parts and raised by a single mother and a public library in Yonkers, New York. He is the author of the Andre Norton Award–winning young adult novel FAIR COIN and its sequel, QUANTUM COIN; his next YA novel, THE SILENCE OF SIX, will be published by Adaptive in November 2014. You can find traces of him all over the internet, but especially at his blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.

Oh, you think the award season is done, old bean?  Why we have only but BEGUN to hand out the 2011 awards!  The Newberys, Caldecotts, and other ALA Media Awards are just the tip of the old iceberg.  There are so many others to explore.  For example, did you get a chance to really examine the 2012 Notable Children’s Books list from ALSC that was recently released?  Absolutely fascinating stuff.  Some books delight, some baffle, and some I’ve not even heard of.  To the library!  Don’t forget that the Sydney Taylor Awards were given out recently too.  Offered to books that “authentically portray the Jewish experience” there were twenty-eight for 2011 alone.  Woot!  The Scott O’Dell Award went to a book that’s a bit better known since this past Monday.  Fun Fact: That award hasn’t gone to a Newbery Award winner since 1998’s Out of the Dust.  Then on the mystery side of the things the Edgar Award nominations were released.  I adore that they distinguish between “Juvenile” and “Young Adult” books.  Icefall is a particularly clever inclusion (I hadn’t categorized it as a “mystery” but I suppose that it is in the old-fashioned sense of the term).  Heck, I’m surprised they didn’t include Dead End in Norvelt as well.  And if I’m not mistaken, at some point here the American Indian Youth Literature Awards for 2012 should be released.  Anyone know roundabout when that might be?

• Meanwhile, other blogs have been doing their post-ALA Award round-ups as well.  There are many to pick and choose from, but I think I’ll highlight the Seven Impossible Things post that shows some prototypes from A Ball for Daisy and Travis at 100 Scope Notes who gives everything a once over.

• Who told me about this on Twitter?  Was it you, Rocco?  Or you, Mr. Schu?  Whoever it was I’m still puzzling it over.  Basically it boils down to five words: Sweet. Valley. High. Television. Musical. Throw in Diablo Cody and the guys behind Next to Normal and . . . words, for once, fail me.

• Now here’s a post that would catch anyone’s eye: AICL Coverage of Arizona Law that resulted in shut down of Mexican American Studies Program and Banning of Books.  Debbie Reese of American Indians in Children’s Literature has an in-depth and
  4 Comments on Fusenews: Goodbye Goodbye, Columbus, last added: 1/27/2012
  Display Comments
  Margot Magowan said, on 1/26/2012 7:44:00 AM
  

  Hi,

  I discovered your blog because you did a link to mine (Reel Girl) about a post on Lego for girls and the letter from the 14 yr old girl to Lego. I am so happy to discover it your blog! I love it. Can you recommend great blogs that focus on MG books, especially ones centered on girls? I’ve written quite about about politics and culture, but recently published short fiction for adults and am currently writing an MG book. On Reel Girl, I review and rate kids media and products for girl empowerment. I have three daughters ages 2 – 8.

  Thanks so much,
  Margot

  Elizabeth Bird said, on 1/26/2012 4:24:00 PM
  

  Thanks for the kind words, Margot. As for blogs that focus on MG novels for girls, none come immediately to mind though many (including myself) will cover such things. But if anyone else knows of any, just mention it here.

  Laurie Schneider said, on 1/26/2012 4:43:00 PM
  

  We don’t focus exclusively on girls, Margot, but I invite you to visit http://www.fromthemixedupfiles.com. We cover all things middle grade.

  Great post, as usual, Ms. Bird!

  Margot Magowan said, on 1/27/2012 1:13:00 PM
  

  Thank you! I linked both of your blogs to Reel Girl. Will be following your posts.

  MM

  Add a Comment

When I was ten the kids in my neighborhood started a rather odd obsession.  For a time the Trixie Belden series was released with new covers, giving those books from the 50s, 60s, and 70s a kick in the pants.  Note how hip and cool these covers were:

Awwww, yeah.

So the girls on my block started a Trixie Belden obsession.  We loved her short hair, the way she called her mother “moms”, her gang The Bob-Whites, and her penchant for touching the mysteries that prissy little Nancy Drew would probably avoid.  I mean seriously, did Nancy ever come face to face with a Sasquatch?

Not likely!  Clearly I had a thing for preferring knock-off mystery characters to their better known Stratemeyer Syndicate contemporaries (I love The Three Investigators and to this day abhor The Hardy Boys).

Anyway, the problem with our Trixie love was that the darn books weren’t all in print with these snazzy covers.  Some of them you had to track down, like old Sasquatch here.  This being a pre-internet era, we set about trading the hard to get ones in an attempt to finish the whole series.  It’s an instinct a lot of kids have.  When they love a series they want to read all the books out there.  But what can they do when that series is out-of-print?

Fast forward to last Friday and I’m hanging out with my children’s book group talking about titles they’d like to see added to the library system.  Suddenly they all start talking about The Baby-Sitters Club.  And no, not the graphic novels or the recently released original four.  No, what they want are the originals with their terrible 80s hair and copious scrunchies.  The ones that look like this:

The kids don’t care how old those covers are, by the way.  They systematically plow through them caring not a jot about the lack of cell phones or references to something called “VHS”.  Scholastic, in the depths of their cruelty, makes the full list of BSC titles available to kids.  But do they actually publish those books anymore?  No!  (Is it bad that I totally geeked out over The Hairpin’s The Baby-sitters Club: Where Are They Now? recently?  The info on Janine is DEAD ON.  And the Dawn . . . oh, the Dawn.)

So here is what it comes down to.  What makes a series catch fire with a generation of kids, long after that series has effectively died?  If kids found my beloved Three Investigators today would they enjoy them as much as I did (and they weren’t exactly young in the 80s, y’know).

Occasionally publishers will try to republish books that were once hits in the hope of making them viable moneymakers today.  Trouble is, it rarely works.  Take BSC.  When Scholastic republished the first four books they did so with what may have been the dullest jacke

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Those pennants. Those painted covers. That Peach Pit prototype, the Dairi Burger. When visions of sun-kissed, "perfect size six," FIAT-sharing, identical twin beach babes dance in your head, you know you've stumbled upon Sweet Valley.

Today I was invited to attend a "Sweet Valley Summit" of big-time, fangirl bloggers (of which I am proud to name myself). I approached with little idea of what to expect, and was, upon arrival, instantly ushered into the conference room of my wildest YA fantasies. 

It's no exaggeration to say that the Sweet Valley series was enormously influential on me. I stumbled on Sweet Valley High as a pre-teen and immediately sank into that fictionalized paradise of adolescent wish-fulfillment. At sleepaway camp, my friends and I composed back cover copy of Sweet Valley storylines we wanted to see. Little did I know I was essentially self-training for my first job out of college, editorial assistant at Simon Pulse. Discovering on my first day at work that I'd have a hand in launching the great Francine Pascal's newest series, Fearless, I realized my life as a reader and writer had come full circle, and I could die happy. 
(Though it's better that I'm still here, and still writing.)

I'm not the only one to over-identify with the whitewashed world of SVH. Not by a long shot. Say what you will about anti-feminist messages or ethnic homogeneity (and yes, it's been said, and yes, it's worth repeating), the series aimed to reach readers of "realistic" fiction, and certainly inspired many reluctant readers to libraries and bookshops. It revived -- maybe even reinvented? -- the genre, made it contemporary, and became a cottage industry unto itself. Without Sweet Valley, there'd surely be no Gossip Girl.
*And for all those who decry high-concept, mass-market publishing, I'll repeat my (semi-defensive, I'll admit it) refrain: 
These are the books kids buy themselves. These are the books kids want to read. 

As for what I want to read, it's simple: I can't wait to get my hands on Sweet Valley Confidential, a sequel, standalone novel coming from St. Martin's in March 2011. Today I sat down with bloggers and pub peeps and talked about how to get the buzz going for this novel, which picks up with the Wakefield twins a full ten years since last we left them. 
Jessica and Elizabeth are proper Young Adults. 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: 
How is this my job?

The bloggers I met with were uniformly brilliant, hilarious, and amazingly informed on all things Sweet Valley. Sarah at Smart Bitches, Marissa at Sweet Valley Diaries, Lilit at The Gloss, and Emily at 1Bruce1 are going to knock your Sweet Valley socks off as we count down toward publication. St. Martin's is planning all sorts of online goodness, eventually to be highlighted and linked to at their umbrella site for the book. 

And -- oh! -- there will be swag. 
Your eyes aren't deceiving you; that's a "Team Jessica" tee in the photo above, and along with it, a swank, bedazzled SVH compact that will keep me as party-perfect as Jessica herself