How to use this Page

The Picture Prompt below was illustrated by Nancy Cote. She was featured on Illustrator Saturday: http://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2012/06/02/illustrator-saturday-nancy-cote/.

WRITERS:  Please use it to help inspire a first page. I was not able to confirm our Guest Critiquer with all the conference stuff going on, but I should be able to announce it by next week. The deadline for submitting a first page for critique is June 23rd. I will post four of the pages along with the agents comments on June 29th.

Please attach your double spaced, 12 point font, 23 line first page to an e-mail and send it to kathy(dot)temean(at)gmail(dot)com. Also cut and paste it into the body of the e-mail. Put “June 23rd First Page Prompt” in the subject line.

ILLUSTRATORS: This month I am looking for illustration that will show off some summer fun. Here is your chance to show off a little. I will post the illustrations as they come in during the month, but I will definitely post all by June 30th, so I need to receive your illustrations no later than June 26th. Please make sure the illustration is at least 500 pixels wide and includes a blurb about you and a link to see more of your work. Please send it to kathy(dot)temean(at)gmail(dot)com and put “June Illustration” in the subject box.

PUBLISING NEWS:

Caroline Hardman and Joanna Swainson, formerly of Christopher Little Agency are launching a new agency, Hardman & Swainson. At least 18 existing clients are moving with them, the Bookseller reports, and they will focus on literary and commercial fiction, crime and thriller, YA, and quality non-fiction, including popular science, philosophy and memoir.

Roseanne Wellshas joined the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency as an agent. She was previously an agent at the Marianne Strong Literary Agency.

Helen Nam joins Sourcebooks as art services manager for children’s picture books and middle grade fiction. She was an acquisitions editor for children’s books at Publications International, Ltd.

Leah Thaxton will join Faber & Faber as children’s publisher. She is currently publishing director at Egmont.

Stephanie Bowen has joined Sourcebooks as editor. She was most recently an assistant editor at Doubleday.

P.S. Literary Agency will now be representing picture book titles in North America for Ireland-based Futa Fata.

Scott Waxman and Waxman Literary Agency agent for the past seven years Byrd Leavell have formed a new entity, The Waxman Leavell Literary Agency. Waxman says in the announcement, “Byrd is a talented agent with a tremendous instinct for finding and developing enormous bestsellers. He is also a lot of fun to work with. I couldn’t be more excited to take the agency to the next level with Byrd as a partner.” But he declined to indicate what becomes of Waxman Literary Agency and its assets. Leavell says that going forward both of their efforts will be on behalf of the new agency only and “The Waxman Agency name will be phased out over the course of the summer.”

Adam Marsh Editorial Services has hired screenwriter and director Kai Murphy

A question from a blog reader asked, “Would you consider using a newly formed publishing company? What questions should a writer ask a new publisher to ensure they are getting appropriate care for their book?”

I’ve had one experience with a newly formed publisher–which I’ll write about below–but first let me mention a blog post on this subject on Writer Beware! The post is two years old, and due to the economy, it is even MORE true today than it was when posted. I hope you’ll read the entire post, but this is the bottom line summary:

“So unless you are absolutely, 100% positive that the publisher is staffed by people with substantial publishing experience–and maybe even then–it’s a good idea to wait until a new publisher has been in business for at least a year, and has published a number of books, before submitting. Not only does this assure you that the publisher can take books all the way through the production process, it lets you evaluate important things like physical and editorial quality, how the books are distributed, and how they are marketed. It also allows time for complaints, if there are any, to accumulate.

Tempting as it may be to join the rush to get in on the ground floor when a new publisher opens its doors, watching and waiting is a much better strategy.”

My Own Experience

My first mystery series fifteen years ago was my only experience with a brand new publisher. The man who started it had great credentials, and we met when speaking on a panel at a writer’s conference. It was professional from beginning to end, although his advance was a lot smaller than I was used to.

The first two books came out on time, but the sales were pretty low. (Thankfully I had had several mysteries published by that time because the “editor” I got knew nothing about mysteries and was an unpublished aspiring writer.) The third mystery ran into one snag after another, but since that happens sometimes, I wasn’t worried. I knew he was working on other books too and accepted the explanations for delays.

One Eye-Opening Day

I had several school visits approaching and needed copies of the third book, so when I had to be in his city for something else, I decided to just stop by the publishing house and pick up the books, as he’d said they were finished and boxed up.

When I finally located the address, I felt surely it must be wrong. It wasn’t in the business area of town–it was a residence. His home. No one answered the door, so I walked around the back and peeked in the window of the basement.

There were stacks of books and piles of papers everywhere. Evidently this was the publishing “house.” Literally! And it turned out that this man was the entire “staff” and he was out of money. Any books sold would be up to me. (This was prior Internet marketing, so I was stuck with the books and no way other than school visits to sell them.)

Needless to say, I wished I had asked a lot more questions early in the process. The books weren’t reviewed and fell through the cracks.

(Reminder: