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Forgive me as I indulge in a little Wednesday Wrant. . .

If you are new to children's publishing, and you email an established author asking for advice, and said author replies with advice, for heaven's sake, acknowledge it and say, "Thank you." . . .especially if said author not only replies promptly, but does so at length because said author's good friend asked said author to help you as a favour.

In this day and age of informal email communication, we seem to have forgotten some basic niceties. A good rule of thumb is: What would I do in person? For example, if I stopped someone on the street and asked her for information (heck, even the time of day), and she gave it to me, would I simply walk away without saying anything? Of course not. It's rude, right? Even to a complete stranger. Well, it's rude to do that by email, too.

I'm not a big time author by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm at a point in my career where I'm a busy one. I want to help new writers, I truly do. In my early days, I was fortunate to benefit from the generosity of several successful writers who shared advice gems with me, so I know how valuable that can be, and I really want to do the same if I can. But I"m starting to understand why many big time authors have had to adopt a policy of not responding to such requests for information. When the advice isn't even acknowledged, let alone appreciated, it's as if it flies into a black hole. Busy authors have too many other worthwhile demands on their time to bother with black holes.

Say "Thank you." It's the right thing to do.

Wrant over.

Inspiration is thanks to Vijaya, who's dealing with her own "do-the-right-thing" issue today.
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Welcome to Day Four of celebrating the "Woohoo!" jump-for-joy moments recently experienced by the writer folks I know.

Today, I celebrate the Joy of Anticipation.

Anticipation is the flipside of waiting. The way I see it, the difference between the two is that you can wait for something that you hope for but may never happen, but when you anticipate something, it's a sure thing. You may or may not know exactly when it will happen---sometimes yes, sometimes no---but it will happen. In other words one waits for a pregnancy to happen, but if you're pregnant, you anticipate the birth. Kind of an apt description given how close birthing a book can be to birthing a human baby, don't you think?

Authors always seem to be waiting for something---rejections and acceptances of queries and manuscripts; to hear from editors, agents, experts, and critiquers; and then, once a manuscript is accepted, even more waiting -- for contracts, revisions, artwork, layouts, publication, author copies, and reviews. So when the waiting turns into anticipation, it's a joyous thing.

My friend Cyndi Sand-Eveland is anticipating the release of her first book, Dear Toni, a middle grade novel from Groundwood/Random House in Fall 2008. All of the work is done:

---Oodles of drafts-check.
---Critiques-check.
---More drafts-check.
---Submission-check.
---Contract signed-check.
---Editing-check.
---Doodles-check (yeah, Cyndi did her own doodles in Toni's diary. How cool is that!?).
---Copy-editing-check.

Cyndi's in what you might call peak anticipation mode---a time when authors are extremely prone to sudden flurries of excitement as the "OMG, it's almost out!" thought pops in and out of the head. I've been fortunate to share many creative hours with Cyndi over the years as we exchanged manuscripts and worked through creative challenges together, so I'm feeling rather like an aunty, sharing in the anticipation of the birth of her book. "OMG, it's almost out!"

Cyndi, I celebrate your Joy of Anticipation.

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Welcome to Day Three of celebrating the "Woohoo! jump-for-joy moments recently experienced by the writer folks I know.

Today, I celebrate the Joy of Getting a Skookum Illustrator.

Illustrations can make or break a picture book. It doesn't matter how good the tex is, if the illustrations aren't up to par or are a poor style match, an otherwise terrific book will wither on the vine---a picture book author's worst nightmare. Therefore, most picture book authors (PBAs) are understandably a little anxious as they wait to hear who will illustrate thier picture book babies.

Some publishers (like mine!) have a knack for choosing skookum illustrators, but most PBAs daydream about a publisher asking, "Who would you like to illustrate your book?" and then when the PBA answers "[big name illustrato whose work I adore]", the publisher says, "Sure!" and it is so. This rarely happens. And I do mean rarely. But sometimes it does. . .

My friend Chérie Stihler has had amazing luck with the illustrators her publisher chose for her first books. (Take a gander at the beautiful art in these puppies to see what I mean) But when it came time to suggest illustrators for the next book, The Sourdough Man (the gingerbread man story but with a decidedly Alaskan twist), Chérie instantly thought of Barbara Lavallee. Yup, the big name illustrator of Mama, Do You Love Me? fame. Chérie knew the odds were against it happening, but with nothing to lose, she suggested the possibility to her editor, and lo, whaddayaknow, Barbara Lavallee will illustrate Chérie's picture book due out from Sasquatch Press in 2010.

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Chérie, I celebrate your Joy of Getting a Skookum Editor.
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As I explained yesterday, I'm devoting this week to celebrating the "Woohoo!" jump-for-joy moments recently experienced by the writing folks in my life.

Today, I celebrate the Joy of Being Finished.

After weeks and months of writing and rewriting draft after draft, one of the sweetest moments in every writing project is when you know---really know with every fibre of your being---that
IT. __IS. __FINISHED.

My friend, historical fiction author Karen Autio, has just finished and turned in the manuscript of her second "Saara" novel. In Karen's first novel, Second Watch (Sono Nis Press, 2005), Saara's dreams of traveling by ship to Finland don't play out quite as planned when she and her family book passage on what turns out to be the ill-fated 1914 voyage of the Empress of Ireland---Canada's worst maritime disaster during peacetime. With rich characters experiencing such tension and adventure, Karen certainly set the bar high with this one---a hard act to follow! I can't wait to read Saara's Passage due out from Sono Nis, Fall 2008.

It's well known in the biz that one's second book is the hardest to write, so getting to the finish on this one deserves special celebration.

Karen, I celebrate your Joy of Being Finished.
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One of the great things about working in the children's writing biz is that I get to know and be friends with some really neat writer and illustrator folks. Sharing their joy and celebrating their successes is such a privilege. . . and such fun.

Aside from the golden ring of publication, every writing journey is filled with milestone moments, each of which deserve celebration. In the last little while, several writers in my life have gone through "Woohoo!" jump-for-joy times in their writing journeys, so I want to spend some time acknowledging these important events. Every day this week, I'm going to "celebrate the joy" of some aspect of the writing journey.

Today, I celebrate the Joy of Writing.

My friend, Loree Griffin Burns, is in the middle of writing The Hive Detectives, her next Scientists in the Field book for Houghton Mifflin. Check out her blog for the last month. The joy she expresses about her writing process is almost palpable. It is my wish that every writer eperience the degree of pleasure and glee that Loree feels as she gets up to her elbows (sometimes literally!) in research and writing. Sure, writing is hard work, but when it's fueled by passion, and it's fun, and the words pour onto the page. . . well. . . it's a beautiful thing to be celebrated.

Loree, I celebrate your Joy of Writing.
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Waiting is a huge component of a writer's life. We always seem to be waiting for something -- rejections and acceptances of queries and manuscripts; to hear from editors, agents, experts, and critiquers; and then, once a manuscript is accepted, even more waiting -- for contracts, revisions, artwork, layouts, publication, author copies, and reviews.

Most of the time, the publishing industry moseys along at a glacial pace, so it's always a treat when a publisher takes the time to send a status report during a long consideration process. It's especially welcome if the notice is an indication that a submission has passed through some hoops on a possible trajectory to acceptance.

Today, I'm tipping my goblet of sparkly apple juice (hey, it's before noon, here!) to celebrate receiving what is fondly referred to in the biz as a "bear card" from Highlights for Children. It's a simple postcard with a line drawing of a cute family of bears cuddled together reading, and it says, "Thank you for 'bearing' with us while we review your manuscript." It means the first reader liked my manuscript enough to pass it along to the rest of the editors for further consideration. Woohoo! First hoop cleared.

A "bear card" in the mail is the equivalent of getting a tiny nibble of the carrot on the stick while still on the long journey. Yum. It makes the journey so much more (sorry, can't resist) "bearable". Thank you, Highlights.
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This just in from Roger Sutton's Read Roger Blog:

Starting next month, Horn Book will publish a monthly electronic newsletter, called Notes from the Horn Book, written by Horn Book editors.

"Each monthly issue features interviews with leading writers and illustrators, brief recommendations of noteworthy titles, and the latest news from the children's book world."

Sounds promising, and---very cool---it's free and billed as "non-spam-generating".

Visit Horn Book to subscribe.
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It's been a busy, intense seven days. Here's how the numbers stacked up:

--- The number of rejections: ONE

--- The number of submissions: TWO (one requested)

--- The number of fan letters: THREE

--- The number of words an editor asked me to cut from a 36-word poem: FOUR

--- The number of words I added to a 9o-word magazine article at the request of an editor: 18

--- The number of librarians I turned into a beaver: ONE
(school visit)

--- The number of children's authors I spoke with in-person: TEN

--- The number of teachers-to-be I spoke to at Authorfest
at UBC: 350

--- The number of cannelloni I was served when taken out for supper with faculty and authors after Authorfest: TWO

---The number of spreads of final art that arrived via overnight express courier: 22 (plus cover and endpapers)

--- The number of times I squealed in delight upon opening said overnight express courier package: 47 (best estimate, because, well, I wasn't really counting)

Wow, what a week.
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Raincoast Books has announced that it's shutting down the Canadian publishing part of the business. Raincoast will still be around, just focusing on other areas such as distribution and wholesaling. Read more at the CBC website.

My heart goes out to local CWILL buddies Cynthia Nugent, Norma Charles, Julie Burtinshaw, and the rest of the CWILL authors and others who will be, as Cynthia says, "cut adrift".

A sad, sad day.

**Please note the CWILL website is temporarily unavailble today as it changes webhosts, so be sure to check it (and Julie's link) again in a few days.
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Title: Little Whistle’s Dinner Party
Written by: Cynthia Rylant
Illustrated by: Tim Bowers
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Voyager Books, Reprint Edition
Ages: 4-8
ISBN: 0-15-205062-0
Publication: September 1, 2004

Little Whistle’s Dinner Party is an imaginative story with beautiful pictures. Tim Bowers’ oil painting illustrations are so crisp, and so alluring; readers will want to stare at the page long after the words have been read.

The story begins in “Toytown,” a wonderful little toy store. Toytown is a special place, because after the shop closes down for the night, all of the animals come to life. It’s great for Little Whistle, a small guinea pig, who is the only real “living” thing in the store.

One special night, Little Whistle decides to have a late-night dinner party. He invites all of his Toytown friends, and prepares the food for the feast.

“Little Whistle rode the train all over the store, inviting his friends to dinner.
‘I’ll run over!’ said Rabbit, who always ran after the shades were drawn.
‘I’ll bring a smile and a song!’ said Violet, the little china doll who liked to sing.”

But when midnight rolls around, Little Whistle is nowhere to be seen.

But, before his friends can get too worried, he arrives at the party with a surprise treat in-hand. It’s a wonderful night for Little Whistle and all of the friends in Toytown.

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Reviewed by Sylvia C. Hall

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