The Arkansas Society of Children’s BookWriters and Illustrators conference (see the national SCBWI site here) was this weekend in North Little Rock, AR, my home town! It was a small, cozy conference; but look out, because Arkansas writers have big dreams. Kudos to the AR-Regional Advisor, Phyllis Heman, for planning a great conference.

The speakers, Katherine Jacobs of Roaring Brook and Andrew Harwell of Dial/Penguin were informative and encouraging, partly because they are NYC transplants and seemed to understand the sensibilities of our mid-South region better than some.

Andrew Harwell, Ass. Editor, Dial Books for Young Readers

Dial Books does not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

When I reported on the Oklahoma SCBWI conference last month, I referred to Nick Eliopulos of Scholastic Books as the “Peter Parker of children’s publishing.” So, the pressure is on–who is Andrew Harwell?

At first, I thought maybe he was the Clark Kent of children’s publishing. (Nice symmetry, that–if it worked.) But there aren’t thick glasses; and he’s not shy and retiring like Kent. Andrew (never Andy or Drew) is from Georgia: maybe he’s a kick-ass version of a young Colonel Sanders? No, the southern gentleman qualities come through for sure, but that’s not the right description, yet. Perhaps the best comparison is this: Andrew is a young Bill Gates of children’s publishing. Do we see a Harwell Publishing in his future?

Nick’s mandate at Dial Books is to publish a wide variety of books, from preschool picture books through young adult or teen novels. He’s not afraid of “series potential” in a submission, because he grew up reading and loving series of fantasy, such as the Redwall books by Brian Jacques. Currently, he’s working with Jim Arnosky on nature books, while editing a middle grade series about a girl detective, and working on an edgy teen novel (“I can do dark,” he says brightly.)

When considering a manuscript, he’s always looking at the commercial potential in the trade market, while keeping an eye on the school/library market. But Dial is firmly trade and books that Andrew acquires must have legs in that market. Got one with sturdy commercial legs? Have your agent send it his way.

Katherine Jacobs, Roaring Brook Press and Andrew Harwell, Dial Books

Katherine Jacobs, editor, Roaring Brook Press

Roaring Brook Press does not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
(Uh-oh. Now the pressure is really on! Who is Katherine Jacobs in the children’s publishing world?)

Professional, a bit of an academic, enthusiastic, and of course, dressed in regal purple–if 007 needed M to keep him on track, authors should look at Katherine Jacobs as a young, enthusiastic M, who gives them the license to “kill with creativity.” (Think Judi Dench many years ago!). Katherine, “the M of children’s literature,” tempers her academic bent with an enthusiasm for stories. Like many other editors, she came to publishing from a childhood of total immersion in stories, one of readers we write for. She realized early on that her participation in the publishing process would be as an editor, not as a writer or bookseller–though she has tried both.

Katherine loves a great story. Period. Mystery, fantasy, realistic–while some genres have a special pull, it’s the story and especially, the character that draws her in.

Poetic picture books are Roaring Brook’s specialty: A Sick Day for Amos McGee, created by author-illustrator team Philip and Erin Stead won the 2011 Caldecott. Its other Caldecott winners are My Friend Rabbit (2003) and The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (2004). First the Egg, also published by Roaring Brook, was a Caldecott runner-up in 2008. While Katherine does do picture books and some non-fiction, the mix of editors at RB and each one’s individual strengths, means she tends to do more novels. In fact, to balance those Caldecotts, she’d love to edit the next Newbery–if you’ve written it, please ask your agent to send it her way.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Yo-Yos v. Author

When I first started doing school visits, I was uncertain, trying to figure out what to do and why. That’s when I had a near encounter with a yo-yo.

I went to a rural elementary school a week after a yo-yo company had performed at the school. The yo-yo people had charged the school $1000 to perform, and then got to sell yo-yos, too. The school paid me nothing as an author to visit the school and present my children’s picture book. Author v. yo-yos and the Yo-yos won. Heck, I even had to pay for my lunch that day.

I thought about that many times since then.
Yo-yos educational value: entertainment.
The educational value of my presentation: literature, literacy, writing, reading.

Yesterday, I did a school visit and I’ll be doing another next week. When I go to schools, I’m aware that I must be entertaining, but I’ve also refined some of my goals

Goals for School Visits

Foster reading and writing by making it fun, easy, accessible. I often do small group writing sessions with students. My favorite is when the students are some of the most discouraged about writing.

This month, I got to teach a class of mostly discouraged writers. We drew a map, wrote specific name places, and imagined the setting. Then, students put a finger on the map and moved around the map while telling a partner a story. Then they put their finger on a different place on the map and told the story a different way (revision in the oral stage!). Finally, they wrote their story. At the last, I asked for a volunteer to read and one girl immediately responded and read a great story. Yes, there were misspellings and a few grammar mistakes she needed to correct later; but the story was great. Teachers later told me they were astounded that this particular girl volunteered to read, because she was so shy. Confidence and joy in her writing, that’s what the girl gained that day.

Yes, it’s easy for me to come in and do a one-shot boost for a kid like that. It’s harder to do the day-to-day grind of preparing her for testing. But maybe, that one day of confidence and joy will carry her through the testing.

Help teachers enjoy reading and writing with kids even more. Teachers enjoy the enthusiasm that students have for books in the preparation for my visit, during my visit and in the aftermath. It’s a time to break the mold and have fun.

Help school community celebrate literature, something too seldom done! Several years ago, I was asked to speak at a fall reading kick-off at an elementary school. The theme for the school’s fall reading was travel and my book, The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman was perfect way to start the excitement. The librarian was amazing! When I walked into the school auditorium, every kid was waving a tiny American flag. They sang patriotic songs and were already studying large US map displayed in the library.

Now, I’ve been to sports pep rallies and they are fun. But a pep rally for reading? This was fantastic. The entire school – led by a librarian, par excellence, supported by enthusiastic staff and administration – was building a culture around a celebration of literature, reading, writing, literacy. Amazing. And still too seldom seen.

I’m no longer bashful about charging for school visits. Yo-yos are fun for a day and quite entertaining, no doubt. But as a writing teacher and author, I remind myself that I also have something of value to bring to a school. I take it seriously and work harder during a school visit than I do any other time. Why? Because one shy girl volunteered to read her story. And at the end of an hour of playing with words, she smiled.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Introduced first in 2007, debut children’s authors have formed a cooperative effort to market their books. Last year, I featured many of the stories of how the 2k8 Novels Were Revised. This is part of the ongoing stories from the Class of 2k9

Research on Iraqi War Injuries Changed Character

by Suzanne Morgan Williams

My revision process was long and the book you can read today is very different from my first draft. I’ll concentrate on one point – how Ben O’Mara’s character changed because of my research.

First Draft – injuries unclear. Bull Rider is about fourteen year old Cam O’Mara whose older brother, a champion Bull Rider, joins the Marines and is seriously injured in Iraq. In my first draft, which I intended for the youngest middle grade readers, Ben’s injury was almost entirely off stage and was not identified as being incurred in Iraq at all.

Second draft – specifics. In the second, which was for older readers, I decided to tackle the Iraq issue. I assumed Ben’s injury would be a paralysis, possibly from a gunshot or shrapnel – something that left him wheelchair bound but able to speak and use his upper body. I talked to a doctor friend and found out what type of injury this would be, researched therapy techniques and costs (that figured in the plot at that point) and read a long treatise on spinal cord injury. As for his mental state, I also assumed Ben would be angry about the war and, when Cam asks him, “Would you go back? Would you do it again?” he would answer, “Would you?”

Third stage – research. That was before I began to research and double check all the material about bull riding, ranching, and injured veterans that I’d written into my draft. I interviewed a person who worked daily with injured Iraq vets in rehab and he told me, no, they didn’t see much paralysis from this war because of body armor. He said that the injury that was devastating our troops in Iraq was Traumatic Brain Injury – TBI. He then described TBI and its treatment. He also told me that almost all the injured vets he cared for wanted to go back to Iraq. They wanted to be with their units. Subsequent conversations with medical staff, military guys, and social service workers confirmed this. I needed a different Ben.

Third draft – Integrating new information. The biggest changes were in his abilities. A severe TBI leaves a person unable to talk or walk. Ben would have to learn to walk, talk, dress and care for himself and to read again. He would forget things. And his dialogue had to change radically. The straight talking opinionated Ben that I had written would now have to speak in short, broken sentences or not at all. At least until enough time had passed for him to heal. And the new Ben wanted to return to Iraq – a lot. This gave Cam, my main character, the job of asking questions. He’d lost his brother as he knew him, and the questions about what that meant and what war costs a family, a soldier, a community seemed natural to Cam.

Although Ben started out much more severely impaired than I’d originally imagined, being able to have him recover from TBI did give me more flexibility than if he’d been paralyzed. Brain injuries are unpredictable. Some TBI patients recover quickly. Others don’t. Some seem almost totally recovered, while for others the outward signs linger for years. With TBI, Ben had the prospect of learning to speak and walk again, although the emotional and social effects of his brain injury would be more elusive.

End result – Deeper, more interesting character. So this revision required that I review Ben’s every action and line of dialogue, but in the end he was a deeper and more interesting character. And his experience reflected what is true, not what I had assumed and imagined.

–
Suzanne Morgan Williams

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win