Silver Bay YMCA, Adirondack Mountains, NY

Nancy Castaldo, SCBWI Eastern NY Regional Advisor

In attendance were 35 writers, who were fabulous. See pics on Facebook soon.

5 Picture Book Editors

Speaking were five editors: Sylvie Frank of Holiday House, Kelly Smith of Sterling, Dianne Hess of Scholastic, Marilyn Brigham of Marshall Cavendish, and Kate Fletcher of Candlewick.
(NOTE: Please see the publishers’ websites for submission info.)

(L ro R) Marilyn Brigham, Sylvie Frank, Kate Fletcher, Dianne Hess, Katrina Damkoehler, and Kelly Smith. Photo courtesy of Nancy Castaldo.

Sylvie Frank, Holiday House

Sylvie Frank, Holiday House

Kelly Smith, Sterling Books

Kelly Smith (left) and Katrina Damkoehler (right), Sterling

Kate Fletcher, Candlewick

Kate Fletcher is the young Meryl Streep of children’s literature, classy and smart, destined for great things. Think literary, smart, clever, tongue-in-cheek. While Candlewick publishes fiction and nonfiction, Kate will usually pass off nonfiction to a more enthusiastic editor. Instead, she looks for fictional picture books and novels. Genre matters less than literary quality.

Marilyn Brigham, Marshall Cavendish

Marilyn Brigham, Marshall Cavendish

Dianne Hess, Scholastic

Dianne Hess, Scholastic

Art Director for Picture Books

Also participating was Kristina Damkoehler, Assistant Art Director of Sterling Children’s Books. She’s the Catwoman of children’s literature, lithe, lean and able to see what others don’t. She graciously agreed to do portfolio reviews for all the artists in attendance. She works hard to match the sensibilities of a story with an artist’s style to make a book the best it can be. She said she keeps a list of author websites to look over when she is looking for the perfect match.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Writing is rewriting

Guest post by Anastasia Suen

For years I have been saying that writing is rewriting, and now I have a book that shows it quite clearly, my new picture book, Road Work Ahead (Viking 2011).

This picture book is short, like most of my books. It’s only 120 words, but those words have been rewritten over and over again. Yes, this one has been a lo-o-o-ong time coming. I started this book when my son was 2…and now he’s 27!

Picture Book Inspiration

When my son was 2, he loved to look at all of the trucks and machines along the road, so I started snapping pictures for him. I made him a “look book” that later turned into a picture book. I loved the story in that book, so I sent it out to editors, but it kept coming back, over and over. Editors said they loved it, too, but it wasn’t quite ready. So I kept rewriting it and sending it out…and now 25 years later, it’s finally a book you can hold in your hand.

The 6 Ws of Story

So what made the difference? I used ALL of the 6 Ws this time. I made sure the story had who, what, when, where, why and how. Using all 6 Ws made it a story, not just a list of machines along the road. Stories sell, but lists…well, not so much.

New Beginning and Ending. After the story finally sold I thought it was ready to go, but my editor thought it needed something more. She asked me to write a new beginning and ending, so we knew why the little boy was on the road looking at all of the road work. That also added a who, by showing us the little boy before he got into the car.

So I added my mother and her famous homemade oatmeal cookies to the book. (We used to eat them right after they came out of the oven. Yum!) Driving to Grandma’s house for fresh, warm, homemade oatmeal cookies is definitely a reason to keep going despite all of the traffic delays due to the work along the road. And when you get to eat them at the end of the book, ah, sweet reward! Adding 2 short stanzas was all it took.

The change I made was used by the Publishers Weekly reviewer to describe the book.

“A batch of Grandma’s homemade oatmeal cookies beckons, but for this backseat narrator, the sights and sounds along the road to her house are equally compelling:
“Road work ahead./ Move over. Go slow./ Jackhammers crack./ Look at them go.’”

The text quoted in the review was the original beginning of the story. I had jumped too far into the action. What worked better was taking a few steps back and letting the reader know who the narrator was and why he was on the road in the first place.

Yes, writing is rewriting! (And a good editor makes ALL the difference. Thanks, Regina!)

For more on writing and revising picture books, see WriteaPictureBook.com

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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When Stories Start to Go Wrong!

Here are some descriptions of manuscripts. Read them and figure out what’s wrong:

• 6000 word, ABC book
• 13,000 word middle grade
• 250,000 YA/teen novel
• 2000 word YA poetry book
• 4000 word picture book

Match Audience with Length and Format of Your Story

In each of these cases, the format, especially the length of the manuscript, does not match up with the intended audience.

Here’s a typical run down of manuscript lengths for different formats:

Picture book, including ABC titles. The hottest items are under 500 words. Some picture books can go up to 2000 words, but those are iffy. The audience for picture books can be anything from birth to about 10 years old. Usually the break down is something like 1-3 years old, 2-4, 4-8 or 6-10, though it varies from publisher to publisher.

The best advice for a picture book manuscript is “cut it in half.” Yes, it’s hard in 500 words to have a beginning, middle, end, a satisfying narrative arc, and a character that kids want to spend time with. Welcome to the difficult world of picture books.

ABC books, especially Sleeping Bear Press ABC titles, sometimes will go longer. But essentially the ABC format is just a way to organize information. These are not true ABC books for preschoolers.

Beginning reader and early chapter books. These are aimed at the beginning reader, so ages 4-8. For the truly beginning reader, the text may just be a couple words on each page. This is the only place where a publisher will try to control vocabulary, choosing words with regular spelling or from the sight vocabulary lists. By second grade, though, kids are reading short chapter books, and there’s more leeway in vocabulary and complexity of texts. These run maybe 6000-12,000 words, again depending on a publisher’s inclination and publishing program. Usually these are contemporary stories, grounded in a child’s real world.

Short chapter books. Some people add this category for 3-4th graders. These are short novels (novelettes?) of about 12,000-20,000 words. The topic of these books changes slightly to allow for historical fiction, science fiction or fantasy, or mysteries.

Middle grade novels. For grades 5-8, or about 10-14 years old, the middle grade audience has a wide variety of interests that are reflected in their fiction. Novels for this group run 30-80,000 words, but tend to fall more in the 40-60,000 range. Only the rare Harry Potter will go to 100,000 or more.

YA/Teen novels. For ages 12 and up, the YA or Teen novel has an almost free rein in length, complexity and subject matter. Still even here, the average novel might run 60,000 or so. You can go longer or shorter, if there’s a good reason for it. Some have said that YA novels are just like adult novels, just 100 pages shorter and without the sex scene. Today, you can add both the 100 pages and the sex scene. What distinguishes this literature is the tone of the story, particular the tone of rebellion of some sort. It’s a time of life when kids must break with their parents and figure out life for themselves; that’s what is reflected in the literature they embrace.

When I start to critique a manuscript and the cover letter states that the manuscript breaks the length/audience conventions, I start to worry. Of course, break any rule you want–as long as you do it well. But this is a major red flag in the concept and execution of a story. Have you matched up the audience and format?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Brenda Sturgis reports on the top literary agents for selling picture books in this recent post. Let’s talk about this report.

Top Literary Agents for Picture Books

Self Reported Statistics. The statistics for Sturgis’s report was compiled from reported sales on Publisher’s Marketplace. This is a big caution because sales on PM self-reported. I know from talking to friends that their agents (some of those listed in the report) have had sales, but they weren’t reported on PM. In other words, agents select the sales to report and tend to report only the “hot” sales or the “big” sales. Sales to smaller houses or those without large advances tend to be under-reported.

Top Picture Book Agent. No surprise: Brenda Bowen, former editor and editorial director of various imprints during her time is the top selling agent of picture books with nineteen reported deals. (Read her blog; her agency.) She is very selective in her clients, because she can be. Her industry contacts makes her network amazing and she’s working it apparently.

19 down to 3. While Bowen has 19 reported deals, number 20 on the list, Stephen Chudney only reported 3 deals in the last year. If this holds true, then an agent who sells 2-3 picture book deals per year is doing a stellar job.

But again, remember, this is based on SELF-REPORTED DEALS. We really don’t know how valid these statistics are. And, overall the top twenty agents for picture book deals reported 119 total sales. Those will probably be some of the top picture books published in the nest few years.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

I’m currently revising a picture book and finding it to be a bit tricky because I created animal characters. Of course, in a fiction picture book, animal characters are often just stand-ins for kids.

Why Use an Animal Character in a Fictional Picture Book?

Get Rid of Adults. I wanted to have two characters playing on a beach. Uh-oh. That’s dangerous if it’s just two kids; without adults around, the story would never be accepted. But in this case, the adults/parents would just clog up the story. So, make them animal characters and the story works great. No one worries about a chicken or a dog or a sea gull or something similar running around on a beach.

Express Potentially Difficult Emotions. Books with kids who get mad or frustrated can be tricky. Will the audience still like these characters? Will adults want to read this book to kids? (For picture books, you must always remember the adult gatekeeper!) But write about a bear in the winter who is awakened from hibernation — grouchy is understandable. The trick, of course, is to find the right animal who can express the emotions you want.

Difficulties of Using an Animal Character in a Fictional Picture Book

You walk a fine line between kid and animal characteristics. When we read a book with an animal character, we understand that the animals are stand-ins for kids. Or do we? We still want the animal to act, well, true to its nature. Skunks stink; horses run fast; sharks bite.

In my case, someone called me on the activities the characters are doing and said it wasn’t true to the animal in question. Yes, I answered, but it’s just a stand in for a kid. Um, sorry. Choose a different animal or make the actions appropriate for this animal.

ARGH! The critiquer is right. (How dare they? Well, it’s been longer than my normal three days to pout, so I have to get busy and work on this.) I’ll be working on those revisions today and tomorrow.

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

Last weekend, I was in Chandler, Oklahoma, a sleepy little town on the old Route 66. I didn’t get much sleep, though, because I was there to teach a Picture Book Retreat. Here are reports from Sara,
Susan Meyers, and Leeth. Also, check out the Okie Book Woman, who added lots of photos of the retreat.

For Your First Book Contract, Practice These Words

One of the last sessions focused on issues relating to a career in writing for children. We don’t just want to be a flash-in-the-pan, one-book-wonder. We want a long-lasting career. One thing this means is that we must put on the business hat at certain key moments: especially when we get a contract.

So, one of the discussions was about that wonderful moment when the editor calls to offer a contract on your first book.

WOW! What a moment! First contract! After all the work, after all the hope, after all the pain, after all the revisions! A contract!

For that magical, unforgettable moment, practice saying these words: Yes! I want to work with you! But I’m too excited to make a business decision right now. May I call you back tomorrow?

When that call comes in the editor will want you to consider several key issues: the amount of the advance and the royalty rate. Please, don’t agree to anything in the excitement of the moment!

A verbal agreement at this point is considered solid. Give yourself time. Time? To do what? I’ve written about what typical contract offers look like. You’ll want to study contract clauses, best case scenario for each clause, and reasonable fall-back positions for each clause. But for the verbal agreement, you’ll probably concentrate on the advance — you should ask for more. It’s a negotiation thing, you should always ask for more. How much more?

You need to take a look at Barbara Kanninen’s Children’s Book Author Advances Survey. This survey has run for over five years and has information from a variety of authors working with a variety of houses. It’s only available to published authors — but if you have an offer from a trade house, you qualify.

The other issue is the royalty rate. While most royalty rates are consistent across the industry (10% royalty, split 50-50 with the illustrator), you might be able to get an escalation clause. This clause says that if the book sells a certain amount, the royalty rate will increase. Some companies will absolutely not do this; others are OK with it. Ask. Usually, they’ll have numbers in mind: At 25,000 sales, the royalty will go to 11 %, for example. For many companies, this must be negotiated when you accept the original offer.

Of course, later, when you get the complete contract, there are many issues to discuss and ask for changes. But when you get that first phone call, practice these words: Yes! I want to work with you! But I’m too excited to make a business decision right now. May I call you back tomorrow?

Tie your hand behind your back, disable the phone, do NOT call back an hour later. (You have too many friends to call, anyway, and tell them the good news.) Take the time to check out typical advances and then the next day, take a deep breath, call the editor back and ASK for what you think is reasonable. Will you get it? Maybe not. But at least you’ve started your career with a business-like attitude. Yes, your career.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Stiff Competition for These Picture Book Topics

Dial editor, Liz Waniewski (ONE–es-key) spoke at the Arkansas SCBWI 2007 conference. For a couple months before the conference, she kept track of her slush pile picture book submissions by category. This resulted in my 2007 posting 12 Picture Book Topics to Avoid, one of the more popular posting in the 30 Days to a Stronger Picture Book series.

In December, 2008, I asked Liz if she might want to update the posting. She agreed and kept track of her submissions in January. The topics listed below are those which she sees over and over. She pointed out, “Just because I see these topics many times doesn’t mean you can’t write about it.” However, the competition is very stiff for picture books in these categories and your submission should really “stand out in today’s crowded marketplace.”

In comparing the 2007 and 2009 lists, you’ll see some overlap, such as . . .

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Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Touchstones: a reader’s way into your story

In this guest post by Martha Brockenbrough, grammarian, freelance writer, columnist, and author discusses how to pluck the heartstrings of your reader.

When I worked as a freelancer for a company that created really special games—games designed to draw out the best talents of each player—I learned about an idea-development strategy that has informed my writing ever since.

Touchstones. The game creators wanted questions to contain “touchstones.” A touchstone is pretty much what it sounds like—something that, when we encounter it, will evoke certain memories. I love the sensual aspect of the word—the idea that there is something we can fold into a story that readers can reach out and touch with their minds.

A touchstone is something readers can identify with. Some even cut across all cultures. Think about something like losing baby teeth. All kids do this, which is why tooth fairy stories are so important. This particular touchstone is often going to evoke happy memories, though Judy Blume managed to give it something else entirely when she had Fudge fly like a birdie from the top of the monkey bars with disastrous results.

Those monkey bars, come to think of it, are another touchstone. Think of the difference in the story if Blume had had made Fudge jump off the top of the car, or a ledge, or some other high object that didn’t have the same resonance as the highest spot in the playground. It would lose something, wouldn’t it?

Touchstones don’t always have to evoke happy emotions in writing. The death of a pet is certainly a sad touchstone that many of us can relate to. Judy Blume knew this, which is why she did what she did to Peter’s turtle.

Of course, touchstones don’t have to drive a plot. They can be used more subtly, to add sparkle and resonance to a story. The movie “Wall-E” was full of touchstones like these: Twinkies…Rubix Cubes, sporks…even “Hello, Dolly,” the music they play on Main Street at Disneyland, which means even children who haven’t seen the musical could very well have a positive association with the song.

Really, though, it’s deeper than adding sparkle—it’s connection. Touchstones provide something readers can relate to, something they can touch with their minds and hearts, even in an unfamiliar world like an Earth that’s been buried in trash. They can be a way into a story, a way to make it a reader’s own. I think that’s pretty powerful stuff.

Martha Brockenbrough
THINGS THAT MAKE US [SIC]- St. Martin’s Press, October 2008
- Founder, the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar
- Cinemama, MSN Movies
- Columnist, MSN Encarta

Martha Brockenbrough is author of Things That Make Us [Sic], a funny guide to bad grammar published by St. Martin’s Press, and Founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar. She’s also a busy freelance writer, contributing the Cinemama column to MSN Movies, and columns on language and pop culture to the online encyclopedia Encarta. She also blogs about family life for the calendar company, Cozi, and is hoping 2009 is the year she sells her first children’s manuscript.

If you want to do a guest posting, or if you have a revision story you’d like to share, email me at darcy at darcypattison dot com.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Many speakers used quotes in their presentations or made memorable statements. Here’s my collection of quotes from the conference:

• About True Love: “It’s great when a publisher loves my work, but a contract is better; a contract is True Love.” Jarrett J. Krosocka, picture book and graphic novel author and illustrator.
• Humorous Take on True Depression: “It’s like, no one has blogged about my book in two days.” Jarrett J. Krosocka, picture book and graphic novel author and illustrator.
• “Nothing good comes from reviews.” Paul Newman, actor.
• “I only wished to publish a book or two that lasts.” Susan Hirschmann, founder of Greenwillow Books
• “Magic doesn’t create: it summons.” Richard Jackson, editor.
• “You write books for children? Huh. I guess someone has to do that.” Woman on plane to Bruce Hale, author.
• “There is no terror in the bang–only in the anticipation of it.” Alfred Hitchcock, film director.
• “Fiction is a lie and good fiction is the truth inside the lie.” Stephen King, author.
• “We must continually be jumping off cliffs and growing our wings on the way down.” Kurt Vonnegut, author.
• “There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you.” Zora Neale Hurston, author.
• “Sure it’s simple writing for kids. . .Just as simple as bringing them up.” Ursula K. LeGuin, author.

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Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win