As a member of the Author’s Guild, I receive informative posts from them. Used here by permission, is their new insightful message about the current 2012 state of the publishing ecosystem. Read it on the Author’s Guild site.

Before you read this, or after you read this, you might want to have some other input about the state of YA, Middle grade and children’s writing, in general. Here’s a good place to start: Harold Underdown, Purple Crayon site: “Children’s Books in Hard Times:
Our Industry in 2011″

Publishing’s Ecosystem on the Brink: The Backstory

Subtlety is out. Bloomberg Businessweek’s January 25th cover shows a book engulfed in flames. The book’s title? “Amazon Wants to Burn the Book Business.” A towering pile of books dominates the front page of Sunday’s NYT Business Section. The pile starts well below the fold (print edition), breaks through the section header at the top of the page, and leans precariously. Books are starting to tumble off. “The Bookstore’s Last Stand,” reads the headline.

These stories capture pretty well the state of book publishing: this appears to be no ordinary, cyclical crisis that future authors and publishers will shrug off. To understand how the book industry got into this predicament, however, a broader perspective may be needed. The cover story of February’s Harper’s Magazine provides that, discussing a fundamental shift in the federal approach to antitrust law that’s affected bookselling and countless other industries. It’s a story that hasn’t previously been told in a major periodical, to our knowledge.

We’ll get to that in a moment. First, let’s set the stage with the other two stories.

Burning Down the Houses

Brad Stone’s Businessweek story discusses Amazon’s campaign to prevent other booksellers from securing a foothold in the booming e-book market and the company’s furious reaction to Random House’s decision last March to adopt agency pricing for e-books, just as five of the other “Big Six” trade publishers had the previous year. (Before agency pricing, Amazon could sell e-books from Big Six publishers at deep discounts, taking losses at a rate that Barnes & Noble could never afford to match. See How Apple Saved Barnes & Noble, Probably for more.)

Mr. Stone writes that after Random House’s March 2011 agency-pricing announcement,

Amazon could no longer run the best play out of its playbook – slash prices and sustain losses in the short term to gain market share over the long term. … “For the first time, a level playing field was going to get forced on Amazon,” says James Gray [of UK bookseller John Smith & Son and formerly of Ingram Content Group]. Amazon execs “were basically spitting blood and nails.”

Amazon’s response to Random House’s move was stunning and swift:

The next month, an Amazon recruiter sent an e-mail to several editors at big publishing houses, looking for someone to launch a new New York-based publishing imprint. “The imprint will be supported with a large budget, and its success will directly impact the success of Amazon’s overall business,” read the e-mail, which was obtained by Bloomberg Businessweek.

Even with a large budget, directly affecting the success of Amazon’s overall business is a tall order for a new publishing imprint. Amazon pulled in well north of $40 billion in revenue last year (final numbers aren’t yet in), dwarfing the combined revenues of the Big Six publishers.

Luring a substantial contingent of bestselling authors away from the Big Six seems the only plausible route for an imprint to affect Amazon’s overall business. Amazon needed someone with a substantial industry pedigree to pull this off. Amazon quickly – in time for last spring’s Book Expo America — landed just the man for the job: Larry Kirshbaum, formerly of Warner Books.

Just three months after Random House’s announcement, Amazon had all but declared war on the six unruly members of its book supply chain. Jeff Bezos had $6 billion in cash, the patience to absorb losses for years, and a former Big Six chief to lead the fight. The long-running behind-the-scenes battle for control of the publishing industry had finally broken into full public view.

Barnes & Noble’s New Role: The Contender

While Amazon directly threatens traditional publishers with its new imprint, it continues to undermine the ecosystem on which book publishers, and most new authors, depend. Julie Bosman describes this well in her NYT article, focusing on the last remaining brick-and-mortar bookseller with nationwide clout:

Without Barnes & Noble, the publishers’ marketing proposition crumbles. The idea that publishers can spot, mold and publicize new talent, then get someone to buy books at prices that actually makes economic sense suddenly seems a reach. …

What publishers count on from bookstores is the browsing effect. Surveys indicate that only a third of the people who step into a bookstore and walk out with a book actually arrived with the specific desire to buy one.

“That display space they have in the store is really one of the most valuable places that exists in this country for communicating to the consumer that a book is a big deal,” said Madeline McIntosh, president of sales, operations and digital for Random House.

Established authors, for the most part, do fine selling through online bookstores. It’s new authors who lose out if browsing in bookstores becomes a thing of the past. Advances for unproven and non-bestselling authors have already plummeted, by all accounts. Literary diversity is at risk.

To understand just how precarious things are, realize that last year’s Borders’ bankruptcy represented an enormous reduction in browsing space, shuttering 650 stores. (B&N has about 700 stores.) One benefit of the loss of Borders should have been a short-term lift to B&N’s 700 stores and the 1,500 or so remaining independent bookstores. B&N’s sales were indeed up in the nine weeks before Christmas, Ms. Bosman reports. How much? Borders’ collapse led to a bounce of just four percent, compared to the prior Christmas. That’s what’s passing for good news in brick-and-mortar bookselling at the moment.

There is a bright spot, however. Barnes & Noble, led by William Lynch, has exceeded all expectations in the past two years with its launch of the Nook. B&N’s 300-member Silicon Valley office, after giving Amazon’s Kindle developers a two-year head start, beat Amazon to the tablet market by fully twelve months, and introduced what’s generally seen as the state-of-the-art e-ink reader, the Nook Simple Touch, eight months ago.

B&N, in other words, has been out-engineering Amazon, and Ms. Bosman’s story is the best account we’ve had of B&N’s efforts. In the process, B&N has seen its e-book market share climb from zero, two Christmases ago, to roughly 27% today.

B&N remains vulnerable, however. The engineering race against Amazon continues, and Amazon has leverage for acquiring content for its Kindle (see Contracts on Fire: Amazon’s Lending Library Mess) that B&N can’t match. And, critically, one tool that should help B&N, our antitrust laws, is instead poised to undo it.

This brings us to an unlikely tale of books, chickens, beer, and a Silicon Valley gentlemen’s agreement.

The Backstory: Amazon, Chicken Processors & Silicon Valley

Harper’s cover art rivals Businessweek’s: an enormous businessman wearing a gray pinstriped suit is preparing to literally eat the competition, a jumbo handful of gray-suited men and women. In the article, “Killing the Competition: How the New Monopolies Are Destroying Open Markets,” (key excerpts at link, full article by subscription) Barry Lynn views the state of book publishing through a different lens.

Mr. Lynn makes the case that Amazon’s dominance isn’t just a story of an industry disrupted by online commerce and digital upheaval, it’s about the abandoning of New Deal era protections of retailers in 1975 (promoted by backers as a means to fight inflation, says Mr. Lynn) and what he portrays as a shift in 1981 in the Justice Department’s interpretation of antitrust law based on “Chicago School” theories of efficiency and consumer welfare. The upshot appears to be that non-consumer markets (business-to-business markets and labor markets) are often insufficiently protected from monopolies.

To a chicken grower, for example, the relevant market isn’t restaurants or household consumers of chicken, it’s the market of chicken processors. Through a variety of machinations, including long-term contracts and the physical placement of processing plants (think baseball, before free agency), chicken growers now routinely have a market of only one processor to sell to.

Chicken growers own their land, buildings, and equipment, and all of the debt and risk that go with them, but these entrepreneurs have no real control over their economic lives. Growers buy their chicks and feed from their poultry processor, for example, and processors often require growers to make new investments in buildings and equipment. The processors, Mr. Lynn seems to suggest, have something much better than mere capital: the economic power to dictate how others use theirs.

It’s not just chicken growers who face constrained markets, Mr. Lynn writes. In free-wheeling Silicon Valley, computer engineers and digital animation workers employed by Apple, Google, Intel, and Pixar, among others, were subject to a secret agreement not to bid on each others’ employees, according to a Justice Department lawsuit filed, and settled, in 2010. (On Friday, former employees of some of the companies filed an antitrust lawsuit in federal court in San Jose based on the Justice Department investigation.)

It’s even hit beer. The 1,750 U.S. microbrewers may appear to operate in a competitive environment, but they nearly all sell through two distributors: ABI and MillerCoors control 90% of the distribution market.

For book publishers, the relevant market isn’t readers (direct sales are few), but booksellers, and Amazon has firm control of bookselling’s online future as it works to undermine bookselling’s remaining brick-and-mortar infrastructure. Amazon controls every growing segment of the industry: online physical books, downloadable audio books, online used books, and e-books. Amazon commands about 75% of the online market for print books, and 60% of the e-book market (a percentage that decreased from Amazon’s reported 90% two years ago, as a result of agency pricing).

Mr. Lynn reports on a conversation with the head of one of the largest publishing houses in the U.S.:

He explained that Amazon was once a “wonderful customer with whom to do business.” As Jeff Bezos’s company became more powerful, however, it changed. “The question is, do you wear your power lightly? … Mr. Bezos has not. He is reckless. He is dangerous.”

The head of a small publishing house in Manhattan, Mr. Lynn reports, was even more blunt:

“Amazon is a bully,” he said, his voice rising, his cheeks flushing. “Anyone who gets that powerful can push people around, and Amazon pushes people around. They do not exercise their power responsibly.”

Neither man allowed me to use his name. Amazon, they made clear, had long since accumulated sufficient influence over their business to ensure that even these most dedicated defenders of the book – and of the First Amendment – dare not speak openly of the company’s predations.

Mr. Lynn then turns to Amazon’s blackout of Macmillan’s buy buttons, two years ago this week:

At the time, Amazon and Macmillan were scrapping over which firm would set the price for Macmillan’s e-books. Amazon wanted to price every Macmillan e-book, and indeed every e-book of every publisher, at $9.99 or less. This scorched-earth tactic, which guaranteed that Amazon lost money on many of the e-books it sold, was designed to cement the online retailer’s dominance in the nascent market. It also had the effect of persuading customers that this deeply discounted price, which publishers considered ruinously low, was the “natural” one for an e-book.

In January 2010, Macmillan at last claimed the right to set the price for each of its own products as it alone saw fit. Amazon resisted this arrangement, known in publishing as the “agency model.” When the two companies deadlocked, Amazon simply turned off the buttons that allowed customers to order Macmillan titles, in both their print and their e-book versions. The reasoning was obvious: the sudden loss of sales, which could amount to a sizable fraction of Macmillan’s total revenue, would soon bring the publisher to heel.

This was not the first time Amazon had used this stratagem. The retailer’s executives had previously cut off small firms such as Ten Speed Press and Melville House Publishing for bucking their will. But the fight with Macmillan was by far the most public of these showdowns.

In the late 1970s, when a single book retailer first captured a 10 percent share of the U.S. market, Congress and the regulatory agencies were swift to react. As the head of the Federal Trade Commission put it: “The First Amendment protects us from the chilling shadow of government interference with the media. But are there comparable dangers if other powerful economic or political institutions assume control…?”

***

Today, … a single private company has captured the ability to dictate terms to the people who publish our books, and hence to the people who write and read our books. It does so by employing the most blatant forms of predatory pricing to destroy its retail competitors. … [It] justifies its exercise of raw power in the same way our economic autocrats always do: it claims that the resulting “efficiencies” will serve the interests of the consumer.

The book industry is in play, and has been for a while. The good news is that people are finally starting to pay attention.

——————————–
The Author’s Guild encourages readers to forward, post, or tweet. Here is a short URL for linking: http://tinyurl.com/7vo73pb

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

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

*|YouTube:1qrcNksj5DE|*

Copyright: It provides my daily bread.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Guest post from Dori Butler

What advice would you give to your younger self?

I’ve always wanted to be a writer. Always. But wanting to be a writer is probably a lot like wanting to be a baseball player. Or a movie star. A lot of people want it, but most will settle for something else.

One thing that sets me apart from other people is I’m determined. Some might say stubborn. I’m also relatively patient. When I want something, I go after it. And I don’t give up until I get it.

That doesn’t mean I don’t have doubts. I’ve had a lot of doubts about my writing through the years. There have been times I wondered if I was wasting my time…times I considered giving up…times I wished I could look into a crystal ball and see whether I was ever going to get anywhere. Would I ever get published? Would I ever publish a book? Would I ever publish a book with my name on it rather than someone else’s? Would I ever publish a series? That’s what I really wanted to do…publish a series of my own.

Now that I’m more than twenty years into my writing career, I know the answers to those questions. If I could actually talk to a younger version of myself at various points my life, and offer some advice, this is what I would say:

Dear 21-year-old Dori,

Dori at 21

So what are you working on? An eight-book picture book series called Plato Goes to Obedience School. Wow. Eight books, huh? All about a cocker spaniel who goes to obedience school. You don’t realize this yet, but you don’t have enough story there to sustain one book, much less eight. You’ve got the start of a character, but no plot. No. I’m sorry, you really don’t.

Let me ask you this: What does Plato want? What is he willing to do to get it? What is he going to DO in each of these eight books to move the story forward? Where’s the conflict? Where’s the adventure? Where are the high stakes? You need to read A LOT more picture books if you think you want to write picture books. You need to learn the elements of a good story. In fact, maybe you should think about writing just one good story at this point. It’s too early to be thinking about a series.

I know you really want to write a series. But trust me, you’re not ready. And Plato Goes to Obedience School is NOT series material. By the way, six-year-olds don’t even know who Plato was, so you might consider changing the name of that dog. Yeah, I know…that’s really your dog’s name, but nobody cares. Please, do me a favor. Don’t send that series proposal out. Just keep reading, keep writing, keep learning. One day you will publish a series of your own. It’ll even be a series about dogs! But it’s not going to be Plato Goes to Obedience School. It’s just not. Put this away and don’t ever show it to ANYONE! You still have so much to learn…

–Middle-Aged Dori

Dear 29-year-old Dori,

I know…you never saw yourself living in Iowa, of all places, and yet here you are. Let me tell you this: you’re going to come to love Iowa and your life there. Really, you are. And your new friend, Carol? She’s going to change your life because she’s going to tell you about book packagers. She’s going to show you how to approach them, she’s going to read your Sweet Valley Twins audition piece, she’s going to be your biggest cheerleader next to your husband, and you’re going to get hired as a writer for the Sweet Valley Twins series. You’ve already published a bunch of magazine stories, but these are going to be your first published books. They may not be “your” books, but you’ll find subtle ways of making each one your own while remaining true to the series. This is going to be a great experience for you. You’ll get a 10-page outline for each book you’re contracted to write and then you’ll have 4-6 weeks to write each one. I know that doesn’t sound like much time, but don’t worry. You’ll make every deadline. You’ll learn how to structure a novel, match a series voice, maintain a character over several books, work with an editor, meet a deadline, revise, and you’ll actually get paid to learn all this.

Caution: you’re going to get so good at this that the assignments are going to come one after the other. And you have two little kids now. You’re going to actually make some money as a writer, but you’re not going to have time to write anything of your own. And one day you’re going to wake up and realize that everything you write sounds like a Sweet Valley Twins book. So here’s a piece of advice: slow down a little. I know it feels good when someone calls you up and offers you a contract, but learn to say no once in a while. It’s perfectly reasonable to say, “I’d like to, but I just can’t do another book this month. Could I do one next month instead?” And then use that month off to recapture your own voice.

–Middle-Aged Dori

Dear 32-year-old Dori,

So you think you’re ready to try again. You think you’re ready to propose your own middle grade series. You’ve learned all you’re going to learn from writing Sweet Valley Twins books. You’ve continued to publish magazine stories. You’ve even published a few picture books with regional publishers. But what you really want is your own middle grade series. You’ve read a bunch of other people’s series. You understand what makes a series. You even have an idea: you want to write about a girls’ baseball league. That’s not a bad idea.

You understand now that series are all about character. You’ve created nine different girls, each with her own story. You’ve got action. You’ve got adventure. You’ve got friendship. You’ve got conflict. You’ve got characters who are doing things. And at the heart of it all, you’ve got baseball.

It would help if you were a little more passionate about baseball. Sure, you know how the game is played. You know a lot about the history of women in baseball. And A League of their Own is your favorite movie. But let’s be honest. You’re not really passionate about baseball. Not really. So why do you want to write about it?

What’s that? You say you’re writing about middle school girls…middle school girls who happen to play baseball. You’re not really writing about baseball.

Yeah, okay…I’ll buy that. Temporarily. Because, after all, you’re going to get really close with this series proposal. You’re going to send Harper Collins your list of characters, a synopsis of book one, ideas for the next three books, and two sample chapters (the only ones you’ve actually written) from book one. And they’re going to get back to you after a couple of months and ask you for the rest of book one.

That single phone call will inspire some passion for baseball. You’ll read a bunch of books about baseball; you’ll even start reading the sports section of the newspaper now and then. You’ll spend the next couple of months frantically writing the rest of book one and then you’ll send it off. And you’ll wait…and you’ll wait…and you’ll wait…

But guess what? HarperCollins will NEVER give you an answer. You’ll call them and ask about the status of your manuscript after six months and again after nine months. You’ll get some encouraging news both times, but they will never offer a contract, nor will they ever tell you they’re not interested. They’re just going to hold that proposal FOREVER.

Eventually you’ll find out that Peachtree is looking for girls’ series ideas. So you’ll send your series proposal to them. This time when somebody asks about the rest of book one, you’ll be able to send it right away because you’ve actually finished it. And guess what? They’re going to tell you it’s got “too much depth” for a paperback series (which is going to blow you away because you are the queen of the “your story lacks depth” rejection letter). But they’re going to offer you a contract for it as a stand-alone hardcover novel “with sequel possibilities,” and in 2003 Sliding Into Home will be one of your first published middle grade novels.

Don’t give up!

Sincerely,
Middle Aged Dori

Dear 43-year-old Dori,

Mouse and Dori

You’ve been working with Albert Whitman & Co. for seven years now. You’ve written Boxcar Children books for them (which is a very different experience from writing Sweet Valley Twins books. You don’t get any outlines for Boxcar; you get to come up with the mysteries yourself. Too bad we can’t tell 7-year-old Dori, who LOVED the Boxcar Children series, that she would one day grow up to write them!). You’ve published five books of your own with Albert Whitman. And your editors there know you well enough to know that you’ve always wanted your own series. You’ve even discussed a series idea with them. All you need to do is write a couple of sample chapters and a synopsis of the first book, some character notes, and ideas for future books.

What’s that? You’re not all that excited about the series idea you’ve already discussed with them? You’ve got a new dog that you’re training to be a therapy dog, and really, you’re all about the dog right now (and the kid who’s moving out in 10 months). In fact, the dog is actually taking precedence over the writing. But…it might be fun to write a beginning chapter book series from the perspective of a dog. Maybe from the perspective of a school therapy dog who solves mysteries. I know, that’s not what you and your editor discussed. And you’re worried this idea is a little too close to Plato Goes to Obedience School, which you understand now was a really BAD idea.

But keep going! You know so much more about writing and constructing a series now than you did when you wrote Plato Goes to Obedience School. And most important, you’ve got PASSION for this project! Don’t worry…Albert Whitman & Co. is going to love it!

–Middle-Aged Dori

P.S. Your dog is going to be an awesome therapy dog!

If I was given an opportunity to look into a crystal ball and see answers to those questions, I don’t think I’d look. I’d rather keep doing what I’m doing and discover the answers to those questions as they happen. After all, it’s the questions that keep life interesting. I wonder if 75-year-old Dori would agree?

I wonder what advice 75-year-old Dori might have for Middle Aged Dori?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Have Your Pity Party: But Then Get to Work

When you get the letter from an editor about a revision, what do you do?

Frankly, I get mad. How dare that misguided editor diss my perfect mss?!

Only 3 days. For novels, I give myself the luxury of three days of being mad before I get down to work. For 3 days, I get to gripe to my journal, to my DH, to myself. NEVER gripe to anyone else, of course. NEVER jeopardize a great editorial relationship by expressing your frustrations to the public.

Embrace the emotions–then move on. I think it’s important to let these emotions have their play and not deny them. Writing a novel is a bit of an ego trip anyway, don’t you think? I mean,who am I to think that I could tell a story that would hold an audience enthralled? Who am I to think that some world and some characters that I make up from my imagination–well, do you hear all the “I” and “my” in what I’m saying?

Writing a novel is an ego-trip. And when an editor gives “feedback,” my pride says that I don’t need their feedback and they are wrong anyway, because they just didn’t get it.

I’ve expressed this frustration here, too: I Don’t Want an Honest Critique

REALLY read the letter. Of course, three days later,when I have a bit of distance,I REALLY read the letter and, of course, they are right and I wonder why I didn’t see it before.

In the end, you must get over it! And get to work.

2 Common Revision Issues

Audience. I’m dealing with a couple revision letters right now. One is mostly a matter of audience. I’m working on a book for teachers about writing and the editor continually makes minor corrections that will make the material work better for teachers. Audience is everything in these revisions.

If you’re writing a mystery, you must know your audience. Picturebook? What age level child are you writing for? In every type of writing, the audience will determine much of the revision.

Clarity of Communication. A second project is more about fine-tuning the story, making the characters a bit sharper, providing a better ending and probably making the language sing a bit more. Here, it’s story, characters, story arc, and language. Either way, the editor’s goal is better communication.

I do take time to let my ego have it’s pity party; but then, I cut that short and get to work. How long do you allow for a pity party before you get down to work?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

John Green is discussing which is better: a big or little advance? These contract issues are vitally important. Which would you prefer?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Children’s Books Beating the Recession?

What’s the state of children’s publishing?

Harold Underdown, The Purple Crayon website, has reported on the economic turmoil in publishing of late 2008 and into early 2009.

Publishing, especially books for kids, is on the upswing? So say a couple of postings:

• JIll Cocoran, Literary Agent at the Herman Agency pulls out quotes from Border’s statements on their rebuilding efforts and finds hope.
• Cocoran also send readers to The Wild Rose Reader for a report on an independent book store surviving, no, thriving against competition from Barnes & Noble.

Other Stories

• This is a bit late, but funny. 3 Reasons Why the Easter Bunny should NOT be Your Marketer.
• You write, but you don’t have a blog? Don’t want a blog? Then you need a Google Profile, so people can find some information about you online, information that you control. How easy is it to set up?
• NYTimes article on book advances. What percentage of books actually earn out their advance?
• Why First Reads or First Pages critiques at a conference is like the American Idol of Manuscripts.
• The UT-Austin Library has Norman Mailer’s laptop! What do they plan to do with it?
• Alan Gratz SHOULD be writing. Instead, he’s sword fighting? AND playing at harp? At the same time?
• Everything I Ever Needed to Know, I Learned from FolkSongs?
• And Janni is talking to characters again. What advice is she giving to heroes?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

What is the Best Length for Novel Chapters?

How long are your chapters? How long is long enough or too long?

In his book, , action/adventure author, David Morrell (creator of the Rambo character, among others), says he tries to write short chapters, so that a reader can complete one chapter (or structural unit) at one sitting. He bases his ideas on two essays by Edgar Allen Poe, The Philosophy of Composition and The Poetic Principle. Part of this discussion is about pacing, because it’s about keeping the reader’s attention. Morrell says he keeps his structural units small in order to accommodate the reader’s bladder, TV interruptions, phone calls, a neighbor who drops in, etc. Poe’s essay is worth reading, as is Morrell’s chapter on “The Tactics of Structure.”

Of course–a chapter should be as long as it needs to be. But consider shorter chapters which can be read at one sitting.

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Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

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