Ken Baker: Children's Author

Writing for Charity 2012

2012-02-09T15:24:00.000-08:00

Mark your calendars. On March 17, 2012, Utah children's authors will be donating their time to host and present a writer's conference that will not only help aspiring author to improve their craft, but proceeds from the conference's low $45 registration fee will be used to help place children's books in the hands of underprivileged children. Hosted at the Provo City Library, the conference will be a day full of interactive break-out sessions, professional critiques and a silent auction of donated autographed books, critiques, and even lunch with famous authors..

The Writing for Charity conference was originally founded by Shannon Hale in 2008, who will be participating along side an array of other children's authors including Brodi Ashton, Kristen Chandler, Kristyn Crow, Bree Despain, Sharlee Glenn, Mette Ivie Harrison, Tess Hilmo, Clint Johnson, Matt Kirby, Kristen Landon, Lisa Mangum, Janette Rallison, J. Scott Savage, Emily Wing Smith, myself and others.

You can learn more about the conference at writingforcharity.blogspot.com

Cow Can't Sleep Cover Art

2012-01-19T08:52:00.000-08:00

Here's the cover art for Cow Can't Sleep. Enjoy

Librarian Booktalk with Elizabeth Bird – Part 2

2012-01-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

Continuation of transcribed phone interview with Elizabeth Bird, Youth Materials Specialist at the New York Public Library as she discusses her favorite books of the different sections listed on the 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing 2011 recently released by the New York Public Library.

Picture Books
Elizabeth: For picture books, the title is Everything Goes on Land by Brian Biggs. I like to describe it as Richard Scarry meets Robert Crumb. A boy and his father drive through a city and you just see the sheer swath of vehicles that you run into when you’re in a city. It’s so involved, so complicated, and so much fun. It’s easy to follow the storyline, if that’s what you want to do, or you can try to find all the little details. For example, there is always a bird wearing a hat hidden in the pictures somewhere. It’s just a great book that if you want to spend some time with it, it really rewards the reading.

Folk and Fairy Tales
Elizabeth: Folk and fairy tales have always been very important to the New York Public Library. So, we always have a folk and fairy tale section, but it’s tough because recently folk and fairy tales have been disappearing. Publishers are less willing to publish folk and fairy tales. They don’t sell as well as some other things. So the numbers have really depleted over the years, which is too bad because teachers want them more than ever right now. So we always try to find just the best of whatever is out there. We have some really good ones this year. My favorite without a doubt was The Cazuela that the Farm Maiden Stirred. It’s sort of a cumulative tale, sort of a recipe. It’s beautiful art. It teaches Spanish along the way, but in a fun way. It incorporates the Spanish words into the text so beautifully, so effortlessly that the kids are learning Spanish and they’re not even realizing it.

Early Chapter Book
Elizabeth: The hardest books to find every year are early chapter books. There are tons of easy books, but to get to the chapter books where you’re transitioning from easy books into chapter books, it’s so tough. You have to really search for them. There is a really good one that came out this year by Atinuke called The No. 1 Car Spotter and it’s just fantastic. This is certainly the first and maybe only African boy I’ve ever seen in an early chapter book published in America. It is funny, well written. And Atinuke is clearly a professional storyteller because the language is the book is just top notch.

Middle Grade Chapter Book
Elizabeth: The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander flies off the shelves. I cannot keep this book on the shelf. Kids adore this book. They do not get the Godfather reference. They don’t care. It’s just a really fun story about a kid who gets other people to owe him favors. He takes over an abandoned bathroom in his school and kids come to him in the fourth stall where he has set up a whole desk area where they can ask him for favors. It’s very enjoyable, and a great boy and girl book.

Poetry
Elizabeth: Some years poetry is really strong and some years it’s not. This year we had the weird sensation of having to deal with a lot of dead people who suddenly have new works coming out. There was a Dr. Seuss poetry book and a Shel Silverstein poetry book. Fortunately, both these poetry books were really good, which is not always the case in these situations. The new Shel Silverstein (Everything On It) was done really well and really looks like his other previous books. The Silverstein estate was very careful about which poetry selections they chose. And his art is just fantastic.

Graphic Novels
Elizabeth: This is a new selection that was not on the list 100 years ago. This is maybe the second or third time we’ve had the graphic novel section, because now we’re seeing really good graphic novels. I selected Dan Santat’s Sidekicks. It’s the idea that these sidekick animals of superheroes have their own adventures. I run a book group for kids and suggested we do Sidekicks. They loved it. It’s beautiful. It’s full color. It’s a lot of fun.

Non-Fiction
Elizabeth: The last one that I chose is actually because I am sort of bias. Coral Reefs by Jason Chin takes place in the main branch of the New York Public Library. Chin just did a beautiful job. The architecture is spot on. The idea is that this kid is reading a book and it sort of feels like she’s been submerged into the world of coral reefs. It looks like it’s a fantasy because on the cover she is swimming around with a shark. The text is straight nonfiction, talking about coral reefs, the different animals there, how they’re threatened by pollution and things like that. It has beautiful watercolors. Chin is a true artist.

In addition to being the Youth Materials Specialist at the New York Public Library, Elizabeth is a former Newbery Committee member (2007), blogger for FUSE #8 Production, professional reviewer for Kirkus and New York Times, regular contributing author to “The Horn Book”, author of CHILDREN'S LITERATURE GEMS: CHOOSING AND USING THEM IN YOUR LIBRARY CAREER (ALA Editions, 2009), and author of the forthcoming children’s picture book GIANT DANCE PARTY (HarperCollins).

Librarian Booktalk with Elizabeth Bird – Part 1

2012-01-12T09:12:00.000-08:00

Partial transcript from a phone interview with Elizabeth Bird, Youth Materials Specialist at the New York Public Library; former Newbery Committee member (2007); “School Library Journal” blogger for its FUSE #8 Production blog channel; professional reviewer for Kirkus, New York Times, and TimeOut Kids New York; regular contributing author to “The Horn Book” and author of CHILDREN'S LITERATURE GEMS: CHOOSING AND USING THEM IN YOUR LIBRARY CAREER (ALA Editions, 2009); and author of the forthcoming children’s picture book GIANT DANCE PARTY (HarperCollins).

From librarian to blogger, author and committee member, with your active involvement in so many different facets of children’s literature, how do you hope to make an impact or difference?

Elizabeth: My goal in life is to bring all the different aspects of children’s literature together; booksellers, academics, librarians, parents and bloggers. To do that I have to sort of spread myself a little thin, but I’ve tried to touch into a bunch of different areas to get good books and the books that I love publicized as humanly possible in the hopes of getting them into the hands of as many kids as possible. There are just so many different places for people to look for and discover books. So, I sort of try to find every place that a person might possibly go to find a children’s book and tell them about the good ones there.

My position at the New York Public Library (NYPL) allows me to do that in a very direct manner. My reviews on my blogs, Amazon and Goodreads let me alert people to good books there. But a lot of librarians don’t read blogs. They just read the professional reviews. That’s why I review for the New York Times, which will also be seen by the general public. What I’d really love to do would be to review or get a column in a parenting magazine, because that’s another area where people are really paying attention. I just want to reach as many people as possible to tell them about what’s out there, what’s new, what’s great, and what’s being overlooked in a given year.

What do you say to parents or librarians to help them get reluctant readers or any child or teen to take better advantage of all the good books that are available?

Elizabeth: The librarian mantra is always “The right book for the right child”. There was a great book that came out last year called Miss Brooks loves Books (And I Don't). It’s about a little girl who hates books until her librarian reads her Shrek, which is so gross and disgusting and then the girl is like “THIS IS THE BEST BOOK EVER!” That is my take on it. There is a book for every kid. You just have to find that book, which can be tough, especially for parents.

You have to find a resource that you can trust, that’s not going to lead you astray, and that can consistently give you great books for your kids. That’s tricky, unless they’re getting something like the School Library Journal. So what they have to do is go to their local librarian or local bookseller and consistently ask for recommendations.

You have to let parents know to a certain extent that a book for a child does not have to be War and Peace. You can give children Captain Underpants and it will not rot their brain. It may even make them want to read another book. From there you can kind of move them into Diary of a Wimpy Kid, to a book with slightly less pictures, and then into longer novels. That is sort of a path that you can follow. There are a bunch of different techniques for getting kids to read, but my favorite is definitely parental involvement.

NYPL just came out with its latest 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing 2011. Tell me a little about it’s history and how it comes about.
Elizabeth: The library has been doing the list for 100 years. It began in 1911 by Anne Carroll Moore, who was the great children’s librarian of NYPL. She was also the person who started Children’s Services within the library system. There weren’t recommended lists like this back then or one-stop shopping places for parents to go for recommend books. We think it’s tough today, but back then, oh man, you couldn’t find them anywhere. So, the list originally began sort of as a gift list that she would bring out before Christmas every year.

Now the librarians meet through the entire year, reading everything they can, debating, and winnowing it down to just 100 titles out of all the books that are published in a given year. Generally speaking it comes out before Christmas, although this year it came out a little later. Still, it has consistently come out every single year since 1911. So this year we had the 100th list of the 100 titles.

What are some of your favorites on this year’s list?
Elizabeth: Actually, on my blog post I show a sample cover of my favorite from each section on the list, but I can tell you why I selected each one. (Elizabeth’s discussion on her favorites from the list will be posted in Part 2 of this interview on Monday.)

Tell me about your experience with the Newbery committee.
Elizabeth: My experience was strange because it’s not how people typically get onto the committee. Usually you are either appointed or you’re voted onto the committee long before the first meeting in January and then you have a full year until the final decisions are made the following January. Around June of that year, I was having dinner at a restaurant with my husband and my phone rang with an area code that I didn’t’ recognize. It was the president of ALSC, who said we had someone drop out of the committee, can you fill in? I was like, “Oh, Yes. Yes. I will.” But I came in half way through the year, which is not normal. And usually when someone drops out, they pull somebody from the ALA Notable Committee. I’m not sure why they didn’t do that that year, but I’m very grateful that I was plucked up instead.

Do you have any predictions for this year’s Newbery?

Elizabeth: This year I’m going to make a weird prediction. All the talk has been about Gary Schmidt’s Okay for Now. Often when people are on committees and they get down to the wire with five books still in front of them, their inclination is to disregard anything that they can object to and make it an honor instead. People love Okay for Now, but it has a problematic ending. The ending tears people apart. They either think it’s fine or they hate it more than anything in the entire world. So, I think Okay for Now is going to get an honor.

The book I think that is going to win is the one that I have not been able to hear a single objection to and everybody loves, but no one has seriously considered it because it’s non-fiction. I’m pretty sure Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming could get away with the gold. That book is brilliant and there hasn’t been a non-fiction winner since something like 1988 when Lincoln: A Photobiography won. She has a really good shot. And if a Honor goes to The Trouble with May Amelia, then this will be the year of the Amelias, which would be awesome.

Last question. Tell me what you enjoy most about being a librarian?
Elizabeth: What it is, doesn’t even take place when I’m in the library. But if I’m on the subway or somewhere else, and I see a kid with a book that is a library book, it makes me so happy. I really have a practical way of getting books into the hands of kids. Right now it’s more direct than ever. I can get people to read good books. I can really highlight good books. I can buy great books. And that’s what I like best. I like to get books into the hands of kids.

To get more children’s literature insights and advice from Elizabeth Bird, visit her blog at http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production.

The New York Public Library first officially opened its doors on May 24, 1911 on a two-block section of Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets. Today the Library has 90 locations, four research centers, and a network of neighborhood libraries throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. The library provides free and open access to its physical and electronic collections and information, as well as to its services for people of all ages, from toddlers to teens to adults. For more information about the New York Public Library visit http://www.nypl.org.

Book Covers & Reading Choices

2012-01-09T10:40:00.000-08:00

Newer cover

Last night as I was reading one of the Lightning Thief books with my 10-year old daughter, it reminded me of the first time the book was introduced to me shortly after it came out. I was looking for a book for my pre-teen son and myself to read. Our local librarian recommended Lightning Thief. I took one look at the cover, and I had no desire to read it. Which is strange for me since I love reading children’s books, especially if they have plenty of action and adventure. I also enjoy fantasy and mythology. But the art cover turned me off. It looked old-fashion and faded. Still, I checked the book out for my son, which he read and enjoyed. Of course, Lightning Thief went on to become a huge success, in spite of what I thought about the cover. It's interesting though that when the publisher reprinted it based on its high demand, that they changed its cover with what I think is much nicer and appealing art.

Older cover

How does the cover art of a book affect you and your children’s reading choices? They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but I think sometimes it’s hard not to. What do you think?

Librarian Booktalk with Carla Morris

2012-01-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

Interview with Carla Morris, current Chair of ALA’s 2013 Theodore Geisel Committee, former Caldecott Committee member (2004), librarian for the past 32 years at the Provo City Library and its current Children's Service Manager, and children's author of “The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians” (Peachtree Publishers 2007). Carla has a special interest in Emergent Literacy and teaching parents how to get their children ready to learn to read.

What advice do you have for parents who want their children to read more?
Carla: Read yourself! Let your children see you read. Let your children see you cry over a book or laugh. Talk about what you are reading to your kids. Have books in your home. Have big shelves of physical, real, tangible books. Your children should own copies of their favorite books. Give them books for Christmas, their birthdays with something personally written to them inside the cover. Those books will outlast their toys. You should have copies of your favorite books so your children can see what you value. Children should always have bookshelves with books, and reading lamps in their bedrooms. I know everyone is moving towards e-books, and that’s good too. So call me old fashioned, but BOOKS need to be in your home!

What do you see as the main challenges that parents, librarians, and/or educators face in getting young people to read and what are some of the best ways to overcome those challenges?
Carla: It’s a matter of setting priorities and balance. Kids who spend a lot of “screen time” are actually reading…just in a different way than what we think of as reading. However, if they are spending a lot of time on social media, are they learning new vocabulary? Learning about characters, settings, problem solving that they would learn from reading a book? Acquiring movies at our fingertips allows us to spend hours viewing movies that may or may not be mind expanding. We don’t fully know the outcomes of so much screen time. Turning everything off and reading a book (actual or on a notebook) just a few minutes a day should be a part of our daily routine…..working on the intellect!

What do you say to teens or young readers to encourage them to read?
Carla: I say have you heard about???????, then give them a short synopsis of something new, point them in that direction and let them browse. Be there for them when they have questions…..give them the tools and let them explore.

What are some of the more popular books you see kids reading today?
Carla: Children love the series: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Rick Riordan books, Magic Treehouse, Alchemist, Fancy Nancy, Pinkalicious, Olivia, Dora the Explorer, Horowitz's Alex Rider, Ranger’s Apprentice, Captain Underpants, books on super heroes, and Star Wars. Brandon Mull books are popular here. Kids still ask for Goosebumps. Animorphs are being reissued. Kids will love those.

What are some of the more recent books you recommend to young readers and why?
Carla: This is a broad and complicated question. Children are varied! Our motto at the Provo Library is "Get the right book into their hands at the right time of their life." To help with that, we have a whole wall filled with brochures of more than 50 Book Lists: Adventure, Books for Girls, Books for Boys, Fantasy, Fairies Historical Fiction, Mermaids, Horses, Trucks and Trains and Things that Go, Wordless Picture Books, and more. You can also find those book lists on our website at www.provolibrary.com/booklists

What’s your favorite book to recommend to teens or young readers and why?
Carla: I love children’s non-fiction. Usually heavy on graphics and short, concise text. You can always find something great to recommend to a child who will give you even a little hint of what they are interested in. Children are all about fantasy right now, but there is a world of absolutely beautiful non-fiction books! Graphic novels are branching into non-fiction, especially history. The reluctant reader can learn about history through comics!

I love magazines and always have. The brevity, slick pages-- very visual. Children should be introduced to them. Check them out and take them home. A recent trend that I love is the Picture Biographies--a little slice of life (in picturebook format of historical figures), such as “Me Jane” by Patrick McDonnell.

What are some your favorites that you recommend and that readers seem to enjoy?
Carla: I have always loved Cynthia Rylant. She has written a variety of Fiction, Easy Readers and picture books. She is a master at developing characters and scenes. I love the feeling that comes from reading her writing. I frequently recommend Kate Di Camillo, Ian Lawrence, Cornelia Funke, Gary Schmidt: all beautiful writers.

I love the I Spy Books and books by Tana Hoban because they encourage adults and children to cuddle up together and point, talk, have discussions about life-- all while having fun with books.I refer patrons to Mo Willems and Kevin Henkes who both seem to remember what it’s like to be a child. Rosemary Wells, Mem Fox are classic. My all time favorite illustrators would be Barry Moser, Kadir Nelson, David Small, David Catrow, Christopher Bing, and (this always surprises people…. Holly Hobbie…I LOVE the Toots and Puddles series). And I can’t forget the classic illustrations of Garth Williams, Ernest Shepard, Robert McCloskey, Barbara Cooney (so dear to my heart). There are hundreds of favorites--these names just pop out of my head. I know that I’m leaving out so many!!!

With the Caldecott Awards coming up and your past experience as a committee member, tell me why you think such awards are important.
Carla: Keeping our standards high!

Can you share any experiences you had on the committee that might be of interest to other librarians or book lovers?
Carla: Mostly the fun of Caldecott is receiving close to 800 free picture books and carefully analyzing them and having discussions about them with other committee members. The networking and friendships formed are amazing.

Do you have any predictions for this year’s award winners?
Carla: I’m sure Lane Smith’s Grandpa Green will be a winner. However, my personal favorite is “Me…Jane” by Patrick McDonnell.

What do you enjoy most about being a librarian?
Carla: Being a librarian has greatly expanded my life and has made me and my children better people. When you work in a library you learn something new every day. You are exposed to the richness of ideas, illustrations, books, multimedia which rubs off on you and makes you so much more interesting than if you were not exposed to such a wealth of thinking!!!

I love the books. I love the kids. I love the people I work with. I have a great library director Gene Nelson who supports the Children’s Department. My staff are all experts in customer service and.great storytellers who put their whole being into doing our story times. I love and appreciate the parents who take the time (and gas) to find their kids shoes and books and bring them to the library regularly. They are “the heroes” and their children and the world they will ultimately live in will be the benefactors.

Any last words?

Carla: The public library has always been an important part of American life. The world of writing, publishing, e-books is currently in a state of flux. I wrote my picture book “The Boy Who Was Raised By Librarians” to bring attention to the contribution of libraries in our communities and to show the relationship between librarians who work together, as well as the relationship formed between librarians and patrons. Many times the public library is referred to as the “living room of the community.” I frequently tell library staff as well as our patrons, ”I hope you will always feel comfortable at our library, and you are always welcome home here.”

To learn more about Carla and her work as a children's author, visit her web site at www.carladeemorris.com.

Located in Provo, Utah at the historic Academy Square, the Provo Library is known for age appropriate programming. It offers 24 age specificprograms every week geared towards children 0 – 12 years of age. It's also know for 2 signature annual events: "Fairy Tea Party" and "Big Guy Little Guy parties." More information on the Provo Library can be found at www.provolibrary.com.

Amazon Publishing to buy Marshall Cavendish Children's division.

2011-12-07T16:34:00.000-08:00

Marshall Cavendish just announced yesterday that Amazon Publishing is buying the Marshall Cavendish Children's Book group. I'm not sure what to think about it yet, but I hope it ends up being a good thing for my 2 picture books that will be coming out fall 2012 from Marshall Cavendish. Here's a link to the press release about it. http://www.marshallcavendish.us/marshallcavendish-us/news/AmazonCCB.xml

Book Reviews on Children's Books

2011-11-21T17:01:00.000-08:00

On my old Web site I posted book reviews written by young readers on the books they enjoyed reading. I have now added those book reviews to my new site at www.kenbakerbooks.com in a section called Kid Picks. I plan to add newer reviews to it from time to time. Check it out and enjoy!

Coming soon! Librarian booktalks and interviews

2011-11-16T13:05:00.000-08:00

In the coming days or weeks, I plan to introduce a new regular feature to this blog, where I will interview children's librarians across the country to hear what they have to say about what kids are reading or why they're not reading. Some posts will be like mini-book talks, others will have advice for other librarians, parents and young readers, and others will offer a glimpse into the life of children's librarians. Anyway, I'm excited about it and I hope you are too. Stay tuned.

Value of Publishing Options

2011-10-24T14:51:00.000-07:00

One of the discussion forums I’m on asks why authors would continue to try to go the traditional publishing route now that there are e-books and self publishing? First off, self-publishing has always been an option. The difference today is that e-books provide an easier, much more pervasive vehicle for self-publishing than what print-only offered in the past. So one of the questions that really needs to be asked is what value does traditional publishing provide over self-publishing?

Some of the values that self-publishing delivers, includes:

No barriers to entry (This is also a negative, since it opens the floodgates to low quality stories)
Faster time to market
More control
Higher royalty percentage (However, this doesn’t necessarily promise higher actual revenue)

Some of the values that traditional publishing delivers, includes:

Built-in distribution sales channel and marketing for both print and electronic versions
Team of seasoned experts that contribute to all aspects of the book publishing journey, such as story editors, line editors, cover artists, layout designers, PR people, salespeople, production team, and more.
Inherent stamp of approval for major book chains and distribution channel in terms of book quality
Inherent stamp of approval for readers in general (While this might eventually become less of a factor as ebooks evolve, with some exceptions I believe for the present most readers will choose traditionally published books over self-published)
Higher chance of success (While I don’t have numbers to back this up, I would predict that on average traditionally published books have a higher per-book sell-through rate than self-published books. Please feel free to provide numbers that confirm or dispute this)

Of course there are cons to both options too. Self-publishing typically requires an upfront investment by the author as well as increased marketing effort by the author. Even though traditional publishing is requiring more from its authors in terms of marketing, it’s hasn’t yet reach the level required by the self-publisher for success. Traditional publishing also has cons, the foremost of these being that it has a very high barrier to entry. Some feel that barrier is too high. For me there is actually value in that barrier and it’s worth it to me to spend years and significant effort breaking through it. I also place significant value on having a team of experts backing me up. I look at that as a key ingredient to my long-term success as an author.

So, the question really comes down to, what do you want as an author? If you’re a great marketer yourself, if you don’t think you need the expertise that publishers provide or you just simply want to have a book published, then self-publishing might be your best publication path. If you want a team of experts to contribute to your success and you’re willing to put the effort in to join their team, traditional publishing might be the best route.

While to some, this post might seem like a contradiction to my post of the other day, it’s really not. Both publishing routes deliver a set of values, but the importance of each those values will change based on individual author perspective and as the publishing landscape continues to evolve and change in the wake of the digital revolution.

Also, I know that the above is just a short list of the values that both routes offer. Feel free to add to the list in your comments below.

Author Platform: Friend or Foe?

2011-10-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks I’ve read a number of articles that talk about the importance of author platforms for increasing book sales. One of the main concepts of the author platform is to create an instant audience for your books through those who follow you via social media, whether it’s your web site, blog, Facebook, Twitter, or whatever. Consulting editor, Alan Rinzler has a great article on The “New Author” Platform – What You Need to Know . Along those same lines, children’s author and SCBWI regional adviser, Kathleen Temean has some great ideas on her blog post today on how to drive traffic to your web site. Additionally, well-known blogger and literary agent, Rachelle Gardner talks in her blog today about why author platforms are so important to agents and publishers.

These are just a few examples of great articles on the how-to’s and importance of the author platform, and I will definitely continually refer to them as try to build up my own platform. But as I read these and so many other articles like them, it makes me wonder if publishers and agents are slowly putting themselves out of business with the increasing emphasis that they place on authors creating their own audience and promoting themselves. It’s obvious that the days are long gone when an author could sit in seclusion, cranking out new books and then passing them off to their agent or publisher to market and sell. But if more and more of the marketing and promotion responsibility falls to the author, what role does that leave for the publisher and agent?

I have long been an advocate of going the traditional publishing route versus the self-publishing route. One of the main reasons for that has been that I’m not an expert in book distribution, promotion and sales. While I enjoy speaking at conferences and doing school visits, I want to be a full time author, not a full time marketer. But if traditional publishing continues down its current path, that might be exactly what I need to do to be a successful author.

Of course, another important role for the traditional publisher and agent is to be the gatekeeper, to make sure only the highest quality books make it to market. But with the exponential rise of epublishing, are they really needed as gatekeepers anymore? Word of mouth and social interchanges of discerning readers have the ability to determine which books are worth reading or not. In many ways, traditional publishers and agents are being seen by many authors as road blocks to publication rather than vehicles to publication.

It reminds me of an interchange I had with an author friend about a year ago, in which I was suggesting that she steer clear of the self-publishing route and go with a traditional publisher. She basically said, “Been there, done that. It was a financial fiasco.” She then told me that due to the publisher’s standard royalty rate that she didn’t make nearly as much money as she thought she could. Inwardly I thought, well that’s just the way it is; the publisher gets their cut, the distributor gets their cut, and retail gets their cut. That’s life. But then she told me about her author platform of more than 30,000 dedicated followers who would instantly buy her new book whether or not it came from a traditional publisher. She built up her author platform so well that she really didn’t need any more of what the publisher had to offer her.

Along similar lines, an article two days ago in the New York Times talks about how Amazon’s vision of end-to-end publishing services has publishers running scared because it leaves them completely out of the publishing loop. For authors that have built up a popular marketing platform, Amazon offers a compelling and more profitable option than the traditional route.

Although, I’m still an avid proponent of the role that traditional publishers and agents can play in regard to author success, as the ebook industry evolves and as publishers and agents shift more and more of what used to be their responsibility to the author I have to wonder what role they will leave for themselves, if any.

What are your thoughts about the growing emphasis on the author platform and self-promotion?

How do you see that increased emphasis affecting the role of publishers and agents?

Advice to Aspiring Authors

2011-10-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I'm contacted by aspiring writers for advice on how to get started as a children's book author. Whether they want to write picture books, chapter books or YA, my advice is pretty much the same. First I tell them that it’s great that they’re interested in writing a children’s/YA book, but then I warn them that having a children’s book published is not an easy endeavor. It’s a very competitive business. A single publisher might receive about 20,000 manuscripts in a single year from potential authors. Of those 20,000, the publisher might publish anywhere between 5 and 30 books, depending on the publisher’s size and needs. I don’t say this to discourage them, but I say it to give them the proper perspective of what they’re getting into.

If they’re serious in their publishing pursuit, here are some of the main suggestions I give them:

1. Attend local or national children's writing conferences. Not only will writing conferences teach you much of what you need to know, they're great places to make contacts with other authors as well as editors and agents. Preferably, you’ll want to look for conferences where national authors, editors, and agents attend to present their insights on writing and getting published. A good resource for finding about some of those events can be found at www.scbwi.org/Regional-Events.aspx.

2. Join a critique group. A critique group can give you objective advice on your stories. Once again, SCBWI is a good resource for finding out about local critique groups. Even if you’re not a member of SCBWI, the regional coordinator for your area would likely be happy to tell you about critique groups in your area. (www.scbwi.org/Pages.aspx/Regional-Chapters).

3. Attend writing workshops. Quite often different published authors offer workshops. This might be authors local to your area or ones that happen to be visiting your area in conjunction with a book tour. Simply do a Google search for writing workshops in your area.

4. Do your research. Read different books on writing children’s books. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books by Harold Underdown is a good book to read, as is the Children’s Writers and Illustrators Market by Writer’s Digest. For longer works, Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas is an excellent resource. There are also a lot of Web sites and blogs with good information too, such as www.underdown.org and www.verlakay.com.

5. Reads lots of current children’s books. If you’re not reading what’s being written and bought today in your genre of choice, you won’t have the familiarity you need with what sells in today’s market. Read as many books as you can.

If you have other suggestions for the aspiring author, please share.

Agent and editor blurbs?

2011-09-16T08:52:00.000-07:00

I received a positive rejection yesterday from an editor on an YA I wrote a few years back. I'll take a personalized, positive rejection over a form rejection or no-response any day. It builds your confidence when an editor takes the time to say some nice things about your work. But at the same time, they're saying "Thanks, but no thanks." So, no matter how many personalized, positive rejections you get, it's still a rejection. It still hurts. It's still not what you're working towards.

Regardless, it got me thinking, half in jest and half serious, about the idea of including agent/editor blurbs in my next submission. Something like, here's what editors and agents are saying about my YA techno-thriller. Of course, you'd leave out all the reasons they didn't want it, maybe leaving you with something resembling book cover blurbs like the following:

"Compelling main character!" "Intriguing high stakes premise!" "Great hook!"

Even though I'm tempted to do it, I realize it's not a good idea. While it sounds like it provides positive validation for the story, what it actually does is draw the editor's attention to the fact that it's already been rejected by a number of others. You don't need the editor or agent thinking rejection before they've even had a chance to read your work.

So, as tempting as it might be, the better solution is to keep working on improving your writing and make your queries irresistible.

Review: Wolves, Boys and Other Things that Might Kill Me

2011-09-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

Guest blogger and teen girl reviewer reviews Wolves, Boys and Other Things that Might Kill Me

Kristen Chandler’s title may suggest the popular theme of supernatural creatures, but no vampires or werewolves exist in this city. All 17 year old and social outcast KJ wants is to survive high school in her small Montana town, but Virgil, the new kid from Minnesota, without warning starts a reaction that changes KJ as well as the whole town’s lives. As her and Virgil start falling for each other, their small town outside Yellowstone National Park starts consequently falling apart. Neighbor turns against neighbor, friends against friends. Through all the turmoil, though, KJ begins to find her voice and confidence, standing up to the bullies of her school and villains of the town, creating a turning point for her whole town.

Chandler has created a rare type of book, one that does include the fun but short-lived teenage romances, but also the more emotional issues of an average teenager’s life: low self esteem and feeling to small to make a difference, needing to find the confidence to overcome opposition, family and issues at home, and the need to be loved. Her book doesn’t just graze over problems, having a “happily ever after.” Instead, she realistically writes of possible outcomes to real life and common situations, including all awkward, sad, happy and uncomfortable. These realistic results make it quite easy to connect with the characters, making the book even more enjoyable. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book, specifically to the teenage and young adults.

Review: The Looking Glass Wars

2011-08-08T07:57:00.000-07:00

Guest blogger and teen boy reviewer reviews The Looking Glass Wars

The Looking Glass Wars is a novel similar to Alice in Wonderland. You think it’s just the same as Lewis Carroll’s novel however Frank Beddor adds different twists and turns that keep you guessing on what will happen next. Not only are there unexpected twists and turns Frank Beddor added extraordinary details so you have an exact image of what is going on in the story.

Instead of adding the same exact characters as in Alice in Wonderland the author adds different characteristics and features about each of the characters. There is a wider variety of characters and items in the novel.

This novel was a fantastic book. It’s one of the books that you just can’t stop reading and you never want it to end. I would definitely recommend this book. This was an amazing book.

Updated sketches

2011-08-02T13:43:00.001-07:00

Received updated sketches for Old MacDonald had a Dragon the other day. It's looking great! I can't wait to see the final art, or the book itself, which will come out Fall 2012

Floods of Life

2011-08-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes life encroaches on our ability to get much writing done. Three weeks ago I came home from a family vacation to find our house flooded from a loose fridge/icemaker hose. My basement office was one of the rooms hits. So, dealing with the aftermath and being displaced from my office has made it difficult to do as much writing as I'd like, let alone post to my blog.

What are some of the routine things or difficulties of life that keep you from your writing?

Review: The Beyonders

2011-06-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

Guest blogger and teen girl reviewer reviews The Beyonders

Jason Walker has been thrust into a new world, a world full of cowards, fallen heroes and the malicious magician Maldor. His destiny has found him as he takes on an adventure to not only save himself, but this whole civilization from the kingship of the evil wizard. His plan: find the single word that can destroy Maldor.

Brandon Mull, author of the Beyonders as well as the best selling Fablehaven series, has created the beginning to a unique and entirely unpredictable trilogy. Full of excitement and sorrow, triumph and tragedy, Beyonders definitely entertains and meets expectations. It is well worth the read.

Bugling Muscles

2011-06-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

Spell checkers are wonderful things, but they’re no substitute for human eyes. The other day I was editing a YA novel I’m working on and discovered that one of my characters has “bugling muscles”. What do muscles look like when they are bugling? How does a muscle bugle? What songs do muscles play when they bugle? Even though my spell checker didn’t see anything wrong with muscles that bugle, I decided I preferred to have my character’s muscles bulge.

While keeping it clean, what are some of your funnier misspellings that the spell checker missed?

Children's Literacy Leads to Success

2011-05-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice story in a Colorado newspaper about its Lt. Governor visiting an elementary school to promote literacy as a driving force for kids' success. I've always felt that regular daily reading to children from a very young age and up is key to their success in school, work and life in general. This is a nice article that talks a little about that, and coincidentally, Brave Little Monster is one of the books that the Lt. Governor reads to the children to promote literacy. Enjoy! :)

Uncovering Invisible Story Problems

2011-05-19T07:45:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when you write a story, it seems like all the pieces just fit together perfectly. You’ve nailed the voice, pacing, plot, setting, characters, tone, and so on. You think, there’s no way you can make it any better. It’s perfect. But a funny thing happens when someone else reads it; they don’t get it or they think it’s okay, but not great, or they just don’t like it. What happened?

Well first off, everyone has different tastes. What you like, might not be liked by everyone else. As the old saying goes, you can’t make everybody happy all the time— or something like that.

But there’s something else going on that makes your perfect story not so perfect to other people. When you write something, there’s a personal connection between you and the piece. The words you frame take on a personal meaning to you that often go beyond the printed page. While you might be reading the exact same words as someone else, you’re interpretation of them is far different due to your personal or unique understanding of those words. That unique insight or understanding often bridges gaps or overrides problems that others will see in the story who do not share that same insight or interpretation. That’s why critique groups are so essential.

A good critique group helps you see problems or solutions that you often are unable to see on your own. From lifetimes built on different experiences and circumstances than your own, they can see the imperfections in what you once believed to be the perfect story. By bringing those imperfections to light, you have the opportunity to make your story even better.

However, taking advice from a critique group can be tricky. What if you don’t agree with what they say? Well, the choice is always yours as to whether or not you act on that advice. The truth is that sometimes critique group members might give you bad advice. But if you find that multiple critiquers are giving you the same or similar suggestions, even if you don’t agree with it, it pays to try to understand why they are saying what they’re saying. Ultimately, that usually points to a problem that needs fixing one way or another.

The point is that to make your story the best it can be you need the help of others. You need readers that can look at your story from a perspective different and removed from your own. You need readers that will point out problems that you don’t want to admit or believe are there. You need readers who will be honest in their assessment, and can give you constructive suggestions on how to address them. But perhaps the hardest things is that you need to be able to hear those problems and receive those suggestions without taking them personal, and with an attitude that they present an opportunity to make a good story great.

Don’t Give into Characters’ Desires

2011-04-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

Pulling readers into your story and escalating their interest requires creating, building and maintaining the right level of tension. However, sometimes as an author you might have the tendency to sabotage the tension you’ve created by giving into your character’s desires.

For example, to create tension in your story you might put your character in a precarious life and death situation that they really want to get out of fast. Instead, of building on that tension you might decide you don’t want your character to have to endure their emotional suffering too long, so you give them a fairly quick escape. When you do, you often relieve the story tension (and reader’s interest) prematurely. Building the optimal amount of tension often requires dragging your character through unbearable long-lasting tortures (physical, emotional or intellectual). Just when things seem like they couldn’t be any worse for your character, what you really need to do is find a way to make them even worse.

Of course, readers can reach a point of tension overload, which can also cause them to stop reading. So you have to be careful not to overdo their suffering and you occasionally have to relieve some of the tension so readers can breathe their own sigh of relief. It in essence becomes a balancing act of creating and building tension levels to a high, sustainable point, but not too high and for not too long.

But ultimately, the point is that no matter how much you love the characters you’ve created, don’t give in too early to their pleas for help. Make them suffer a bit longer, and your readers will love you for it.

What are your thoughts on building story tension?

Image by Carl Glover

Review: Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lenses

2011-04-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

Guest blogger & teen girl reviewer reviews Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lenses: by Brandon Sanderson

Alcatraz Smedry, the boy blessed with the talent to break things, throws himself amid the battle between the evil Librarians and the kingdom of Mokia: giant robots versus explosive teddy bears. If the Librarians win this battle they will have reached one step closer to completely manipulating the world into believing lies like that there are only 7 continents and that guns are more useful than swords. Using his rare, mysterious talent and crazy Smedry sense of adventure, Alcatraz must save Mokia before they too are overthrown by Librarians. Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lenses is full of adventure and contains tons of humor. A great pick for someone who enjoys to laugh.

Beware the Boring Back Story

2011-03-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

Just about every story has some element of back story that provides critical detail that the reader needs in order to make sense of what is going on. Unfortunately, back story not only tends to be boring, but it can literally pull the reader out of the story and cause them to lose interest if not handled correctly. Imagine a fast paced chase scene packed with action and intensity that gets interrupted by a narrator popping onto to the scene, giving a monologue that explains why the results of the chase scene are so crucial to the story. All the action is suddenly brought to a halt. The intensity is deflated. And you just lost your reader.

Some beginning authors make the common mistake of trying to put all their back story at the beginning of the book, thinking that the story can’t begin unless the reader already knows everything that has happened before. That’s a big mistake, unless you want to lose the reader’s interest in the first few pages. Nor does it work to just drop a big chunk of back story in later chapters either.

One overused way of handling back story, is to leave it in big chunks by including it in a flashback or dream sequence. While this can work, it often has the effect of still pulling the reader out the present action of the story. I’m not saying, you shouldn’t approach back story in this manner, it’s just not always the best method and has become a bit cliché.

Back story has to be handled with care. It’s usually best if sprinkled and woven into the story in a way that it hardly goes noticed by the reader. One way to do this is to break it down into small pieces that can be injected a piece at a time throughout the course of the story; maybe a quick comment in a dialogue, a tiny memory that a character recalls, a headline on a newspaper (not the entire newspaper article), and as needed, short bits over time from the narrator can be effective if done in an unobtrusive manner.

The point is, be careful about how you handle back story. Pay attention to what it does to the flow and interest level of your story. Find ways to use it to enhance your story, rather than drag it down.

What have been some effective ways that you’ve learned to handle back story?

Curse of the Spam Filter

2011-03-08T16:20:00.000-08:00

Spam filters are wonderful things when they keep all the unwanted garbage that would otherwise putrefy and clutter up your inbox. However, they can be a curse as well, keeping out wanted e-mails occasionally. I don't very often check my spam filter for e-mail that really isn't spam, but today a colleague of mine asked if I had been receiving e-mail from one of her colleagues. I hadn't, so I decided I better check my spam filter for it. The e-mail wasn't there, but there was a week-old e-mail trapped in there from a publisher "eager" to read the rest of one my manuscripts. If I hadn't happened to check my spam filter, in a few weeks it would have been purged and I never would have known of their interest.

So tip of the day, it pays to occasionally make sure your spam filter isn't blocking e-mail that you really want.