Category: Publishing

Links Galore

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Lots of good links to take you into the weekend:

Toads, TED talks, and Magical Landscapes: the 2012 NESCBWI Conference

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Sara Zarr giving her keynote. Somehow my only picture from the weekend.

Last Saturday I woke up before sunrise, grabbed my bags, and drove a couple hours to Springfield, MA. Why put so much effort into what would otherwise have been a sleepy Saturday morning? Because I had to get to the NESCBWI conference!

I attended the international SCBWI conference in January, but this was my first regional conference. As with the larger SCBWI conference, there was a fantastic writerly vibe at NESCBWI. Fellow attendees were friendly and enthusiastic; presentations were informative and invigorating; and I left excited to get to work.

It’s a smart idea to have a regional conference. While I loved going to SCBWI in New York, I’m not sure I could make the trip out every year. The New England version is a little more manageable. Also, the workshops I attended felt much more focused on a particular topic. I’m sure regional conferences allow a little more tailoring to what particular attendees want to work on, as opposed to a much larger conference. A few workshops I attended were about setting expectations for your writing career, creating magical worlds, and navigating book contracts. Again, really interesting and helpful stuff.

A few highlights/thoughts/fun moments from NESCBWI:

  • In her keynote speech, Sara Zarr (one of my favorite YA authors) talked about what characters care about. So often we’re asked “What does your character want?” but Sara mentioned that sometimes what you want can just be a symbol for what you care about. I hate the “what does X want?” question; the “what does X care about” makes so much more sense to me. (She also related the writing life to Frog and Toad stories. Loved it!)
  • Also from Sara Zarr: “Let your writing actions speak to your commitment.”
  • Cynthia Lord mentioned there are peaks and valleys in a writing career; it’s not always an upward trajectory. She suggested thinking of the successes and rewards as “gifts” from readers. If someone write a good review about you or wants to give you an award, it’s a gift. Gifts can’t be expected, and as a result there’s way less pressure on you to hit those peaks.
  • Kate Messner shared her TED talk with us (so cool!) and reminded us that sometimes fear lets us know we’re exceeding the artificial limitations we set for ourselves.
  • A behind-the-scenes look at New Yorker covers and comics from Harry Bliss. His keynote made me wish I could illustrate.
  • When creating magical worlds, ask yourself questions like “How would geography affect class structure?” and “What kind of medicine or drugs do they have?” Cinda Williams Chima gave such a great workshop; I felt with major fantasy invigoration.
  • The Apocalypsies/Class of 2012 debut novelists are awesome people. It was great to hear about how weird the first novel experience can be. Special thanks to AC Gaughen and Diana Renn for chatting with me afterward.
  • On a more personal note, I was invited to join a fabulous YA/MG critique group. So excited to start workshopping with such wonderful writers!

If you want even more on NESCBWI, make sure to check out these posts by other attendees/presenters. And if you attended, please share your thoughts/links to blog posts about your NESCBWI experience in the comments.

 

Links Galore

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A few more links for Thursday:

http://paperandsalt.org

Books for Our Boys: Armed Service Editions

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My friend Caitlin wrote a fantastic article about a little-known aspect of WWII history: Armed Services Editions. Pocket-sized versions of popular novels like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn were given to soldiers to boost morale.

The history of how the books came to be published is fascinating. One part in particular I liked:

“The concept of issuing pocket-sized books to the military didn’t come to the government immediately, nor was the idea of sending books to those overseas new. Book drives for the military had occurred regularly at libraries across the country during World War I. But after the outbreak of World War II, Americans began raiding their personal libraries for books to send to troops overseas with a vigor that far outstripped their previous efforts—motivated this time by nearly a decade of exposure to news stories about Nazi book bans and photographs of towering infernos built to consume “un-German” tomes. The first Nazi book burnings, organized across 34 college towns by the German Students Association on May 10, 1933, reduced some 25,000 books to ash; by 1938, the Nazi government had outright banned 18 categories of books—4,175 titles in all—and the works of 565 authors, many of them Jewish. Now that the United States was officially at war, what better way to strike back at the enemy than by allowing soldiers to read exactly what they wished? Books were no longer simple diversions for fighting men—they had become totems signifying what those men were fighting for.”

I love this idea. Books aren’t just a form of entertainment–they signify intellectual freedom and an appreciation for humanity as a whole.

Make sure to read the whole article; it’s really moving.

Making the Most of Writing Conferences

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This weekend is the NESCBWI 2012 conference, and I am psyched. The chance to hang out with awesome children’s/YA writers, artists, editors, agents, and general enthusiasts? Yes, please! Plus one of the keynote speakers is Sara Zarr, who’s one of my favorite YA writers.

Recently I stumbled across a couple of excellent posts about preparing for conferences and what to expect from the experience. One suggestion from agent Rachel Kent:

“When you select whom you’ll request appointments with, research beyond just reading an agent or editor’s brief description on the conference website. Check out websites, tweets, and blogs for those agents and editors. You’ll develop a better idea of who they are, which can help you to narrow down your top choices. Also, make sure that all of the agents and editors you request to meet are actually looking for what you’re writing. If you do have an agent, you should check in with him or her before finalizing your choices because sometimes agents have had discussions about your book with the editors that you aren’t aware of or know, because of recent conversations, what editors are looking for.”

This is obviously a great suggestion for planning what conferences to attend. It can be a major expense, so it’s only worth going if you there are specific reasons to attend–an author you want to hear, an agent you’d like to connect with, etc.

Julie True Kingsley has some great suggestions as well for making the most of your conference experience while you’re there. Some points I especially like:

“Work on good karma.  A lot of writers’ are introverts (not me, obviously), make a point to talk to those people.  Pull them into conversations at lunch, make them feel comfortable.  We are all in this together.  Make sure everyone is included.”

This is one thing I really liked about SCBWI in January. I was the newbie and people were so willing to include me in conversations or to introduce themselves. And for when you’re not socializing:

“Hide in your room.  Look at your work.  Make notes.  Revise.  This is important because you might have some really incredible breakthroughs with all of that creative energy floating around.”

Obviously being surrounded by people who love writing and books is fantastic; that’s part of the reason to go to conferences. But why not take that energy and go over your draft before breakfast? Might as well use up that enthusiasm before Monday rolls around and you’re back to the day job/cleaning your bathroom/running after your kids.

Based on my own experience at SCBWI and AWP, other suggestions I’d add:

  • Have mints/gum to share.
  • Don’t buy more books at the bookfair than you can carry home.
  • Don’t be afraid to say hi to agents or writers. It doesn’t mean you have to take up an hour of their time, but if they said something thoughtful in a lecture, it’s okay to tell them you enjoyed it.
  • Wear comfortable shoes.
  • You’re probably going to be inside most of the day. You don’t need to bring nine potential outfits.
  • Take notes. Being part of an inspiring workshop is great, but two months later you might not remember the details.
  • If you’re into social media, have fun tweeting/sharing pictures (within reason, of course). It can help connect you with other social media-savvy conference attendees.

Share your own conference suggestions/experiences in the comments. Hope to see some of you this weekend!

Writers Helping Writers

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Love this post by Meg Whalen Turner about how Diana Wynne Jones helped get her published. When Meg was still writing and trying to figure out if she was any good (nice to know she had those thoughts, too!), her husband suggested she send her work to someone whose writing she admired. Diana Wynne Jones came to mind:

“So two of the stories were mailed out and we got distracted by the arrival of a new family member and then one day a blue airmail envelope arrived at the door. It was a lovely letter. It is almost twenty years later and in my mind’s eye, I can still picture the font from an old-school typewriter. Diana liked my stories. That was all that mattered to me and that’s really all I took in the first time I read it. Not until my husband read the whole thing out loud did I realize that Diana Wynne Jones had given me the name of her editor in the United States, Susan Hirschman at Greenwillow Books, and recommended I send my stories to her.”

So I’m sure Meg’s stories were very good and worthy of being passed along. But even so, I think it’s highly unusual and admirable for an established writer to help make that connection for an unpublished stranger. It shows that Diana Wynne Jones really cared about the next generation of MG/YA writers and wanted to open a door for someone with a lot of talent. This story just warmed my heart!

Read the whole post for more on this interaction and how much Diana Wynne Jones meant to Meg Whalen Turner.

Cover It Up

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Love this post at the Hub about why YA novels deserve better book covers. Unlike much of adult fiction, there are a lot of strange model shots–pictures of girls that crop off their heads, pictures of just girls’ faces, lots of bright colors and big fonts. That doesn’t mean these kinds of covers can’t match a particular story or style. But much of the time, they don’t fully reflect the depth of the story inside. And perhaps even more than adult readers, teens can appreciate a cool design aesthetic. (Check out the stuff that’s posted on Tumblr.) Just because YA readers are younger doesn’t mean they don’t appreciate awesome cover art.

Capillya Uptergrove looks at some covers that work well, such as Winter Town by Steve Emond, which keeps things spare and lovely, or Insurgent by Veronica Roth, which can appeal to readers of any gender. A few other recent covers I’ve lived are The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr, Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler, and Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley. These tend toward the more minimal, which is my taste, but I think they’re good examples of how to design a cover without relying on a model shot.

Just like YA content has been expanding over the last few decades, I think we’re going to see more covers that push boundaries over the next several years. Again, teens are already very design-savvy. Why shouldn’t YA get more covers that reflect that?

More Info on JK Rowling’s Next Novel

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A little treat for Thursday: Little Brown just released the title, release date, and synopsis of JK Rowling’s upcoming novel. The Casual Vacancy will be released on September 27, 2012. The plot:

When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

I’m very confident that Rowling can capture darkly comic struggles beneath English idyllic life. (Although my first thought was “I really hope it’s the book version of Hot Fuzz!”) Very excited to hear more about The Casual Vacancy in the months to come.

Font Love

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A little fun for your Friday: typographic matchmaking!

Designer Aura Seltzer has created Type Connection as her MFA thesis project. It lets you learn the design history of particular fonts and explore the potential connections between two different sets. A fun game, typographical design, and print history? Coolest thesis ever!

Get started here. Are you bold with your matches, or would you rather play it safe with similar styles?