Things by Eloise Greenfield

Things
-Eloise Greenfield

Went to the corner
Walked in the store
Bought me some candy
Ain’t got it no more
Ain’t got it no more

Went to the beach
Played on the shore
Built me a sandhouse
Ain’t got it no more
Ain’t got it no more

Went to the kitchen
Lay down on the floor
Made me a poem
Still got it
Still got it

SCBWI Inspirational Literary Authors

At SCBWI LA 2010, I discovered the beauty of emotion literary authors conjure up in all of us.  It’s their soul they pour on the page instead of chasing a trend or writing to fill publishing house’s needs.  They carefully place every word in their manuscript, giving each one life and purpose.  They take a piece of themselves and leave it behind for all to experience. 

First, what is a literary author?  Well besides those books with the shiny little sticker, I think the best way to define a literary authors is to compare it to commercial fiction, introspective vs. popular.  Since the term “literary author” is new to me, I scoured the internet looking for a more complete picture of how to compare the two.  Wading Through Words blog had a fabulous article by Hema P. Literary vs. Commercial. It’s a short article that gives the skeleton overview.

The appeal to being a literary author is the shiny little sticker.  Because that sticker says, I recognize your writing as a quality body of work.  Isn’t that what all writers really want? 

At the SCBWI LA Conference they do just that with the Golden Kite Awards.  Two of the people I mention below received that award this year.

Marion Dane Bauer:

Golden Kite Award for The Longest Night

She has written over seventy books and this particular book she won for “Picture Book Text.”  Something as simple as a picture book text can be a literary piece.  The words are beautiful and written not so much poetic but artistic nature.  Lin Oliver (SCBWI Host/Founder) said this about The Longest Night:  “The words jump off the page and into your mouth and demand to have voice.”   I couldn’t have said it better.  If you get a chance you should read Marion's journal pages from her website.  She doesn’t write from them often but when she does, they are like and elegant poem, sprouted from the seeds of everyday life. 

Carolyn Mackler:

Winner of the Michael L. Prince Honor for The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things

Carolyn gave me the most giggles during her keynotes.  She made fun of herself and the fantastical, unrealistic diary entry she wrote in her twenties.  There were little things she said in her speech that stuck with me.  Rules or absolutes she has discovered through writing. 

She wants to stop apologizing.  I find myself wanting the same.  It’s a bad habit that I am more focused on dropping. I’m not saying I’ll never apologize again but I don’t need to apologize to the person in line behind me when the cashier is taking too long.  Or I shouldn’t say “sorry” to someone because I want to pass by them in a crowded place.  A simple “excuse me” will suffice.

Carolyn’s book, The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things, has been removed from several library shelves because of the risky subject matter.  Things like sex…yeah, because teenagers are having sex because they read it in a book.  Doesn’t it make you wonder if adults remember their teenage years?  Mine are quite vivid, hell and all.  But what Carolyn learned from her experience is “by standing out, you can get shot down.” Unfortunately that is very true but she also got a shiny sticker because she did stand out.

Lastly, Carolyn said through her writing she realized, “She deserves to take up space.”  This statement knocked me off my feet.  I elude people to believing I am a strong confident woman but on the inside, I’m as vulnerable as they come.  My lack of confidence gives me the bad habit of apologizing for no reason.  It also causes me to minimize my own self worth.  But I too deserve to take up space. Whether others around me agree or not, I do.  Whether they like it or not, I do.  It kind of gives me a new sense of value about myself.  I like it.

Ashley Bryan:

Golden Kite Award for Words to My Life’s Song

When Julia Durango accepted her Golden Kite Award, she said the night before at the SCBWI Heart and Soul Celebration, she had the opportunity to dance with 87 year old Ashley Bryan to the tune of “I Like Big Butts and I Cannot Lie.” That statement speaks volumes to the ever evolving man that is Ashley Bryan.   

After accepting his own award, he had the entire crowd chanting poetry of Lankston Hughes and Eloise Greenfield.  The animation and convection he spoke those words with will stick to me for the rest of my life.  That is when the light bulb went on for me about what it truly means to be a literary author.  Like I have said in a previous post, it won’t be this book or maybe the next but I do have a book growing inside of me, waiting to bloom.  When it does, I hope it is regarded as a literary piece.

I'm Finished!

I FINISHED MY NOVEL!

It's like finishing a snail race; a slow drawn out process but I finally made it to the end!  I even left a slimy trail to prove it.  I didn't quiet make it to the 85K mark (79,700) but I have so much to rewrite, edit and clean up I'm not worried about my word count.  And the funny thing, my story has changed SO much from when I first started writing it.  Has that happened to you?  

Confession time:  The last chapter is super short with about three or four notes made in the middle.  So I'll have to write it out later but I need to go back and do some clean up so I can more clearly see how the last chapter will pan out.  Also, I will probably write an Epilogue later but I want to sharpen up my story before I write it.  Having a cleaner story will make my Epilogue more meaningful.  

Now, how do I edit my first draft?

First I need to send my critique parter the next chapter to review.  We took the summer off critiquing each other's work so we have to get back into the swing of things.

Second, I think I'll tackle an overall outline.  Yeah, I'm a pantser so outlining before I start is impossible.  Outlines cramp my writing style.  I end up working toward an outline and my story lags.  Yes that means twice the work on revising but hey, you gotta do what works for you.

Also later this week, I will have another SCBWI post up about Literary Authors.

Hunger Games Fanmade Movie Trailer

Two words: MOCKINGJAY!!!!!  Okay more like three syllables but dang it, is it Aug. 24th yet!!?!?!?  Freaking A I can't wait to get this book.  Sure I've anticipated a lot of sequeals but this one, like crack baby!

So incase you are not already following www.MyHungerGames.com is a faboulous source for all things THE HUNGER GAMESish.  From their website I discovered this Hunger Games Fanmade Video.



Totally cool!

The End is Near…but it’s not.

Can somebody please come over to my blog and shoot me already?  No I’m not preaching the end of the world again.  I’m a chapter away from ending my book and I’m stuck like duct tape to a hairy chest.  It’s going to be painful getting out of this one.   

Summer is over.  School is back in session.  I’ve run my errands and cleaned house so I can focus on my book and nothing can distract me.  I swear the laptop is staring at me.  Laughing.  Like “Come on fool, I’m right in front of you and what do you got…nothing.  Hahahahaha.”  Stupid laptop.

I can’t just put “The End” on it right now because I’m at a big cliffhanger but getting to the resolution of the big cliffhanger I lose momentum.  It’s my first draft and though I know it won’t be perfect, it ain’t good either.  I’m not even sure I have something viable to work with here at the end.  But I definitely need to finish it so my critique partner can tell me how awful it is and where I went wrong.

My Conclusion:
I need good music to download.
I need a good book to inspire me.
I need to get over the "first draft" so I can get to the good stuff, rewrites.

Any advice you guys?

I promise I will get back to my last three SCBWI blogs soon but for now.  I had to post this to get me through. THE END.  (At least I can write it somewhere.)

Contest Over...The Scorch Trials

UPDATE: Contest Over
I'm giddy with excitement and conflicted about this contest. I want the ARC but I  don't want to advertise about the contest because I want it but I can't win unless I enter and to enter I have to blog, tweet, etc. about it.  Darn it, I'm in a conundrum. (goes to dictionary to check spelling...and corrects spelling.)

FINE!  I'll tell you about the contest.  Go here to read about the ARC giveaway for THE SCORCH TRIALS by James Dashner.  This is the second book the THE MAZE RUNNER (loved it!)  According to Mr. Dashner's blog, he is finishing the third book THE DEATH CURE which the title sounds even more intriguing than the first two.

Good luck at winning the ARC!  Hopefully you'll be congratulating me and I can tell you what a fabulous read it was.  :) Bwhahaha!

I like your manuscript. Now what? An Editor’s Journey

Claudia Gabel, a development editor with Katherine Tegen Books (an imprint with Harper Collins), enlightened us on the process of what happens once an editor likes your manuscript. (For Harper Collins Overview see here.)

As writers it is a daunting task to find an agent, who hopefully loves your work as much as you.  But finding an agent is only the beginning of our journey.  Now new Shiny Agent must work their magic with their arsenal of editors in their pocket and find one who shares that same love for your MS.  Lots of love going around here people. 

Glittery Editor (not the vampire kind though I’m sure the edits will suck the life out of you) says “Yes, you are as brilliant as you have always thought of yourself my writer friend, let me run the gauntlet for you and see what happens.” 

Step 1.  Glittery Editor has a weekly “pitch” meeting and gets your MS put on the agenda.

Step 2.  The next week Glittery Editor gets a 3-4 minute pitch to an Editorial Board Meeting (made up of editors and directors for the imprints) with a room full of other editors who are doing the exact same for their manuscripts they love.  If the editorial board like what she has to say she gets a few extra minutes to read from your MS and they either A. veto it and move on. Process Ends Or B. stamp their approval. Continue to Step 3.

Step 3A.  Glittery Editor gives Shiny Agent a call and says “Hey, we are moving forward to the Acquisitions Board Meeting.” 

Step 3B.  Editors may ask agent/writer to make revision(s) to the manuscript.  If you agree great but you should know what is expected and when they expect it back.

                What is the typical turnaround time expected by editor? 4 months
                NOTE: DO NOT turn around edits too quickly because that could be a
                bad sign to the editor that you did not really digest their requests.

Let me deviate from my steps for a moment to talk about the types of editing requests you might receive (either during this process or even after you have received a contract.)

Conceptual Editing – comes as overall arcing comments that pertain to your characters voice, tone of book, plot lines, etc.

Line Edits – are comments written directly in the manuscript, highlighting anything from grammatical to voice, plot, etc.

I can see where both would be helpful and difficult.  Conceptual would guide you in a direction and give you the freedom of creativity but the vagueness could keep you guessing.  Line edits, as specific as they may be you lose the artistic freedom.

Step 4. Glittery Editor gets a 3-4 minute pitch to the Acquisitions Board (hence their name, their job is to acquire new talent) Acquisitions Board Meeting consists of publishing and marketing editors (lots of different types of editors for various steps of the process.)At that point they say “No, doesn’t sell well.” Process Ends.  Or “Yes, we’re excited. Go sign them.” Continue to Step 5.

Step 5.  Shiny Agent, Happy Writer and Glittery Publishing Editor make an agreement.

Step 6.  That acquisition is reported to Publishers Weekly. The End. (Well the end getting a contract, now the real work starts.)

And that my dear friends, is the journey an editor must take when they like your piece.  As you can see the process of getting published only begins once you have Shiny Agent but if you get the right Glittery Editor to go to bat for you, you could have a Sparkling New Book on the shelves in a year or two.  Sorry for all the bling but isn’t that how we picture it as writers, all glitz and glam.  Yeah, we’re delusional.   I hope this helps you understand the process a little more and gives you a little more patience through it.

Stay tuned for more “What I learned at SCBWI.”

An Overview of Harper Collins

From their blog: "HarperCollins Children’s Books is one of the leading publishers of children’s books. Respected worldwide for its tradition of publishing quality books for children, HarperCollins is home to many of the classics of children's literature, including Goodnight Moon, Where the Wild Things Are, The Giving Tree, Charlotte's Web, the Ramona books, and countless other award-winning titles. HarperCollins Children's Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers, one of the leading English-language publishers in the world."

There are many big name publishers out there:  Harper Collins, Penguin, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster Random House or Little and Brown (big name, thanks to Twilight but small publisher.) Most of these companies have been around for years and over those years have expanded to small imprints under a single umbrella name. 

Claudia Gabel is an editor with Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint under Harper Collins.  At SCBWI LA, she gave a workshop on “An Overview of Harper Collins” and her role as a development editor.  Understanding what imprints are and why publishers have them helps us as writers to know who is actually printing our book. 

What is an imprint?  They are editorial groups within a main company like Harper Collins with “boutique imprints” under them (smaller printing groups under a big name printer.)

Why do publishers have imprints?  Having imprints means a smaller team can focus on a specialty: children’s picture books, MG, YA, or overall packaging of:  books with games and toys associated.

Why does a writer need to know about them?   When an agent tells you they have a deal with X imprint company, you as the writer should know if that imprint is: paperback only, picture books mostly with very little focus on YA, international printing availability, etc.  If you have a YA novel and the imprint is mostly children’s picture books, that publisher might not have the best marketing for your style of book since their main knowledge is picture books.  Something to consider when getting an offer.

Does Harper Collins accept unsolicited manuscripts? (unsolicited MS = did not come from an agent) Harper Collins' official answer is no.  BUT…(I know you like the sound of that) they do receive unsolicited manuscripts.  IF you know the right person to send it to within a specific imprint, your manuscript will be glanced over by an intern.  IF that intern thinks there is something of value, they will pass it along to the editor they work for.  And IF you’ve done your homework, you might get your MS reviewed by an editor. Very "iffy" if you ask me. 

NOW, let me add that you will NEVER get a rejection letter from a publisher who officially DOES NOT accept unsolicited manuscripts.  If you don’t hear from the publishing editor within six months, move on.  ALSO, DO NOT contact that editor for follow ups because YOU WILL EARN A BAD REPUTATION WITH THAT EDITOR.  Editors within the business from different companies talk, just like neighbors.

So the lesson here is if you know how to break the rules correctly, you might get in the door without black balling yourself.  Key words “break the rules correctly.”

Here are a list of Harper Collins Children’s imprints and what type of books they focus on:

Walden Pond Press– MG books

Balzer & Bray – Picture books

Greenwillow Books –  from picture books to teen

Collins – non-fiction reference for children to teens

Harper Festival – books, novelties and merchandise for very young children

Harper Teen – YA books Harper Trophy – paperback for children Katherine Tegen Books – picture books, MG, Teen Fiction
(there are other imprints I did not mention, see link above)

My suggestion, research all the big publishers and their imprints. Find the imprints that focus on your style/genre of book and follow their blogs, websites, twitter, facebook, etc. Most imprints have blogs and there you can learn what that imprint is looking for and what they already have.

What I Learned at the SCBWI LA Conference

SCBWI conference brought us a fantastic group of authors and illustrators who were hysterical, inspirational, emotional and historical. I fumbled my way through my first conference and now that I know what to expect, I’ll learn so much more next time.  For now, this is what I learned:

• Authors and illustrators are very funny, especially picture book authors. 
• Force yourself to mingle. Amazing authors, writers and illustrators will emerge. 
• I learned that not all agents/editors are scary. Some are very friendly AND approachable. 
• Take workshops on what you haven’t ever googled or learned on your own but will need to know eventually in the industry: book packagers, reason for imprints, types of editors. 
• Seasoned writers: should take workshops from agents/editors over authors. Not that we don’t have a lot to learn from our predecessors but those who actually work in the publishing industries gave me knowledge of the industry vs. the craft. 
• Beginner writers: should take workshops from authors, who speak on voice, plot, hooks, etc. 
• MS consultations are more helpful to a finely polished MS. When you can’t do anymore with it, pay for the critic. Prior to that, you can get your critique partners to help you. 
• I’m out of the loop on who’s who of literary authors. Sure we all know the commercial authors: Stephanie Meyer, Stephen King, and John Grisham (not to say they are not literary too) but who are the literary authors who create beautiful, timeless, classic books who dedicate their life to writing for children. I plan to blog about these literary authors and keynotes speakers who touched and inspired me. 

I didn’t leave there feeling inspired on my current WIP like I thought.  There’s no muse flowing from me to write the greatest passages about my characters and I didn’t resolve all my plot holes but there is a new inspiration that I’ve never felt before.  I want to be a literary writer not just a writer.  I want every word I commit to page to be the best I can and I want to take my quality of work to the “wow” stage.  Now do I think that will happen next week, next month or even next year…no.  But I do expect it to happen.  I’ve been writing to get the story out but now, I plan to write to get my best words out.

Blogs coming spawned by the SCBWI LA 2010 conference:

Harper Collins Overview

Claudia Gabel – I like your MS, now what?

Inspirational Literary Authors and why we need to know them.

Quotes from SCBWI (and how they speak to me)

Carolyn Mackler – For richer or Poorer: Writing through good times and bad

Look for these blogs in the next coming weeks!

Oh yes!  I forgot, I met lot a few blogger buddies but only got one picture the entire time I was there.  Here is me and Carolina Valdez Miller from Carol's Prints.  Let me just say, she's a total sweetheart, just as true as her blog portrays.