One author did--and thinks you should, too. His audiobook was broadcast 30,000 times and a PDF of the book, downloaded 80,000 times. Hmmm.Read the blog post (rather long) at Holt Uncensored.
Egmont UK publishing on Nintendo platform
Parents of young children will tell you that the Nintendo DS is the bane of dinnertime but a boon for a long car ride: kids really get sucked into playing with this palm-sized game platform. It would be inappropriate to make a crack joke, but well...Now, Egmont UK is publishing picture books for the DS.... Continue Reading →
The new SCBWI site
Alice Pope has a dandy tour posted at her blog.Some highlights: The "Find A Speaker" page: Educators and librarians can now search for SCBWI members and even see video clips from classroom presentations. PAL members can click on "Speaker Profile" on their member home page to add video and information.The Illustrator's Gallery: Illustrator members of... Continue Reading →
This just seems incendiary
The New Yorker's blog had this bit recently, essentially saying it's impossible to find picture books with competent parents written after 1960:Bad, Mommy, Bad! “In this confrontation-averse age of parenting, in which the ‘escalation’ of emotions is considered a mark of failure, a favorite way of inculcating discipline is the reading of picture books,” Daniel... Continue Reading →
Gender bias: interesting to ponder
Plenty of people have noticed how, when it comes to awards, a disproportionate number of them seem to go to men. The same can be true for annual "best of" lists.Here's a blog entry that shows how some orchestras--once wildly dominated by men --have changed their proverbial tune by having blind auditions in carpeted rooms... Continue Reading →
Leslie Patricelli accepts Horn Book award
Some of us were lucky enough to know Leslie when she lived in Seattle. Here, she accepts an award for HIGHER! HIGHER!(E-mail subscribers, you'll have to click through to watch the video.)
National Book Award news
OMG!It's Laini Taylor and Jim DiBartolo, proud parents AND National Book Award finalists for their collaboration LIPS TOUCH (published by Arthur A. Levine Books, a Scholastic imprint).Check it out.Laini and Jim live in Portland, but Laini has spoken at a conference and regional meeting, and both are honorary members of our chapter.
An editor decodes her ‘decline’ letters
Alvina Ling, editor of such books as North of Beautiful and Nothing But the Truth (and a Few White Lies) by our own Justina Chen, explains what her rejection, er "decline" letters really mean.
Quote of the day: Sheryl St. Germain
"If you think of home as a place where you feel comfortable, where you can kick off your shoes and be yourself, then writing is my home. No matter where I am, if I have my laptop or my journal, I'm home. When I pick up the pen, I experience the most profound feeling of... Continue Reading →
Book publicity: a funny take
Before we get to the funny, here's a good summary of what a first-time author can expect from a publisher's publicity department. In other words, don't expect billboards and such.Here's the start of a Shouts & Murmurs letter to an author: Hi, Ellis—Let me introduce myself. My name is Gineen Klein, and I’ve been brought... Continue Reading →