Here's the start of a longish piece by Harold Underdown, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Children's Publishing. He looks at the industry and how it's doing in today's economy: For more than a year the attention of everyone working in the U.S. children's books publishing industry has been focused on the economy. And... Continue Reading →
The appeal of the vampire narrative
The New York Times has this fun Op-Ed piece explaining why we're suckers for blood-suckers:TONIGHT, you or someone you love will likely be visited by a vampire — on cable television or the big screen, or in the bookstore. Our own novel describes a modern-day epidemic that spreads across New York City.It all started nearly... Continue Reading →
A page from the screenwriter’s playbook
Writer's Digest has a really great piece on doctoring your script. The advice applies to us.Script CPR: Cut, Polish, ReviseFebruary 11, 2008by Aury WallingtonYou don't have to be a script doctor to know how to fix a script that isn't working. Here's some first aid for scriptwriters.You have a great idea for a screenplay, but... Continue Reading →
Sundee Frazier excerpt on Hunger Mountain
The good news: You can read an excerpt of Sundee's new book at Hunger Mountain, the Vermont College journal.The bad news: You'll have to wait till next year to read the rest of THE OTHER HALF OF MY HEART.Meanwhile, the rest of the children's/YA lineup at Hunger Mountain is incredible: Katherine Paterson, Carrie Jones, Tim... Continue Reading →
For Sale: PW and School Library Journal
From Media Bistro:In a memo to staffers today, Reed Business Information Global CEO Keith Jones revealed a plan to divest a bulk of the company's U.S. publications. RBI will hold on to Reed Construction Data US & Canada, RS Means, Variety, Marketcast, LA411 and Buyerzone, Jones said. The rest of the U.S. titles will be... Continue Reading →
Amazon, Archaia To Release Kindle Graphic Novel
From Publisher's Weekly: This story originally appeared in PW Comics Week July 21, 2009 Sign up now!by Calvin Reid -- Publishers Weekly, 7/20/2009Although Amazon.com has published prose works exclusively on the Kindle before, in a first the online retailer has teamed with graphic novel publisher Archaia to publish Tumor, an original graphic novel by writer... Continue Reading →
Quote of the day: Hans Arp
"When a new mode of imagining erupts into literature, it dislocates the rhetoric of its time, and is of subtler stuff than that rhetoric—'the infinite arrives barefoot on this earth." --Hans Arp
Cover model smackdown
Two shirtless males, two very different types of publishing. One is Tom Thumb, by Richard Jesse Watson and modeled by his son, Benjamin James Watson, the team that brought us THE BOY WHO WENT APE.The other is Mr. Romance, showing his burly business in a cover shoot. Yes, then we are all agreed. Mr. Romance,... Continue Reading →
Questions for an editor
Let's say you're unagented and the phone rings and it's an editor who wants to buy your book. What questions should you ask? Romantic reads has a good list. Among the questions: how many books, how big is the advance, and what's the royalty rate.For the full list, visit the site.
More on cover art gone wrong
This time it's not the race of the protagonist--it's the author's name, rendered practically invisible by an interesting design choice. (Agent Kristin Nelson's blog has the full story.)