"A book is like a child who never naps, never goes to camp, always needs care and feeding, and whose presence gnaws on you if you dare neglect it."From a NYT column on why some people hate meetings.
Kirby Larson interviews Karen Cushman
Do NOT miss Kirby's interview with the award-winning novelist Karen Cushman.Here's a heartening quote:Sometimes I can feel the rightness of various bits and pieces, snippets of dialogue or characters, and I have this warm feeling of well being. But I find it hard to see and judge the whole. That's where a great editor comes... Continue Reading →
An interesting view on creativity
Martha Mihalick, an adorable associated editor at Greenwillow Books, had an interesting blog post. Here's an excerpt:In one of my (long ago) college critical theory classes, we talked about the idea of all authors having an antenna that is always on, always picking up signals from the wider world. This has always stuck with me.... Continue Reading →
Where the Wild Things Are
I don't know about you, but heat like this brings out my inner wild thing. Rather than eat anyone up, I'm trying to bask in the cool of the WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE featurette on the making of the movie.
Create your own YA cover
From @kimberlycbaker's Twitter feed: Follow the steps to create a fake cover for your YA novel.
Class: Introduction to children’s book illustration
Rollin Thomas and Doug Keith are at it again!Do you have a children’s book you want to create? This course will guide you through visual storytelling, creating characters, drawing storyboards and dummies. Then create one finished illustration, while learning how to find your place in the children’s illustration market. The pieces you make will help... Continue Reading →
Query lessons from Barry Goldblatt
Swiped from the Twitter feed of @barrygoldblatt, who reps some of the biggest names in our business:Query Lessons: 208,000 words??? You're completely out of your mind. And I think that's a record.4 minutes ago from web Query Lessons: If the first line of your letter says you can't find any good books for teens, then... Continue Reading →
Remember the publishometer?
Well, according to the publishometer I mentioned yesterday, Amy Winehouse's allegedly forthcoming picture book should be a smash success.If you're not familiar with Winehouse, she's the fabulously talented, beehived English singer notorious for her drug and alcohol addiction and related bad behavior in public and on stage.She's hoping a little image rehab via a children's... Continue Reading →
Michael Stearns starts new literary agency
Alice Pope reports this morning that Michael Stearns, who spoke at our spring conference, has left Firebrand to start a new agency, Upstart Crow Literary. The agency opens its doors the first week of August.Read her post here. (Chris Richman and Danielle Chiotti are going with Michael.)
Interview with Bonny Becker
Bonny is author of the bestseller A VISITOR FOR BEAR. She also won a Golden Kite Award. She's interviewed on AuthorMagazine.org. You'll need speakers, as it's a podcast. Check it out (and note the useful articles on craft, too).