20
Table of contentsAt Presstime New Market Listings Conferences and Contests
The Art of the Query by Jane McBride
A Day in the Life of Executive Editor Kendra Levin interview by PJ McIlvaine
Narrative Donrsquot Believe Its Bad Rep by Jane McBride
Agent Spotlight Jodell Sadler of the Jill Corcoran Literary Agency by Lynne Marie
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf by Randi Lynn Mrvos
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books by Sharon Olivia Blumberg
This issuersquos contributorsSharon Olivia Blumberg is a recently retired school teacher having taught Spanish and English for over 20 years In addition she is a writer and voiceover artist She is a con-tributing author to My First Year in the Classroom edited and compiled by Stephen D Rogers Kids Imagination Train Guardian Angel Ezine for Kids Foster Focus and Voya Magazine Visit her website at httpwwwvoiceofsharonoliviacom
Lynne Marie is the author of Hedgehog Goes to Kindergarten and Hedgehogrsquos 100th Day of School (Scholastic) and numerous stories and articles in magazines including Highlights for Children High Five Baby Bug Family Fun Hopscotch Turtle Spider and Writerrsquos Digest Her website is httpwwwLiterallyLynneMariecom
Jane McBride is the author of 34 novels numerous short stories and articles including pieces in 16 Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies and the CBI Managing Editor Fol-low her writing blog at httpwwwjanemchoateblogspotcom
PJ McIlvaine is a published writerproduced screenwriterkid lit authorbloggerjour-nalist In a former life she was a great baker of Europe PJrsquos websites are httpwwwpjmcilvainecom and httpstalesfromtheothersideofoblivionwordpresscom She is represented by Jen Corkill Hunt of The Booker Albert Literary Agency
Randi Lynn Mrvos is the editor of Kidrsquos Imagination Train ezine a columnist for the writersrsquo newsletter Extra Innings and a former consultant for Pearson Digital Learning Her publishing credits include Christian Science Monitor (Kidspace) Highlights for Chil-dren Nature Friend Appleseeds Mothering and Byline Her picture book Maggie and the Summr Vacation Show and Tell will be released summer 2017
Published 12 timesyear by Childrenrsquos Book Insider LLC 901 Columbia Road Ft Collins CO 80525-1838 970495-0056 ISSN 1073-7596mailCBIClubhousecomhttpwwwwriteforkidsorg
Publisher Laura BackesLayout Shellie DohertyEditorAgent Spotlight Editor Lynne MarieFeatured Interviews PJ McIlvaineChief Operations Officer Jon Bard
Childrenrsquos Book Insider The Childrenrsquos Writing Monthly is an electronic monthly newsletter that is included in the paid membership to the Childrenrsquos Writing Knowledge Base (httpwwwCBIClubhousecom) The cost of membership is $4995 per year or $549 per month if billed monthly For more information go to httpwriteforkidsorgcome-join-the-insiders
Text copyright copy 2017 Childrenrsquos Book Insider LLC Subscribers may reprint up to 300 words with credit to Childrenrsquos Book Insider wwwwriteforkidsorg For longer reprints email Laura Backes at Laura CBIClubhousecom
Childrenrsquos Book Insider makes every effort to verify the legitimacy of small and new presses and literary agents before printing information in ldquoAt Presstimerdquo However authors and illustrators should always pro-ceed with caution when approaching publishers or agents with whom they are unfamiliar and read contracts carefully All ldquoAt Presstimerdquo list-ings are current at the time of initial publication Members are urged to verify listings past the month of publication
2
4
6
9
11
14
16
April 2
New Markets
At PresstimeMagazine for Young Children Accepting Submissions
Reading With Your Kids is a new podcast that launched in February for parents grand-parents teachers librarians and any one else who loves reading with kids The show is looking to motivate par-ents to read with their kids as well as cook create exer-cise listen to music and ex-perience all types of media with their children The pod-cast airs three times a week
Looking for authors of chil-drenrsquos and young adult books family-friendly graph-ic novels and books fea-turing interactive family activities to appear on the podcast Contact Fatima Khan the showrsquos associate producer at fatimajedliecom You can get more in-formation about the podcast here httpwwwreading-withyourkidscom
New Podcast Looking for Authors
Albert Whitman amp Company publishes a wide range of high-quality books for children and teens Currently seeking picture book fiction and nonfiction and fiction for middle grade and young adult readers For a full list of current titles go to httpswwwalbertwhitmancom
For all submissions include a cover letter in the body of your email (subject line should read ldquo(TYPE OF BOOK) (title) by (au-thor name)rdquo and contact information with phone number Cover letter should include a brief synopsis along with the books ldquohookrdquo a short bio mentioning previous publications or other background information relevant to your story and titles for up to three comparative books published in the past five years These should be books that have a similar audience to your book and that you feel will compare with your book in the marketplace Explain how your manuscript is different from these books Attach manuscripts as Word documents (preferred) or PDFs File sizes cannot be larger than 4MB Send all submissions to Submissions Editor at submissionsalbertwhitmancom Albert Whitman does not require exclusive submissions Responds within six months only if interested in pursuing publication
Picture Books Seeking fiction and nonfiction manuscripts of up to 1000 words for children ages 1 to 8 Send cover letter along with full manuscript Send illustrations as PDF or JPEG attachments ONLY if you are also a professional illustrator
Middle Grade Fiction Seeking fiction queries and sample pages for middle-grade novels for children up to age 12 Finished manuscripts should be up to 35000 words Send cover letter along with the first three chapters as an attachment
Young Adult Fiction Seeking fiction queries and sample pages for young adult novels for ages 12-18 Word count Up to 70000 words Send cover letter along with the first three chapters as an attachment
Publisher Accepting Submissions for All Ages
Ladybug a literary magazine for children ages 3-6 features original stories poetry nonfiction and activities Editors look for clear and beautiful language a sense of joy and wonder and a genuinely childlike point of view Particularly interested in stories that explore themes of iden-tity (gender race and ethnicity neighborhoods beliefs and traditions) citizenship and global cultures scientific and technological exploration and the creative spirit
Fiction up to 800 words as well as rebus stories up to 200 words Contemporary folk and fairy tales humor animal stories as well as city settings and stories that take place outside the Unit-ed States
Poetry up to 20 lines Rhythmicrhyming Especially looking for poetry that explores young chil-drenrsquos daily lives and their emotions and imaginations as well as action rhymes that get kids moving
Nonfiction up to 400 words Simple explorations of interesting places in a young childrsquos world different cultures nature and science Can be straight nonfiction or can include a story element (such as a child narrator) Also looking for unusual and imaginative activities and games crafts and songs
Writers should study past issues of the magazine before submitting (most libraries carry Lady-bug as well as large bookstores and newsstands) All submissions must be sent through the Cricket Media Submittable page at httpscricketmagsubmittablecom Allow 3-6 months for a response
April 3
At Presstime
HighlightsTu Books the middle grade and young adult imprint of Lee amp Low Books is sponsoring the fourth New Visions Award for a mid-dle grade or young adult novel by a writer of color The Award winner receives a cash prize of $1000 and a standard publica-tion contract including basic advance and royalties for a first time author An Honor Award winner receives a $500 cash prize
The contest is open to writers of color who are residents of the United States and who have not previously had a middle grade or young adult novel published Writers who have published work in other venues such as childrenrsquos magazines or picture books or adult fiction or nonfiction are eligible Only unagented manuscripts will be accepted Work that has been published in its entirety in any format (including online and self publishing as well as other countries) is not eligible
Manuscripts should address the needs of children and teens of color by providing stories with which they can identify andrelate and which promote a greater understanding of one another Themes relating to LGBTQ+ topics or disabilities may also be included Submissions may be any fictional genre novels for children ages 8 to 12 or young adults ages 12 to 18 Particularly interested in fantasy and science fiction but also welcome contemporary historical mystery and suspense Graphic novel scripts in those categories are also welcome Nonfiction will not be considered Submissions should include a synopsis of the story plus the first five chapters accompanied by a cover letter that includes the authorrsquos name address phone number email address brief biographical note relevant cultural and ethnic information how the author heard about the award and pub-lication history if any Do not send the entire manuscript For graphic novels include the equivalent of 24-30 scripted pages Include 6-10 pages of final art samples and optional character sketches in PDF format only if you are an authorillustrator
Submissions should be submitted online at httpstubookssubmittablecomsubmit in the New Visions Award category You will receive a confirmation email stating your submission was received Manuscripts may not be submitted to other publishers while under consideration for this award
Submissions will be accepted from June 1 2017 through October 31 2017 Finalists will be notified and full manuscriptsrequested no later than January 31 2018 If your full manuscript is requested it must be received by Tu Books by Feb 19 2018 The Award and Honor winners will be selected from among the full manuscripts requested and will be announced no later than April 30 For more information go to httpswwwleeandlowcomwriters-illustratorsnew-visions-award
LEE amp LOW BOOKS is pleased to announce an exciting new initiative with First Book and the NEA Foundation aimed at helping educators feel more confident broaching subjects related to race ethnic and cultural diversity in the classroom Through the generosity of the NEA Foundation LEE amp LOW BOOKS will award a second NEW VISIONS AWARD WINNER for the 2017 contest The NEA Foundation will sponsor the cost of publication of this winning title LEE amp LOW BOOKS will publish a special paper-back edition of the book that will be exclusively available to educators and program leaders serving children in need through the First Book Marketplace
New Visions Award for Unpublished Author of Color
Kari Sutherland is a new agent with the Bradford Literary Agency (httpwwwbradfordlitcom) She was previously a Senior Editor at HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books Kari is most interested in finding stories full of heart ones that carry readers to far-away places or deep into a characterrsquos mind action-packed page-turners that surprise her dark dramas with touches of humor and above all a voice that leaps off the page She is actively seeking diverse voices across all genres
In childrenrsquos books (picture books through middle grade) Kari is interested in character-driven stories new twists on classic tales empowering themes epic fantasy fresh voices and experiences inventive mysteries humor and magical realism In young adult fiction Kari is drawn to compelling voices tight pacing and clear world-building regardless of whether itrsquos a space drama an underground dystopia a small town or a big city contemporary
To query Kari please email your query to karibradfordlitcom The subject line must read ldquoQUERY (title of manuscript)rdquo For fiction send a query letter along with the first chapter of your manuscript and a synopsis pasted into the body of your email Be sure to include the genre and word count in your letter Picture book submissions send a short query along with entire manu-script pasted in the body of email Follow Kari on Twitter KariSutherland
New Agent Accepting Submissions for All Ages
April 4
The Art of the Queryby Jane McBride
lot has changed since I sent out my first query many decades ago The manner of submitting
queries has evolved to the point that it is nearly unrecog-nizable from the primitive paper queries complete with the requisite SASEs (self-addressed stamped envelopes) of years ago Now many queries are sent electronically which is a blessing for writers saving us both time and money in printing and postage But regardless of wheth-er yoursquore sending your query electronically or by snail mail the same standards apply Letrsquos first talk about why you should query
Many publishers and magazines will not look at your work without first seeing a query This is increasingly true as electronic submissions make it easier than ever for writers to send complete manuscripts with only a touch of a button
Most if not all agents require a query Agents like editors are busy people They donrsquot have the time or resources to wade through the many manuscripts that arrive in their inbox Manuscripts that arrive without being requested via a query are frequently tossed
Queries tend to get faster responses than do completed manuscripts
Queries can save time on nonfiction submissions Some book publishers and many magazines accept queries for nonfiction books or articles before the work is complete This helps the author know if her idea and approach is on target in the early stages The editor may then accept the project on the basis of a query (for magazines) or ask for a more detailed proposal (books) and give input on shaping the project before the entire manuscript is written
Now that wersquove talked about why you should query letrsquos discuss the nuts-and-bolts of querying
What a Query Letter Looks Like
Itrsquos addressed to the proper person (with the proper spelling of hisher name) If the publisher indicates that queries should go to ldquoSubmissions Editorrdquo thatrsquos how they should be addressed but begin your letter with ldquoDear Editorrdquo not ldquoTo Whom It May Concernrdquo Que-ries to agents should be addressed to a particular agent at the literary agency
Itrsquos single-spaced using standard business letter for-mat Try to fit the entire query letter on one page (or the equivalent of one page if sending by email)
It begins with your bookrsquos ldquohookrdquo ndash a 1-3 sentence statement that captures whatrsquos unique about your story or nonfiction approach Think of your hook as a 10-sec-ond pitch yoursquod make to an agent at a writerrsquos confer-ence Include the bookrsquos title word count age range and genre
When Kayla invited Lisa the weird new kid in school to eat lunch with her she was just trying to score some points with the vice principal and get out of detention But when Lisa dumped a carton of chocolate milk on a cheerleaderrsquos head from across the room Kayla knew this was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship The New Kid a 25000 word humorousparanormal novel for ages 12 and up is a mash-up of Stranger Things and Mean Girls
Since the hook doesnrsquot tell the editoragent exactly what happens in the plot you need to use the next 1-3 paragraphs giving a more detailed synopsis of the story or a more detailed description of your topic and slant for nonfiction See my article ldquoTackling the Synopsisrdquo in the March 2017 issue of CBI (Remember to keep the synopsis brief ndash 1 short paragraph for picture books and easy readers 1-2 for chapter books middle grade and
Submission Tips
A
April 5
most YA unless the story is fantasy or science fiction where you might need three paragraphs)
Follow with a brief author bio and include any cred-its If you donrsquot have any previous writing credits but have expertise in an area that directly applies to your manuscript you can mention that Otherwise just say a couple of sentences about yourself and leave it at that
If the editor or agent wants sample chapters with the query end by saying ldquoIrsquove included the first three chap-ters of The New Kid for your review I look forward to hearing from yourdquo If the editoragent wants a query letter only say ldquoThe New Kid is complete and ready for your review I am happy to send sample chapters or the entire manuscript upon request I look forward to hear-ing from yourdquo
Other Things the Query Letter Should Do
Showcase your best writing Now is not the time to be slipshod with your work (Really there is never a time to be sloppy with your prose but especially not with que-ries This is the editorrsquos first introduction to you)
Reveal your writing style Are you writing a nonfiction piece for the YA age group on the history of slavery A lighthearted query wonrsquot cut it for such a serious subject
Follow the publisher or agentrsquos guidelines (found in writing publications such as this one andor online) Follow these to the letter Some publishers prefer not to receive emails with attachments for fear of picking up a virus If so make sure all pertinent information is con-tained within the body of the email
Provide your contact information Yoursquod be surprised at how many writers send out queries with no contact information You want to make it as easy as possible for the editor or agent to contact you
Be upfront if the work has been previously published And yes blog posts count as publication
What the Query Letter Should Never Do
Be cutesy Just as in the ldquoolden daysrdquo of paper queries when writers were advised not to fill their envelopes with confetti or other annoying bits of paper do not include emojis etc in your query
Go out to a large number of publications or agents simultaneously Query five appropriate publishers or agents at once When you get a response from an agent to send your manuscript send it to her exclusively un-til she replies and if itrsquos a pass then send it to the next agent on your list who requested your manuscript Itrsquos more common to send out several manuscripts at once to editors who request them from a query but keep the number to five or less If an editor asks for an exclusive submission for a period of time honor that And if you get an offer from an editor or agent be sure to contact anyone else who is currently reading your manuscript and let them know
Go to the wrong publisher Send a query for a picture book to a publisher which considers only middle grade and YA books and you will have just outed yourself as a lazy writer who hasnrsquot done his homework and learned what kind of stories that publisher accepts
Do anything that detracts from your image of a pro-fessional writer First impressions count Make yours a good one
A Few Final Thoughts
An increasing number of publishersrsquo websites that use online submissions are expanding to submission forms with data fields Such websites may send potential writers to something like Submittablecom or AuthorsmeIf you canrsquot do this on your own get help to navigate your way through the process If you still arenrsquot sure how to set up q query you may want to enlist the help of an experienced writer whose opinion you respect and have her review your letter before sending it out This is probably the only chance yoursquoll have to send this query to this editor or agent Make it count
Query Letters in 2017 continued
Submission Tips
Finding Agents and Editors to Query
Review the At Presstime market listings each month in CBI (and the Back Issue Archive on httpwwwcbiclubhousecom but do check the agentpublisher website on listings that are over two months old to be sure theyrsquore still accept-ing submissions) You can also find links to agent and pub-lisher websites in Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos amp Illustratorrsquos Market and Guide to Literary Agents annual guides published by Writerrsquos Digest Books The Guide to Literary Agents blog lists new agents on a regular basis httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agents
April
Kendra LevinA Day In The Life of Executive Editor
interview by PJ McIlvaine
f yoursquove wondered what an ldquoexecutive editorrdquo does (and who hasnrsquot including me) wonder no more
Kendra Levin is an executive editor at Viking Chil-drenrsquos Books an imprint of Penguin Random House Since 2005 she has worked on a wide range of chil-drenrsquos literature from picture books to young adult novels She has edited New York Times bestseller Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton Printz Hon-or winner The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry Theodor Seuss Geisel award winner Donrsquot Throw It to Mo by David A Adler Society of Il-lustrators Gold Medal winner The Lost House by BB Cronin and the work of authors including Jan-et Fox Deborah Freedman and others In addition Kendra helps writers as a teacher and certified life coach and is the author of The Hero is You a grounded self-help guide to a healthier writing process You can visit her at kend-racoachingcom and follow her on Twitter (kendralevin)
PJ McIlvaine Your bio is quite eclectic from playwright to Exec-utive Editor for Viking Childrenrsquos Books (Penguin Random House) Can you elaborate on your professional journey
Kendra Levin I wasnrsquot someone who always dreamed of working in publishing I grew up surrounded by books but Irsquom not sure I thought much about the peo-ple who created them beyond the authors and illus-trators My goal as a kid and teen was to be a writer When I had just moved to New York to study playwrit-
ing at NYU I got an email from an editor at Scholas-tic David Levithan (whom Irsquod never heard of) asking my permission to include a short story of mine that had won a Scholastic Writing Award a couple years earlier in an anthology of student work he was putting together That email led to an internship at Scholastic
where I fell in love with editing childrenrsquos books under the wonder-ful mentorship of Joy Peskin (now Editorial Director at FSG) who introduced me to the world of pub-lishing I was amazed to discover a job that allowed me to use the skills Irsquod been honing for years in writing workshopsmdashconstructive critique story analysis stuff like that So I really lucked into the perfect line of work for me Out of college I got a job at the Scholastic Book Clubs a great place to learn more about the industry and then transitioned to an editorial role at Viking Chil-drenrsquos Books in 2005 and Irsquove been there ever since
PJ Can you give us a behind the scenes idea of what a day in the life of an executive editor really is
KL Part of what keeps me in this job is that fact that therersquos no average daymdashevery day is different Current-ly though Irsquom feeling like I spend most of my days an-swering emails and attending meetings Itrsquos a funny but very common phenomenon that the elements of being an editor that most characterize the jobmdashreading and editing manuscriptsmdashwind up being relegated to eve-nings and weekends Luckily I love the social aspects of being an editor so I donrsquot mind spending more of
Featured Interview
I
6
6
April 7
my day communicating and problem-solving than ac-tually editing books
PJ What parts of your job do you like the best And the least
KL I love to help people so my favorite parts of the job are the ones that allow me to do that whether Irsquom guiding an author through a tricky revision or advis-ing a colleague on a challenging situation To me the most frustrating part of the job is when for whatever reason a book I love and believe in just doesnrsquot seem to resonate Itrsquos disappointing for the author and for me toomdashand hard to see something yoursquove put so much work into fail to reach people
PJ What surprised you the most about the publishing process
KL Like most people I always imagined being an edi-tor was a quiet job-- reading and editing all day In fact I have to do most reading and editing in my own time outside of the office because itrsquos definitely NOT a qui-et job Most days are full of meetings phone calls dis-cussions problem solving and other kinds of running around and being social Luckily I really enjoy that
PJ Is there a common thread in the books you ulti-mately decline to pursue for example like not ready for prime time editing errors etc
KL Itrsquos hard to find one common thread among them all and much easier to see whatrsquos common among the books I do acquire To put it in perspective I decline several hundred manuscripts each year I acquire be-tween one and five So itrsquos easier for me to look at what all the ones I do acquire have in common What tends to tie them together is an element of reader empower-ment I love books that inspire and empower kids and teens that show them they can solve their own prob-lems that they are stronger than they realize and that therersquos a lot they can do despite constantly being told they are ldquojustrdquo children
PJ Do you have a favorite genre
KL One of the pleasures of working on books for young readers is that you get to be kind of a Unitarian of genres and try everything I love the variety But I do find myself most drawn to books that take place in a realistic world either contemporary or historical but
have magical elements I like books that transport me to a version of reality where magic is real
PJ Yoursquove edited many books from picture books to young adult Does each genre have a different publish-ing process
KL Any childrenrsquos books editor would tell you that the process for making picture books is very different from that of novels One of my favorite aspects of the picture book process is getting to work closely with the art director I love collaborating with someone who has a totally different skill set and area of expertisemdashI learn so much from that process Novels come to me a little more naturally so I feel lucky that in the area where Irsquom less confident picture books I get to rely on a partner in the work
PJ What do you look for in a book that yoursquore consid-ering publishing
KL What every editor looks for I imaginemdashwriting that absorbs me and make me forget the world around me coupled with a concept or idea that I can succinctly explain to our sales and marketing folks in a way thatrsquoll get them excited about the project I look for something that hasnrsquot been done before in quite the same way I look for work that will empower its readers and give them a sense of their own potential and strengthmdashto me thatrsquos one of the most important reasons to publish books for children to begin with
PJ Do you primarily accept submissions through agents andor referrals or do you still find hidden gems in the slush pilequeries
KL At this stage of my career I mainly accept submis-sions that come from agents though Irsquod love to connect with something unrepresented As a house Penguin is closed to unsolicited submissions mainly because it would take many full-time staff members to deal with the sheer volumemdashwe just donrsquot have the bandwidth By focusing on work that is represented by agents we are asking writers to really do their homework study their craft have a knowledge of the marketplace devel-op resiliencemdashall crucial for becoming an author That said I do open my mailbox to unrepresented submis-sions from writers who attend conferences and retreats for which Irsquom a faculty member and each event has its own guidelines
Kendra Levin continued
Featured Interview
April 8
PJ What publishing trends do you foresee Is there something yoursquod like to see or see more of
KL I try not to chase trends Irsquod rather create them than try to predict them For example historical fiction has always been challenging but if you look at this yearrsquos ALA awards you can see the genre getting quite a lot of attention including a book I edited The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry which won a Printz Honor When I acquired the book I certainly didnrsquot think that historical fiction would be a trend by the time the book came out And arguably it still isnrsquot But the genre also seems to be rising to the surface in ways it wasnrsquot two or three years ago As far as what Irsquod like to see more of Irsquom just always looking to be surprisedmdashwhich could mean anything I like to keep my options open
PJ Being a writer yourself how easymdashor difficultmdashis it for you to go into editing mode on ma-terial that was created by some-one else
KL Many editors are also writ-ers and the ones I know seem to fall into two camps Either they are incredibly driven and just find a way to switch back and forth between ldquoeditor brainrdquo and ldquowriter brainrdquo so it becomes habit or they struggle mighti-ly with making that boundary I definitely fall into the latter camp I find writing extremely difficult because I have a tough time turning that mental editor off Editing comes very natu-rally to me at this point itrsquos writing that is more of a battle The only writing project Irsquove finished since becoming an editor is The Hero Is You my book about the creative process which came out in 2016 and it reflects six yearsrsquo worth of work
PJ How important is brandingor a social media plat-form for writers
KL Social media acuity is not essential for writers However being good at some form of self-promotion is important for authors If you are a writer who wants to
become a published author do not invest too much of your time worrying about stuff like branding and social mediamdashfocus instead on your craft and becoming the best writer you can possibly be While you are doing that pay attention to what forms of communication seem to come most naturally to you and allow those to be your platform Itrsquos better to do one form of social media (or other kind of self-marketing) well than to do many without genuine interest So if you find that you want to save all your writing for your actual work but you like to share images maybe Instagram is a good platform for you If you arenrsquot comfortable with any social media but you love talking in front of groups
focus any self-promotional en-ergies on getting lots of speak-ing engagements If you can show in some way that you have some connection to other peo-ple publishers will look favor-ably on that But none of this is a deal-breaker I donrsquot know any editor who has turned down a wonderful hooky manuscript because the author didnrsquot tweet
PJ Yoursquove also branched out into being a life coach for writ-ers How did that evolve
KL I became a life coach in 2008 when I was still an assis-tant in publishing I enjoyed my job but had a bit of an ldquois this itrdquo feeling about my work and lifemdashwanting more meaning A number of my close friends happened to all have crises at the same time and I found that I was dropping everything and
racing to the side of each upset friend with a little too much enthusiasm Then I was at a party where I struck up a conversation with a friend of a friend and when I asked her ldquoWhat do you dordquo she said ldquoI empower womenrdquo I asked her out for coffee to hear more about her work as a life coach and it sounded like a great fit for me so I ended up taking a year-long certification course Almost a decade later itrsquos still something I do on the side but has evolved to become very much part of my work as an editor as well And I use coaching techniques in the workshops I run for writers all over the country and in my book The Hero Is You
Kendra Levin continued
Featured Interview
April 9
NARRATIVEmdashDonrsquot Believe Its B A D R E P
by Jane McBride
ave you ever seen the following in a rejection letter ldquoToo much narrative slowing down the storyrdquo Or
ldquoPut some dialogue in to break up the narrativerdquo And yet there is a time and a place for narrative and dare I say it a place for narrative to take top billing over dialogue Consider the following passages The set-up is a con-versation between two twelve-year-old boys one who visits his grandparentsrsquo farm every summer at their farm in Payson Utah and the other a boy who lives in the small rural town
ldquoHey Jaredrdquo Pete said ldquoItrsquos good to see you I havenrsquot seen you since last August when you left your grandpar-entsrsquo farm here in Payson Utah to go back to your home in Chicago Illinoisrdquo ldquoYeah Pete Itrsquos been nine months since we last saw each other Irsquom glad to be back here in Payson Utah with my grandparents My parents are taking an educational tour of Europe They want me to have a taste of farm life to broaden my cultural horizonsrdquo
Is that some of the worst dialogue yoursquove ever read I hope so though it embarrasses me at how easily I was able to write it Would two 12-year-old boys really talk that way Would anyone talk that way Aside from the stilted words the dialogue consists of the boys telling each other things of which they are both already aware Jared knows when he was last in Payson just as Pete knows that itrsquos been nine months since the boys last saw each other They wouldnrsquot name the cities or recount the passage of time Nor would Jared tell Pete that his parents are ldquotaking an educational tour of Europerdquo How could this passage have been better written Letrsquos try it again
Jared poked a stick in the red dirt The last place he want-ed to be was on this crappy farm in the middle of no-where His parents shipped him off to his grandparentsrsquo place every summer They told him it was for his own good He knew better They wanted to get rid of him so that they could fly off to Europe When he saw Pete heading toward him Jared nearly groaned He didnrsquot want to admit that his parents had dumped him at the farm again Just like he didnrsquot want to admit that his grandparents didnrsquot want him any more than he wanted to be here He ducked his head and turned in the other direction pretending that he didnrsquot hear Pete calling his name
Donrsquot get me wrong Irsquom a big fan of dialogue done right to share information and move the story along However the dialogue above is not only badly written itrsquos essentially an information dump The narrative passage reads much more smoothly and gets the relevant points across through Jaredrsquos thoughts How do you know when to use dialogue and when to use narrative The short answer is through instinct and experience You gain those by writing and keeping writing If you feel like you lack the instinct andor experience to know write the passage yoursquore working on in dia-logue then try it again in narrative Read your words aloud If the dialogue sounds stilted chances are you are trying to use it as I did above This does not give you carte blanche to use narrative indiscriminately Use it sparingly to convey thoughts and feelings or to move people through space and time Well-written narrative has a place Itrsquos up to you the writer to know where and when to use it
Writing Workshop
H
April 10
Narrative continued
Writing Workshop
Use narrative - To move characters through time and space A simple sentence or short paragraph to show that time has passed or that a character has ar-rived at a new place is sufficient - To provide brief explanations of backstory Brief is the key word here Giving backstory through dialogue can sound stilted as though the char-acters are telling each other what they already know Sprinkle these bits of backstory sparingly throughout the book - To give a sense of place Characters wouldnrsquot ordinarily talk about a setting A few but important details of the setting will suffice - To describe a reaction Following intense scenes of action a short nar-rative passage to clue the reader into the characterrsquos reactions can help the reader identify what the character is experiencing and feeling - To change the pace This is related to the above If a book is all ac-tion scenes there is no time for the reader to reflect upon what has hap-pened
April 11
gent Jodell Sadler (formerly of Sadler Literary and founder of KidLit College) joins Jill Corcoran
president and fellow agents Eve PorinchakTimothy Travaglini Adah Megged Nuchi and Silvia Ariente at the recently-expanded Jill Corcoran Literary Agency Jodell like Adah will be co-agenting clients with Jill Both will provide feedback and direction on projects but with Jodell primarily in an editorial capacity and Jill pri-marily as the contract negotia-tor
Lynne Marie What fueled your decision to join Jill Corcoran Literary Agency How do you feel this move benefits the clients you brought with you as well as new clients
Jodell Sadler I wanted to work with writers and illustrators on the editing side I am happier and finding real joy in collabo-rating with clients in this team approach As the editorial agent Irsquom the first set of eyes creating top-quality manuscripts with our shared clients at JCLA What is fun for me is that I get to pass the baton to a new set of eyes Jill for submissions Pitches submissions Thatrsquos her baby and I love it We still have editorial meeting to discuss our approach but I do what I love work with writers and illustrators and coach them to success Positioning and marketing be-longs in both camps but I think everyone should be lined up to work with Jill Shersquos genius at what she does
LM Does your extensive background in art and busi-ness play into your decision to focus primarily on the
creative aspect of a book project and how
JS Picture books are built word by carefully selected word and art feeds and drives story Irsquove worked in ed-itorial and as an art director illustrator designer and marketing for a Fortune 500 company Little-known fact about me is that I am also published in photogra-
phy I love art I love words and the interplay of these two picture book partners Thatrsquos why I became fasci-nated by pacing When you can take a line of text and through sound and care make it seem short when long or pace out a sentence to mock a scene it adds excitement to the ed-iting process
My marketing and branding exper-tise includes product development Herersquos a fun fact few know about me as well I illustrated the first product renderings and logo for Super Vee a tremelo system for guitarsmdasha device that keeps a whammy bar in tunemdashas well the box it would be packaged in for customers Now itrsquos huge which has been fun to see Irsquove also drawn with my feet having a great respect for disabilities and how seri-
ously talented individuals go beyond normal every day
LM Please describe your role in a bookrsquos progress from representation to publication
JS That sounds easy I wish it was really that quick but donrsquot we all I edit with writers (and illustrators and writer-illustrators) to help them hone the art and words of story Right now when a writer or author-illustrator comes in to JCLA they are vetted by two agents both Jill and me We jointly represent
interview by Lynne Marie
Agent Spotlight
a
Jodell Sadler of the
April 12
I focus on manuscript polish and prep and pass the ba-ton to Jill I love this model It works
LM Please share details of an upcoming collaborative project you have accepted and tell us why this project stands out for you
JS All books for kids are collaborative for sure Irsquove recently repped awesome illustrator talent some heavy lifters I can see are ready to bust out I like to help il-lustrators make that leap into creating books as au-thor-illustrators Irsquom pretty intense in that regard be-cause Irsquove worked the programs and prepped printed books I know story art and the print industry While Irsquove spent years saving companies thousands through sound design strategies now itrsquos time to do this for au-thors and illustrators
LM How would define your unique approach to chil-drenrsquos literature
JS Whatrsquos also fun and something not many know about me is that following earning my MFA I served as a professor in the many literary categories Human-ities Contemporary World Literature of the Ameri-can Minorities (created courses as expert and itrsquos still one of my favorites) American and British Literature as well as the traditional courses of English Compo-sition Advanced Comp Creative Writing Founda-tions Rhetoric (too many to list) on the undergrad level as well as Publishing and Picture Book classes on the Grad Level Irsquove also worked with educational companies on web product launches and fact-checking against textbooks So I have a really strong grasp of the best writers over decades and the many movements in literature And my teaching in K-12 has contributed a great deal to my understanding of reluctant readers budding writers teaching practices and more
LM Since this is a new partnership please share de-tails of the first book you have championed together and gotten an offer on
JS A two-book picture book deal started us offhellip and we look forward to championing many more in many categories I am over the moon about our approach and all the really wonderful products that are being un-der considered right now Truth-be-told anyone would be blessed to work with Jill She is beyond fabulous
and I look at our approach as a real win-win for clients
LM Will this collaboration in any way change your focus regarding the genres you seek or your manuscript wish list And what if anything remains on your man-uscript wish list for this year
JS Not at all I still love what I love and that hasnrsquot changed Irsquom all about picture books through middle grade and Irsquom looking for great author-illustrators as well as great stories in fiction and nonfiction Contem-porary commercial dark humorous mysteries and big idea books in middle grade Recent projects include interior illustrations for the Friday Barnes series by Phil Gosier as well as his forthcoming author-illustrator picture books Snow Beast Comes to Play and Dog Adop-tion Day (Roaring Brook Press 2017) Bold Women of Medicine 21 Stories of Astounding Discoveries Daring Sur-geries and Healing by Susan M Latta (Chicago Review Press) and If Animals Said I Love You by Ann Whitford Paul (FSG Macmillam)
LM If you had to pick the most important charac-teristic that sells you on a particular manuscript what would it be
JS Pacing of voice and art tells me a book is ready I am particularly sensitive to active language and like most agents and editors look for great voice strong concept unique characters plot hook point of view visual imagery and intrigue First lines and pages of story set the tone for the rest of the picture book or novel A storyrsquos opening should transfer readers to a place they have not experienced before It should feel like a performance that I am a part of
One of my favorite lines from the Beatrix Potter mov-iersquos first lines and visuals
A sweeping paintbrush washes color on the pages along with quiet pause and birdsong A violin softly plays over gentle high-pitched piano keys ldquoTherersquos something deli-cious about writing the first words of a story You never quite tell where theyrsquoll take you Mine took me here
ldquoLooking back the city and I never much liked each other An unmarried woman after all was expected to behave in very particular ways which did not include traipsing from publisher to publishers with a gaggle of friendsrdquo
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
April 13
Like this I love to enter a story and forget I am read-ing
LM What is one thing that you feel you might be able to fix if it is broken in andor missing from a prospec-tive manuscript
JS Pacing hellip and most anything can be fixed along with some things that we donrsquot often think about like concept and marketability These are vital When we write we write to mind heart and ear and this marries with the visual splash an illustrator brings First lines first pages hook voice depth of emotions character plot and tensionhellipall have to be top-notch
LM Since you and Jill are working together how should submissions be addressed
JS Submissions go to only one agent at JCLA Please do not send to both or more than one For me I love a succinct letter in the body of the email that is short
and powerful I encourage writers to do three things
1 Give a hook or line that shares the ldquowhy merdquo
2 After your intro pitch your story in a couple of sentences
3 Add your bio information and done Sign off
Itrsquos really all about the writing or writing and port-folio which for me is your manuscript shared in the Samples area and a dummy attachment as a PDFmdashor at least a link to an online portfolio If you are going to submit as an author-illustrator a portfolio is a must
Best advice Share your project and your personality and be prepared to jump in Show off your work style and creative edge and that you are enjoyable and fun to work with
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
Jodell Sadler is accepting ldquoAbove the Slushrdquo submissions from CBI read-ers First study her guidelines and current needs here httpsjillcorcor-anliteraryagencycomjodell-sadler-editorial-agent which include pic-ture books from authorillustrators as well as nonfiction biographies chapter books middle grade projects and graphic novels Then either click on the Submit button on that page or go straight to her Query Manager page at httpsquerymanagercomqueryJodellSadler In the field marked ldquoIf this query is a referral who referred yourdquo type CBI JCLA GIRAFFE
April 14
by Randi Lynn Mrvos
very time I visited a bookstore I envisioned my manuscript as a book on a shelf This ritual devel-
oped after I wrote a picture book about a girl named Maggie and then created a blog that chronicled the hopeful journey of getting it published
The Maggie Project blog was fashioned after the JulieJulia Project in which Julie Powell blogged about cook-ing all of the recipes in Julia Childrsquos Mastering the Art of French Cooking book in one year The premise of my blog was to submit a picture book manuscript to 30 publishers 15 agents and 5 contests in one year But I was nothing like Julie I did not end up with a book deal It was humiliating The Maggie Project closed down and the manuscript was shelved
Maggie was not the first story I had written Years be-fore I had taken a class on writing for children at the Carnegie Center in my hometown Lexington Ken-tucky After learning the basics I wrote and submitted five picture books but each one was rejected Publica-tion seemed out of reach until I turned to writing non-fiction Having a background as a medical technologist enabled me write scientific articles for kids By the time I had written fifty articles I had an impressive bio so I returned to writing fiction Still no one was interested in my picture books
This setback prompted me to find ways to boost my writing career I decided to read books on writing for kids and began with Jean Karlrsquos How to Write and Sell Picture Books Karl was a childrenrsquos book editor In her book she teaches the key elements needed to create pic-ture books for children and provides information on marketing your book
Another great resource was Writing Picture Books A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication by au-thor and poet Ann Whitford Paul This book provides
the knowledge needed to write picture books that will appeal to children as well as editors and agents The topics include developing plot and point of view cre-ating characters and researching the picture book mar-ket
When it came to composing a story Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos Word Book by Alijandra Mogilner became invaluable for finding just the right word for just the right age group Mogilnerrsquos book allows you to get into the mind of a child at various ages It gives guidelines for sen-tence length and word usage and offers lists of specific words for grade levels kindergarten ndash grade 6
In addition to reading how-to books I stepped into our local library and headed for the childrenrsquos section The librarianrsquos selections were displayed on the top of the stacks I checked out these childrenrsquos books and ana-lyzed their strengths and weaknesses It helped me to understand what was being published
Afterwards I wrote and submitted more picture books but these stories were rejected too It was obvious I needed more help Many years earlier my Carnegie teacher had suggested joining the Society of Childrenrsquos Book Writers and Illustrators I had put it off much too long and so I became a member SCBWI is an interna-tional organization that provides resources and oppor-tunities for members Each year the organization has two conferences one in Los Angeles and the other in New York City Regional chapters have writing work-shops where attendees may have the chance to pitch to an agent or to have a manuscript critiqued by an editor
I took advantage of five SCBWI conferences At these meetings I learned writing and publishing tips from panels of authors During breaks I schmoozed with the ever-so-wanting-to-get-published and exchanged emails to stay in touch and to lend support After one
The Writerrsquos Mindset
E
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf
April 15
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf continued
The Writerrsquos Mindset
conference some of the attendees got fired up about trying to bring an editor to our hometown That in-spired another writer and me to organize a SCBWI Editorrsquos Day workshop It was an unbelievable expe-rience Besides learning how to get published I had the opportunity to pitch a book to the presenter Liz Waniewski editor of Dial Books (though she politely turned it down)
As time passed I continued to write stories and submit them Every now and then the rejections came with personal notes ldquothis project sounds interestingrdquo ldquothis seems like a unique ideardquo ldquothis story has potentialrdquo But despite the praise none of my stories won the heart of a publisher
Frustration became a weight on my shoulders There were times when I wanted to give up But one remark kept me positive My husband said ldquoIt only takes one person to like what you writerdquo
Six years passed since The Maggie Project closed I still hadnrsquot found a publisher for any of my stories I felt it was time to try a new approach and work with an ex-perienced partner Editorial consultant Mary Kole of-fered a package which included a picture book critique and a review of three query letters By chance I pulled out the query for Maggie
Mary guided me when it came to querying As for targeting an agent she suggested making two lists a 10-20 top choices and a 10-20 second choice list She said to query 10-20 agents in a first round to see if they would give any feedback and then adjust accordingly Re-query some from the A list who seem open to see-ing a revision and also the B list who will be seeing it for the first time
In regards to my manuscript on Maggie Mary warned about Flight of Imagination a plot of a book dealing with kids having an adventure based largely in their imagination She stressed that itrsquos not like you canrsquot have a story that centers on a childrsquos journey through a land of imagination But there needs to be other layers in play and an actual story within the imagined land-scape not just an episodic barrage of images or crazy adventures Characters need to be fleshed out A plot needs to be in motion with sequential events that go from conflict to climax Other themes and universal
childhood experiences need to be embedded within the manuscript
After weighing her comments I changed the title of my story Also I judiciously cut 500 words (Picture books were shorter these days Perhaps thatrsquos one of the reasons why Maggie never sold) Then the story was sent to five publishers Buthellipit was deacutejagrave vu all over again Within two weeks three rejections appeared in my inbox I started questioning myself Did I follow Maryrsquos advice Were my characters well-developed Did the plot advance Had I successfully incorporat-ed themes and universal childhood experiences within the manuscript She warned that Flight of Imagination picture books are a tougher row to hoe than most Had I looked at my story objectively Did it suffer as Mary would say from this colorfulndashbut nonetheless problem-aticndashissue
With no word on the two remaining submissions I put writing and worrying about my writing on hold My husband and I went on vacation in New Orleans to cel-ebrate our birthdays We had done a Garden District tour (where we saw Sandra Bollockrsquos and John Good-manrsquos houses) visited a plantation listened to jazz on Bourbon Street and tasted spicy Cajun dishes Before going out one evening I checked my emails Surpris-ingly one of them was from a publisher I had queried Incredibly it read I like your book My scream was probably heard throughout the entire hotel
When we returned home we opened our birthday gifts My husband bought me Julia Childrsquos famous cook-book Maybe I was a little like Julie Powell after all
A month later I signed a book contract with Cactus Moon Publications Now my days are spent marketing Maggie and the Summer Vacation Show and Tell When I look back on the road to publication it had been a long difficult journey It demanded the willingness to develop the craft the determination to never give up the strength to remain positive despite rejection and the resolve to hold fast to a dream It also required get-ting involved with a professional writerrsquos organization and working with editorial partner But even before the journey began it took the daring to envision a book on a shelf
April 16
Global Publishing
Tips for Creating Bilingual Booksby Sharon Olivia Blumberg
n our global world itrsquos more important than ever to expose children to different languages Bilingual
childrenrsquos books is one terrific way to do just that As a retired foreign language teacher of Spanish I read bilingual books to my seventh graders as they sat spellbound
I recently spoke with two women involved in pub-lishing bilingual books for childrenmdashCath Bruzzone of b small publishing in the UK and Maria Domin-guez of Scholastic en espantildeol in the USmdashand got their thoughts on how to write stories that work well in two languages
Cath Bruzzone is a British publisher and author of activity books and foreign language learning books for children She started her career as a teacher of Italian and French and worked as an editor of UK publishers Harrap Books Thomas Nelson and Pan Books before starting her own business b small pub-lishing in 1990 (httpwwwbsmallcouk)
Sharon Blumberg Please explain the bilingual chil-drenrsquos book market in the UK regarding current needs and popularity with children parents teach-ers and librarians
Cara Bruzzone The bilingual childrenrsquos book mar-ket in the UK is small and specialized It is divided between European languages mainly French Span-ish It also includes community languages spoken in the UK like Hindi Urdu Arabic and Chinese Foreign languages are now offered at primary (ele-mentary) schools But this is a recent initiative that is poorly funded for teacher training and materials It concentrates mainly on French with some Span-ish So the main market for b smallrsquos books are par-entsmdashbilingual families and parents who want their young children to enjoy their two languages or learn a foreign language As many parents and teachers are not confident linguists bilingual books are ideal to
give them extra support Bilingual books highlight similarities between the two languages giving chil-dren confidence in the new language Librarians have supported bilingual books but many libraries have closed in the UK because of the economic crisis from 2008 Sadly this shrinking market is vital for pro-moting community languages In order to produce the quantity and quality of books that we publish we rely on selling foreign rights to countries like the USA some European countries China and Asia
SB When writing childrenrsquos bilingual books does the author or the publisher provide the translation
CB In the case of b smallrsquos bilingual books we write them in English and commission translations from native speakers However we can edit the English text if necessary to make sure that the two languag-es work well together for the target age group If the book is published in another country like China or Poland the local publisher buying the rights will pro-duce the Chinese or Polish text Also as our books are in British English and Castilian Spanish the US publisher purchasing the rights supplies the US En-glish and also the Latin American Spanish text for their editions There are a number of differences between US and British English especially for the younger age groups colourcolor mummom lor-rytruck are examples
SB What stories work best as bilingual books
CB Stories with repetition work well For childrenrsquos books stories should be compelling and not compli-cated Humor is good but jokes can be difficult to translate The stories should avoid cultural content that canrsquot be easily understood or translated Univer-sal themes are best Rhyme is difficult to translate as well as texts that rely on alphabetical order as lan-guages have different alphabets (Spanish has an extra ntilde for example and Welsh has the letters ch ff and ll)
I
April 17
Global Publishing
From a production point of view the layout of bilin-gual books must leave space for two languages and possibly a pronunciation guide So the text will be shorter than monolingual stories It is a challenge to have a beginning middle and end in so few pages Marrying the text and pictures can also be challeng-ing when there are two sets of text that work with the pictures
Irsquoll give examples from two of our titles Puppy Finds a FriendCachorrito Encuentra Un Amigo part of the I Can Read series (published in both English-French and English-Spanish) and La Gatita Luciacutea en la playaLucy Cat at the Beach one of a series of four Lucy Cat cartoon strip books published in English-French and English-Spanish
The puppy story had to fit into our series concept picture stories for ages 3 to 5 with a simple repetitive text and universal childrenrsquos themes that reflect chil-drenrsquos lives while building their self-esteem I chose farmyard animals so that I didnrsquot have to select chil-dren of one particular ethnicity (We are committed to inclusivity in our books and have recently signed the Everybody In charter promoted by Inclusive Minds We want to improve our representation of all children in our books) The story is about a little puppy who tries to find a friend All the animals say theyrsquore too busy but the little mouse plays with him The story includes common farm animalsmdashhorse cow etc Then there is a repetition of the key phras-es like ldquoIrsquom too busyrdquo So as an attractive story it reinforces everyday language The illustrations are brilliant but we had trouble coming up with the final puppy We have been lucky with this series as several well-known illustrators have agreed to illustrate the stories for modest fees because they believe in bilin-gual education
The Lucy Cat series was designed as the next step up from our Bilingual First Words books They would be stories based on simple conversational phrases Car-toon strips are popular for early reading The illustra-tor Clare Beaton and I worked together on a cartoon strip for young language learners in the McGraw-Hill Languages for Children series Lucy Cat was named after my young daughter Lucy She is a feisty cat who has a series of adventures where she saves the
day In Lucy Cat at the beach she saves some kittens from a shark The stories all have the same structure exchanging greetings introducing the scene and then a big BANG page averting disaster and finally everyone thanks Lucy We consulted an early read-ing specialist who advised with the speech bubbles including a third person narrative along the bottom of the strip The stories were fun to invent but orga-nizing the bilingual text was a challenge Including both languages in the speech bubbles looked messy and wouldnrsquot encourage children to read only the new language So we doubled up the strips on each page one in English and one in the foreign language This works well but means that we havenrsquot published a monolingual version of the stories
SB How does nonfiction work for bilingual books
CB I donrsquot have much experience with bilingual nonfiction b small has produced a series of stick-er atlases and a range of picture dictionaries and search-and-find 1000 word books (links refer to En-glish-Spanish editions But they are also published in English only and English-French) so they are refer-ence books rather than nonfiction Like fiction it is important to choose concepts that can be translated and keep the information shorter than in a monolin-gual nonfiction book
In fiction and nonfiction it is challenging because the illustrations must work in both languages A good example is lsquobreadrsquo A typical English loaf is a differ-ent shape from an Italian or French loaf Similarly an American barn looks different from a European barn and a German church spire looks different from an English church tower The most difficult of all is the driving wheel of a car lorry (truck) or busmdashleft or right The solution is to neutralize the images so that they are acceptable to many culturesmdashand place the steering wheel in the middle of the car This means working with illustrators who create attractive pictures that children love even if they donrsquot reflect their culture
SB What are the most common languages that ap-pear together in one book
CB This depends on the market For the UK and
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April 2
New Markets
At PresstimeMagazine for Young Children Accepting Submissions
Reading With Your Kids is a new podcast that launched in February for parents grand-parents teachers librarians and any one else who loves reading with kids The show is looking to motivate par-ents to read with their kids as well as cook create exer-cise listen to music and ex-perience all types of media with their children The pod-cast airs three times a week
Looking for authors of chil-drenrsquos and young adult books family-friendly graph-ic novels and books fea-turing interactive family activities to appear on the podcast Contact Fatima Khan the showrsquos associate producer at fatimajedliecom You can get more in-formation about the podcast here httpwwwreading-withyourkidscom
New Podcast Looking for Authors
Albert Whitman amp Company publishes a wide range of high-quality books for children and teens Currently seeking picture book fiction and nonfiction and fiction for middle grade and young adult readers For a full list of current titles go to httpswwwalbertwhitmancom
For all submissions include a cover letter in the body of your email (subject line should read ldquo(TYPE OF BOOK) (title) by (au-thor name)rdquo and contact information with phone number Cover letter should include a brief synopsis along with the books ldquohookrdquo a short bio mentioning previous publications or other background information relevant to your story and titles for up to three comparative books published in the past five years These should be books that have a similar audience to your book and that you feel will compare with your book in the marketplace Explain how your manuscript is different from these books Attach manuscripts as Word documents (preferred) or PDFs File sizes cannot be larger than 4MB Send all submissions to Submissions Editor at submissionsalbertwhitmancom Albert Whitman does not require exclusive submissions Responds within six months only if interested in pursuing publication
Picture Books Seeking fiction and nonfiction manuscripts of up to 1000 words for children ages 1 to 8 Send cover letter along with full manuscript Send illustrations as PDF or JPEG attachments ONLY if you are also a professional illustrator
Middle Grade Fiction Seeking fiction queries and sample pages for middle-grade novels for children up to age 12 Finished manuscripts should be up to 35000 words Send cover letter along with the first three chapters as an attachment
Young Adult Fiction Seeking fiction queries and sample pages for young adult novels for ages 12-18 Word count Up to 70000 words Send cover letter along with the first three chapters as an attachment
Publisher Accepting Submissions for All Ages
Ladybug a literary magazine for children ages 3-6 features original stories poetry nonfiction and activities Editors look for clear and beautiful language a sense of joy and wonder and a genuinely childlike point of view Particularly interested in stories that explore themes of iden-tity (gender race and ethnicity neighborhoods beliefs and traditions) citizenship and global cultures scientific and technological exploration and the creative spirit
Fiction up to 800 words as well as rebus stories up to 200 words Contemporary folk and fairy tales humor animal stories as well as city settings and stories that take place outside the Unit-ed States
Poetry up to 20 lines Rhythmicrhyming Especially looking for poetry that explores young chil-drenrsquos daily lives and their emotions and imaginations as well as action rhymes that get kids moving
Nonfiction up to 400 words Simple explorations of interesting places in a young childrsquos world different cultures nature and science Can be straight nonfiction or can include a story element (such as a child narrator) Also looking for unusual and imaginative activities and games crafts and songs
Writers should study past issues of the magazine before submitting (most libraries carry Lady-bug as well as large bookstores and newsstands) All submissions must be sent through the Cricket Media Submittable page at httpscricketmagsubmittablecom Allow 3-6 months for a response
April 3
At Presstime
HighlightsTu Books the middle grade and young adult imprint of Lee amp Low Books is sponsoring the fourth New Visions Award for a mid-dle grade or young adult novel by a writer of color The Award winner receives a cash prize of $1000 and a standard publica-tion contract including basic advance and royalties for a first time author An Honor Award winner receives a $500 cash prize
The contest is open to writers of color who are residents of the United States and who have not previously had a middle grade or young adult novel published Writers who have published work in other venues such as childrenrsquos magazines or picture books or adult fiction or nonfiction are eligible Only unagented manuscripts will be accepted Work that has been published in its entirety in any format (including online and self publishing as well as other countries) is not eligible
Manuscripts should address the needs of children and teens of color by providing stories with which they can identify andrelate and which promote a greater understanding of one another Themes relating to LGBTQ+ topics or disabilities may also be included Submissions may be any fictional genre novels for children ages 8 to 12 or young adults ages 12 to 18 Particularly interested in fantasy and science fiction but also welcome contemporary historical mystery and suspense Graphic novel scripts in those categories are also welcome Nonfiction will not be considered Submissions should include a synopsis of the story plus the first five chapters accompanied by a cover letter that includes the authorrsquos name address phone number email address brief biographical note relevant cultural and ethnic information how the author heard about the award and pub-lication history if any Do not send the entire manuscript For graphic novels include the equivalent of 24-30 scripted pages Include 6-10 pages of final art samples and optional character sketches in PDF format only if you are an authorillustrator
Submissions should be submitted online at httpstubookssubmittablecomsubmit in the New Visions Award category You will receive a confirmation email stating your submission was received Manuscripts may not be submitted to other publishers while under consideration for this award
Submissions will be accepted from June 1 2017 through October 31 2017 Finalists will be notified and full manuscriptsrequested no later than January 31 2018 If your full manuscript is requested it must be received by Tu Books by Feb 19 2018 The Award and Honor winners will be selected from among the full manuscripts requested and will be announced no later than April 30 For more information go to httpswwwleeandlowcomwriters-illustratorsnew-visions-award
LEE amp LOW BOOKS is pleased to announce an exciting new initiative with First Book and the NEA Foundation aimed at helping educators feel more confident broaching subjects related to race ethnic and cultural diversity in the classroom Through the generosity of the NEA Foundation LEE amp LOW BOOKS will award a second NEW VISIONS AWARD WINNER for the 2017 contest The NEA Foundation will sponsor the cost of publication of this winning title LEE amp LOW BOOKS will publish a special paper-back edition of the book that will be exclusively available to educators and program leaders serving children in need through the First Book Marketplace
New Visions Award for Unpublished Author of Color
Kari Sutherland is a new agent with the Bradford Literary Agency (httpwwwbradfordlitcom) She was previously a Senior Editor at HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books Kari is most interested in finding stories full of heart ones that carry readers to far-away places or deep into a characterrsquos mind action-packed page-turners that surprise her dark dramas with touches of humor and above all a voice that leaps off the page She is actively seeking diverse voices across all genres
In childrenrsquos books (picture books through middle grade) Kari is interested in character-driven stories new twists on classic tales empowering themes epic fantasy fresh voices and experiences inventive mysteries humor and magical realism In young adult fiction Kari is drawn to compelling voices tight pacing and clear world-building regardless of whether itrsquos a space drama an underground dystopia a small town or a big city contemporary
To query Kari please email your query to karibradfordlitcom The subject line must read ldquoQUERY (title of manuscript)rdquo For fiction send a query letter along with the first chapter of your manuscript and a synopsis pasted into the body of your email Be sure to include the genre and word count in your letter Picture book submissions send a short query along with entire manu-script pasted in the body of email Follow Kari on Twitter KariSutherland
New Agent Accepting Submissions for All Ages
April 4
The Art of the Queryby Jane McBride
lot has changed since I sent out my first query many decades ago The manner of submitting
queries has evolved to the point that it is nearly unrecog-nizable from the primitive paper queries complete with the requisite SASEs (self-addressed stamped envelopes) of years ago Now many queries are sent electronically which is a blessing for writers saving us both time and money in printing and postage But regardless of wheth-er yoursquore sending your query electronically or by snail mail the same standards apply Letrsquos first talk about why you should query
Many publishers and magazines will not look at your work without first seeing a query This is increasingly true as electronic submissions make it easier than ever for writers to send complete manuscripts with only a touch of a button
Most if not all agents require a query Agents like editors are busy people They donrsquot have the time or resources to wade through the many manuscripts that arrive in their inbox Manuscripts that arrive without being requested via a query are frequently tossed
Queries tend to get faster responses than do completed manuscripts
Queries can save time on nonfiction submissions Some book publishers and many magazines accept queries for nonfiction books or articles before the work is complete This helps the author know if her idea and approach is on target in the early stages The editor may then accept the project on the basis of a query (for magazines) or ask for a more detailed proposal (books) and give input on shaping the project before the entire manuscript is written
Now that wersquove talked about why you should query letrsquos discuss the nuts-and-bolts of querying
What a Query Letter Looks Like
Itrsquos addressed to the proper person (with the proper spelling of hisher name) If the publisher indicates that queries should go to ldquoSubmissions Editorrdquo thatrsquos how they should be addressed but begin your letter with ldquoDear Editorrdquo not ldquoTo Whom It May Concernrdquo Que-ries to agents should be addressed to a particular agent at the literary agency
Itrsquos single-spaced using standard business letter for-mat Try to fit the entire query letter on one page (or the equivalent of one page if sending by email)
It begins with your bookrsquos ldquohookrdquo ndash a 1-3 sentence statement that captures whatrsquos unique about your story or nonfiction approach Think of your hook as a 10-sec-ond pitch yoursquod make to an agent at a writerrsquos confer-ence Include the bookrsquos title word count age range and genre
When Kayla invited Lisa the weird new kid in school to eat lunch with her she was just trying to score some points with the vice principal and get out of detention But when Lisa dumped a carton of chocolate milk on a cheerleaderrsquos head from across the room Kayla knew this was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship The New Kid a 25000 word humorousparanormal novel for ages 12 and up is a mash-up of Stranger Things and Mean Girls
Since the hook doesnrsquot tell the editoragent exactly what happens in the plot you need to use the next 1-3 paragraphs giving a more detailed synopsis of the story or a more detailed description of your topic and slant for nonfiction See my article ldquoTackling the Synopsisrdquo in the March 2017 issue of CBI (Remember to keep the synopsis brief ndash 1 short paragraph for picture books and easy readers 1-2 for chapter books middle grade and
Submission Tips
A
April 5
most YA unless the story is fantasy or science fiction where you might need three paragraphs)
Follow with a brief author bio and include any cred-its If you donrsquot have any previous writing credits but have expertise in an area that directly applies to your manuscript you can mention that Otherwise just say a couple of sentences about yourself and leave it at that
If the editor or agent wants sample chapters with the query end by saying ldquoIrsquove included the first three chap-ters of The New Kid for your review I look forward to hearing from yourdquo If the editoragent wants a query letter only say ldquoThe New Kid is complete and ready for your review I am happy to send sample chapters or the entire manuscript upon request I look forward to hear-ing from yourdquo
Other Things the Query Letter Should Do
Showcase your best writing Now is not the time to be slipshod with your work (Really there is never a time to be sloppy with your prose but especially not with que-ries This is the editorrsquos first introduction to you)
Reveal your writing style Are you writing a nonfiction piece for the YA age group on the history of slavery A lighthearted query wonrsquot cut it for such a serious subject
Follow the publisher or agentrsquos guidelines (found in writing publications such as this one andor online) Follow these to the letter Some publishers prefer not to receive emails with attachments for fear of picking up a virus If so make sure all pertinent information is con-tained within the body of the email
Provide your contact information Yoursquod be surprised at how many writers send out queries with no contact information You want to make it as easy as possible for the editor or agent to contact you
Be upfront if the work has been previously published And yes blog posts count as publication
What the Query Letter Should Never Do
Be cutesy Just as in the ldquoolden daysrdquo of paper queries when writers were advised not to fill their envelopes with confetti or other annoying bits of paper do not include emojis etc in your query
Go out to a large number of publications or agents simultaneously Query five appropriate publishers or agents at once When you get a response from an agent to send your manuscript send it to her exclusively un-til she replies and if itrsquos a pass then send it to the next agent on your list who requested your manuscript Itrsquos more common to send out several manuscripts at once to editors who request them from a query but keep the number to five or less If an editor asks for an exclusive submission for a period of time honor that And if you get an offer from an editor or agent be sure to contact anyone else who is currently reading your manuscript and let them know
Go to the wrong publisher Send a query for a picture book to a publisher which considers only middle grade and YA books and you will have just outed yourself as a lazy writer who hasnrsquot done his homework and learned what kind of stories that publisher accepts
Do anything that detracts from your image of a pro-fessional writer First impressions count Make yours a good one
A Few Final Thoughts
An increasing number of publishersrsquo websites that use online submissions are expanding to submission forms with data fields Such websites may send potential writers to something like Submittablecom or AuthorsmeIf you canrsquot do this on your own get help to navigate your way through the process If you still arenrsquot sure how to set up q query you may want to enlist the help of an experienced writer whose opinion you respect and have her review your letter before sending it out This is probably the only chance yoursquoll have to send this query to this editor or agent Make it count
Query Letters in 2017 continued
Submission Tips
Finding Agents and Editors to Query
Review the At Presstime market listings each month in CBI (and the Back Issue Archive on httpwwwcbiclubhousecom but do check the agentpublisher website on listings that are over two months old to be sure theyrsquore still accept-ing submissions) You can also find links to agent and pub-lisher websites in Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos amp Illustratorrsquos Market and Guide to Literary Agents annual guides published by Writerrsquos Digest Books The Guide to Literary Agents blog lists new agents on a regular basis httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agents
April
Kendra LevinA Day In The Life of Executive Editor
interview by PJ McIlvaine
f yoursquove wondered what an ldquoexecutive editorrdquo does (and who hasnrsquot including me) wonder no more
Kendra Levin is an executive editor at Viking Chil-drenrsquos Books an imprint of Penguin Random House Since 2005 she has worked on a wide range of chil-drenrsquos literature from picture books to young adult novels She has edited New York Times bestseller Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton Printz Hon-or winner The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry Theodor Seuss Geisel award winner Donrsquot Throw It to Mo by David A Adler Society of Il-lustrators Gold Medal winner The Lost House by BB Cronin and the work of authors including Jan-et Fox Deborah Freedman and others In addition Kendra helps writers as a teacher and certified life coach and is the author of The Hero is You a grounded self-help guide to a healthier writing process You can visit her at kend-racoachingcom and follow her on Twitter (kendralevin)
PJ McIlvaine Your bio is quite eclectic from playwright to Exec-utive Editor for Viking Childrenrsquos Books (Penguin Random House) Can you elaborate on your professional journey
Kendra Levin I wasnrsquot someone who always dreamed of working in publishing I grew up surrounded by books but Irsquom not sure I thought much about the peo-ple who created them beyond the authors and illus-trators My goal as a kid and teen was to be a writer When I had just moved to New York to study playwrit-
ing at NYU I got an email from an editor at Scholas-tic David Levithan (whom Irsquod never heard of) asking my permission to include a short story of mine that had won a Scholastic Writing Award a couple years earlier in an anthology of student work he was putting together That email led to an internship at Scholastic
where I fell in love with editing childrenrsquos books under the wonder-ful mentorship of Joy Peskin (now Editorial Director at FSG) who introduced me to the world of pub-lishing I was amazed to discover a job that allowed me to use the skills Irsquod been honing for years in writing workshopsmdashconstructive critique story analysis stuff like that So I really lucked into the perfect line of work for me Out of college I got a job at the Scholastic Book Clubs a great place to learn more about the industry and then transitioned to an editorial role at Viking Chil-drenrsquos Books in 2005 and Irsquove been there ever since
PJ Can you give us a behind the scenes idea of what a day in the life of an executive editor really is
KL Part of what keeps me in this job is that fact that therersquos no average daymdashevery day is different Current-ly though Irsquom feeling like I spend most of my days an-swering emails and attending meetings Itrsquos a funny but very common phenomenon that the elements of being an editor that most characterize the jobmdashreading and editing manuscriptsmdashwind up being relegated to eve-nings and weekends Luckily I love the social aspects of being an editor so I donrsquot mind spending more of
Featured Interview
I
6
6
April 7
my day communicating and problem-solving than ac-tually editing books
PJ What parts of your job do you like the best And the least
KL I love to help people so my favorite parts of the job are the ones that allow me to do that whether Irsquom guiding an author through a tricky revision or advis-ing a colleague on a challenging situation To me the most frustrating part of the job is when for whatever reason a book I love and believe in just doesnrsquot seem to resonate Itrsquos disappointing for the author and for me toomdashand hard to see something yoursquove put so much work into fail to reach people
PJ What surprised you the most about the publishing process
KL Like most people I always imagined being an edi-tor was a quiet job-- reading and editing all day In fact I have to do most reading and editing in my own time outside of the office because itrsquos definitely NOT a qui-et job Most days are full of meetings phone calls dis-cussions problem solving and other kinds of running around and being social Luckily I really enjoy that
PJ Is there a common thread in the books you ulti-mately decline to pursue for example like not ready for prime time editing errors etc
KL Itrsquos hard to find one common thread among them all and much easier to see whatrsquos common among the books I do acquire To put it in perspective I decline several hundred manuscripts each year I acquire be-tween one and five So itrsquos easier for me to look at what all the ones I do acquire have in common What tends to tie them together is an element of reader empower-ment I love books that inspire and empower kids and teens that show them they can solve their own prob-lems that they are stronger than they realize and that therersquos a lot they can do despite constantly being told they are ldquojustrdquo children
PJ Do you have a favorite genre
KL One of the pleasures of working on books for young readers is that you get to be kind of a Unitarian of genres and try everything I love the variety But I do find myself most drawn to books that take place in a realistic world either contemporary or historical but
have magical elements I like books that transport me to a version of reality where magic is real
PJ Yoursquove edited many books from picture books to young adult Does each genre have a different publish-ing process
KL Any childrenrsquos books editor would tell you that the process for making picture books is very different from that of novels One of my favorite aspects of the picture book process is getting to work closely with the art director I love collaborating with someone who has a totally different skill set and area of expertisemdashI learn so much from that process Novels come to me a little more naturally so I feel lucky that in the area where Irsquom less confident picture books I get to rely on a partner in the work
PJ What do you look for in a book that yoursquore consid-ering publishing
KL What every editor looks for I imaginemdashwriting that absorbs me and make me forget the world around me coupled with a concept or idea that I can succinctly explain to our sales and marketing folks in a way thatrsquoll get them excited about the project I look for something that hasnrsquot been done before in quite the same way I look for work that will empower its readers and give them a sense of their own potential and strengthmdashto me thatrsquos one of the most important reasons to publish books for children to begin with
PJ Do you primarily accept submissions through agents andor referrals or do you still find hidden gems in the slush pilequeries
KL At this stage of my career I mainly accept submis-sions that come from agents though Irsquod love to connect with something unrepresented As a house Penguin is closed to unsolicited submissions mainly because it would take many full-time staff members to deal with the sheer volumemdashwe just donrsquot have the bandwidth By focusing on work that is represented by agents we are asking writers to really do their homework study their craft have a knowledge of the marketplace devel-op resiliencemdashall crucial for becoming an author That said I do open my mailbox to unrepresented submis-sions from writers who attend conferences and retreats for which Irsquom a faculty member and each event has its own guidelines
Kendra Levin continued
Featured Interview
April 8
PJ What publishing trends do you foresee Is there something yoursquod like to see or see more of
KL I try not to chase trends Irsquod rather create them than try to predict them For example historical fiction has always been challenging but if you look at this yearrsquos ALA awards you can see the genre getting quite a lot of attention including a book I edited The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry which won a Printz Honor When I acquired the book I certainly didnrsquot think that historical fiction would be a trend by the time the book came out And arguably it still isnrsquot But the genre also seems to be rising to the surface in ways it wasnrsquot two or three years ago As far as what Irsquod like to see more of Irsquom just always looking to be surprisedmdashwhich could mean anything I like to keep my options open
PJ Being a writer yourself how easymdashor difficultmdashis it for you to go into editing mode on ma-terial that was created by some-one else
KL Many editors are also writ-ers and the ones I know seem to fall into two camps Either they are incredibly driven and just find a way to switch back and forth between ldquoeditor brainrdquo and ldquowriter brainrdquo so it becomes habit or they struggle mighti-ly with making that boundary I definitely fall into the latter camp I find writing extremely difficult because I have a tough time turning that mental editor off Editing comes very natu-rally to me at this point itrsquos writing that is more of a battle The only writing project Irsquove finished since becoming an editor is The Hero Is You my book about the creative process which came out in 2016 and it reflects six yearsrsquo worth of work
PJ How important is brandingor a social media plat-form for writers
KL Social media acuity is not essential for writers However being good at some form of self-promotion is important for authors If you are a writer who wants to
become a published author do not invest too much of your time worrying about stuff like branding and social mediamdashfocus instead on your craft and becoming the best writer you can possibly be While you are doing that pay attention to what forms of communication seem to come most naturally to you and allow those to be your platform Itrsquos better to do one form of social media (or other kind of self-marketing) well than to do many without genuine interest So if you find that you want to save all your writing for your actual work but you like to share images maybe Instagram is a good platform for you If you arenrsquot comfortable with any social media but you love talking in front of groups
focus any self-promotional en-ergies on getting lots of speak-ing engagements If you can show in some way that you have some connection to other peo-ple publishers will look favor-ably on that But none of this is a deal-breaker I donrsquot know any editor who has turned down a wonderful hooky manuscript because the author didnrsquot tweet
PJ Yoursquove also branched out into being a life coach for writ-ers How did that evolve
KL I became a life coach in 2008 when I was still an assis-tant in publishing I enjoyed my job but had a bit of an ldquois this itrdquo feeling about my work and lifemdashwanting more meaning A number of my close friends happened to all have crises at the same time and I found that I was dropping everything and
racing to the side of each upset friend with a little too much enthusiasm Then I was at a party where I struck up a conversation with a friend of a friend and when I asked her ldquoWhat do you dordquo she said ldquoI empower womenrdquo I asked her out for coffee to hear more about her work as a life coach and it sounded like a great fit for me so I ended up taking a year-long certification course Almost a decade later itrsquos still something I do on the side but has evolved to become very much part of my work as an editor as well And I use coaching techniques in the workshops I run for writers all over the country and in my book The Hero Is You
Kendra Levin continued
Featured Interview
April 9
NARRATIVEmdashDonrsquot Believe Its B A D R E P
by Jane McBride
ave you ever seen the following in a rejection letter ldquoToo much narrative slowing down the storyrdquo Or
ldquoPut some dialogue in to break up the narrativerdquo And yet there is a time and a place for narrative and dare I say it a place for narrative to take top billing over dialogue Consider the following passages The set-up is a con-versation between two twelve-year-old boys one who visits his grandparentsrsquo farm every summer at their farm in Payson Utah and the other a boy who lives in the small rural town
ldquoHey Jaredrdquo Pete said ldquoItrsquos good to see you I havenrsquot seen you since last August when you left your grandpar-entsrsquo farm here in Payson Utah to go back to your home in Chicago Illinoisrdquo ldquoYeah Pete Itrsquos been nine months since we last saw each other Irsquom glad to be back here in Payson Utah with my grandparents My parents are taking an educational tour of Europe They want me to have a taste of farm life to broaden my cultural horizonsrdquo
Is that some of the worst dialogue yoursquove ever read I hope so though it embarrasses me at how easily I was able to write it Would two 12-year-old boys really talk that way Would anyone talk that way Aside from the stilted words the dialogue consists of the boys telling each other things of which they are both already aware Jared knows when he was last in Payson just as Pete knows that itrsquos been nine months since the boys last saw each other They wouldnrsquot name the cities or recount the passage of time Nor would Jared tell Pete that his parents are ldquotaking an educational tour of Europerdquo How could this passage have been better written Letrsquos try it again
Jared poked a stick in the red dirt The last place he want-ed to be was on this crappy farm in the middle of no-where His parents shipped him off to his grandparentsrsquo place every summer They told him it was for his own good He knew better They wanted to get rid of him so that they could fly off to Europe When he saw Pete heading toward him Jared nearly groaned He didnrsquot want to admit that his parents had dumped him at the farm again Just like he didnrsquot want to admit that his grandparents didnrsquot want him any more than he wanted to be here He ducked his head and turned in the other direction pretending that he didnrsquot hear Pete calling his name
Donrsquot get me wrong Irsquom a big fan of dialogue done right to share information and move the story along However the dialogue above is not only badly written itrsquos essentially an information dump The narrative passage reads much more smoothly and gets the relevant points across through Jaredrsquos thoughts How do you know when to use dialogue and when to use narrative The short answer is through instinct and experience You gain those by writing and keeping writing If you feel like you lack the instinct andor experience to know write the passage yoursquore working on in dia-logue then try it again in narrative Read your words aloud If the dialogue sounds stilted chances are you are trying to use it as I did above This does not give you carte blanche to use narrative indiscriminately Use it sparingly to convey thoughts and feelings or to move people through space and time Well-written narrative has a place Itrsquos up to you the writer to know where and when to use it
Writing Workshop
H
April 10
Narrative continued
Writing Workshop
Use narrative - To move characters through time and space A simple sentence or short paragraph to show that time has passed or that a character has ar-rived at a new place is sufficient - To provide brief explanations of backstory Brief is the key word here Giving backstory through dialogue can sound stilted as though the char-acters are telling each other what they already know Sprinkle these bits of backstory sparingly throughout the book - To give a sense of place Characters wouldnrsquot ordinarily talk about a setting A few but important details of the setting will suffice - To describe a reaction Following intense scenes of action a short nar-rative passage to clue the reader into the characterrsquos reactions can help the reader identify what the character is experiencing and feeling - To change the pace This is related to the above If a book is all ac-tion scenes there is no time for the reader to reflect upon what has hap-pened
April 11
gent Jodell Sadler (formerly of Sadler Literary and founder of KidLit College) joins Jill Corcoran
president and fellow agents Eve PorinchakTimothy Travaglini Adah Megged Nuchi and Silvia Ariente at the recently-expanded Jill Corcoran Literary Agency Jodell like Adah will be co-agenting clients with Jill Both will provide feedback and direction on projects but with Jodell primarily in an editorial capacity and Jill pri-marily as the contract negotia-tor
Lynne Marie What fueled your decision to join Jill Corcoran Literary Agency How do you feel this move benefits the clients you brought with you as well as new clients
Jodell Sadler I wanted to work with writers and illustrators on the editing side I am happier and finding real joy in collabo-rating with clients in this team approach As the editorial agent Irsquom the first set of eyes creating top-quality manuscripts with our shared clients at JCLA What is fun for me is that I get to pass the baton to a new set of eyes Jill for submissions Pitches submissions Thatrsquos her baby and I love it We still have editorial meeting to discuss our approach but I do what I love work with writers and illustrators and coach them to success Positioning and marketing be-longs in both camps but I think everyone should be lined up to work with Jill Shersquos genius at what she does
LM Does your extensive background in art and busi-ness play into your decision to focus primarily on the
creative aspect of a book project and how
JS Picture books are built word by carefully selected word and art feeds and drives story Irsquove worked in ed-itorial and as an art director illustrator designer and marketing for a Fortune 500 company Little-known fact about me is that I am also published in photogra-
phy I love art I love words and the interplay of these two picture book partners Thatrsquos why I became fasci-nated by pacing When you can take a line of text and through sound and care make it seem short when long or pace out a sentence to mock a scene it adds excitement to the ed-iting process
My marketing and branding exper-tise includes product development Herersquos a fun fact few know about me as well I illustrated the first product renderings and logo for Super Vee a tremelo system for guitarsmdasha device that keeps a whammy bar in tunemdashas well the box it would be packaged in for customers Now itrsquos huge which has been fun to see Irsquove also drawn with my feet having a great respect for disabilities and how seri-
ously talented individuals go beyond normal every day
LM Please describe your role in a bookrsquos progress from representation to publication
JS That sounds easy I wish it was really that quick but donrsquot we all I edit with writers (and illustrators and writer-illustrators) to help them hone the art and words of story Right now when a writer or author-illustrator comes in to JCLA they are vetted by two agents both Jill and me We jointly represent
interview by Lynne Marie
Agent Spotlight
a
Jodell Sadler of the
April 12
I focus on manuscript polish and prep and pass the ba-ton to Jill I love this model It works
LM Please share details of an upcoming collaborative project you have accepted and tell us why this project stands out for you
JS All books for kids are collaborative for sure Irsquove recently repped awesome illustrator talent some heavy lifters I can see are ready to bust out I like to help il-lustrators make that leap into creating books as au-thor-illustrators Irsquom pretty intense in that regard be-cause Irsquove worked the programs and prepped printed books I know story art and the print industry While Irsquove spent years saving companies thousands through sound design strategies now itrsquos time to do this for au-thors and illustrators
LM How would define your unique approach to chil-drenrsquos literature
JS Whatrsquos also fun and something not many know about me is that following earning my MFA I served as a professor in the many literary categories Human-ities Contemporary World Literature of the Ameri-can Minorities (created courses as expert and itrsquos still one of my favorites) American and British Literature as well as the traditional courses of English Compo-sition Advanced Comp Creative Writing Founda-tions Rhetoric (too many to list) on the undergrad level as well as Publishing and Picture Book classes on the Grad Level Irsquove also worked with educational companies on web product launches and fact-checking against textbooks So I have a really strong grasp of the best writers over decades and the many movements in literature And my teaching in K-12 has contributed a great deal to my understanding of reluctant readers budding writers teaching practices and more
LM Since this is a new partnership please share de-tails of the first book you have championed together and gotten an offer on
JS A two-book picture book deal started us offhellip and we look forward to championing many more in many categories I am over the moon about our approach and all the really wonderful products that are being un-der considered right now Truth-be-told anyone would be blessed to work with Jill She is beyond fabulous
and I look at our approach as a real win-win for clients
LM Will this collaboration in any way change your focus regarding the genres you seek or your manuscript wish list And what if anything remains on your man-uscript wish list for this year
JS Not at all I still love what I love and that hasnrsquot changed Irsquom all about picture books through middle grade and Irsquom looking for great author-illustrators as well as great stories in fiction and nonfiction Contem-porary commercial dark humorous mysteries and big idea books in middle grade Recent projects include interior illustrations for the Friday Barnes series by Phil Gosier as well as his forthcoming author-illustrator picture books Snow Beast Comes to Play and Dog Adop-tion Day (Roaring Brook Press 2017) Bold Women of Medicine 21 Stories of Astounding Discoveries Daring Sur-geries and Healing by Susan M Latta (Chicago Review Press) and If Animals Said I Love You by Ann Whitford Paul (FSG Macmillam)
LM If you had to pick the most important charac-teristic that sells you on a particular manuscript what would it be
JS Pacing of voice and art tells me a book is ready I am particularly sensitive to active language and like most agents and editors look for great voice strong concept unique characters plot hook point of view visual imagery and intrigue First lines and pages of story set the tone for the rest of the picture book or novel A storyrsquos opening should transfer readers to a place they have not experienced before It should feel like a performance that I am a part of
One of my favorite lines from the Beatrix Potter mov-iersquos first lines and visuals
A sweeping paintbrush washes color on the pages along with quiet pause and birdsong A violin softly plays over gentle high-pitched piano keys ldquoTherersquos something deli-cious about writing the first words of a story You never quite tell where theyrsquoll take you Mine took me here
ldquoLooking back the city and I never much liked each other An unmarried woman after all was expected to behave in very particular ways which did not include traipsing from publisher to publishers with a gaggle of friendsrdquo
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
April 13
Like this I love to enter a story and forget I am read-ing
LM What is one thing that you feel you might be able to fix if it is broken in andor missing from a prospec-tive manuscript
JS Pacing hellip and most anything can be fixed along with some things that we donrsquot often think about like concept and marketability These are vital When we write we write to mind heart and ear and this marries with the visual splash an illustrator brings First lines first pages hook voice depth of emotions character plot and tensionhellipall have to be top-notch
LM Since you and Jill are working together how should submissions be addressed
JS Submissions go to only one agent at JCLA Please do not send to both or more than one For me I love a succinct letter in the body of the email that is short
and powerful I encourage writers to do three things
1 Give a hook or line that shares the ldquowhy merdquo
2 After your intro pitch your story in a couple of sentences
3 Add your bio information and done Sign off
Itrsquos really all about the writing or writing and port-folio which for me is your manuscript shared in the Samples area and a dummy attachment as a PDFmdashor at least a link to an online portfolio If you are going to submit as an author-illustrator a portfolio is a must
Best advice Share your project and your personality and be prepared to jump in Show off your work style and creative edge and that you are enjoyable and fun to work with
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
Jodell Sadler is accepting ldquoAbove the Slushrdquo submissions from CBI read-ers First study her guidelines and current needs here httpsjillcorcor-anliteraryagencycomjodell-sadler-editorial-agent which include pic-ture books from authorillustrators as well as nonfiction biographies chapter books middle grade projects and graphic novels Then either click on the Submit button on that page or go straight to her Query Manager page at httpsquerymanagercomqueryJodellSadler In the field marked ldquoIf this query is a referral who referred yourdquo type CBI JCLA GIRAFFE
April 14
by Randi Lynn Mrvos
very time I visited a bookstore I envisioned my manuscript as a book on a shelf This ritual devel-
oped after I wrote a picture book about a girl named Maggie and then created a blog that chronicled the hopeful journey of getting it published
The Maggie Project blog was fashioned after the JulieJulia Project in which Julie Powell blogged about cook-ing all of the recipes in Julia Childrsquos Mastering the Art of French Cooking book in one year The premise of my blog was to submit a picture book manuscript to 30 publishers 15 agents and 5 contests in one year But I was nothing like Julie I did not end up with a book deal It was humiliating The Maggie Project closed down and the manuscript was shelved
Maggie was not the first story I had written Years be-fore I had taken a class on writing for children at the Carnegie Center in my hometown Lexington Ken-tucky After learning the basics I wrote and submitted five picture books but each one was rejected Publica-tion seemed out of reach until I turned to writing non-fiction Having a background as a medical technologist enabled me write scientific articles for kids By the time I had written fifty articles I had an impressive bio so I returned to writing fiction Still no one was interested in my picture books
This setback prompted me to find ways to boost my writing career I decided to read books on writing for kids and began with Jean Karlrsquos How to Write and Sell Picture Books Karl was a childrenrsquos book editor In her book she teaches the key elements needed to create pic-ture books for children and provides information on marketing your book
Another great resource was Writing Picture Books A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication by au-thor and poet Ann Whitford Paul This book provides
the knowledge needed to write picture books that will appeal to children as well as editors and agents The topics include developing plot and point of view cre-ating characters and researching the picture book mar-ket
When it came to composing a story Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos Word Book by Alijandra Mogilner became invaluable for finding just the right word for just the right age group Mogilnerrsquos book allows you to get into the mind of a child at various ages It gives guidelines for sen-tence length and word usage and offers lists of specific words for grade levels kindergarten ndash grade 6
In addition to reading how-to books I stepped into our local library and headed for the childrenrsquos section The librarianrsquos selections were displayed on the top of the stacks I checked out these childrenrsquos books and ana-lyzed their strengths and weaknesses It helped me to understand what was being published
Afterwards I wrote and submitted more picture books but these stories were rejected too It was obvious I needed more help Many years earlier my Carnegie teacher had suggested joining the Society of Childrenrsquos Book Writers and Illustrators I had put it off much too long and so I became a member SCBWI is an interna-tional organization that provides resources and oppor-tunities for members Each year the organization has two conferences one in Los Angeles and the other in New York City Regional chapters have writing work-shops where attendees may have the chance to pitch to an agent or to have a manuscript critiqued by an editor
I took advantage of five SCBWI conferences At these meetings I learned writing and publishing tips from panels of authors During breaks I schmoozed with the ever-so-wanting-to-get-published and exchanged emails to stay in touch and to lend support After one
The Writerrsquos Mindset
E
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf
April 15
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf continued
The Writerrsquos Mindset
conference some of the attendees got fired up about trying to bring an editor to our hometown That in-spired another writer and me to organize a SCBWI Editorrsquos Day workshop It was an unbelievable expe-rience Besides learning how to get published I had the opportunity to pitch a book to the presenter Liz Waniewski editor of Dial Books (though she politely turned it down)
As time passed I continued to write stories and submit them Every now and then the rejections came with personal notes ldquothis project sounds interestingrdquo ldquothis seems like a unique ideardquo ldquothis story has potentialrdquo But despite the praise none of my stories won the heart of a publisher
Frustration became a weight on my shoulders There were times when I wanted to give up But one remark kept me positive My husband said ldquoIt only takes one person to like what you writerdquo
Six years passed since The Maggie Project closed I still hadnrsquot found a publisher for any of my stories I felt it was time to try a new approach and work with an ex-perienced partner Editorial consultant Mary Kole of-fered a package which included a picture book critique and a review of three query letters By chance I pulled out the query for Maggie
Mary guided me when it came to querying As for targeting an agent she suggested making two lists a 10-20 top choices and a 10-20 second choice list She said to query 10-20 agents in a first round to see if they would give any feedback and then adjust accordingly Re-query some from the A list who seem open to see-ing a revision and also the B list who will be seeing it for the first time
In regards to my manuscript on Maggie Mary warned about Flight of Imagination a plot of a book dealing with kids having an adventure based largely in their imagination She stressed that itrsquos not like you canrsquot have a story that centers on a childrsquos journey through a land of imagination But there needs to be other layers in play and an actual story within the imagined land-scape not just an episodic barrage of images or crazy adventures Characters need to be fleshed out A plot needs to be in motion with sequential events that go from conflict to climax Other themes and universal
childhood experiences need to be embedded within the manuscript
After weighing her comments I changed the title of my story Also I judiciously cut 500 words (Picture books were shorter these days Perhaps thatrsquos one of the reasons why Maggie never sold) Then the story was sent to five publishers Buthellipit was deacutejagrave vu all over again Within two weeks three rejections appeared in my inbox I started questioning myself Did I follow Maryrsquos advice Were my characters well-developed Did the plot advance Had I successfully incorporat-ed themes and universal childhood experiences within the manuscript She warned that Flight of Imagination picture books are a tougher row to hoe than most Had I looked at my story objectively Did it suffer as Mary would say from this colorfulndashbut nonetheless problem-aticndashissue
With no word on the two remaining submissions I put writing and worrying about my writing on hold My husband and I went on vacation in New Orleans to cel-ebrate our birthdays We had done a Garden District tour (where we saw Sandra Bollockrsquos and John Good-manrsquos houses) visited a plantation listened to jazz on Bourbon Street and tasted spicy Cajun dishes Before going out one evening I checked my emails Surpris-ingly one of them was from a publisher I had queried Incredibly it read I like your book My scream was probably heard throughout the entire hotel
When we returned home we opened our birthday gifts My husband bought me Julia Childrsquos famous cook-book Maybe I was a little like Julie Powell after all
A month later I signed a book contract with Cactus Moon Publications Now my days are spent marketing Maggie and the Summer Vacation Show and Tell When I look back on the road to publication it had been a long difficult journey It demanded the willingness to develop the craft the determination to never give up the strength to remain positive despite rejection and the resolve to hold fast to a dream It also required get-ting involved with a professional writerrsquos organization and working with editorial partner But even before the journey began it took the daring to envision a book on a shelf
April 16
Global Publishing
Tips for Creating Bilingual Booksby Sharon Olivia Blumberg
n our global world itrsquos more important than ever to expose children to different languages Bilingual
childrenrsquos books is one terrific way to do just that As a retired foreign language teacher of Spanish I read bilingual books to my seventh graders as they sat spellbound
I recently spoke with two women involved in pub-lishing bilingual books for childrenmdashCath Bruzzone of b small publishing in the UK and Maria Domin-guez of Scholastic en espantildeol in the USmdashand got their thoughts on how to write stories that work well in two languages
Cath Bruzzone is a British publisher and author of activity books and foreign language learning books for children She started her career as a teacher of Italian and French and worked as an editor of UK publishers Harrap Books Thomas Nelson and Pan Books before starting her own business b small pub-lishing in 1990 (httpwwwbsmallcouk)
Sharon Blumberg Please explain the bilingual chil-drenrsquos book market in the UK regarding current needs and popularity with children parents teach-ers and librarians
Cara Bruzzone The bilingual childrenrsquos book mar-ket in the UK is small and specialized It is divided between European languages mainly French Span-ish It also includes community languages spoken in the UK like Hindi Urdu Arabic and Chinese Foreign languages are now offered at primary (ele-mentary) schools But this is a recent initiative that is poorly funded for teacher training and materials It concentrates mainly on French with some Span-ish So the main market for b smallrsquos books are par-entsmdashbilingual families and parents who want their young children to enjoy their two languages or learn a foreign language As many parents and teachers are not confident linguists bilingual books are ideal to
give them extra support Bilingual books highlight similarities between the two languages giving chil-dren confidence in the new language Librarians have supported bilingual books but many libraries have closed in the UK because of the economic crisis from 2008 Sadly this shrinking market is vital for pro-moting community languages In order to produce the quantity and quality of books that we publish we rely on selling foreign rights to countries like the USA some European countries China and Asia
SB When writing childrenrsquos bilingual books does the author or the publisher provide the translation
CB In the case of b smallrsquos bilingual books we write them in English and commission translations from native speakers However we can edit the English text if necessary to make sure that the two languag-es work well together for the target age group If the book is published in another country like China or Poland the local publisher buying the rights will pro-duce the Chinese or Polish text Also as our books are in British English and Castilian Spanish the US publisher purchasing the rights supplies the US En-glish and also the Latin American Spanish text for their editions There are a number of differences between US and British English especially for the younger age groups colourcolor mummom lor-rytruck are examples
SB What stories work best as bilingual books
CB Stories with repetition work well For childrenrsquos books stories should be compelling and not compli-cated Humor is good but jokes can be difficult to translate The stories should avoid cultural content that canrsquot be easily understood or translated Univer-sal themes are best Rhyme is difficult to translate as well as texts that rely on alphabetical order as lan-guages have different alphabets (Spanish has an extra ntilde for example and Welsh has the letters ch ff and ll)
I
April 17
Global Publishing
From a production point of view the layout of bilin-gual books must leave space for two languages and possibly a pronunciation guide So the text will be shorter than monolingual stories It is a challenge to have a beginning middle and end in so few pages Marrying the text and pictures can also be challeng-ing when there are two sets of text that work with the pictures
Irsquoll give examples from two of our titles Puppy Finds a FriendCachorrito Encuentra Un Amigo part of the I Can Read series (published in both English-French and English-Spanish) and La Gatita Luciacutea en la playaLucy Cat at the Beach one of a series of four Lucy Cat cartoon strip books published in English-French and English-Spanish
The puppy story had to fit into our series concept picture stories for ages 3 to 5 with a simple repetitive text and universal childrenrsquos themes that reflect chil-drenrsquos lives while building their self-esteem I chose farmyard animals so that I didnrsquot have to select chil-dren of one particular ethnicity (We are committed to inclusivity in our books and have recently signed the Everybody In charter promoted by Inclusive Minds We want to improve our representation of all children in our books) The story is about a little puppy who tries to find a friend All the animals say theyrsquore too busy but the little mouse plays with him The story includes common farm animalsmdashhorse cow etc Then there is a repetition of the key phras-es like ldquoIrsquom too busyrdquo So as an attractive story it reinforces everyday language The illustrations are brilliant but we had trouble coming up with the final puppy We have been lucky with this series as several well-known illustrators have agreed to illustrate the stories for modest fees because they believe in bilin-gual education
The Lucy Cat series was designed as the next step up from our Bilingual First Words books They would be stories based on simple conversational phrases Car-toon strips are popular for early reading The illustra-tor Clare Beaton and I worked together on a cartoon strip for young language learners in the McGraw-Hill Languages for Children series Lucy Cat was named after my young daughter Lucy She is a feisty cat who has a series of adventures where she saves the
day In Lucy Cat at the beach she saves some kittens from a shark The stories all have the same structure exchanging greetings introducing the scene and then a big BANG page averting disaster and finally everyone thanks Lucy We consulted an early read-ing specialist who advised with the speech bubbles including a third person narrative along the bottom of the strip The stories were fun to invent but orga-nizing the bilingual text was a challenge Including both languages in the speech bubbles looked messy and wouldnrsquot encourage children to read only the new language So we doubled up the strips on each page one in English and one in the foreign language This works well but means that we havenrsquot published a monolingual version of the stories
SB How does nonfiction work for bilingual books
CB I donrsquot have much experience with bilingual nonfiction b small has produced a series of stick-er atlases and a range of picture dictionaries and search-and-find 1000 word books (links refer to En-glish-Spanish editions But they are also published in English only and English-French) so they are refer-ence books rather than nonfiction Like fiction it is important to choose concepts that can be translated and keep the information shorter than in a monolin-gual nonfiction book
In fiction and nonfiction it is challenging because the illustrations must work in both languages A good example is lsquobreadrsquo A typical English loaf is a differ-ent shape from an Italian or French loaf Similarly an American barn looks different from a European barn and a German church spire looks different from an English church tower The most difficult of all is the driving wheel of a car lorry (truck) or busmdashleft or right The solution is to neutralize the images so that they are acceptable to many culturesmdashand place the steering wheel in the middle of the car This means working with illustrators who create attractive pictures that children love even if they donrsquot reflect their culture
SB What are the most common languages that ap-pear together in one book
CB This depends on the market For the UK and
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April 3
At Presstime
HighlightsTu Books the middle grade and young adult imprint of Lee amp Low Books is sponsoring the fourth New Visions Award for a mid-dle grade or young adult novel by a writer of color The Award winner receives a cash prize of $1000 and a standard publica-tion contract including basic advance and royalties for a first time author An Honor Award winner receives a $500 cash prize
The contest is open to writers of color who are residents of the United States and who have not previously had a middle grade or young adult novel published Writers who have published work in other venues such as childrenrsquos magazines or picture books or adult fiction or nonfiction are eligible Only unagented manuscripts will be accepted Work that has been published in its entirety in any format (including online and self publishing as well as other countries) is not eligible
Manuscripts should address the needs of children and teens of color by providing stories with which they can identify andrelate and which promote a greater understanding of one another Themes relating to LGBTQ+ topics or disabilities may also be included Submissions may be any fictional genre novels for children ages 8 to 12 or young adults ages 12 to 18 Particularly interested in fantasy and science fiction but also welcome contemporary historical mystery and suspense Graphic novel scripts in those categories are also welcome Nonfiction will not be considered Submissions should include a synopsis of the story plus the first five chapters accompanied by a cover letter that includes the authorrsquos name address phone number email address brief biographical note relevant cultural and ethnic information how the author heard about the award and pub-lication history if any Do not send the entire manuscript For graphic novels include the equivalent of 24-30 scripted pages Include 6-10 pages of final art samples and optional character sketches in PDF format only if you are an authorillustrator
Submissions should be submitted online at httpstubookssubmittablecomsubmit in the New Visions Award category You will receive a confirmation email stating your submission was received Manuscripts may not be submitted to other publishers while under consideration for this award
Submissions will be accepted from June 1 2017 through October 31 2017 Finalists will be notified and full manuscriptsrequested no later than January 31 2018 If your full manuscript is requested it must be received by Tu Books by Feb 19 2018 The Award and Honor winners will be selected from among the full manuscripts requested and will be announced no later than April 30 For more information go to httpswwwleeandlowcomwriters-illustratorsnew-visions-award
LEE amp LOW BOOKS is pleased to announce an exciting new initiative with First Book and the NEA Foundation aimed at helping educators feel more confident broaching subjects related to race ethnic and cultural diversity in the classroom Through the generosity of the NEA Foundation LEE amp LOW BOOKS will award a second NEW VISIONS AWARD WINNER for the 2017 contest The NEA Foundation will sponsor the cost of publication of this winning title LEE amp LOW BOOKS will publish a special paper-back edition of the book that will be exclusively available to educators and program leaders serving children in need through the First Book Marketplace
New Visions Award for Unpublished Author of Color
Kari Sutherland is a new agent with the Bradford Literary Agency (httpwwwbradfordlitcom) She was previously a Senior Editor at HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books Kari is most interested in finding stories full of heart ones that carry readers to far-away places or deep into a characterrsquos mind action-packed page-turners that surprise her dark dramas with touches of humor and above all a voice that leaps off the page She is actively seeking diverse voices across all genres
In childrenrsquos books (picture books through middle grade) Kari is interested in character-driven stories new twists on classic tales empowering themes epic fantasy fresh voices and experiences inventive mysteries humor and magical realism In young adult fiction Kari is drawn to compelling voices tight pacing and clear world-building regardless of whether itrsquos a space drama an underground dystopia a small town or a big city contemporary
To query Kari please email your query to karibradfordlitcom The subject line must read ldquoQUERY (title of manuscript)rdquo For fiction send a query letter along with the first chapter of your manuscript and a synopsis pasted into the body of your email Be sure to include the genre and word count in your letter Picture book submissions send a short query along with entire manu-script pasted in the body of email Follow Kari on Twitter KariSutherland
New Agent Accepting Submissions for All Ages
April 4
The Art of the Queryby Jane McBride
lot has changed since I sent out my first query many decades ago The manner of submitting
queries has evolved to the point that it is nearly unrecog-nizable from the primitive paper queries complete with the requisite SASEs (self-addressed stamped envelopes) of years ago Now many queries are sent electronically which is a blessing for writers saving us both time and money in printing and postage But regardless of wheth-er yoursquore sending your query electronically or by snail mail the same standards apply Letrsquos first talk about why you should query
Many publishers and magazines will not look at your work without first seeing a query This is increasingly true as electronic submissions make it easier than ever for writers to send complete manuscripts with only a touch of a button
Most if not all agents require a query Agents like editors are busy people They donrsquot have the time or resources to wade through the many manuscripts that arrive in their inbox Manuscripts that arrive without being requested via a query are frequently tossed
Queries tend to get faster responses than do completed manuscripts
Queries can save time on nonfiction submissions Some book publishers and many magazines accept queries for nonfiction books or articles before the work is complete This helps the author know if her idea and approach is on target in the early stages The editor may then accept the project on the basis of a query (for magazines) or ask for a more detailed proposal (books) and give input on shaping the project before the entire manuscript is written
Now that wersquove talked about why you should query letrsquos discuss the nuts-and-bolts of querying
What a Query Letter Looks Like
Itrsquos addressed to the proper person (with the proper spelling of hisher name) If the publisher indicates that queries should go to ldquoSubmissions Editorrdquo thatrsquos how they should be addressed but begin your letter with ldquoDear Editorrdquo not ldquoTo Whom It May Concernrdquo Que-ries to agents should be addressed to a particular agent at the literary agency
Itrsquos single-spaced using standard business letter for-mat Try to fit the entire query letter on one page (or the equivalent of one page if sending by email)
It begins with your bookrsquos ldquohookrdquo ndash a 1-3 sentence statement that captures whatrsquos unique about your story or nonfiction approach Think of your hook as a 10-sec-ond pitch yoursquod make to an agent at a writerrsquos confer-ence Include the bookrsquos title word count age range and genre
When Kayla invited Lisa the weird new kid in school to eat lunch with her she was just trying to score some points with the vice principal and get out of detention But when Lisa dumped a carton of chocolate milk on a cheerleaderrsquos head from across the room Kayla knew this was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship The New Kid a 25000 word humorousparanormal novel for ages 12 and up is a mash-up of Stranger Things and Mean Girls
Since the hook doesnrsquot tell the editoragent exactly what happens in the plot you need to use the next 1-3 paragraphs giving a more detailed synopsis of the story or a more detailed description of your topic and slant for nonfiction See my article ldquoTackling the Synopsisrdquo in the March 2017 issue of CBI (Remember to keep the synopsis brief ndash 1 short paragraph for picture books and easy readers 1-2 for chapter books middle grade and
Submission Tips
A
April 5
most YA unless the story is fantasy or science fiction where you might need three paragraphs)
Follow with a brief author bio and include any cred-its If you donrsquot have any previous writing credits but have expertise in an area that directly applies to your manuscript you can mention that Otherwise just say a couple of sentences about yourself and leave it at that
If the editor or agent wants sample chapters with the query end by saying ldquoIrsquove included the first three chap-ters of The New Kid for your review I look forward to hearing from yourdquo If the editoragent wants a query letter only say ldquoThe New Kid is complete and ready for your review I am happy to send sample chapters or the entire manuscript upon request I look forward to hear-ing from yourdquo
Other Things the Query Letter Should Do
Showcase your best writing Now is not the time to be slipshod with your work (Really there is never a time to be sloppy with your prose but especially not with que-ries This is the editorrsquos first introduction to you)
Reveal your writing style Are you writing a nonfiction piece for the YA age group on the history of slavery A lighthearted query wonrsquot cut it for such a serious subject
Follow the publisher or agentrsquos guidelines (found in writing publications such as this one andor online) Follow these to the letter Some publishers prefer not to receive emails with attachments for fear of picking up a virus If so make sure all pertinent information is con-tained within the body of the email
Provide your contact information Yoursquod be surprised at how many writers send out queries with no contact information You want to make it as easy as possible for the editor or agent to contact you
Be upfront if the work has been previously published And yes blog posts count as publication
What the Query Letter Should Never Do
Be cutesy Just as in the ldquoolden daysrdquo of paper queries when writers were advised not to fill their envelopes with confetti or other annoying bits of paper do not include emojis etc in your query
Go out to a large number of publications or agents simultaneously Query five appropriate publishers or agents at once When you get a response from an agent to send your manuscript send it to her exclusively un-til she replies and if itrsquos a pass then send it to the next agent on your list who requested your manuscript Itrsquos more common to send out several manuscripts at once to editors who request them from a query but keep the number to five or less If an editor asks for an exclusive submission for a period of time honor that And if you get an offer from an editor or agent be sure to contact anyone else who is currently reading your manuscript and let them know
Go to the wrong publisher Send a query for a picture book to a publisher which considers only middle grade and YA books and you will have just outed yourself as a lazy writer who hasnrsquot done his homework and learned what kind of stories that publisher accepts
Do anything that detracts from your image of a pro-fessional writer First impressions count Make yours a good one
A Few Final Thoughts
An increasing number of publishersrsquo websites that use online submissions are expanding to submission forms with data fields Such websites may send potential writers to something like Submittablecom or AuthorsmeIf you canrsquot do this on your own get help to navigate your way through the process If you still arenrsquot sure how to set up q query you may want to enlist the help of an experienced writer whose opinion you respect and have her review your letter before sending it out This is probably the only chance yoursquoll have to send this query to this editor or agent Make it count
Query Letters in 2017 continued
Submission Tips
Finding Agents and Editors to Query
Review the At Presstime market listings each month in CBI (and the Back Issue Archive on httpwwwcbiclubhousecom but do check the agentpublisher website on listings that are over two months old to be sure theyrsquore still accept-ing submissions) You can also find links to agent and pub-lisher websites in Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos amp Illustratorrsquos Market and Guide to Literary Agents annual guides published by Writerrsquos Digest Books The Guide to Literary Agents blog lists new agents on a regular basis httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agents
April
Kendra LevinA Day In The Life of Executive Editor
interview by PJ McIlvaine
f yoursquove wondered what an ldquoexecutive editorrdquo does (and who hasnrsquot including me) wonder no more
Kendra Levin is an executive editor at Viking Chil-drenrsquos Books an imprint of Penguin Random House Since 2005 she has worked on a wide range of chil-drenrsquos literature from picture books to young adult novels She has edited New York Times bestseller Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton Printz Hon-or winner The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry Theodor Seuss Geisel award winner Donrsquot Throw It to Mo by David A Adler Society of Il-lustrators Gold Medal winner The Lost House by BB Cronin and the work of authors including Jan-et Fox Deborah Freedman and others In addition Kendra helps writers as a teacher and certified life coach and is the author of The Hero is You a grounded self-help guide to a healthier writing process You can visit her at kend-racoachingcom and follow her on Twitter (kendralevin)
PJ McIlvaine Your bio is quite eclectic from playwright to Exec-utive Editor for Viking Childrenrsquos Books (Penguin Random House) Can you elaborate on your professional journey
Kendra Levin I wasnrsquot someone who always dreamed of working in publishing I grew up surrounded by books but Irsquom not sure I thought much about the peo-ple who created them beyond the authors and illus-trators My goal as a kid and teen was to be a writer When I had just moved to New York to study playwrit-
ing at NYU I got an email from an editor at Scholas-tic David Levithan (whom Irsquod never heard of) asking my permission to include a short story of mine that had won a Scholastic Writing Award a couple years earlier in an anthology of student work he was putting together That email led to an internship at Scholastic
where I fell in love with editing childrenrsquos books under the wonder-ful mentorship of Joy Peskin (now Editorial Director at FSG) who introduced me to the world of pub-lishing I was amazed to discover a job that allowed me to use the skills Irsquod been honing for years in writing workshopsmdashconstructive critique story analysis stuff like that So I really lucked into the perfect line of work for me Out of college I got a job at the Scholastic Book Clubs a great place to learn more about the industry and then transitioned to an editorial role at Viking Chil-drenrsquos Books in 2005 and Irsquove been there ever since
PJ Can you give us a behind the scenes idea of what a day in the life of an executive editor really is
KL Part of what keeps me in this job is that fact that therersquos no average daymdashevery day is different Current-ly though Irsquom feeling like I spend most of my days an-swering emails and attending meetings Itrsquos a funny but very common phenomenon that the elements of being an editor that most characterize the jobmdashreading and editing manuscriptsmdashwind up being relegated to eve-nings and weekends Luckily I love the social aspects of being an editor so I donrsquot mind spending more of
Featured Interview
I
6
6
April 7
my day communicating and problem-solving than ac-tually editing books
PJ What parts of your job do you like the best And the least
KL I love to help people so my favorite parts of the job are the ones that allow me to do that whether Irsquom guiding an author through a tricky revision or advis-ing a colleague on a challenging situation To me the most frustrating part of the job is when for whatever reason a book I love and believe in just doesnrsquot seem to resonate Itrsquos disappointing for the author and for me toomdashand hard to see something yoursquove put so much work into fail to reach people
PJ What surprised you the most about the publishing process
KL Like most people I always imagined being an edi-tor was a quiet job-- reading and editing all day In fact I have to do most reading and editing in my own time outside of the office because itrsquos definitely NOT a qui-et job Most days are full of meetings phone calls dis-cussions problem solving and other kinds of running around and being social Luckily I really enjoy that
PJ Is there a common thread in the books you ulti-mately decline to pursue for example like not ready for prime time editing errors etc
KL Itrsquos hard to find one common thread among them all and much easier to see whatrsquos common among the books I do acquire To put it in perspective I decline several hundred manuscripts each year I acquire be-tween one and five So itrsquos easier for me to look at what all the ones I do acquire have in common What tends to tie them together is an element of reader empower-ment I love books that inspire and empower kids and teens that show them they can solve their own prob-lems that they are stronger than they realize and that therersquos a lot they can do despite constantly being told they are ldquojustrdquo children
PJ Do you have a favorite genre
KL One of the pleasures of working on books for young readers is that you get to be kind of a Unitarian of genres and try everything I love the variety But I do find myself most drawn to books that take place in a realistic world either contemporary or historical but
have magical elements I like books that transport me to a version of reality where magic is real
PJ Yoursquove edited many books from picture books to young adult Does each genre have a different publish-ing process
KL Any childrenrsquos books editor would tell you that the process for making picture books is very different from that of novels One of my favorite aspects of the picture book process is getting to work closely with the art director I love collaborating with someone who has a totally different skill set and area of expertisemdashI learn so much from that process Novels come to me a little more naturally so I feel lucky that in the area where Irsquom less confident picture books I get to rely on a partner in the work
PJ What do you look for in a book that yoursquore consid-ering publishing
KL What every editor looks for I imaginemdashwriting that absorbs me and make me forget the world around me coupled with a concept or idea that I can succinctly explain to our sales and marketing folks in a way thatrsquoll get them excited about the project I look for something that hasnrsquot been done before in quite the same way I look for work that will empower its readers and give them a sense of their own potential and strengthmdashto me thatrsquos one of the most important reasons to publish books for children to begin with
PJ Do you primarily accept submissions through agents andor referrals or do you still find hidden gems in the slush pilequeries
KL At this stage of my career I mainly accept submis-sions that come from agents though Irsquod love to connect with something unrepresented As a house Penguin is closed to unsolicited submissions mainly because it would take many full-time staff members to deal with the sheer volumemdashwe just donrsquot have the bandwidth By focusing on work that is represented by agents we are asking writers to really do their homework study their craft have a knowledge of the marketplace devel-op resiliencemdashall crucial for becoming an author That said I do open my mailbox to unrepresented submis-sions from writers who attend conferences and retreats for which Irsquom a faculty member and each event has its own guidelines
Kendra Levin continued
Featured Interview
April 8
PJ What publishing trends do you foresee Is there something yoursquod like to see or see more of
KL I try not to chase trends Irsquod rather create them than try to predict them For example historical fiction has always been challenging but if you look at this yearrsquos ALA awards you can see the genre getting quite a lot of attention including a book I edited The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry which won a Printz Honor When I acquired the book I certainly didnrsquot think that historical fiction would be a trend by the time the book came out And arguably it still isnrsquot But the genre also seems to be rising to the surface in ways it wasnrsquot two or three years ago As far as what Irsquod like to see more of Irsquom just always looking to be surprisedmdashwhich could mean anything I like to keep my options open
PJ Being a writer yourself how easymdashor difficultmdashis it for you to go into editing mode on ma-terial that was created by some-one else
KL Many editors are also writ-ers and the ones I know seem to fall into two camps Either they are incredibly driven and just find a way to switch back and forth between ldquoeditor brainrdquo and ldquowriter brainrdquo so it becomes habit or they struggle mighti-ly with making that boundary I definitely fall into the latter camp I find writing extremely difficult because I have a tough time turning that mental editor off Editing comes very natu-rally to me at this point itrsquos writing that is more of a battle The only writing project Irsquove finished since becoming an editor is The Hero Is You my book about the creative process which came out in 2016 and it reflects six yearsrsquo worth of work
PJ How important is brandingor a social media plat-form for writers
KL Social media acuity is not essential for writers However being good at some form of self-promotion is important for authors If you are a writer who wants to
become a published author do not invest too much of your time worrying about stuff like branding and social mediamdashfocus instead on your craft and becoming the best writer you can possibly be While you are doing that pay attention to what forms of communication seem to come most naturally to you and allow those to be your platform Itrsquos better to do one form of social media (or other kind of self-marketing) well than to do many without genuine interest So if you find that you want to save all your writing for your actual work but you like to share images maybe Instagram is a good platform for you If you arenrsquot comfortable with any social media but you love talking in front of groups
focus any self-promotional en-ergies on getting lots of speak-ing engagements If you can show in some way that you have some connection to other peo-ple publishers will look favor-ably on that But none of this is a deal-breaker I donrsquot know any editor who has turned down a wonderful hooky manuscript because the author didnrsquot tweet
PJ Yoursquove also branched out into being a life coach for writ-ers How did that evolve
KL I became a life coach in 2008 when I was still an assis-tant in publishing I enjoyed my job but had a bit of an ldquois this itrdquo feeling about my work and lifemdashwanting more meaning A number of my close friends happened to all have crises at the same time and I found that I was dropping everything and
racing to the side of each upset friend with a little too much enthusiasm Then I was at a party where I struck up a conversation with a friend of a friend and when I asked her ldquoWhat do you dordquo she said ldquoI empower womenrdquo I asked her out for coffee to hear more about her work as a life coach and it sounded like a great fit for me so I ended up taking a year-long certification course Almost a decade later itrsquos still something I do on the side but has evolved to become very much part of my work as an editor as well And I use coaching techniques in the workshops I run for writers all over the country and in my book The Hero Is You
Kendra Levin continued
Featured Interview
April 9
NARRATIVEmdashDonrsquot Believe Its B A D R E P
by Jane McBride
ave you ever seen the following in a rejection letter ldquoToo much narrative slowing down the storyrdquo Or
ldquoPut some dialogue in to break up the narrativerdquo And yet there is a time and a place for narrative and dare I say it a place for narrative to take top billing over dialogue Consider the following passages The set-up is a con-versation between two twelve-year-old boys one who visits his grandparentsrsquo farm every summer at their farm in Payson Utah and the other a boy who lives in the small rural town
ldquoHey Jaredrdquo Pete said ldquoItrsquos good to see you I havenrsquot seen you since last August when you left your grandpar-entsrsquo farm here in Payson Utah to go back to your home in Chicago Illinoisrdquo ldquoYeah Pete Itrsquos been nine months since we last saw each other Irsquom glad to be back here in Payson Utah with my grandparents My parents are taking an educational tour of Europe They want me to have a taste of farm life to broaden my cultural horizonsrdquo
Is that some of the worst dialogue yoursquove ever read I hope so though it embarrasses me at how easily I was able to write it Would two 12-year-old boys really talk that way Would anyone talk that way Aside from the stilted words the dialogue consists of the boys telling each other things of which they are both already aware Jared knows when he was last in Payson just as Pete knows that itrsquos been nine months since the boys last saw each other They wouldnrsquot name the cities or recount the passage of time Nor would Jared tell Pete that his parents are ldquotaking an educational tour of Europerdquo How could this passage have been better written Letrsquos try it again
Jared poked a stick in the red dirt The last place he want-ed to be was on this crappy farm in the middle of no-where His parents shipped him off to his grandparentsrsquo place every summer They told him it was for his own good He knew better They wanted to get rid of him so that they could fly off to Europe When he saw Pete heading toward him Jared nearly groaned He didnrsquot want to admit that his parents had dumped him at the farm again Just like he didnrsquot want to admit that his grandparents didnrsquot want him any more than he wanted to be here He ducked his head and turned in the other direction pretending that he didnrsquot hear Pete calling his name
Donrsquot get me wrong Irsquom a big fan of dialogue done right to share information and move the story along However the dialogue above is not only badly written itrsquos essentially an information dump The narrative passage reads much more smoothly and gets the relevant points across through Jaredrsquos thoughts How do you know when to use dialogue and when to use narrative The short answer is through instinct and experience You gain those by writing and keeping writing If you feel like you lack the instinct andor experience to know write the passage yoursquore working on in dia-logue then try it again in narrative Read your words aloud If the dialogue sounds stilted chances are you are trying to use it as I did above This does not give you carte blanche to use narrative indiscriminately Use it sparingly to convey thoughts and feelings or to move people through space and time Well-written narrative has a place Itrsquos up to you the writer to know where and when to use it
Writing Workshop
H
April 10
Narrative continued
Writing Workshop
Use narrative - To move characters through time and space A simple sentence or short paragraph to show that time has passed or that a character has ar-rived at a new place is sufficient - To provide brief explanations of backstory Brief is the key word here Giving backstory through dialogue can sound stilted as though the char-acters are telling each other what they already know Sprinkle these bits of backstory sparingly throughout the book - To give a sense of place Characters wouldnrsquot ordinarily talk about a setting A few but important details of the setting will suffice - To describe a reaction Following intense scenes of action a short nar-rative passage to clue the reader into the characterrsquos reactions can help the reader identify what the character is experiencing and feeling - To change the pace This is related to the above If a book is all ac-tion scenes there is no time for the reader to reflect upon what has hap-pened
April 11
gent Jodell Sadler (formerly of Sadler Literary and founder of KidLit College) joins Jill Corcoran
president and fellow agents Eve PorinchakTimothy Travaglini Adah Megged Nuchi and Silvia Ariente at the recently-expanded Jill Corcoran Literary Agency Jodell like Adah will be co-agenting clients with Jill Both will provide feedback and direction on projects but with Jodell primarily in an editorial capacity and Jill pri-marily as the contract negotia-tor
Lynne Marie What fueled your decision to join Jill Corcoran Literary Agency How do you feel this move benefits the clients you brought with you as well as new clients
Jodell Sadler I wanted to work with writers and illustrators on the editing side I am happier and finding real joy in collabo-rating with clients in this team approach As the editorial agent Irsquom the first set of eyes creating top-quality manuscripts with our shared clients at JCLA What is fun for me is that I get to pass the baton to a new set of eyes Jill for submissions Pitches submissions Thatrsquos her baby and I love it We still have editorial meeting to discuss our approach but I do what I love work with writers and illustrators and coach them to success Positioning and marketing be-longs in both camps but I think everyone should be lined up to work with Jill Shersquos genius at what she does
LM Does your extensive background in art and busi-ness play into your decision to focus primarily on the
creative aspect of a book project and how
JS Picture books are built word by carefully selected word and art feeds and drives story Irsquove worked in ed-itorial and as an art director illustrator designer and marketing for a Fortune 500 company Little-known fact about me is that I am also published in photogra-
phy I love art I love words and the interplay of these two picture book partners Thatrsquos why I became fasci-nated by pacing When you can take a line of text and through sound and care make it seem short when long or pace out a sentence to mock a scene it adds excitement to the ed-iting process
My marketing and branding exper-tise includes product development Herersquos a fun fact few know about me as well I illustrated the first product renderings and logo for Super Vee a tremelo system for guitarsmdasha device that keeps a whammy bar in tunemdashas well the box it would be packaged in for customers Now itrsquos huge which has been fun to see Irsquove also drawn with my feet having a great respect for disabilities and how seri-
ously talented individuals go beyond normal every day
LM Please describe your role in a bookrsquos progress from representation to publication
JS That sounds easy I wish it was really that quick but donrsquot we all I edit with writers (and illustrators and writer-illustrators) to help them hone the art and words of story Right now when a writer or author-illustrator comes in to JCLA they are vetted by two agents both Jill and me We jointly represent
interview by Lynne Marie
Agent Spotlight
a
Jodell Sadler of the
April 12
I focus on manuscript polish and prep and pass the ba-ton to Jill I love this model It works
LM Please share details of an upcoming collaborative project you have accepted and tell us why this project stands out for you
JS All books for kids are collaborative for sure Irsquove recently repped awesome illustrator talent some heavy lifters I can see are ready to bust out I like to help il-lustrators make that leap into creating books as au-thor-illustrators Irsquom pretty intense in that regard be-cause Irsquove worked the programs and prepped printed books I know story art and the print industry While Irsquove spent years saving companies thousands through sound design strategies now itrsquos time to do this for au-thors and illustrators
LM How would define your unique approach to chil-drenrsquos literature
JS Whatrsquos also fun and something not many know about me is that following earning my MFA I served as a professor in the many literary categories Human-ities Contemporary World Literature of the Ameri-can Minorities (created courses as expert and itrsquos still one of my favorites) American and British Literature as well as the traditional courses of English Compo-sition Advanced Comp Creative Writing Founda-tions Rhetoric (too many to list) on the undergrad level as well as Publishing and Picture Book classes on the Grad Level Irsquove also worked with educational companies on web product launches and fact-checking against textbooks So I have a really strong grasp of the best writers over decades and the many movements in literature And my teaching in K-12 has contributed a great deal to my understanding of reluctant readers budding writers teaching practices and more
LM Since this is a new partnership please share de-tails of the first book you have championed together and gotten an offer on
JS A two-book picture book deal started us offhellip and we look forward to championing many more in many categories I am over the moon about our approach and all the really wonderful products that are being un-der considered right now Truth-be-told anyone would be blessed to work with Jill She is beyond fabulous
and I look at our approach as a real win-win for clients
LM Will this collaboration in any way change your focus regarding the genres you seek or your manuscript wish list And what if anything remains on your man-uscript wish list for this year
JS Not at all I still love what I love and that hasnrsquot changed Irsquom all about picture books through middle grade and Irsquom looking for great author-illustrators as well as great stories in fiction and nonfiction Contem-porary commercial dark humorous mysteries and big idea books in middle grade Recent projects include interior illustrations for the Friday Barnes series by Phil Gosier as well as his forthcoming author-illustrator picture books Snow Beast Comes to Play and Dog Adop-tion Day (Roaring Brook Press 2017) Bold Women of Medicine 21 Stories of Astounding Discoveries Daring Sur-geries and Healing by Susan M Latta (Chicago Review Press) and If Animals Said I Love You by Ann Whitford Paul (FSG Macmillam)
LM If you had to pick the most important charac-teristic that sells you on a particular manuscript what would it be
JS Pacing of voice and art tells me a book is ready I am particularly sensitive to active language and like most agents and editors look for great voice strong concept unique characters plot hook point of view visual imagery and intrigue First lines and pages of story set the tone for the rest of the picture book or novel A storyrsquos opening should transfer readers to a place they have not experienced before It should feel like a performance that I am a part of
One of my favorite lines from the Beatrix Potter mov-iersquos first lines and visuals
A sweeping paintbrush washes color on the pages along with quiet pause and birdsong A violin softly plays over gentle high-pitched piano keys ldquoTherersquos something deli-cious about writing the first words of a story You never quite tell where theyrsquoll take you Mine took me here
ldquoLooking back the city and I never much liked each other An unmarried woman after all was expected to behave in very particular ways which did not include traipsing from publisher to publishers with a gaggle of friendsrdquo
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
April 13
Like this I love to enter a story and forget I am read-ing
LM What is one thing that you feel you might be able to fix if it is broken in andor missing from a prospec-tive manuscript
JS Pacing hellip and most anything can be fixed along with some things that we donrsquot often think about like concept and marketability These are vital When we write we write to mind heart and ear and this marries with the visual splash an illustrator brings First lines first pages hook voice depth of emotions character plot and tensionhellipall have to be top-notch
LM Since you and Jill are working together how should submissions be addressed
JS Submissions go to only one agent at JCLA Please do not send to both or more than one For me I love a succinct letter in the body of the email that is short
and powerful I encourage writers to do three things
1 Give a hook or line that shares the ldquowhy merdquo
2 After your intro pitch your story in a couple of sentences
3 Add your bio information and done Sign off
Itrsquos really all about the writing or writing and port-folio which for me is your manuscript shared in the Samples area and a dummy attachment as a PDFmdashor at least a link to an online portfolio If you are going to submit as an author-illustrator a portfolio is a must
Best advice Share your project and your personality and be prepared to jump in Show off your work style and creative edge and that you are enjoyable and fun to work with
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
Jodell Sadler is accepting ldquoAbove the Slushrdquo submissions from CBI read-ers First study her guidelines and current needs here httpsjillcorcor-anliteraryagencycomjodell-sadler-editorial-agent which include pic-ture books from authorillustrators as well as nonfiction biographies chapter books middle grade projects and graphic novels Then either click on the Submit button on that page or go straight to her Query Manager page at httpsquerymanagercomqueryJodellSadler In the field marked ldquoIf this query is a referral who referred yourdquo type CBI JCLA GIRAFFE
April 14
by Randi Lynn Mrvos
very time I visited a bookstore I envisioned my manuscript as a book on a shelf This ritual devel-
oped after I wrote a picture book about a girl named Maggie and then created a blog that chronicled the hopeful journey of getting it published
The Maggie Project blog was fashioned after the JulieJulia Project in which Julie Powell blogged about cook-ing all of the recipes in Julia Childrsquos Mastering the Art of French Cooking book in one year The premise of my blog was to submit a picture book manuscript to 30 publishers 15 agents and 5 contests in one year But I was nothing like Julie I did not end up with a book deal It was humiliating The Maggie Project closed down and the manuscript was shelved
Maggie was not the first story I had written Years be-fore I had taken a class on writing for children at the Carnegie Center in my hometown Lexington Ken-tucky After learning the basics I wrote and submitted five picture books but each one was rejected Publica-tion seemed out of reach until I turned to writing non-fiction Having a background as a medical technologist enabled me write scientific articles for kids By the time I had written fifty articles I had an impressive bio so I returned to writing fiction Still no one was interested in my picture books
This setback prompted me to find ways to boost my writing career I decided to read books on writing for kids and began with Jean Karlrsquos How to Write and Sell Picture Books Karl was a childrenrsquos book editor In her book she teaches the key elements needed to create pic-ture books for children and provides information on marketing your book
Another great resource was Writing Picture Books A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication by au-thor and poet Ann Whitford Paul This book provides
the knowledge needed to write picture books that will appeal to children as well as editors and agents The topics include developing plot and point of view cre-ating characters and researching the picture book mar-ket
When it came to composing a story Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos Word Book by Alijandra Mogilner became invaluable for finding just the right word for just the right age group Mogilnerrsquos book allows you to get into the mind of a child at various ages It gives guidelines for sen-tence length and word usage and offers lists of specific words for grade levels kindergarten ndash grade 6
In addition to reading how-to books I stepped into our local library and headed for the childrenrsquos section The librarianrsquos selections were displayed on the top of the stacks I checked out these childrenrsquos books and ana-lyzed their strengths and weaknesses It helped me to understand what was being published
Afterwards I wrote and submitted more picture books but these stories were rejected too It was obvious I needed more help Many years earlier my Carnegie teacher had suggested joining the Society of Childrenrsquos Book Writers and Illustrators I had put it off much too long and so I became a member SCBWI is an interna-tional organization that provides resources and oppor-tunities for members Each year the organization has two conferences one in Los Angeles and the other in New York City Regional chapters have writing work-shops where attendees may have the chance to pitch to an agent or to have a manuscript critiqued by an editor
I took advantage of five SCBWI conferences At these meetings I learned writing and publishing tips from panels of authors During breaks I schmoozed with the ever-so-wanting-to-get-published and exchanged emails to stay in touch and to lend support After one
The Writerrsquos Mindset
E
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf
April 15
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf continued
The Writerrsquos Mindset
conference some of the attendees got fired up about trying to bring an editor to our hometown That in-spired another writer and me to organize a SCBWI Editorrsquos Day workshop It was an unbelievable expe-rience Besides learning how to get published I had the opportunity to pitch a book to the presenter Liz Waniewski editor of Dial Books (though she politely turned it down)
As time passed I continued to write stories and submit them Every now and then the rejections came with personal notes ldquothis project sounds interestingrdquo ldquothis seems like a unique ideardquo ldquothis story has potentialrdquo But despite the praise none of my stories won the heart of a publisher
Frustration became a weight on my shoulders There were times when I wanted to give up But one remark kept me positive My husband said ldquoIt only takes one person to like what you writerdquo
Six years passed since The Maggie Project closed I still hadnrsquot found a publisher for any of my stories I felt it was time to try a new approach and work with an ex-perienced partner Editorial consultant Mary Kole of-fered a package which included a picture book critique and a review of three query letters By chance I pulled out the query for Maggie
Mary guided me when it came to querying As for targeting an agent she suggested making two lists a 10-20 top choices and a 10-20 second choice list She said to query 10-20 agents in a first round to see if they would give any feedback and then adjust accordingly Re-query some from the A list who seem open to see-ing a revision and also the B list who will be seeing it for the first time
In regards to my manuscript on Maggie Mary warned about Flight of Imagination a plot of a book dealing with kids having an adventure based largely in their imagination She stressed that itrsquos not like you canrsquot have a story that centers on a childrsquos journey through a land of imagination But there needs to be other layers in play and an actual story within the imagined land-scape not just an episodic barrage of images or crazy adventures Characters need to be fleshed out A plot needs to be in motion with sequential events that go from conflict to climax Other themes and universal
childhood experiences need to be embedded within the manuscript
After weighing her comments I changed the title of my story Also I judiciously cut 500 words (Picture books were shorter these days Perhaps thatrsquos one of the reasons why Maggie never sold) Then the story was sent to five publishers Buthellipit was deacutejagrave vu all over again Within two weeks three rejections appeared in my inbox I started questioning myself Did I follow Maryrsquos advice Were my characters well-developed Did the plot advance Had I successfully incorporat-ed themes and universal childhood experiences within the manuscript She warned that Flight of Imagination picture books are a tougher row to hoe than most Had I looked at my story objectively Did it suffer as Mary would say from this colorfulndashbut nonetheless problem-aticndashissue
With no word on the two remaining submissions I put writing and worrying about my writing on hold My husband and I went on vacation in New Orleans to cel-ebrate our birthdays We had done a Garden District tour (where we saw Sandra Bollockrsquos and John Good-manrsquos houses) visited a plantation listened to jazz on Bourbon Street and tasted spicy Cajun dishes Before going out one evening I checked my emails Surpris-ingly one of them was from a publisher I had queried Incredibly it read I like your book My scream was probably heard throughout the entire hotel
When we returned home we opened our birthday gifts My husband bought me Julia Childrsquos famous cook-book Maybe I was a little like Julie Powell after all
A month later I signed a book contract with Cactus Moon Publications Now my days are spent marketing Maggie and the Summer Vacation Show and Tell When I look back on the road to publication it had been a long difficult journey It demanded the willingness to develop the craft the determination to never give up the strength to remain positive despite rejection and the resolve to hold fast to a dream It also required get-ting involved with a professional writerrsquos organization and working with editorial partner But even before the journey began it took the daring to envision a book on a shelf
April 16
Global Publishing
Tips for Creating Bilingual Booksby Sharon Olivia Blumberg
n our global world itrsquos more important than ever to expose children to different languages Bilingual
childrenrsquos books is one terrific way to do just that As a retired foreign language teacher of Spanish I read bilingual books to my seventh graders as they sat spellbound
I recently spoke with two women involved in pub-lishing bilingual books for childrenmdashCath Bruzzone of b small publishing in the UK and Maria Domin-guez of Scholastic en espantildeol in the USmdashand got their thoughts on how to write stories that work well in two languages
Cath Bruzzone is a British publisher and author of activity books and foreign language learning books for children She started her career as a teacher of Italian and French and worked as an editor of UK publishers Harrap Books Thomas Nelson and Pan Books before starting her own business b small pub-lishing in 1990 (httpwwwbsmallcouk)
Sharon Blumberg Please explain the bilingual chil-drenrsquos book market in the UK regarding current needs and popularity with children parents teach-ers and librarians
Cara Bruzzone The bilingual childrenrsquos book mar-ket in the UK is small and specialized It is divided between European languages mainly French Span-ish It also includes community languages spoken in the UK like Hindi Urdu Arabic and Chinese Foreign languages are now offered at primary (ele-mentary) schools But this is a recent initiative that is poorly funded for teacher training and materials It concentrates mainly on French with some Span-ish So the main market for b smallrsquos books are par-entsmdashbilingual families and parents who want their young children to enjoy their two languages or learn a foreign language As many parents and teachers are not confident linguists bilingual books are ideal to
give them extra support Bilingual books highlight similarities between the two languages giving chil-dren confidence in the new language Librarians have supported bilingual books but many libraries have closed in the UK because of the economic crisis from 2008 Sadly this shrinking market is vital for pro-moting community languages In order to produce the quantity and quality of books that we publish we rely on selling foreign rights to countries like the USA some European countries China and Asia
SB When writing childrenrsquos bilingual books does the author or the publisher provide the translation
CB In the case of b smallrsquos bilingual books we write them in English and commission translations from native speakers However we can edit the English text if necessary to make sure that the two languag-es work well together for the target age group If the book is published in another country like China or Poland the local publisher buying the rights will pro-duce the Chinese or Polish text Also as our books are in British English and Castilian Spanish the US publisher purchasing the rights supplies the US En-glish and also the Latin American Spanish text for their editions There are a number of differences between US and British English especially for the younger age groups colourcolor mummom lor-rytruck are examples
SB What stories work best as bilingual books
CB Stories with repetition work well For childrenrsquos books stories should be compelling and not compli-cated Humor is good but jokes can be difficult to translate The stories should avoid cultural content that canrsquot be easily understood or translated Univer-sal themes are best Rhyme is difficult to translate as well as texts that rely on alphabetical order as lan-guages have different alphabets (Spanish has an extra ntilde for example and Welsh has the letters ch ff and ll)
I
April 17
Global Publishing
From a production point of view the layout of bilin-gual books must leave space for two languages and possibly a pronunciation guide So the text will be shorter than monolingual stories It is a challenge to have a beginning middle and end in so few pages Marrying the text and pictures can also be challeng-ing when there are two sets of text that work with the pictures
Irsquoll give examples from two of our titles Puppy Finds a FriendCachorrito Encuentra Un Amigo part of the I Can Read series (published in both English-French and English-Spanish) and La Gatita Luciacutea en la playaLucy Cat at the Beach one of a series of four Lucy Cat cartoon strip books published in English-French and English-Spanish
The puppy story had to fit into our series concept picture stories for ages 3 to 5 with a simple repetitive text and universal childrenrsquos themes that reflect chil-drenrsquos lives while building their self-esteem I chose farmyard animals so that I didnrsquot have to select chil-dren of one particular ethnicity (We are committed to inclusivity in our books and have recently signed the Everybody In charter promoted by Inclusive Minds We want to improve our representation of all children in our books) The story is about a little puppy who tries to find a friend All the animals say theyrsquore too busy but the little mouse plays with him The story includes common farm animalsmdashhorse cow etc Then there is a repetition of the key phras-es like ldquoIrsquom too busyrdquo So as an attractive story it reinforces everyday language The illustrations are brilliant but we had trouble coming up with the final puppy We have been lucky with this series as several well-known illustrators have agreed to illustrate the stories for modest fees because they believe in bilin-gual education
The Lucy Cat series was designed as the next step up from our Bilingual First Words books They would be stories based on simple conversational phrases Car-toon strips are popular for early reading The illustra-tor Clare Beaton and I worked together on a cartoon strip for young language learners in the McGraw-Hill Languages for Children series Lucy Cat was named after my young daughter Lucy She is a feisty cat who has a series of adventures where she saves the
day In Lucy Cat at the beach she saves some kittens from a shark The stories all have the same structure exchanging greetings introducing the scene and then a big BANG page averting disaster and finally everyone thanks Lucy We consulted an early read-ing specialist who advised with the speech bubbles including a third person narrative along the bottom of the strip The stories were fun to invent but orga-nizing the bilingual text was a challenge Including both languages in the speech bubbles looked messy and wouldnrsquot encourage children to read only the new language So we doubled up the strips on each page one in English and one in the foreign language This works well but means that we havenrsquot published a monolingual version of the stories
SB How does nonfiction work for bilingual books
CB I donrsquot have much experience with bilingual nonfiction b small has produced a series of stick-er atlases and a range of picture dictionaries and search-and-find 1000 word books (links refer to En-glish-Spanish editions But they are also published in English only and English-French) so they are refer-ence books rather than nonfiction Like fiction it is important to choose concepts that can be translated and keep the information shorter than in a monolin-gual nonfiction book
In fiction and nonfiction it is challenging because the illustrations must work in both languages A good example is lsquobreadrsquo A typical English loaf is a differ-ent shape from an Italian or French loaf Similarly an American barn looks different from a European barn and a German church spire looks different from an English church tower The most difficult of all is the driving wheel of a car lorry (truck) or busmdashleft or right The solution is to neutralize the images so that they are acceptable to many culturesmdashand place the steering wheel in the middle of the car This means working with illustrators who create attractive pictures that children love even if they donrsquot reflect their culture
SB What are the most common languages that ap-pear together in one book
CB This depends on the market For the UK and
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April 4
The Art of the Queryby Jane McBride
lot has changed since I sent out my first query many decades ago The manner of submitting
queries has evolved to the point that it is nearly unrecog-nizable from the primitive paper queries complete with the requisite SASEs (self-addressed stamped envelopes) of years ago Now many queries are sent electronically which is a blessing for writers saving us both time and money in printing and postage But regardless of wheth-er yoursquore sending your query electronically or by snail mail the same standards apply Letrsquos first talk about why you should query
Many publishers and magazines will not look at your work without first seeing a query This is increasingly true as electronic submissions make it easier than ever for writers to send complete manuscripts with only a touch of a button
Most if not all agents require a query Agents like editors are busy people They donrsquot have the time or resources to wade through the many manuscripts that arrive in their inbox Manuscripts that arrive without being requested via a query are frequently tossed
Queries tend to get faster responses than do completed manuscripts
Queries can save time on nonfiction submissions Some book publishers and many magazines accept queries for nonfiction books or articles before the work is complete This helps the author know if her idea and approach is on target in the early stages The editor may then accept the project on the basis of a query (for magazines) or ask for a more detailed proposal (books) and give input on shaping the project before the entire manuscript is written
Now that wersquove talked about why you should query letrsquos discuss the nuts-and-bolts of querying
What a Query Letter Looks Like
Itrsquos addressed to the proper person (with the proper spelling of hisher name) If the publisher indicates that queries should go to ldquoSubmissions Editorrdquo thatrsquos how they should be addressed but begin your letter with ldquoDear Editorrdquo not ldquoTo Whom It May Concernrdquo Que-ries to agents should be addressed to a particular agent at the literary agency
Itrsquos single-spaced using standard business letter for-mat Try to fit the entire query letter on one page (or the equivalent of one page if sending by email)
It begins with your bookrsquos ldquohookrdquo ndash a 1-3 sentence statement that captures whatrsquos unique about your story or nonfiction approach Think of your hook as a 10-sec-ond pitch yoursquod make to an agent at a writerrsquos confer-ence Include the bookrsquos title word count age range and genre
When Kayla invited Lisa the weird new kid in school to eat lunch with her she was just trying to score some points with the vice principal and get out of detention But when Lisa dumped a carton of chocolate milk on a cheerleaderrsquos head from across the room Kayla knew this was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship The New Kid a 25000 word humorousparanormal novel for ages 12 and up is a mash-up of Stranger Things and Mean Girls
Since the hook doesnrsquot tell the editoragent exactly what happens in the plot you need to use the next 1-3 paragraphs giving a more detailed synopsis of the story or a more detailed description of your topic and slant for nonfiction See my article ldquoTackling the Synopsisrdquo in the March 2017 issue of CBI (Remember to keep the synopsis brief ndash 1 short paragraph for picture books and easy readers 1-2 for chapter books middle grade and
Submission Tips
A
April 5
most YA unless the story is fantasy or science fiction where you might need three paragraphs)
Follow with a brief author bio and include any cred-its If you donrsquot have any previous writing credits but have expertise in an area that directly applies to your manuscript you can mention that Otherwise just say a couple of sentences about yourself and leave it at that
If the editor or agent wants sample chapters with the query end by saying ldquoIrsquove included the first three chap-ters of The New Kid for your review I look forward to hearing from yourdquo If the editoragent wants a query letter only say ldquoThe New Kid is complete and ready for your review I am happy to send sample chapters or the entire manuscript upon request I look forward to hear-ing from yourdquo
Other Things the Query Letter Should Do
Showcase your best writing Now is not the time to be slipshod with your work (Really there is never a time to be sloppy with your prose but especially not with que-ries This is the editorrsquos first introduction to you)
Reveal your writing style Are you writing a nonfiction piece for the YA age group on the history of slavery A lighthearted query wonrsquot cut it for such a serious subject
Follow the publisher or agentrsquos guidelines (found in writing publications such as this one andor online) Follow these to the letter Some publishers prefer not to receive emails with attachments for fear of picking up a virus If so make sure all pertinent information is con-tained within the body of the email
Provide your contact information Yoursquod be surprised at how many writers send out queries with no contact information You want to make it as easy as possible for the editor or agent to contact you
Be upfront if the work has been previously published And yes blog posts count as publication
What the Query Letter Should Never Do
Be cutesy Just as in the ldquoolden daysrdquo of paper queries when writers were advised not to fill their envelopes with confetti or other annoying bits of paper do not include emojis etc in your query
Go out to a large number of publications or agents simultaneously Query five appropriate publishers or agents at once When you get a response from an agent to send your manuscript send it to her exclusively un-til she replies and if itrsquos a pass then send it to the next agent on your list who requested your manuscript Itrsquos more common to send out several manuscripts at once to editors who request them from a query but keep the number to five or less If an editor asks for an exclusive submission for a period of time honor that And if you get an offer from an editor or agent be sure to contact anyone else who is currently reading your manuscript and let them know
Go to the wrong publisher Send a query for a picture book to a publisher which considers only middle grade and YA books and you will have just outed yourself as a lazy writer who hasnrsquot done his homework and learned what kind of stories that publisher accepts
Do anything that detracts from your image of a pro-fessional writer First impressions count Make yours a good one
A Few Final Thoughts
An increasing number of publishersrsquo websites that use online submissions are expanding to submission forms with data fields Such websites may send potential writers to something like Submittablecom or AuthorsmeIf you canrsquot do this on your own get help to navigate your way through the process If you still arenrsquot sure how to set up q query you may want to enlist the help of an experienced writer whose opinion you respect and have her review your letter before sending it out This is probably the only chance yoursquoll have to send this query to this editor or agent Make it count
Query Letters in 2017 continued
Submission Tips
Finding Agents and Editors to Query
Review the At Presstime market listings each month in CBI (and the Back Issue Archive on httpwwwcbiclubhousecom but do check the agentpublisher website on listings that are over two months old to be sure theyrsquore still accept-ing submissions) You can also find links to agent and pub-lisher websites in Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos amp Illustratorrsquos Market and Guide to Literary Agents annual guides published by Writerrsquos Digest Books The Guide to Literary Agents blog lists new agents on a regular basis httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agents
April
Kendra LevinA Day In The Life of Executive Editor
interview by PJ McIlvaine
f yoursquove wondered what an ldquoexecutive editorrdquo does (and who hasnrsquot including me) wonder no more
Kendra Levin is an executive editor at Viking Chil-drenrsquos Books an imprint of Penguin Random House Since 2005 she has worked on a wide range of chil-drenrsquos literature from picture books to young adult novels She has edited New York Times bestseller Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton Printz Hon-or winner The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry Theodor Seuss Geisel award winner Donrsquot Throw It to Mo by David A Adler Society of Il-lustrators Gold Medal winner The Lost House by BB Cronin and the work of authors including Jan-et Fox Deborah Freedman and others In addition Kendra helps writers as a teacher and certified life coach and is the author of The Hero is You a grounded self-help guide to a healthier writing process You can visit her at kend-racoachingcom and follow her on Twitter (kendralevin)
PJ McIlvaine Your bio is quite eclectic from playwright to Exec-utive Editor for Viking Childrenrsquos Books (Penguin Random House) Can you elaborate on your professional journey
Kendra Levin I wasnrsquot someone who always dreamed of working in publishing I grew up surrounded by books but Irsquom not sure I thought much about the peo-ple who created them beyond the authors and illus-trators My goal as a kid and teen was to be a writer When I had just moved to New York to study playwrit-
ing at NYU I got an email from an editor at Scholas-tic David Levithan (whom Irsquod never heard of) asking my permission to include a short story of mine that had won a Scholastic Writing Award a couple years earlier in an anthology of student work he was putting together That email led to an internship at Scholastic
where I fell in love with editing childrenrsquos books under the wonder-ful mentorship of Joy Peskin (now Editorial Director at FSG) who introduced me to the world of pub-lishing I was amazed to discover a job that allowed me to use the skills Irsquod been honing for years in writing workshopsmdashconstructive critique story analysis stuff like that So I really lucked into the perfect line of work for me Out of college I got a job at the Scholastic Book Clubs a great place to learn more about the industry and then transitioned to an editorial role at Viking Chil-drenrsquos Books in 2005 and Irsquove been there ever since
PJ Can you give us a behind the scenes idea of what a day in the life of an executive editor really is
KL Part of what keeps me in this job is that fact that therersquos no average daymdashevery day is different Current-ly though Irsquom feeling like I spend most of my days an-swering emails and attending meetings Itrsquos a funny but very common phenomenon that the elements of being an editor that most characterize the jobmdashreading and editing manuscriptsmdashwind up being relegated to eve-nings and weekends Luckily I love the social aspects of being an editor so I donrsquot mind spending more of
Featured Interview
I
6
6
April 7
my day communicating and problem-solving than ac-tually editing books
PJ What parts of your job do you like the best And the least
KL I love to help people so my favorite parts of the job are the ones that allow me to do that whether Irsquom guiding an author through a tricky revision or advis-ing a colleague on a challenging situation To me the most frustrating part of the job is when for whatever reason a book I love and believe in just doesnrsquot seem to resonate Itrsquos disappointing for the author and for me toomdashand hard to see something yoursquove put so much work into fail to reach people
PJ What surprised you the most about the publishing process
KL Like most people I always imagined being an edi-tor was a quiet job-- reading and editing all day In fact I have to do most reading and editing in my own time outside of the office because itrsquos definitely NOT a qui-et job Most days are full of meetings phone calls dis-cussions problem solving and other kinds of running around and being social Luckily I really enjoy that
PJ Is there a common thread in the books you ulti-mately decline to pursue for example like not ready for prime time editing errors etc
KL Itrsquos hard to find one common thread among them all and much easier to see whatrsquos common among the books I do acquire To put it in perspective I decline several hundred manuscripts each year I acquire be-tween one and five So itrsquos easier for me to look at what all the ones I do acquire have in common What tends to tie them together is an element of reader empower-ment I love books that inspire and empower kids and teens that show them they can solve their own prob-lems that they are stronger than they realize and that therersquos a lot they can do despite constantly being told they are ldquojustrdquo children
PJ Do you have a favorite genre
KL One of the pleasures of working on books for young readers is that you get to be kind of a Unitarian of genres and try everything I love the variety But I do find myself most drawn to books that take place in a realistic world either contemporary or historical but
have magical elements I like books that transport me to a version of reality where magic is real
PJ Yoursquove edited many books from picture books to young adult Does each genre have a different publish-ing process
KL Any childrenrsquos books editor would tell you that the process for making picture books is very different from that of novels One of my favorite aspects of the picture book process is getting to work closely with the art director I love collaborating with someone who has a totally different skill set and area of expertisemdashI learn so much from that process Novels come to me a little more naturally so I feel lucky that in the area where Irsquom less confident picture books I get to rely on a partner in the work
PJ What do you look for in a book that yoursquore consid-ering publishing
KL What every editor looks for I imaginemdashwriting that absorbs me and make me forget the world around me coupled with a concept or idea that I can succinctly explain to our sales and marketing folks in a way thatrsquoll get them excited about the project I look for something that hasnrsquot been done before in quite the same way I look for work that will empower its readers and give them a sense of their own potential and strengthmdashto me thatrsquos one of the most important reasons to publish books for children to begin with
PJ Do you primarily accept submissions through agents andor referrals or do you still find hidden gems in the slush pilequeries
KL At this stage of my career I mainly accept submis-sions that come from agents though Irsquod love to connect with something unrepresented As a house Penguin is closed to unsolicited submissions mainly because it would take many full-time staff members to deal with the sheer volumemdashwe just donrsquot have the bandwidth By focusing on work that is represented by agents we are asking writers to really do their homework study their craft have a knowledge of the marketplace devel-op resiliencemdashall crucial for becoming an author That said I do open my mailbox to unrepresented submis-sions from writers who attend conferences and retreats for which Irsquom a faculty member and each event has its own guidelines
Kendra Levin continued
Featured Interview
April 8
PJ What publishing trends do you foresee Is there something yoursquod like to see or see more of
KL I try not to chase trends Irsquod rather create them than try to predict them For example historical fiction has always been challenging but if you look at this yearrsquos ALA awards you can see the genre getting quite a lot of attention including a book I edited The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry which won a Printz Honor When I acquired the book I certainly didnrsquot think that historical fiction would be a trend by the time the book came out And arguably it still isnrsquot But the genre also seems to be rising to the surface in ways it wasnrsquot two or three years ago As far as what Irsquod like to see more of Irsquom just always looking to be surprisedmdashwhich could mean anything I like to keep my options open
PJ Being a writer yourself how easymdashor difficultmdashis it for you to go into editing mode on ma-terial that was created by some-one else
KL Many editors are also writ-ers and the ones I know seem to fall into two camps Either they are incredibly driven and just find a way to switch back and forth between ldquoeditor brainrdquo and ldquowriter brainrdquo so it becomes habit or they struggle mighti-ly with making that boundary I definitely fall into the latter camp I find writing extremely difficult because I have a tough time turning that mental editor off Editing comes very natu-rally to me at this point itrsquos writing that is more of a battle The only writing project Irsquove finished since becoming an editor is The Hero Is You my book about the creative process which came out in 2016 and it reflects six yearsrsquo worth of work
PJ How important is brandingor a social media plat-form for writers
KL Social media acuity is not essential for writers However being good at some form of self-promotion is important for authors If you are a writer who wants to
become a published author do not invest too much of your time worrying about stuff like branding and social mediamdashfocus instead on your craft and becoming the best writer you can possibly be While you are doing that pay attention to what forms of communication seem to come most naturally to you and allow those to be your platform Itrsquos better to do one form of social media (or other kind of self-marketing) well than to do many without genuine interest So if you find that you want to save all your writing for your actual work but you like to share images maybe Instagram is a good platform for you If you arenrsquot comfortable with any social media but you love talking in front of groups
focus any self-promotional en-ergies on getting lots of speak-ing engagements If you can show in some way that you have some connection to other peo-ple publishers will look favor-ably on that But none of this is a deal-breaker I donrsquot know any editor who has turned down a wonderful hooky manuscript because the author didnrsquot tweet
PJ Yoursquove also branched out into being a life coach for writ-ers How did that evolve
KL I became a life coach in 2008 when I was still an assis-tant in publishing I enjoyed my job but had a bit of an ldquois this itrdquo feeling about my work and lifemdashwanting more meaning A number of my close friends happened to all have crises at the same time and I found that I was dropping everything and
racing to the side of each upset friend with a little too much enthusiasm Then I was at a party where I struck up a conversation with a friend of a friend and when I asked her ldquoWhat do you dordquo she said ldquoI empower womenrdquo I asked her out for coffee to hear more about her work as a life coach and it sounded like a great fit for me so I ended up taking a year-long certification course Almost a decade later itrsquos still something I do on the side but has evolved to become very much part of my work as an editor as well And I use coaching techniques in the workshops I run for writers all over the country and in my book The Hero Is You
Kendra Levin continued
Featured Interview
April 9
NARRATIVEmdashDonrsquot Believe Its B A D R E P
by Jane McBride
ave you ever seen the following in a rejection letter ldquoToo much narrative slowing down the storyrdquo Or
ldquoPut some dialogue in to break up the narrativerdquo And yet there is a time and a place for narrative and dare I say it a place for narrative to take top billing over dialogue Consider the following passages The set-up is a con-versation between two twelve-year-old boys one who visits his grandparentsrsquo farm every summer at their farm in Payson Utah and the other a boy who lives in the small rural town
ldquoHey Jaredrdquo Pete said ldquoItrsquos good to see you I havenrsquot seen you since last August when you left your grandpar-entsrsquo farm here in Payson Utah to go back to your home in Chicago Illinoisrdquo ldquoYeah Pete Itrsquos been nine months since we last saw each other Irsquom glad to be back here in Payson Utah with my grandparents My parents are taking an educational tour of Europe They want me to have a taste of farm life to broaden my cultural horizonsrdquo
Is that some of the worst dialogue yoursquove ever read I hope so though it embarrasses me at how easily I was able to write it Would two 12-year-old boys really talk that way Would anyone talk that way Aside from the stilted words the dialogue consists of the boys telling each other things of which they are both already aware Jared knows when he was last in Payson just as Pete knows that itrsquos been nine months since the boys last saw each other They wouldnrsquot name the cities or recount the passage of time Nor would Jared tell Pete that his parents are ldquotaking an educational tour of Europerdquo How could this passage have been better written Letrsquos try it again
Jared poked a stick in the red dirt The last place he want-ed to be was on this crappy farm in the middle of no-where His parents shipped him off to his grandparentsrsquo place every summer They told him it was for his own good He knew better They wanted to get rid of him so that they could fly off to Europe When he saw Pete heading toward him Jared nearly groaned He didnrsquot want to admit that his parents had dumped him at the farm again Just like he didnrsquot want to admit that his grandparents didnrsquot want him any more than he wanted to be here He ducked his head and turned in the other direction pretending that he didnrsquot hear Pete calling his name
Donrsquot get me wrong Irsquom a big fan of dialogue done right to share information and move the story along However the dialogue above is not only badly written itrsquos essentially an information dump The narrative passage reads much more smoothly and gets the relevant points across through Jaredrsquos thoughts How do you know when to use dialogue and when to use narrative The short answer is through instinct and experience You gain those by writing and keeping writing If you feel like you lack the instinct andor experience to know write the passage yoursquore working on in dia-logue then try it again in narrative Read your words aloud If the dialogue sounds stilted chances are you are trying to use it as I did above This does not give you carte blanche to use narrative indiscriminately Use it sparingly to convey thoughts and feelings or to move people through space and time Well-written narrative has a place Itrsquos up to you the writer to know where and when to use it
Writing Workshop
H
April 10
Narrative continued
Writing Workshop
Use narrative - To move characters through time and space A simple sentence or short paragraph to show that time has passed or that a character has ar-rived at a new place is sufficient - To provide brief explanations of backstory Brief is the key word here Giving backstory through dialogue can sound stilted as though the char-acters are telling each other what they already know Sprinkle these bits of backstory sparingly throughout the book - To give a sense of place Characters wouldnrsquot ordinarily talk about a setting A few but important details of the setting will suffice - To describe a reaction Following intense scenes of action a short nar-rative passage to clue the reader into the characterrsquos reactions can help the reader identify what the character is experiencing and feeling - To change the pace This is related to the above If a book is all ac-tion scenes there is no time for the reader to reflect upon what has hap-pened
April 11
gent Jodell Sadler (formerly of Sadler Literary and founder of KidLit College) joins Jill Corcoran
president and fellow agents Eve PorinchakTimothy Travaglini Adah Megged Nuchi and Silvia Ariente at the recently-expanded Jill Corcoran Literary Agency Jodell like Adah will be co-agenting clients with Jill Both will provide feedback and direction on projects but with Jodell primarily in an editorial capacity and Jill pri-marily as the contract negotia-tor
Lynne Marie What fueled your decision to join Jill Corcoran Literary Agency How do you feel this move benefits the clients you brought with you as well as new clients
Jodell Sadler I wanted to work with writers and illustrators on the editing side I am happier and finding real joy in collabo-rating with clients in this team approach As the editorial agent Irsquom the first set of eyes creating top-quality manuscripts with our shared clients at JCLA What is fun for me is that I get to pass the baton to a new set of eyes Jill for submissions Pitches submissions Thatrsquos her baby and I love it We still have editorial meeting to discuss our approach but I do what I love work with writers and illustrators and coach them to success Positioning and marketing be-longs in both camps but I think everyone should be lined up to work with Jill Shersquos genius at what she does
LM Does your extensive background in art and busi-ness play into your decision to focus primarily on the
creative aspect of a book project and how
JS Picture books are built word by carefully selected word and art feeds and drives story Irsquove worked in ed-itorial and as an art director illustrator designer and marketing for a Fortune 500 company Little-known fact about me is that I am also published in photogra-
phy I love art I love words and the interplay of these two picture book partners Thatrsquos why I became fasci-nated by pacing When you can take a line of text and through sound and care make it seem short when long or pace out a sentence to mock a scene it adds excitement to the ed-iting process
My marketing and branding exper-tise includes product development Herersquos a fun fact few know about me as well I illustrated the first product renderings and logo for Super Vee a tremelo system for guitarsmdasha device that keeps a whammy bar in tunemdashas well the box it would be packaged in for customers Now itrsquos huge which has been fun to see Irsquove also drawn with my feet having a great respect for disabilities and how seri-
ously talented individuals go beyond normal every day
LM Please describe your role in a bookrsquos progress from representation to publication
JS That sounds easy I wish it was really that quick but donrsquot we all I edit with writers (and illustrators and writer-illustrators) to help them hone the art and words of story Right now when a writer or author-illustrator comes in to JCLA they are vetted by two agents both Jill and me We jointly represent
interview by Lynne Marie
Agent Spotlight
a
Jodell Sadler of the
April 12
I focus on manuscript polish and prep and pass the ba-ton to Jill I love this model It works
LM Please share details of an upcoming collaborative project you have accepted and tell us why this project stands out for you
JS All books for kids are collaborative for sure Irsquove recently repped awesome illustrator talent some heavy lifters I can see are ready to bust out I like to help il-lustrators make that leap into creating books as au-thor-illustrators Irsquom pretty intense in that regard be-cause Irsquove worked the programs and prepped printed books I know story art and the print industry While Irsquove spent years saving companies thousands through sound design strategies now itrsquos time to do this for au-thors and illustrators
LM How would define your unique approach to chil-drenrsquos literature
JS Whatrsquos also fun and something not many know about me is that following earning my MFA I served as a professor in the many literary categories Human-ities Contemporary World Literature of the Ameri-can Minorities (created courses as expert and itrsquos still one of my favorites) American and British Literature as well as the traditional courses of English Compo-sition Advanced Comp Creative Writing Founda-tions Rhetoric (too many to list) on the undergrad level as well as Publishing and Picture Book classes on the Grad Level Irsquove also worked with educational companies on web product launches and fact-checking against textbooks So I have a really strong grasp of the best writers over decades and the many movements in literature And my teaching in K-12 has contributed a great deal to my understanding of reluctant readers budding writers teaching practices and more
LM Since this is a new partnership please share de-tails of the first book you have championed together and gotten an offer on
JS A two-book picture book deal started us offhellip and we look forward to championing many more in many categories I am over the moon about our approach and all the really wonderful products that are being un-der considered right now Truth-be-told anyone would be blessed to work with Jill She is beyond fabulous
and I look at our approach as a real win-win for clients
LM Will this collaboration in any way change your focus regarding the genres you seek or your manuscript wish list And what if anything remains on your man-uscript wish list for this year
JS Not at all I still love what I love and that hasnrsquot changed Irsquom all about picture books through middle grade and Irsquom looking for great author-illustrators as well as great stories in fiction and nonfiction Contem-porary commercial dark humorous mysteries and big idea books in middle grade Recent projects include interior illustrations for the Friday Barnes series by Phil Gosier as well as his forthcoming author-illustrator picture books Snow Beast Comes to Play and Dog Adop-tion Day (Roaring Brook Press 2017) Bold Women of Medicine 21 Stories of Astounding Discoveries Daring Sur-geries and Healing by Susan M Latta (Chicago Review Press) and If Animals Said I Love You by Ann Whitford Paul (FSG Macmillam)
LM If you had to pick the most important charac-teristic that sells you on a particular manuscript what would it be
JS Pacing of voice and art tells me a book is ready I am particularly sensitive to active language and like most agents and editors look for great voice strong concept unique characters plot hook point of view visual imagery and intrigue First lines and pages of story set the tone for the rest of the picture book or novel A storyrsquos opening should transfer readers to a place they have not experienced before It should feel like a performance that I am a part of
One of my favorite lines from the Beatrix Potter mov-iersquos first lines and visuals
A sweeping paintbrush washes color on the pages along with quiet pause and birdsong A violin softly plays over gentle high-pitched piano keys ldquoTherersquos something deli-cious about writing the first words of a story You never quite tell where theyrsquoll take you Mine took me here
ldquoLooking back the city and I never much liked each other An unmarried woman after all was expected to behave in very particular ways which did not include traipsing from publisher to publishers with a gaggle of friendsrdquo
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
April 13
Like this I love to enter a story and forget I am read-ing
LM What is one thing that you feel you might be able to fix if it is broken in andor missing from a prospec-tive manuscript
JS Pacing hellip and most anything can be fixed along with some things that we donrsquot often think about like concept and marketability These are vital When we write we write to mind heart and ear and this marries with the visual splash an illustrator brings First lines first pages hook voice depth of emotions character plot and tensionhellipall have to be top-notch
LM Since you and Jill are working together how should submissions be addressed
JS Submissions go to only one agent at JCLA Please do not send to both or more than one For me I love a succinct letter in the body of the email that is short
and powerful I encourage writers to do three things
1 Give a hook or line that shares the ldquowhy merdquo
2 After your intro pitch your story in a couple of sentences
3 Add your bio information and done Sign off
Itrsquos really all about the writing or writing and port-folio which for me is your manuscript shared in the Samples area and a dummy attachment as a PDFmdashor at least a link to an online portfolio If you are going to submit as an author-illustrator a portfolio is a must
Best advice Share your project and your personality and be prepared to jump in Show off your work style and creative edge and that you are enjoyable and fun to work with
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
Jodell Sadler is accepting ldquoAbove the Slushrdquo submissions from CBI read-ers First study her guidelines and current needs here httpsjillcorcor-anliteraryagencycomjodell-sadler-editorial-agent which include pic-ture books from authorillustrators as well as nonfiction biographies chapter books middle grade projects and graphic novels Then either click on the Submit button on that page or go straight to her Query Manager page at httpsquerymanagercomqueryJodellSadler In the field marked ldquoIf this query is a referral who referred yourdquo type CBI JCLA GIRAFFE
April 14
by Randi Lynn Mrvos
very time I visited a bookstore I envisioned my manuscript as a book on a shelf This ritual devel-
oped after I wrote a picture book about a girl named Maggie and then created a blog that chronicled the hopeful journey of getting it published
The Maggie Project blog was fashioned after the JulieJulia Project in which Julie Powell blogged about cook-ing all of the recipes in Julia Childrsquos Mastering the Art of French Cooking book in one year The premise of my blog was to submit a picture book manuscript to 30 publishers 15 agents and 5 contests in one year But I was nothing like Julie I did not end up with a book deal It was humiliating The Maggie Project closed down and the manuscript was shelved
Maggie was not the first story I had written Years be-fore I had taken a class on writing for children at the Carnegie Center in my hometown Lexington Ken-tucky After learning the basics I wrote and submitted five picture books but each one was rejected Publica-tion seemed out of reach until I turned to writing non-fiction Having a background as a medical technologist enabled me write scientific articles for kids By the time I had written fifty articles I had an impressive bio so I returned to writing fiction Still no one was interested in my picture books
This setback prompted me to find ways to boost my writing career I decided to read books on writing for kids and began with Jean Karlrsquos How to Write and Sell Picture Books Karl was a childrenrsquos book editor In her book she teaches the key elements needed to create pic-ture books for children and provides information on marketing your book
Another great resource was Writing Picture Books A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication by au-thor and poet Ann Whitford Paul This book provides
the knowledge needed to write picture books that will appeal to children as well as editors and agents The topics include developing plot and point of view cre-ating characters and researching the picture book mar-ket
When it came to composing a story Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos Word Book by Alijandra Mogilner became invaluable for finding just the right word for just the right age group Mogilnerrsquos book allows you to get into the mind of a child at various ages It gives guidelines for sen-tence length and word usage and offers lists of specific words for grade levels kindergarten ndash grade 6
In addition to reading how-to books I stepped into our local library and headed for the childrenrsquos section The librarianrsquos selections were displayed on the top of the stacks I checked out these childrenrsquos books and ana-lyzed their strengths and weaknesses It helped me to understand what was being published
Afterwards I wrote and submitted more picture books but these stories were rejected too It was obvious I needed more help Many years earlier my Carnegie teacher had suggested joining the Society of Childrenrsquos Book Writers and Illustrators I had put it off much too long and so I became a member SCBWI is an interna-tional organization that provides resources and oppor-tunities for members Each year the organization has two conferences one in Los Angeles and the other in New York City Regional chapters have writing work-shops where attendees may have the chance to pitch to an agent or to have a manuscript critiqued by an editor
I took advantage of five SCBWI conferences At these meetings I learned writing and publishing tips from panels of authors During breaks I schmoozed with the ever-so-wanting-to-get-published and exchanged emails to stay in touch and to lend support After one
The Writerrsquos Mindset
E
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf
April 15
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf continued
The Writerrsquos Mindset
conference some of the attendees got fired up about trying to bring an editor to our hometown That in-spired another writer and me to organize a SCBWI Editorrsquos Day workshop It was an unbelievable expe-rience Besides learning how to get published I had the opportunity to pitch a book to the presenter Liz Waniewski editor of Dial Books (though she politely turned it down)
As time passed I continued to write stories and submit them Every now and then the rejections came with personal notes ldquothis project sounds interestingrdquo ldquothis seems like a unique ideardquo ldquothis story has potentialrdquo But despite the praise none of my stories won the heart of a publisher
Frustration became a weight on my shoulders There were times when I wanted to give up But one remark kept me positive My husband said ldquoIt only takes one person to like what you writerdquo
Six years passed since The Maggie Project closed I still hadnrsquot found a publisher for any of my stories I felt it was time to try a new approach and work with an ex-perienced partner Editorial consultant Mary Kole of-fered a package which included a picture book critique and a review of three query letters By chance I pulled out the query for Maggie
Mary guided me when it came to querying As for targeting an agent she suggested making two lists a 10-20 top choices and a 10-20 second choice list She said to query 10-20 agents in a first round to see if they would give any feedback and then adjust accordingly Re-query some from the A list who seem open to see-ing a revision and also the B list who will be seeing it for the first time
In regards to my manuscript on Maggie Mary warned about Flight of Imagination a plot of a book dealing with kids having an adventure based largely in their imagination She stressed that itrsquos not like you canrsquot have a story that centers on a childrsquos journey through a land of imagination But there needs to be other layers in play and an actual story within the imagined land-scape not just an episodic barrage of images or crazy adventures Characters need to be fleshed out A plot needs to be in motion with sequential events that go from conflict to climax Other themes and universal
childhood experiences need to be embedded within the manuscript
After weighing her comments I changed the title of my story Also I judiciously cut 500 words (Picture books were shorter these days Perhaps thatrsquos one of the reasons why Maggie never sold) Then the story was sent to five publishers Buthellipit was deacutejagrave vu all over again Within two weeks three rejections appeared in my inbox I started questioning myself Did I follow Maryrsquos advice Were my characters well-developed Did the plot advance Had I successfully incorporat-ed themes and universal childhood experiences within the manuscript She warned that Flight of Imagination picture books are a tougher row to hoe than most Had I looked at my story objectively Did it suffer as Mary would say from this colorfulndashbut nonetheless problem-aticndashissue
With no word on the two remaining submissions I put writing and worrying about my writing on hold My husband and I went on vacation in New Orleans to cel-ebrate our birthdays We had done a Garden District tour (where we saw Sandra Bollockrsquos and John Good-manrsquos houses) visited a plantation listened to jazz on Bourbon Street and tasted spicy Cajun dishes Before going out one evening I checked my emails Surpris-ingly one of them was from a publisher I had queried Incredibly it read I like your book My scream was probably heard throughout the entire hotel
When we returned home we opened our birthday gifts My husband bought me Julia Childrsquos famous cook-book Maybe I was a little like Julie Powell after all
A month later I signed a book contract with Cactus Moon Publications Now my days are spent marketing Maggie and the Summer Vacation Show and Tell When I look back on the road to publication it had been a long difficult journey It demanded the willingness to develop the craft the determination to never give up the strength to remain positive despite rejection and the resolve to hold fast to a dream It also required get-ting involved with a professional writerrsquos organization and working with editorial partner But even before the journey began it took the daring to envision a book on a shelf
April 16
Global Publishing
Tips for Creating Bilingual Booksby Sharon Olivia Blumberg
n our global world itrsquos more important than ever to expose children to different languages Bilingual
childrenrsquos books is one terrific way to do just that As a retired foreign language teacher of Spanish I read bilingual books to my seventh graders as they sat spellbound
I recently spoke with two women involved in pub-lishing bilingual books for childrenmdashCath Bruzzone of b small publishing in the UK and Maria Domin-guez of Scholastic en espantildeol in the USmdashand got their thoughts on how to write stories that work well in two languages
Cath Bruzzone is a British publisher and author of activity books and foreign language learning books for children She started her career as a teacher of Italian and French and worked as an editor of UK publishers Harrap Books Thomas Nelson and Pan Books before starting her own business b small pub-lishing in 1990 (httpwwwbsmallcouk)
Sharon Blumberg Please explain the bilingual chil-drenrsquos book market in the UK regarding current needs and popularity with children parents teach-ers and librarians
Cara Bruzzone The bilingual childrenrsquos book mar-ket in the UK is small and specialized It is divided between European languages mainly French Span-ish It also includes community languages spoken in the UK like Hindi Urdu Arabic and Chinese Foreign languages are now offered at primary (ele-mentary) schools But this is a recent initiative that is poorly funded for teacher training and materials It concentrates mainly on French with some Span-ish So the main market for b smallrsquos books are par-entsmdashbilingual families and parents who want their young children to enjoy their two languages or learn a foreign language As many parents and teachers are not confident linguists bilingual books are ideal to
give them extra support Bilingual books highlight similarities between the two languages giving chil-dren confidence in the new language Librarians have supported bilingual books but many libraries have closed in the UK because of the economic crisis from 2008 Sadly this shrinking market is vital for pro-moting community languages In order to produce the quantity and quality of books that we publish we rely on selling foreign rights to countries like the USA some European countries China and Asia
SB When writing childrenrsquos bilingual books does the author or the publisher provide the translation
CB In the case of b smallrsquos bilingual books we write them in English and commission translations from native speakers However we can edit the English text if necessary to make sure that the two languag-es work well together for the target age group If the book is published in another country like China or Poland the local publisher buying the rights will pro-duce the Chinese or Polish text Also as our books are in British English and Castilian Spanish the US publisher purchasing the rights supplies the US En-glish and also the Latin American Spanish text for their editions There are a number of differences between US and British English especially for the younger age groups colourcolor mummom lor-rytruck are examples
SB What stories work best as bilingual books
CB Stories with repetition work well For childrenrsquos books stories should be compelling and not compli-cated Humor is good but jokes can be difficult to translate The stories should avoid cultural content that canrsquot be easily understood or translated Univer-sal themes are best Rhyme is difficult to translate as well as texts that rely on alphabetical order as lan-guages have different alphabets (Spanish has an extra ntilde for example and Welsh has the letters ch ff and ll)
I
April 17
Global Publishing
From a production point of view the layout of bilin-gual books must leave space for two languages and possibly a pronunciation guide So the text will be shorter than monolingual stories It is a challenge to have a beginning middle and end in so few pages Marrying the text and pictures can also be challeng-ing when there are two sets of text that work with the pictures
Irsquoll give examples from two of our titles Puppy Finds a FriendCachorrito Encuentra Un Amigo part of the I Can Read series (published in both English-French and English-Spanish) and La Gatita Luciacutea en la playaLucy Cat at the Beach one of a series of four Lucy Cat cartoon strip books published in English-French and English-Spanish
The puppy story had to fit into our series concept picture stories for ages 3 to 5 with a simple repetitive text and universal childrenrsquos themes that reflect chil-drenrsquos lives while building their self-esteem I chose farmyard animals so that I didnrsquot have to select chil-dren of one particular ethnicity (We are committed to inclusivity in our books and have recently signed the Everybody In charter promoted by Inclusive Minds We want to improve our representation of all children in our books) The story is about a little puppy who tries to find a friend All the animals say theyrsquore too busy but the little mouse plays with him The story includes common farm animalsmdashhorse cow etc Then there is a repetition of the key phras-es like ldquoIrsquom too busyrdquo So as an attractive story it reinforces everyday language The illustrations are brilliant but we had trouble coming up with the final puppy We have been lucky with this series as several well-known illustrators have agreed to illustrate the stories for modest fees because they believe in bilin-gual education
The Lucy Cat series was designed as the next step up from our Bilingual First Words books They would be stories based on simple conversational phrases Car-toon strips are popular for early reading The illustra-tor Clare Beaton and I worked together on a cartoon strip for young language learners in the McGraw-Hill Languages for Children series Lucy Cat was named after my young daughter Lucy She is a feisty cat who has a series of adventures where she saves the
day In Lucy Cat at the beach she saves some kittens from a shark The stories all have the same structure exchanging greetings introducing the scene and then a big BANG page averting disaster and finally everyone thanks Lucy We consulted an early read-ing specialist who advised with the speech bubbles including a third person narrative along the bottom of the strip The stories were fun to invent but orga-nizing the bilingual text was a challenge Including both languages in the speech bubbles looked messy and wouldnrsquot encourage children to read only the new language So we doubled up the strips on each page one in English and one in the foreign language This works well but means that we havenrsquot published a monolingual version of the stories
SB How does nonfiction work for bilingual books
CB I donrsquot have much experience with bilingual nonfiction b small has produced a series of stick-er atlases and a range of picture dictionaries and search-and-find 1000 word books (links refer to En-glish-Spanish editions But they are also published in English only and English-French) so they are refer-ence books rather than nonfiction Like fiction it is important to choose concepts that can be translated and keep the information shorter than in a monolin-gual nonfiction book
In fiction and nonfiction it is challenging because the illustrations must work in both languages A good example is lsquobreadrsquo A typical English loaf is a differ-ent shape from an Italian or French loaf Similarly an American barn looks different from a European barn and a German church spire looks different from an English church tower The most difficult of all is the driving wheel of a car lorry (truck) or busmdashleft or right The solution is to neutralize the images so that they are acceptable to many culturesmdashand place the steering wheel in the middle of the car This means working with illustrators who create attractive pictures that children love even if they donrsquot reflect their culture
SB What are the most common languages that ap-pear together in one book
CB This depends on the market For the UK and
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April 5
most YA unless the story is fantasy or science fiction where you might need three paragraphs)
Follow with a brief author bio and include any cred-its If you donrsquot have any previous writing credits but have expertise in an area that directly applies to your manuscript you can mention that Otherwise just say a couple of sentences about yourself and leave it at that
If the editor or agent wants sample chapters with the query end by saying ldquoIrsquove included the first three chap-ters of The New Kid for your review I look forward to hearing from yourdquo If the editoragent wants a query letter only say ldquoThe New Kid is complete and ready for your review I am happy to send sample chapters or the entire manuscript upon request I look forward to hear-ing from yourdquo
Other Things the Query Letter Should Do
Showcase your best writing Now is not the time to be slipshod with your work (Really there is never a time to be sloppy with your prose but especially not with que-ries This is the editorrsquos first introduction to you)
Reveal your writing style Are you writing a nonfiction piece for the YA age group on the history of slavery A lighthearted query wonrsquot cut it for such a serious subject
Follow the publisher or agentrsquos guidelines (found in writing publications such as this one andor online) Follow these to the letter Some publishers prefer not to receive emails with attachments for fear of picking up a virus If so make sure all pertinent information is con-tained within the body of the email
Provide your contact information Yoursquod be surprised at how many writers send out queries with no contact information You want to make it as easy as possible for the editor or agent to contact you
Be upfront if the work has been previously published And yes blog posts count as publication
What the Query Letter Should Never Do
Be cutesy Just as in the ldquoolden daysrdquo of paper queries when writers were advised not to fill their envelopes with confetti or other annoying bits of paper do not include emojis etc in your query
Go out to a large number of publications or agents simultaneously Query five appropriate publishers or agents at once When you get a response from an agent to send your manuscript send it to her exclusively un-til she replies and if itrsquos a pass then send it to the next agent on your list who requested your manuscript Itrsquos more common to send out several manuscripts at once to editors who request them from a query but keep the number to five or less If an editor asks for an exclusive submission for a period of time honor that And if you get an offer from an editor or agent be sure to contact anyone else who is currently reading your manuscript and let them know
Go to the wrong publisher Send a query for a picture book to a publisher which considers only middle grade and YA books and you will have just outed yourself as a lazy writer who hasnrsquot done his homework and learned what kind of stories that publisher accepts
Do anything that detracts from your image of a pro-fessional writer First impressions count Make yours a good one
A Few Final Thoughts
An increasing number of publishersrsquo websites that use online submissions are expanding to submission forms with data fields Such websites may send potential writers to something like Submittablecom or AuthorsmeIf you canrsquot do this on your own get help to navigate your way through the process If you still arenrsquot sure how to set up q query you may want to enlist the help of an experienced writer whose opinion you respect and have her review your letter before sending it out This is probably the only chance yoursquoll have to send this query to this editor or agent Make it count
Query Letters in 2017 continued
Submission Tips
Finding Agents and Editors to Query
Review the At Presstime market listings each month in CBI (and the Back Issue Archive on httpwwwcbiclubhousecom but do check the agentpublisher website on listings that are over two months old to be sure theyrsquore still accept-ing submissions) You can also find links to agent and pub-lisher websites in Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos amp Illustratorrsquos Market and Guide to Literary Agents annual guides published by Writerrsquos Digest Books The Guide to Literary Agents blog lists new agents on a regular basis httpwwwwritersdigestcomeditor-blogsguide-to-literary-agents
April
Kendra LevinA Day In The Life of Executive Editor
interview by PJ McIlvaine
f yoursquove wondered what an ldquoexecutive editorrdquo does (and who hasnrsquot including me) wonder no more
Kendra Levin is an executive editor at Viking Chil-drenrsquos Books an imprint of Penguin Random House Since 2005 she has worked on a wide range of chil-drenrsquos literature from picture books to young adult novels She has edited New York Times bestseller Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton Printz Hon-or winner The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry Theodor Seuss Geisel award winner Donrsquot Throw It to Mo by David A Adler Society of Il-lustrators Gold Medal winner The Lost House by BB Cronin and the work of authors including Jan-et Fox Deborah Freedman and others In addition Kendra helps writers as a teacher and certified life coach and is the author of The Hero is You a grounded self-help guide to a healthier writing process You can visit her at kend-racoachingcom and follow her on Twitter (kendralevin)
PJ McIlvaine Your bio is quite eclectic from playwright to Exec-utive Editor for Viking Childrenrsquos Books (Penguin Random House) Can you elaborate on your professional journey
Kendra Levin I wasnrsquot someone who always dreamed of working in publishing I grew up surrounded by books but Irsquom not sure I thought much about the peo-ple who created them beyond the authors and illus-trators My goal as a kid and teen was to be a writer When I had just moved to New York to study playwrit-
ing at NYU I got an email from an editor at Scholas-tic David Levithan (whom Irsquod never heard of) asking my permission to include a short story of mine that had won a Scholastic Writing Award a couple years earlier in an anthology of student work he was putting together That email led to an internship at Scholastic
where I fell in love with editing childrenrsquos books under the wonder-ful mentorship of Joy Peskin (now Editorial Director at FSG) who introduced me to the world of pub-lishing I was amazed to discover a job that allowed me to use the skills Irsquod been honing for years in writing workshopsmdashconstructive critique story analysis stuff like that So I really lucked into the perfect line of work for me Out of college I got a job at the Scholastic Book Clubs a great place to learn more about the industry and then transitioned to an editorial role at Viking Chil-drenrsquos Books in 2005 and Irsquove been there ever since
PJ Can you give us a behind the scenes idea of what a day in the life of an executive editor really is
KL Part of what keeps me in this job is that fact that therersquos no average daymdashevery day is different Current-ly though Irsquom feeling like I spend most of my days an-swering emails and attending meetings Itrsquos a funny but very common phenomenon that the elements of being an editor that most characterize the jobmdashreading and editing manuscriptsmdashwind up being relegated to eve-nings and weekends Luckily I love the social aspects of being an editor so I donrsquot mind spending more of
Featured Interview
I
6
6
April 7
my day communicating and problem-solving than ac-tually editing books
PJ What parts of your job do you like the best And the least
KL I love to help people so my favorite parts of the job are the ones that allow me to do that whether Irsquom guiding an author through a tricky revision or advis-ing a colleague on a challenging situation To me the most frustrating part of the job is when for whatever reason a book I love and believe in just doesnrsquot seem to resonate Itrsquos disappointing for the author and for me toomdashand hard to see something yoursquove put so much work into fail to reach people
PJ What surprised you the most about the publishing process
KL Like most people I always imagined being an edi-tor was a quiet job-- reading and editing all day In fact I have to do most reading and editing in my own time outside of the office because itrsquos definitely NOT a qui-et job Most days are full of meetings phone calls dis-cussions problem solving and other kinds of running around and being social Luckily I really enjoy that
PJ Is there a common thread in the books you ulti-mately decline to pursue for example like not ready for prime time editing errors etc
KL Itrsquos hard to find one common thread among them all and much easier to see whatrsquos common among the books I do acquire To put it in perspective I decline several hundred manuscripts each year I acquire be-tween one and five So itrsquos easier for me to look at what all the ones I do acquire have in common What tends to tie them together is an element of reader empower-ment I love books that inspire and empower kids and teens that show them they can solve their own prob-lems that they are stronger than they realize and that therersquos a lot they can do despite constantly being told they are ldquojustrdquo children
PJ Do you have a favorite genre
KL One of the pleasures of working on books for young readers is that you get to be kind of a Unitarian of genres and try everything I love the variety But I do find myself most drawn to books that take place in a realistic world either contemporary or historical but
have magical elements I like books that transport me to a version of reality where magic is real
PJ Yoursquove edited many books from picture books to young adult Does each genre have a different publish-ing process
KL Any childrenrsquos books editor would tell you that the process for making picture books is very different from that of novels One of my favorite aspects of the picture book process is getting to work closely with the art director I love collaborating with someone who has a totally different skill set and area of expertisemdashI learn so much from that process Novels come to me a little more naturally so I feel lucky that in the area where Irsquom less confident picture books I get to rely on a partner in the work
PJ What do you look for in a book that yoursquore consid-ering publishing
KL What every editor looks for I imaginemdashwriting that absorbs me and make me forget the world around me coupled with a concept or idea that I can succinctly explain to our sales and marketing folks in a way thatrsquoll get them excited about the project I look for something that hasnrsquot been done before in quite the same way I look for work that will empower its readers and give them a sense of their own potential and strengthmdashto me thatrsquos one of the most important reasons to publish books for children to begin with
PJ Do you primarily accept submissions through agents andor referrals or do you still find hidden gems in the slush pilequeries
KL At this stage of my career I mainly accept submis-sions that come from agents though Irsquod love to connect with something unrepresented As a house Penguin is closed to unsolicited submissions mainly because it would take many full-time staff members to deal with the sheer volumemdashwe just donrsquot have the bandwidth By focusing on work that is represented by agents we are asking writers to really do their homework study their craft have a knowledge of the marketplace devel-op resiliencemdashall crucial for becoming an author That said I do open my mailbox to unrepresented submis-sions from writers who attend conferences and retreats for which Irsquom a faculty member and each event has its own guidelines
Kendra Levin continued
Featured Interview
April 8
PJ What publishing trends do you foresee Is there something yoursquod like to see or see more of
KL I try not to chase trends Irsquod rather create them than try to predict them For example historical fiction has always been challenging but if you look at this yearrsquos ALA awards you can see the genre getting quite a lot of attention including a book I edited The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry which won a Printz Honor When I acquired the book I certainly didnrsquot think that historical fiction would be a trend by the time the book came out And arguably it still isnrsquot But the genre also seems to be rising to the surface in ways it wasnrsquot two or three years ago As far as what Irsquod like to see more of Irsquom just always looking to be surprisedmdashwhich could mean anything I like to keep my options open
PJ Being a writer yourself how easymdashor difficultmdashis it for you to go into editing mode on ma-terial that was created by some-one else
KL Many editors are also writ-ers and the ones I know seem to fall into two camps Either they are incredibly driven and just find a way to switch back and forth between ldquoeditor brainrdquo and ldquowriter brainrdquo so it becomes habit or they struggle mighti-ly with making that boundary I definitely fall into the latter camp I find writing extremely difficult because I have a tough time turning that mental editor off Editing comes very natu-rally to me at this point itrsquos writing that is more of a battle The only writing project Irsquove finished since becoming an editor is The Hero Is You my book about the creative process which came out in 2016 and it reflects six yearsrsquo worth of work
PJ How important is brandingor a social media plat-form for writers
KL Social media acuity is not essential for writers However being good at some form of self-promotion is important for authors If you are a writer who wants to
become a published author do not invest too much of your time worrying about stuff like branding and social mediamdashfocus instead on your craft and becoming the best writer you can possibly be While you are doing that pay attention to what forms of communication seem to come most naturally to you and allow those to be your platform Itrsquos better to do one form of social media (or other kind of self-marketing) well than to do many without genuine interest So if you find that you want to save all your writing for your actual work but you like to share images maybe Instagram is a good platform for you If you arenrsquot comfortable with any social media but you love talking in front of groups
focus any self-promotional en-ergies on getting lots of speak-ing engagements If you can show in some way that you have some connection to other peo-ple publishers will look favor-ably on that But none of this is a deal-breaker I donrsquot know any editor who has turned down a wonderful hooky manuscript because the author didnrsquot tweet
PJ Yoursquove also branched out into being a life coach for writ-ers How did that evolve
KL I became a life coach in 2008 when I was still an assis-tant in publishing I enjoyed my job but had a bit of an ldquois this itrdquo feeling about my work and lifemdashwanting more meaning A number of my close friends happened to all have crises at the same time and I found that I was dropping everything and
racing to the side of each upset friend with a little too much enthusiasm Then I was at a party where I struck up a conversation with a friend of a friend and when I asked her ldquoWhat do you dordquo she said ldquoI empower womenrdquo I asked her out for coffee to hear more about her work as a life coach and it sounded like a great fit for me so I ended up taking a year-long certification course Almost a decade later itrsquos still something I do on the side but has evolved to become very much part of my work as an editor as well And I use coaching techniques in the workshops I run for writers all over the country and in my book The Hero Is You
Kendra Levin continued
Featured Interview
April 9
NARRATIVEmdashDonrsquot Believe Its B A D R E P
by Jane McBride
ave you ever seen the following in a rejection letter ldquoToo much narrative slowing down the storyrdquo Or
ldquoPut some dialogue in to break up the narrativerdquo And yet there is a time and a place for narrative and dare I say it a place for narrative to take top billing over dialogue Consider the following passages The set-up is a con-versation between two twelve-year-old boys one who visits his grandparentsrsquo farm every summer at their farm in Payson Utah and the other a boy who lives in the small rural town
ldquoHey Jaredrdquo Pete said ldquoItrsquos good to see you I havenrsquot seen you since last August when you left your grandpar-entsrsquo farm here in Payson Utah to go back to your home in Chicago Illinoisrdquo ldquoYeah Pete Itrsquos been nine months since we last saw each other Irsquom glad to be back here in Payson Utah with my grandparents My parents are taking an educational tour of Europe They want me to have a taste of farm life to broaden my cultural horizonsrdquo
Is that some of the worst dialogue yoursquove ever read I hope so though it embarrasses me at how easily I was able to write it Would two 12-year-old boys really talk that way Would anyone talk that way Aside from the stilted words the dialogue consists of the boys telling each other things of which they are both already aware Jared knows when he was last in Payson just as Pete knows that itrsquos been nine months since the boys last saw each other They wouldnrsquot name the cities or recount the passage of time Nor would Jared tell Pete that his parents are ldquotaking an educational tour of Europerdquo How could this passage have been better written Letrsquos try it again
Jared poked a stick in the red dirt The last place he want-ed to be was on this crappy farm in the middle of no-where His parents shipped him off to his grandparentsrsquo place every summer They told him it was for his own good He knew better They wanted to get rid of him so that they could fly off to Europe When he saw Pete heading toward him Jared nearly groaned He didnrsquot want to admit that his parents had dumped him at the farm again Just like he didnrsquot want to admit that his grandparents didnrsquot want him any more than he wanted to be here He ducked his head and turned in the other direction pretending that he didnrsquot hear Pete calling his name
Donrsquot get me wrong Irsquom a big fan of dialogue done right to share information and move the story along However the dialogue above is not only badly written itrsquos essentially an information dump The narrative passage reads much more smoothly and gets the relevant points across through Jaredrsquos thoughts How do you know when to use dialogue and when to use narrative The short answer is through instinct and experience You gain those by writing and keeping writing If you feel like you lack the instinct andor experience to know write the passage yoursquore working on in dia-logue then try it again in narrative Read your words aloud If the dialogue sounds stilted chances are you are trying to use it as I did above This does not give you carte blanche to use narrative indiscriminately Use it sparingly to convey thoughts and feelings or to move people through space and time Well-written narrative has a place Itrsquos up to you the writer to know where and when to use it
Writing Workshop
H
April 10
Narrative continued
Writing Workshop
Use narrative - To move characters through time and space A simple sentence or short paragraph to show that time has passed or that a character has ar-rived at a new place is sufficient - To provide brief explanations of backstory Brief is the key word here Giving backstory through dialogue can sound stilted as though the char-acters are telling each other what they already know Sprinkle these bits of backstory sparingly throughout the book - To give a sense of place Characters wouldnrsquot ordinarily talk about a setting A few but important details of the setting will suffice - To describe a reaction Following intense scenes of action a short nar-rative passage to clue the reader into the characterrsquos reactions can help the reader identify what the character is experiencing and feeling - To change the pace This is related to the above If a book is all ac-tion scenes there is no time for the reader to reflect upon what has hap-pened
April 11
gent Jodell Sadler (formerly of Sadler Literary and founder of KidLit College) joins Jill Corcoran
president and fellow agents Eve PorinchakTimothy Travaglini Adah Megged Nuchi and Silvia Ariente at the recently-expanded Jill Corcoran Literary Agency Jodell like Adah will be co-agenting clients with Jill Both will provide feedback and direction on projects but with Jodell primarily in an editorial capacity and Jill pri-marily as the contract negotia-tor
Lynne Marie What fueled your decision to join Jill Corcoran Literary Agency How do you feel this move benefits the clients you brought with you as well as new clients
Jodell Sadler I wanted to work with writers and illustrators on the editing side I am happier and finding real joy in collabo-rating with clients in this team approach As the editorial agent Irsquom the first set of eyes creating top-quality manuscripts with our shared clients at JCLA What is fun for me is that I get to pass the baton to a new set of eyes Jill for submissions Pitches submissions Thatrsquos her baby and I love it We still have editorial meeting to discuss our approach but I do what I love work with writers and illustrators and coach them to success Positioning and marketing be-longs in both camps but I think everyone should be lined up to work with Jill Shersquos genius at what she does
LM Does your extensive background in art and busi-ness play into your decision to focus primarily on the
creative aspect of a book project and how
JS Picture books are built word by carefully selected word and art feeds and drives story Irsquove worked in ed-itorial and as an art director illustrator designer and marketing for a Fortune 500 company Little-known fact about me is that I am also published in photogra-
phy I love art I love words and the interplay of these two picture book partners Thatrsquos why I became fasci-nated by pacing When you can take a line of text and through sound and care make it seem short when long or pace out a sentence to mock a scene it adds excitement to the ed-iting process
My marketing and branding exper-tise includes product development Herersquos a fun fact few know about me as well I illustrated the first product renderings and logo for Super Vee a tremelo system for guitarsmdasha device that keeps a whammy bar in tunemdashas well the box it would be packaged in for customers Now itrsquos huge which has been fun to see Irsquove also drawn with my feet having a great respect for disabilities and how seri-
ously talented individuals go beyond normal every day
LM Please describe your role in a bookrsquos progress from representation to publication
JS That sounds easy I wish it was really that quick but donrsquot we all I edit with writers (and illustrators and writer-illustrators) to help them hone the art and words of story Right now when a writer or author-illustrator comes in to JCLA they are vetted by two agents both Jill and me We jointly represent
interview by Lynne Marie
Agent Spotlight
a
Jodell Sadler of the
April 12
I focus on manuscript polish and prep and pass the ba-ton to Jill I love this model It works
LM Please share details of an upcoming collaborative project you have accepted and tell us why this project stands out for you
JS All books for kids are collaborative for sure Irsquove recently repped awesome illustrator talent some heavy lifters I can see are ready to bust out I like to help il-lustrators make that leap into creating books as au-thor-illustrators Irsquom pretty intense in that regard be-cause Irsquove worked the programs and prepped printed books I know story art and the print industry While Irsquove spent years saving companies thousands through sound design strategies now itrsquos time to do this for au-thors and illustrators
LM How would define your unique approach to chil-drenrsquos literature
JS Whatrsquos also fun and something not many know about me is that following earning my MFA I served as a professor in the many literary categories Human-ities Contemporary World Literature of the Ameri-can Minorities (created courses as expert and itrsquos still one of my favorites) American and British Literature as well as the traditional courses of English Compo-sition Advanced Comp Creative Writing Founda-tions Rhetoric (too many to list) on the undergrad level as well as Publishing and Picture Book classes on the Grad Level Irsquove also worked with educational companies on web product launches and fact-checking against textbooks So I have a really strong grasp of the best writers over decades and the many movements in literature And my teaching in K-12 has contributed a great deal to my understanding of reluctant readers budding writers teaching practices and more
LM Since this is a new partnership please share de-tails of the first book you have championed together and gotten an offer on
JS A two-book picture book deal started us offhellip and we look forward to championing many more in many categories I am over the moon about our approach and all the really wonderful products that are being un-der considered right now Truth-be-told anyone would be blessed to work with Jill She is beyond fabulous
and I look at our approach as a real win-win for clients
LM Will this collaboration in any way change your focus regarding the genres you seek or your manuscript wish list And what if anything remains on your man-uscript wish list for this year
JS Not at all I still love what I love and that hasnrsquot changed Irsquom all about picture books through middle grade and Irsquom looking for great author-illustrators as well as great stories in fiction and nonfiction Contem-porary commercial dark humorous mysteries and big idea books in middle grade Recent projects include interior illustrations for the Friday Barnes series by Phil Gosier as well as his forthcoming author-illustrator picture books Snow Beast Comes to Play and Dog Adop-tion Day (Roaring Brook Press 2017) Bold Women of Medicine 21 Stories of Astounding Discoveries Daring Sur-geries and Healing by Susan M Latta (Chicago Review Press) and If Animals Said I Love You by Ann Whitford Paul (FSG Macmillam)
LM If you had to pick the most important charac-teristic that sells you on a particular manuscript what would it be
JS Pacing of voice and art tells me a book is ready I am particularly sensitive to active language and like most agents and editors look for great voice strong concept unique characters plot hook point of view visual imagery and intrigue First lines and pages of story set the tone for the rest of the picture book or novel A storyrsquos opening should transfer readers to a place they have not experienced before It should feel like a performance that I am a part of
One of my favorite lines from the Beatrix Potter mov-iersquos first lines and visuals
A sweeping paintbrush washes color on the pages along with quiet pause and birdsong A violin softly plays over gentle high-pitched piano keys ldquoTherersquos something deli-cious about writing the first words of a story You never quite tell where theyrsquoll take you Mine took me here
ldquoLooking back the city and I never much liked each other An unmarried woman after all was expected to behave in very particular ways which did not include traipsing from publisher to publishers with a gaggle of friendsrdquo
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
April 13
Like this I love to enter a story and forget I am read-ing
LM What is one thing that you feel you might be able to fix if it is broken in andor missing from a prospec-tive manuscript
JS Pacing hellip and most anything can be fixed along with some things that we donrsquot often think about like concept and marketability These are vital When we write we write to mind heart and ear and this marries with the visual splash an illustrator brings First lines first pages hook voice depth of emotions character plot and tensionhellipall have to be top-notch
LM Since you and Jill are working together how should submissions be addressed
JS Submissions go to only one agent at JCLA Please do not send to both or more than one For me I love a succinct letter in the body of the email that is short
and powerful I encourage writers to do three things
1 Give a hook or line that shares the ldquowhy merdquo
2 After your intro pitch your story in a couple of sentences
3 Add your bio information and done Sign off
Itrsquos really all about the writing or writing and port-folio which for me is your manuscript shared in the Samples area and a dummy attachment as a PDFmdashor at least a link to an online portfolio If you are going to submit as an author-illustrator a portfolio is a must
Best advice Share your project and your personality and be prepared to jump in Show off your work style and creative edge and that you are enjoyable and fun to work with
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
Jodell Sadler is accepting ldquoAbove the Slushrdquo submissions from CBI read-ers First study her guidelines and current needs here httpsjillcorcor-anliteraryagencycomjodell-sadler-editorial-agent which include pic-ture books from authorillustrators as well as nonfiction biographies chapter books middle grade projects and graphic novels Then either click on the Submit button on that page or go straight to her Query Manager page at httpsquerymanagercomqueryJodellSadler In the field marked ldquoIf this query is a referral who referred yourdquo type CBI JCLA GIRAFFE
April 14
by Randi Lynn Mrvos
very time I visited a bookstore I envisioned my manuscript as a book on a shelf This ritual devel-
oped after I wrote a picture book about a girl named Maggie and then created a blog that chronicled the hopeful journey of getting it published
The Maggie Project blog was fashioned after the JulieJulia Project in which Julie Powell blogged about cook-ing all of the recipes in Julia Childrsquos Mastering the Art of French Cooking book in one year The premise of my blog was to submit a picture book manuscript to 30 publishers 15 agents and 5 contests in one year But I was nothing like Julie I did not end up with a book deal It was humiliating The Maggie Project closed down and the manuscript was shelved
Maggie was not the first story I had written Years be-fore I had taken a class on writing for children at the Carnegie Center in my hometown Lexington Ken-tucky After learning the basics I wrote and submitted five picture books but each one was rejected Publica-tion seemed out of reach until I turned to writing non-fiction Having a background as a medical technologist enabled me write scientific articles for kids By the time I had written fifty articles I had an impressive bio so I returned to writing fiction Still no one was interested in my picture books
This setback prompted me to find ways to boost my writing career I decided to read books on writing for kids and began with Jean Karlrsquos How to Write and Sell Picture Books Karl was a childrenrsquos book editor In her book she teaches the key elements needed to create pic-ture books for children and provides information on marketing your book
Another great resource was Writing Picture Books A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication by au-thor and poet Ann Whitford Paul This book provides
the knowledge needed to write picture books that will appeal to children as well as editors and agents The topics include developing plot and point of view cre-ating characters and researching the picture book mar-ket
When it came to composing a story Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos Word Book by Alijandra Mogilner became invaluable for finding just the right word for just the right age group Mogilnerrsquos book allows you to get into the mind of a child at various ages It gives guidelines for sen-tence length and word usage and offers lists of specific words for grade levels kindergarten ndash grade 6
In addition to reading how-to books I stepped into our local library and headed for the childrenrsquos section The librarianrsquos selections were displayed on the top of the stacks I checked out these childrenrsquos books and ana-lyzed their strengths and weaknesses It helped me to understand what was being published
Afterwards I wrote and submitted more picture books but these stories were rejected too It was obvious I needed more help Many years earlier my Carnegie teacher had suggested joining the Society of Childrenrsquos Book Writers and Illustrators I had put it off much too long and so I became a member SCBWI is an interna-tional organization that provides resources and oppor-tunities for members Each year the organization has two conferences one in Los Angeles and the other in New York City Regional chapters have writing work-shops where attendees may have the chance to pitch to an agent or to have a manuscript critiqued by an editor
I took advantage of five SCBWI conferences At these meetings I learned writing and publishing tips from panels of authors During breaks I schmoozed with the ever-so-wanting-to-get-published and exchanged emails to stay in touch and to lend support After one
The Writerrsquos Mindset
E
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf
April 15
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf continued
The Writerrsquos Mindset
conference some of the attendees got fired up about trying to bring an editor to our hometown That in-spired another writer and me to organize a SCBWI Editorrsquos Day workshop It was an unbelievable expe-rience Besides learning how to get published I had the opportunity to pitch a book to the presenter Liz Waniewski editor of Dial Books (though she politely turned it down)
As time passed I continued to write stories and submit them Every now and then the rejections came with personal notes ldquothis project sounds interestingrdquo ldquothis seems like a unique ideardquo ldquothis story has potentialrdquo But despite the praise none of my stories won the heart of a publisher
Frustration became a weight on my shoulders There were times when I wanted to give up But one remark kept me positive My husband said ldquoIt only takes one person to like what you writerdquo
Six years passed since The Maggie Project closed I still hadnrsquot found a publisher for any of my stories I felt it was time to try a new approach and work with an ex-perienced partner Editorial consultant Mary Kole of-fered a package which included a picture book critique and a review of three query letters By chance I pulled out the query for Maggie
Mary guided me when it came to querying As for targeting an agent she suggested making two lists a 10-20 top choices and a 10-20 second choice list She said to query 10-20 agents in a first round to see if they would give any feedback and then adjust accordingly Re-query some from the A list who seem open to see-ing a revision and also the B list who will be seeing it for the first time
In regards to my manuscript on Maggie Mary warned about Flight of Imagination a plot of a book dealing with kids having an adventure based largely in their imagination She stressed that itrsquos not like you canrsquot have a story that centers on a childrsquos journey through a land of imagination But there needs to be other layers in play and an actual story within the imagined land-scape not just an episodic barrage of images or crazy adventures Characters need to be fleshed out A plot needs to be in motion with sequential events that go from conflict to climax Other themes and universal
childhood experiences need to be embedded within the manuscript
After weighing her comments I changed the title of my story Also I judiciously cut 500 words (Picture books were shorter these days Perhaps thatrsquos one of the reasons why Maggie never sold) Then the story was sent to five publishers Buthellipit was deacutejagrave vu all over again Within two weeks three rejections appeared in my inbox I started questioning myself Did I follow Maryrsquos advice Were my characters well-developed Did the plot advance Had I successfully incorporat-ed themes and universal childhood experiences within the manuscript She warned that Flight of Imagination picture books are a tougher row to hoe than most Had I looked at my story objectively Did it suffer as Mary would say from this colorfulndashbut nonetheless problem-aticndashissue
With no word on the two remaining submissions I put writing and worrying about my writing on hold My husband and I went on vacation in New Orleans to cel-ebrate our birthdays We had done a Garden District tour (where we saw Sandra Bollockrsquos and John Good-manrsquos houses) visited a plantation listened to jazz on Bourbon Street and tasted spicy Cajun dishes Before going out one evening I checked my emails Surpris-ingly one of them was from a publisher I had queried Incredibly it read I like your book My scream was probably heard throughout the entire hotel
When we returned home we opened our birthday gifts My husband bought me Julia Childrsquos famous cook-book Maybe I was a little like Julie Powell after all
A month later I signed a book contract with Cactus Moon Publications Now my days are spent marketing Maggie and the Summer Vacation Show and Tell When I look back on the road to publication it had been a long difficult journey It demanded the willingness to develop the craft the determination to never give up the strength to remain positive despite rejection and the resolve to hold fast to a dream It also required get-ting involved with a professional writerrsquos organization and working with editorial partner But even before the journey began it took the daring to envision a book on a shelf
April 16
Global Publishing
Tips for Creating Bilingual Booksby Sharon Olivia Blumberg
n our global world itrsquos more important than ever to expose children to different languages Bilingual
childrenrsquos books is one terrific way to do just that As a retired foreign language teacher of Spanish I read bilingual books to my seventh graders as they sat spellbound
I recently spoke with two women involved in pub-lishing bilingual books for childrenmdashCath Bruzzone of b small publishing in the UK and Maria Domin-guez of Scholastic en espantildeol in the USmdashand got their thoughts on how to write stories that work well in two languages
Cath Bruzzone is a British publisher and author of activity books and foreign language learning books for children She started her career as a teacher of Italian and French and worked as an editor of UK publishers Harrap Books Thomas Nelson and Pan Books before starting her own business b small pub-lishing in 1990 (httpwwwbsmallcouk)
Sharon Blumberg Please explain the bilingual chil-drenrsquos book market in the UK regarding current needs and popularity with children parents teach-ers and librarians
Cara Bruzzone The bilingual childrenrsquos book mar-ket in the UK is small and specialized It is divided between European languages mainly French Span-ish It also includes community languages spoken in the UK like Hindi Urdu Arabic and Chinese Foreign languages are now offered at primary (ele-mentary) schools But this is a recent initiative that is poorly funded for teacher training and materials It concentrates mainly on French with some Span-ish So the main market for b smallrsquos books are par-entsmdashbilingual families and parents who want their young children to enjoy their two languages or learn a foreign language As many parents and teachers are not confident linguists bilingual books are ideal to
give them extra support Bilingual books highlight similarities between the two languages giving chil-dren confidence in the new language Librarians have supported bilingual books but many libraries have closed in the UK because of the economic crisis from 2008 Sadly this shrinking market is vital for pro-moting community languages In order to produce the quantity and quality of books that we publish we rely on selling foreign rights to countries like the USA some European countries China and Asia
SB When writing childrenrsquos bilingual books does the author or the publisher provide the translation
CB In the case of b smallrsquos bilingual books we write them in English and commission translations from native speakers However we can edit the English text if necessary to make sure that the two languag-es work well together for the target age group If the book is published in another country like China or Poland the local publisher buying the rights will pro-duce the Chinese or Polish text Also as our books are in British English and Castilian Spanish the US publisher purchasing the rights supplies the US En-glish and also the Latin American Spanish text for their editions There are a number of differences between US and British English especially for the younger age groups colourcolor mummom lor-rytruck are examples
SB What stories work best as bilingual books
CB Stories with repetition work well For childrenrsquos books stories should be compelling and not compli-cated Humor is good but jokes can be difficult to translate The stories should avoid cultural content that canrsquot be easily understood or translated Univer-sal themes are best Rhyme is difficult to translate as well as texts that rely on alphabetical order as lan-guages have different alphabets (Spanish has an extra ntilde for example and Welsh has the letters ch ff and ll)
I
April 17
Global Publishing
From a production point of view the layout of bilin-gual books must leave space for two languages and possibly a pronunciation guide So the text will be shorter than monolingual stories It is a challenge to have a beginning middle and end in so few pages Marrying the text and pictures can also be challeng-ing when there are two sets of text that work with the pictures
Irsquoll give examples from two of our titles Puppy Finds a FriendCachorrito Encuentra Un Amigo part of the I Can Read series (published in both English-French and English-Spanish) and La Gatita Luciacutea en la playaLucy Cat at the Beach one of a series of four Lucy Cat cartoon strip books published in English-French and English-Spanish
The puppy story had to fit into our series concept picture stories for ages 3 to 5 with a simple repetitive text and universal childrenrsquos themes that reflect chil-drenrsquos lives while building their self-esteem I chose farmyard animals so that I didnrsquot have to select chil-dren of one particular ethnicity (We are committed to inclusivity in our books and have recently signed the Everybody In charter promoted by Inclusive Minds We want to improve our representation of all children in our books) The story is about a little puppy who tries to find a friend All the animals say theyrsquore too busy but the little mouse plays with him The story includes common farm animalsmdashhorse cow etc Then there is a repetition of the key phras-es like ldquoIrsquom too busyrdquo So as an attractive story it reinforces everyday language The illustrations are brilliant but we had trouble coming up with the final puppy We have been lucky with this series as several well-known illustrators have agreed to illustrate the stories for modest fees because they believe in bilin-gual education
The Lucy Cat series was designed as the next step up from our Bilingual First Words books They would be stories based on simple conversational phrases Car-toon strips are popular for early reading The illustra-tor Clare Beaton and I worked together on a cartoon strip for young language learners in the McGraw-Hill Languages for Children series Lucy Cat was named after my young daughter Lucy She is a feisty cat who has a series of adventures where she saves the
day In Lucy Cat at the beach she saves some kittens from a shark The stories all have the same structure exchanging greetings introducing the scene and then a big BANG page averting disaster and finally everyone thanks Lucy We consulted an early read-ing specialist who advised with the speech bubbles including a third person narrative along the bottom of the strip The stories were fun to invent but orga-nizing the bilingual text was a challenge Including both languages in the speech bubbles looked messy and wouldnrsquot encourage children to read only the new language So we doubled up the strips on each page one in English and one in the foreign language This works well but means that we havenrsquot published a monolingual version of the stories
SB How does nonfiction work for bilingual books
CB I donrsquot have much experience with bilingual nonfiction b small has produced a series of stick-er atlases and a range of picture dictionaries and search-and-find 1000 word books (links refer to En-glish-Spanish editions But they are also published in English only and English-French) so they are refer-ence books rather than nonfiction Like fiction it is important to choose concepts that can be translated and keep the information shorter than in a monolin-gual nonfiction book
In fiction and nonfiction it is challenging because the illustrations must work in both languages A good example is lsquobreadrsquo A typical English loaf is a differ-ent shape from an Italian or French loaf Similarly an American barn looks different from a European barn and a German church spire looks different from an English church tower The most difficult of all is the driving wheel of a car lorry (truck) or busmdashleft or right The solution is to neutralize the images so that they are acceptable to many culturesmdashand place the steering wheel in the middle of the car This means working with illustrators who create attractive pictures that children love even if they donrsquot reflect their culture
SB What are the most common languages that ap-pear together in one book
CB This depends on the market For the UK and
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April
Kendra LevinA Day In The Life of Executive Editor
interview by PJ McIlvaine
f yoursquove wondered what an ldquoexecutive editorrdquo does (and who hasnrsquot including me) wonder no more
Kendra Levin is an executive editor at Viking Chil-drenrsquos Books an imprint of Penguin Random House Since 2005 she has worked on a wide range of chil-drenrsquos literature from picture books to young adult novels She has edited New York Times bestseller Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton Printz Hon-or winner The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry Theodor Seuss Geisel award winner Donrsquot Throw It to Mo by David A Adler Society of Il-lustrators Gold Medal winner The Lost House by BB Cronin and the work of authors including Jan-et Fox Deborah Freedman and others In addition Kendra helps writers as a teacher and certified life coach and is the author of The Hero is You a grounded self-help guide to a healthier writing process You can visit her at kend-racoachingcom and follow her on Twitter (kendralevin)
PJ McIlvaine Your bio is quite eclectic from playwright to Exec-utive Editor for Viking Childrenrsquos Books (Penguin Random House) Can you elaborate on your professional journey
Kendra Levin I wasnrsquot someone who always dreamed of working in publishing I grew up surrounded by books but Irsquom not sure I thought much about the peo-ple who created them beyond the authors and illus-trators My goal as a kid and teen was to be a writer When I had just moved to New York to study playwrit-
ing at NYU I got an email from an editor at Scholas-tic David Levithan (whom Irsquod never heard of) asking my permission to include a short story of mine that had won a Scholastic Writing Award a couple years earlier in an anthology of student work he was putting together That email led to an internship at Scholastic
where I fell in love with editing childrenrsquos books under the wonder-ful mentorship of Joy Peskin (now Editorial Director at FSG) who introduced me to the world of pub-lishing I was amazed to discover a job that allowed me to use the skills Irsquod been honing for years in writing workshopsmdashconstructive critique story analysis stuff like that So I really lucked into the perfect line of work for me Out of college I got a job at the Scholastic Book Clubs a great place to learn more about the industry and then transitioned to an editorial role at Viking Chil-drenrsquos Books in 2005 and Irsquove been there ever since
PJ Can you give us a behind the scenes idea of what a day in the life of an executive editor really is
KL Part of what keeps me in this job is that fact that therersquos no average daymdashevery day is different Current-ly though Irsquom feeling like I spend most of my days an-swering emails and attending meetings Itrsquos a funny but very common phenomenon that the elements of being an editor that most characterize the jobmdashreading and editing manuscriptsmdashwind up being relegated to eve-nings and weekends Luckily I love the social aspects of being an editor so I donrsquot mind spending more of
Featured Interview
I
6
6
April 7
my day communicating and problem-solving than ac-tually editing books
PJ What parts of your job do you like the best And the least
KL I love to help people so my favorite parts of the job are the ones that allow me to do that whether Irsquom guiding an author through a tricky revision or advis-ing a colleague on a challenging situation To me the most frustrating part of the job is when for whatever reason a book I love and believe in just doesnrsquot seem to resonate Itrsquos disappointing for the author and for me toomdashand hard to see something yoursquove put so much work into fail to reach people
PJ What surprised you the most about the publishing process
KL Like most people I always imagined being an edi-tor was a quiet job-- reading and editing all day In fact I have to do most reading and editing in my own time outside of the office because itrsquos definitely NOT a qui-et job Most days are full of meetings phone calls dis-cussions problem solving and other kinds of running around and being social Luckily I really enjoy that
PJ Is there a common thread in the books you ulti-mately decline to pursue for example like not ready for prime time editing errors etc
KL Itrsquos hard to find one common thread among them all and much easier to see whatrsquos common among the books I do acquire To put it in perspective I decline several hundred manuscripts each year I acquire be-tween one and five So itrsquos easier for me to look at what all the ones I do acquire have in common What tends to tie them together is an element of reader empower-ment I love books that inspire and empower kids and teens that show them they can solve their own prob-lems that they are stronger than they realize and that therersquos a lot they can do despite constantly being told they are ldquojustrdquo children
PJ Do you have a favorite genre
KL One of the pleasures of working on books for young readers is that you get to be kind of a Unitarian of genres and try everything I love the variety But I do find myself most drawn to books that take place in a realistic world either contemporary or historical but
have magical elements I like books that transport me to a version of reality where magic is real
PJ Yoursquove edited many books from picture books to young adult Does each genre have a different publish-ing process
KL Any childrenrsquos books editor would tell you that the process for making picture books is very different from that of novels One of my favorite aspects of the picture book process is getting to work closely with the art director I love collaborating with someone who has a totally different skill set and area of expertisemdashI learn so much from that process Novels come to me a little more naturally so I feel lucky that in the area where Irsquom less confident picture books I get to rely on a partner in the work
PJ What do you look for in a book that yoursquore consid-ering publishing
KL What every editor looks for I imaginemdashwriting that absorbs me and make me forget the world around me coupled with a concept or idea that I can succinctly explain to our sales and marketing folks in a way thatrsquoll get them excited about the project I look for something that hasnrsquot been done before in quite the same way I look for work that will empower its readers and give them a sense of their own potential and strengthmdashto me thatrsquos one of the most important reasons to publish books for children to begin with
PJ Do you primarily accept submissions through agents andor referrals or do you still find hidden gems in the slush pilequeries
KL At this stage of my career I mainly accept submis-sions that come from agents though Irsquod love to connect with something unrepresented As a house Penguin is closed to unsolicited submissions mainly because it would take many full-time staff members to deal with the sheer volumemdashwe just donrsquot have the bandwidth By focusing on work that is represented by agents we are asking writers to really do their homework study their craft have a knowledge of the marketplace devel-op resiliencemdashall crucial for becoming an author That said I do open my mailbox to unrepresented submis-sions from writers who attend conferences and retreats for which Irsquom a faculty member and each event has its own guidelines
Kendra Levin continued
Featured Interview
April 8
PJ What publishing trends do you foresee Is there something yoursquod like to see or see more of
KL I try not to chase trends Irsquod rather create them than try to predict them For example historical fiction has always been challenging but if you look at this yearrsquos ALA awards you can see the genre getting quite a lot of attention including a book I edited The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry which won a Printz Honor When I acquired the book I certainly didnrsquot think that historical fiction would be a trend by the time the book came out And arguably it still isnrsquot But the genre also seems to be rising to the surface in ways it wasnrsquot two or three years ago As far as what Irsquod like to see more of Irsquom just always looking to be surprisedmdashwhich could mean anything I like to keep my options open
PJ Being a writer yourself how easymdashor difficultmdashis it for you to go into editing mode on ma-terial that was created by some-one else
KL Many editors are also writ-ers and the ones I know seem to fall into two camps Either they are incredibly driven and just find a way to switch back and forth between ldquoeditor brainrdquo and ldquowriter brainrdquo so it becomes habit or they struggle mighti-ly with making that boundary I definitely fall into the latter camp I find writing extremely difficult because I have a tough time turning that mental editor off Editing comes very natu-rally to me at this point itrsquos writing that is more of a battle The only writing project Irsquove finished since becoming an editor is The Hero Is You my book about the creative process which came out in 2016 and it reflects six yearsrsquo worth of work
PJ How important is brandingor a social media plat-form for writers
KL Social media acuity is not essential for writers However being good at some form of self-promotion is important for authors If you are a writer who wants to
become a published author do not invest too much of your time worrying about stuff like branding and social mediamdashfocus instead on your craft and becoming the best writer you can possibly be While you are doing that pay attention to what forms of communication seem to come most naturally to you and allow those to be your platform Itrsquos better to do one form of social media (or other kind of self-marketing) well than to do many without genuine interest So if you find that you want to save all your writing for your actual work but you like to share images maybe Instagram is a good platform for you If you arenrsquot comfortable with any social media but you love talking in front of groups
focus any self-promotional en-ergies on getting lots of speak-ing engagements If you can show in some way that you have some connection to other peo-ple publishers will look favor-ably on that But none of this is a deal-breaker I donrsquot know any editor who has turned down a wonderful hooky manuscript because the author didnrsquot tweet
PJ Yoursquove also branched out into being a life coach for writ-ers How did that evolve
KL I became a life coach in 2008 when I was still an assis-tant in publishing I enjoyed my job but had a bit of an ldquois this itrdquo feeling about my work and lifemdashwanting more meaning A number of my close friends happened to all have crises at the same time and I found that I was dropping everything and
racing to the side of each upset friend with a little too much enthusiasm Then I was at a party where I struck up a conversation with a friend of a friend and when I asked her ldquoWhat do you dordquo she said ldquoI empower womenrdquo I asked her out for coffee to hear more about her work as a life coach and it sounded like a great fit for me so I ended up taking a year-long certification course Almost a decade later itrsquos still something I do on the side but has evolved to become very much part of my work as an editor as well And I use coaching techniques in the workshops I run for writers all over the country and in my book The Hero Is You
Kendra Levin continued
Featured Interview
April 9
NARRATIVEmdashDonrsquot Believe Its B A D R E P
by Jane McBride
ave you ever seen the following in a rejection letter ldquoToo much narrative slowing down the storyrdquo Or
ldquoPut some dialogue in to break up the narrativerdquo And yet there is a time and a place for narrative and dare I say it a place for narrative to take top billing over dialogue Consider the following passages The set-up is a con-versation between two twelve-year-old boys one who visits his grandparentsrsquo farm every summer at their farm in Payson Utah and the other a boy who lives in the small rural town
ldquoHey Jaredrdquo Pete said ldquoItrsquos good to see you I havenrsquot seen you since last August when you left your grandpar-entsrsquo farm here in Payson Utah to go back to your home in Chicago Illinoisrdquo ldquoYeah Pete Itrsquos been nine months since we last saw each other Irsquom glad to be back here in Payson Utah with my grandparents My parents are taking an educational tour of Europe They want me to have a taste of farm life to broaden my cultural horizonsrdquo
Is that some of the worst dialogue yoursquove ever read I hope so though it embarrasses me at how easily I was able to write it Would two 12-year-old boys really talk that way Would anyone talk that way Aside from the stilted words the dialogue consists of the boys telling each other things of which they are both already aware Jared knows when he was last in Payson just as Pete knows that itrsquos been nine months since the boys last saw each other They wouldnrsquot name the cities or recount the passage of time Nor would Jared tell Pete that his parents are ldquotaking an educational tour of Europerdquo How could this passage have been better written Letrsquos try it again
Jared poked a stick in the red dirt The last place he want-ed to be was on this crappy farm in the middle of no-where His parents shipped him off to his grandparentsrsquo place every summer They told him it was for his own good He knew better They wanted to get rid of him so that they could fly off to Europe When he saw Pete heading toward him Jared nearly groaned He didnrsquot want to admit that his parents had dumped him at the farm again Just like he didnrsquot want to admit that his grandparents didnrsquot want him any more than he wanted to be here He ducked his head and turned in the other direction pretending that he didnrsquot hear Pete calling his name
Donrsquot get me wrong Irsquom a big fan of dialogue done right to share information and move the story along However the dialogue above is not only badly written itrsquos essentially an information dump The narrative passage reads much more smoothly and gets the relevant points across through Jaredrsquos thoughts How do you know when to use dialogue and when to use narrative The short answer is through instinct and experience You gain those by writing and keeping writing If you feel like you lack the instinct andor experience to know write the passage yoursquore working on in dia-logue then try it again in narrative Read your words aloud If the dialogue sounds stilted chances are you are trying to use it as I did above This does not give you carte blanche to use narrative indiscriminately Use it sparingly to convey thoughts and feelings or to move people through space and time Well-written narrative has a place Itrsquos up to you the writer to know where and when to use it
Writing Workshop
H
April 10
Narrative continued
Writing Workshop
Use narrative - To move characters through time and space A simple sentence or short paragraph to show that time has passed or that a character has ar-rived at a new place is sufficient - To provide brief explanations of backstory Brief is the key word here Giving backstory through dialogue can sound stilted as though the char-acters are telling each other what they already know Sprinkle these bits of backstory sparingly throughout the book - To give a sense of place Characters wouldnrsquot ordinarily talk about a setting A few but important details of the setting will suffice - To describe a reaction Following intense scenes of action a short nar-rative passage to clue the reader into the characterrsquos reactions can help the reader identify what the character is experiencing and feeling - To change the pace This is related to the above If a book is all ac-tion scenes there is no time for the reader to reflect upon what has hap-pened
April 11
gent Jodell Sadler (formerly of Sadler Literary and founder of KidLit College) joins Jill Corcoran
president and fellow agents Eve PorinchakTimothy Travaglini Adah Megged Nuchi and Silvia Ariente at the recently-expanded Jill Corcoran Literary Agency Jodell like Adah will be co-agenting clients with Jill Both will provide feedback and direction on projects but with Jodell primarily in an editorial capacity and Jill pri-marily as the contract negotia-tor
Lynne Marie What fueled your decision to join Jill Corcoran Literary Agency How do you feel this move benefits the clients you brought with you as well as new clients
Jodell Sadler I wanted to work with writers and illustrators on the editing side I am happier and finding real joy in collabo-rating with clients in this team approach As the editorial agent Irsquom the first set of eyes creating top-quality manuscripts with our shared clients at JCLA What is fun for me is that I get to pass the baton to a new set of eyes Jill for submissions Pitches submissions Thatrsquos her baby and I love it We still have editorial meeting to discuss our approach but I do what I love work with writers and illustrators and coach them to success Positioning and marketing be-longs in both camps but I think everyone should be lined up to work with Jill Shersquos genius at what she does
LM Does your extensive background in art and busi-ness play into your decision to focus primarily on the
creative aspect of a book project and how
JS Picture books are built word by carefully selected word and art feeds and drives story Irsquove worked in ed-itorial and as an art director illustrator designer and marketing for a Fortune 500 company Little-known fact about me is that I am also published in photogra-
phy I love art I love words and the interplay of these two picture book partners Thatrsquos why I became fasci-nated by pacing When you can take a line of text and through sound and care make it seem short when long or pace out a sentence to mock a scene it adds excitement to the ed-iting process
My marketing and branding exper-tise includes product development Herersquos a fun fact few know about me as well I illustrated the first product renderings and logo for Super Vee a tremelo system for guitarsmdasha device that keeps a whammy bar in tunemdashas well the box it would be packaged in for customers Now itrsquos huge which has been fun to see Irsquove also drawn with my feet having a great respect for disabilities and how seri-
ously talented individuals go beyond normal every day
LM Please describe your role in a bookrsquos progress from representation to publication
JS That sounds easy I wish it was really that quick but donrsquot we all I edit with writers (and illustrators and writer-illustrators) to help them hone the art and words of story Right now when a writer or author-illustrator comes in to JCLA they are vetted by two agents both Jill and me We jointly represent
interview by Lynne Marie
Agent Spotlight
a
Jodell Sadler of the
April 12
I focus on manuscript polish and prep and pass the ba-ton to Jill I love this model It works
LM Please share details of an upcoming collaborative project you have accepted and tell us why this project stands out for you
JS All books for kids are collaborative for sure Irsquove recently repped awesome illustrator talent some heavy lifters I can see are ready to bust out I like to help il-lustrators make that leap into creating books as au-thor-illustrators Irsquom pretty intense in that regard be-cause Irsquove worked the programs and prepped printed books I know story art and the print industry While Irsquove spent years saving companies thousands through sound design strategies now itrsquos time to do this for au-thors and illustrators
LM How would define your unique approach to chil-drenrsquos literature
JS Whatrsquos also fun and something not many know about me is that following earning my MFA I served as a professor in the many literary categories Human-ities Contemporary World Literature of the Ameri-can Minorities (created courses as expert and itrsquos still one of my favorites) American and British Literature as well as the traditional courses of English Compo-sition Advanced Comp Creative Writing Founda-tions Rhetoric (too many to list) on the undergrad level as well as Publishing and Picture Book classes on the Grad Level Irsquove also worked with educational companies on web product launches and fact-checking against textbooks So I have a really strong grasp of the best writers over decades and the many movements in literature And my teaching in K-12 has contributed a great deal to my understanding of reluctant readers budding writers teaching practices and more
LM Since this is a new partnership please share de-tails of the first book you have championed together and gotten an offer on
JS A two-book picture book deal started us offhellip and we look forward to championing many more in many categories I am over the moon about our approach and all the really wonderful products that are being un-der considered right now Truth-be-told anyone would be blessed to work with Jill She is beyond fabulous
and I look at our approach as a real win-win for clients
LM Will this collaboration in any way change your focus regarding the genres you seek or your manuscript wish list And what if anything remains on your man-uscript wish list for this year
JS Not at all I still love what I love and that hasnrsquot changed Irsquom all about picture books through middle grade and Irsquom looking for great author-illustrators as well as great stories in fiction and nonfiction Contem-porary commercial dark humorous mysteries and big idea books in middle grade Recent projects include interior illustrations for the Friday Barnes series by Phil Gosier as well as his forthcoming author-illustrator picture books Snow Beast Comes to Play and Dog Adop-tion Day (Roaring Brook Press 2017) Bold Women of Medicine 21 Stories of Astounding Discoveries Daring Sur-geries and Healing by Susan M Latta (Chicago Review Press) and If Animals Said I Love You by Ann Whitford Paul (FSG Macmillam)
LM If you had to pick the most important charac-teristic that sells you on a particular manuscript what would it be
JS Pacing of voice and art tells me a book is ready I am particularly sensitive to active language and like most agents and editors look for great voice strong concept unique characters plot hook point of view visual imagery and intrigue First lines and pages of story set the tone for the rest of the picture book or novel A storyrsquos opening should transfer readers to a place they have not experienced before It should feel like a performance that I am a part of
One of my favorite lines from the Beatrix Potter mov-iersquos first lines and visuals
A sweeping paintbrush washes color on the pages along with quiet pause and birdsong A violin softly plays over gentle high-pitched piano keys ldquoTherersquos something deli-cious about writing the first words of a story You never quite tell where theyrsquoll take you Mine took me here
ldquoLooking back the city and I never much liked each other An unmarried woman after all was expected to behave in very particular ways which did not include traipsing from publisher to publishers with a gaggle of friendsrdquo
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
April 13
Like this I love to enter a story and forget I am read-ing
LM What is one thing that you feel you might be able to fix if it is broken in andor missing from a prospec-tive manuscript
JS Pacing hellip and most anything can be fixed along with some things that we donrsquot often think about like concept and marketability These are vital When we write we write to mind heart and ear and this marries with the visual splash an illustrator brings First lines first pages hook voice depth of emotions character plot and tensionhellipall have to be top-notch
LM Since you and Jill are working together how should submissions be addressed
JS Submissions go to only one agent at JCLA Please do not send to both or more than one For me I love a succinct letter in the body of the email that is short
and powerful I encourage writers to do three things
1 Give a hook or line that shares the ldquowhy merdquo
2 After your intro pitch your story in a couple of sentences
3 Add your bio information and done Sign off
Itrsquos really all about the writing or writing and port-folio which for me is your manuscript shared in the Samples area and a dummy attachment as a PDFmdashor at least a link to an online portfolio If you are going to submit as an author-illustrator a portfolio is a must
Best advice Share your project and your personality and be prepared to jump in Show off your work style and creative edge and that you are enjoyable and fun to work with
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
Jodell Sadler is accepting ldquoAbove the Slushrdquo submissions from CBI read-ers First study her guidelines and current needs here httpsjillcorcor-anliteraryagencycomjodell-sadler-editorial-agent which include pic-ture books from authorillustrators as well as nonfiction biographies chapter books middle grade projects and graphic novels Then either click on the Submit button on that page or go straight to her Query Manager page at httpsquerymanagercomqueryJodellSadler In the field marked ldquoIf this query is a referral who referred yourdquo type CBI JCLA GIRAFFE
April 14
by Randi Lynn Mrvos
very time I visited a bookstore I envisioned my manuscript as a book on a shelf This ritual devel-
oped after I wrote a picture book about a girl named Maggie and then created a blog that chronicled the hopeful journey of getting it published
The Maggie Project blog was fashioned after the JulieJulia Project in which Julie Powell blogged about cook-ing all of the recipes in Julia Childrsquos Mastering the Art of French Cooking book in one year The premise of my blog was to submit a picture book manuscript to 30 publishers 15 agents and 5 contests in one year But I was nothing like Julie I did not end up with a book deal It was humiliating The Maggie Project closed down and the manuscript was shelved
Maggie was not the first story I had written Years be-fore I had taken a class on writing for children at the Carnegie Center in my hometown Lexington Ken-tucky After learning the basics I wrote and submitted five picture books but each one was rejected Publica-tion seemed out of reach until I turned to writing non-fiction Having a background as a medical technologist enabled me write scientific articles for kids By the time I had written fifty articles I had an impressive bio so I returned to writing fiction Still no one was interested in my picture books
This setback prompted me to find ways to boost my writing career I decided to read books on writing for kids and began with Jean Karlrsquos How to Write and Sell Picture Books Karl was a childrenrsquos book editor In her book she teaches the key elements needed to create pic-ture books for children and provides information on marketing your book
Another great resource was Writing Picture Books A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication by au-thor and poet Ann Whitford Paul This book provides
the knowledge needed to write picture books that will appeal to children as well as editors and agents The topics include developing plot and point of view cre-ating characters and researching the picture book mar-ket
When it came to composing a story Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos Word Book by Alijandra Mogilner became invaluable for finding just the right word for just the right age group Mogilnerrsquos book allows you to get into the mind of a child at various ages It gives guidelines for sen-tence length and word usage and offers lists of specific words for grade levels kindergarten ndash grade 6
In addition to reading how-to books I stepped into our local library and headed for the childrenrsquos section The librarianrsquos selections were displayed on the top of the stacks I checked out these childrenrsquos books and ana-lyzed their strengths and weaknesses It helped me to understand what was being published
Afterwards I wrote and submitted more picture books but these stories were rejected too It was obvious I needed more help Many years earlier my Carnegie teacher had suggested joining the Society of Childrenrsquos Book Writers and Illustrators I had put it off much too long and so I became a member SCBWI is an interna-tional organization that provides resources and oppor-tunities for members Each year the organization has two conferences one in Los Angeles and the other in New York City Regional chapters have writing work-shops where attendees may have the chance to pitch to an agent or to have a manuscript critiqued by an editor
I took advantage of five SCBWI conferences At these meetings I learned writing and publishing tips from panels of authors During breaks I schmoozed with the ever-so-wanting-to-get-published and exchanged emails to stay in touch and to lend support After one
The Writerrsquos Mindset
E
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf
April 15
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf continued
The Writerrsquos Mindset
conference some of the attendees got fired up about trying to bring an editor to our hometown That in-spired another writer and me to organize a SCBWI Editorrsquos Day workshop It was an unbelievable expe-rience Besides learning how to get published I had the opportunity to pitch a book to the presenter Liz Waniewski editor of Dial Books (though she politely turned it down)
As time passed I continued to write stories and submit them Every now and then the rejections came with personal notes ldquothis project sounds interestingrdquo ldquothis seems like a unique ideardquo ldquothis story has potentialrdquo But despite the praise none of my stories won the heart of a publisher
Frustration became a weight on my shoulders There were times when I wanted to give up But one remark kept me positive My husband said ldquoIt only takes one person to like what you writerdquo
Six years passed since The Maggie Project closed I still hadnrsquot found a publisher for any of my stories I felt it was time to try a new approach and work with an ex-perienced partner Editorial consultant Mary Kole of-fered a package which included a picture book critique and a review of three query letters By chance I pulled out the query for Maggie
Mary guided me when it came to querying As for targeting an agent she suggested making two lists a 10-20 top choices and a 10-20 second choice list She said to query 10-20 agents in a first round to see if they would give any feedback and then adjust accordingly Re-query some from the A list who seem open to see-ing a revision and also the B list who will be seeing it for the first time
In regards to my manuscript on Maggie Mary warned about Flight of Imagination a plot of a book dealing with kids having an adventure based largely in their imagination She stressed that itrsquos not like you canrsquot have a story that centers on a childrsquos journey through a land of imagination But there needs to be other layers in play and an actual story within the imagined land-scape not just an episodic barrage of images or crazy adventures Characters need to be fleshed out A plot needs to be in motion with sequential events that go from conflict to climax Other themes and universal
childhood experiences need to be embedded within the manuscript
After weighing her comments I changed the title of my story Also I judiciously cut 500 words (Picture books were shorter these days Perhaps thatrsquos one of the reasons why Maggie never sold) Then the story was sent to five publishers Buthellipit was deacutejagrave vu all over again Within two weeks three rejections appeared in my inbox I started questioning myself Did I follow Maryrsquos advice Were my characters well-developed Did the plot advance Had I successfully incorporat-ed themes and universal childhood experiences within the manuscript She warned that Flight of Imagination picture books are a tougher row to hoe than most Had I looked at my story objectively Did it suffer as Mary would say from this colorfulndashbut nonetheless problem-aticndashissue
With no word on the two remaining submissions I put writing and worrying about my writing on hold My husband and I went on vacation in New Orleans to cel-ebrate our birthdays We had done a Garden District tour (where we saw Sandra Bollockrsquos and John Good-manrsquos houses) visited a plantation listened to jazz on Bourbon Street and tasted spicy Cajun dishes Before going out one evening I checked my emails Surpris-ingly one of them was from a publisher I had queried Incredibly it read I like your book My scream was probably heard throughout the entire hotel
When we returned home we opened our birthday gifts My husband bought me Julia Childrsquos famous cook-book Maybe I was a little like Julie Powell after all
A month later I signed a book contract with Cactus Moon Publications Now my days are spent marketing Maggie and the Summer Vacation Show and Tell When I look back on the road to publication it had been a long difficult journey It demanded the willingness to develop the craft the determination to never give up the strength to remain positive despite rejection and the resolve to hold fast to a dream It also required get-ting involved with a professional writerrsquos organization and working with editorial partner But even before the journey began it took the daring to envision a book on a shelf
April 16
Global Publishing
Tips for Creating Bilingual Booksby Sharon Olivia Blumberg
n our global world itrsquos more important than ever to expose children to different languages Bilingual
childrenrsquos books is one terrific way to do just that As a retired foreign language teacher of Spanish I read bilingual books to my seventh graders as they sat spellbound
I recently spoke with two women involved in pub-lishing bilingual books for childrenmdashCath Bruzzone of b small publishing in the UK and Maria Domin-guez of Scholastic en espantildeol in the USmdashand got their thoughts on how to write stories that work well in two languages
Cath Bruzzone is a British publisher and author of activity books and foreign language learning books for children She started her career as a teacher of Italian and French and worked as an editor of UK publishers Harrap Books Thomas Nelson and Pan Books before starting her own business b small pub-lishing in 1990 (httpwwwbsmallcouk)
Sharon Blumberg Please explain the bilingual chil-drenrsquos book market in the UK regarding current needs and popularity with children parents teach-ers and librarians
Cara Bruzzone The bilingual childrenrsquos book mar-ket in the UK is small and specialized It is divided between European languages mainly French Span-ish It also includes community languages spoken in the UK like Hindi Urdu Arabic and Chinese Foreign languages are now offered at primary (ele-mentary) schools But this is a recent initiative that is poorly funded for teacher training and materials It concentrates mainly on French with some Span-ish So the main market for b smallrsquos books are par-entsmdashbilingual families and parents who want their young children to enjoy their two languages or learn a foreign language As many parents and teachers are not confident linguists bilingual books are ideal to
give them extra support Bilingual books highlight similarities between the two languages giving chil-dren confidence in the new language Librarians have supported bilingual books but many libraries have closed in the UK because of the economic crisis from 2008 Sadly this shrinking market is vital for pro-moting community languages In order to produce the quantity and quality of books that we publish we rely on selling foreign rights to countries like the USA some European countries China and Asia
SB When writing childrenrsquos bilingual books does the author or the publisher provide the translation
CB In the case of b smallrsquos bilingual books we write them in English and commission translations from native speakers However we can edit the English text if necessary to make sure that the two languag-es work well together for the target age group If the book is published in another country like China or Poland the local publisher buying the rights will pro-duce the Chinese or Polish text Also as our books are in British English and Castilian Spanish the US publisher purchasing the rights supplies the US En-glish and also the Latin American Spanish text for their editions There are a number of differences between US and British English especially for the younger age groups colourcolor mummom lor-rytruck are examples
SB What stories work best as bilingual books
CB Stories with repetition work well For childrenrsquos books stories should be compelling and not compli-cated Humor is good but jokes can be difficult to translate The stories should avoid cultural content that canrsquot be easily understood or translated Univer-sal themes are best Rhyme is difficult to translate as well as texts that rely on alphabetical order as lan-guages have different alphabets (Spanish has an extra ntilde for example and Welsh has the letters ch ff and ll)
I
April 17
Global Publishing
From a production point of view the layout of bilin-gual books must leave space for two languages and possibly a pronunciation guide So the text will be shorter than monolingual stories It is a challenge to have a beginning middle and end in so few pages Marrying the text and pictures can also be challeng-ing when there are two sets of text that work with the pictures
Irsquoll give examples from two of our titles Puppy Finds a FriendCachorrito Encuentra Un Amigo part of the I Can Read series (published in both English-French and English-Spanish) and La Gatita Luciacutea en la playaLucy Cat at the Beach one of a series of four Lucy Cat cartoon strip books published in English-French and English-Spanish
The puppy story had to fit into our series concept picture stories for ages 3 to 5 with a simple repetitive text and universal childrenrsquos themes that reflect chil-drenrsquos lives while building their self-esteem I chose farmyard animals so that I didnrsquot have to select chil-dren of one particular ethnicity (We are committed to inclusivity in our books and have recently signed the Everybody In charter promoted by Inclusive Minds We want to improve our representation of all children in our books) The story is about a little puppy who tries to find a friend All the animals say theyrsquore too busy but the little mouse plays with him The story includes common farm animalsmdashhorse cow etc Then there is a repetition of the key phras-es like ldquoIrsquom too busyrdquo So as an attractive story it reinforces everyday language The illustrations are brilliant but we had trouble coming up with the final puppy We have been lucky with this series as several well-known illustrators have agreed to illustrate the stories for modest fees because they believe in bilin-gual education
The Lucy Cat series was designed as the next step up from our Bilingual First Words books They would be stories based on simple conversational phrases Car-toon strips are popular for early reading The illustra-tor Clare Beaton and I worked together on a cartoon strip for young language learners in the McGraw-Hill Languages for Children series Lucy Cat was named after my young daughter Lucy She is a feisty cat who has a series of adventures where she saves the
day In Lucy Cat at the beach she saves some kittens from a shark The stories all have the same structure exchanging greetings introducing the scene and then a big BANG page averting disaster and finally everyone thanks Lucy We consulted an early read-ing specialist who advised with the speech bubbles including a third person narrative along the bottom of the strip The stories were fun to invent but orga-nizing the bilingual text was a challenge Including both languages in the speech bubbles looked messy and wouldnrsquot encourage children to read only the new language So we doubled up the strips on each page one in English and one in the foreign language This works well but means that we havenrsquot published a monolingual version of the stories
SB How does nonfiction work for bilingual books
CB I donrsquot have much experience with bilingual nonfiction b small has produced a series of stick-er atlases and a range of picture dictionaries and search-and-find 1000 word books (links refer to En-glish-Spanish editions But they are also published in English only and English-French) so they are refer-ence books rather than nonfiction Like fiction it is important to choose concepts that can be translated and keep the information shorter than in a monolin-gual nonfiction book
In fiction and nonfiction it is challenging because the illustrations must work in both languages A good example is lsquobreadrsquo A typical English loaf is a differ-ent shape from an Italian or French loaf Similarly an American barn looks different from a European barn and a German church spire looks different from an English church tower The most difficult of all is the driving wheel of a car lorry (truck) or busmdashleft or right The solution is to neutralize the images so that they are acceptable to many culturesmdashand place the steering wheel in the middle of the car This means working with illustrators who create attractive pictures that children love even if they donrsquot reflect their culture
SB What are the most common languages that ap-pear together in one book
CB This depends on the market For the UK and
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April 7
my day communicating and problem-solving than ac-tually editing books
PJ What parts of your job do you like the best And the least
KL I love to help people so my favorite parts of the job are the ones that allow me to do that whether Irsquom guiding an author through a tricky revision or advis-ing a colleague on a challenging situation To me the most frustrating part of the job is when for whatever reason a book I love and believe in just doesnrsquot seem to resonate Itrsquos disappointing for the author and for me toomdashand hard to see something yoursquove put so much work into fail to reach people
PJ What surprised you the most about the publishing process
KL Like most people I always imagined being an edi-tor was a quiet job-- reading and editing all day In fact I have to do most reading and editing in my own time outside of the office because itrsquos definitely NOT a qui-et job Most days are full of meetings phone calls dis-cussions problem solving and other kinds of running around and being social Luckily I really enjoy that
PJ Is there a common thread in the books you ulti-mately decline to pursue for example like not ready for prime time editing errors etc
KL Itrsquos hard to find one common thread among them all and much easier to see whatrsquos common among the books I do acquire To put it in perspective I decline several hundred manuscripts each year I acquire be-tween one and five So itrsquos easier for me to look at what all the ones I do acquire have in common What tends to tie them together is an element of reader empower-ment I love books that inspire and empower kids and teens that show them they can solve their own prob-lems that they are stronger than they realize and that therersquos a lot they can do despite constantly being told they are ldquojustrdquo children
PJ Do you have a favorite genre
KL One of the pleasures of working on books for young readers is that you get to be kind of a Unitarian of genres and try everything I love the variety But I do find myself most drawn to books that take place in a realistic world either contemporary or historical but
have magical elements I like books that transport me to a version of reality where magic is real
PJ Yoursquove edited many books from picture books to young adult Does each genre have a different publish-ing process
KL Any childrenrsquos books editor would tell you that the process for making picture books is very different from that of novels One of my favorite aspects of the picture book process is getting to work closely with the art director I love collaborating with someone who has a totally different skill set and area of expertisemdashI learn so much from that process Novels come to me a little more naturally so I feel lucky that in the area where Irsquom less confident picture books I get to rely on a partner in the work
PJ What do you look for in a book that yoursquore consid-ering publishing
KL What every editor looks for I imaginemdashwriting that absorbs me and make me forget the world around me coupled with a concept or idea that I can succinctly explain to our sales and marketing folks in a way thatrsquoll get them excited about the project I look for something that hasnrsquot been done before in quite the same way I look for work that will empower its readers and give them a sense of their own potential and strengthmdashto me thatrsquos one of the most important reasons to publish books for children to begin with
PJ Do you primarily accept submissions through agents andor referrals or do you still find hidden gems in the slush pilequeries
KL At this stage of my career I mainly accept submis-sions that come from agents though Irsquod love to connect with something unrepresented As a house Penguin is closed to unsolicited submissions mainly because it would take many full-time staff members to deal with the sheer volumemdashwe just donrsquot have the bandwidth By focusing on work that is represented by agents we are asking writers to really do their homework study their craft have a knowledge of the marketplace devel-op resiliencemdashall crucial for becoming an author That said I do open my mailbox to unrepresented submis-sions from writers who attend conferences and retreats for which Irsquom a faculty member and each event has its own guidelines
Kendra Levin continued
Featured Interview
April 8
PJ What publishing trends do you foresee Is there something yoursquod like to see or see more of
KL I try not to chase trends Irsquod rather create them than try to predict them For example historical fiction has always been challenging but if you look at this yearrsquos ALA awards you can see the genre getting quite a lot of attention including a book I edited The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry which won a Printz Honor When I acquired the book I certainly didnrsquot think that historical fiction would be a trend by the time the book came out And arguably it still isnrsquot But the genre also seems to be rising to the surface in ways it wasnrsquot two or three years ago As far as what Irsquod like to see more of Irsquom just always looking to be surprisedmdashwhich could mean anything I like to keep my options open
PJ Being a writer yourself how easymdashor difficultmdashis it for you to go into editing mode on ma-terial that was created by some-one else
KL Many editors are also writ-ers and the ones I know seem to fall into two camps Either they are incredibly driven and just find a way to switch back and forth between ldquoeditor brainrdquo and ldquowriter brainrdquo so it becomes habit or they struggle mighti-ly with making that boundary I definitely fall into the latter camp I find writing extremely difficult because I have a tough time turning that mental editor off Editing comes very natu-rally to me at this point itrsquos writing that is more of a battle The only writing project Irsquove finished since becoming an editor is The Hero Is You my book about the creative process which came out in 2016 and it reflects six yearsrsquo worth of work
PJ How important is brandingor a social media plat-form for writers
KL Social media acuity is not essential for writers However being good at some form of self-promotion is important for authors If you are a writer who wants to
become a published author do not invest too much of your time worrying about stuff like branding and social mediamdashfocus instead on your craft and becoming the best writer you can possibly be While you are doing that pay attention to what forms of communication seem to come most naturally to you and allow those to be your platform Itrsquos better to do one form of social media (or other kind of self-marketing) well than to do many without genuine interest So if you find that you want to save all your writing for your actual work but you like to share images maybe Instagram is a good platform for you If you arenrsquot comfortable with any social media but you love talking in front of groups
focus any self-promotional en-ergies on getting lots of speak-ing engagements If you can show in some way that you have some connection to other peo-ple publishers will look favor-ably on that But none of this is a deal-breaker I donrsquot know any editor who has turned down a wonderful hooky manuscript because the author didnrsquot tweet
PJ Yoursquove also branched out into being a life coach for writ-ers How did that evolve
KL I became a life coach in 2008 when I was still an assis-tant in publishing I enjoyed my job but had a bit of an ldquois this itrdquo feeling about my work and lifemdashwanting more meaning A number of my close friends happened to all have crises at the same time and I found that I was dropping everything and
racing to the side of each upset friend with a little too much enthusiasm Then I was at a party where I struck up a conversation with a friend of a friend and when I asked her ldquoWhat do you dordquo she said ldquoI empower womenrdquo I asked her out for coffee to hear more about her work as a life coach and it sounded like a great fit for me so I ended up taking a year-long certification course Almost a decade later itrsquos still something I do on the side but has evolved to become very much part of my work as an editor as well And I use coaching techniques in the workshops I run for writers all over the country and in my book The Hero Is You
Kendra Levin continued
Featured Interview
April 9
NARRATIVEmdashDonrsquot Believe Its B A D R E P
by Jane McBride
ave you ever seen the following in a rejection letter ldquoToo much narrative slowing down the storyrdquo Or
ldquoPut some dialogue in to break up the narrativerdquo And yet there is a time and a place for narrative and dare I say it a place for narrative to take top billing over dialogue Consider the following passages The set-up is a con-versation between two twelve-year-old boys one who visits his grandparentsrsquo farm every summer at their farm in Payson Utah and the other a boy who lives in the small rural town
ldquoHey Jaredrdquo Pete said ldquoItrsquos good to see you I havenrsquot seen you since last August when you left your grandpar-entsrsquo farm here in Payson Utah to go back to your home in Chicago Illinoisrdquo ldquoYeah Pete Itrsquos been nine months since we last saw each other Irsquom glad to be back here in Payson Utah with my grandparents My parents are taking an educational tour of Europe They want me to have a taste of farm life to broaden my cultural horizonsrdquo
Is that some of the worst dialogue yoursquove ever read I hope so though it embarrasses me at how easily I was able to write it Would two 12-year-old boys really talk that way Would anyone talk that way Aside from the stilted words the dialogue consists of the boys telling each other things of which they are both already aware Jared knows when he was last in Payson just as Pete knows that itrsquos been nine months since the boys last saw each other They wouldnrsquot name the cities or recount the passage of time Nor would Jared tell Pete that his parents are ldquotaking an educational tour of Europerdquo How could this passage have been better written Letrsquos try it again
Jared poked a stick in the red dirt The last place he want-ed to be was on this crappy farm in the middle of no-where His parents shipped him off to his grandparentsrsquo place every summer They told him it was for his own good He knew better They wanted to get rid of him so that they could fly off to Europe When he saw Pete heading toward him Jared nearly groaned He didnrsquot want to admit that his parents had dumped him at the farm again Just like he didnrsquot want to admit that his grandparents didnrsquot want him any more than he wanted to be here He ducked his head and turned in the other direction pretending that he didnrsquot hear Pete calling his name
Donrsquot get me wrong Irsquom a big fan of dialogue done right to share information and move the story along However the dialogue above is not only badly written itrsquos essentially an information dump The narrative passage reads much more smoothly and gets the relevant points across through Jaredrsquos thoughts How do you know when to use dialogue and when to use narrative The short answer is through instinct and experience You gain those by writing and keeping writing If you feel like you lack the instinct andor experience to know write the passage yoursquore working on in dia-logue then try it again in narrative Read your words aloud If the dialogue sounds stilted chances are you are trying to use it as I did above This does not give you carte blanche to use narrative indiscriminately Use it sparingly to convey thoughts and feelings or to move people through space and time Well-written narrative has a place Itrsquos up to you the writer to know where and when to use it
Writing Workshop
H
April 10
Narrative continued
Writing Workshop
Use narrative - To move characters through time and space A simple sentence or short paragraph to show that time has passed or that a character has ar-rived at a new place is sufficient - To provide brief explanations of backstory Brief is the key word here Giving backstory through dialogue can sound stilted as though the char-acters are telling each other what they already know Sprinkle these bits of backstory sparingly throughout the book - To give a sense of place Characters wouldnrsquot ordinarily talk about a setting A few but important details of the setting will suffice - To describe a reaction Following intense scenes of action a short nar-rative passage to clue the reader into the characterrsquos reactions can help the reader identify what the character is experiencing and feeling - To change the pace This is related to the above If a book is all ac-tion scenes there is no time for the reader to reflect upon what has hap-pened
April 11
gent Jodell Sadler (formerly of Sadler Literary and founder of KidLit College) joins Jill Corcoran
president and fellow agents Eve PorinchakTimothy Travaglini Adah Megged Nuchi and Silvia Ariente at the recently-expanded Jill Corcoran Literary Agency Jodell like Adah will be co-agenting clients with Jill Both will provide feedback and direction on projects but with Jodell primarily in an editorial capacity and Jill pri-marily as the contract negotia-tor
Lynne Marie What fueled your decision to join Jill Corcoran Literary Agency How do you feel this move benefits the clients you brought with you as well as new clients
Jodell Sadler I wanted to work with writers and illustrators on the editing side I am happier and finding real joy in collabo-rating with clients in this team approach As the editorial agent Irsquom the first set of eyes creating top-quality manuscripts with our shared clients at JCLA What is fun for me is that I get to pass the baton to a new set of eyes Jill for submissions Pitches submissions Thatrsquos her baby and I love it We still have editorial meeting to discuss our approach but I do what I love work with writers and illustrators and coach them to success Positioning and marketing be-longs in both camps but I think everyone should be lined up to work with Jill Shersquos genius at what she does
LM Does your extensive background in art and busi-ness play into your decision to focus primarily on the
creative aspect of a book project and how
JS Picture books are built word by carefully selected word and art feeds and drives story Irsquove worked in ed-itorial and as an art director illustrator designer and marketing for a Fortune 500 company Little-known fact about me is that I am also published in photogra-
phy I love art I love words and the interplay of these two picture book partners Thatrsquos why I became fasci-nated by pacing When you can take a line of text and through sound and care make it seem short when long or pace out a sentence to mock a scene it adds excitement to the ed-iting process
My marketing and branding exper-tise includes product development Herersquos a fun fact few know about me as well I illustrated the first product renderings and logo for Super Vee a tremelo system for guitarsmdasha device that keeps a whammy bar in tunemdashas well the box it would be packaged in for customers Now itrsquos huge which has been fun to see Irsquove also drawn with my feet having a great respect for disabilities and how seri-
ously talented individuals go beyond normal every day
LM Please describe your role in a bookrsquos progress from representation to publication
JS That sounds easy I wish it was really that quick but donrsquot we all I edit with writers (and illustrators and writer-illustrators) to help them hone the art and words of story Right now when a writer or author-illustrator comes in to JCLA they are vetted by two agents both Jill and me We jointly represent
interview by Lynne Marie
Agent Spotlight
a
Jodell Sadler of the
April 12
I focus on manuscript polish and prep and pass the ba-ton to Jill I love this model It works
LM Please share details of an upcoming collaborative project you have accepted and tell us why this project stands out for you
JS All books for kids are collaborative for sure Irsquove recently repped awesome illustrator talent some heavy lifters I can see are ready to bust out I like to help il-lustrators make that leap into creating books as au-thor-illustrators Irsquom pretty intense in that regard be-cause Irsquove worked the programs and prepped printed books I know story art and the print industry While Irsquove spent years saving companies thousands through sound design strategies now itrsquos time to do this for au-thors and illustrators
LM How would define your unique approach to chil-drenrsquos literature
JS Whatrsquos also fun and something not many know about me is that following earning my MFA I served as a professor in the many literary categories Human-ities Contemporary World Literature of the Ameri-can Minorities (created courses as expert and itrsquos still one of my favorites) American and British Literature as well as the traditional courses of English Compo-sition Advanced Comp Creative Writing Founda-tions Rhetoric (too many to list) on the undergrad level as well as Publishing and Picture Book classes on the Grad Level Irsquove also worked with educational companies on web product launches and fact-checking against textbooks So I have a really strong grasp of the best writers over decades and the many movements in literature And my teaching in K-12 has contributed a great deal to my understanding of reluctant readers budding writers teaching practices and more
LM Since this is a new partnership please share de-tails of the first book you have championed together and gotten an offer on
JS A two-book picture book deal started us offhellip and we look forward to championing many more in many categories I am over the moon about our approach and all the really wonderful products that are being un-der considered right now Truth-be-told anyone would be blessed to work with Jill She is beyond fabulous
and I look at our approach as a real win-win for clients
LM Will this collaboration in any way change your focus regarding the genres you seek or your manuscript wish list And what if anything remains on your man-uscript wish list for this year
JS Not at all I still love what I love and that hasnrsquot changed Irsquom all about picture books through middle grade and Irsquom looking for great author-illustrators as well as great stories in fiction and nonfiction Contem-porary commercial dark humorous mysteries and big idea books in middle grade Recent projects include interior illustrations for the Friday Barnes series by Phil Gosier as well as his forthcoming author-illustrator picture books Snow Beast Comes to Play and Dog Adop-tion Day (Roaring Brook Press 2017) Bold Women of Medicine 21 Stories of Astounding Discoveries Daring Sur-geries and Healing by Susan M Latta (Chicago Review Press) and If Animals Said I Love You by Ann Whitford Paul (FSG Macmillam)
LM If you had to pick the most important charac-teristic that sells you on a particular manuscript what would it be
JS Pacing of voice and art tells me a book is ready I am particularly sensitive to active language and like most agents and editors look for great voice strong concept unique characters plot hook point of view visual imagery and intrigue First lines and pages of story set the tone for the rest of the picture book or novel A storyrsquos opening should transfer readers to a place they have not experienced before It should feel like a performance that I am a part of
One of my favorite lines from the Beatrix Potter mov-iersquos first lines and visuals
A sweeping paintbrush washes color on the pages along with quiet pause and birdsong A violin softly plays over gentle high-pitched piano keys ldquoTherersquos something deli-cious about writing the first words of a story You never quite tell where theyrsquoll take you Mine took me here
ldquoLooking back the city and I never much liked each other An unmarried woman after all was expected to behave in very particular ways which did not include traipsing from publisher to publishers with a gaggle of friendsrdquo
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
April 13
Like this I love to enter a story and forget I am read-ing
LM What is one thing that you feel you might be able to fix if it is broken in andor missing from a prospec-tive manuscript
JS Pacing hellip and most anything can be fixed along with some things that we donrsquot often think about like concept and marketability These are vital When we write we write to mind heart and ear and this marries with the visual splash an illustrator brings First lines first pages hook voice depth of emotions character plot and tensionhellipall have to be top-notch
LM Since you and Jill are working together how should submissions be addressed
JS Submissions go to only one agent at JCLA Please do not send to both or more than one For me I love a succinct letter in the body of the email that is short
and powerful I encourage writers to do three things
1 Give a hook or line that shares the ldquowhy merdquo
2 After your intro pitch your story in a couple of sentences
3 Add your bio information and done Sign off
Itrsquos really all about the writing or writing and port-folio which for me is your manuscript shared in the Samples area and a dummy attachment as a PDFmdashor at least a link to an online portfolio If you are going to submit as an author-illustrator a portfolio is a must
Best advice Share your project and your personality and be prepared to jump in Show off your work style and creative edge and that you are enjoyable and fun to work with
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
Jodell Sadler is accepting ldquoAbove the Slushrdquo submissions from CBI read-ers First study her guidelines and current needs here httpsjillcorcor-anliteraryagencycomjodell-sadler-editorial-agent which include pic-ture books from authorillustrators as well as nonfiction biographies chapter books middle grade projects and graphic novels Then either click on the Submit button on that page or go straight to her Query Manager page at httpsquerymanagercomqueryJodellSadler In the field marked ldquoIf this query is a referral who referred yourdquo type CBI JCLA GIRAFFE
April 14
by Randi Lynn Mrvos
very time I visited a bookstore I envisioned my manuscript as a book on a shelf This ritual devel-
oped after I wrote a picture book about a girl named Maggie and then created a blog that chronicled the hopeful journey of getting it published
The Maggie Project blog was fashioned after the JulieJulia Project in which Julie Powell blogged about cook-ing all of the recipes in Julia Childrsquos Mastering the Art of French Cooking book in one year The premise of my blog was to submit a picture book manuscript to 30 publishers 15 agents and 5 contests in one year But I was nothing like Julie I did not end up with a book deal It was humiliating The Maggie Project closed down and the manuscript was shelved
Maggie was not the first story I had written Years be-fore I had taken a class on writing for children at the Carnegie Center in my hometown Lexington Ken-tucky After learning the basics I wrote and submitted five picture books but each one was rejected Publica-tion seemed out of reach until I turned to writing non-fiction Having a background as a medical technologist enabled me write scientific articles for kids By the time I had written fifty articles I had an impressive bio so I returned to writing fiction Still no one was interested in my picture books
This setback prompted me to find ways to boost my writing career I decided to read books on writing for kids and began with Jean Karlrsquos How to Write and Sell Picture Books Karl was a childrenrsquos book editor In her book she teaches the key elements needed to create pic-ture books for children and provides information on marketing your book
Another great resource was Writing Picture Books A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication by au-thor and poet Ann Whitford Paul This book provides
the knowledge needed to write picture books that will appeal to children as well as editors and agents The topics include developing plot and point of view cre-ating characters and researching the picture book mar-ket
When it came to composing a story Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos Word Book by Alijandra Mogilner became invaluable for finding just the right word for just the right age group Mogilnerrsquos book allows you to get into the mind of a child at various ages It gives guidelines for sen-tence length and word usage and offers lists of specific words for grade levels kindergarten ndash grade 6
In addition to reading how-to books I stepped into our local library and headed for the childrenrsquos section The librarianrsquos selections were displayed on the top of the stacks I checked out these childrenrsquos books and ana-lyzed their strengths and weaknesses It helped me to understand what was being published
Afterwards I wrote and submitted more picture books but these stories were rejected too It was obvious I needed more help Many years earlier my Carnegie teacher had suggested joining the Society of Childrenrsquos Book Writers and Illustrators I had put it off much too long and so I became a member SCBWI is an interna-tional organization that provides resources and oppor-tunities for members Each year the organization has two conferences one in Los Angeles and the other in New York City Regional chapters have writing work-shops where attendees may have the chance to pitch to an agent or to have a manuscript critiqued by an editor
I took advantage of five SCBWI conferences At these meetings I learned writing and publishing tips from panels of authors During breaks I schmoozed with the ever-so-wanting-to-get-published and exchanged emails to stay in touch and to lend support After one
The Writerrsquos Mindset
E
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf
April 15
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf continued
The Writerrsquos Mindset
conference some of the attendees got fired up about trying to bring an editor to our hometown That in-spired another writer and me to organize a SCBWI Editorrsquos Day workshop It was an unbelievable expe-rience Besides learning how to get published I had the opportunity to pitch a book to the presenter Liz Waniewski editor of Dial Books (though she politely turned it down)
As time passed I continued to write stories and submit them Every now and then the rejections came with personal notes ldquothis project sounds interestingrdquo ldquothis seems like a unique ideardquo ldquothis story has potentialrdquo But despite the praise none of my stories won the heart of a publisher
Frustration became a weight on my shoulders There were times when I wanted to give up But one remark kept me positive My husband said ldquoIt only takes one person to like what you writerdquo
Six years passed since The Maggie Project closed I still hadnrsquot found a publisher for any of my stories I felt it was time to try a new approach and work with an ex-perienced partner Editorial consultant Mary Kole of-fered a package which included a picture book critique and a review of three query letters By chance I pulled out the query for Maggie
Mary guided me when it came to querying As for targeting an agent she suggested making two lists a 10-20 top choices and a 10-20 second choice list She said to query 10-20 agents in a first round to see if they would give any feedback and then adjust accordingly Re-query some from the A list who seem open to see-ing a revision and also the B list who will be seeing it for the first time
In regards to my manuscript on Maggie Mary warned about Flight of Imagination a plot of a book dealing with kids having an adventure based largely in their imagination She stressed that itrsquos not like you canrsquot have a story that centers on a childrsquos journey through a land of imagination But there needs to be other layers in play and an actual story within the imagined land-scape not just an episodic barrage of images or crazy adventures Characters need to be fleshed out A plot needs to be in motion with sequential events that go from conflict to climax Other themes and universal
childhood experiences need to be embedded within the manuscript
After weighing her comments I changed the title of my story Also I judiciously cut 500 words (Picture books were shorter these days Perhaps thatrsquos one of the reasons why Maggie never sold) Then the story was sent to five publishers Buthellipit was deacutejagrave vu all over again Within two weeks three rejections appeared in my inbox I started questioning myself Did I follow Maryrsquos advice Were my characters well-developed Did the plot advance Had I successfully incorporat-ed themes and universal childhood experiences within the manuscript She warned that Flight of Imagination picture books are a tougher row to hoe than most Had I looked at my story objectively Did it suffer as Mary would say from this colorfulndashbut nonetheless problem-aticndashissue
With no word on the two remaining submissions I put writing and worrying about my writing on hold My husband and I went on vacation in New Orleans to cel-ebrate our birthdays We had done a Garden District tour (where we saw Sandra Bollockrsquos and John Good-manrsquos houses) visited a plantation listened to jazz on Bourbon Street and tasted spicy Cajun dishes Before going out one evening I checked my emails Surpris-ingly one of them was from a publisher I had queried Incredibly it read I like your book My scream was probably heard throughout the entire hotel
When we returned home we opened our birthday gifts My husband bought me Julia Childrsquos famous cook-book Maybe I was a little like Julie Powell after all
A month later I signed a book contract with Cactus Moon Publications Now my days are spent marketing Maggie and the Summer Vacation Show and Tell When I look back on the road to publication it had been a long difficult journey It demanded the willingness to develop the craft the determination to never give up the strength to remain positive despite rejection and the resolve to hold fast to a dream It also required get-ting involved with a professional writerrsquos organization and working with editorial partner But even before the journey began it took the daring to envision a book on a shelf
April 16
Global Publishing
Tips for Creating Bilingual Booksby Sharon Olivia Blumberg
n our global world itrsquos more important than ever to expose children to different languages Bilingual
childrenrsquos books is one terrific way to do just that As a retired foreign language teacher of Spanish I read bilingual books to my seventh graders as they sat spellbound
I recently spoke with two women involved in pub-lishing bilingual books for childrenmdashCath Bruzzone of b small publishing in the UK and Maria Domin-guez of Scholastic en espantildeol in the USmdashand got their thoughts on how to write stories that work well in two languages
Cath Bruzzone is a British publisher and author of activity books and foreign language learning books for children She started her career as a teacher of Italian and French and worked as an editor of UK publishers Harrap Books Thomas Nelson and Pan Books before starting her own business b small pub-lishing in 1990 (httpwwwbsmallcouk)
Sharon Blumberg Please explain the bilingual chil-drenrsquos book market in the UK regarding current needs and popularity with children parents teach-ers and librarians
Cara Bruzzone The bilingual childrenrsquos book mar-ket in the UK is small and specialized It is divided between European languages mainly French Span-ish It also includes community languages spoken in the UK like Hindi Urdu Arabic and Chinese Foreign languages are now offered at primary (ele-mentary) schools But this is a recent initiative that is poorly funded for teacher training and materials It concentrates mainly on French with some Span-ish So the main market for b smallrsquos books are par-entsmdashbilingual families and parents who want their young children to enjoy their two languages or learn a foreign language As many parents and teachers are not confident linguists bilingual books are ideal to
give them extra support Bilingual books highlight similarities between the two languages giving chil-dren confidence in the new language Librarians have supported bilingual books but many libraries have closed in the UK because of the economic crisis from 2008 Sadly this shrinking market is vital for pro-moting community languages In order to produce the quantity and quality of books that we publish we rely on selling foreign rights to countries like the USA some European countries China and Asia
SB When writing childrenrsquos bilingual books does the author or the publisher provide the translation
CB In the case of b smallrsquos bilingual books we write them in English and commission translations from native speakers However we can edit the English text if necessary to make sure that the two languag-es work well together for the target age group If the book is published in another country like China or Poland the local publisher buying the rights will pro-duce the Chinese or Polish text Also as our books are in British English and Castilian Spanish the US publisher purchasing the rights supplies the US En-glish and also the Latin American Spanish text for their editions There are a number of differences between US and British English especially for the younger age groups colourcolor mummom lor-rytruck are examples
SB What stories work best as bilingual books
CB Stories with repetition work well For childrenrsquos books stories should be compelling and not compli-cated Humor is good but jokes can be difficult to translate The stories should avoid cultural content that canrsquot be easily understood or translated Univer-sal themes are best Rhyme is difficult to translate as well as texts that rely on alphabetical order as lan-guages have different alphabets (Spanish has an extra ntilde for example and Welsh has the letters ch ff and ll)
I
April 17
Global Publishing
From a production point of view the layout of bilin-gual books must leave space for two languages and possibly a pronunciation guide So the text will be shorter than monolingual stories It is a challenge to have a beginning middle and end in so few pages Marrying the text and pictures can also be challeng-ing when there are two sets of text that work with the pictures
Irsquoll give examples from two of our titles Puppy Finds a FriendCachorrito Encuentra Un Amigo part of the I Can Read series (published in both English-French and English-Spanish) and La Gatita Luciacutea en la playaLucy Cat at the Beach one of a series of four Lucy Cat cartoon strip books published in English-French and English-Spanish
The puppy story had to fit into our series concept picture stories for ages 3 to 5 with a simple repetitive text and universal childrenrsquos themes that reflect chil-drenrsquos lives while building their self-esteem I chose farmyard animals so that I didnrsquot have to select chil-dren of one particular ethnicity (We are committed to inclusivity in our books and have recently signed the Everybody In charter promoted by Inclusive Minds We want to improve our representation of all children in our books) The story is about a little puppy who tries to find a friend All the animals say theyrsquore too busy but the little mouse plays with him The story includes common farm animalsmdashhorse cow etc Then there is a repetition of the key phras-es like ldquoIrsquom too busyrdquo So as an attractive story it reinforces everyday language The illustrations are brilliant but we had trouble coming up with the final puppy We have been lucky with this series as several well-known illustrators have agreed to illustrate the stories for modest fees because they believe in bilin-gual education
The Lucy Cat series was designed as the next step up from our Bilingual First Words books They would be stories based on simple conversational phrases Car-toon strips are popular for early reading The illustra-tor Clare Beaton and I worked together on a cartoon strip for young language learners in the McGraw-Hill Languages for Children series Lucy Cat was named after my young daughter Lucy She is a feisty cat who has a series of adventures where she saves the
day In Lucy Cat at the beach she saves some kittens from a shark The stories all have the same structure exchanging greetings introducing the scene and then a big BANG page averting disaster and finally everyone thanks Lucy We consulted an early read-ing specialist who advised with the speech bubbles including a third person narrative along the bottom of the strip The stories were fun to invent but orga-nizing the bilingual text was a challenge Including both languages in the speech bubbles looked messy and wouldnrsquot encourage children to read only the new language So we doubled up the strips on each page one in English and one in the foreign language This works well but means that we havenrsquot published a monolingual version of the stories
SB How does nonfiction work for bilingual books
CB I donrsquot have much experience with bilingual nonfiction b small has produced a series of stick-er atlases and a range of picture dictionaries and search-and-find 1000 word books (links refer to En-glish-Spanish editions But they are also published in English only and English-French) so they are refer-ence books rather than nonfiction Like fiction it is important to choose concepts that can be translated and keep the information shorter than in a monolin-gual nonfiction book
In fiction and nonfiction it is challenging because the illustrations must work in both languages A good example is lsquobreadrsquo A typical English loaf is a differ-ent shape from an Italian or French loaf Similarly an American barn looks different from a European barn and a German church spire looks different from an English church tower The most difficult of all is the driving wheel of a car lorry (truck) or busmdashleft or right The solution is to neutralize the images so that they are acceptable to many culturesmdashand place the steering wheel in the middle of the car This means working with illustrators who create attractive pictures that children love even if they donrsquot reflect their culture
SB What are the most common languages that ap-pear together in one book
CB This depends on the market For the UK and
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April 8
PJ What publishing trends do you foresee Is there something yoursquod like to see or see more of
KL I try not to chase trends Irsquod rather create them than try to predict them For example historical fiction has always been challenging but if you look at this yearrsquos ALA awards you can see the genre getting quite a lot of attention including a book I edited The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry which won a Printz Honor When I acquired the book I certainly didnrsquot think that historical fiction would be a trend by the time the book came out And arguably it still isnrsquot But the genre also seems to be rising to the surface in ways it wasnrsquot two or three years ago As far as what Irsquod like to see more of Irsquom just always looking to be surprisedmdashwhich could mean anything I like to keep my options open
PJ Being a writer yourself how easymdashor difficultmdashis it for you to go into editing mode on ma-terial that was created by some-one else
KL Many editors are also writ-ers and the ones I know seem to fall into two camps Either they are incredibly driven and just find a way to switch back and forth between ldquoeditor brainrdquo and ldquowriter brainrdquo so it becomes habit or they struggle mighti-ly with making that boundary I definitely fall into the latter camp I find writing extremely difficult because I have a tough time turning that mental editor off Editing comes very natu-rally to me at this point itrsquos writing that is more of a battle The only writing project Irsquove finished since becoming an editor is The Hero Is You my book about the creative process which came out in 2016 and it reflects six yearsrsquo worth of work
PJ How important is brandingor a social media plat-form for writers
KL Social media acuity is not essential for writers However being good at some form of self-promotion is important for authors If you are a writer who wants to
become a published author do not invest too much of your time worrying about stuff like branding and social mediamdashfocus instead on your craft and becoming the best writer you can possibly be While you are doing that pay attention to what forms of communication seem to come most naturally to you and allow those to be your platform Itrsquos better to do one form of social media (or other kind of self-marketing) well than to do many without genuine interest So if you find that you want to save all your writing for your actual work but you like to share images maybe Instagram is a good platform for you If you arenrsquot comfortable with any social media but you love talking in front of groups
focus any self-promotional en-ergies on getting lots of speak-ing engagements If you can show in some way that you have some connection to other peo-ple publishers will look favor-ably on that But none of this is a deal-breaker I donrsquot know any editor who has turned down a wonderful hooky manuscript because the author didnrsquot tweet
PJ Yoursquove also branched out into being a life coach for writ-ers How did that evolve
KL I became a life coach in 2008 when I was still an assis-tant in publishing I enjoyed my job but had a bit of an ldquois this itrdquo feeling about my work and lifemdashwanting more meaning A number of my close friends happened to all have crises at the same time and I found that I was dropping everything and
racing to the side of each upset friend with a little too much enthusiasm Then I was at a party where I struck up a conversation with a friend of a friend and when I asked her ldquoWhat do you dordquo she said ldquoI empower womenrdquo I asked her out for coffee to hear more about her work as a life coach and it sounded like a great fit for me so I ended up taking a year-long certification course Almost a decade later itrsquos still something I do on the side but has evolved to become very much part of my work as an editor as well And I use coaching techniques in the workshops I run for writers all over the country and in my book The Hero Is You
Kendra Levin continued
Featured Interview
April 9
NARRATIVEmdashDonrsquot Believe Its B A D R E P
by Jane McBride
ave you ever seen the following in a rejection letter ldquoToo much narrative slowing down the storyrdquo Or
ldquoPut some dialogue in to break up the narrativerdquo And yet there is a time and a place for narrative and dare I say it a place for narrative to take top billing over dialogue Consider the following passages The set-up is a con-versation between two twelve-year-old boys one who visits his grandparentsrsquo farm every summer at their farm in Payson Utah and the other a boy who lives in the small rural town
ldquoHey Jaredrdquo Pete said ldquoItrsquos good to see you I havenrsquot seen you since last August when you left your grandpar-entsrsquo farm here in Payson Utah to go back to your home in Chicago Illinoisrdquo ldquoYeah Pete Itrsquos been nine months since we last saw each other Irsquom glad to be back here in Payson Utah with my grandparents My parents are taking an educational tour of Europe They want me to have a taste of farm life to broaden my cultural horizonsrdquo
Is that some of the worst dialogue yoursquove ever read I hope so though it embarrasses me at how easily I was able to write it Would two 12-year-old boys really talk that way Would anyone talk that way Aside from the stilted words the dialogue consists of the boys telling each other things of which they are both already aware Jared knows when he was last in Payson just as Pete knows that itrsquos been nine months since the boys last saw each other They wouldnrsquot name the cities or recount the passage of time Nor would Jared tell Pete that his parents are ldquotaking an educational tour of Europerdquo How could this passage have been better written Letrsquos try it again
Jared poked a stick in the red dirt The last place he want-ed to be was on this crappy farm in the middle of no-where His parents shipped him off to his grandparentsrsquo place every summer They told him it was for his own good He knew better They wanted to get rid of him so that they could fly off to Europe When he saw Pete heading toward him Jared nearly groaned He didnrsquot want to admit that his parents had dumped him at the farm again Just like he didnrsquot want to admit that his grandparents didnrsquot want him any more than he wanted to be here He ducked his head and turned in the other direction pretending that he didnrsquot hear Pete calling his name
Donrsquot get me wrong Irsquom a big fan of dialogue done right to share information and move the story along However the dialogue above is not only badly written itrsquos essentially an information dump The narrative passage reads much more smoothly and gets the relevant points across through Jaredrsquos thoughts How do you know when to use dialogue and when to use narrative The short answer is through instinct and experience You gain those by writing and keeping writing If you feel like you lack the instinct andor experience to know write the passage yoursquore working on in dia-logue then try it again in narrative Read your words aloud If the dialogue sounds stilted chances are you are trying to use it as I did above This does not give you carte blanche to use narrative indiscriminately Use it sparingly to convey thoughts and feelings or to move people through space and time Well-written narrative has a place Itrsquos up to you the writer to know where and when to use it
Writing Workshop
H
April 10
Narrative continued
Writing Workshop
Use narrative - To move characters through time and space A simple sentence or short paragraph to show that time has passed or that a character has ar-rived at a new place is sufficient - To provide brief explanations of backstory Brief is the key word here Giving backstory through dialogue can sound stilted as though the char-acters are telling each other what they already know Sprinkle these bits of backstory sparingly throughout the book - To give a sense of place Characters wouldnrsquot ordinarily talk about a setting A few but important details of the setting will suffice - To describe a reaction Following intense scenes of action a short nar-rative passage to clue the reader into the characterrsquos reactions can help the reader identify what the character is experiencing and feeling - To change the pace This is related to the above If a book is all ac-tion scenes there is no time for the reader to reflect upon what has hap-pened
April 11
gent Jodell Sadler (formerly of Sadler Literary and founder of KidLit College) joins Jill Corcoran
president and fellow agents Eve PorinchakTimothy Travaglini Adah Megged Nuchi and Silvia Ariente at the recently-expanded Jill Corcoran Literary Agency Jodell like Adah will be co-agenting clients with Jill Both will provide feedback and direction on projects but with Jodell primarily in an editorial capacity and Jill pri-marily as the contract negotia-tor
Lynne Marie What fueled your decision to join Jill Corcoran Literary Agency How do you feel this move benefits the clients you brought with you as well as new clients
Jodell Sadler I wanted to work with writers and illustrators on the editing side I am happier and finding real joy in collabo-rating with clients in this team approach As the editorial agent Irsquom the first set of eyes creating top-quality manuscripts with our shared clients at JCLA What is fun for me is that I get to pass the baton to a new set of eyes Jill for submissions Pitches submissions Thatrsquos her baby and I love it We still have editorial meeting to discuss our approach but I do what I love work with writers and illustrators and coach them to success Positioning and marketing be-longs in both camps but I think everyone should be lined up to work with Jill Shersquos genius at what she does
LM Does your extensive background in art and busi-ness play into your decision to focus primarily on the
creative aspect of a book project and how
JS Picture books are built word by carefully selected word and art feeds and drives story Irsquove worked in ed-itorial and as an art director illustrator designer and marketing for a Fortune 500 company Little-known fact about me is that I am also published in photogra-
phy I love art I love words and the interplay of these two picture book partners Thatrsquos why I became fasci-nated by pacing When you can take a line of text and through sound and care make it seem short when long or pace out a sentence to mock a scene it adds excitement to the ed-iting process
My marketing and branding exper-tise includes product development Herersquos a fun fact few know about me as well I illustrated the first product renderings and logo for Super Vee a tremelo system for guitarsmdasha device that keeps a whammy bar in tunemdashas well the box it would be packaged in for customers Now itrsquos huge which has been fun to see Irsquove also drawn with my feet having a great respect for disabilities and how seri-
ously talented individuals go beyond normal every day
LM Please describe your role in a bookrsquos progress from representation to publication
JS That sounds easy I wish it was really that quick but donrsquot we all I edit with writers (and illustrators and writer-illustrators) to help them hone the art and words of story Right now when a writer or author-illustrator comes in to JCLA they are vetted by two agents both Jill and me We jointly represent
interview by Lynne Marie
Agent Spotlight
a
Jodell Sadler of the
April 12
I focus on manuscript polish and prep and pass the ba-ton to Jill I love this model It works
LM Please share details of an upcoming collaborative project you have accepted and tell us why this project stands out for you
JS All books for kids are collaborative for sure Irsquove recently repped awesome illustrator talent some heavy lifters I can see are ready to bust out I like to help il-lustrators make that leap into creating books as au-thor-illustrators Irsquom pretty intense in that regard be-cause Irsquove worked the programs and prepped printed books I know story art and the print industry While Irsquove spent years saving companies thousands through sound design strategies now itrsquos time to do this for au-thors and illustrators
LM How would define your unique approach to chil-drenrsquos literature
JS Whatrsquos also fun and something not many know about me is that following earning my MFA I served as a professor in the many literary categories Human-ities Contemporary World Literature of the Ameri-can Minorities (created courses as expert and itrsquos still one of my favorites) American and British Literature as well as the traditional courses of English Compo-sition Advanced Comp Creative Writing Founda-tions Rhetoric (too many to list) on the undergrad level as well as Publishing and Picture Book classes on the Grad Level Irsquove also worked with educational companies on web product launches and fact-checking against textbooks So I have a really strong grasp of the best writers over decades and the many movements in literature And my teaching in K-12 has contributed a great deal to my understanding of reluctant readers budding writers teaching practices and more
LM Since this is a new partnership please share de-tails of the first book you have championed together and gotten an offer on
JS A two-book picture book deal started us offhellip and we look forward to championing many more in many categories I am over the moon about our approach and all the really wonderful products that are being un-der considered right now Truth-be-told anyone would be blessed to work with Jill She is beyond fabulous
and I look at our approach as a real win-win for clients
LM Will this collaboration in any way change your focus regarding the genres you seek or your manuscript wish list And what if anything remains on your man-uscript wish list for this year
JS Not at all I still love what I love and that hasnrsquot changed Irsquom all about picture books through middle grade and Irsquom looking for great author-illustrators as well as great stories in fiction and nonfiction Contem-porary commercial dark humorous mysteries and big idea books in middle grade Recent projects include interior illustrations for the Friday Barnes series by Phil Gosier as well as his forthcoming author-illustrator picture books Snow Beast Comes to Play and Dog Adop-tion Day (Roaring Brook Press 2017) Bold Women of Medicine 21 Stories of Astounding Discoveries Daring Sur-geries and Healing by Susan M Latta (Chicago Review Press) and If Animals Said I Love You by Ann Whitford Paul (FSG Macmillam)
LM If you had to pick the most important charac-teristic that sells you on a particular manuscript what would it be
JS Pacing of voice and art tells me a book is ready I am particularly sensitive to active language and like most agents and editors look for great voice strong concept unique characters plot hook point of view visual imagery and intrigue First lines and pages of story set the tone for the rest of the picture book or novel A storyrsquos opening should transfer readers to a place they have not experienced before It should feel like a performance that I am a part of
One of my favorite lines from the Beatrix Potter mov-iersquos first lines and visuals
A sweeping paintbrush washes color on the pages along with quiet pause and birdsong A violin softly plays over gentle high-pitched piano keys ldquoTherersquos something deli-cious about writing the first words of a story You never quite tell where theyrsquoll take you Mine took me here
ldquoLooking back the city and I never much liked each other An unmarried woman after all was expected to behave in very particular ways which did not include traipsing from publisher to publishers with a gaggle of friendsrdquo
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
April 13
Like this I love to enter a story and forget I am read-ing
LM What is one thing that you feel you might be able to fix if it is broken in andor missing from a prospec-tive manuscript
JS Pacing hellip and most anything can be fixed along with some things that we donrsquot often think about like concept and marketability These are vital When we write we write to mind heart and ear and this marries with the visual splash an illustrator brings First lines first pages hook voice depth of emotions character plot and tensionhellipall have to be top-notch
LM Since you and Jill are working together how should submissions be addressed
JS Submissions go to only one agent at JCLA Please do not send to both or more than one For me I love a succinct letter in the body of the email that is short
and powerful I encourage writers to do three things
1 Give a hook or line that shares the ldquowhy merdquo
2 After your intro pitch your story in a couple of sentences
3 Add your bio information and done Sign off
Itrsquos really all about the writing or writing and port-folio which for me is your manuscript shared in the Samples area and a dummy attachment as a PDFmdashor at least a link to an online portfolio If you are going to submit as an author-illustrator a portfolio is a must
Best advice Share your project and your personality and be prepared to jump in Show off your work style and creative edge and that you are enjoyable and fun to work with
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
Jodell Sadler is accepting ldquoAbove the Slushrdquo submissions from CBI read-ers First study her guidelines and current needs here httpsjillcorcor-anliteraryagencycomjodell-sadler-editorial-agent which include pic-ture books from authorillustrators as well as nonfiction biographies chapter books middle grade projects and graphic novels Then either click on the Submit button on that page or go straight to her Query Manager page at httpsquerymanagercomqueryJodellSadler In the field marked ldquoIf this query is a referral who referred yourdquo type CBI JCLA GIRAFFE
April 14
by Randi Lynn Mrvos
very time I visited a bookstore I envisioned my manuscript as a book on a shelf This ritual devel-
oped after I wrote a picture book about a girl named Maggie and then created a blog that chronicled the hopeful journey of getting it published
The Maggie Project blog was fashioned after the JulieJulia Project in which Julie Powell blogged about cook-ing all of the recipes in Julia Childrsquos Mastering the Art of French Cooking book in one year The premise of my blog was to submit a picture book manuscript to 30 publishers 15 agents and 5 contests in one year But I was nothing like Julie I did not end up with a book deal It was humiliating The Maggie Project closed down and the manuscript was shelved
Maggie was not the first story I had written Years be-fore I had taken a class on writing for children at the Carnegie Center in my hometown Lexington Ken-tucky After learning the basics I wrote and submitted five picture books but each one was rejected Publica-tion seemed out of reach until I turned to writing non-fiction Having a background as a medical technologist enabled me write scientific articles for kids By the time I had written fifty articles I had an impressive bio so I returned to writing fiction Still no one was interested in my picture books
This setback prompted me to find ways to boost my writing career I decided to read books on writing for kids and began with Jean Karlrsquos How to Write and Sell Picture Books Karl was a childrenrsquos book editor In her book she teaches the key elements needed to create pic-ture books for children and provides information on marketing your book
Another great resource was Writing Picture Books A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication by au-thor and poet Ann Whitford Paul This book provides
the knowledge needed to write picture books that will appeal to children as well as editors and agents The topics include developing plot and point of view cre-ating characters and researching the picture book mar-ket
When it came to composing a story Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos Word Book by Alijandra Mogilner became invaluable for finding just the right word for just the right age group Mogilnerrsquos book allows you to get into the mind of a child at various ages It gives guidelines for sen-tence length and word usage and offers lists of specific words for grade levels kindergarten ndash grade 6
In addition to reading how-to books I stepped into our local library and headed for the childrenrsquos section The librarianrsquos selections were displayed on the top of the stacks I checked out these childrenrsquos books and ana-lyzed their strengths and weaknesses It helped me to understand what was being published
Afterwards I wrote and submitted more picture books but these stories were rejected too It was obvious I needed more help Many years earlier my Carnegie teacher had suggested joining the Society of Childrenrsquos Book Writers and Illustrators I had put it off much too long and so I became a member SCBWI is an interna-tional organization that provides resources and oppor-tunities for members Each year the organization has two conferences one in Los Angeles and the other in New York City Regional chapters have writing work-shops where attendees may have the chance to pitch to an agent or to have a manuscript critiqued by an editor
I took advantage of five SCBWI conferences At these meetings I learned writing and publishing tips from panels of authors During breaks I schmoozed with the ever-so-wanting-to-get-published and exchanged emails to stay in touch and to lend support After one
The Writerrsquos Mindset
E
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf
April 15
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf continued
The Writerrsquos Mindset
conference some of the attendees got fired up about trying to bring an editor to our hometown That in-spired another writer and me to organize a SCBWI Editorrsquos Day workshop It was an unbelievable expe-rience Besides learning how to get published I had the opportunity to pitch a book to the presenter Liz Waniewski editor of Dial Books (though she politely turned it down)
As time passed I continued to write stories and submit them Every now and then the rejections came with personal notes ldquothis project sounds interestingrdquo ldquothis seems like a unique ideardquo ldquothis story has potentialrdquo But despite the praise none of my stories won the heart of a publisher
Frustration became a weight on my shoulders There were times when I wanted to give up But one remark kept me positive My husband said ldquoIt only takes one person to like what you writerdquo
Six years passed since The Maggie Project closed I still hadnrsquot found a publisher for any of my stories I felt it was time to try a new approach and work with an ex-perienced partner Editorial consultant Mary Kole of-fered a package which included a picture book critique and a review of three query letters By chance I pulled out the query for Maggie
Mary guided me when it came to querying As for targeting an agent she suggested making two lists a 10-20 top choices and a 10-20 second choice list She said to query 10-20 agents in a first round to see if they would give any feedback and then adjust accordingly Re-query some from the A list who seem open to see-ing a revision and also the B list who will be seeing it for the first time
In regards to my manuscript on Maggie Mary warned about Flight of Imagination a plot of a book dealing with kids having an adventure based largely in their imagination She stressed that itrsquos not like you canrsquot have a story that centers on a childrsquos journey through a land of imagination But there needs to be other layers in play and an actual story within the imagined land-scape not just an episodic barrage of images or crazy adventures Characters need to be fleshed out A plot needs to be in motion with sequential events that go from conflict to climax Other themes and universal
childhood experiences need to be embedded within the manuscript
After weighing her comments I changed the title of my story Also I judiciously cut 500 words (Picture books were shorter these days Perhaps thatrsquos one of the reasons why Maggie never sold) Then the story was sent to five publishers Buthellipit was deacutejagrave vu all over again Within two weeks three rejections appeared in my inbox I started questioning myself Did I follow Maryrsquos advice Were my characters well-developed Did the plot advance Had I successfully incorporat-ed themes and universal childhood experiences within the manuscript She warned that Flight of Imagination picture books are a tougher row to hoe than most Had I looked at my story objectively Did it suffer as Mary would say from this colorfulndashbut nonetheless problem-aticndashissue
With no word on the two remaining submissions I put writing and worrying about my writing on hold My husband and I went on vacation in New Orleans to cel-ebrate our birthdays We had done a Garden District tour (where we saw Sandra Bollockrsquos and John Good-manrsquos houses) visited a plantation listened to jazz on Bourbon Street and tasted spicy Cajun dishes Before going out one evening I checked my emails Surpris-ingly one of them was from a publisher I had queried Incredibly it read I like your book My scream was probably heard throughout the entire hotel
When we returned home we opened our birthday gifts My husband bought me Julia Childrsquos famous cook-book Maybe I was a little like Julie Powell after all
A month later I signed a book contract with Cactus Moon Publications Now my days are spent marketing Maggie and the Summer Vacation Show and Tell When I look back on the road to publication it had been a long difficult journey It demanded the willingness to develop the craft the determination to never give up the strength to remain positive despite rejection and the resolve to hold fast to a dream It also required get-ting involved with a professional writerrsquos organization and working with editorial partner But even before the journey began it took the daring to envision a book on a shelf
April 16
Global Publishing
Tips for Creating Bilingual Booksby Sharon Olivia Blumberg
n our global world itrsquos more important than ever to expose children to different languages Bilingual
childrenrsquos books is one terrific way to do just that As a retired foreign language teacher of Spanish I read bilingual books to my seventh graders as they sat spellbound
I recently spoke with two women involved in pub-lishing bilingual books for childrenmdashCath Bruzzone of b small publishing in the UK and Maria Domin-guez of Scholastic en espantildeol in the USmdashand got their thoughts on how to write stories that work well in two languages
Cath Bruzzone is a British publisher and author of activity books and foreign language learning books for children She started her career as a teacher of Italian and French and worked as an editor of UK publishers Harrap Books Thomas Nelson and Pan Books before starting her own business b small pub-lishing in 1990 (httpwwwbsmallcouk)
Sharon Blumberg Please explain the bilingual chil-drenrsquos book market in the UK regarding current needs and popularity with children parents teach-ers and librarians
Cara Bruzzone The bilingual childrenrsquos book mar-ket in the UK is small and specialized It is divided between European languages mainly French Span-ish It also includes community languages spoken in the UK like Hindi Urdu Arabic and Chinese Foreign languages are now offered at primary (ele-mentary) schools But this is a recent initiative that is poorly funded for teacher training and materials It concentrates mainly on French with some Span-ish So the main market for b smallrsquos books are par-entsmdashbilingual families and parents who want their young children to enjoy their two languages or learn a foreign language As many parents and teachers are not confident linguists bilingual books are ideal to
give them extra support Bilingual books highlight similarities between the two languages giving chil-dren confidence in the new language Librarians have supported bilingual books but many libraries have closed in the UK because of the economic crisis from 2008 Sadly this shrinking market is vital for pro-moting community languages In order to produce the quantity and quality of books that we publish we rely on selling foreign rights to countries like the USA some European countries China and Asia
SB When writing childrenrsquos bilingual books does the author or the publisher provide the translation
CB In the case of b smallrsquos bilingual books we write them in English and commission translations from native speakers However we can edit the English text if necessary to make sure that the two languag-es work well together for the target age group If the book is published in another country like China or Poland the local publisher buying the rights will pro-duce the Chinese or Polish text Also as our books are in British English and Castilian Spanish the US publisher purchasing the rights supplies the US En-glish and also the Latin American Spanish text for their editions There are a number of differences between US and British English especially for the younger age groups colourcolor mummom lor-rytruck are examples
SB What stories work best as bilingual books
CB Stories with repetition work well For childrenrsquos books stories should be compelling and not compli-cated Humor is good but jokes can be difficult to translate The stories should avoid cultural content that canrsquot be easily understood or translated Univer-sal themes are best Rhyme is difficult to translate as well as texts that rely on alphabetical order as lan-guages have different alphabets (Spanish has an extra ntilde for example and Welsh has the letters ch ff and ll)
I
April 17
Global Publishing
From a production point of view the layout of bilin-gual books must leave space for two languages and possibly a pronunciation guide So the text will be shorter than monolingual stories It is a challenge to have a beginning middle and end in so few pages Marrying the text and pictures can also be challeng-ing when there are two sets of text that work with the pictures
Irsquoll give examples from two of our titles Puppy Finds a FriendCachorrito Encuentra Un Amigo part of the I Can Read series (published in both English-French and English-Spanish) and La Gatita Luciacutea en la playaLucy Cat at the Beach one of a series of four Lucy Cat cartoon strip books published in English-French and English-Spanish
The puppy story had to fit into our series concept picture stories for ages 3 to 5 with a simple repetitive text and universal childrenrsquos themes that reflect chil-drenrsquos lives while building their self-esteem I chose farmyard animals so that I didnrsquot have to select chil-dren of one particular ethnicity (We are committed to inclusivity in our books and have recently signed the Everybody In charter promoted by Inclusive Minds We want to improve our representation of all children in our books) The story is about a little puppy who tries to find a friend All the animals say theyrsquore too busy but the little mouse plays with him The story includes common farm animalsmdashhorse cow etc Then there is a repetition of the key phras-es like ldquoIrsquom too busyrdquo So as an attractive story it reinforces everyday language The illustrations are brilliant but we had trouble coming up with the final puppy We have been lucky with this series as several well-known illustrators have agreed to illustrate the stories for modest fees because they believe in bilin-gual education
The Lucy Cat series was designed as the next step up from our Bilingual First Words books They would be stories based on simple conversational phrases Car-toon strips are popular for early reading The illustra-tor Clare Beaton and I worked together on a cartoon strip for young language learners in the McGraw-Hill Languages for Children series Lucy Cat was named after my young daughter Lucy She is a feisty cat who has a series of adventures where she saves the
day In Lucy Cat at the beach she saves some kittens from a shark The stories all have the same structure exchanging greetings introducing the scene and then a big BANG page averting disaster and finally everyone thanks Lucy We consulted an early read-ing specialist who advised with the speech bubbles including a third person narrative along the bottom of the strip The stories were fun to invent but orga-nizing the bilingual text was a challenge Including both languages in the speech bubbles looked messy and wouldnrsquot encourage children to read only the new language So we doubled up the strips on each page one in English and one in the foreign language This works well but means that we havenrsquot published a monolingual version of the stories
SB How does nonfiction work for bilingual books
CB I donrsquot have much experience with bilingual nonfiction b small has produced a series of stick-er atlases and a range of picture dictionaries and search-and-find 1000 word books (links refer to En-glish-Spanish editions But they are also published in English only and English-French) so they are refer-ence books rather than nonfiction Like fiction it is important to choose concepts that can be translated and keep the information shorter than in a monolin-gual nonfiction book
In fiction and nonfiction it is challenging because the illustrations must work in both languages A good example is lsquobreadrsquo A typical English loaf is a differ-ent shape from an Italian or French loaf Similarly an American barn looks different from a European barn and a German church spire looks different from an English church tower The most difficult of all is the driving wheel of a car lorry (truck) or busmdashleft or right The solution is to neutralize the images so that they are acceptable to many culturesmdashand place the steering wheel in the middle of the car This means working with illustrators who create attractive pictures that children love even if they donrsquot reflect their culture
SB What are the most common languages that ap-pear together in one book
CB This depends on the market For the UK and
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April 9
NARRATIVEmdashDonrsquot Believe Its B A D R E P
by Jane McBride
ave you ever seen the following in a rejection letter ldquoToo much narrative slowing down the storyrdquo Or
ldquoPut some dialogue in to break up the narrativerdquo And yet there is a time and a place for narrative and dare I say it a place for narrative to take top billing over dialogue Consider the following passages The set-up is a con-versation between two twelve-year-old boys one who visits his grandparentsrsquo farm every summer at their farm in Payson Utah and the other a boy who lives in the small rural town
ldquoHey Jaredrdquo Pete said ldquoItrsquos good to see you I havenrsquot seen you since last August when you left your grandpar-entsrsquo farm here in Payson Utah to go back to your home in Chicago Illinoisrdquo ldquoYeah Pete Itrsquos been nine months since we last saw each other Irsquom glad to be back here in Payson Utah with my grandparents My parents are taking an educational tour of Europe They want me to have a taste of farm life to broaden my cultural horizonsrdquo
Is that some of the worst dialogue yoursquove ever read I hope so though it embarrasses me at how easily I was able to write it Would two 12-year-old boys really talk that way Would anyone talk that way Aside from the stilted words the dialogue consists of the boys telling each other things of which they are both already aware Jared knows when he was last in Payson just as Pete knows that itrsquos been nine months since the boys last saw each other They wouldnrsquot name the cities or recount the passage of time Nor would Jared tell Pete that his parents are ldquotaking an educational tour of Europerdquo How could this passage have been better written Letrsquos try it again
Jared poked a stick in the red dirt The last place he want-ed to be was on this crappy farm in the middle of no-where His parents shipped him off to his grandparentsrsquo place every summer They told him it was for his own good He knew better They wanted to get rid of him so that they could fly off to Europe When he saw Pete heading toward him Jared nearly groaned He didnrsquot want to admit that his parents had dumped him at the farm again Just like he didnrsquot want to admit that his grandparents didnrsquot want him any more than he wanted to be here He ducked his head and turned in the other direction pretending that he didnrsquot hear Pete calling his name
Donrsquot get me wrong Irsquom a big fan of dialogue done right to share information and move the story along However the dialogue above is not only badly written itrsquos essentially an information dump The narrative passage reads much more smoothly and gets the relevant points across through Jaredrsquos thoughts How do you know when to use dialogue and when to use narrative The short answer is through instinct and experience You gain those by writing and keeping writing If you feel like you lack the instinct andor experience to know write the passage yoursquore working on in dia-logue then try it again in narrative Read your words aloud If the dialogue sounds stilted chances are you are trying to use it as I did above This does not give you carte blanche to use narrative indiscriminately Use it sparingly to convey thoughts and feelings or to move people through space and time Well-written narrative has a place Itrsquos up to you the writer to know where and when to use it
Writing Workshop
H
April 10
Narrative continued
Writing Workshop
Use narrative - To move characters through time and space A simple sentence or short paragraph to show that time has passed or that a character has ar-rived at a new place is sufficient - To provide brief explanations of backstory Brief is the key word here Giving backstory through dialogue can sound stilted as though the char-acters are telling each other what they already know Sprinkle these bits of backstory sparingly throughout the book - To give a sense of place Characters wouldnrsquot ordinarily talk about a setting A few but important details of the setting will suffice - To describe a reaction Following intense scenes of action a short nar-rative passage to clue the reader into the characterrsquos reactions can help the reader identify what the character is experiencing and feeling - To change the pace This is related to the above If a book is all ac-tion scenes there is no time for the reader to reflect upon what has hap-pened
April 11
gent Jodell Sadler (formerly of Sadler Literary and founder of KidLit College) joins Jill Corcoran
president and fellow agents Eve PorinchakTimothy Travaglini Adah Megged Nuchi and Silvia Ariente at the recently-expanded Jill Corcoran Literary Agency Jodell like Adah will be co-agenting clients with Jill Both will provide feedback and direction on projects but with Jodell primarily in an editorial capacity and Jill pri-marily as the contract negotia-tor
Lynne Marie What fueled your decision to join Jill Corcoran Literary Agency How do you feel this move benefits the clients you brought with you as well as new clients
Jodell Sadler I wanted to work with writers and illustrators on the editing side I am happier and finding real joy in collabo-rating with clients in this team approach As the editorial agent Irsquom the first set of eyes creating top-quality manuscripts with our shared clients at JCLA What is fun for me is that I get to pass the baton to a new set of eyes Jill for submissions Pitches submissions Thatrsquos her baby and I love it We still have editorial meeting to discuss our approach but I do what I love work with writers and illustrators and coach them to success Positioning and marketing be-longs in both camps but I think everyone should be lined up to work with Jill Shersquos genius at what she does
LM Does your extensive background in art and busi-ness play into your decision to focus primarily on the
creative aspect of a book project and how
JS Picture books are built word by carefully selected word and art feeds and drives story Irsquove worked in ed-itorial and as an art director illustrator designer and marketing for a Fortune 500 company Little-known fact about me is that I am also published in photogra-
phy I love art I love words and the interplay of these two picture book partners Thatrsquos why I became fasci-nated by pacing When you can take a line of text and through sound and care make it seem short when long or pace out a sentence to mock a scene it adds excitement to the ed-iting process
My marketing and branding exper-tise includes product development Herersquos a fun fact few know about me as well I illustrated the first product renderings and logo for Super Vee a tremelo system for guitarsmdasha device that keeps a whammy bar in tunemdashas well the box it would be packaged in for customers Now itrsquos huge which has been fun to see Irsquove also drawn with my feet having a great respect for disabilities and how seri-
ously talented individuals go beyond normal every day
LM Please describe your role in a bookrsquos progress from representation to publication
JS That sounds easy I wish it was really that quick but donrsquot we all I edit with writers (and illustrators and writer-illustrators) to help them hone the art and words of story Right now when a writer or author-illustrator comes in to JCLA they are vetted by two agents both Jill and me We jointly represent
interview by Lynne Marie
Agent Spotlight
a
Jodell Sadler of the
April 12
I focus on manuscript polish and prep and pass the ba-ton to Jill I love this model It works
LM Please share details of an upcoming collaborative project you have accepted and tell us why this project stands out for you
JS All books for kids are collaborative for sure Irsquove recently repped awesome illustrator talent some heavy lifters I can see are ready to bust out I like to help il-lustrators make that leap into creating books as au-thor-illustrators Irsquom pretty intense in that regard be-cause Irsquove worked the programs and prepped printed books I know story art and the print industry While Irsquove spent years saving companies thousands through sound design strategies now itrsquos time to do this for au-thors and illustrators
LM How would define your unique approach to chil-drenrsquos literature
JS Whatrsquos also fun and something not many know about me is that following earning my MFA I served as a professor in the many literary categories Human-ities Contemporary World Literature of the Ameri-can Minorities (created courses as expert and itrsquos still one of my favorites) American and British Literature as well as the traditional courses of English Compo-sition Advanced Comp Creative Writing Founda-tions Rhetoric (too many to list) on the undergrad level as well as Publishing and Picture Book classes on the Grad Level Irsquove also worked with educational companies on web product launches and fact-checking against textbooks So I have a really strong grasp of the best writers over decades and the many movements in literature And my teaching in K-12 has contributed a great deal to my understanding of reluctant readers budding writers teaching practices and more
LM Since this is a new partnership please share de-tails of the first book you have championed together and gotten an offer on
JS A two-book picture book deal started us offhellip and we look forward to championing many more in many categories I am over the moon about our approach and all the really wonderful products that are being un-der considered right now Truth-be-told anyone would be blessed to work with Jill She is beyond fabulous
and I look at our approach as a real win-win for clients
LM Will this collaboration in any way change your focus regarding the genres you seek or your manuscript wish list And what if anything remains on your man-uscript wish list for this year
JS Not at all I still love what I love and that hasnrsquot changed Irsquom all about picture books through middle grade and Irsquom looking for great author-illustrators as well as great stories in fiction and nonfiction Contem-porary commercial dark humorous mysteries and big idea books in middle grade Recent projects include interior illustrations for the Friday Barnes series by Phil Gosier as well as his forthcoming author-illustrator picture books Snow Beast Comes to Play and Dog Adop-tion Day (Roaring Brook Press 2017) Bold Women of Medicine 21 Stories of Astounding Discoveries Daring Sur-geries and Healing by Susan M Latta (Chicago Review Press) and If Animals Said I Love You by Ann Whitford Paul (FSG Macmillam)
LM If you had to pick the most important charac-teristic that sells you on a particular manuscript what would it be
JS Pacing of voice and art tells me a book is ready I am particularly sensitive to active language and like most agents and editors look for great voice strong concept unique characters plot hook point of view visual imagery and intrigue First lines and pages of story set the tone for the rest of the picture book or novel A storyrsquos opening should transfer readers to a place they have not experienced before It should feel like a performance that I am a part of
One of my favorite lines from the Beatrix Potter mov-iersquos first lines and visuals
A sweeping paintbrush washes color on the pages along with quiet pause and birdsong A violin softly plays over gentle high-pitched piano keys ldquoTherersquos something deli-cious about writing the first words of a story You never quite tell where theyrsquoll take you Mine took me here
ldquoLooking back the city and I never much liked each other An unmarried woman after all was expected to behave in very particular ways which did not include traipsing from publisher to publishers with a gaggle of friendsrdquo
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
April 13
Like this I love to enter a story and forget I am read-ing
LM What is one thing that you feel you might be able to fix if it is broken in andor missing from a prospec-tive manuscript
JS Pacing hellip and most anything can be fixed along with some things that we donrsquot often think about like concept and marketability These are vital When we write we write to mind heart and ear and this marries with the visual splash an illustrator brings First lines first pages hook voice depth of emotions character plot and tensionhellipall have to be top-notch
LM Since you and Jill are working together how should submissions be addressed
JS Submissions go to only one agent at JCLA Please do not send to both or more than one For me I love a succinct letter in the body of the email that is short
and powerful I encourage writers to do three things
1 Give a hook or line that shares the ldquowhy merdquo
2 After your intro pitch your story in a couple of sentences
3 Add your bio information and done Sign off
Itrsquos really all about the writing or writing and port-folio which for me is your manuscript shared in the Samples area and a dummy attachment as a PDFmdashor at least a link to an online portfolio If you are going to submit as an author-illustrator a portfolio is a must
Best advice Share your project and your personality and be prepared to jump in Show off your work style and creative edge and that you are enjoyable and fun to work with
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
Jodell Sadler is accepting ldquoAbove the Slushrdquo submissions from CBI read-ers First study her guidelines and current needs here httpsjillcorcor-anliteraryagencycomjodell-sadler-editorial-agent which include pic-ture books from authorillustrators as well as nonfiction biographies chapter books middle grade projects and graphic novels Then either click on the Submit button on that page or go straight to her Query Manager page at httpsquerymanagercomqueryJodellSadler In the field marked ldquoIf this query is a referral who referred yourdquo type CBI JCLA GIRAFFE
April 14
by Randi Lynn Mrvos
very time I visited a bookstore I envisioned my manuscript as a book on a shelf This ritual devel-
oped after I wrote a picture book about a girl named Maggie and then created a blog that chronicled the hopeful journey of getting it published
The Maggie Project blog was fashioned after the JulieJulia Project in which Julie Powell blogged about cook-ing all of the recipes in Julia Childrsquos Mastering the Art of French Cooking book in one year The premise of my blog was to submit a picture book manuscript to 30 publishers 15 agents and 5 contests in one year But I was nothing like Julie I did not end up with a book deal It was humiliating The Maggie Project closed down and the manuscript was shelved
Maggie was not the first story I had written Years be-fore I had taken a class on writing for children at the Carnegie Center in my hometown Lexington Ken-tucky After learning the basics I wrote and submitted five picture books but each one was rejected Publica-tion seemed out of reach until I turned to writing non-fiction Having a background as a medical technologist enabled me write scientific articles for kids By the time I had written fifty articles I had an impressive bio so I returned to writing fiction Still no one was interested in my picture books
This setback prompted me to find ways to boost my writing career I decided to read books on writing for kids and began with Jean Karlrsquos How to Write and Sell Picture Books Karl was a childrenrsquos book editor In her book she teaches the key elements needed to create pic-ture books for children and provides information on marketing your book
Another great resource was Writing Picture Books A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication by au-thor and poet Ann Whitford Paul This book provides
the knowledge needed to write picture books that will appeal to children as well as editors and agents The topics include developing plot and point of view cre-ating characters and researching the picture book mar-ket
When it came to composing a story Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos Word Book by Alijandra Mogilner became invaluable for finding just the right word for just the right age group Mogilnerrsquos book allows you to get into the mind of a child at various ages It gives guidelines for sen-tence length and word usage and offers lists of specific words for grade levels kindergarten ndash grade 6
In addition to reading how-to books I stepped into our local library and headed for the childrenrsquos section The librarianrsquos selections were displayed on the top of the stacks I checked out these childrenrsquos books and ana-lyzed their strengths and weaknesses It helped me to understand what was being published
Afterwards I wrote and submitted more picture books but these stories were rejected too It was obvious I needed more help Many years earlier my Carnegie teacher had suggested joining the Society of Childrenrsquos Book Writers and Illustrators I had put it off much too long and so I became a member SCBWI is an interna-tional organization that provides resources and oppor-tunities for members Each year the organization has two conferences one in Los Angeles and the other in New York City Regional chapters have writing work-shops where attendees may have the chance to pitch to an agent or to have a manuscript critiqued by an editor
I took advantage of five SCBWI conferences At these meetings I learned writing and publishing tips from panels of authors During breaks I schmoozed with the ever-so-wanting-to-get-published and exchanged emails to stay in touch and to lend support After one
The Writerrsquos Mindset
E
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf
April 15
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf continued
The Writerrsquos Mindset
conference some of the attendees got fired up about trying to bring an editor to our hometown That in-spired another writer and me to organize a SCBWI Editorrsquos Day workshop It was an unbelievable expe-rience Besides learning how to get published I had the opportunity to pitch a book to the presenter Liz Waniewski editor of Dial Books (though she politely turned it down)
As time passed I continued to write stories and submit them Every now and then the rejections came with personal notes ldquothis project sounds interestingrdquo ldquothis seems like a unique ideardquo ldquothis story has potentialrdquo But despite the praise none of my stories won the heart of a publisher
Frustration became a weight on my shoulders There were times when I wanted to give up But one remark kept me positive My husband said ldquoIt only takes one person to like what you writerdquo
Six years passed since The Maggie Project closed I still hadnrsquot found a publisher for any of my stories I felt it was time to try a new approach and work with an ex-perienced partner Editorial consultant Mary Kole of-fered a package which included a picture book critique and a review of three query letters By chance I pulled out the query for Maggie
Mary guided me when it came to querying As for targeting an agent she suggested making two lists a 10-20 top choices and a 10-20 second choice list She said to query 10-20 agents in a first round to see if they would give any feedback and then adjust accordingly Re-query some from the A list who seem open to see-ing a revision and also the B list who will be seeing it for the first time
In regards to my manuscript on Maggie Mary warned about Flight of Imagination a plot of a book dealing with kids having an adventure based largely in their imagination She stressed that itrsquos not like you canrsquot have a story that centers on a childrsquos journey through a land of imagination But there needs to be other layers in play and an actual story within the imagined land-scape not just an episodic barrage of images or crazy adventures Characters need to be fleshed out A plot needs to be in motion with sequential events that go from conflict to climax Other themes and universal
childhood experiences need to be embedded within the manuscript
After weighing her comments I changed the title of my story Also I judiciously cut 500 words (Picture books were shorter these days Perhaps thatrsquos one of the reasons why Maggie never sold) Then the story was sent to five publishers Buthellipit was deacutejagrave vu all over again Within two weeks three rejections appeared in my inbox I started questioning myself Did I follow Maryrsquos advice Were my characters well-developed Did the plot advance Had I successfully incorporat-ed themes and universal childhood experiences within the manuscript She warned that Flight of Imagination picture books are a tougher row to hoe than most Had I looked at my story objectively Did it suffer as Mary would say from this colorfulndashbut nonetheless problem-aticndashissue
With no word on the two remaining submissions I put writing and worrying about my writing on hold My husband and I went on vacation in New Orleans to cel-ebrate our birthdays We had done a Garden District tour (where we saw Sandra Bollockrsquos and John Good-manrsquos houses) visited a plantation listened to jazz on Bourbon Street and tasted spicy Cajun dishes Before going out one evening I checked my emails Surpris-ingly one of them was from a publisher I had queried Incredibly it read I like your book My scream was probably heard throughout the entire hotel
When we returned home we opened our birthday gifts My husband bought me Julia Childrsquos famous cook-book Maybe I was a little like Julie Powell after all
A month later I signed a book contract with Cactus Moon Publications Now my days are spent marketing Maggie and the Summer Vacation Show and Tell When I look back on the road to publication it had been a long difficult journey It demanded the willingness to develop the craft the determination to never give up the strength to remain positive despite rejection and the resolve to hold fast to a dream It also required get-ting involved with a professional writerrsquos organization and working with editorial partner But even before the journey began it took the daring to envision a book on a shelf
April 16
Global Publishing
Tips for Creating Bilingual Booksby Sharon Olivia Blumberg
n our global world itrsquos more important than ever to expose children to different languages Bilingual
childrenrsquos books is one terrific way to do just that As a retired foreign language teacher of Spanish I read bilingual books to my seventh graders as they sat spellbound
I recently spoke with two women involved in pub-lishing bilingual books for childrenmdashCath Bruzzone of b small publishing in the UK and Maria Domin-guez of Scholastic en espantildeol in the USmdashand got their thoughts on how to write stories that work well in two languages
Cath Bruzzone is a British publisher and author of activity books and foreign language learning books for children She started her career as a teacher of Italian and French and worked as an editor of UK publishers Harrap Books Thomas Nelson and Pan Books before starting her own business b small pub-lishing in 1990 (httpwwwbsmallcouk)
Sharon Blumberg Please explain the bilingual chil-drenrsquos book market in the UK regarding current needs and popularity with children parents teach-ers and librarians
Cara Bruzzone The bilingual childrenrsquos book mar-ket in the UK is small and specialized It is divided between European languages mainly French Span-ish It also includes community languages spoken in the UK like Hindi Urdu Arabic and Chinese Foreign languages are now offered at primary (ele-mentary) schools But this is a recent initiative that is poorly funded for teacher training and materials It concentrates mainly on French with some Span-ish So the main market for b smallrsquos books are par-entsmdashbilingual families and parents who want their young children to enjoy their two languages or learn a foreign language As many parents and teachers are not confident linguists bilingual books are ideal to
give them extra support Bilingual books highlight similarities between the two languages giving chil-dren confidence in the new language Librarians have supported bilingual books but many libraries have closed in the UK because of the economic crisis from 2008 Sadly this shrinking market is vital for pro-moting community languages In order to produce the quantity and quality of books that we publish we rely on selling foreign rights to countries like the USA some European countries China and Asia
SB When writing childrenrsquos bilingual books does the author or the publisher provide the translation
CB In the case of b smallrsquos bilingual books we write them in English and commission translations from native speakers However we can edit the English text if necessary to make sure that the two languag-es work well together for the target age group If the book is published in another country like China or Poland the local publisher buying the rights will pro-duce the Chinese or Polish text Also as our books are in British English and Castilian Spanish the US publisher purchasing the rights supplies the US En-glish and also the Latin American Spanish text for their editions There are a number of differences between US and British English especially for the younger age groups colourcolor mummom lor-rytruck are examples
SB What stories work best as bilingual books
CB Stories with repetition work well For childrenrsquos books stories should be compelling and not compli-cated Humor is good but jokes can be difficult to translate The stories should avoid cultural content that canrsquot be easily understood or translated Univer-sal themes are best Rhyme is difficult to translate as well as texts that rely on alphabetical order as lan-guages have different alphabets (Spanish has an extra ntilde for example and Welsh has the letters ch ff and ll)
I
April 17
Global Publishing
From a production point of view the layout of bilin-gual books must leave space for two languages and possibly a pronunciation guide So the text will be shorter than monolingual stories It is a challenge to have a beginning middle and end in so few pages Marrying the text and pictures can also be challeng-ing when there are two sets of text that work with the pictures
Irsquoll give examples from two of our titles Puppy Finds a FriendCachorrito Encuentra Un Amigo part of the I Can Read series (published in both English-French and English-Spanish) and La Gatita Luciacutea en la playaLucy Cat at the Beach one of a series of four Lucy Cat cartoon strip books published in English-French and English-Spanish
The puppy story had to fit into our series concept picture stories for ages 3 to 5 with a simple repetitive text and universal childrenrsquos themes that reflect chil-drenrsquos lives while building their self-esteem I chose farmyard animals so that I didnrsquot have to select chil-dren of one particular ethnicity (We are committed to inclusivity in our books and have recently signed the Everybody In charter promoted by Inclusive Minds We want to improve our representation of all children in our books) The story is about a little puppy who tries to find a friend All the animals say theyrsquore too busy but the little mouse plays with him The story includes common farm animalsmdashhorse cow etc Then there is a repetition of the key phras-es like ldquoIrsquom too busyrdquo So as an attractive story it reinforces everyday language The illustrations are brilliant but we had trouble coming up with the final puppy We have been lucky with this series as several well-known illustrators have agreed to illustrate the stories for modest fees because they believe in bilin-gual education
The Lucy Cat series was designed as the next step up from our Bilingual First Words books They would be stories based on simple conversational phrases Car-toon strips are popular for early reading The illustra-tor Clare Beaton and I worked together on a cartoon strip for young language learners in the McGraw-Hill Languages for Children series Lucy Cat was named after my young daughter Lucy She is a feisty cat who has a series of adventures where she saves the
day In Lucy Cat at the beach she saves some kittens from a shark The stories all have the same structure exchanging greetings introducing the scene and then a big BANG page averting disaster and finally everyone thanks Lucy We consulted an early read-ing specialist who advised with the speech bubbles including a third person narrative along the bottom of the strip The stories were fun to invent but orga-nizing the bilingual text was a challenge Including both languages in the speech bubbles looked messy and wouldnrsquot encourage children to read only the new language So we doubled up the strips on each page one in English and one in the foreign language This works well but means that we havenrsquot published a monolingual version of the stories
SB How does nonfiction work for bilingual books
CB I donrsquot have much experience with bilingual nonfiction b small has produced a series of stick-er atlases and a range of picture dictionaries and search-and-find 1000 word books (links refer to En-glish-Spanish editions But they are also published in English only and English-French) so they are refer-ence books rather than nonfiction Like fiction it is important to choose concepts that can be translated and keep the information shorter than in a monolin-gual nonfiction book
In fiction and nonfiction it is challenging because the illustrations must work in both languages A good example is lsquobreadrsquo A typical English loaf is a differ-ent shape from an Italian or French loaf Similarly an American barn looks different from a European barn and a German church spire looks different from an English church tower The most difficult of all is the driving wheel of a car lorry (truck) or busmdashleft or right The solution is to neutralize the images so that they are acceptable to many culturesmdashand place the steering wheel in the middle of the car This means working with illustrators who create attractive pictures that children love even if they donrsquot reflect their culture
SB What are the most common languages that ap-pear together in one book
CB This depends on the market For the UK and
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April 10
Narrative continued
Writing Workshop
Use narrative - To move characters through time and space A simple sentence or short paragraph to show that time has passed or that a character has ar-rived at a new place is sufficient - To provide brief explanations of backstory Brief is the key word here Giving backstory through dialogue can sound stilted as though the char-acters are telling each other what they already know Sprinkle these bits of backstory sparingly throughout the book - To give a sense of place Characters wouldnrsquot ordinarily talk about a setting A few but important details of the setting will suffice - To describe a reaction Following intense scenes of action a short nar-rative passage to clue the reader into the characterrsquos reactions can help the reader identify what the character is experiencing and feeling - To change the pace This is related to the above If a book is all ac-tion scenes there is no time for the reader to reflect upon what has hap-pened
April 11
gent Jodell Sadler (formerly of Sadler Literary and founder of KidLit College) joins Jill Corcoran
president and fellow agents Eve PorinchakTimothy Travaglini Adah Megged Nuchi and Silvia Ariente at the recently-expanded Jill Corcoran Literary Agency Jodell like Adah will be co-agenting clients with Jill Both will provide feedback and direction on projects but with Jodell primarily in an editorial capacity and Jill pri-marily as the contract negotia-tor
Lynne Marie What fueled your decision to join Jill Corcoran Literary Agency How do you feel this move benefits the clients you brought with you as well as new clients
Jodell Sadler I wanted to work with writers and illustrators on the editing side I am happier and finding real joy in collabo-rating with clients in this team approach As the editorial agent Irsquom the first set of eyes creating top-quality manuscripts with our shared clients at JCLA What is fun for me is that I get to pass the baton to a new set of eyes Jill for submissions Pitches submissions Thatrsquos her baby and I love it We still have editorial meeting to discuss our approach but I do what I love work with writers and illustrators and coach them to success Positioning and marketing be-longs in both camps but I think everyone should be lined up to work with Jill Shersquos genius at what she does
LM Does your extensive background in art and busi-ness play into your decision to focus primarily on the
creative aspect of a book project and how
JS Picture books are built word by carefully selected word and art feeds and drives story Irsquove worked in ed-itorial and as an art director illustrator designer and marketing for a Fortune 500 company Little-known fact about me is that I am also published in photogra-
phy I love art I love words and the interplay of these two picture book partners Thatrsquos why I became fasci-nated by pacing When you can take a line of text and through sound and care make it seem short when long or pace out a sentence to mock a scene it adds excitement to the ed-iting process
My marketing and branding exper-tise includes product development Herersquos a fun fact few know about me as well I illustrated the first product renderings and logo for Super Vee a tremelo system for guitarsmdasha device that keeps a whammy bar in tunemdashas well the box it would be packaged in for customers Now itrsquos huge which has been fun to see Irsquove also drawn with my feet having a great respect for disabilities and how seri-
ously talented individuals go beyond normal every day
LM Please describe your role in a bookrsquos progress from representation to publication
JS That sounds easy I wish it was really that quick but donrsquot we all I edit with writers (and illustrators and writer-illustrators) to help them hone the art and words of story Right now when a writer or author-illustrator comes in to JCLA they are vetted by two agents both Jill and me We jointly represent
interview by Lynne Marie
Agent Spotlight
a
Jodell Sadler of the
April 12
I focus on manuscript polish and prep and pass the ba-ton to Jill I love this model It works
LM Please share details of an upcoming collaborative project you have accepted and tell us why this project stands out for you
JS All books for kids are collaborative for sure Irsquove recently repped awesome illustrator talent some heavy lifters I can see are ready to bust out I like to help il-lustrators make that leap into creating books as au-thor-illustrators Irsquom pretty intense in that regard be-cause Irsquove worked the programs and prepped printed books I know story art and the print industry While Irsquove spent years saving companies thousands through sound design strategies now itrsquos time to do this for au-thors and illustrators
LM How would define your unique approach to chil-drenrsquos literature
JS Whatrsquos also fun and something not many know about me is that following earning my MFA I served as a professor in the many literary categories Human-ities Contemporary World Literature of the Ameri-can Minorities (created courses as expert and itrsquos still one of my favorites) American and British Literature as well as the traditional courses of English Compo-sition Advanced Comp Creative Writing Founda-tions Rhetoric (too many to list) on the undergrad level as well as Publishing and Picture Book classes on the Grad Level Irsquove also worked with educational companies on web product launches and fact-checking against textbooks So I have a really strong grasp of the best writers over decades and the many movements in literature And my teaching in K-12 has contributed a great deal to my understanding of reluctant readers budding writers teaching practices and more
LM Since this is a new partnership please share de-tails of the first book you have championed together and gotten an offer on
JS A two-book picture book deal started us offhellip and we look forward to championing many more in many categories I am over the moon about our approach and all the really wonderful products that are being un-der considered right now Truth-be-told anyone would be blessed to work with Jill She is beyond fabulous
and I look at our approach as a real win-win for clients
LM Will this collaboration in any way change your focus regarding the genres you seek or your manuscript wish list And what if anything remains on your man-uscript wish list for this year
JS Not at all I still love what I love and that hasnrsquot changed Irsquom all about picture books through middle grade and Irsquom looking for great author-illustrators as well as great stories in fiction and nonfiction Contem-porary commercial dark humorous mysteries and big idea books in middle grade Recent projects include interior illustrations for the Friday Barnes series by Phil Gosier as well as his forthcoming author-illustrator picture books Snow Beast Comes to Play and Dog Adop-tion Day (Roaring Brook Press 2017) Bold Women of Medicine 21 Stories of Astounding Discoveries Daring Sur-geries and Healing by Susan M Latta (Chicago Review Press) and If Animals Said I Love You by Ann Whitford Paul (FSG Macmillam)
LM If you had to pick the most important charac-teristic that sells you on a particular manuscript what would it be
JS Pacing of voice and art tells me a book is ready I am particularly sensitive to active language and like most agents and editors look for great voice strong concept unique characters plot hook point of view visual imagery and intrigue First lines and pages of story set the tone for the rest of the picture book or novel A storyrsquos opening should transfer readers to a place they have not experienced before It should feel like a performance that I am a part of
One of my favorite lines from the Beatrix Potter mov-iersquos first lines and visuals
A sweeping paintbrush washes color on the pages along with quiet pause and birdsong A violin softly plays over gentle high-pitched piano keys ldquoTherersquos something deli-cious about writing the first words of a story You never quite tell where theyrsquoll take you Mine took me here
ldquoLooking back the city and I never much liked each other An unmarried woman after all was expected to behave in very particular ways which did not include traipsing from publisher to publishers with a gaggle of friendsrdquo
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
April 13
Like this I love to enter a story and forget I am read-ing
LM What is one thing that you feel you might be able to fix if it is broken in andor missing from a prospec-tive manuscript
JS Pacing hellip and most anything can be fixed along with some things that we donrsquot often think about like concept and marketability These are vital When we write we write to mind heart and ear and this marries with the visual splash an illustrator brings First lines first pages hook voice depth of emotions character plot and tensionhellipall have to be top-notch
LM Since you and Jill are working together how should submissions be addressed
JS Submissions go to only one agent at JCLA Please do not send to both or more than one For me I love a succinct letter in the body of the email that is short
and powerful I encourage writers to do three things
1 Give a hook or line that shares the ldquowhy merdquo
2 After your intro pitch your story in a couple of sentences
3 Add your bio information and done Sign off
Itrsquos really all about the writing or writing and port-folio which for me is your manuscript shared in the Samples area and a dummy attachment as a PDFmdashor at least a link to an online portfolio If you are going to submit as an author-illustrator a portfolio is a must
Best advice Share your project and your personality and be prepared to jump in Show off your work style and creative edge and that you are enjoyable and fun to work with
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
Jodell Sadler is accepting ldquoAbove the Slushrdquo submissions from CBI read-ers First study her guidelines and current needs here httpsjillcorcor-anliteraryagencycomjodell-sadler-editorial-agent which include pic-ture books from authorillustrators as well as nonfiction biographies chapter books middle grade projects and graphic novels Then either click on the Submit button on that page or go straight to her Query Manager page at httpsquerymanagercomqueryJodellSadler In the field marked ldquoIf this query is a referral who referred yourdquo type CBI JCLA GIRAFFE
April 14
by Randi Lynn Mrvos
very time I visited a bookstore I envisioned my manuscript as a book on a shelf This ritual devel-
oped after I wrote a picture book about a girl named Maggie and then created a blog that chronicled the hopeful journey of getting it published
The Maggie Project blog was fashioned after the JulieJulia Project in which Julie Powell blogged about cook-ing all of the recipes in Julia Childrsquos Mastering the Art of French Cooking book in one year The premise of my blog was to submit a picture book manuscript to 30 publishers 15 agents and 5 contests in one year But I was nothing like Julie I did not end up with a book deal It was humiliating The Maggie Project closed down and the manuscript was shelved
Maggie was not the first story I had written Years be-fore I had taken a class on writing for children at the Carnegie Center in my hometown Lexington Ken-tucky After learning the basics I wrote and submitted five picture books but each one was rejected Publica-tion seemed out of reach until I turned to writing non-fiction Having a background as a medical technologist enabled me write scientific articles for kids By the time I had written fifty articles I had an impressive bio so I returned to writing fiction Still no one was interested in my picture books
This setback prompted me to find ways to boost my writing career I decided to read books on writing for kids and began with Jean Karlrsquos How to Write and Sell Picture Books Karl was a childrenrsquos book editor In her book she teaches the key elements needed to create pic-ture books for children and provides information on marketing your book
Another great resource was Writing Picture Books A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication by au-thor and poet Ann Whitford Paul This book provides
the knowledge needed to write picture books that will appeal to children as well as editors and agents The topics include developing plot and point of view cre-ating characters and researching the picture book mar-ket
When it came to composing a story Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos Word Book by Alijandra Mogilner became invaluable for finding just the right word for just the right age group Mogilnerrsquos book allows you to get into the mind of a child at various ages It gives guidelines for sen-tence length and word usage and offers lists of specific words for grade levels kindergarten ndash grade 6
In addition to reading how-to books I stepped into our local library and headed for the childrenrsquos section The librarianrsquos selections were displayed on the top of the stacks I checked out these childrenrsquos books and ana-lyzed their strengths and weaknesses It helped me to understand what was being published
Afterwards I wrote and submitted more picture books but these stories were rejected too It was obvious I needed more help Many years earlier my Carnegie teacher had suggested joining the Society of Childrenrsquos Book Writers and Illustrators I had put it off much too long and so I became a member SCBWI is an interna-tional organization that provides resources and oppor-tunities for members Each year the organization has two conferences one in Los Angeles and the other in New York City Regional chapters have writing work-shops where attendees may have the chance to pitch to an agent or to have a manuscript critiqued by an editor
I took advantage of five SCBWI conferences At these meetings I learned writing and publishing tips from panels of authors During breaks I schmoozed with the ever-so-wanting-to-get-published and exchanged emails to stay in touch and to lend support After one
The Writerrsquos Mindset
E
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf
April 15
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf continued
The Writerrsquos Mindset
conference some of the attendees got fired up about trying to bring an editor to our hometown That in-spired another writer and me to organize a SCBWI Editorrsquos Day workshop It was an unbelievable expe-rience Besides learning how to get published I had the opportunity to pitch a book to the presenter Liz Waniewski editor of Dial Books (though she politely turned it down)
As time passed I continued to write stories and submit them Every now and then the rejections came with personal notes ldquothis project sounds interestingrdquo ldquothis seems like a unique ideardquo ldquothis story has potentialrdquo But despite the praise none of my stories won the heart of a publisher
Frustration became a weight on my shoulders There were times when I wanted to give up But one remark kept me positive My husband said ldquoIt only takes one person to like what you writerdquo
Six years passed since The Maggie Project closed I still hadnrsquot found a publisher for any of my stories I felt it was time to try a new approach and work with an ex-perienced partner Editorial consultant Mary Kole of-fered a package which included a picture book critique and a review of three query letters By chance I pulled out the query for Maggie
Mary guided me when it came to querying As for targeting an agent she suggested making two lists a 10-20 top choices and a 10-20 second choice list She said to query 10-20 agents in a first round to see if they would give any feedback and then adjust accordingly Re-query some from the A list who seem open to see-ing a revision and also the B list who will be seeing it for the first time
In regards to my manuscript on Maggie Mary warned about Flight of Imagination a plot of a book dealing with kids having an adventure based largely in their imagination She stressed that itrsquos not like you canrsquot have a story that centers on a childrsquos journey through a land of imagination But there needs to be other layers in play and an actual story within the imagined land-scape not just an episodic barrage of images or crazy adventures Characters need to be fleshed out A plot needs to be in motion with sequential events that go from conflict to climax Other themes and universal
childhood experiences need to be embedded within the manuscript
After weighing her comments I changed the title of my story Also I judiciously cut 500 words (Picture books were shorter these days Perhaps thatrsquos one of the reasons why Maggie never sold) Then the story was sent to five publishers Buthellipit was deacutejagrave vu all over again Within two weeks three rejections appeared in my inbox I started questioning myself Did I follow Maryrsquos advice Were my characters well-developed Did the plot advance Had I successfully incorporat-ed themes and universal childhood experiences within the manuscript She warned that Flight of Imagination picture books are a tougher row to hoe than most Had I looked at my story objectively Did it suffer as Mary would say from this colorfulndashbut nonetheless problem-aticndashissue
With no word on the two remaining submissions I put writing and worrying about my writing on hold My husband and I went on vacation in New Orleans to cel-ebrate our birthdays We had done a Garden District tour (where we saw Sandra Bollockrsquos and John Good-manrsquos houses) visited a plantation listened to jazz on Bourbon Street and tasted spicy Cajun dishes Before going out one evening I checked my emails Surpris-ingly one of them was from a publisher I had queried Incredibly it read I like your book My scream was probably heard throughout the entire hotel
When we returned home we opened our birthday gifts My husband bought me Julia Childrsquos famous cook-book Maybe I was a little like Julie Powell after all
A month later I signed a book contract with Cactus Moon Publications Now my days are spent marketing Maggie and the Summer Vacation Show and Tell When I look back on the road to publication it had been a long difficult journey It demanded the willingness to develop the craft the determination to never give up the strength to remain positive despite rejection and the resolve to hold fast to a dream It also required get-ting involved with a professional writerrsquos organization and working with editorial partner But even before the journey began it took the daring to envision a book on a shelf
April 16
Global Publishing
Tips for Creating Bilingual Booksby Sharon Olivia Blumberg
n our global world itrsquos more important than ever to expose children to different languages Bilingual
childrenrsquos books is one terrific way to do just that As a retired foreign language teacher of Spanish I read bilingual books to my seventh graders as they sat spellbound
I recently spoke with two women involved in pub-lishing bilingual books for childrenmdashCath Bruzzone of b small publishing in the UK and Maria Domin-guez of Scholastic en espantildeol in the USmdashand got their thoughts on how to write stories that work well in two languages
Cath Bruzzone is a British publisher and author of activity books and foreign language learning books for children She started her career as a teacher of Italian and French and worked as an editor of UK publishers Harrap Books Thomas Nelson and Pan Books before starting her own business b small pub-lishing in 1990 (httpwwwbsmallcouk)
Sharon Blumberg Please explain the bilingual chil-drenrsquos book market in the UK regarding current needs and popularity with children parents teach-ers and librarians
Cara Bruzzone The bilingual childrenrsquos book mar-ket in the UK is small and specialized It is divided between European languages mainly French Span-ish It also includes community languages spoken in the UK like Hindi Urdu Arabic and Chinese Foreign languages are now offered at primary (ele-mentary) schools But this is a recent initiative that is poorly funded for teacher training and materials It concentrates mainly on French with some Span-ish So the main market for b smallrsquos books are par-entsmdashbilingual families and parents who want their young children to enjoy their two languages or learn a foreign language As many parents and teachers are not confident linguists bilingual books are ideal to
give them extra support Bilingual books highlight similarities between the two languages giving chil-dren confidence in the new language Librarians have supported bilingual books but many libraries have closed in the UK because of the economic crisis from 2008 Sadly this shrinking market is vital for pro-moting community languages In order to produce the quantity and quality of books that we publish we rely on selling foreign rights to countries like the USA some European countries China and Asia
SB When writing childrenrsquos bilingual books does the author or the publisher provide the translation
CB In the case of b smallrsquos bilingual books we write them in English and commission translations from native speakers However we can edit the English text if necessary to make sure that the two languag-es work well together for the target age group If the book is published in another country like China or Poland the local publisher buying the rights will pro-duce the Chinese or Polish text Also as our books are in British English and Castilian Spanish the US publisher purchasing the rights supplies the US En-glish and also the Latin American Spanish text for their editions There are a number of differences between US and British English especially for the younger age groups colourcolor mummom lor-rytruck are examples
SB What stories work best as bilingual books
CB Stories with repetition work well For childrenrsquos books stories should be compelling and not compli-cated Humor is good but jokes can be difficult to translate The stories should avoid cultural content that canrsquot be easily understood or translated Univer-sal themes are best Rhyme is difficult to translate as well as texts that rely on alphabetical order as lan-guages have different alphabets (Spanish has an extra ntilde for example and Welsh has the letters ch ff and ll)
I
April 17
Global Publishing
From a production point of view the layout of bilin-gual books must leave space for two languages and possibly a pronunciation guide So the text will be shorter than monolingual stories It is a challenge to have a beginning middle and end in so few pages Marrying the text and pictures can also be challeng-ing when there are two sets of text that work with the pictures
Irsquoll give examples from two of our titles Puppy Finds a FriendCachorrito Encuentra Un Amigo part of the I Can Read series (published in both English-French and English-Spanish) and La Gatita Luciacutea en la playaLucy Cat at the Beach one of a series of four Lucy Cat cartoon strip books published in English-French and English-Spanish
The puppy story had to fit into our series concept picture stories for ages 3 to 5 with a simple repetitive text and universal childrenrsquos themes that reflect chil-drenrsquos lives while building their self-esteem I chose farmyard animals so that I didnrsquot have to select chil-dren of one particular ethnicity (We are committed to inclusivity in our books and have recently signed the Everybody In charter promoted by Inclusive Minds We want to improve our representation of all children in our books) The story is about a little puppy who tries to find a friend All the animals say theyrsquore too busy but the little mouse plays with him The story includes common farm animalsmdashhorse cow etc Then there is a repetition of the key phras-es like ldquoIrsquom too busyrdquo So as an attractive story it reinforces everyday language The illustrations are brilliant but we had trouble coming up with the final puppy We have been lucky with this series as several well-known illustrators have agreed to illustrate the stories for modest fees because they believe in bilin-gual education
The Lucy Cat series was designed as the next step up from our Bilingual First Words books They would be stories based on simple conversational phrases Car-toon strips are popular for early reading The illustra-tor Clare Beaton and I worked together on a cartoon strip for young language learners in the McGraw-Hill Languages for Children series Lucy Cat was named after my young daughter Lucy She is a feisty cat who has a series of adventures where she saves the
day In Lucy Cat at the beach she saves some kittens from a shark The stories all have the same structure exchanging greetings introducing the scene and then a big BANG page averting disaster and finally everyone thanks Lucy We consulted an early read-ing specialist who advised with the speech bubbles including a third person narrative along the bottom of the strip The stories were fun to invent but orga-nizing the bilingual text was a challenge Including both languages in the speech bubbles looked messy and wouldnrsquot encourage children to read only the new language So we doubled up the strips on each page one in English and one in the foreign language This works well but means that we havenrsquot published a monolingual version of the stories
SB How does nonfiction work for bilingual books
CB I donrsquot have much experience with bilingual nonfiction b small has produced a series of stick-er atlases and a range of picture dictionaries and search-and-find 1000 word books (links refer to En-glish-Spanish editions But they are also published in English only and English-French) so they are refer-ence books rather than nonfiction Like fiction it is important to choose concepts that can be translated and keep the information shorter than in a monolin-gual nonfiction book
In fiction and nonfiction it is challenging because the illustrations must work in both languages A good example is lsquobreadrsquo A typical English loaf is a differ-ent shape from an Italian or French loaf Similarly an American barn looks different from a European barn and a German church spire looks different from an English church tower The most difficult of all is the driving wheel of a car lorry (truck) or busmdashleft or right The solution is to neutralize the images so that they are acceptable to many culturesmdashand place the steering wheel in the middle of the car This means working with illustrators who create attractive pictures that children love even if they donrsquot reflect their culture
SB What are the most common languages that ap-pear together in one book
CB This depends on the market For the UK and
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April 11
gent Jodell Sadler (formerly of Sadler Literary and founder of KidLit College) joins Jill Corcoran
president and fellow agents Eve PorinchakTimothy Travaglini Adah Megged Nuchi and Silvia Ariente at the recently-expanded Jill Corcoran Literary Agency Jodell like Adah will be co-agenting clients with Jill Both will provide feedback and direction on projects but with Jodell primarily in an editorial capacity and Jill pri-marily as the contract negotia-tor
Lynne Marie What fueled your decision to join Jill Corcoran Literary Agency How do you feel this move benefits the clients you brought with you as well as new clients
Jodell Sadler I wanted to work with writers and illustrators on the editing side I am happier and finding real joy in collabo-rating with clients in this team approach As the editorial agent Irsquom the first set of eyes creating top-quality manuscripts with our shared clients at JCLA What is fun for me is that I get to pass the baton to a new set of eyes Jill for submissions Pitches submissions Thatrsquos her baby and I love it We still have editorial meeting to discuss our approach but I do what I love work with writers and illustrators and coach them to success Positioning and marketing be-longs in both camps but I think everyone should be lined up to work with Jill Shersquos genius at what she does
LM Does your extensive background in art and busi-ness play into your decision to focus primarily on the
creative aspect of a book project and how
JS Picture books are built word by carefully selected word and art feeds and drives story Irsquove worked in ed-itorial and as an art director illustrator designer and marketing for a Fortune 500 company Little-known fact about me is that I am also published in photogra-
phy I love art I love words and the interplay of these two picture book partners Thatrsquos why I became fasci-nated by pacing When you can take a line of text and through sound and care make it seem short when long or pace out a sentence to mock a scene it adds excitement to the ed-iting process
My marketing and branding exper-tise includes product development Herersquos a fun fact few know about me as well I illustrated the first product renderings and logo for Super Vee a tremelo system for guitarsmdasha device that keeps a whammy bar in tunemdashas well the box it would be packaged in for customers Now itrsquos huge which has been fun to see Irsquove also drawn with my feet having a great respect for disabilities and how seri-
ously talented individuals go beyond normal every day
LM Please describe your role in a bookrsquos progress from representation to publication
JS That sounds easy I wish it was really that quick but donrsquot we all I edit with writers (and illustrators and writer-illustrators) to help them hone the art and words of story Right now when a writer or author-illustrator comes in to JCLA they are vetted by two agents both Jill and me We jointly represent
interview by Lynne Marie
Agent Spotlight
a
Jodell Sadler of the
April 12
I focus on manuscript polish and prep and pass the ba-ton to Jill I love this model It works
LM Please share details of an upcoming collaborative project you have accepted and tell us why this project stands out for you
JS All books for kids are collaborative for sure Irsquove recently repped awesome illustrator talent some heavy lifters I can see are ready to bust out I like to help il-lustrators make that leap into creating books as au-thor-illustrators Irsquom pretty intense in that regard be-cause Irsquove worked the programs and prepped printed books I know story art and the print industry While Irsquove spent years saving companies thousands through sound design strategies now itrsquos time to do this for au-thors and illustrators
LM How would define your unique approach to chil-drenrsquos literature
JS Whatrsquos also fun and something not many know about me is that following earning my MFA I served as a professor in the many literary categories Human-ities Contemporary World Literature of the Ameri-can Minorities (created courses as expert and itrsquos still one of my favorites) American and British Literature as well as the traditional courses of English Compo-sition Advanced Comp Creative Writing Founda-tions Rhetoric (too many to list) on the undergrad level as well as Publishing and Picture Book classes on the Grad Level Irsquove also worked with educational companies on web product launches and fact-checking against textbooks So I have a really strong grasp of the best writers over decades and the many movements in literature And my teaching in K-12 has contributed a great deal to my understanding of reluctant readers budding writers teaching practices and more
LM Since this is a new partnership please share de-tails of the first book you have championed together and gotten an offer on
JS A two-book picture book deal started us offhellip and we look forward to championing many more in many categories I am over the moon about our approach and all the really wonderful products that are being un-der considered right now Truth-be-told anyone would be blessed to work with Jill She is beyond fabulous
and I look at our approach as a real win-win for clients
LM Will this collaboration in any way change your focus regarding the genres you seek or your manuscript wish list And what if anything remains on your man-uscript wish list for this year
JS Not at all I still love what I love and that hasnrsquot changed Irsquom all about picture books through middle grade and Irsquom looking for great author-illustrators as well as great stories in fiction and nonfiction Contem-porary commercial dark humorous mysteries and big idea books in middle grade Recent projects include interior illustrations for the Friday Barnes series by Phil Gosier as well as his forthcoming author-illustrator picture books Snow Beast Comes to Play and Dog Adop-tion Day (Roaring Brook Press 2017) Bold Women of Medicine 21 Stories of Astounding Discoveries Daring Sur-geries and Healing by Susan M Latta (Chicago Review Press) and If Animals Said I Love You by Ann Whitford Paul (FSG Macmillam)
LM If you had to pick the most important charac-teristic that sells you on a particular manuscript what would it be
JS Pacing of voice and art tells me a book is ready I am particularly sensitive to active language and like most agents and editors look for great voice strong concept unique characters plot hook point of view visual imagery and intrigue First lines and pages of story set the tone for the rest of the picture book or novel A storyrsquos opening should transfer readers to a place they have not experienced before It should feel like a performance that I am a part of
One of my favorite lines from the Beatrix Potter mov-iersquos first lines and visuals
A sweeping paintbrush washes color on the pages along with quiet pause and birdsong A violin softly plays over gentle high-pitched piano keys ldquoTherersquos something deli-cious about writing the first words of a story You never quite tell where theyrsquoll take you Mine took me here
ldquoLooking back the city and I never much liked each other An unmarried woman after all was expected to behave in very particular ways which did not include traipsing from publisher to publishers with a gaggle of friendsrdquo
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
April 13
Like this I love to enter a story and forget I am read-ing
LM What is one thing that you feel you might be able to fix if it is broken in andor missing from a prospec-tive manuscript
JS Pacing hellip and most anything can be fixed along with some things that we donrsquot often think about like concept and marketability These are vital When we write we write to mind heart and ear and this marries with the visual splash an illustrator brings First lines first pages hook voice depth of emotions character plot and tensionhellipall have to be top-notch
LM Since you and Jill are working together how should submissions be addressed
JS Submissions go to only one agent at JCLA Please do not send to both or more than one For me I love a succinct letter in the body of the email that is short
and powerful I encourage writers to do three things
1 Give a hook or line that shares the ldquowhy merdquo
2 After your intro pitch your story in a couple of sentences
3 Add your bio information and done Sign off
Itrsquos really all about the writing or writing and port-folio which for me is your manuscript shared in the Samples area and a dummy attachment as a PDFmdashor at least a link to an online portfolio If you are going to submit as an author-illustrator a portfolio is a must
Best advice Share your project and your personality and be prepared to jump in Show off your work style and creative edge and that you are enjoyable and fun to work with
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
Jodell Sadler is accepting ldquoAbove the Slushrdquo submissions from CBI read-ers First study her guidelines and current needs here httpsjillcorcor-anliteraryagencycomjodell-sadler-editorial-agent which include pic-ture books from authorillustrators as well as nonfiction biographies chapter books middle grade projects and graphic novels Then either click on the Submit button on that page or go straight to her Query Manager page at httpsquerymanagercomqueryJodellSadler In the field marked ldquoIf this query is a referral who referred yourdquo type CBI JCLA GIRAFFE
April 14
by Randi Lynn Mrvos
very time I visited a bookstore I envisioned my manuscript as a book on a shelf This ritual devel-
oped after I wrote a picture book about a girl named Maggie and then created a blog that chronicled the hopeful journey of getting it published
The Maggie Project blog was fashioned after the JulieJulia Project in which Julie Powell blogged about cook-ing all of the recipes in Julia Childrsquos Mastering the Art of French Cooking book in one year The premise of my blog was to submit a picture book manuscript to 30 publishers 15 agents and 5 contests in one year But I was nothing like Julie I did not end up with a book deal It was humiliating The Maggie Project closed down and the manuscript was shelved
Maggie was not the first story I had written Years be-fore I had taken a class on writing for children at the Carnegie Center in my hometown Lexington Ken-tucky After learning the basics I wrote and submitted five picture books but each one was rejected Publica-tion seemed out of reach until I turned to writing non-fiction Having a background as a medical technologist enabled me write scientific articles for kids By the time I had written fifty articles I had an impressive bio so I returned to writing fiction Still no one was interested in my picture books
This setback prompted me to find ways to boost my writing career I decided to read books on writing for kids and began with Jean Karlrsquos How to Write and Sell Picture Books Karl was a childrenrsquos book editor In her book she teaches the key elements needed to create pic-ture books for children and provides information on marketing your book
Another great resource was Writing Picture Books A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication by au-thor and poet Ann Whitford Paul This book provides
the knowledge needed to write picture books that will appeal to children as well as editors and agents The topics include developing plot and point of view cre-ating characters and researching the picture book mar-ket
When it came to composing a story Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos Word Book by Alijandra Mogilner became invaluable for finding just the right word for just the right age group Mogilnerrsquos book allows you to get into the mind of a child at various ages It gives guidelines for sen-tence length and word usage and offers lists of specific words for grade levels kindergarten ndash grade 6
In addition to reading how-to books I stepped into our local library and headed for the childrenrsquos section The librarianrsquos selections were displayed on the top of the stacks I checked out these childrenrsquos books and ana-lyzed their strengths and weaknesses It helped me to understand what was being published
Afterwards I wrote and submitted more picture books but these stories were rejected too It was obvious I needed more help Many years earlier my Carnegie teacher had suggested joining the Society of Childrenrsquos Book Writers and Illustrators I had put it off much too long and so I became a member SCBWI is an interna-tional organization that provides resources and oppor-tunities for members Each year the organization has two conferences one in Los Angeles and the other in New York City Regional chapters have writing work-shops where attendees may have the chance to pitch to an agent or to have a manuscript critiqued by an editor
I took advantage of five SCBWI conferences At these meetings I learned writing and publishing tips from panels of authors During breaks I schmoozed with the ever-so-wanting-to-get-published and exchanged emails to stay in touch and to lend support After one
The Writerrsquos Mindset
E
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf
April 15
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf continued
The Writerrsquos Mindset
conference some of the attendees got fired up about trying to bring an editor to our hometown That in-spired another writer and me to organize a SCBWI Editorrsquos Day workshop It was an unbelievable expe-rience Besides learning how to get published I had the opportunity to pitch a book to the presenter Liz Waniewski editor of Dial Books (though she politely turned it down)
As time passed I continued to write stories and submit them Every now and then the rejections came with personal notes ldquothis project sounds interestingrdquo ldquothis seems like a unique ideardquo ldquothis story has potentialrdquo But despite the praise none of my stories won the heart of a publisher
Frustration became a weight on my shoulders There were times when I wanted to give up But one remark kept me positive My husband said ldquoIt only takes one person to like what you writerdquo
Six years passed since The Maggie Project closed I still hadnrsquot found a publisher for any of my stories I felt it was time to try a new approach and work with an ex-perienced partner Editorial consultant Mary Kole of-fered a package which included a picture book critique and a review of three query letters By chance I pulled out the query for Maggie
Mary guided me when it came to querying As for targeting an agent she suggested making two lists a 10-20 top choices and a 10-20 second choice list She said to query 10-20 agents in a first round to see if they would give any feedback and then adjust accordingly Re-query some from the A list who seem open to see-ing a revision and also the B list who will be seeing it for the first time
In regards to my manuscript on Maggie Mary warned about Flight of Imagination a plot of a book dealing with kids having an adventure based largely in their imagination She stressed that itrsquos not like you canrsquot have a story that centers on a childrsquos journey through a land of imagination But there needs to be other layers in play and an actual story within the imagined land-scape not just an episodic barrage of images or crazy adventures Characters need to be fleshed out A plot needs to be in motion with sequential events that go from conflict to climax Other themes and universal
childhood experiences need to be embedded within the manuscript
After weighing her comments I changed the title of my story Also I judiciously cut 500 words (Picture books were shorter these days Perhaps thatrsquos one of the reasons why Maggie never sold) Then the story was sent to five publishers Buthellipit was deacutejagrave vu all over again Within two weeks three rejections appeared in my inbox I started questioning myself Did I follow Maryrsquos advice Were my characters well-developed Did the plot advance Had I successfully incorporat-ed themes and universal childhood experiences within the manuscript She warned that Flight of Imagination picture books are a tougher row to hoe than most Had I looked at my story objectively Did it suffer as Mary would say from this colorfulndashbut nonetheless problem-aticndashissue
With no word on the two remaining submissions I put writing and worrying about my writing on hold My husband and I went on vacation in New Orleans to cel-ebrate our birthdays We had done a Garden District tour (where we saw Sandra Bollockrsquos and John Good-manrsquos houses) visited a plantation listened to jazz on Bourbon Street and tasted spicy Cajun dishes Before going out one evening I checked my emails Surpris-ingly one of them was from a publisher I had queried Incredibly it read I like your book My scream was probably heard throughout the entire hotel
When we returned home we opened our birthday gifts My husband bought me Julia Childrsquos famous cook-book Maybe I was a little like Julie Powell after all
A month later I signed a book contract with Cactus Moon Publications Now my days are spent marketing Maggie and the Summer Vacation Show and Tell When I look back on the road to publication it had been a long difficult journey It demanded the willingness to develop the craft the determination to never give up the strength to remain positive despite rejection and the resolve to hold fast to a dream It also required get-ting involved with a professional writerrsquos organization and working with editorial partner But even before the journey began it took the daring to envision a book on a shelf
April 16
Global Publishing
Tips for Creating Bilingual Booksby Sharon Olivia Blumberg
n our global world itrsquos more important than ever to expose children to different languages Bilingual
childrenrsquos books is one terrific way to do just that As a retired foreign language teacher of Spanish I read bilingual books to my seventh graders as they sat spellbound
I recently spoke with two women involved in pub-lishing bilingual books for childrenmdashCath Bruzzone of b small publishing in the UK and Maria Domin-guez of Scholastic en espantildeol in the USmdashand got their thoughts on how to write stories that work well in two languages
Cath Bruzzone is a British publisher and author of activity books and foreign language learning books for children She started her career as a teacher of Italian and French and worked as an editor of UK publishers Harrap Books Thomas Nelson and Pan Books before starting her own business b small pub-lishing in 1990 (httpwwwbsmallcouk)
Sharon Blumberg Please explain the bilingual chil-drenrsquos book market in the UK regarding current needs and popularity with children parents teach-ers and librarians
Cara Bruzzone The bilingual childrenrsquos book mar-ket in the UK is small and specialized It is divided between European languages mainly French Span-ish It also includes community languages spoken in the UK like Hindi Urdu Arabic and Chinese Foreign languages are now offered at primary (ele-mentary) schools But this is a recent initiative that is poorly funded for teacher training and materials It concentrates mainly on French with some Span-ish So the main market for b smallrsquos books are par-entsmdashbilingual families and parents who want their young children to enjoy their two languages or learn a foreign language As many parents and teachers are not confident linguists bilingual books are ideal to
give them extra support Bilingual books highlight similarities between the two languages giving chil-dren confidence in the new language Librarians have supported bilingual books but many libraries have closed in the UK because of the economic crisis from 2008 Sadly this shrinking market is vital for pro-moting community languages In order to produce the quantity and quality of books that we publish we rely on selling foreign rights to countries like the USA some European countries China and Asia
SB When writing childrenrsquos bilingual books does the author or the publisher provide the translation
CB In the case of b smallrsquos bilingual books we write them in English and commission translations from native speakers However we can edit the English text if necessary to make sure that the two languag-es work well together for the target age group If the book is published in another country like China or Poland the local publisher buying the rights will pro-duce the Chinese or Polish text Also as our books are in British English and Castilian Spanish the US publisher purchasing the rights supplies the US En-glish and also the Latin American Spanish text for their editions There are a number of differences between US and British English especially for the younger age groups colourcolor mummom lor-rytruck are examples
SB What stories work best as bilingual books
CB Stories with repetition work well For childrenrsquos books stories should be compelling and not compli-cated Humor is good but jokes can be difficult to translate The stories should avoid cultural content that canrsquot be easily understood or translated Univer-sal themes are best Rhyme is difficult to translate as well as texts that rely on alphabetical order as lan-guages have different alphabets (Spanish has an extra ntilde for example and Welsh has the letters ch ff and ll)
I
April 17
Global Publishing
From a production point of view the layout of bilin-gual books must leave space for two languages and possibly a pronunciation guide So the text will be shorter than monolingual stories It is a challenge to have a beginning middle and end in so few pages Marrying the text and pictures can also be challeng-ing when there are two sets of text that work with the pictures
Irsquoll give examples from two of our titles Puppy Finds a FriendCachorrito Encuentra Un Amigo part of the I Can Read series (published in both English-French and English-Spanish) and La Gatita Luciacutea en la playaLucy Cat at the Beach one of a series of four Lucy Cat cartoon strip books published in English-French and English-Spanish
The puppy story had to fit into our series concept picture stories for ages 3 to 5 with a simple repetitive text and universal childrenrsquos themes that reflect chil-drenrsquos lives while building their self-esteem I chose farmyard animals so that I didnrsquot have to select chil-dren of one particular ethnicity (We are committed to inclusivity in our books and have recently signed the Everybody In charter promoted by Inclusive Minds We want to improve our representation of all children in our books) The story is about a little puppy who tries to find a friend All the animals say theyrsquore too busy but the little mouse plays with him The story includes common farm animalsmdashhorse cow etc Then there is a repetition of the key phras-es like ldquoIrsquom too busyrdquo So as an attractive story it reinforces everyday language The illustrations are brilliant but we had trouble coming up with the final puppy We have been lucky with this series as several well-known illustrators have agreed to illustrate the stories for modest fees because they believe in bilin-gual education
The Lucy Cat series was designed as the next step up from our Bilingual First Words books They would be stories based on simple conversational phrases Car-toon strips are popular for early reading The illustra-tor Clare Beaton and I worked together on a cartoon strip for young language learners in the McGraw-Hill Languages for Children series Lucy Cat was named after my young daughter Lucy She is a feisty cat who has a series of adventures where she saves the
day In Lucy Cat at the beach she saves some kittens from a shark The stories all have the same structure exchanging greetings introducing the scene and then a big BANG page averting disaster and finally everyone thanks Lucy We consulted an early read-ing specialist who advised with the speech bubbles including a third person narrative along the bottom of the strip The stories were fun to invent but orga-nizing the bilingual text was a challenge Including both languages in the speech bubbles looked messy and wouldnrsquot encourage children to read only the new language So we doubled up the strips on each page one in English and one in the foreign language This works well but means that we havenrsquot published a monolingual version of the stories
SB How does nonfiction work for bilingual books
CB I donrsquot have much experience with bilingual nonfiction b small has produced a series of stick-er atlases and a range of picture dictionaries and search-and-find 1000 word books (links refer to En-glish-Spanish editions But they are also published in English only and English-French) so they are refer-ence books rather than nonfiction Like fiction it is important to choose concepts that can be translated and keep the information shorter than in a monolin-gual nonfiction book
In fiction and nonfiction it is challenging because the illustrations must work in both languages A good example is lsquobreadrsquo A typical English loaf is a differ-ent shape from an Italian or French loaf Similarly an American barn looks different from a European barn and a German church spire looks different from an English church tower The most difficult of all is the driving wheel of a car lorry (truck) or busmdashleft or right The solution is to neutralize the images so that they are acceptable to many culturesmdashand place the steering wheel in the middle of the car This means working with illustrators who create attractive pictures that children love even if they donrsquot reflect their culture
SB What are the most common languages that ap-pear together in one book
CB This depends on the market For the UK and
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April 12
I focus on manuscript polish and prep and pass the ba-ton to Jill I love this model It works
LM Please share details of an upcoming collaborative project you have accepted and tell us why this project stands out for you
JS All books for kids are collaborative for sure Irsquove recently repped awesome illustrator talent some heavy lifters I can see are ready to bust out I like to help il-lustrators make that leap into creating books as au-thor-illustrators Irsquom pretty intense in that regard be-cause Irsquove worked the programs and prepped printed books I know story art and the print industry While Irsquove spent years saving companies thousands through sound design strategies now itrsquos time to do this for au-thors and illustrators
LM How would define your unique approach to chil-drenrsquos literature
JS Whatrsquos also fun and something not many know about me is that following earning my MFA I served as a professor in the many literary categories Human-ities Contemporary World Literature of the Ameri-can Minorities (created courses as expert and itrsquos still one of my favorites) American and British Literature as well as the traditional courses of English Compo-sition Advanced Comp Creative Writing Founda-tions Rhetoric (too many to list) on the undergrad level as well as Publishing and Picture Book classes on the Grad Level Irsquove also worked with educational companies on web product launches and fact-checking against textbooks So I have a really strong grasp of the best writers over decades and the many movements in literature And my teaching in K-12 has contributed a great deal to my understanding of reluctant readers budding writers teaching practices and more
LM Since this is a new partnership please share de-tails of the first book you have championed together and gotten an offer on
JS A two-book picture book deal started us offhellip and we look forward to championing many more in many categories I am over the moon about our approach and all the really wonderful products that are being un-der considered right now Truth-be-told anyone would be blessed to work with Jill She is beyond fabulous
and I look at our approach as a real win-win for clients
LM Will this collaboration in any way change your focus regarding the genres you seek or your manuscript wish list And what if anything remains on your man-uscript wish list for this year
JS Not at all I still love what I love and that hasnrsquot changed Irsquom all about picture books through middle grade and Irsquom looking for great author-illustrators as well as great stories in fiction and nonfiction Contem-porary commercial dark humorous mysteries and big idea books in middle grade Recent projects include interior illustrations for the Friday Barnes series by Phil Gosier as well as his forthcoming author-illustrator picture books Snow Beast Comes to Play and Dog Adop-tion Day (Roaring Brook Press 2017) Bold Women of Medicine 21 Stories of Astounding Discoveries Daring Sur-geries and Healing by Susan M Latta (Chicago Review Press) and If Animals Said I Love You by Ann Whitford Paul (FSG Macmillam)
LM If you had to pick the most important charac-teristic that sells you on a particular manuscript what would it be
JS Pacing of voice and art tells me a book is ready I am particularly sensitive to active language and like most agents and editors look for great voice strong concept unique characters plot hook point of view visual imagery and intrigue First lines and pages of story set the tone for the rest of the picture book or novel A storyrsquos opening should transfer readers to a place they have not experienced before It should feel like a performance that I am a part of
One of my favorite lines from the Beatrix Potter mov-iersquos first lines and visuals
A sweeping paintbrush washes color on the pages along with quiet pause and birdsong A violin softly plays over gentle high-pitched piano keys ldquoTherersquos something deli-cious about writing the first words of a story You never quite tell where theyrsquoll take you Mine took me here
ldquoLooking back the city and I never much liked each other An unmarried woman after all was expected to behave in very particular ways which did not include traipsing from publisher to publishers with a gaggle of friendsrdquo
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
April 13
Like this I love to enter a story and forget I am read-ing
LM What is one thing that you feel you might be able to fix if it is broken in andor missing from a prospec-tive manuscript
JS Pacing hellip and most anything can be fixed along with some things that we donrsquot often think about like concept and marketability These are vital When we write we write to mind heart and ear and this marries with the visual splash an illustrator brings First lines first pages hook voice depth of emotions character plot and tensionhellipall have to be top-notch
LM Since you and Jill are working together how should submissions be addressed
JS Submissions go to only one agent at JCLA Please do not send to both or more than one For me I love a succinct letter in the body of the email that is short
and powerful I encourage writers to do three things
1 Give a hook or line that shares the ldquowhy merdquo
2 After your intro pitch your story in a couple of sentences
3 Add your bio information and done Sign off
Itrsquos really all about the writing or writing and port-folio which for me is your manuscript shared in the Samples area and a dummy attachment as a PDFmdashor at least a link to an online portfolio If you are going to submit as an author-illustrator a portfolio is a must
Best advice Share your project and your personality and be prepared to jump in Show off your work style and creative edge and that you are enjoyable and fun to work with
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
Jodell Sadler is accepting ldquoAbove the Slushrdquo submissions from CBI read-ers First study her guidelines and current needs here httpsjillcorcor-anliteraryagencycomjodell-sadler-editorial-agent which include pic-ture books from authorillustrators as well as nonfiction biographies chapter books middle grade projects and graphic novels Then either click on the Submit button on that page or go straight to her Query Manager page at httpsquerymanagercomqueryJodellSadler In the field marked ldquoIf this query is a referral who referred yourdquo type CBI JCLA GIRAFFE
April 14
by Randi Lynn Mrvos
very time I visited a bookstore I envisioned my manuscript as a book on a shelf This ritual devel-
oped after I wrote a picture book about a girl named Maggie and then created a blog that chronicled the hopeful journey of getting it published
The Maggie Project blog was fashioned after the JulieJulia Project in which Julie Powell blogged about cook-ing all of the recipes in Julia Childrsquos Mastering the Art of French Cooking book in one year The premise of my blog was to submit a picture book manuscript to 30 publishers 15 agents and 5 contests in one year But I was nothing like Julie I did not end up with a book deal It was humiliating The Maggie Project closed down and the manuscript was shelved
Maggie was not the first story I had written Years be-fore I had taken a class on writing for children at the Carnegie Center in my hometown Lexington Ken-tucky After learning the basics I wrote and submitted five picture books but each one was rejected Publica-tion seemed out of reach until I turned to writing non-fiction Having a background as a medical technologist enabled me write scientific articles for kids By the time I had written fifty articles I had an impressive bio so I returned to writing fiction Still no one was interested in my picture books
This setback prompted me to find ways to boost my writing career I decided to read books on writing for kids and began with Jean Karlrsquos How to Write and Sell Picture Books Karl was a childrenrsquos book editor In her book she teaches the key elements needed to create pic-ture books for children and provides information on marketing your book
Another great resource was Writing Picture Books A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication by au-thor and poet Ann Whitford Paul This book provides
the knowledge needed to write picture books that will appeal to children as well as editors and agents The topics include developing plot and point of view cre-ating characters and researching the picture book mar-ket
When it came to composing a story Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos Word Book by Alijandra Mogilner became invaluable for finding just the right word for just the right age group Mogilnerrsquos book allows you to get into the mind of a child at various ages It gives guidelines for sen-tence length and word usage and offers lists of specific words for grade levels kindergarten ndash grade 6
In addition to reading how-to books I stepped into our local library and headed for the childrenrsquos section The librarianrsquos selections were displayed on the top of the stacks I checked out these childrenrsquos books and ana-lyzed their strengths and weaknesses It helped me to understand what was being published
Afterwards I wrote and submitted more picture books but these stories were rejected too It was obvious I needed more help Many years earlier my Carnegie teacher had suggested joining the Society of Childrenrsquos Book Writers and Illustrators I had put it off much too long and so I became a member SCBWI is an interna-tional organization that provides resources and oppor-tunities for members Each year the organization has two conferences one in Los Angeles and the other in New York City Regional chapters have writing work-shops where attendees may have the chance to pitch to an agent or to have a manuscript critiqued by an editor
I took advantage of five SCBWI conferences At these meetings I learned writing and publishing tips from panels of authors During breaks I schmoozed with the ever-so-wanting-to-get-published and exchanged emails to stay in touch and to lend support After one
The Writerrsquos Mindset
E
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf
April 15
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf continued
The Writerrsquos Mindset
conference some of the attendees got fired up about trying to bring an editor to our hometown That in-spired another writer and me to organize a SCBWI Editorrsquos Day workshop It was an unbelievable expe-rience Besides learning how to get published I had the opportunity to pitch a book to the presenter Liz Waniewski editor of Dial Books (though she politely turned it down)
As time passed I continued to write stories and submit them Every now and then the rejections came with personal notes ldquothis project sounds interestingrdquo ldquothis seems like a unique ideardquo ldquothis story has potentialrdquo But despite the praise none of my stories won the heart of a publisher
Frustration became a weight on my shoulders There were times when I wanted to give up But one remark kept me positive My husband said ldquoIt only takes one person to like what you writerdquo
Six years passed since The Maggie Project closed I still hadnrsquot found a publisher for any of my stories I felt it was time to try a new approach and work with an ex-perienced partner Editorial consultant Mary Kole of-fered a package which included a picture book critique and a review of three query letters By chance I pulled out the query for Maggie
Mary guided me when it came to querying As for targeting an agent she suggested making two lists a 10-20 top choices and a 10-20 second choice list She said to query 10-20 agents in a first round to see if they would give any feedback and then adjust accordingly Re-query some from the A list who seem open to see-ing a revision and also the B list who will be seeing it for the first time
In regards to my manuscript on Maggie Mary warned about Flight of Imagination a plot of a book dealing with kids having an adventure based largely in their imagination She stressed that itrsquos not like you canrsquot have a story that centers on a childrsquos journey through a land of imagination But there needs to be other layers in play and an actual story within the imagined land-scape not just an episodic barrage of images or crazy adventures Characters need to be fleshed out A plot needs to be in motion with sequential events that go from conflict to climax Other themes and universal
childhood experiences need to be embedded within the manuscript
After weighing her comments I changed the title of my story Also I judiciously cut 500 words (Picture books were shorter these days Perhaps thatrsquos one of the reasons why Maggie never sold) Then the story was sent to five publishers Buthellipit was deacutejagrave vu all over again Within two weeks three rejections appeared in my inbox I started questioning myself Did I follow Maryrsquos advice Were my characters well-developed Did the plot advance Had I successfully incorporat-ed themes and universal childhood experiences within the manuscript She warned that Flight of Imagination picture books are a tougher row to hoe than most Had I looked at my story objectively Did it suffer as Mary would say from this colorfulndashbut nonetheless problem-aticndashissue
With no word on the two remaining submissions I put writing and worrying about my writing on hold My husband and I went on vacation in New Orleans to cel-ebrate our birthdays We had done a Garden District tour (where we saw Sandra Bollockrsquos and John Good-manrsquos houses) visited a plantation listened to jazz on Bourbon Street and tasted spicy Cajun dishes Before going out one evening I checked my emails Surpris-ingly one of them was from a publisher I had queried Incredibly it read I like your book My scream was probably heard throughout the entire hotel
When we returned home we opened our birthday gifts My husband bought me Julia Childrsquos famous cook-book Maybe I was a little like Julie Powell after all
A month later I signed a book contract with Cactus Moon Publications Now my days are spent marketing Maggie and the Summer Vacation Show and Tell When I look back on the road to publication it had been a long difficult journey It demanded the willingness to develop the craft the determination to never give up the strength to remain positive despite rejection and the resolve to hold fast to a dream It also required get-ting involved with a professional writerrsquos organization and working with editorial partner But even before the journey began it took the daring to envision a book on a shelf
April 16
Global Publishing
Tips for Creating Bilingual Booksby Sharon Olivia Blumberg
n our global world itrsquos more important than ever to expose children to different languages Bilingual
childrenrsquos books is one terrific way to do just that As a retired foreign language teacher of Spanish I read bilingual books to my seventh graders as they sat spellbound
I recently spoke with two women involved in pub-lishing bilingual books for childrenmdashCath Bruzzone of b small publishing in the UK and Maria Domin-guez of Scholastic en espantildeol in the USmdashand got their thoughts on how to write stories that work well in two languages
Cath Bruzzone is a British publisher and author of activity books and foreign language learning books for children She started her career as a teacher of Italian and French and worked as an editor of UK publishers Harrap Books Thomas Nelson and Pan Books before starting her own business b small pub-lishing in 1990 (httpwwwbsmallcouk)
Sharon Blumberg Please explain the bilingual chil-drenrsquos book market in the UK regarding current needs and popularity with children parents teach-ers and librarians
Cara Bruzzone The bilingual childrenrsquos book mar-ket in the UK is small and specialized It is divided between European languages mainly French Span-ish It also includes community languages spoken in the UK like Hindi Urdu Arabic and Chinese Foreign languages are now offered at primary (ele-mentary) schools But this is a recent initiative that is poorly funded for teacher training and materials It concentrates mainly on French with some Span-ish So the main market for b smallrsquos books are par-entsmdashbilingual families and parents who want their young children to enjoy their two languages or learn a foreign language As many parents and teachers are not confident linguists bilingual books are ideal to
give them extra support Bilingual books highlight similarities between the two languages giving chil-dren confidence in the new language Librarians have supported bilingual books but many libraries have closed in the UK because of the economic crisis from 2008 Sadly this shrinking market is vital for pro-moting community languages In order to produce the quantity and quality of books that we publish we rely on selling foreign rights to countries like the USA some European countries China and Asia
SB When writing childrenrsquos bilingual books does the author or the publisher provide the translation
CB In the case of b smallrsquos bilingual books we write them in English and commission translations from native speakers However we can edit the English text if necessary to make sure that the two languag-es work well together for the target age group If the book is published in another country like China or Poland the local publisher buying the rights will pro-duce the Chinese or Polish text Also as our books are in British English and Castilian Spanish the US publisher purchasing the rights supplies the US En-glish and also the Latin American Spanish text for their editions There are a number of differences between US and British English especially for the younger age groups colourcolor mummom lor-rytruck are examples
SB What stories work best as bilingual books
CB Stories with repetition work well For childrenrsquos books stories should be compelling and not compli-cated Humor is good but jokes can be difficult to translate The stories should avoid cultural content that canrsquot be easily understood or translated Univer-sal themes are best Rhyme is difficult to translate as well as texts that rely on alphabetical order as lan-guages have different alphabets (Spanish has an extra ntilde for example and Welsh has the letters ch ff and ll)
I
April 17
Global Publishing
From a production point of view the layout of bilin-gual books must leave space for two languages and possibly a pronunciation guide So the text will be shorter than monolingual stories It is a challenge to have a beginning middle and end in so few pages Marrying the text and pictures can also be challeng-ing when there are two sets of text that work with the pictures
Irsquoll give examples from two of our titles Puppy Finds a FriendCachorrito Encuentra Un Amigo part of the I Can Read series (published in both English-French and English-Spanish) and La Gatita Luciacutea en la playaLucy Cat at the Beach one of a series of four Lucy Cat cartoon strip books published in English-French and English-Spanish
The puppy story had to fit into our series concept picture stories for ages 3 to 5 with a simple repetitive text and universal childrenrsquos themes that reflect chil-drenrsquos lives while building their self-esteem I chose farmyard animals so that I didnrsquot have to select chil-dren of one particular ethnicity (We are committed to inclusivity in our books and have recently signed the Everybody In charter promoted by Inclusive Minds We want to improve our representation of all children in our books) The story is about a little puppy who tries to find a friend All the animals say theyrsquore too busy but the little mouse plays with him The story includes common farm animalsmdashhorse cow etc Then there is a repetition of the key phras-es like ldquoIrsquom too busyrdquo So as an attractive story it reinforces everyday language The illustrations are brilliant but we had trouble coming up with the final puppy We have been lucky with this series as several well-known illustrators have agreed to illustrate the stories for modest fees because they believe in bilin-gual education
The Lucy Cat series was designed as the next step up from our Bilingual First Words books They would be stories based on simple conversational phrases Car-toon strips are popular for early reading The illustra-tor Clare Beaton and I worked together on a cartoon strip for young language learners in the McGraw-Hill Languages for Children series Lucy Cat was named after my young daughter Lucy She is a feisty cat who has a series of adventures where she saves the
day In Lucy Cat at the beach she saves some kittens from a shark The stories all have the same structure exchanging greetings introducing the scene and then a big BANG page averting disaster and finally everyone thanks Lucy We consulted an early read-ing specialist who advised with the speech bubbles including a third person narrative along the bottom of the strip The stories were fun to invent but orga-nizing the bilingual text was a challenge Including both languages in the speech bubbles looked messy and wouldnrsquot encourage children to read only the new language So we doubled up the strips on each page one in English and one in the foreign language This works well but means that we havenrsquot published a monolingual version of the stories
SB How does nonfiction work for bilingual books
CB I donrsquot have much experience with bilingual nonfiction b small has produced a series of stick-er atlases and a range of picture dictionaries and search-and-find 1000 word books (links refer to En-glish-Spanish editions But they are also published in English only and English-French) so they are refer-ence books rather than nonfiction Like fiction it is important to choose concepts that can be translated and keep the information shorter than in a monolin-gual nonfiction book
In fiction and nonfiction it is challenging because the illustrations must work in both languages A good example is lsquobreadrsquo A typical English loaf is a differ-ent shape from an Italian or French loaf Similarly an American barn looks different from a European barn and a German church spire looks different from an English church tower The most difficult of all is the driving wheel of a car lorry (truck) or busmdashleft or right The solution is to neutralize the images so that they are acceptable to many culturesmdashand place the steering wheel in the middle of the car This means working with illustrators who create attractive pictures that children love even if they donrsquot reflect their culture
SB What are the most common languages that ap-pear together in one book
CB This depends on the market For the UK and
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April 13
Like this I love to enter a story and forget I am read-ing
LM What is one thing that you feel you might be able to fix if it is broken in andor missing from a prospec-tive manuscript
JS Pacing hellip and most anything can be fixed along with some things that we donrsquot often think about like concept and marketability These are vital When we write we write to mind heart and ear and this marries with the visual splash an illustrator brings First lines first pages hook voice depth of emotions character plot and tensionhellipall have to be top-notch
LM Since you and Jill are working together how should submissions be addressed
JS Submissions go to only one agent at JCLA Please do not send to both or more than one For me I love a succinct letter in the body of the email that is short
and powerful I encourage writers to do three things
1 Give a hook or line that shares the ldquowhy merdquo
2 After your intro pitch your story in a couple of sentences
3 Add your bio information and done Sign off
Itrsquos really all about the writing or writing and port-folio which for me is your manuscript shared in the Samples area and a dummy attachment as a PDFmdashor at least a link to an online portfolio If you are going to submit as an author-illustrator a portfolio is a must
Best advice Share your project and your personality and be prepared to jump in Show off your work style and creative edge and that you are enjoyable and fun to work with
Jodell Sadler continued
Agent Spotlight
Jodell Sadler is accepting ldquoAbove the Slushrdquo submissions from CBI read-ers First study her guidelines and current needs here httpsjillcorcor-anliteraryagencycomjodell-sadler-editorial-agent which include pic-ture books from authorillustrators as well as nonfiction biographies chapter books middle grade projects and graphic novels Then either click on the Submit button on that page or go straight to her Query Manager page at httpsquerymanagercomqueryJodellSadler In the field marked ldquoIf this query is a referral who referred yourdquo type CBI JCLA GIRAFFE
April 14
by Randi Lynn Mrvos
very time I visited a bookstore I envisioned my manuscript as a book on a shelf This ritual devel-
oped after I wrote a picture book about a girl named Maggie and then created a blog that chronicled the hopeful journey of getting it published
The Maggie Project blog was fashioned after the JulieJulia Project in which Julie Powell blogged about cook-ing all of the recipes in Julia Childrsquos Mastering the Art of French Cooking book in one year The premise of my blog was to submit a picture book manuscript to 30 publishers 15 agents and 5 contests in one year But I was nothing like Julie I did not end up with a book deal It was humiliating The Maggie Project closed down and the manuscript was shelved
Maggie was not the first story I had written Years be-fore I had taken a class on writing for children at the Carnegie Center in my hometown Lexington Ken-tucky After learning the basics I wrote and submitted five picture books but each one was rejected Publica-tion seemed out of reach until I turned to writing non-fiction Having a background as a medical technologist enabled me write scientific articles for kids By the time I had written fifty articles I had an impressive bio so I returned to writing fiction Still no one was interested in my picture books
This setback prompted me to find ways to boost my writing career I decided to read books on writing for kids and began with Jean Karlrsquos How to Write and Sell Picture Books Karl was a childrenrsquos book editor In her book she teaches the key elements needed to create pic-ture books for children and provides information on marketing your book
Another great resource was Writing Picture Books A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication by au-thor and poet Ann Whitford Paul This book provides
the knowledge needed to write picture books that will appeal to children as well as editors and agents The topics include developing plot and point of view cre-ating characters and researching the picture book mar-ket
When it came to composing a story Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos Word Book by Alijandra Mogilner became invaluable for finding just the right word for just the right age group Mogilnerrsquos book allows you to get into the mind of a child at various ages It gives guidelines for sen-tence length and word usage and offers lists of specific words for grade levels kindergarten ndash grade 6
In addition to reading how-to books I stepped into our local library and headed for the childrenrsquos section The librarianrsquos selections were displayed on the top of the stacks I checked out these childrenrsquos books and ana-lyzed their strengths and weaknesses It helped me to understand what was being published
Afterwards I wrote and submitted more picture books but these stories were rejected too It was obvious I needed more help Many years earlier my Carnegie teacher had suggested joining the Society of Childrenrsquos Book Writers and Illustrators I had put it off much too long and so I became a member SCBWI is an interna-tional organization that provides resources and oppor-tunities for members Each year the organization has two conferences one in Los Angeles and the other in New York City Regional chapters have writing work-shops where attendees may have the chance to pitch to an agent or to have a manuscript critiqued by an editor
I took advantage of five SCBWI conferences At these meetings I learned writing and publishing tips from panels of authors During breaks I schmoozed with the ever-so-wanting-to-get-published and exchanged emails to stay in touch and to lend support After one
The Writerrsquos Mindset
E
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf
April 15
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf continued
The Writerrsquos Mindset
conference some of the attendees got fired up about trying to bring an editor to our hometown That in-spired another writer and me to organize a SCBWI Editorrsquos Day workshop It was an unbelievable expe-rience Besides learning how to get published I had the opportunity to pitch a book to the presenter Liz Waniewski editor of Dial Books (though she politely turned it down)
As time passed I continued to write stories and submit them Every now and then the rejections came with personal notes ldquothis project sounds interestingrdquo ldquothis seems like a unique ideardquo ldquothis story has potentialrdquo But despite the praise none of my stories won the heart of a publisher
Frustration became a weight on my shoulders There were times when I wanted to give up But one remark kept me positive My husband said ldquoIt only takes one person to like what you writerdquo
Six years passed since The Maggie Project closed I still hadnrsquot found a publisher for any of my stories I felt it was time to try a new approach and work with an ex-perienced partner Editorial consultant Mary Kole of-fered a package which included a picture book critique and a review of three query letters By chance I pulled out the query for Maggie
Mary guided me when it came to querying As for targeting an agent she suggested making two lists a 10-20 top choices and a 10-20 second choice list She said to query 10-20 agents in a first round to see if they would give any feedback and then adjust accordingly Re-query some from the A list who seem open to see-ing a revision and also the B list who will be seeing it for the first time
In regards to my manuscript on Maggie Mary warned about Flight of Imagination a plot of a book dealing with kids having an adventure based largely in their imagination She stressed that itrsquos not like you canrsquot have a story that centers on a childrsquos journey through a land of imagination But there needs to be other layers in play and an actual story within the imagined land-scape not just an episodic barrage of images or crazy adventures Characters need to be fleshed out A plot needs to be in motion with sequential events that go from conflict to climax Other themes and universal
childhood experiences need to be embedded within the manuscript
After weighing her comments I changed the title of my story Also I judiciously cut 500 words (Picture books were shorter these days Perhaps thatrsquos one of the reasons why Maggie never sold) Then the story was sent to five publishers Buthellipit was deacutejagrave vu all over again Within two weeks three rejections appeared in my inbox I started questioning myself Did I follow Maryrsquos advice Were my characters well-developed Did the plot advance Had I successfully incorporat-ed themes and universal childhood experiences within the manuscript She warned that Flight of Imagination picture books are a tougher row to hoe than most Had I looked at my story objectively Did it suffer as Mary would say from this colorfulndashbut nonetheless problem-aticndashissue
With no word on the two remaining submissions I put writing and worrying about my writing on hold My husband and I went on vacation in New Orleans to cel-ebrate our birthdays We had done a Garden District tour (where we saw Sandra Bollockrsquos and John Good-manrsquos houses) visited a plantation listened to jazz on Bourbon Street and tasted spicy Cajun dishes Before going out one evening I checked my emails Surpris-ingly one of them was from a publisher I had queried Incredibly it read I like your book My scream was probably heard throughout the entire hotel
When we returned home we opened our birthday gifts My husband bought me Julia Childrsquos famous cook-book Maybe I was a little like Julie Powell after all
A month later I signed a book contract with Cactus Moon Publications Now my days are spent marketing Maggie and the Summer Vacation Show and Tell When I look back on the road to publication it had been a long difficult journey It demanded the willingness to develop the craft the determination to never give up the strength to remain positive despite rejection and the resolve to hold fast to a dream It also required get-ting involved with a professional writerrsquos organization and working with editorial partner But even before the journey began it took the daring to envision a book on a shelf
April 16
Global Publishing
Tips for Creating Bilingual Booksby Sharon Olivia Blumberg
n our global world itrsquos more important than ever to expose children to different languages Bilingual
childrenrsquos books is one terrific way to do just that As a retired foreign language teacher of Spanish I read bilingual books to my seventh graders as they sat spellbound
I recently spoke with two women involved in pub-lishing bilingual books for childrenmdashCath Bruzzone of b small publishing in the UK and Maria Domin-guez of Scholastic en espantildeol in the USmdashand got their thoughts on how to write stories that work well in two languages
Cath Bruzzone is a British publisher and author of activity books and foreign language learning books for children She started her career as a teacher of Italian and French and worked as an editor of UK publishers Harrap Books Thomas Nelson and Pan Books before starting her own business b small pub-lishing in 1990 (httpwwwbsmallcouk)
Sharon Blumberg Please explain the bilingual chil-drenrsquos book market in the UK regarding current needs and popularity with children parents teach-ers and librarians
Cara Bruzzone The bilingual childrenrsquos book mar-ket in the UK is small and specialized It is divided between European languages mainly French Span-ish It also includes community languages spoken in the UK like Hindi Urdu Arabic and Chinese Foreign languages are now offered at primary (ele-mentary) schools But this is a recent initiative that is poorly funded for teacher training and materials It concentrates mainly on French with some Span-ish So the main market for b smallrsquos books are par-entsmdashbilingual families and parents who want their young children to enjoy their two languages or learn a foreign language As many parents and teachers are not confident linguists bilingual books are ideal to
give them extra support Bilingual books highlight similarities between the two languages giving chil-dren confidence in the new language Librarians have supported bilingual books but many libraries have closed in the UK because of the economic crisis from 2008 Sadly this shrinking market is vital for pro-moting community languages In order to produce the quantity and quality of books that we publish we rely on selling foreign rights to countries like the USA some European countries China and Asia
SB When writing childrenrsquos bilingual books does the author or the publisher provide the translation
CB In the case of b smallrsquos bilingual books we write them in English and commission translations from native speakers However we can edit the English text if necessary to make sure that the two languag-es work well together for the target age group If the book is published in another country like China or Poland the local publisher buying the rights will pro-duce the Chinese or Polish text Also as our books are in British English and Castilian Spanish the US publisher purchasing the rights supplies the US En-glish and also the Latin American Spanish text for their editions There are a number of differences between US and British English especially for the younger age groups colourcolor mummom lor-rytruck are examples
SB What stories work best as bilingual books
CB Stories with repetition work well For childrenrsquos books stories should be compelling and not compli-cated Humor is good but jokes can be difficult to translate The stories should avoid cultural content that canrsquot be easily understood or translated Univer-sal themes are best Rhyme is difficult to translate as well as texts that rely on alphabetical order as lan-guages have different alphabets (Spanish has an extra ntilde for example and Welsh has the letters ch ff and ll)
I
April 17
Global Publishing
From a production point of view the layout of bilin-gual books must leave space for two languages and possibly a pronunciation guide So the text will be shorter than monolingual stories It is a challenge to have a beginning middle and end in so few pages Marrying the text and pictures can also be challeng-ing when there are two sets of text that work with the pictures
Irsquoll give examples from two of our titles Puppy Finds a FriendCachorrito Encuentra Un Amigo part of the I Can Read series (published in both English-French and English-Spanish) and La Gatita Luciacutea en la playaLucy Cat at the Beach one of a series of four Lucy Cat cartoon strip books published in English-French and English-Spanish
The puppy story had to fit into our series concept picture stories for ages 3 to 5 with a simple repetitive text and universal childrenrsquos themes that reflect chil-drenrsquos lives while building their self-esteem I chose farmyard animals so that I didnrsquot have to select chil-dren of one particular ethnicity (We are committed to inclusivity in our books and have recently signed the Everybody In charter promoted by Inclusive Minds We want to improve our representation of all children in our books) The story is about a little puppy who tries to find a friend All the animals say theyrsquore too busy but the little mouse plays with him The story includes common farm animalsmdashhorse cow etc Then there is a repetition of the key phras-es like ldquoIrsquom too busyrdquo So as an attractive story it reinforces everyday language The illustrations are brilliant but we had trouble coming up with the final puppy We have been lucky with this series as several well-known illustrators have agreed to illustrate the stories for modest fees because they believe in bilin-gual education
The Lucy Cat series was designed as the next step up from our Bilingual First Words books They would be stories based on simple conversational phrases Car-toon strips are popular for early reading The illustra-tor Clare Beaton and I worked together on a cartoon strip for young language learners in the McGraw-Hill Languages for Children series Lucy Cat was named after my young daughter Lucy She is a feisty cat who has a series of adventures where she saves the
day In Lucy Cat at the beach she saves some kittens from a shark The stories all have the same structure exchanging greetings introducing the scene and then a big BANG page averting disaster and finally everyone thanks Lucy We consulted an early read-ing specialist who advised with the speech bubbles including a third person narrative along the bottom of the strip The stories were fun to invent but orga-nizing the bilingual text was a challenge Including both languages in the speech bubbles looked messy and wouldnrsquot encourage children to read only the new language So we doubled up the strips on each page one in English and one in the foreign language This works well but means that we havenrsquot published a monolingual version of the stories
SB How does nonfiction work for bilingual books
CB I donrsquot have much experience with bilingual nonfiction b small has produced a series of stick-er atlases and a range of picture dictionaries and search-and-find 1000 word books (links refer to En-glish-Spanish editions But they are also published in English only and English-French) so they are refer-ence books rather than nonfiction Like fiction it is important to choose concepts that can be translated and keep the information shorter than in a monolin-gual nonfiction book
In fiction and nonfiction it is challenging because the illustrations must work in both languages A good example is lsquobreadrsquo A typical English loaf is a differ-ent shape from an Italian or French loaf Similarly an American barn looks different from a European barn and a German church spire looks different from an English church tower The most difficult of all is the driving wheel of a car lorry (truck) or busmdashleft or right The solution is to neutralize the images so that they are acceptable to many culturesmdashand place the steering wheel in the middle of the car This means working with illustrators who create attractive pictures that children love even if they donrsquot reflect their culture
SB What are the most common languages that ap-pear together in one book
CB This depends on the market For the UK and
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April 14
by Randi Lynn Mrvos
very time I visited a bookstore I envisioned my manuscript as a book on a shelf This ritual devel-
oped after I wrote a picture book about a girl named Maggie and then created a blog that chronicled the hopeful journey of getting it published
The Maggie Project blog was fashioned after the JulieJulia Project in which Julie Powell blogged about cook-ing all of the recipes in Julia Childrsquos Mastering the Art of French Cooking book in one year The premise of my blog was to submit a picture book manuscript to 30 publishers 15 agents and 5 contests in one year But I was nothing like Julie I did not end up with a book deal It was humiliating The Maggie Project closed down and the manuscript was shelved
Maggie was not the first story I had written Years be-fore I had taken a class on writing for children at the Carnegie Center in my hometown Lexington Ken-tucky After learning the basics I wrote and submitted five picture books but each one was rejected Publica-tion seemed out of reach until I turned to writing non-fiction Having a background as a medical technologist enabled me write scientific articles for kids By the time I had written fifty articles I had an impressive bio so I returned to writing fiction Still no one was interested in my picture books
This setback prompted me to find ways to boost my writing career I decided to read books on writing for kids and began with Jean Karlrsquos How to Write and Sell Picture Books Karl was a childrenrsquos book editor In her book she teaches the key elements needed to create pic-ture books for children and provides information on marketing your book
Another great resource was Writing Picture Books A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication by au-thor and poet Ann Whitford Paul This book provides
the knowledge needed to write picture books that will appeal to children as well as editors and agents The topics include developing plot and point of view cre-ating characters and researching the picture book mar-ket
When it came to composing a story Childrenrsquos Writerrsquos Word Book by Alijandra Mogilner became invaluable for finding just the right word for just the right age group Mogilnerrsquos book allows you to get into the mind of a child at various ages It gives guidelines for sen-tence length and word usage and offers lists of specific words for grade levels kindergarten ndash grade 6
In addition to reading how-to books I stepped into our local library and headed for the childrenrsquos section The librarianrsquos selections were displayed on the top of the stacks I checked out these childrenrsquos books and ana-lyzed their strengths and weaknesses It helped me to understand what was being published
Afterwards I wrote and submitted more picture books but these stories were rejected too It was obvious I needed more help Many years earlier my Carnegie teacher had suggested joining the Society of Childrenrsquos Book Writers and Illustrators I had put it off much too long and so I became a member SCBWI is an interna-tional organization that provides resources and oppor-tunities for members Each year the organization has two conferences one in Los Angeles and the other in New York City Regional chapters have writing work-shops where attendees may have the chance to pitch to an agent or to have a manuscript critiqued by an editor
I took advantage of five SCBWI conferences At these meetings I learned writing and publishing tips from panels of authors During breaks I schmoozed with the ever-so-wanting-to-get-published and exchanged emails to stay in touch and to lend support After one
The Writerrsquos Mindset
E
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf
April 15
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf continued
The Writerrsquos Mindset
conference some of the attendees got fired up about trying to bring an editor to our hometown That in-spired another writer and me to organize a SCBWI Editorrsquos Day workshop It was an unbelievable expe-rience Besides learning how to get published I had the opportunity to pitch a book to the presenter Liz Waniewski editor of Dial Books (though she politely turned it down)
As time passed I continued to write stories and submit them Every now and then the rejections came with personal notes ldquothis project sounds interestingrdquo ldquothis seems like a unique ideardquo ldquothis story has potentialrdquo But despite the praise none of my stories won the heart of a publisher
Frustration became a weight on my shoulders There were times when I wanted to give up But one remark kept me positive My husband said ldquoIt only takes one person to like what you writerdquo
Six years passed since The Maggie Project closed I still hadnrsquot found a publisher for any of my stories I felt it was time to try a new approach and work with an ex-perienced partner Editorial consultant Mary Kole of-fered a package which included a picture book critique and a review of three query letters By chance I pulled out the query for Maggie
Mary guided me when it came to querying As for targeting an agent she suggested making two lists a 10-20 top choices and a 10-20 second choice list She said to query 10-20 agents in a first round to see if they would give any feedback and then adjust accordingly Re-query some from the A list who seem open to see-ing a revision and also the B list who will be seeing it for the first time
In regards to my manuscript on Maggie Mary warned about Flight of Imagination a plot of a book dealing with kids having an adventure based largely in their imagination She stressed that itrsquos not like you canrsquot have a story that centers on a childrsquos journey through a land of imagination But there needs to be other layers in play and an actual story within the imagined land-scape not just an episodic barrage of images or crazy adventures Characters need to be fleshed out A plot needs to be in motion with sequential events that go from conflict to climax Other themes and universal
childhood experiences need to be embedded within the manuscript
After weighing her comments I changed the title of my story Also I judiciously cut 500 words (Picture books were shorter these days Perhaps thatrsquos one of the reasons why Maggie never sold) Then the story was sent to five publishers Buthellipit was deacutejagrave vu all over again Within two weeks three rejections appeared in my inbox I started questioning myself Did I follow Maryrsquos advice Were my characters well-developed Did the plot advance Had I successfully incorporat-ed themes and universal childhood experiences within the manuscript She warned that Flight of Imagination picture books are a tougher row to hoe than most Had I looked at my story objectively Did it suffer as Mary would say from this colorfulndashbut nonetheless problem-aticndashissue
With no word on the two remaining submissions I put writing and worrying about my writing on hold My husband and I went on vacation in New Orleans to cel-ebrate our birthdays We had done a Garden District tour (where we saw Sandra Bollockrsquos and John Good-manrsquos houses) visited a plantation listened to jazz on Bourbon Street and tasted spicy Cajun dishes Before going out one evening I checked my emails Surpris-ingly one of them was from a publisher I had queried Incredibly it read I like your book My scream was probably heard throughout the entire hotel
When we returned home we opened our birthday gifts My husband bought me Julia Childrsquos famous cook-book Maybe I was a little like Julie Powell after all
A month later I signed a book contract with Cactus Moon Publications Now my days are spent marketing Maggie and the Summer Vacation Show and Tell When I look back on the road to publication it had been a long difficult journey It demanded the willingness to develop the craft the determination to never give up the strength to remain positive despite rejection and the resolve to hold fast to a dream It also required get-ting involved with a professional writerrsquos organization and working with editorial partner But even before the journey began it took the daring to envision a book on a shelf
April 16
Global Publishing
Tips for Creating Bilingual Booksby Sharon Olivia Blumberg
n our global world itrsquos more important than ever to expose children to different languages Bilingual
childrenrsquos books is one terrific way to do just that As a retired foreign language teacher of Spanish I read bilingual books to my seventh graders as they sat spellbound
I recently spoke with two women involved in pub-lishing bilingual books for childrenmdashCath Bruzzone of b small publishing in the UK and Maria Domin-guez of Scholastic en espantildeol in the USmdashand got their thoughts on how to write stories that work well in two languages
Cath Bruzzone is a British publisher and author of activity books and foreign language learning books for children She started her career as a teacher of Italian and French and worked as an editor of UK publishers Harrap Books Thomas Nelson and Pan Books before starting her own business b small pub-lishing in 1990 (httpwwwbsmallcouk)
Sharon Blumberg Please explain the bilingual chil-drenrsquos book market in the UK regarding current needs and popularity with children parents teach-ers and librarians
Cara Bruzzone The bilingual childrenrsquos book mar-ket in the UK is small and specialized It is divided between European languages mainly French Span-ish It also includes community languages spoken in the UK like Hindi Urdu Arabic and Chinese Foreign languages are now offered at primary (ele-mentary) schools But this is a recent initiative that is poorly funded for teacher training and materials It concentrates mainly on French with some Span-ish So the main market for b smallrsquos books are par-entsmdashbilingual families and parents who want their young children to enjoy their two languages or learn a foreign language As many parents and teachers are not confident linguists bilingual books are ideal to
give them extra support Bilingual books highlight similarities between the two languages giving chil-dren confidence in the new language Librarians have supported bilingual books but many libraries have closed in the UK because of the economic crisis from 2008 Sadly this shrinking market is vital for pro-moting community languages In order to produce the quantity and quality of books that we publish we rely on selling foreign rights to countries like the USA some European countries China and Asia
SB When writing childrenrsquos bilingual books does the author or the publisher provide the translation
CB In the case of b smallrsquos bilingual books we write them in English and commission translations from native speakers However we can edit the English text if necessary to make sure that the two languag-es work well together for the target age group If the book is published in another country like China or Poland the local publisher buying the rights will pro-duce the Chinese or Polish text Also as our books are in British English and Castilian Spanish the US publisher purchasing the rights supplies the US En-glish and also the Latin American Spanish text for their editions There are a number of differences between US and British English especially for the younger age groups colourcolor mummom lor-rytruck are examples
SB What stories work best as bilingual books
CB Stories with repetition work well For childrenrsquos books stories should be compelling and not compli-cated Humor is good but jokes can be difficult to translate The stories should avoid cultural content that canrsquot be easily understood or translated Univer-sal themes are best Rhyme is difficult to translate as well as texts that rely on alphabetical order as lan-guages have different alphabets (Spanish has an extra ntilde for example and Welsh has the letters ch ff and ll)
I
April 17
Global Publishing
From a production point of view the layout of bilin-gual books must leave space for two languages and possibly a pronunciation guide So the text will be shorter than monolingual stories It is a challenge to have a beginning middle and end in so few pages Marrying the text and pictures can also be challeng-ing when there are two sets of text that work with the pictures
Irsquoll give examples from two of our titles Puppy Finds a FriendCachorrito Encuentra Un Amigo part of the I Can Read series (published in both English-French and English-Spanish) and La Gatita Luciacutea en la playaLucy Cat at the Beach one of a series of four Lucy Cat cartoon strip books published in English-French and English-Spanish
The puppy story had to fit into our series concept picture stories for ages 3 to 5 with a simple repetitive text and universal childrenrsquos themes that reflect chil-drenrsquos lives while building their self-esteem I chose farmyard animals so that I didnrsquot have to select chil-dren of one particular ethnicity (We are committed to inclusivity in our books and have recently signed the Everybody In charter promoted by Inclusive Minds We want to improve our representation of all children in our books) The story is about a little puppy who tries to find a friend All the animals say theyrsquore too busy but the little mouse plays with him The story includes common farm animalsmdashhorse cow etc Then there is a repetition of the key phras-es like ldquoIrsquom too busyrdquo So as an attractive story it reinforces everyday language The illustrations are brilliant but we had trouble coming up with the final puppy We have been lucky with this series as several well-known illustrators have agreed to illustrate the stories for modest fees because they believe in bilin-gual education
The Lucy Cat series was designed as the next step up from our Bilingual First Words books They would be stories based on simple conversational phrases Car-toon strips are popular for early reading The illustra-tor Clare Beaton and I worked together on a cartoon strip for young language learners in the McGraw-Hill Languages for Children series Lucy Cat was named after my young daughter Lucy She is a feisty cat who has a series of adventures where she saves the
day In Lucy Cat at the beach she saves some kittens from a shark The stories all have the same structure exchanging greetings introducing the scene and then a big BANG page averting disaster and finally everyone thanks Lucy We consulted an early read-ing specialist who advised with the speech bubbles including a third person narrative along the bottom of the strip The stories were fun to invent but orga-nizing the bilingual text was a challenge Including both languages in the speech bubbles looked messy and wouldnrsquot encourage children to read only the new language So we doubled up the strips on each page one in English and one in the foreign language This works well but means that we havenrsquot published a monolingual version of the stories
SB How does nonfiction work for bilingual books
CB I donrsquot have much experience with bilingual nonfiction b small has produced a series of stick-er atlases and a range of picture dictionaries and search-and-find 1000 word books (links refer to En-glish-Spanish editions But they are also published in English only and English-French) so they are refer-ence books rather than nonfiction Like fiction it is important to choose concepts that can be translated and keep the information shorter than in a monolin-gual nonfiction book
In fiction and nonfiction it is challenging because the illustrations must work in both languages A good example is lsquobreadrsquo A typical English loaf is a differ-ent shape from an Italian or French loaf Similarly an American barn looks different from a European barn and a German church spire looks different from an English church tower The most difficult of all is the driving wheel of a car lorry (truck) or busmdashleft or right The solution is to neutralize the images so that they are acceptable to many culturesmdashand place the steering wheel in the middle of the car This means working with illustrators who create attractive pictures that children love even if they donrsquot reflect their culture
SB What are the most common languages that ap-pear together in one book
CB This depends on the market For the UK and
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April 15
Envisioning a Book on a Shelf continued
The Writerrsquos Mindset
conference some of the attendees got fired up about trying to bring an editor to our hometown That in-spired another writer and me to organize a SCBWI Editorrsquos Day workshop It was an unbelievable expe-rience Besides learning how to get published I had the opportunity to pitch a book to the presenter Liz Waniewski editor of Dial Books (though she politely turned it down)
As time passed I continued to write stories and submit them Every now and then the rejections came with personal notes ldquothis project sounds interestingrdquo ldquothis seems like a unique ideardquo ldquothis story has potentialrdquo But despite the praise none of my stories won the heart of a publisher
Frustration became a weight on my shoulders There were times when I wanted to give up But one remark kept me positive My husband said ldquoIt only takes one person to like what you writerdquo
Six years passed since The Maggie Project closed I still hadnrsquot found a publisher for any of my stories I felt it was time to try a new approach and work with an ex-perienced partner Editorial consultant Mary Kole of-fered a package which included a picture book critique and a review of three query letters By chance I pulled out the query for Maggie
Mary guided me when it came to querying As for targeting an agent she suggested making two lists a 10-20 top choices and a 10-20 second choice list She said to query 10-20 agents in a first round to see if they would give any feedback and then adjust accordingly Re-query some from the A list who seem open to see-ing a revision and also the B list who will be seeing it for the first time
In regards to my manuscript on Maggie Mary warned about Flight of Imagination a plot of a book dealing with kids having an adventure based largely in their imagination She stressed that itrsquos not like you canrsquot have a story that centers on a childrsquos journey through a land of imagination But there needs to be other layers in play and an actual story within the imagined land-scape not just an episodic barrage of images or crazy adventures Characters need to be fleshed out A plot needs to be in motion with sequential events that go from conflict to climax Other themes and universal
childhood experiences need to be embedded within the manuscript
After weighing her comments I changed the title of my story Also I judiciously cut 500 words (Picture books were shorter these days Perhaps thatrsquos one of the reasons why Maggie never sold) Then the story was sent to five publishers Buthellipit was deacutejagrave vu all over again Within two weeks three rejections appeared in my inbox I started questioning myself Did I follow Maryrsquos advice Were my characters well-developed Did the plot advance Had I successfully incorporat-ed themes and universal childhood experiences within the manuscript She warned that Flight of Imagination picture books are a tougher row to hoe than most Had I looked at my story objectively Did it suffer as Mary would say from this colorfulndashbut nonetheless problem-aticndashissue
With no word on the two remaining submissions I put writing and worrying about my writing on hold My husband and I went on vacation in New Orleans to cel-ebrate our birthdays We had done a Garden District tour (where we saw Sandra Bollockrsquos and John Good-manrsquos houses) visited a plantation listened to jazz on Bourbon Street and tasted spicy Cajun dishes Before going out one evening I checked my emails Surpris-ingly one of them was from a publisher I had queried Incredibly it read I like your book My scream was probably heard throughout the entire hotel
When we returned home we opened our birthday gifts My husband bought me Julia Childrsquos famous cook-book Maybe I was a little like Julie Powell after all
A month later I signed a book contract with Cactus Moon Publications Now my days are spent marketing Maggie and the Summer Vacation Show and Tell When I look back on the road to publication it had been a long difficult journey It demanded the willingness to develop the craft the determination to never give up the strength to remain positive despite rejection and the resolve to hold fast to a dream It also required get-ting involved with a professional writerrsquos organization and working with editorial partner But even before the journey began it took the daring to envision a book on a shelf
April 16
Global Publishing
Tips for Creating Bilingual Booksby Sharon Olivia Blumberg
n our global world itrsquos more important than ever to expose children to different languages Bilingual
childrenrsquos books is one terrific way to do just that As a retired foreign language teacher of Spanish I read bilingual books to my seventh graders as they sat spellbound
I recently spoke with two women involved in pub-lishing bilingual books for childrenmdashCath Bruzzone of b small publishing in the UK and Maria Domin-guez of Scholastic en espantildeol in the USmdashand got their thoughts on how to write stories that work well in two languages
Cath Bruzzone is a British publisher and author of activity books and foreign language learning books for children She started her career as a teacher of Italian and French and worked as an editor of UK publishers Harrap Books Thomas Nelson and Pan Books before starting her own business b small pub-lishing in 1990 (httpwwwbsmallcouk)
Sharon Blumberg Please explain the bilingual chil-drenrsquos book market in the UK regarding current needs and popularity with children parents teach-ers and librarians
Cara Bruzzone The bilingual childrenrsquos book mar-ket in the UK is small and specialized It is divided between European languages mainly French Span-ish It also includes community languages spoken in the UK like Hindi Urdu Arabic and Chinese Foreign languages are now offered at primary (ele-mentary) schools But this is a recent initiative that is poorly funded for teacher training and materials It concentrates mainly on French with some Span-ish So the main market for b smallrsquos books are par-entsmdashbilingual families and parents who want their young children to enjoy their two languages or learn a foreign language As many parents and teachers are not confident linguists bilingual books are ideal to
give them extra support Bilingual books highlight similarities between the two languages giving chil-dren confidence in the new language Librarians have supported bilingual books but many libraries have closed in the UK because of the economic crisis from 2008 Sadly this shrinking market is vital for pro-moting community languages In order to produce the quantity and quality of books that we publish we rely on selling foreign rights to countries like the USA some European countries China and Asia
SB When writing childrenrsquos bilingual books does the author or the publisher provide the translation
CB In the case of b smallrsquos bilingual books we write them in English and commission translations from native speakers However we can edit the English text if necessary to make sure that the two languag-es work well together for the target age group If the book is published in another country like China or Poland the local publisher buying the rights will pro-duce the Chinese or Polish text Also as our books are in British English and Castilian Spanish the US publisher purchasing the rights supplies the US En-glish and also the Latin American Spanish text for their editions There are a number of differences between US and British English especially for the younger age groups colourcolor mummom lor-rytruck are examples
SB What stories work best as bilingual books
CB Stories with repetition work well For childrenrsquos books stories should be compelling and not compli-cated Humor is good but jokes can be difficult to translate The stories should avoid cultural content that canrsquot be easily understood or translated Univer-sal themes are best Rhyme is difficult to translate as well as texts that rely on alphabetical order as lan-guages have different alphabets (Spanish has an extra ntilde for example and Welsh has the letters ch ff and ll)
I
April 17
Global Publishing
From a production point of view the layout of bilin-gual books must leave space for two languages and possibly a pronunciation guide So the text will be shorter than monolingual stories It is a challenge to have a beginning middle and end in so few pages Marrying the text and pictures can also be challeng-ing when there are two sets of text that work with the pictures
Irsquoll give examples from two of our titles Puppy Finds a FriendCachorrito Encuentra Un Amigo part of the I Can Read series (published in both English-French and English-Spanish) and La Gatita Luciacutea en la playaLucy Cat at the Beach one of a series of four Lucy Cat cartoon strip books published in English-French and English-Spanish
The puppy story had to fit into our series concept picture stories for ages 3 to 5 with a simple repetitive text and universal childrenrsquos themes that reflect chil-drenrsquos lives while building their self-esteem I chose farmyard animals so that I didnrsquot have to select chil-dren of one particular ethnicity (We are committed to inclusivity in our books and have recently signed the Everybody In charter promoted by Inclusive Minds We want to improve our representation of all children in our books) The story is about a little puppy who tries to find a friend All the animals say theyrsquore too busy but the little mouse plays with him The story includes common farm animalsmdashhorse cow etc Then there is a repetition of the key phras-es like ldquoIrsquom too busyrdquo So as an attractive story it reinforces everyday language The illustrations are brilliant but we had trouble coming up with the final puppy We have been lucky with this series as several well-known illustrators have agreed to illustrate the stories for modest fees because they believe in bilin-gual education
The Lucy Cat series was designed as the next step up from our Bilingual First Words books They would be stories based on simple conversational phrases Car-toon strips are popular for early reading The illustra-tor Clare Beaton and I worked together on a cartoon strip for young language learners in the McGraw-Hill Languages for Children series Lucy Cat was named after my young daughter Lucy She is a feisty cat who has a series of adventures where she saves the
day In Lucy Cat at the beach she saves some kittens from a shark The stories all have the same structure exchanging greetings introducing the scene and then a big BANG page averting disaster and finally everyone thanks Lucy We consulted an early read-ing specialist who advised with the speech bubbles including a third person narrative along the bottom of the strip The stories were fun to invent but orga-nizing the bilingual text was a challenge Including both languages in the speech bubbles looked messy and wouldnrsquot encourage children to read only the new language So we doubled up the strips on each page one in English and one in the foreign language This works well but means that we havenrsquot published a monolingual version of the stories
SB How does nonfiction work for bilingual books
CB I donrsquot have much experience with bilingual nonfiction b small has produced a series of stick-er atlases and a range of picture dictionaries and search-and-find 1000 word books (links refer to En-glish-Spanish editions But they are also published in English only and English-French) so they are refer-ence books rather than nonfiction Like fiction it is important to choose concepts that can be translated and keep the information shorter than in a monolin-gual nonfiction book
In fiction and nonfiction it is challenging because the illustrations must work in both languages A good example is lsquobreadrsquo A typical English loaf is a differ-ent shape from an Italian or French loaf Similarly an American barn looks different from a European barn and a German church spire looks different from an English church tower The most difficult of all is the driving wheel of a car lorry (truck) or busmdashleft or right The solution is to neutralize the images so that they are acceptable to many culturesmdashand place the steering wheel in the middle of the car This means working with illustrators who create attractive pictures that children love even if they donrsquot reflect their culture
SB What are the most common languages that ap-pear together in one book
CB This depends on the market For the UK and
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April 16
Global Publishing
Tips for Creating Bilingual Booksby Sharon Olivia Blumberg
n our global world itrsquos more important than ever to expose children to different languages Bilingual
childrenrsquos books is one terrific way to do just that As a retired foreign language teacher of Spanish I read bilingual books to my seventh graders as they sat spellbound
I recently spoke with two women involved in pub-lishing bilingual books for childrenmdashCath Bruzzone of b small publishing in the UK and Maria Domin-guez of Scholastic en espantildeol in the USmdashand got their thoughts on how to write stories that work well in two languages
Cath Bruzzone is a British publisher and author of activity books and foreign language learning books for children She started her career as a teacher of Italian and French and worked as an editor of UK publishers Harrap Books Thomas Nelson and Pan Books before starting her own business b small pub-lishing in 1990 (httpwwwbsmallcouk)
Sharon Blumberg Please explain the bilingual chil-drenrsquos book market in the UK regarding current needs and popularity with children parents teach-ers and librarians
Cara Bruzzone The bilingual childrenrsquos book mar-ket in the UK is small and specialized It is divided between European languages mainly French Span-ish It also includes community languages spoken in the UK like Hindi Urdu Arabic and Chinese Foreign languages are now offered at primary (ele-mentary) schools But this is a recent initiative that is poorly funded for teacher training and materials It concentrates mainly on French with some Span-ish So the main market for b smallrsquos books are par-entsmdashbilingual families and parents who want their young children to enjoy their two languages or learn a foreign language As many parents and teachers are not confident linguists bilingual books are ideal to
give them extra support Bilingual books highlight similarities between the two languages giving chil-dren confidence in the new language Librarians have supported bilingual books but many libraries have closed in the UK because of the economic crisis from 2008 Sadly this shrinking market is vital for pro-moting community languages In order to produce the quantity and quality of books that we publish we rely on selling foreign rights to countries like the USA some European countries China and Asia
SB When writing childrenrsquos bilingual books does the author or the publisher provide the translation
CB In the case of b smallrsquos bilingual books we write them in English and commission translations from native speakers However we can edit the English text if necessary to make sure that the two languag-es work well together for the target age group If the book is published in another country like China or Poland the local publisher buying the rights will pro-duce the Chinese or Polish text Also as our books are in British English and Castilian Spanish the US publisher purchasing the rights supplies the US En-glish and also the Latin American Spanish text for their editions There are a number of differences between US and British English especially for the younger age groups colourcolor mummom lor-rytruck are examples
SB What stories work best as bilingual books
CB Stories with repetition work well For childrenrsquos books stories should be compelling and not compli-cated Humor is good but jokes can be difficult to translate The stories should avoid cultural content that canrsquot be easily understood or translated Univer-sal themes are best Rhyme is difficult to translate as well as texts that rely on alphabetical order as lan-guages have different alphabets (Spanish has an extra ntilde for example and Welsh has the letters ch ff and ll)
I
April 17
Global Publishing
From a production point of view the layout of bilin-gual books must leave space for two languages and possibly a pronunciation guide So the text will be shorter than monolingual stories It is a challenge to have a beginning middle and end in so few pages Marrying the text and pictures can also be challeng-ing when there are two sets of text that work with the pictures
Irsquoll give examples from two of our titles Puppy Finds a FriendCachorrito Encuentra Un Amigo part of the I Can Read series (published in both English-French and English-Spanish) and La Gatita Luciacutea en la playaLucy Cat at the Beach one of a series of four Lucy Cat cartoon strip books published in English-French and English-Spanish
The puppy story had to fit into our series concept picture stories for ages 3 to 5 with a simple repetitive text and universal childrenrsquos themes that reflect chil-drenrsquos lives while building their self-esteem I chose farmyard animals so that I didnrsquot have to select chil-dren of one particular ethnicity (We are committed to inclusivity in our books and have recently signed the Everybody In charter promoted by Inclusive Minds We want to improve our representation of all children in our books) The story is about a little puppy who tries to find a friend All the animals say theyrsquore too busy but the little mouse plays with him The story includes common farm animalsmdashhorse cow etc Then there is a repetition of the key phras-es like ldquoIrsquom too busyrdquo So as an attractive story it reinforces everyday language The illustrations are brilliant but we had trouble coming up with the final puppy We have been lucky with this series as several well-known illustrators have agreed to illustrate the stories for modest fees because they believe in bilin-gual education
The Lucy Cat series was designed as the next step up from our Bilingual First Words books They would be stories based on simple conversational phrases Car-toon strips are popular for early reading The illustra-tor Clare Beaton and I worked together on a cartoon strip for young language learners in the McGraw-Hill Languages for Children series Lucy Cat was named after my young daughter Lucy She is a feisty cat who has a series of adventures where she saves the
day In Lucy Cat at the beach she saves some kittens from a shark The stories all have the same structure exchanging greetings introducing the scene and then a big BANG page averting disaster and finally everyone thanks Lucy We consulted an early read-ing specialist who advised with the speech bubbles including a third person narrative along the bottom of the strip The stories were fun to invent but orga-nizing the bilingual text was a challenge Including both languages in the speech bubbles looked messy and wouldnrsquot encourage children to read only the new language So we doubled up the strips on each page one in English and one in the foreign language This works well but means that we havenrsquot published a monolingual version of the stories
SB How does nonfiction work for bilingual books
CB I donrsquot have much experience with bilingual nonfiction b small has produced a series of stick-er atlases and a range of picture dictionaries and search-and-find 1000 word books (links refer to En-glish-Spanish editions But they are also published in English only and English-French) so they are refer-ence books rather than nonfiction Like fiction it is important to choose concepts that can be translated and keep the information shorter than in a monolin-gual nonfiction book
In fiction and nonfiction it is challenging because the illustrations must work in both languages A good example is lsquobreadrsquo A typical English loaf is a differ-ent shape from an Italian or French loaf Similarly an American barn looks different from a European barn and a German church spire looks different from an English church tower The most difficult of all is the driving wheel of a car lorry (truck) or busmdashleft or right The solution is to neutralize the images so that they are acceptable to many culturesmdashand place the steering wheel in the middle of the car This means working with illustrators who create attractive pictures that children love even if they donrsquot reflect their culture
SB What are the most common languages that ap-pear together in one book
CB This depends on the market For the UK and
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April 17
Global Publishing
From a production point of view the layout of bilin-gual books must leave space for two languages and possibly a pronunciation guide So the text will be shorter than monolingual stories It is a challenge to have a beginning middle and end in so few pages Marrying the text and pictures can also be challeng-ing when there are two sets of text that work with the pictures
Irsquoll give examples from two of our titles Puppy Finds a FriendCachorrito Encuentra Un Amigo part of the I Can Read series (published in both English-French and English-Spanish) and La Gatita Luciacutea en la playaLucy Cat at the Beach one of a series of four Lucy Cat cartoon strip books published in English-French and English-Spanish
The puppy story had to fit into our series concept picture stories for ages 3 to 5 with a simple repetitive text and universal childrenrsquos themes that reflect chil-drenrsquos lives while building their self-esteem I chose farmyard animals so that I didnrsquot have to select chil-dren of one particular ethnicity (We are committed to inclusivity in our books and have recently signed the Everybody In charter promoted by Inclusive Minds We want to improve our representation of all children in our books) The story is about a little puppy who tries to find a friend All the animals say theyrsquore too busy but the little mouse plays with him The story includes common farm animalsmdashhorse cow etc Then there is a repetition of the key phras-es like ldquoIrsquom too busyrdquo So as an attractive story it reinforces everyday language The illustrations are brilliant but we had trouble coming up with the final puppy We have been lucky with this series as several well-known illustrators have agreed to illustrate the stories for modest fees because they believe in bilin-gual education
The Lucy Cat series was designed as the next step up from our Bilingual First Words books They would be stories based on simple conversational phrases Car-toon strips are popular for early reading The illustra-tor Clare Beaton and I worked together on a cartoon strip for young language learners in the McGraw-Hill Languages for Children series Lucy Cat was named after my young daughter Lucy She is a feisty cat who has a series of adventures where she saves the
day In Lucy Cat at the beach she saves some kittens from a shark The stories all have the same structure exchanging greetings introducing the scene and then a big BANG page averting disaster and finally everyone thanks Lucy We consulted an early read-ing specialist who advised with the speech bubbles including a third person narrative along the bottom of the strip The stories were fun to invent but orga-nizing the bilingual text was a challenge Including both languages in the speech bubbles looked messy and wouldnrsquot encourage children to read only the new language So we doubled up the strips on each page one in English and one in the foreign language This works well but means that we havenrsquot published a monolingual version of the stories
SB How does nonfiction work for bilingual books
CB I donrsquot have much experience with bilingual nonfiction b small has produced a series of stick-er atlases and a range of picture dictionaries and search-and-find 1000 word books (links refer to En-glish-Spanish editions But they are also published in English only and English-French) so they are refer-ence books rather than nonfiction Like fiction it is important to choose concepts that can be translated and keep the information shorter than in a monolin-gual nonfiction book
In fiction and nonfiction it is challenging because the illustrations must work in both languages A good example is lsquobreadrsquo A typical English loaf is a differ-ent shape from an Italian or French loaf Similarly an American barn looks different from a European barn and a German church spire looks different from an English church tower The most difficult of all is the driving wheel of a car lorry (truck) or busmdashleft or right The solution is to neutralize the images so that they are acceptable to many culturesmdashand place the steering wheel in the middle of the car This means working with illustrators who create attractive pictures that children love even if they donrsquot reflect their culture
SB What are the most common languages that ap-pear together in one book
CB This depends on the market For the UK and
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April 18
Global Publishing
the US English-French and English-Spanish are the most popular In China it is English-Chinesemdashwith simplified characters for mainland China and com-plex characters for Taiwan and other Chinese-speak-ing countries like Hong Kong and Singapore As En-glish being the universal language bilingual books are usually paired with English In Romania our books have been produced in Romanian-German German is a second language in Romania We make sure our books work any language pairmdashalthough Arabic and Hebrew mean re-organizing since they read from back to front
SB What is your future vision about childrenrsquos multi-language books
CB It would be good to see the market for bilingual books increase I believe it will remain a niche area of publishing Multilingual countriesmdashthe majority of the worldmdashlike Canada Wales India and South Africa tend to prefer monolingual childrenrsquos books in their official languages Parents and teachers of-ten want books that reflect local culturemdashlocal fruits vegetables local monuments flora and fauna means of transportmdashand the economics of b smallrsquos bilin-gual books mean they have to be culturally neutral and reflect western lifestyles But there is no doubt that bilingual books are beneficial for strengthening two or more languages in multilingual families intro-ducing young children to a new language and giving parents and teachers confidence in language skills Bilingual books break down barriers between people and countries winning hearts and minds As Nelson Mandela said ldquoIf you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heartrdquo
Maria Dominguez is Executive Editor and Manager of Scholastic en espantildeol (Scholastic in Spanish) She loves her job because ldquoThere is no greater challenge than creating a book that may someday change a childrsquos liferdquo
Sharon Blumberg Why is translating childrenrsquos books into many languages relevant today
Maria Dominguez People from around the world are aware
of each other thanks to international trade and technology Nowadays the biggest cities in the world have signs and ads in multiple languages Today children are encouraged to learn languages and read multilingual books
SB What are the most popular languages translated together for childrenrsquos books
MD The most popular bilingual childrenrsquos books are in En-glish and Spanish and Chinese and English
SB Do you ever publish childrenrsquos trilingual books
MD Scholastic en espantildeol has not yet but it sounds like a goal
SB Please give an overview of the bilingual childrenrsquos book market regarding needs of children parents teachers and librarians
MD There is a growing demand for bilingual childrenrsquos books in the United States as people of Hispanic origin are now the largest minority Parents are usually the most in-terested in acquiring bilingual books They may be parents who speak English and want to expose their kids to another language or parents who speak Spanish and want to learn English along with their kids Many teachers in the United States would rather have the same book in English and Span-ish than a bilingual book So we publish more Spanish-lan-guage books than bilingual books at Scholastic en espantildeol In the classroom the children that have just arrived in the Unit-ed States and have yet to learn English read the same books that their peers read in English
Most bilingual books deal with basic concepts like numbers colors shapes etc but at Scholastic en espantildeol we have pub-lished other kinds of bilingual books This includes two bilin-gual collections of nursery rhymes from Latin America and a nonfiction book about soccer
SB When writing bilingual childrenrsquos books for Scholastic en espantildeol does the author provide the translation or does the publisher
MD The translation is provided by the publisher If the au-thor speaks Spanish he or she translates SB What stories work better as bilingual books
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
April 19
Global Publishing
MD Almost any book can be a bilingual book However there are factors taken into consideration during the conver-sion For example the space to lay out the text needs to fit two languages or if the text rhymes itrsquos sometimes difficult rhyming in the second language
SB Whatrsquos your opinion on nonfiction bilingual books
MD Nonfiction books can be bilingual books However nonfiction books often have much information and illustra-tions If there is little space on the page it will be difficult to make it bilingual You may have to reduce the size of the font or cut some text in order to fit the text in the other language and this can hurt the quality of the book In such a case it may be better to go with a separate book in the new language
SB What are some Scholastic en espantildeol bilingual books au-thors should study
MD Here are just a few of the many bilingual titles we have edited at Scholastic en espantildeol The Rooster Who Would Not Be QuietEl gallo que no se callaba by Carmen Agra DeedyPlease Mr PandaPor favor Sr Panda by Steve AntonyLa pintildeataThe pintildeata by Rita Rosa RuesgaHow Do I Love YouiquestCoacutemo te quiero by Marion Dane Bauer illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church
Tips for Creating Bilingual Books continued
Neither Scholastic en espantildeol nor b small publishing are currently taking submissions from writers but here are some bilingual publishers who are open to submissions Be sure to check the submission guidelines on each publisherrsquos website before submitting
Childrenrsquos Book Press (an imprint of Lee amp Low Books httpswwwleeandlowcom)Pintildeata Books for Children (an imprint of Arte Puacuteblico Press httpsartepublicopresscom)Cinco Puntos Press httpwwwcincopun-toscomGroundwood Books httpgroundwood-bookscom Canadian publisher publishes Spanish editions of their books Not looking for picture books at this time but open to other childrenrsquos booksRayo imprint of HarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books (agented authors only) httpswwwharpercollinscomchildrens
Many larger US publishers will publish bi-lingual editions of their popular books Most require submissions through agents
