My Next Book: Mary Dyer, Friend of Freedom

My next book is Mary Dyer, Friend of Freedom. Mary was the first woman executed in America for her religious beliefs. Her death spurred a revolution in the colonies to enforce religious tolerance. Even King Charles II in England got involved.

The book will be published by Atombank Books, a new company set to launch late this summer. It looks like Mary Dyer, Friend of Freedom will be their first book (Yay! -- Thank you Amy Tombank!). Unfortunately, I need help meeting some additional expenses, including setting up a full author website, creating marketing materials for schools and libraries, and some publishing costs. Right now, I'm trying to raise those funds through Indiegogo -- with your help.

Mary Dyer is a forgotten civil rights hero, and her death helped make many of our First Amendment freedoms possible. It still amazes me the amount of religious intolerance we see, and I'd love to put Mary Dyer, Friend of Freedom into the hands of schoolchildren everywhere. I'd love to spread her message of religious tolerance for everyone. So if you can help me, please visit Indiegogo and contribute what you can. Trust me -- any amount will be greatly appreciated -- and you could easily get a free copy of the book and learn much more about this remarkable woman.

Thanks for your help!

Book Details: Middle-grade non-fiction for children 8-12 years old. Approximately 104 pages with illustrations, a timeline, and a glossary. Mary Dyer, Friend of Freedom is the first book for children about Mary Dyer, and will be marketed largely to schools and libraries to add to their collection of civil rights leaders.

What Book Changed Your Life?

Last weekend, at the Rutgers One-on-One Conference, author Bruce Coville discussed a fan letter he had received. A reader credited him with her decision to join the Peace Corps. She loved his book so much, she even cited it in her application essay. It’s clear that My Teacher Is an Alien changed that young woman’s life.

Everyone has a book like that, one that absolutely changed your life. I remember the greatest compliment I ever received came from an African-American actress, Dee Watson, who said, “You’d make a good Atticus Finch.”

Why was that the greatest compliment? Because To Kill a Mockingbird changed my life.  It has stayed with me decades after I first read it, and while it’s impossible to live up to the standard set by Atticus, it’s not impossible to model your life after the example set out in Harper Lee’s masterpiece.

Life-changing books  are common in young adult stories as teens enter their formative years. It’s also true of books like To Kill a Mockingbird, originally written for adults but that serve as de facto YA on high-school reading lists. Lives, decisions, and character are shaped every year by classics like Black Like Me, 1984, Pride & Prejudice, Crime & Punishment, etc. And no list, no matter how complete, includes the thousands of picture books, middle-grade and

YA titles children cling to every day.

Fortunately, adults can find books that reach them, too; maybe even make them see the world in a whole  new way. I recently re-read Tommy Moore’s A Ph.D. in Happiness From the Great Comedians. It lifts your spirits in a way far beyond “the healing power of humor;” it can change your entire outlook by presenting practical steps drawn from the world of stand-up comedy. It my case, it even justifies the years I spent in comedy and the fact that humor remains my primary tool for dealing with problems and reaching people. One book – a how-to book taken from the ways legendary comics view and treat the world – really can help you understand how you can live your life.

But it’s children’s authors and their books that have the biggest influence. Adult personalities are largely shaped and readers seek out books of interest to them, but children, particularly young children, are an (largely) empty canvas. They’ll face new ideas, new concepts, new challenges. They’ll read a book ten times (or have it read to them!) and still pick it up an 11^th time. Even books that aren’t particularly challenging but that are delightful nonetheless – Fox in Socks, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, etc. – still create lifelong readers.

So whether it’s My Friend Flicka, Tom Sawyer, Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew or something no one has heard of (or you’re too ashamed to admit – hey, I loved The Five Chinese Brothers as a kid), there was a book that changed your life.

So let me know – what book changed your life?

PREPARING FOR RUTGERS ONE-ON-ONE A SECOND TIME

How did I go about preparing for this year’s Rutgers One-on-One Conference differently than last year’s? I didn’t really – except in one major way.

Last year, I was accepted after sending in a picture book manuscript. While it hasn’t been picked up yet, it opened a very nice door for me over at HarperCollins. The editor rejected it, but said she loved “everything” about the book except the main character’s species. Yes, the species. It’s a picture book, and that happens. She didn’t feel it was commercial enough (for future reference, please note that Harper loves cats, dogs, elephants, lions, etc. – animals kids already know. There’s a reason they’ve populated picture books for decades. I’ve heard this now from two editors and an agent). So she asked for a second manuscript, something “commercial.” I sent here the most blatantly commercial thing I’ve ever written. Again, she liked the story, but felt the main character isn’t strong enough to anchor a series. He’s too quiet, and not energetic or funny.

But she asked to see something else.

So I took out an old manuscript, reworked the main character a bit, and am preparing to send it to her. I’ve had editors ask me to send additional work before, but never a third time. Yeah, you can bet I’m sending it.

Rutgers opened that door for me. And that editor will be there again this year. I will find her long enough to say “hi.”

So how does that change how I’m preparing for Rutgers this year? It doesn’t, except this time I was accepted for a middle-grade manuscript. That means looking for something different in the 80 or so editors and agents in attendance. It means looking for those interested in both picture books and middle-grade books.

It’s a daunting task.

Now, editors and agents handle works of all stripes. Some love commercial, some love artsy. Some loved fast-paced and frenetic, others love quiet and introspective. They run the gamut from paranormal fantasy to issue-driven angst. I decided to quickly categorize my work according to industry definitions beyond the broad scope of genre and find editors who want that who are interested in my writing strengths.

Commercial? Check.

Funny main character? Check.

Strong hook? Check.

Fast-paced? Check.

I will only be pitching manuscripts that fit those categories. Except for overt commercialism, they’re my strengths. I’m up to the D’s on the editor/agent/mentor list, but I’ve already found three strong candidates. Even if I don’t meet them at the conference (since it can be big and unwieldy), I know I’ll be submitting to them afterward. Immediately afterward.

In the meantime, I’ll get to say hi to a very helpful editor from Harper, and let her know a third manuscript is on its way!

For a checklist on how to prepare for a writers conference, please read Writers Conference Checklist.

KidLit Buzzwords: What Does It Mean to Be Commercially Unpublishable?

It’s one thing to be unpublishable; it’s another to be commercially unpublishable.

Unpublishable means you can’t write. The work is drivel and probably deserves a place in the dustbin.

Commercially unpublishable means you can write, your work is really good and probably deserves a place in the dustbin.

Commercially unpublishable is far more kind and perhaps that’s why it’s being tossed around so much. It came up at least twice at the 2011 Rutgers One on One, and I’d heard it used several times before that.

What Commercially Unpublishable Means in Children’s Literature

Commercially unpublishable means that there’s no demand in the market for it. This doesn’t mean the piece isn’t good; it doesn’t even mean the intended audience wouldn’t love. It’s just that agents or editors don’t see a place fore it in the market. Take this example:

A picture book is written for children 5-8 years old. The intended audience will love it, says the editor or agent, but the picture book market for 5-8 year olds is dead because parents believe children that age should be reading chapter books so they can start getting ready for college.

Five or ten years ago, that manuscript might have been publishable. It’s well-written, has a great story arc and follows certain picture book precepts. It might even be publishable in another 5 years, if the market changes. But right now, it’s commercially unpublishable.

Consider other "dead" children’s markets:

Young Adult: vampires (market is glutted)

Middle Grade: historical fiction (sales down)

Picture books: Halloween (market is glutted), rhyming books

At least that’s what I’ve been told by various editors. They simply aren’t looking for them, though they always add the caveat: “Of course, there’s always room in the market if it’s well done.”

Which is the point Jon Sciezska, Harold Underdown and others made at Rutgers : it’s only commercially unpublishable until it’s published and someone buys it. Sciezska struggled to publish The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, but it turned out it was commercial after all. Mo Willems struggled to see Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus in print and then it took off, launched a series, and spawned a terrific career.

The market may not have known it, but it was commercially publishable after all.

Summary: Commercially unpublishable is frustrating but not as bad as unpublishable. At least it means you can write, but the market has no idea what to do with you.

Or so  I've been told.
Good luck!

What I Learned At Rutgers – Not the University, the Council on Children’s Literature

I attended the 42nd annual Rutgers Council on Children’s Literature this past weekend. It is a writers conference of high renowned and in that regard, did not disappoint.

Before we get into the words of wisdom and the what-editors-are-looking-for nuggets, let me say that I was happy to see three other children’s writers from the Capital District (yeah, us!) in attendance. Heather Schwartz (Women of the U.S. Air Force; The Foul, Filthy American Frontier), Victoria DeAngelis and Dan Masucci, all talented in their own right.

Rutgers One on One

My One on One was with Emma Ledbetter, assistant editor at Atheneum. We went over Leaping Lemmings for about 20 minutes or so. She provided several good ideas and seemed adept at working with writers, asking me for my input, etc. It was less a lecture or critique and more of a collaborative effort. We then talked about other projects I’m working on. She seemed most impressed with an middle grade I’m working on which is good, because starting that project was inspired by another editor at Atheneum. I’ll have to get back to that middle-grade manuscript very soon.

Rutgers Five on Five

Emma, of course, was also part of the five professionals in our five-on-five, in this case four editors and one author. Let’s hit the highlights of what they agreed on are industry trends.

• Mash-Ups. Everyone’s in love with mash-ups, you know, those books that take two archetypes and bring them together. Everyone was looking for the next Shark vs. Train (kids love sharks and trains. It’s a natural), or something similar to a new book from Atheneum, Zombies in Love (can be promoted on Halloween and Valentine’s Day).
• Crossovers. Something that can be sold in more than one genre, particularly with undiscovered adult appeal. A lot of YA has this (adults love dystopian almost as much as teen-agers), but so do some picture books, like It’s a Book. Also Zombies in Love. The book is shaped like a coffin for that reason, and filled with dating references and frustrations adults (zombie or otherwise) will get.
• Trends in Children's Literature. All the editors are looking 3-5 years out to figure out what the next big thing is. For instance, if three years ago you guessed food as this year’s hot topic for teens, you’re a big winner. I’m guessing if the economy doesn’t improve, food will continue to be big in three years. And so will starvation.
• Interactive Apps. No one seems to know exactly which way the e-book industry is headed, but it’s certainly going to continue to grow and print books will someday be a novelty item. With that in mind, editors are keeping an eye open for books that come with all sorts of bells and whistles to keep young readers entertained. Probably easiest for the board book, picture book, chapter book, and non-fiction markets, but all books can have pop-ups, links, maps, graphs, etc. Even dark, dystopian YA. After all, readers need to know their way around those mean streets, too.

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say a word about the day’s keynote speaker, Jon Scieszka. His speech was funny (as expected), but had its underlying serious side, first with Guys Read, an organization he began 10 years ago to encourage boys to find the books they enjoy. As he said, he read Dick and Jane in school, but home had the books he couldn’t put down. As boys fall further and further behind girls in school, particularly in reading, it’s an important message and important work.

But then he talked of rejection, a big topic at every conference, as publishing houses struggle to turn a profit and seem to sign fewer and fewer writers, or keep signings close to the vest. He discusses his own struggles in the late ‘80s, with plenty of rejections for The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs and The Stinky Cheese Man. He kidded the four or five dozen editors in the room with the pain of that time. At least it felt that way, because editors often made absurd suggestions about his submitted manuscripts. Called them “commercially unpublishable” (another buzzword at the conference. It came up at least twice, plus I heard it on Thursday from an agent). He told them they “need to get out more” and said, only half-jokingly, “you are the enemy.”

Can’t say I’d go that far, but I understand the sentiment, even if, for him, it’s coming 20 years later.

To sum up, while Rutgers didn’t turn out to be my best networking conference, it turned out to be the second-most instructive and the most business-oriented. I think I’ll apply next year. Maybe with that middle grade Emma seemed to like…