Editor Advice

Five Publishers Give an Industry-Wide Picture

Editors Debra Dorfman, Beverly Horowitz, Jennifer Hunt, Allyn Johnston, and Julie Strauss-Gabel all spoke on a panel at the 2011 SCBWI LA Conference about the current state of the children’s book industry. Big issues like self-publishing, e-books, and digital trends were discussed, but deep down it seems that content is king. The following is my…

Keep Reading »

Perfecting Your YA Voice (Part 2)

In Part 1, Editor Krista Marino explained how YA Voice is related to diction, perspective, dialog, interior monologue, and character. In this second section she explains what makes a young adult voice unique and different from an adult writing voice. Let’s Talk about the Teen/YA Voice in Particular: YA is specific in terms of voice….

Keep Reading »

To Plot or Not to Plot?

I’m currently working on an essay on the differences between narrative, story, plot, and structure. I promise to share all of my findings in the near future, including all sorts of graphs and alternative plot structures than the good old Aristotelian model. In my research, however, I came across a transcript from a lecture given…

Keep Reading »

The Quick Take Away: 2011 SoCal SCBWI Writer’s Day

It’s been awhile since I reported on a conference event, but never fear I’ve got lots of good information coming your way. I attended the 2011 Southern California SCBWI Writer’s Day this past Saturday with a variety of speakers from Susan Patron to Bruce Coville. Here’s a few quick take-away’s from the event: Susan Patron…

Keep Reading »

The Master List: 2010 SCBWI LA Conference

I’ve finally posted all of my notes from the 2010 SCBWI LA Conference! For your convenience I have listed below and linked all of the keynote speeches and breakout sessions I attended to their corresponding posts. Be sure to bookmark this page for future reference! 2010 SCBWI LA Conference Keynote Speech and Breakout Session List:…

Keep Reading »

A View From The Top

From the top things look pretty good! But from such a high angle one has a different point of view of the marketplace. Four senior editors were kind enough to share their view of the current children’s book  marketplace at the 2010 SCBWI LA Conference. This star studded cast included editors: Stephanie Owens Lurie (Disney/Hyperion), Francesco Sedita (Grosset…

Keep Reading »

Your Voice is Your Voice: Keeping It Real

An amazing voice is the number one “must-have” on every agent and editors list. So what is this odd and illusive thing known as voice? How do you find it? What does it sound like? Why is it so gosh darn important? Scholastic editor Jennifer Rees (The Hunger Games, Purge) spoke on this exact subject…

Keep Reading »

Demistifying the Graphic Novel

Scholastic editor Nick Eliopulos is a graphic novel fanatic! At the 2010 SCBWI LA conference he shared his experience making the graphic novel The Sons of Liberty. He had so much insight into the graphic novel universe that I couldn’t fit it into one post! So if you have even an inkling about writing your own graphic novel…

Keep Reading »