I’ve been writing a lot lately about craft and bravery in writing. If you’re in that head space and need to stay there, skip this post, this one is gonna be about… *cue dramatic music* THE MARKET! I recently listened to Publisher’s Weekly’s webinar Building the Next Generation of YA Stars. It was moderated by…
Trends
Secrets of a Children’s Bookseller: Adult Nostalgia and Book Buying Trends
Do you remember your favorite book from childhood? It could be Ferdinand the Bull by Munro Leaf, or maybe it’s Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney (that’s mine!). Thinking about that book probably makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. You LOVED it! So, of course your son, daughter, granddaughter, grandson will love it too!…
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Secrets of a Children’s Bookseller: Hot YA and Holes in the Market
Continuing my review of popular children’s books this holiday season, today I’m gonna talk about YA. I’ll cover the individual titles that were really popular and mention a few common request that I had a hard time fulfilling (that’s right – holes in the market that need to be filled!!). Hot YA Titles this Holiday…
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Secrets of a Children’s Bookseller: Series Make Spectacular Gifts!
Earlier this week I talked about the hot picture books of this holiday season, and today I want to jump into the older age groups of Jr. Fiction, Middle Grade, and Young Adult. Although there were lots of spectacular individual books that sold well this holiday (and I’ll get into that in another post) I…
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Secrets of a Children’s Bookseller: What’s Hot in the Picture Book Market?
To start off my Book-seller’s sneak-peek into the trends of the 2011 holiday season I thought I’d begin with picture books. And I’m happy to report that picture books are not dead! In fact, picture books sold wonderfully this holiday. The following is a re-cap of some of the hot books, trends, and requests that…
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Secrets of a Children’s Bookseller: What was HOT this Holiday Season?
Alas, as many of you have noticed, I’ve not been very active on the blog this past month. Despite my absence online, I swear it has all been for a good cause! For you see, I’ve just spent the last 6 weeks (of holiday shopping mania) selling children’s books! And I’ll tell you, there’s no…
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My Life as a Bookseller
If you follow me on Twitter you may have heard I got a new job! For the past few months I’ve started working in the Children’s Department at the fabulous independent book store Vroman’s in Pasadena. If I didn’t write, read, and breath children’s books before, I sure do now! I shelve, display, recommend, and…
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Write Books that Change Lives
There is nothing more rewarding as a writer than to write a book that change’s someone’s life. At a conference I attended many years ago author Ellen Wittlinger spoke about a letter she’d received from a reader about how her book helped the reader through a difficult time. “If my book stops one kid from…
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The Digital Revolution: Writers Becoming Content Creators
The digital revolution is changing the way we publish books. With iPads and e-readers, blogging and the internet, the way in which we receive content is changing every day. Agent Rubin Pfeffer spoke at the 2010 SCBWI LA Conference to address this very topic. In his opinion, we should all redefine how we see ourselves,…
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A Talk With Three Literary Agents
Every year the Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC) sponsor an agent night. This year’s agent representatives were Sally Van Haitsman, Angela Rinaldi, and Natalie M. Fischer, who all represent a variety of work from picture books to YA, to adult and non-fiction, as well as memoir and romance novels. The following is their point…