Nosy Crow's Blog, page 180

A blind date in Foyles...

Crimson Poison author Susan Saville

The second-to-last time I went to Old Foyles before it moved down the road and became Sexy Foyles (© Caitlin Moran), I was on a blind date. It was pretty exciting and I’d even dressed up specially, before spoiling it and tottering off on my bike rocking the Halfords look.

I rolled in through the side entrance, as I always do (did?) and headed up the stairs and round the bendy corner to the cafe, stumbling slightly on the step down as I always do (did). My date was easy to spot – she was the only one who didn’t have a laptop in front of her and a cup of coffee that she’d been nursing for two hours. And she’d brought her agent with her. This was my first meeting with Susan Saville, author of Crimson Poison, a manuscript I had just read, loved, and was keen to acquire. Clattering over to the table and then dropping my bike helmet probably wasn’t the best way to go about it but old habits die hard.

We had a very enjoyable meeting, and I got to talk to Susan about all the things I’m most interested in – the hows and whys and wherefores of being a writer, why this story and not another, what else did she have up her sleeve and – killer question – how open to editorial meddling was she? Susan, and her agent Jemima Hunt, got to ask me all the things they were curious about – Nosy Crow, the list, the potential look of the book, the marketing plan and – killer question – what kind of editorial meddling was I on about and maybe I should think about calling it something else? We had a good exchange of information and I liked everything that Susan was saying and was hopeful that she’d think we’d be the right home for her books.

And as for the meddling, in actual fact, I really just wanted Susan to make more of everything that was already there. Crimson Poison is a very exciting adventure story for 9+ readers (sorry, can’t bring myself to say ‘middle-grade’) set against a brilliantly realised Hong Kong and starring Nat Walker, a girl who might be called “kick-ass” (but not by me). She’s a great hero – intrepid, determined even when she’s not a little scared, with a sense of humour that makes her highly likeable and convincing. I urge you to read it – it’ll be out in the spring next year, and there’ll be a lot more said about it before then. And afterwards, too, I’m sure.

So the last time I went to Old Foyles I was again dressed by Halfords and again meeting Susan. This time, it was to talk through the latest draft of the manuscript and to chew over book 2. We had another very enjoyable meeting but this time, as I headed over to the treacherous cafe step to go back round the bendy corner and down the stairs to the side exit, Susan quietly pointed to a door that would take me straight on to Charing Cross Road. In all the years of going to Foyles, I had never known about this door, and I took a solemn moment to appreciate how this trading of information seemed to symbolise something about the author/editor relationship. Or maybe just showed that it’s never too late to learn how to get out of a bookshop that’s relocating anyway. Until it is.

Crimson Poison will publish in May 2015 – if you’d like to be kept up to date with news about the book, exclusive offers and competitions, and the first chance to take a look inside, you can sign up to our Books Newsletter here.

Should S. C. Ransom be crowned Queen of Teen?

Well, obviously we think so, but you might need convincing (particularly if you’ve not read the brilliant Small Blue Thing trilogy yet) – so here, in her own words, is S. C. Ransom herself, making the case for why she should be crowned as the 2014 Queen of Teen.

And it’s up to you to decide! You can vote for who should take the title at the Queen of Teen website here – it’s a truly incredible shortlist.

If you’re new to Sue’s books, here’s the first chapter of Small Blue Thing, the first volume in this fantastic, spine-tinglingly atmospheric series for 12+ readers:

Buy Small Blue Thing online.

So, good luck Sue, and if you’re a fan of the books, please – get voting!

Use Your Imagination!

In August we’ll be publishing a VERY exciting new picture book – Use Your Imagination by Nicola O’Byrne; the follow-up to the brilliant, Waterstones Children’s Book Prize-winning Open Very Carefully, illustrated by Nicola and with words by Nick Bromley – and today you can take a first look inside!

This is another wonderfully clever, inventive picture book all about storytelling and the power of imagination – the story of an imaginative rabbit, who outwits a wolf and becomes the hero of his own adventure. And like Open Very Carefully, this is also a brilliant celebration of the physical book in all its glory, with a STUNNING fold-out final spread.

Here, for the very first time, is a look inside the book:

You can pre-order Use Your Imagination from Waterstones here – and if you’d like to be kept up to date with news about the book, and the chance to win early copies, you can sign up to our Books Newsletter here.

A hedgehog in the Crow's Nest

Today, as well as doing normal Nosy Crow work, I am – and I really can’t believe that I’m saying this – hedgehog-sitting. The photograph above is of an African Pygmy Hedgehog (currently sleeping underneath my desk), which I am INDESCRIBABLY excited to be looking after for a couple of days. These are a special domestic breed of hedgehog that can be kept as pets: they’re very tame and friendly (and eat cat food).

I will freely confess that there is really very little point to this post beyond my wanting to put a picture of the hedgehog on the blog, but to keep things within the margins of professional credibility, I started thinking about hedgehogs that feature in children’s books.

Interestingly, hedgehogs do not actually feature too heavily in children’s literature, and the reason for this is, for the most part, because they are not animals that are native to several parts of the world (including North America), and so there is a long-running feeling that hedgehog books will not Sell Well to those countries.

But there ARE some very good books with hedgehogs, most notably The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle by Beatrix Potter. There is also, Adrian pointed out to me, a croquet-playing hedgehog in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. And there are some rather more niche stories like (this one comes to me via the owner of the Pygmy Hedgehog herself) the (originally Serbian) picture book Hedgehog’s Home, by Branko Ćopić.

If you can think of other good examples of books with hedgehogs, I’d be very interested to hear them. And in the meantime… here’s one more picture of the one that’s temporarily taken up residence at Nosy Crow (being modelled by 2014 Bookseller Rising Star Ola):

The Nosy Crow Reading Group verdict on Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney and Dork Diaries by Rachel Renée Russell

The Nosy Crow reading group book met last week to discuss Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney and Dork Diaries by Rachel Renée Russell – two phenomenally successfully series for 7+ readers, both written in the form of diaries, with comic illustrations. We thought it’d be interesting to discuss these books not only because of their incredible successes, but also because they felt very relevant to the recent debate around gendered marketing (and content) in children’s books: both of these titles have very clear target audiences. And, of course, as well as asking questions about what they represented in the culture, we also wanted to talk about whether they have merit on their own terms.

I think it’s fair to say that these were not the most popular books that we’ve discussed at the reading group so far, although there was far from unanimous consent, and still a lot of passionate debate. Of the two books, Wimpy Kid was probably the more popular one, but again, this was not unanimous, and also largely dependent on the criteria by which we judged the two books.

Most of us found Wimpy Kid funny at least at some point (and one or two of us found it consistently funny), and several people enjoyed the “charming and endearing” illustrations. A lot of the group also felt that Wimpy Kid would “last” longer than Dork Diaries, that it more successfully crossed the gender barrier, and that it had broader appeal – a consequence, some people argued, of it being the Original Article: the book that began the trend for comic diary novels with geeky protagonists for this age group.

And yet, with all that being said, the main reason many of us found to approve of Wimpy Kid was for its ability to get young children (and especially boys) reading – in the words of one person, it “plugs a literacy gap”. Several members of our group cited experience with boys who had been re-engaged with reading by the series, and in at least once case, Wimpy Kid was ALL one young child would read. This idea – that Wimpy Kid is a good or worthwhile book by virtue of getting boys to read stuff OTHER than Wimpy Kid – provoked an interesting sort of debate: is this book only a means to an end – just a books that’s good at getting children to read other books? Or is it a book that is good in and of itself?

And while we didn’t, in the end, discuss gender in very great detail throughout the course of the evening, we did talk about whether we felt we were more “forgiving” to Wimpy Kid than to Dork Diaries, on the basis that encouraging girls to read seemed like less of a challenge, and so therefore we were less “lenient” with books that seemed clearly marketed towards girls, as we could expect a higher standard and make fewer compromises.

Actually I was struck, reading these books for the first time, how superficially the gender distinction was enacted by Kinney and Russell. The books seemed to be almost identical at moments – they approached exactly the same subjects (school, family, friends, the first inklings of interest in the opposite sex) and often in remarkably similar ways: sometimes, it felt that the only difference was the typeface. There are, certainly, different idioms in the two books, and issues are explored in different ways, stylistically, but the gulf was not as wide as I had expected, and I am almost tempted to say that with a few reversed gender pronouns it would be impossible to tell the difference. In the end, I think we felt that Dork Diaries pinned its “gender” colours to the mast in rather more pronounced a fashion than Wimpy Kid – one of us described the books not as being “for boys” and “for girls” but as being a “girl” book in the case of Dork Diaries and a “unisex” book in the case of Wimpy Kid.

Dork Diaries did, though, provoke a stronger reaction from most of our group: whilst it seems that it is possible to feel only indifference towards Wimpy Kid, Dork Diaries was met with more visceral, love-it or hate-it attitudes (with most, it must be said, erring towards hate). One of our members confessed to being “exhausted by the endless capitalisation and Oh-my-Gods” and conceded that “possibly after 60 one loses one’s juvenile sense of humour” (although the same person conceded that the minutiae of adolescent life was cleverly handled). A few of us felt that Russell was unnaturally ventriloquizing a young voice, and that her attempts to connect with her audience by cramming in references to iPhones and Tyra Banks was forced and misguided.

And this lead to another interesting and broader discussion – how well will these two books age? Of the two, a majority believed that Wimpy Kid would last longer, but whether it would find its place as the next Adrian Mole or the next Babysitter’s Club was rather more open to debate. A number of us (again citing Adrian Mole) didn’t feel that the specific zeitgeist-y references would necessarily hinder enjoyment for future readers, but rather turn the books into useful cultural artefacts.

And in spite of these objections, we still found good things to say about Dork Diaries: everyone, I think, agreed that it had more of a plot than Wimpy Kid (one person said that they were about to give up entirely, until the scene with the party invitation, at which point they decided to stick with it), and one particularly ardent fan also argued that the book possessed all sorts of subtle shadings in its characterisation (others felt simply that the characters were one-dimensional and unlikeable).

At times I felt that things that I didn’t particularly like about Dork Diaries myself might really have been strengths: I felt alienated and unable to “connect” to it, and perhaps that is exactly how adults should feel towards books for this audience: a book which convincingly recreates the world of teenage girls should, I think, seem foreign to grown-ups (in much the same way, I firmly believe that the sign of a good teen movie is that it confuses or offends the adult population).

Even though Dork Diaries does, we all agreed, have better pacing than Wimpy Kid, it’s also true that nothing much happens in either book, and again, there was some opinion that perhaps this was not entirely a bad thing: are the books willing to sacrifice a plot in order to convincingly adhere to the conventions of a diary? There was some disagreement amongst those of the group willing to admit to having kept diaries as children (or – shock horror – reading those of their children now) about whether these felt like realistic representations of the form. I was struck by the fact that both books begin with assertions by their narrators that the diary was stupid (and foisted upon them by parents) and that they wouldn’t be keeping it up. How true to life is this idea, I wonder?

Some people confessed that they read the two books waiting for the – rather unlikeable – characters to grow and change by the end, or to learn their lesson, and really this doesn’t happen at all in either case: there is no change and no moral message. I found this rather refreshing, actually – a sort of early introduction to the famous guiding vision behind Seinfeld, “no hugging, no learning”.

So while I can’t say that these were the most popular books we’ve read there was certainly plenty to talk about.

The date and books for the next Reading Group have yet to be decided, but if you’d like to take part and you’re not already on our mailing list, email tom at nosy crow dot com, and we’ll keep you notified.

A Nosy Crow Rising Star!

The Bookseller’s 2014 Risings Stars list – an annual run-down of the best and brightest minds in the industry – has been published, and includes our very own Rights Executive, Ola Gotkowska!

The Bookseller write:

“Gotkowska may well be the newest member of the book trade in our Rising Stars, having joined Nosy Crow in July 2012. Yet her impact on the children’s publisher has been incalculable.

Scratch that, it is calculable: sales to foreign markets surged an astonishing 34% in the first full year after Gotkowska joined the team, and she is solely responsible for opening up a score of new territories for rights and coedition sales, including Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Gotkowska has also become Nosy Crow’s contact for territories—such as Turkey, China and Japan—in which it uses sub-agents; since she has come on board, Nosy Crow has concluded almost 50 deals in those territories.”

And here’s what one of Ola’s international colleagues, Christine Baker, Editorial Director of Gallimard Jeunesse, has to say:

“Ola is a natural. She has enthusiasm and conviction in everything she undertakes, ensuring that the excellence in international partner relationships—the hallmark of Nosy Crow—is kept up on a daily basis.”

You can read the full list of Rising Stars here. Congratulations, Ola – we’re all very proud of you!

The story behind My Brother is a Superhero

It’s undeniable that having a book on submission is stressful for authors. All that waiting to hear something – anything – from a publisher. But spare a thought for the editor, too. There you are, sat in your garden on a bank holiday Monday, avoiding a very competitive (and rough) family game of football, idling your way through your emails and tuning out the yelling. Your eye is caught by a submission from an agent unknown to you. You like the cut of his jib and you read the first couple of chapters of the submission. You laugh out loud, surprising yourself because you’ve grown quite hard to please over the years.

A ten-year-old footballer shambles past. He’s possibly bleeding but you ignore this. You suggest that you’re reading something he might like and would he have a look for you? He asks how much you’re offering to pay. You don’t rise to this. He sighs and agrees, but only if you’ll take part in a penalty shoot out. You sigh and agree.

A week later, as the bruises fade, an offer is with the agent and your nails are in tatters. There’s other interest (and of course there is, it’s a great book, as the footballer, two other ten-year-olds and four colleagues have agreed) and now it’s YOUR turn to wait to hear something, anything. It’s not good news – there have been two more offers with a potential fourth on its way, and BAM, there you are, in a bidding war.

The troops mobilise, marketing plans are devised, cakes are baked (with great attention to the text and a certain amount of swearing – blue food colouring can be hard to work with) and a meeting date is fixed.

The tension builds and the agent and author arrive. They look slightly alarmed, but the occasion called for bunting and so bunting is what they got. Some time later, they leave (are they still alarmed? Have they been convinced of how much we love the book, how much we want it and what a great job we will do for it?) and the waiting starts again. No one’s nails are looking good now.

It’s the next day and the call for ‘best offers’ comes in. Calculators are produced, brows are furrowed, but everyone knows it’s about gut feel and passion and enthusiasm (as well as money) and the revised offer is made.

More waiting. And then a bit more. Broken up by some pacing.

And then the phone call! And from the author, no less. The waiting is over and the book is ours. Much joy ensues (with a thought spared for those who loved and lost. We’ve all been there and it’s horrible.) But then it’s back to the JOY.

And that is how we come to be publishing My Brother is a Superhero by David Solomons. It’s funny, moving and brilliant, and worth all the waiting, baking, nail-chewing and standing in goal being pelted by footballs. Absolutely.

My Brother is a Superhero will be published in Summer 2015, and simultaneously in the US by Viking Children’s Books. You can read The Bookseller’s coverage of the acquisition here – and here’s what everyone else has to say…

David Solomons:

“Finally my immaturity and childish sense of humour have paid off and I am frankly overexcited at the prospect of being published by Nosy Crow. They came at me with passion, ambition and sponge cake. How could I resist?”

Kate Wilson:

“We are hugely proud to have won these books for the Nosy Crow list, particularly in the face of stiff competition from much bigger publishers. At Nosy Crow, we don’t decide to go all-out for many books – it can be the most enormous expenditure of time and energy for an uncertain outcome – but David’s comedy, great voice and nifty plotting united us in our enthusiasm, and we really look forward to communicating that enthusiasm to customers and readers.”

Mark Stanton, Jenny Brown Associates (David’s agent):

“David has written a terrific book – funny, heart-warming and original, with a cast of characters that both boys and girls will love. And in Nosy Crow – energetic, brimming over with enthusiasm, creative and professional – I know we’ve found a house that will publish the book with flair and passion: capeless, but publishing superheroes nonetheless.”

Kendra Levin, Senior Editor at Viking Children’s Books:

“With its clever references to comic books and save-the-world plot, My Brother is a Superhero is a love letter to fandom, and one that I believe will attract many fans in its own right.”

And here’s some more from Kirsty:

“The idea behind this book is genius. Luke’s mistake is to take a wee in the right place at the wrong time but while he’s gone, an alien gives his undeserving, never-read-a-comic-in-his-life older brother superpowers and tells him to save the universe. Luke’s sense of the unfairness of it all is hilarious and the way he steps up to help is a joy to read. My Brother is a Superhero is a great book destined for greatness.”

If you’d like to be kept up to date with news about My Brother is a Superhero, exclusive offers and competitions, and the first chance to take a look inside, you can sign up to our Books Newsletter here.

Nosy Crow at the Edinburgh Book Festival

The line-up for the 2014 Edinburgh International Book Festival has been announced, and forget about George R. R. Martin or Haruki Murakami – just look at how many Nosy Crow authors and illustrators will be holding events!

On Saturday, 9 August at 10.00am, you can join Barry Hutchison – a good friend of Vulgar the Viking author Odin Redbeard – to hear about his latest adventure, Vulgar the Viking and the Rock Cake Raiders. You might also get to take part in Blubber’s Got Talent, so hone your juggling, balloon modelling and keepy-uppy skills. Here’s a look inside The Rock Cake Raiders:



Buy the book online from Waterstones.

On Sunday, 10 August at 3.00pm, you can join Shifty McGifty and Slipper Sam author Tracey Corderoy to hear about the adventures of the two hapless robber dogs – and then join in with making a very jolly bouncy spider to take away. Here’s a look inside the book:



Buy the book online from Waterstones.

On Monday, 11 August at 10.30am, The Grunts creators Philip Ardagh and Axel Scheffler will be introducing the latest instalment in the superlatively silly series, in a fantastic and funny storytelling and live-drawing session. And here’s a look inside The Grunts all at Sea, the second book in the series:



Buy the book online from Waterstones.

Also on Monday, 11 August, at 2.00pm, will be Tracey Corderoy and Joe Berger – creators of the Hubble Bubble picture book and young fiction series – perfect for little people who like a sprinkling of magic on their stories. Here’s a look inside Spells a Popping, Granny’s Shopping!, the third Hubble Bubble picture book:



Buy the book online from Waterstones.

Axel will be re-appearing on Monday, 11 August at 3.00pm for a special Pip and Posy event – join Axel for stories, drawing and the opportunity to meet Pip and Posy themselves! Here’s a look inside Pip and Posy: The Big Balloon – out now in paperback:



Buy the book online from Waterstones.

On Thursday, 14 August at 5.00pm, My Brilliant Life and Other Disasters author Catherine Wilkins will be joining fellow author Karen McCombie on stage to discuss families, friendship, and fallings-out in their very funny fiction. Here’s a look inside the book:



Buy the book online from Waterstones.

On Friday, 15 August at 10.00am you can meet Dinosaur Rescue creator Penny Dale for an event that’s simply perfect for young dinosaur enthusiasts – expect lots of roaring! Here’s a look inside the book:



Buy the book online from Waterstones.

And finally, on Saturday, 16 August at 3.00pm, Pamela Butchart will be discussing her laugh-out-loud fiction debut, Baby Aliens Got My Teacher!, and its hilarious sequel, The Spy Who Loved School Dinners – brilliant stories for 7-9 year olds that perfectly capture the craziness of a primary school where almost anything is possible. Here’s a look inside Baby Aliens Got My Teacher:



Buy the book online from Waterstones.

Tickets for every event will go on sale on Tuesday, 24 June from the Edinburgh Book Festival website – we hope you can make it!

Our Rights and Digital Assistant position closes for applications this Friday

There’s just a couple of days left to apply for our Rights and Digital Assistant position – the closing date is this Friday, June 13.

We have an incredible opportunity for a hardworking, bright individual, with the right to live and work in the UK, to join our team at Nosy Crow on a full-time basis, working in our London office near London Bridge and starting in July 2014 (or sooner, actually, if you’re available).

The Digital and Rights Assistant will work with the Rights Executive and Digital Project and Marketing Manager on Nosy Crow’s award-winning digital and foreign rights programmes. While the job is predominantly an administrative role, Nosy Crow is a fast-growing company with opportunities for career development.

The ideal candidate is likely to be educated to degree level, and, in addition…

• Will be able to demonstrate a strong interest in children’s books, in other cultures and languages, and in digital publishing and marketing

• Will have excellent written and spoken communication skills in English, combined with a good grasp of arithmetic

• Will be highly organised (and willing to do a lot of admin stuff), with good time management skills, and attention to detail

• Will be a self-starter with lots of initiative who is ready to ‘muck in’

• Will have strong digital skills (some knowledge of HTML would count highly in your favour), an interest in various digital and social media channels, and be comfortable using content management systems

• Will have foreign language skills (the ability to speak, and ideally write, competently in at least one language other than English would be an advantage)

• Will have some experience of writing copy – a blog, perhaps, or a student newspaper

Please send Tom Bonnick your CV, accompanied by an application letter, as soon as possible via email (tom at nosycrow dot com).

Join in with our one year anniversary Nosy Crow Reading Group this week!

This month’s Nosy Crow Reading Group (our one-year anniversary!) is taking place on Thursday, and we’d love for you to join in!

We’ll be discussing two of the biggest children’s publishing phenomena of recent years: Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, and Dork Diaries by Rachel Renée Russell. As usual, we’ve prepared a few questions in advance to get everyone thinking – here’s some of what we might be talking about:

1) How important is “plot” in Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries?

2) Do you think these books break down, or reinforce, social hierarchies?

3) Are readers encouraged to identify with the protagonists of the two books? Are they reliable narrators?

4) What effect does the diary form have?

5) How far are Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries “for boys” or “for girls”? Is this to their detriment?

Places for the physical event have now all gone, but we hope you’ll be able to join us online, if you’d like – you can leave your comments underneath this blogpost, or join us on the night on Twitter from 6.30pm with the #NCGKids hashtag.

We hope you can join us!