Alice Y. Chen's Blog, page 11
March 24, 2015
Back to our regularly scheduled programming…from December 2014
A long time ago I began talking about the main components for a proper submission to a publisher. We covered the dummy on Jan. 13, and then the cover letter on Feb. 17. But I haven’t addressed the actual meat of a submission: the manuscript! So let’s compare the same passage from 3 drafts spanning the last 9 years....
The 2005 version is so interesting to me now, as I tried a very mystical tone: the tree “felt” Centipede Dragon’s melancholy. Back then, I wanted to keep tone aligned to image origin, by incorporating an Asian-inspired, Zen-like way of thinking about the world, where all living things are interconnected. But tone hugely influences how you write your story. It also influences illustration style. So for me, an American-English style suited my story best, because it’s how I’ve been taught to write. And as an inexperienced writer, I needed to write the way I speak; else, I struggle too much.
The 2012 version shows major changes after bringing on a friend to help with editing, and WITH a better understanding of the demands of the children's market after much research. The adult was replaced by a child who then performs the action in the plot. The tone is also now devoid of the attempted “Asian” spirit.
Finally, the 2014 published version. The text is even more succinct, thanks to the help of a second editor friend. But key to this version is FINALLY not “telling” each little thing happening in the story, and allowing the images to fill in those gaps. I mean, did I really need to tell you that Ben gasped after looking up?
The take-home message for your manuscript writing process is to acknowledge that while it will likely ALWAYS be in progress, “in-progress” doesn’t always equate to “unfinished.” Bring in fresh eyes and different perspectives at any stage of the writing, and continue to scrutinize your word choice to the bitter end. What this reflects is the depth to which you care about how your story will be received. And that will never be the wrong choice to make.
March 17, 2015
Aurora Hills Library Kids Club ROCKS the lantern
With all the queasiness and hours upon hours of prep that each of these presentations represent, I have been continually buoyed up by the creativity that pours forth from these kids. All they need is the seed of an idea and they just run with it. The mother of one girl sent the picture in the lower left of her actually using the lantern she made. And the background for this entire image is a photo of the shadows their lanterns threw against the ceiling that night!
Again, thanks to some incredible moms who helped make some unique lanterns. One mother went to several book stores looking for my book, and brought her 10 year-old daughter, who is both scientifically as well as creatively-inclined, to meet me. Another mother explained that her child had drawn Centipede Dragon onto the top border of her lantern. It’s experiences like these that remind me why this is all worth it.
Finally, thank you again to Lily, my friend and assistant for that day, and to Ms Kim Vu, Children’s Librarian at Aurora Hills.
Again, thanks to some incredible moms who helped make some unique lanterns. One mother went to several book stores looking for my book, and brought her 10 year-old daughter, who is both scientifically as well as creatively-inclined, to meet me. Another mother explained that her child had drawn Centipede Dragon onto the top border of her lantern. It’s experiences like these that remind me why this is all worth it.
Finally, thank you again to Lily, my friend and assistant for that day, and to Ms Kim Vu, Children’s Librarian at Aurora Hills.
March 10, 2015
The more feet the better…
In advance of my presentation tomorrow, my post will be relatively “brief” and somewhat philosophic.
In the number of presentations I have done to date I have had to develop almost as many different formats. As I am not well-versed in this vital aspect of children’s book marketing, I’m not sure what requests to yield to and when to just say no. In my view, I have no choice but to bend over backwards as far as I can for the chance to present. It does mean a lot of work, a lot of “rolling with the punches,” and a lot of patience. Last-minute changes will happen, additional requests will be requested, and though it’s beaten into you how incredibly deliberate you have to be with all aspects of the development of your book, you then have to always be on your toes, all the time, when it comes to presentations. I guess the only thing I want to impart is, always smile, say yes, and remember that it’s an opportunity, even if it doesn’t look like one.
In the number of presentations I have done to date I have had to develop almost as many different formats. As I am not well-versed in this vital aspect of children’s book marketing, I’m not sure what requests to yield to and when to just say no. In my view, I have no choice but to bend over backwards as far as I can for the chance to present. It does mean a lot of work, a lot of “rolling with the punches,” and a lot of patience. Last-minute changes will happen, additional requests will be requested, and though it’s beaten into you how incredibly deliberate you have to be with all aspects of the development of your book, you then have to always be on your toes, all the time, when it comes to presentations. I guess the only thing I want to impart is, always smile, say yes, and remember that it’s an opportunity, even if it doesn’t look like one.
March 3, 2015
Event reminder and website feedback!
On the heels of one comes another presentation! Thank you to the wonderful librarians who have thus far taken a chance on my book and ME. I think the more times I do these, the better I’m getting. More importantly, the less harrowing it is becoming! Or so I think.
As I prep for this next event, it’s finally hitting me what I am actually doing: I am making the local rounds to market my children’s book. THAT realization has been a strange one; when I was five years old and playing with crayon scratchboard and mud pies, I thought of the future only as a time where I would have a 9-5 job as a doctor. The steps that would lead me there was a matter of excelling at crayon scratchboard and mud-pie making, or any other “homework,” get good grades, go to college, go to grad school, and start working. Life according to the 5 year-old me would be formulaic (not in a bad way); instead, it has twisted and turned in such unexpected ways.
Also, please give feedback on the new website! The Contact Page DOES work (whoo-hoo), but anything you like or don't like about it, please let me know:
www.centipededragon.weebly.com
Thank you so much for your support. Every one of you who has ever said a kind word about Centipede Dragon are the reasons why I persist in this process today.
As I prep for this next event, it’s finally hitting me what I am actually doing: I am making the local rounds to market my children’s book. THAT realization has been a strange one; when I was five years old and playing with crayon scratchboard and mud pies, I thought of the future only as a time where I would have a 9-5 job as a doctor. The steps that would lead me there was a matter of excelling at crayon scratchboard and mud-pie making, or any other “homework,” get good grades, go to college, go to grad school, and start working. Life according to the 5 year-old me would be formulaic (not in a bad way); instead, it has twisted and turned in such unexpected ways.
Also, please give feedback on the new website! The Contact Page DOES work (whoo-hoo), but anything you like or don't like about it, please let me know:
www.centipededragon.weebly.com
Thank you so much for your support. Every one of you who has ever said a kind word about Centipede Dragon are the reasons why I persist in this process today.
February 26, 2015
The Official Centipede Dragon BlogSiteShop
www.centipededragon.weebly.com
Good snowy Thursday morning! I have launched the "official" (I don't know what that means, really) Centipede Dragon website and would very much like your feedback. If there's anything you think needs adding, needs better navigation, WHATEVER, please share with me! Eventually, I would like to transition away from these FB/e-mail distribution posts (as my lengthy posts aren't really suited for FB and I desperately need to streamline these operations), but I will keep posting here if it's the preference. Please, tell me what you think!
February 24, 2015
The Sherwood Regional Library Presentation
Despite all my butterflies and queasiness, last Friday’s presentation was probably the best ever! With each one, I have been reassured by the kids how I’m doing. And that’s just the best reward of all.
On a morning where it was barely 10 degrees out and Fairfax County Public Schools had already closed, we trekked over to the library to set up. I figured I’d be performing to the audience of my friends Lily and Florence, and Lori, the Youth Services Manager at Sherwood, but at 10:25am, in trooped a bunch of kids!
A little crew of five, four boys and a girl, sat in the front row and took charge of calling out different challenges for me. There were sisters in triplicate, dressed identically, who occupied the next row, while the tiniest ones sat in their moms’ laps. First, we read the story. When I came about 2 feet of the front row and read, “Centipede Dragon was ill,” eyes widened and there was an audible gasp from the girl. Then I gave a 3-minute talk about how I came up with the idea, for that all-important second audience of parents and Librarian. And finally, the Magical Scale Challenge! The kids sat quietly while listening to the story, and then were rapt with attention while wiggling to the music during the many rounds of the Challenge. It was a good 20-25 minutes into the presentation before some natives got restless. In my book, that’s a COUP. I wished we had gotten photos of the kids, but sadly this time, there are none. So if there are any parents who attended and would like to stay in touch, please send me an e-mail!
There was one boy in particular who will, truth be told, make someone a very lucky partner some day. He was the most supportive little man, encouraging me the whole time, telling me that the car I tried to make “didn’t look so bad,” allowing me all the time I needed to complete each challenge, and at the end of the presentation, said it was the best one he’d ever been to.
And so comes the moral of the story. If you are in it to sell books but you don’t want to give presentations, you just better not be in it.
On a morning where it was barely 10 degrees out and Fairfax County Public Schools had already closed, we trekked over to the library to set up. I figured I’d be performing to the audience of my friends Lily and Florence, and Lori, the Youth Services Manager at Sherwood, but at 10:25am, in trooped a bunch of kids!
A little crew of five, four boys and a girl, sat in the front row and took charge of calling out different challenges for me. There were sisters in triplicate, dressed identically, who occupied the next row, while the tiniest ones sat in their moms’ laps. First, we read the story. When I came about 2 feet of the front row and read, “Centipede Dragon was ill,” eyes widened and there was an audible gasp from the girl. Then I gave a 3-minute talk about how I came up with the idea, for that all-important second audience of parents and Librarian. And finally, the Magical Scale Challenge! The kids sat quietly while listening to the story, and then were rapt with attention while wiggling to the music during the many rounds of the Challenge. It was a good 20-25 minutes into the presentation before some natives got restless. In my book, that’s a COUP. I wished we had gotten photos of the kids, but sadly this time, there are none. So if there are any parents who attended and would like to stay in touch, please send me an e-mail!
There was one boy in particular who will, truth be told, make someone a very lucky partner some day. He was the most supportive little man, encouraging me the whole time, telling me that the car I tried to make “didn’t look so bad,” allowing me all the time I needed to complete each challenge, and at the end of the presentation, said it was the best one he’d ever been to.
And so comes the moral of the story. If you are in it to sell books but you don’t want to give presentations, you just better not be in it.
February 19, 2015
February 17, 2015
Cover letters are NOT like covers of songs
I’m finally getting back to discussing the individual elements of a manuscript submission. We’ll start with the cover letter. In my research plus the copious advice I received as to what makes a strong cover letter, I can tell you for sure that NONE of it worked. Because in the end I self-published!
I thought the best way to illustrate what I tried was to show you some excerpts from my actual cover letters. The advice I followed mainly ran along the lines of proving to the publisher why my book should be included in their list. For instance, does the publisher publish certain “genres” of books, like talking animals, rhyming, or non-fiction books? Do they focus on a certain theme like friendship, humor, or folktale? Once I went through ~30 books on each list to “determine” whether my book fit, I then had to make sure they didn’t already have a book starring a magical hybrid benevolent creature.
Now, I tried “sell” my book, employing many approaches to get them to see the merits of adding my book to their list: I emphasized the excellent message of my book; the uniqueness of the protagonist; enumerated the ways in which I was dedicated to the industry; linked my character to endearing characters of the past; related my story to themes from other successful books; quoted what they’ve written on their sites about what they seek and how my book does just that….
So why didn’t any of this work? Of course I don’t know, but I think 3 points about book publishing MUST be answered in the cover letter. At least, this is what I will try in future:
1) How AND why will your book sell a ton of copies?
2) What’s your book’s most promising angle for marketing?
3) What makes YOU memorable?
I think my cover letters did not make ME memorable. I’ve read articles about the lengths aspiring authors have gone to get their stories read by editors, but going to NYC and knocking on doors with cookies in hand isn’t always feasible, nor does it truly work. SO, if kindergartners, friends, strangers, book lovers, fellow aspiring authors and illustrators, librarians, and an independent bookstore owner have thus far had only good things to say about Centipede Dragon, where’s the disconnect between success and rejection? Anyone care to guess?
I thought the best way to illustrate what I tried was to show you some excerpts from my actual cover letters. The advice I followed mainly ran along the lines of proving to the publisher why my book should be included in their list. For instance, does the publisher publish certain “genres” of books, like talking animals, rhyming, or non-fiction books? Do they focus on a certain theme like friendship, humor, or folktale? Once I went through ~30 books on each list to “determine” whether my book fit, I then had to make sure they didn’t already have a book starring a magical hybrid benevolent creature.
Now, I tried “sell” my book, employing many approaches to get them to see the merits of adding my book to their list: I emphasized the excellent message of my book; the uniqueness of the protagonist; enumerated the ways in which I was dedicated to the industry; linked my character to endearing characters of the past; related my story to themes from other successful books; quoted what they’ve written on their sites about what they seek and how my book does just that….
So why didn’t any of this work? Of course I don’t know, but I think 3 points about book publishing MUST be answered in the cover letter. At least, this is what I will try in future:
1) How AND why will your book sell a ton of copies?
2) What’s your book’s most promising angle for marketing?
3) What makes YOU memorable?
I think my cover letters did not make ME memorable. I’ve read articles about the lengths aspiring authors have gone to get their stories read by editors, but going to NYC and knocking on doors with cookies in hand isn’t always feasible, nor does it truly work. SO, if kindergartners, friends, strangers, book lovers, fellow aspiring authors and illustrators, librarians, and an independent bookstore owner have thus far had only good things to say about Centipede Dragon, where’s the disconnect between success and rejection? Anyone care to guess?
February 13, 2015
LOCAL EVENT REMINDER
HAPPY FRIDAY ALL! Just a reminder and a time correction for next Friday's library presentation: Storytime begins at 10:30am, not 10am. Please share with anyone you think might want to join as you have to register for the event, by going to: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/
and clicking on my little icon!
and clicking on my little icon!
February 10, 2015
I got Centipede Dragon’s back, or actually, his spine….
Every once in a while you hit upon the one person who goes the extra distance by connecting you to that person who can change a game that is heavily stacked against self-published you.
To illustrate, let’s do a quick exercise: everyone who has a soft cover copy of Centipede Dragon, look at the spine.
One major roadblock in self-publishing to getting your book onto actual shelves is the inability get text on the spine. This seems like a minute detail, doesn’t it?
A second exercise: everyone, shelve your Centipede Dragon. Now, ask someone else to find it!
For years, the “trend” in children’s books has been to keep the page count to 32. But in self-publishing, unless your book is at least 48 pages, you can’t put text on the spine. When you don’t have text on your spine, brick and mortar stores will not sell your book, because once it's shelved, no one knows what it is or where it is. It is unidentifiable. This is a rather unfortunate hindrance to your sales.
My person who found my person, is Christine T. from the Children’s Book Illustrators LinkedIn group. After seeing my desperate SOS post, she dug around to find me a post from months ago, written by Tzivia M., who writes a blog called : http://blog.writekidsbooks.org/. She had faced this spine text conundrum with her own book, “No Santa!,” and decided to submit the book cover file to her self- publisher WITH spine text designed into the layout of the cover design. I want to give a HUGE shout-out to Tzivia for this ultimate in “workaround” solutions.
I.LOVE.HER. And you should too. Just for me.
So, I went ahead and tried it for my hardcover. Can you guess how it turned out???
A big thanks to Christine as well, a true moderator who knows her stuff for ALL OF US struggling to get this done.
To illustrate, let’s do a quick exercise: everyone who has a soft cover copy of Centipede Dragon, look at the spine.
One major roadblock in self-publishing to getting your book onto actual shelves is the inability get text on the spine. This seems like a minute detail, doesn’t it?
A second exercise: everyone, shelve your Centipede Dragon. Now, ask someone else to find it!
For years, the “trend” in children’s books has been to keep the page count to 32. But in self-publishing, unless your book is at least 48 pages, you can’t put text on the spine. When you don’t have text on your spine, brick and mortar stores will not sell your book, because once it's shelved, no one knows what it is or where it is. It is unidentifiable. This is a rather unfortunate hindrance to your sales.
My person who found my person, is Christine T. from the Children’s Book Illustrators LinkedIn group. After seeing my desperate SOS post, she dug around to find me a post from months ago, written by Tzivia M., who writes a blog called : http://blog.writekidsbooks.org/. She had faced this spine text conundrum with her own book, “No Santa!,” and decided to submit the book cover file to her self- publisher WITH spine text designed into the layout of the cover design. I want to give a HUGE shout-out to Tzivia for this ultimate in “workaround” solutions.
I.LOVE.HER. And you should too. Just for me.
So, I went ahead and tried it for my hardcover. Can you guess how it turned out???
A big thanks to Christine as well, a true moderator who knows her stuff for ALL OF US struggling to get this done.
