The Push to Publish YA/Children's Book Panel: the questions we asked and answered

Before Catherine Stine, Nancy Viau, Alison DeLuca, and I met yesterday afternoon at Rosemont College for our Push to Publish YA/Children's Book Panel, we were invited to submit questions and answers for potential mulling during our panel. As the group's moderator, I promised the audience that I would share those very questions and answers here, to supplement the many other things we discussed during our it-flew-by-so-fast hour.  



Many thanks to all of you who came, to Catherine, Nancy, and Alison, who spoke so intelligently, and to Christine Weiser, Queen of Philadelphia Stories (from which the annual Push to Publish conference springs), who took this photograph for us. 


























Catherine Stine:

1. How important is social media
to your promo plan and when should you start to implement it?



The best advice I got from an early mentor was to start a blog way before my
next big book came out, not when it
came out. I started Catherine Stine’s Idea City about two years before my
latest novel was published, and by that time I had over 340 followers, who
helped with my book blog tour, and other promo posts such as interviews,
features and giveaways, as well as me guest posting on their blogs.
 

I had no idea that the blogosphere would be so friendly and eager to help. Part
of the fun is that it’s a mixed age-community, with everyone from savvy book
reviewers, still in high school, to seasoned authors in their sixties. The key
is to care about what others are posting! If you want good comments on your
posts, you must return the favor.
I’ve learned so much about publishing and writing from this vibrant community,
and from indie authors as well as ones who are published with the Big Six.
Other important social media to develop: a Goodreads author page, a Facebook
author or book page, a Pinterest page and a twitter account. There are others,
but this is a great place to start!

Topical online reads:

1. Publishers’ Weekly article on YA Marketing-Digital versus Physical:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bea/article/52455-bea-2012-ya-marketing-digital-vs-physical.html

2. Basic
Marketing Tips from YA author, Elana Johnson:

http://elanajohnson.blogspot.com/2012/02/basic-marketing-plan-for-authors-who.html

3. What the heck
is Pinterest, you ask? Check out a sampling of YA books for OCT on Pinterest! http://pinterest.com/BCSPLS/october-2012-children-teen-ebooks/
 


2. What are the big differences between
indie and traditionally published books/authors? Between ebooks and paper
copies? How do you see these trending in the future?



I see a blending in the future of who is published traditionally to who is
publishing on their own, or with small houses. It will be more about the quality of the fiction and the authors’ growing readership than how authors publish. I’ve
published with big houses such as Random House and American Girl, and I’ve also
published through my own Konjur Road Press. Many traditionally published
authors are now publishing their own out-of-print-books and novels that their
agents haven’t placed. As publishing houses become more gun-shy and picky
(because of less physical bookstores to sell to!) and authors learn how much
they can potentially earn on their own the quality of indie fiction will grow
ever higher! There is also a trend toward POD printing—that means print on
demand. For instance, if someone orders your POD book through Amazon, or
B&N, their publishing arm will print as many paperback copies as are
ordered and no more. This has an upside for a beleaguered industry: publishers
will no longer have to deal with huge store returns, which lose money for the
houses when they must refund that revenue. On the other hand, it means less
variety on the physical bookshelves. As more and more readers get comfy with
ereading devices, more and more ebooks will sell. In the Catskills, where I go
on the weekends, I feel the burn of bookstore closings. There are no more
bookstores within 40 or 50 miles! People won’t stop reading, they will always
want stories; they will simply buy more ebooks.  

Some related online articles:

1.    
A post by indie
fantasy author, Lindsay Buroker:

http://www.lindsayburoker.com/tips-and-tricks/successful-indie-authors/ 



2.    
A post by Susan Kaye
Quinn, indie YA author: http://www.susankayequinn.com/2011/09/taking-road-less-traveled-redux.html



3. Trends in YA? Write to trends or to
what I love?



It’s always a gamble to predict specific trends because they change from year
to year. And one should never, ever
write specifically to the trends. You should write that amazing novel that only
you can write! I tell my students to focus on a subject or theme that they are
totally inspired by, because maintaining fuel for those entire 250 to 350 pages
is something only fierce interest and passion can drive. That said, there do
seem to be trends for 2013/14: realistic YA is making a comeback, after a
paranormal and fantasy-saturated market. Vamps are trending out, but there will
probably always be room for that unique, geeky or charismatic vamp! Historical
fantasy is in with novels such as Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly. Magical realism
is growing, as is confidence in YA sci-fi like Black Hole Sun by Gill and space
opera, such as A. Ryan’s Glow. Horror and unusual blends are growing in
popularity as seen in novels like Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
by R. Riggs. There is also a trend toward sci-fi romance, as in novels like V.
Rossi’s Under the Never Sky. And then, there are the trend-busters whose
mind-bending novels start entirely new trends! Will you write one of these?




Nancy Viau

How do I avoid the slush pile?



It's the "kiss of death" to address your submission to Dear Editor,
Agent, or To Whom It May Concern. Research a name and target your manuscript to
a real person, one who is acquiring work in the genre in which you write.
There's a wealth of info to be found on websites such as www.publishersmarketplace.com http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/>  (monthly subscription
is about 20 bucks), www.agentquery.com <http://www.agentquery.com/> , www.querytracker.net
<http://www.querytracker.net/> , and www.scbwi.org <http://www.scbwi.org/> . Bloggers like Casey
McCormick, www.literaryrambles.com <http://www.literaryrambles.com/> , often feature authors and
agents, and many editors and agents have blogs and are on Twitter or Facebook.
But, instead of relying only on info found on the Internet (where everything's
always correct, right? Ha!), find a better, more personal connection by going
to conferences and/or getting one-on-one critiques at conferences. Strike up a
conversation, exchange business cards, and schmooze your way to success.



What is in a query letter to an agent?
How about a cover letter to an editor?



The best way for me to answer this is to give each person copies of letters I
wrote to the above people. I'll dissect what I've included and why, and tell
the group if it was a successful or not. I feel that the best
"takeaway" is something someone can actually take away. : )



What types of picture books are
children's book editors looking for?



This is the million dollar question! Who really knows? Many agents and editors
say they want a story based on a marketable character. (Ex: FANCY NANCY,
LADYBUG GIRL, DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS). In additon, they want short
over long (less than 800 words), loud over quiet, and non-rhyming over rhyming.
They'd also like you to be a celebrity! (*Smirk*) That being said, there are
plenty of recently acquired books that break all these rules. (Ex: LOOK WHAT I
CAN DO! and STORM SONG, my two picture books due out this spring. They are not
character-based, they're considerably quiet, and they rhyme. And yes, I'm still shocked that they sold.)




Beth Kephart

What is the most surprising—or affirming—aspect of the YA
writing community?























Although I’ve taught teens for years, I never planned
to write books that were specifically set aside for that age group.  It seemed, to me, like an entirely different language, a world that I would never
effectively penetrate.  Now with my eighth and ninth YA novels set for release, I
have learned important things about the generosity of the YA writing
community, the fervor of librarians and teachers, and the wide open heart of
teen readers. Power—sometimes chaotic, sometimes strange, but nearly
always mesmerizing—abides in the YA community.  And that is why, I think, adults increasingly lean in our direction.  That is also why so many teen books increasingly refuse to stay within set boundaries.  We writers of teen books want everyone to share in the magic.


Is there room for the quiet YA book?
















I wasn’t sure there would be one, when I first started
writing.  In fact, my kind of book was a bit of an experiment for Laura
Geringer, my first YA editor, then at HarperCollins.  What would happen, she wondered, to
teen books that were deliberately focused on emotion and
mood, setting and  ideas, language and light, in the age of Twilight?  Would they find an audience? The good news is that there is an audience.  Not a rip-roaring, I’m-going-to-be-rich-and-famous audience.  But enough of an audience to enable me to keep writing my kind of book, to keep
finding my kind of teen (and adult) reader. And for that I am hugely grateful.


What is the hottest trend in YA fiction?




I have been saying for a while now that we are at long
last shedding categories with YA fiction.  We are celebrating individuals who write books that break rules and boundaries.  The Book Thief freed us, in that way. Writers like Patricia McCormick and A.S. King continue
to remind us how powerful the unexpected is. And of course I still believe, as I wrote last year, that illustrated YA books, along with well-written, engaging historical novels, will find firmer marketing footholds.
[image error]