Farewell & Thank You from TEAM BLOG

TEAM BLOG supporting its captain

On behalf of SCBWI TEAM BLOG (Martha Brockenbrough, Lee Wind, Jaime Temairik, Suzanne Young, Jolie Stekly, and yours truly), thanks to everyone who visited to read our conference coverage. (I encourage you to continue to peruse the blog--there's tons of great info here!)

Thanks also to all the conference-goers who stopped by our table to chat and stopped us in the halls--we appreciate all the great feedback. And we truly appreciate the opportunity to bring the extraordinary 40th Annual SCBWI Summer Conference to you.

We'll see you in New York for the Annual Winter Conference January 27-29, 2012! (Check scbwi.org for details closer to the event).

--Alice

Go TEAM!! (l to r: Jolie, Lee, Martha, Jaime, Alice, Suzanne)

My Experience at the Monday Intensive for Illustrators

L-R Kadir, hidden David, Paul, Richard, Marla and Jerry. Denise was looking for her acorn. The black and blue goody bags are not full of booze, I asked.

It's not hyperbole, Monday was the best day of my illustrating life. I didn't spend four years, or even one, in a traditional art school, so I don't know if this is standard procedure, but Monday was unlike anything I've every experienced.

The seven artists tapped to do this first-ever live demo format, I am beyond thankful they so freely shared their talents and thoughts with us. I am bowing down to our SCBWI Illustrator Committee and SCBWI headquarters for making this happen. Compared to other conferences and conventions, SCBWI internationals are cheap. And I happily admit I'd pay a bazillion more dollars to see another live demo day. Don't hesitate to fork over big bills to attend the next live-demo illustrator intensive. And if any of these people are teaching a class near you, be sure you sign up.

Other attendees are going to blog the crap out of today, I'm sure, but I can't do it justice. My brief notes are below:

Each artist answered technical and philosophical questions while they worked for about an hour on an art piece.

Paul showed us how he does a monochromatic/grisaille underpainting in watercolor before adding oil glazes on top.

Marla showed us how she gets her amazing dark lines, she also started one of her fifty color washes, and talked to us about problem solving in final art.

Richard made a mess. But then he made a beautiful painting out of it full of energy and color and a bit of egg tempera.

Kadir did a portrait of Dan Santat while we got up in his business. Lots of talk about the importance of making personal art and loving life.

Denise forgot her acorn. This is not a euphemism. She painted with paper pulp and did a teensy bit of swearing, but we were all completely mesmerized by her process and loved her and her final piece.

David sketched art director/Penguin Putnam VP Cecilia Yung before doing a sketch of himself and showing us how he retains life in his lines when moving from the exuberant pencil sketch to the finished ink drawing.

And Jerry sketched and painted me! No. It was a wild bird. Wait, that could still be me... Anyway.

He showed us how he uses photo reference to make his amazing animals and we watched his light watercolors build up to brilliant gorgeousness.

Jerry's painting in progress. I thought it was me he was painting— that bird and I use the same eyeshadow.

 The day ended with a brief group Q&A. It was a bonhomie love fest.

One way we can say thank you to the seven artists who gave so much to us is to go out and buy a buttload of their books.

Paul's books on Indiebound

Richard's books on Indiebound

Marla's books on Indiebound

Jerry's books on Indiebound

Denise's books on Indiebound

Kadir's books on Indiebound

David's books on Indiebound

THANKS FOR THE BEST SUMMER CONFERENCE EVER!

My Experience at the Ellen Hopkins Writers Intensive: Writing Novels In Verse

Every one of Ellen Hopkins' seven young adult novels in verse have hit the New York Times Bestseller lists, and there's a reason - they're powerful, compelling, and masterful. Every word seems perfectly chosen. Every poem is laid out on the page in a way that draws you in and then beyond the words. Every character is bared through their mind's lens.

And you can't stop reading because you have to know what happens next.

I didn't enter Ellen's intensive thinking 'I want to write a novel in verse,' but Ellen achieves intensely powerful emotions and her stories grab you and don't let go - and she does it with such economy and artistry. I had to see what I could learn, and then apply, to my own writing.

With worksheets and examples from her own work, she guided us through exercises that pulled out of us things about our characters that we'd never before considered. A few attendees read their poems out loud after the writing, and the level of accomplishment across the room was inspiring.

For one of the exercises, I re-worked the opening scene of my current MG work in progress, taking it from prose to verse. It was magical. Excess detail and repetition fell away, and character motivations leapt forward. The scene had so much more emotion and impact this way.

I raised my hand to share. As I read, the words felt so right. Spare, and still funny. Filled with emotion and conflict. So much more what I was hoping for. I was heartened by the laughter (in all the right places) and the kind encouragement from Ellen and my fellow workshop participants.

Now, I'm inspired to dive into my rewrite with this new way of telling my characters' story. Will it become a novel in verse? I'm not sure, but I do know that for me, this workshop was a huge creative breakthrough.

Thank you, Ellen. And thanks SCBWI for giving me - and the rest of the class - this incredible opportunity!

First Time Conference Attendee Renisha Ricks

At the end of the Monday of intensives, I caught up with first time conference attendee Renisha Ricks to ask her about her experience...

Michelle Parker-Rock is the 2011 SCBWI Member of the Year!

Regional Advisor for Arizona, Michelle Parker-Rock is the author of over a dozen books (including her most recent series, Authors Kids Love), a contributing writer to the SCBWI Bulletin, a tireless advocate and powerhouse volunteer!

Here we talk about her being honored as SCBWI Member of the Year:

Tina Wexler: Hook, Line, and Sinker!

On a day of intensives, I got a chance to stop by and listen to agent Tina Wexler. Tina is a literary agent at ICM, representing authors in both the children's and adult marketplace. Her intensive was: Hook, Line, and Sinker! How To Catch An Agent With A Perfect Query Letter.

Tina started by explaining some basics of the query letter, including how she personally reads them. She prefers her queries to be in email format, and not business letter format. She also likes to hear the reasons an author thinks she'd be a good fit for their manuscript.

Your query should only be a shadow compared to the brilliance that is the manuscript. And once you've figured out the mechanics and structure of your letter, go back through and work on word choice--interjecting authentic voice when you can.

Tina made a great point about trying something different with your query when you can. It doesn't have to always start with your character. It could be the bigger theme. Play around and see what you come up with.

Attendees were then broken up into groups where their queries were critiqued by both Tina and other writers. Very informative with great energy!

First Time Conference Attendee Liliana Erasmus

Liliana Erasmus is a member of SCBWI from Aruba (Dutch Caribbean) and was a first time attendee at the 40th Anniversary SCBWI Summer Conference. I caught up with her after the three day conference before we both attended the Bruce Coville intensive (more on that in another post.)

Here's what Liliana had to say about her experience:

First Time Conference Attendees Chris Riley and Sean Son

Just before Sunday's booksigning party, Chris Riley (from New York) and Sean Son (from Korea) tell us about their experience attending SCBWI's 40th Annual Summer Conference!

Emma Dryden and Harold Underdown's PAL workshop: Social Media for Authors & Illustrators

Harold Underdown is the man behind The Purple Crayon website, one of the first online resources in children's literature. He posts great links and articles about things going on in this industry and also tweets.

Emma Dryden has a website describing her Drydenbks business, and is very active on twitter and facebook and she's even moving into google+ as well.

They are sharing a virtual handout with amazing resources to check out and a paper handout that reviews a large number of the social networks for readers that are out there.

The first thing they suggest to do is to get a website.

Think about your website as a living document - a forum for you as you grow, with new artwork, new sketches, but not everything - you want to give a sampling, a showcase of your writing, your illustration, your interests, your links, song lists, book titles. (But don't give away the store.)

Some great pieces of advice:

Think about who your audience is going to be. The audience for picture books are not going online. But if you write picture books, you could have resources for parents and teachers.

Don't put your unpublished manuscript on your website, but once it's published, put up a few chapters - people love to preview.

Do not post photos of your children: be careful of the presence that you have online - it's totally public. Keep your boundaries in mind from the very beginning.

Own your own domain name (and don't let it lapse.)

They're explaining and discussing the pros and pitfalls of facebook, twitter, and twitterchats, myspace, LinkedIn, and Google+, sharing strategies for how to manage the flow of information.

You can also have a blog as your website. Emma mentions the article Alice Pope wrote about starting a blog in the recent SCBWI Bulletin, and recommends it. You can also use your blog as your website. One way to take the pressure off is to be part of a group blog - a Glog - (like INK)

Some authors doing social media RIGHT that Emma and Harold suggest you look to as inspirations:

Ellen Hopkins

Laurie Halse Anderson

And another example of an author doing an excellent job with twitter is Maureen Johnson

There are even publishers and authors who are tweeting AS characters!

Of course, you can't do everything. (Emma likes twitterchats, Harold doesn't...)

"Social Media is not something you HAVE to do, but maybe you can find one part of it that does work for you." - Harold Underdown

And the attendees of this session are now armed with loads of practical information to help them figure that out!

Steve Malk - Making the Most of Your Illustration Career: How to Break In, Stay In, and Thrive

Steve looking for a transom he can shimmy through

Originally, I was THRILLED to attend Writers House agent Steve Malk's session because I thought it was about how illustrators should consider moonlighting as cat burglars. So I sat through the whole dang workshop waiting for ANY REFERENCE to jimmying locks or muffling your getaway car's muffler. Nothing helpful about breaking in AT ALL. It's really not worth posting what he said, but I'm contractually obligated to do so:

Steve: People say picture books are down, but I've signed three new illustrators since this time last year. There are no shortcuts in this field, you have to go the extra mile. You just have to work harder, the jobs are out there.

Steve's slideshow contained not diagrams of safes and how to crack them, but quotes from his clients:

Push yourself to the edge in terms of working hard and creating the best images you can. Don't let anyone else outwork you." -- AG FORD

Cover of AG's latest book

You can't be a dabbler, you have to be 100% committed. Certainly, work in the other parts of the arts, Steve even encourages that, but committing fully to your children's book illustration career is going to make your success much easier going.

Well, this next quote could actually apply to thieves. Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours rule:
The people at the very top don't just work harder or even much harder than everyone else. They work much, much harder.

Steve hands out a list of his top 25 books you should know to be the best illustrator you can be as well as six great online resources for illustrators. I'm picking my top five books from that list:

• The Story of Ferdinand
• Madeline
• Crictor
• Miss Nelson is Missing
• The Little House

There's a lot of subjectivity involved in how your work is received. But as a general rule: Your portfolio needs to be specific to children's books. Take the weeks, months, or years needed to make your portfolio specialized. There should be a logic to the way your pieces are sequenced.

From Stephanie Graegin's mini promo booklet

Steve shows us an incredible promotional piece made by Stephanie Graegin. The ultimate in a well sequenced portfolio. Steve said out of the 250 editors and art directors and designers she sent her mini-booklet to, nearly all of them commented on how clever and pretty it was, and it started a work buzz for her that's resulted in a number of books under contract.

The two things Steve says you can control in this business are:

• How people experience your portfolio
• Being a pleasure to work with

From Christian Robinson's Writers House portfolio

Another new client, Christian Robinson, demonstrated to me, personally, that he'd be a pleasure to work with. I got to meet him this weekend and he totally laughed at all my bad jokes. And they were total stinkers.

From Marla's book THE BOSS BABY (who Steve modeled for!)

Check your ego at the door. Success doesn't come to us quite as quickly as we hope. Everything is an opportunity. We make our own luck.

"Don't make anyone's job harder than it already is." -- MARLA FRAZEE

And Marla's quote could apply to heists! So at least I can end on a useful note.

Salley Mavor: Picture Book Illustration Golden Kite Award Winner

Sarah Stern says one of the reasons Salley Mavor's POCKET FULL OF POSIES won this year's Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration is that every single page is beautifully crafted and embroidered, lovingly and carefully worked on for years at a time.

Some quotes from Salley's acceptance speech:

It is a great honor to have my work recognized this way.... Since my first book, THE WAY HOME, was published 20 years ago, I've felt like an outsider paddling upstream—with a needle and thimble in a stream of watercolors. Now I feel I'm floating down a stream of possibilities.

Some people Salley wanted to thank:

Margaret Raymo, her editor, who was patient while Salley worked, sometimes for a year at a time, without showing Margaret anything.
Salley's husband, who has encouraged her work and never suggested she get a "real" job.

from her Amazon page

Quotes from Salley's about her art style, which she calls fabric relief, and how she began to create in fabric:

I say I am part of the "slow art movement."

Machines are no help, everything is done by hand.

Growing up crayons, were never enough... I'd spend hours creating scenes and clothing for my miniature dolls.

At RISD she rediscovered her love of 3D art and had teachers that encouraged her to work outside of the yoke of traditional illustration mediums. It's during this time Salley taught herself to embroider.

Salley is an active blogger and I love the photos she posts. Check them out here. Her work can be found in a touring exhibit AND you can even learn how to do fabric relief by picking up her book, FELT WEE FOLK.

Rukhsana Khan: Golden Kite Winner for Picture Book Text

Writing the text of a picture book is deceptive. I mean, you look at the number of pages. 32. "I can write 32 pages!"
You look at the word count. Under 1,000. "I can crank out 1,000 words in one sitting!"
And you think, "how hard could it be?"

Well if you've tried it, you'll understand that crafting a great picture book text is like mastering the art of bonsai. Every word counts. Trim here. Shape there. Let the story grow and bloom and yet keep it tightly constrained while you revise and revise... and revise until there's magic shimmering in every word, in every page turn, in every emotion.

Rukhsana Khan wrote "Big Red Lollipop," and it's a beautifully written (and beautiful) picture book about culture clashes and wanting to fit in and sibling rivalry and ultimately, love.



Illustrated by Sophie Blackall, Rukhsana Khan's text for "Big Red Lollipop" won her the Golden Kite Award.

Here's Rukhsana accepting her award:



In her acceptance speech, she's telling us that she's been writing seriously for twenty-two years. And it took her ten years to write this. She's telling us that the first version of "Big Red Lollipop" showed up as an anecdote in her novel, "Dahling, If You Luv Me, Would You Please, Please Smile."

She's explaining the story behind the story - a moment from her childhood, where she wasn't the point of view character she later depicted in "Big Red Lollipop" - she was actually the younger sister who ate the lollipop!

And as an adult, she told this real life moment at a conference, and had to figure out, how do I make this a story? She uses it in workshops, and asks attendees to come up with different endings.

When you're writing a story, you can change what happens.

The ending in the book isn't what happened, but what should have.

She tried to make this story work in multiple formats over the years, (even as an easy reader), and then got the suggestion to re-write the story from her older sister's point of view - it was the breakthrough she needed and she wrote it in 15 minutes - "this story took me ten years and fifteen minutes to write."

Rukhsana is a great storyteller, and it's a wonderful picturebook!

Golden Kite Luncheon - Student Illustrator Scholarships

SCBWI has come up with yet another amazing opportunity for new artists. And no, it isn't a Ponzi Scheme. Lin may be privy to some Fonzi Schemes, but I digress.

The new SCBWI scholarship awards three full-time illustration students attendance to the national conferences.

The winners this year are Lisa Anchin, from the School of Visual Arts, Julianna Brion, from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and Sarah Krzynowek from Huntington University.

And just check out who one of the new mentees is and also placed in the portfolio show?

From Julianna Brion's portfolio

Richard Jesse Watson - The Illustrator's Journey: From Capable to Mastery - Throw Yourself Down the Rabbit Hole

You may already like like Richard Jesse Watson. But after reading about his presentation you will LOVE Richard Jesse Watson. Below are some of his excellent tips for taking your illustrating skills to the next level.

Richard with his awesome models

 Richard says:

If you want to be in this business for the long haul, 

you have to throw yourself down the rabbit hole. 

It takes real commitment, real attention, real therapy. Richard says you don't have to PAY for therapy, he recommends going for a walk. And like David Small said, sometimes writing and making art IS the therapy.

Richard believes one of the things that has taken his art to the next level is building mock-ups and models for his illustration. Do other great artists do this?

YOU BET YOUR McCLINTOCK!

Barbara McClintock makes paper cutouts of her characters and sketches flat paper background scenes. They are only rough sketches of her characters to stand in front of, but she can position these characters anywhere trying out different configurations until she gets things just right.

NAUGHTY ROBERT!

Robert McCloskey got some ducklings in anticipation of doing MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS. He sketched them while they were hanging out in his bathtub. Richard told us Robert gave them liquor to calm them down.

ADAM REX, THE ZIMA OF THE CHILDREN'S BOOK WORLD?

Adam Rex is a curious, effervescent mix of writing and illustrating talents. And he is so talented nmakes sculpy models of his characters, foam core versions of important prompts, like steamboats, as well as posing for reference photos himself.

DOES AN ELEPHANT POOP IN THE WOODS? I DON'T KNOW, BUT IF IT DOES, YOU CAN MAKE A BOOK WITH WHAT COMES OUT.

Richard not only builds maquettes, not only gets wild animals (though he doesn't slip them a Mickey), not only poses for photographs, he also rents planes. Look at his lovely caterpillar maquette. Without the maquette, Richard would never have imagined such amazing shadows were possible.

To do Tom Thumb, Richard got a pet mouse to sketch.  It would run around on his desk. The mouse was always on the move, very very hard to sketch. And the one time the mouse DID stand still, it was to pee right on Richard's final cover painting.

Richard's lovely wife, Suzi, sews costumes for Richard's models (usually his sons.)

For THE BOY WHO WENT APE, Richard went down to Oregon to sketch chimps.

To get reference for the aerial shots in THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, Richard rented a private plane to fly over his hometown for a half an hour. He brought three cameras so he wouldn't miss anything, but didn't realize he'd get airsick. No one barfed, and Richard did not accidentally brain the mayor with a falling camera.

Final words from Richard on How To Turn an Industry BooHoo into a BooYah:

It's a tough time in the industry, but if you are patient, there's big opportunity. There are benefits to adversity. To paraphrase J.K. Rowling, failure means stripping away all of the inessential. Put all your energy into what you are working on, you don't have to fight the pressures of fame and fortune because you don't have any! Just do your best work.

Martha Rago - The Craft of the Picture Book

from SCBWI SoCal

Martha's session began with running us through how a manuscript is acquired (and the illustrator chosen and acquired.)

For starters, Martha says the driving force in the business right now is chain stores, so they do need to cater to their needs, but she/HarperCollins also try to balance that with the artistic and thematic leanings of each HarperCollins imprint.



A real world example:


Once upon a time, Martha got a manuscript from Anne Hoppe, WHEN I GROW UP. Chains like celebrity authors with built-in platforms (though Martha loved the manuscript before she realized it was written by Al Yankovic!) But celebrity books present an added pressure--the artwork will have to stand up to the scrutiny of Al's fans and fit in with his existing brand.

Martha: Sometimes it's pure luck that connects me to an artist at the right time.

The week Martha got the WHEN I GROW UP manuscript, she received a postcard with distinctive, quirky art. She looked up the illustrator's website and blog to see more of his work. She liked it very much, but thought his palette was a little limited. Martha emailed Wes Hargis about the project and her thoughts on some tweaks to his art that might be needed. Wes was open to change. And able to meet Martha's deadlines—the book's publication would need to be timed to come out with an upcoming tour of Al's.

Martha's role at the very beginning of a book:

RESEARCH: Find that perfect artist. Martha keeps a constant eye out for new illustrators, she meets with agents, looks at blogs, goes to conferences, visits portfolio days at nearby colleges. She often keeps samples she likes up on bulletin boards.

ACQUISITION: The editor initiates the illustrator acquisition process. An editor gives Martha a manuscript they're thinking of acquiring, and then talks with Martha about the size/trim/audience/look/budget of the book.

DON'T EAT IT, PITCH IT! Martha and the editor take all of this information and turn that into a pitch (coupled with a profit & loss statement) to an acquisitions meeting.

Martha: You have to really love the work. You live with this book.

Ambassador Emeritus Jon Scieszka Breaks It Down and Goes All Interactive On Us

Jon Scieszka wowing us

In his Breakout session, "Experimenting with Multi-Platform Storytelling," Jon dove deeper into the genesis of his four book series Spaceheadz, and how it was conceptualized and sold as half-book and half-digital program.



Spaceheadz was conceived to get kids to be media literate, giving them access, helping them analyze and evaluate and ultimately encouraging them to create media in a variety of forms.

He took the idea that everything broadcast on TV goes on and on into outer space, forever... all those "I Love Lucy" episodes, and those commercials, being watched by Aliens. And what if some of those aliens came to Earth and only knew about us from TV? From commercials?

What would they think about the Charmin toilet paper commercials? They wouldn't know what toilet paper was for. They'd think it was something that made big bears happy.

So the Spaceheadz books are integrated with digital pieces, online sites and experiences that expand on the story of three aliens and one human boy trying to save the world.

He runs down all the amazing elements of the Spaceheadz universe online, and then launches a Q&A, which covers lots of details of how he's doing it - pitfalls he and his digital team had to avoid, and advice for attendees on things to consider if we also want to take our stories across media.

It's a really valuable session, and the inspiration in the room is palpable!

Agent Panel: Tracey Adams

Tracey Adams (with her husband Josh) runs Adams Literary - a boutique agency exclusively dedicated to representing children's and young adult authors and artists, including many award-winning and bestselling clients!

Tracey starts out by sharing that this month's SCBWI Bulletin's SCBWI Success Story is Veronica Rossi and her debut "Under The Never Sky" - whom she and Josh met at last year's Saturday night pool party... and then Tracey held up the published book!

When asked about e-books and the changes in publishing, Tracey mentioned how they're looking at working with some of the new smaller publishers (like Little Pickle Press) and for all the changes in format, from audio books through e-books and beyond, their goal is to figure out what's best for their authors.

Here's a great quote from Tracey:

While some agencies might be saying 'can I sell this?,' we're thinking 'am I in love with this?' ...We don't give up easily, and if we love something, we're gonna find a home for it."

The panel is funny, and there's lots of great info being share - it's fascinating to get this glimpse into Tracey's process.

Is she an editorial agent (doing revisions with her clients before submission?)

She likens it to real estate, and says

"we see ourselves as stagers - we get it ready in its best form to submit."

whether it takes a pass or two with the author revising it or if she gets it and it's good to go,

"If we see voice, we're gonna grab you up because I don't think you can teach that."

The panel ends with brilliant lightning round, and it was such a great opportunity to learn more about Tracey Adams. Oh, and you can follow Adams Literary on twitter here!

Agent Panel: Tina Wexler

Tina Wexler is a literary agent at International Creative Management (ICM).

ICM is one of the largest and oldest agencies in the world. The literary department consists of 11 agents representing everything from kids to adult. In the children's scope, she reps everything from tots to teens.


On Digital publishing:

Independently publishing a book is a vital option for some. It works if you just want something out there, but if your goal is to have a thriving career, it's just as much work, if not more work.


What if you have a client who has had several successful books, but the next one delivered doesn't seem strong enough. What do you do?

Tina has a relationship with her clients and she would have a conversation with that person, letting them know that this might not be the next book. It would be a difficult conversation, but an important one.

What happens if you have a author who's sold several books, but wants to take to the next level and get a better deal? 


If you want to get to that next level then you must take your writing there. "We're only as good as the material we're selling." You should ask, What are you doing to get there?

You have a magic wand, and you can fix anything in the publishing business, what would it be?

I want more bookstores to come back.

The lightning round:

What do you not want to see any more of?

Screen plays.

What's the next hot genre?

Sci-fi

Pet peeve about submissions?

Hostility.

What would you like to land on your desk? 

Ditto (to Marcia's, "Something brilliant")

Agent Panel: Marcia Wernick

Marcia Wernick has brought some of our favorite creators into the publishing world, like Mo Willems and Peggy Rathmann. Her new agency, Wernick & Pratt, just celebrated its six-month anniversary. She promises their website will be updated soon.

Thoughts on digital publishing?

The digital world offers a lot of opportunities, but it's not a replacement for publishers. It's changing the way
Opportunities for game apps, things linked to picture books, but I don't think it Most of our job is to be your advocate and business advisor, this is part of what we have to do, guide you through whether digital publishing will be good for your career.

In your opinion, is there a genre or age-group category that's drying up right now? Or one that's thriving?

Marcia: I think there's always a market for a well-crafted, strong original voice. It took her two and a half years to sell DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS, but it did sell, eventually.

One market more challenged than the others is the non-fiction market. It's taken a hit. It's traditionally been geared to the school and library markets, both of which have endured big budget cuts.

You have a client, you've sold four books with the client. They deliver their next book and you don't love it, what do you do? 

Sometimes, to support my opinion that it's not working, I'll share the manuscript with Linda Pratt to get her opinion and share that with the author, too. On occasion I'll share it with the editor who is publishing that author, too.

When you go out with a manuscript from a debut author, what makes you sure you can sell it?

This industry is driven passion, so I need to be passionate about the manuscript. I am the Mama Bear, I make sure my client is taken care of and their work is out there. I feel an incredible entitlement on behalf of my client. It's their right to get their work out there—it's our right. 

How do you find illustrators?

Most of my clients have come through referrals. Some digital submissions, sometimes meeting them at conferences. One of the things that's very different about looking at artwork vs. illustration is an illustration portfolio needs to show characters. And character development and emotion moving or changing through an illustrator's portfolio.

What happens if you can't sell something?


It's important that while I'm trying to sell a project the author continues to move forward by working on new projects. We're looking long term, I'm not just interested in selling one project.

If you were given a magic wand to change one thing in publishing, what would that thing be?

On the business side, I like escalating royalties across the board.

The Agent Panel Is Starting!

They're in bathrobes (a funny 'protest' at the early hour) but they're on and the ballroom is full!

Brenda Bowen (far right, standing) moderates the agent panel.

Seated, from right to left, Tracey Adams, Marcia Wernick, Tina Wexler, and Barry Goldblatt

We'll be blogging on each agent's comments in separate posts, so look for those...