#SCBWISummerSpec Editors Panel: Stacey Barney

Stacey Barney of G.P. Putnam's Sons kicked off the Editor's Panel at the SCBWI Summer Spectacular by reassuring the publishing community that although she is eager to return to the office, business continues as usual on her end during the pandemic. She quoted Publisher Jennifer Klonsky in reiterating their ongoing mission to "publish books for every reader." She mentioned her experience as an educator prior to becoming an editor, and highlighted books on her list including the award-winning Firebird by Misty Copeland.
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She talked about how the heart of her work lies in the writer-editor relationship, specifically working with a full and trusted list of talent ("repeat offenders"!), emphasizing the push-and-pull of collaboration, and how fun it can be to shape a book together with her authors.

She talked about her criteria in seeking new talent: LOVE. Stacey wants to fall in love with an author's voice and vision, and to see longterm potential in working together, noting that she invests in authors for a career, not just for a debut. 

Although she loves a debut! She said finding new talent "is like the bloom of a new romance."

Stacey also mentioned that although some authors may come to her as best-selling in their genres, if they're new to Children's Publishing, she sees and works with them in the same way as she does with debut talent.

Penguin colleague Julie Strauss-Gabel also noted that Penguin does not a separate acquisitions board, so acquisitions are mostly editor-driven. That effort can be seen and felt in Stacey's passion for seeking authors she wants to collaborate with for a lifetime. 

Q: What's one thing you wish authors did more often?

A: "I wish authors would take more risks with their craft & execution." Stacey mentions that editors read a lot of submissions, and seek a fresh voice and style that jumps out at her – which is the magic that happened when she read the manuscript for Ziggy Stardust and Me by James Brandon.

When asked about authors seeking to begin their publishing career over the age of 50, Stacey mentioned that she won't look at the submission letter first. She emphasizes it's about the words on the page, not the age of the author. If she gets about 25 pages into the submission itself and begins to get curious about the author's identity, "that's when you know you have me!"

Sidenote: Last night at the Illustrator's Social on Twitter, we established a tea club #SCBWITea, so here that is referenced in my drawing! All tea lovers welcome. Despite the virtual format for this conference, we're still finding ways of connecting and building community!

Happy Hour Hangouts

A new opportunity at the SCBWI Summer Conference, these informal conversations with faculty members including agents and artist reps (Ginger Clark, Erica Rand Silverman, Tina Wexler, Kirsten Hall and Brooks Sherman) and editors and publishers (Krista Marino, Neal Porter, Sara Sargent, Melissa Manlove, Stacey Barney, Kat Brzozowski, and Reka Simonsen) are a big hit!

Attendees with agent Ginger Clark

Attendees with Publisher Neal Porter

Books For and About Diverse Kids: John Parra, Don Tate, Lisa Yee, Stacey Barney, and Pat Cummings

Right to Left: Pat Cummings, Stacey Barney, John Parra, Don Tate, and Lisa Yee

In this discussion-based breakout session, we have multiple perspectives from different parts of the children's literature community:

Pat Cummings, author/illustrator of over thirty-five books for young readers (and Board member of SCBWI, the Authors Guild, and the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, among others.)

Stacey Barney, Senior Editor at Penguin/Putnam Books for Young Readers

John Parra, Golden-Kite winning illustrator.

Don Tate, author and illustrator, winner of the Ezra Jack Keats Award.

Lisa Yee, author of 16 books and winner of the very first Sid Fleischman Humor Award.


Some highlights:

Stacey Barney:
"Write organic stories." Sometimes she finds that it's almost as if writers are checking off boxes for diversity with their diverse cast of characters, but "character shouldn't feel like categories."

John Parra:
"Be respectful. Show it to others who are part of those communities. Make sure authentic is how it's portrayed."

Don Tate:
"Study. Research. Vet. ...Make sure you're not exploiting the topic."

Lisa Yee:
You can write outside your experience "but you have to get it right."

The panel are telling us fascinating stories, like Lisa sharing how her Millicent Min (in 2003) was the first middle grade book with a photo of an Asian American kid on the cover.

Don shares about doing a school visit when he was asked by a 5th grade class if he only illustrates Black people, and how he asked the two African American boys in the class if they felt like they've read books that represented them - and they said no. So he turned to the rest of the class and explained that he's made it his mission, he's built his whole career, to create positive portrayals of people that look like those two boys… and the whole class clapped.

Stacey tells us about teaching (elementary and preschool and high school), and reading picture books to the kids, and how she made an effort to choose picture books that reflected their experience. "Kids are kids."

Pat speaks of her school visits, and how kids pick up books out of curiosity. She shares how she was asked once by a British author why she only does books with Black characters. Pat countered, asking the British author why they only created books with British characters…

John speaks of how he sees diverse books being published, but the awards and reviews and the best lists of the year aren't that diverse. After they've published, how do they get recognized and supported?

They cover editorial staffing (and the importance of diversity in staffing across departments, including marketing, publicity and sales), being vetted by additional experts, and much, much more.

The Editors' Panel Begins!

Moderated by Emma Dryden (standing, far left), the panel shares three books that they acquired (and why):

Seated, from Left to Right:

Stacey Barney, Senior Editor (G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin)

Kat Brzozowski, Associate Editor (St. Martin's)

Alvina Ling, V.P. and Editor in Chief (Little, Brown)

Melissa Manlove, Editor (Chronicle)

Neal Porter, Publisher (Neal Porter Books)

Matt Ringler, Senior Editor (Scholastic)

Sara Sargent, Executive Edtior (Harper Collins)

Reka Simonsen, Executive Editor (Atheneum)

Kate Sullivan, Senior Editor (Delacorte)