Panel: The Outlook for Children's Publishing 2024 - Alvina Ling & Susan Ven Metre

Alvina Ling is VP and Editor-in-Chief at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers where she has worked since 1999. She edits children's books for all ages, including Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer, The Wild Robot by Peter Brown, Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes, Troublemaker by John Cho, The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan, and The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. She co-hosts the podcast Book Friends Forever with author Grace Lin. Alvina lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and two cats.

Alvina is celebrating her 25th anniversary at Little, Brown. She works on picture books, middle grade, and YA. She has a soft place in her heart for middle grade. Books on the LB list tend to straddle both literary and commercial. 

TeMika :What are you reading?

Alvina: LUNAR NEW YEAR LOVE STORY by Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham 

She just finished reading BIG MAGIC by Elizabeth Gilbert

TeMika: What makes you fall in love to a manuscript? 

Alvina loves books that remind her of the books she loved as a child, books she loves right now, and books she wishes she had as a child. Being drawn in by voice is important, along with feeling like she wants to keep reading even when she's busy. 

TeMika: What is your editorial style? 

Alvina asks a lot of questions. She's not much of a line editor. She loves world building and asking a lot of questions about world building. She says it's collaborative, and more like a conversation. 

TeMika: Are there any things you consider when working with an author/illustrator rather than an author only?

If Alvina can picture what the book would look like from the text, that's important for a writer only. For an author illustrator it's a question of: Do I like the art style? 

TeMika: How do you find illustrators? 

Alvina echoes what the others have said about the importance of social media and websites. Little, Brown also has something they call picture book breakfast where the picture book editors and designers get together and share illustrators they've discovered

TeMika: Trends in picture books?

Alvina has a wish to shift back to more storytelling. 

***

Susan Van Metre is the Executive Editorial Director of Walker Books, a new division of Candlewick Press. Previously she was at Abrams, where she founded the Amulet imprint and edited EL DEAFO by Cece Bell, the Origami Yoda series by Tom Angleberger, the Internet Girls series by Lauren Myracle, THEY SAY BLUE by Jillian Tamaki, and the Questioneers series by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Pete Fornatale, and their daughter and the ghost of their Lab mix.

Susan works on mostly fiction and graphic novels. She's also in love with those books for kids aged 8 to 12. Susan is CeCe Bell's editor, who just had a wonderful conversation with Sarah Baker on the stage. 

TeMika: What are you reading? 

Susan: Ever Since by Alena Bruzas

TeMika: What makes you fall in love to a manuscript? 

Susan: The recognition that there are high stakes for kids in the ordinary events of their lives, and how big those feel to a child's life. 

TeMika: Are there any things you consider when working with an author/illustrator rather than an author only. 

For Susan, it depends on the type of book. Susan does get excited when she has an author/illustrator for a graphic novel. But, with picture books there's something wonderful about the partnership between author and illustrator, however the timeline can often be longer. 

TeMika: How do you find illustrators? 

Instagram is important way to find illustrators, as well as having a good website. 

On a final note: As the the panel wraps up, all the panelist see SCBWI as an asset to writers and illustrators in terms of learning and growth, to have a better understanding of the business, and for the all-important community. 

The Outlook for Children's Publishing in 2024

 

From left to right, moderator TeMika Grooms,
Mallory Loehr, Alvina Ling, Susan Van Metre, and Patrice Caldwell.

The panel begins!

#SCBWISummerSpec: A Conversation with Grace Lin and Alvina Ling

There are quite a few pictures of Alvina Ling and Grace Lin together on the internet, but this is the one I chose

You're probably thinking "oh for crying out loud, guest blogger Mike Jung, how about not coughing up your personal anecdotes about the faculty for a change," to which my answer is BUT I WANNA. In fact, Alvina Ling and Grace Lin are both lovely, gracious, engaging people who were supremely kind and welcoming to me, as I know they'd be to you too, if we were actually gathering in person. And, AND, I met them both at SCBWI conferences, which is, of course, the type of cool thing that can happen when attending SCBWI conferences.

Hey it's Alvina Ling!

They're also both dedicated advocates for equitable representation of historically marginalized voices in children's publishing, with long histories of doing that work before it entered the mainstream discourse, and long-time BFFs who co-host a podcast called Book Friends Forever. But that's not all, of course. 

Alvina Ling is VP and Editor-in-Chief at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers where she oversees Little, Brown’s picture book, middle grade, and young adult lists, and edits books on all of those lists too. She's worked with creators such as Peter Brown, Bryan Collier, Ed Young, Wendy Mass, Justina Chen, Chris Colfer, Laini Taylor, Libba Bray, Holly Black, Matthew Quick, and of course, the aforementioned Grace Lin. She's kind of a big deal.

The one and only Grace Lin!

Grace Lin is, simply put, one of the most accomplished and influential children's book creators of her generation. She's a Newbery Honor medalist, Caldecott Honor medalist, Theodore Geisel Honor medalist, National Book Award finalist, Today Show Kid's Book Club honoree, Champion of Change for Asian American and Pacific Islander Art and Storytelling (as named by the office of President Barack Obama), New York Times bestseller, New England Public Radio commentator, NYT book reviewer, and TEDx speaker. Her art has hung in the White House. The woman is legit. 

Alvina and Grace really are best friends forever - they met in fifth grade, wrote endless letters to each other when Alvina's family moved to California, shared an apartment in Boston when Grace blanketing the earth with postcards of her artwork and Alvina was interning at Charlesbridge and The Horn Book, and years later, after Grace had established herself as a respected, working author/illustrator and Alvina had climbed the ladder at Little, Brown for Young Readers, finally worked on their first book together, THE YEAR OF THE DOG, which just so happened to be about their childhood friendship. I mean, seriously, how preposterously sweet is that whole story? You can't make this stuff up, am I right?

They went on to collaborate on a bunch of books, including Geisel Honor recipient LING & TING: NOT EXACTLY THE SAME, and the middle-grade novel that took hard-working, deeply respected storyteller Grace Lin and elevated her into the kidlit pantheon, WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON, for which Grace received the Newbery Honor medal. 

They had yet to work on a picture book together, however, and in fact Grace hadn't done any PBs at all for a number of years. The birth of her daughter proved the catalyst for The Rebirth of Picture Book Queen Grace Lin, however, as well as the onset of the Lin & Ling BFF Era of PB Dominance. Their first picture book together was A BIG MOONCAKE FOR LITTLE STAR, which was subsequently named a Caldecott Honor book. I mean, of course it was, right? It was their first-ever picture book together! That is bananas!

There was too much useful, superbly defined advice to comprehensively note here, but one that struck me was the intersection of Grace's perception of herself - a storyteller, that is, instead of an author, illustrator, or author/illustrator - and her approach to deciding whether she's writing a picture book, easy reader, or MG novel. In a nutshell, she doesn't really decide at all, because as a storyteller, she approaches each story with the tools at her disposal, which are words and pictures. and the story itself will reveal which format it fits into eventually. PBs are good for stories that focus on small, intimate moments - a family ordering food in DIM SUM FOR EVERYONE!, for example - while novels are much more enveloping and engrossing. And of course, novels don't rely on illustrations the way PBs do. Grace's family apparently tells her she's always in a bad mood when she's writing a novel, which I suspect is not an experience exclusive to her family. *cough*

One of the most interesting parts of the conversation to me personally was Grace's very open and easy admission that she's always been and will probably always be harried by imposter syndrome. Her honesty is refreshing - stature of the kind she possesses is too often accompanied by arrogance, after all - and she followed up with what I think is a very important point. Her insecurity and doubts are parts of her, and they might stop her from feeling like the world needs her to make art, but they don't stop her from knowing she needs to make her art, for her own sake. And honestly, it's useful to know that someone as skilled and deservedly feted as Grace Lin still grapples with imposter syndrome, because it's so clear that the imposter syndrome is wrong. Super wrong. Sooooooo wrong. 

Editor and Agent Panel: Kirby Kim, Alvina Ling, Marietta Zacker

With a panel of six industry leaders moderated by Lin Oliver, this post features highlights from literary agent Kirby Kim, editor Alvina Ling, and literary agent Marietta Zacker. 

left to right: Kirby Kim, Alvina Ling and Marietta Zacker

 Kirby Kim is an agent at the Janklow & Nesbit Literary Agency.

Alvina Ling is VP and editor-in-chief at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (a division of Machete Book Group).

Marietta Zacker is an agent at Gallt Zacker Literary Agency.

Things opened up with the question what do you look for in a submission:

Kirby wants writers to focus on one book at a time and do it well.

"I want to see stakes. I like high stakes in my novels. Create an urgency so your character is backed into a corner." 

Alvina gravitates to fresh concepts and voice.

"I’m a sucker for books that make me laugh and cry and important books. I’m always   looking for that feeling, that spark. I want to fall in love."

Marietta is looking for people who create stories and illustrations no one else can create.

"Something unique." 

On themes that are important to them:

Kirby believes forecasting is a difficult thing to do. So when a story idea comes, writers “should focus more on what they want to say and build out a world that encounters that.” Marietta stressed the importance of understanding that writing to trends does not work and to instead start thinking ahead. "What do you want young readers and young adults to be reading four years from now?"

On final thoughts:

Alvina:

            "Follow your compass, and not your clock."

Kirby:

            "Get way below the surface of what you are doing."

Marietta:

            

            "Make room for folks whose voices have always been there but have not been given a chance."

The Editors Panel: Alvina Ling & Melissa Manlove's Books They Loved Publishing

A dive into what the editors really love (and acquired!)

Alvina Ling is VP and Editor-in-Chief at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers where she’s worked since 1999. She oversees Little, Brown’s core publishing program (including picture book, middle grade, and young adult), and edits children's books for all ages. She has worked with such authors and illustrators as Peter Brown, Bryan Collier, Ed Young, Grace Lin, Wendy Mass, Justina Chen, Chris Colfer, Laini Taylor, Libba Bray, Barry Lyga, Holly Black, and Matthew Quick. She is the co-founder and former chair of the CBC Diversity Committee. She is on Twitter as @planetalvina.

The books Alvina shares about are:

For Picture Books, "Thunder Boy, Jr." by Sherman Alexie, illustrated by Yuyi Morales



for middle grade, "The Year of the Dog" by Grace Lin



And for YA, "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" by Laini Taylor





Melissa Manlove is an Editor at Chronicle Books in San Francisco. She has been with Chronicle for 12 years. Her acquisitions tend to be all ages in nonfiction; ages 0-8 for fiction. When acquiring, she looks for fresh takes on familiar topics as well as the new and unusual. An effective approach and strong, graceful writing are important to her. She has 17 years of children’s bookselling experience.

Melissa's books she shares with us - and the stories behind them - are:

"Picture This" by Molly Bang



"President Squid" by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Sara Varon

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)

Alvina Ling: Acquisitions Today: Opportunities and Challenges

Alvina Ling is Vice President and editor-in-chief at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (where she's worked since 1999.) She oversees Little, Brown's core publishing program (including picture books, middle grade, and young adult), and edits children's books for all ages.

Some highlights of Alvina's comments:

"When we acquire a book, we generally want to acquire an author and an author's career."

On whether there are other considerations besides the manuscript in making the decision, "very occasionally" Alvina will see if the author has an online presence--a website, or are on twitter. But as she explains, it's "not a deciding factor, but can contribute."

About asking for revisions before signing a project, Alvina agrees that it's more suggestive than proscriptive, and she recalls working with Peter Brown for a year before signing his first book.

The panel also covers joint versus separate accounting, how auctions work, and important "gets" in the negotiation process and the pros and cons of working with younger versus more senior editors.

Final Alvina wisdom from the panel:

"Since today is Valentines' day, you have to love what you do. We're all up here because we love what we do... love your work, love meeting the people."

It's great advice.

Want more Alvina wisdom? She's on twitter at @planetalvina

The Acquisitions Panel Begins!

From left to right, Rubin Pfeffer (Agent, Content, standing at podium), Alvina Ling (VP and Editor-in-Chief, Little Brown Books for Young Readers), Sarah Davies (Agent, Greenhouse Literary), Ginger Clark (Agent, Curtis Brown), Liz Bicknell (EVP, Executive Editorial Director & Associate Publisher, Candlewick Press), Alessandra Balzer (VP and Co-Publisher, Balzer + Bray/Harper Collins.)

LGBTQ&A

Hosted by Team Blog's Lee Wind, the LGBTQ&A was an inspiring event that brought together a group of writers/illustrators to discuss the market for LGBTQ literature. This time Lee welcomed editors Alvina Ling and TS Ferguson, agent Jen Laughran, and special guest Ellen Hopkins.

The panel discussed some of their favorite books with LGBTQ themes or characters. They also had a candid discussion about the lack of submissions with diversity. TS, Alvina and Jen all said they would LOVE to see more submissions with LGBTQ characters and themes. Although any book has to be well-written, having diverse characters could only add to their interest level.

(Some of their favorites)

Ellen Hopkins spoke to the group about the responsibility she feels as an author to the teens she writes for. She said that we're all here together--not as gay or straight--but as human beings. She urged authors to "write bravely."


The session ended with a great mixer as attendees began to discuss their own favorite books, and the lively conversation really topped off the evening. The first time conference goers were excited about the opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences with such a respected panel, and with each other.


Be sure to join the next LGBTQ session in LA at the annual summer conference!

Alvina Ling: Narrative Fiction

Alvina Ling, talking about narrative fiction.

The lovely Alvina Ling is editorial director at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. She edits everything from picture books to YA, along with some nonfiction, and is no doubt the person who discovered many of your favorite titles.

Did you love YOU WILL BE MY FRIEND by Peter Brown, and SHARK VS. Train by Chris Barton and Tom Lichtenheld? Her books. Same for the transcendent WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON by Grace Lin, the powerful NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL by Justina Chen, and the utterly dazzling DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Laini Taylor.

She blogs with a group at Blue Rose Girls and is on Twitter (@planetalvina).

She loves genre fiction of all kinds: open to fantasy, mystery and romance. But she requires a certain literary quality to the work. "Literary fiction is my love."

She talked with us about narrative fiction, focusing on three big elements: the narrative voice, the structure, and the plot, and starting with a great quote from W. Somerset Maugham: "There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."

Narrative voice is intertwined with character, Alvina says. One of the things a writer needs to decide: Who is my narrator going to be? A character? An omniscient observer? A main character? A sideline character? Multiple perspectives? A third-person limited? (Her list was quite thorough.)

"There are a lot of decisions you have to make," she says, and sometimes, the choices can be unexpected. For example: PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ by A.S. King was written from the point of view of a pagoda, Alvina said.

Sometimes, "When you're reading a first-person point of view character, you generally know the character isn't going to die. Unless the book is titled 'BEFORE I DIE.'"

She read from a number of books, showing how a choice like POV can be used to add suspense, relate-ability and other things to our stories--it was a fascinating exercise.

Structure, meanwhile, can sometimes be influenced by voice. It can be influenced by the characters you use and the perspectives your story is told from. It can also be arranged around a series of letters, objects, illustrations, or artifacts (like a Twitter feed).

She asked her authors what they started with when it came to structure. One author started with the last sentence. She also likes the structure of THE BOOK THIEF, which reveals one character would later die. This, for her, increased the tension and obscured the possibility of other deaths, which really worked for her.

Plot: Here, the most important thing is to have a conflict. Only one conflict is not enough--unless you're writing a very simple picture book.

"Don't be afraid to put your characters in peril. You need to fear for those characters and not know if they're going to be OK," Alvina says.

She comes up with a pithy sentence that explains what the book is about. It can sometimes be hard to summarize books this way. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO and DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE are two successful books that defy such brief summarization, but in general, it's useful to have that elevator pitch.

Alvina Ling: Literary Novels (cont.)

Many editors want to hit the sweet spot of a combination of both literary and commercial.

Loves literary fiction with a commercial hook.

HOLES by Louis Sachar is a good example.

Other authors who hit that sweet spot:

Sarah Dessen

John Green

Justina Chen Headley

Sara Zarr

Jerry Spinelli

"Voice is very much a part of what is literary. It's the details, sentence structure, word choice of the prose."

--Posted by Jolie

You can read a pre-conference interview HERE.

Alvina Ling: Literary Novels

Alvina Ling, Senior Editor, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers


Alvina's main love is literary fiction.

But what is it?


(A general definition from Alivina) Literary fiction focuses on the character, where commercial fiction generally focuses on the plot.


In the adult world, literary fiction is a genre, but not in the children's book world.


A great example of literary fiction is FIREGIRL by Tony Abbott.

Literary fiction doesn't have anything to do with how well a book is written.





Posted by Jolie