Editor Panel: Brenda Murray

Before joining Scholastic, Brenda was an elementary school teacher. She's edited over 250 nonfiction books so far, titles suitable for Pre-K to 8th grade, in a wide range of nonfiction topics as well as reference books. She is really good at Trivial Pursuit.

Below are Krista Marino's questions to the panel and Brenda's responses.


What two books in the last ten years have inspired you personally or professionally?

Brenda: IN ME OWN WORDS, A Biography of Bigfoot. No, really, it's hilarious. I also loved NBA winner CLAUDETTE COLVIN: TWICE TOWARD JUSTICE, and PHOTO BY BRADY: A PICTURE OF THE CIVIL WAR is a beautiful book of black and white photos of Civil War soldiers all by Matthew Brady.

Do you find inspiration for new works/idea outside of children's books?

Brenda:  Yes, especially for the nonfiction world. Scholastic has some loose tie-ins to Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel, so I look at TV shows and look to see what kids are watching that might make a great picture book.

Final thought from Brenda:

If you have a good idea about something, if it's well-written, don't discredit the book even if the subject matter has been done, like if it's about dinosaurs or sharks, a fun spin on how you present the information is what I want to see.

BRENDA MURRAY: The Real Deal on Nonfiction

Brenda's fun show and tell is over. Now down to the business.

A few hot/popular topics in nonfiction:

• animals
• sharks
• dogs
• snakes
• ocean life
• mammals
• reptiles
• dinosaurs
• the weather
• space/solar system
• war (WWII, Civil War--for older readers)

Brenda acquired projects through several avenues:

• agents
• published authors and illustrators
• packagers
• ideas generated in-house farmed out as work-for-hire

Important considerations when thinking of proposing a non-fiction project:

• are there other things like it out there?
  
• how could you book be different from the competition?
  
• can it be tied to the cirriculum?
• is the author an expert, or what credentials/ties do you bring to the table?
• is it relevants or topical?
• what's your age range?
• how will the book be organized?
• what special featurescould be included?
• where could your book be marketed?
  

--POSTED BY ALICE

BRENDA MURRAY: The Real Deal on Nonfiction

Scholastic editor Brenda Murray edits a range of nonfiction material for young readers for a range of ages.

I wish you all were here--she's showing and passing around tons of books that she's worked on--a cookbook, a big beautiful book about spiders with amazing photos, an illustrated book about the states, a children's almanac, books of facts, 3-D series, licensed projects, biographies (like a book on President Obama), books on Greek gods and goddeses...Scholastic, it seems, has covered EVERYTHING in all sorts of formats.

Brenda can't say enough that kids love to be grossed out--so think icky, nonfiction writers (if that's your thing)! She says that they are always looking at things in the media and considering how that can be translated into a book. And kids can't get enough of books about dogs.

--POSTED BY ALICE