Listening to Feedback with an Open Mind (continued)

Aaron: Recounting advice from Little, Brown editor Jennifer Hunt. An editor is like that really good friend who things you have a beautiful smile, but you have a little spinach in your teeth.

Nancy: We do want to help make that smile beautiful. Our feedback is always about making your work better. It's helpful to point out things like did the dialog sound authentic, is there a character that grabbed you, etc.

Courtney: Today everybody in the room's job is to see the spinach in your teeth. Use the time to talk about the spinach and figure out how to fix it.

Michelle: Sometimes editors are hardest on the things that we feel have the most potential. Those may be the ones we really pick apart because we want them to be great.

Courtney: Sometimes editors might come to you at an event like and say they see potential in your manuscript but it still needs work. If I see something in your writing and offer to work with you to get it in shape for acquisitions, take advantage of that. At that point, all I can promise you is my time, but I'm not going to take time to work with a writer on something that I don't think has that potential.

--POSTED BY ALICE

Listening to Feedback with an Open Mind (continued)

Nancy: We're looking at manuscripts a puzzles and trying to figure out the best way to make everything come together, so we focus on the parts that aren't working so the parts that are can be even better.

Aaron: When you come to something that needs to addressed, what's the best way to go about looking for solutions?

Michelle: That's a take-home. One don't solve things in 12 minutes. Part of my job I love is when I give a note to an author, and they run with it. You have to take notes and figure out how to make it work for you.

Courtney: This might be the first time you're getting professional feedback. Every agent or editor is different and will offer different feedback, but we're all going to point out the problem and things that feel off to us. You're the writer--it's your job to fix it. For us, what we're seeing is a first draft to us.


--POSTED BY ALICE

Listening to Feedback with an Open Mind

SCBWI's own Aaron Hartzler (who looks dashing is his bow-tie) is moderating the kick-off panel of the Annual Winter Conference Writers' Intensive on taking feedback on your work. The editor panelists include:

• Courtney Bangiolatti, Simon & Schuster
• Nancy Conescu, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
  
• Michelle Nagler, Bloomsbury

Aaron: What works and what doesn't?

Courtney: Have a pen in your hand, write down comments, and really consider what both editors and agents have to say as well as your writer peers. Remember, we do this for a living. We want to make your manuscript better.

Aaron: What are you looking for as you start reading and giving feedback?

Nancy: You're looking for those sentences that grab you and good character. Be receptive to the feedback whether you agree with it or not. Really things about what editors and peers are saying. Focus on listening.

Michelle: Write down comments. Try really hard not to be dismissive. Put yourself in your critiquers shoes. We read and evaluate manuscripts constantly, considering not just whether your writing is good, but whether it's salable, has an audience.

--POSTED BY ALICE

Courtney Bongiolatti & Dan Lazar

Courtney Bongiolatti (editor, Simon & Schuster) and Dan Lazar (agent, Writers House) offer a session on "The Top 5 Things and Agent and an Editor Look for the First 5 Pages."

Courtney and Dan broke down five things that they both look for when they're are evaluating a submission that comes in: the character's age, the character's voice, the situation of the story, the tone of the book and an undefinable magic.

POSTED BY ALICE POPE

Courtney Bongiolatti & Dan Lazar

Courtney and Dan gave handouts to the attendees including passages from books that illustrate their five first-pages criteria.

This was a hard session to blog--attendees have been reading and Courtney and Dan have been trying to define some things that seem undefinable. It's working (and interesting) in person--wish you were all here!

Editors Panel: Courtney Bongiolotti

Editors Panel
Success Stories: Four Editors Distill the Secrets of a Successful Book
COURTNEY BONGIOLOTTI, Associate Editor at Simon & Schuster BFYR

Taking us through her first glimpse at Joe Fenton’s portfolio and the making of WHAT’S UNDER THE BED?

After looking through his portfolio, Courtney likes his darker/scary stuff and asks if he has any ideas for a Halloween book.

We see Joe’s first few story ideas, sketches, manuscripts, sequential image changes SCARY claws… cover process… hilarious pseudonym story…

Don't you heart editors who have cool slideshows? This one was übercool.


POSTED BY JAIME TEMAIRIK