LGBTQ Panel (continued)

Tony: The finalists for the YA catagory of the Lamda Literary Awards are almost always from manstream publishers.

Arthur: There's less segmentaion in the BFYR area. (There's no "gay teen" section. Gay YA is shelved with all YA.)

Tony: Really satisfying careers happen when talented writers writer to this niche about which they are passionate. (Visit Lamda Literary at http://www.lambdaliterary.org/ to learn more about their awards and programs.)

Lee: He started his blog, I'm Here, I'm Queer. What the Hell Do I Read? two and a half years ago when he realized there was no "safe space" on the web that readers could go to as a resource for LGBTQ material.

Nick: Invites queries.

Noah: Don't hold back on what you want to create. It will stunt you creatively.

Lee: The tides have turned. There are about 250 books on his blog right now. Things are moving forward. And there's crossover into adult readership when it comes to LGBTQ YA lit. (Adults are reading the books the didn't have available when they were teens.) There are so many stories that need to be told--mid-grade crush books, fantasy, graphic novels.)

Aaron: Don't be afriad to tell the story in your heart. We have not reached critical mass when it comes to coming out stories. He's writing the book he wanted to read when he was young. (It's a YA memior that will be published y Little, Brown.)  And he had to get over his own inner-homophobia to begin to put it on the page.

Arthur: It's not just gay teens reading gay YA. Straight kids are reading them, too. But we're not living in "a rainbow land of golden goodness." It's important to strap on your blinders when you're writing. Don't focus on possible outcomes. Just focus on the story.

Tony: Homophobia still exists in the culture and institutionally. Choosing to write a beautiful LGBTQ story is a choice that could present obstacles. Those writers are choosing to battle those obstacles. That shouldn't stop an artist from telling the story they want to tell.

Panel: A Look at the LGBTQ Marketplace

Aaron Hartzler (author and SCBWI Director of Communications) moderated a panel including Arthur Levine (Scholastic VP and Publisher), Lee Wind (blogger, leewind.org), and Tony Velenzuela (Executive Director, Lamba Literary and writer), Nick Eliopulos (Scholastic Editor), and Noah Woods (illustrator and writer) discuss LGBTQ books for young readers.


Arthur: There's a change in the market place from the past 10-20 years. It's no big deal to publishers, writers, book buyers, etc. to have books with LGBTQ content/charcters/themes. Yeah, your book may get banned or burned...yay! Publicity.

Nick: There's not that much out there. There are a lot of aspects to the gay experience that haven't been covered, so there's a lot of oportunity in this area.

Noah: You avoid authenticy if you censor yourself and avoid LGBTQ material.

* Disclaimer: The inclusion of the above image is not a commentary on Cheer  Bear's sexuality. However we strongly believe he/she is an ally of the LGBTQ children's literature community.

Nick Eliopulos - Graphic Novels

I caught the last half of Nick Eliopulos's Saturday breakout session on graphic novels. He was giving advice to the illustrators in the room about taking advantage of the Artist Alleys at comics conventions and recommended putting examples of your work (or even story segments) on the web (like Raina Telegmeier's SMILE or Jeff Kinney's DIARY OF A WIMPY KID.)

When asked what makes a good graphic novel, Nick said it's the same elements that make a good non-graphic novel: plot, character, and voice.

"Graphic novels are a medium that can accommodate any genre you can imagine. The sky's the limit."

"Lots of book to graphic novel adaptations happening now, some of it's cynical, but some, like CITY OF EMBER, are great choices."

From Cassandra Diaz's website

One title Nick is excited about is PANDEMONIUM a graphic novel by Chris Wooding, an established British SF/YA author with art by a US artist, Cassandra Diaz. Nick says, "It's basically a prince and the pauper type story. Genuinely funny, great love interest, but everyone seems to have horns and bat wings. Hopefully out in Fall '11."

Nick hopes the current practice of how graphic novels are shelved will change, "This isn't a genre, it's a format."

One of Nick's first graphic novel projects was SONS OF LIBERTY, a serialized historical fiction/fantasy that fits Nick's acquisition wish list—high concept guy book. The first is out and the second in the series should be out this fall.

Questions from the audience included:

Examples of young graphic novels? Nick mentioned the ever-awesome BABYMOUSE by Jenni and Matt Holm and Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman's Toon Books series.

What does a graphic novel submission package include and/or look like?
While there's nothing set in stone, Nick said it would be helpful to have: some sample artwork (5 to 20 pages,) the whole manuscript set up as a script (using software that Hollywood screenwriters use (like FinalDraft) or look to Marvel for script samples.) And within your script, you'll want to call out page and panel breaks as well as scenery changes.)

Editor Panel: Nick Eliopulos (Scholastic)

Before Nick joined Scholastic in April, he worked at Random House for five and a half years. He grew up reading comic books, and today, is a middle grade and YA guy who tends to do “guy” books because he’s a guy editor.

His mission at Scholastic is to do MG novels and graphic novels (but also some YA).

Plot or voice? 

He describes himself as more of a plot guy than a voice guy, but you want both.

"If I’m sitting on 10 submissions, the one I want to read next tends to be the one with the hook," he said. "I don’t think that a great plot is enough if the writing isn’t there. I’m not going to champion publishing a book that’s a great idea that doesn’t fulfill that idea. When I do get to that quiet, voice driven book, sometimes that will really speak to me and it doesn’t matter that it isn’t a high concept plot."

It's easier to envision going in and championing that really cool plot—that high concept idea with the rest of the acquisition team, he said.

What book makes him drool?

One book he wishes he'd been involved with: The Hunger Games. And even though he works at Scholastic, he has to wait with the rest of us poor fools to find out what happens to Katniss (and Peeta and Gale). He also loves John Green and Scott Westerfeld.

Nick is specifically looking for "guy high concept."

"If you can show off the bat that you have an original idea, I'm going to be excited to put your submission at the top of the stack," he said.

What should you avoid doing in a submission?
 
He loves to get a sense of the author--the relationship is such a big part of the job. On the flip side, if something has been blindly sent out and isn't the sort of thing he's doing--say picture books--in that case, he's not inclined to pass it along to a colleague. It's a taboo to make more work for other people. Sometimes people contact him via Facebook, which he finds "kind of awkward." But he responds to it.

If someone read an interview with him on a blog, for example, and is sending him something he is looking for, that's OK.

Not everyone is going to be able to convey their high concept in one sentence (Nick says he has a team of colleagues to rely on, which helps). With something like The Book Thief (a high-concept book narrated by Death), it comes down to writing the inventive query letter.

SCBWI Team Blog Suggests Some Travel Day Reading

So as you take your plane, car, or unicycle to the 2010 SCBWI Summer Conference in Los Angeles, here are some new exclusive interviews with the Conference faculty for you to enjoy. (Uh... don't read them while driving or riding your unicycle. But you know, for all those hurry-up-and-wait travel day moments, these will be great reading... and they even count as doing your homework for the conference!)

Check out:

An interview with National Book Award-Winning Author M.T. Anderson, who is giving a Keynote tomorrow (Friday) morning. See what M.T. thinks is the difference between writing for MG and writing for YA. (hint: It has something to do with voice and duct tape.)

M.T. Anderson

An interview with Scholastic Editor Nick Eliopulos, in which you'll find out how many pages it takes for an editor to "know" whether a manuscript has potential for them or not, and also about how social media for a writer is like icing:

Nick Eliopulos

An interview with Literary Agent Josh Adams, where we talk boutique agencies, online portfolios, and if a writer (or an agent) needs a business card:

Josh Adams

Jolie Stekly's interview with Bonnie Bader, Editor-in-Chief of Grosset and Dunlap and Price Stern Sloan, where you can found out the scoop on Bonnie's two-part first page workshop - which is sure to be incredible!

Bonnie Bader

Martha Brockenbrough's interview with Newbury-Winning Author Linda Sue Park (Okay, it's not a NEW interview - , but I learn so much from Linda Sue Park every time I listen to her - if you missed it, check it out now!)

Linda Sue Park

Want more? Scroll down and check out the links and highlights to ALL the amazing SCBWI Team Blog Pre-Conference Interviews!

Okay, Alice Pope, Martha Brockenbrough, Jolie Stekly, Sarah Stern, Jaime Temairik, Suzanne Young, and me, Lee Wind, wish you safe travels, and we'll see you conference attendees tomorrow.

Happy reading!


-Posted by Lee Wind