SCBWI TEAM BLOG Pre-Conference Interview: ADs Lucy Ruth Cummins & Denise Cronin

Over the holidays, SCBWI TEAM BLOGger Jaime Temairik posted interview with two fabulous Art Directors in her blog CocoaStomp.

First Jaime talked to Lucy Ruth Cummins, Associate Art Director at Simon & Schuster. Below is a bit from her interview. Click here to read the full post. 

Jaime: Okay, help is on the way. In the meantime, I'm having my people send Justin [Chanda] a bunch of emails so he'll be distracted and hopefully you'll be able to answer a few more questions. Illustrators will definitely want to know if you are currently acquiring?

Lucy: We are always acquiring new talent. I'm always keeping my eyes peeled. Even if I can't place someone on a project immediately (and it is true that some parts of publisher's lists are shrinking!) I'll often keep them on hand waiting for the right project. An example of this is the debut book from illustrator Jon Klassen, CATS' NIGHT OUT by Caroline Stutson - Jon just received the Governor General's Award for this project, and I had had his work on hand for several years before I was able to pair him with the perfect project. Although we may not always be able to immediately put the rubber to the road with new folks, good artwork makes a strong impression and the quest for a winning collaboration is always on my mind.

As for what I'm looking for - there's never anything specific. I love such a range of things, but I'm mainly looking for things I'm touched by. I love cute. I love simple. But I also love creepy and detailed! There's no one thing I'm looking for and I'm always happy to be surprised.

Next Jaime talked with Denise Cronin, Vice President in the Penguin Young Readers Group and the Art Director for Viking Children’s Books. There's a snippet below. Click here to read the full post.

Jaime: Denise, did you know not only are you an Art Director, you're a flipping Vice President? What is your average day like?

Denise: If you count time spent on the train, checking files and reading manuscripts, my day is about 9 hours. We are usually juggling about 60 books at various points of development. I work very closely with the editors and the designers in my department from start to finish. Making books is very collaborative. Rarely do I work alone.

Be sure to check out both the interviews for insights from these terrific art directors and to see if they had the same answers to Kill, kiss or marry: Helvetica, Baskerville or Comic Sans? If you attend the conference, you can meet each of them during their breakout workshops. And--attention illustrators--there's still space in the Illustrators' Intensive, Beyond Books: Picture Books and the New Media.

And remember, whether you join us in New York or not, SCBWI TEAM BLOG will offer full coverage of the conference and intensives, live blogging throughout. Bookmark or follow the Official SCBIW  Conference Blog today! 

 

Francesco Sedita: PANEL--A View from the Top: 4 Pulbishers Discuss Our Industry

Francesco Sedita is Publisher of Penguin imprints Grosset & Dunlap and Price Stern Sloan as a writer himself (MISS POPULARITY, SPACEHEADZ with Jon Scieszka).

He went to his first job interview in platform shoes and a ruffled tuxedo shirt. "They took one look at me and said: You should work in publishing."

He thinks we're in a really exciting time in publishing. "Nothing is going to happen to to book. It's not going anywhere."

Grosset & Lunlap was known as a licenced publisher for many years. He's been focusing on a strong middle grade publishing program for age 0-10.

PSS is the original publisher of MAD LIBS. "I think of it as the obnoxious little brother of Grosset." He considers PSS as a laboratory to play with new formats (for example, a $9.99 picture book--they're done four so far and they've gone out well, he says).

Two Grosset series that launched this summer: FRANKLY FRANNIE by A,J. Stern about a little girl who thinks she should work in an office; and GEORGE BROWN CLASS CLOWN, by Nancy Krulik.

Fancesco was and is a reluctant reader. He wants to publish titles that will draw in reluctant readers.

He suggest writers don't submit more than on imprint at the same company. It's one big team, and they would share material with other editors at other imprints that if they think there's a fit.

He believes you need to know the rules before you can break the rules, but we're at a time when the rules are bending.

Penguin had become more profitable, he feels, because the president of the company encourages his editorial staff to take risks and innovate, and it pays off. "If you're not making mistakes, you're not taking risks," Francesco says.

The price points are very low at his imprints (usually not over $9.99; FRANKLY FRANNIE is $4.99). He likes to take risks on new voices. He loves the idea of someone starting out at Grosset and creating a great series. He feels there's a negative connotation to the term "mass market," and doesn't like to use that term to describe what he publishes.

Franceso is one of the team members at Penguin who is exploring what material they can produce on new digital platforms. He says that writers should not concern themselves with new platforms or app associated with their text unless it's absolutely essential to the concept of the story.

Parting words of advice: When you go home and write (after the conference), shut the door on what you've learned and write for yourself. Write the story that YOU want to write. If you create the right things, we'll throw all the rules out the window for you.