Editors' Panel: Amanda Maciel

Amanda Maciel is the executive editor at Scholastic, specializing in commercial fiction. Her projects include the New York Times best-selling Wings of Fire series, the acclaimed graphic novel The Witch Boy, and the Enchanted Pony Academy chapter book series. She is also the author of two YA novels, Tease and Lucky Girl.

When considering a manuscript, what makes you stop reading? What makes you want to keep reading? 

A manuscript that is too general, too market researched will stop her from reading. She wants someone who knows where the market is, but is bringing his/her own voice to it. Amanda wants an authorial voice that translates through a narrator.

Anything you're seeing too much of? Or something you can't get enough of?

There has been a lot geared toward STEM and high concepts for girls, but not done in organic way, instead it feels like it's trying to teach and not provide good story.

Where do you see the greatest areas of weakness?

A story that isn't paced well is a weakness that comes up quite a bit. Especially with middle grade, the writing needs to be not too fast and not to slow. It's gold to be to know how to unfold a story for reader.

On working on revisions with an author:

It almost always go back to character motivation. Asking the author questions like: Why does she feel this way? Amanda say that in a way it almost feels like gossiping about a friend. "My role in revision...is getting the character arc solidified."

What do you think is the most important skill or attribute an children't book writer or illustrator can possess? 

Endless curiosity about the world and about yourself.

Emily Clement: Seven Essentials You Need to Know about Writing Literary Fiction

Emily Clement is an associate editor at Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic. She has worked on books by Shaun Tan, Jaclyn Moriarty, Alaya Dawn Johnson, and Erin Bow, among others.

She manages her imprint’s international literature program, and has edited books translated from German, Dutch, and Russian. Emily attended Stanford University, followed by the Columbia Publishing Course, and translates children’s books from Italian. She grew up in Tempe, Arizona, and now lives in Brooklyn.

She talked to us about what that tricky word "literary" means, and how we can achieve it in our writing. But first, she told us the backstory behind a Russian novel coming out on the Arthur A. Levine spring list.

Called "Playing A Part," it was published just after Russie passed anti-gay propaganda laws. While it wasn't illegal for the book to be published, it could not be shelved with children's books.

After she read about it in The Atlantic, she looked into acquiring it, not knowing whether it was well written or appropriate for their list. She discovered a "gorgeous, beautiful, moving, and sensitive novel." And now it's the first young adult novel to be translated from Russian into English.

"It's crazy that hasn't happened before," she said.

The word "literary" is a tricky one for her. She doesn't love talking about books as literary or commercial because the two things aren't mutually exclusive. And some people are put off by the concept of literary, so she always tries to pair the word "accessible with it."

Here are four items from her list of seven essential literary qualities:

1. It's about something. The book tackles a big idea and one of the larger themes of life, challenging the reader to think from a new angle.
2. It has voice. Voice is informed by the character and his or her world, and makes your work engaging and feel authentic. 
3. It has plot. You can tell if your plot is lacking if you can't explain your book's premise in a few sentences (and the usual cause is that your voice is getting in the way).
4. It has resonant details. "Every piece of clothing, every meal, every book your characters read" is intentional. 

Some books Emily recommends for their literary qualities:

Abigail McAden: Creating Popular Fiction

Abigail McAden is the Paperback Publishing Director of Scholastic and Editorial Director of Point.

One of the best ways to hone your genre talent is to read, read, read.

Read deeply into the genre you’re drawn to.

This will give you the knowledge of the rules. Then you can bend them, subvert them, etc.

You can really do anything as long as your reader believes you.

Question: How do the badly written books end up on the shelf?

-Some are bought on proposal and the book doesn't deliver.

-Some times a book is bought because it fills a need.

-Sometimes it's means taking a look at why the book is doing well (not necessarily for the great writing).

-Readers also have very different tastes.

Sometimes you run out of time.

It can be really disappointing if a book isn't what you're expecting.

On submissions: A lot of people have a fabulous set up but then the rest of the manuscript doesn't deliver.

Writers Intensive Panel--The Process of Revision: Challenges & Rewards

l to r: Aaron Hartler, Nancy Conescu, Rachel Griffiths, Michelle Poploff

SCBWI's own Aaron Hartzler moderates a panel of editors offering post-critiqe advice. Here are some highlights.

Nancy Consescu (Dial): Revision is a process. Post critique, you have to consider the various comments, decide how to address things, and try different things until you get to what works. She asks her authors to start with making big changes that will resonate through the manuscript. She suggests really looking at your chapter endings and be sure you're giving readers a reason to turn the page. Also really look at the dialogue specific to each character to be sure what they say rings true to each character. She stresses, as you work with an editor, that there's a period of digesting the suggestion that must take place.

Rachel Griffiths (Scholastic): She hopes that a manuscript has been revised maybe ten times by the time it gets to her. She suggest that writers pay attention to what you're feeling as you read it--does your mind wander, is something is confusing? If you're ever stuck on a revision, you just work on it, go over things over and over again, and it eventually it can turn into something magical. She reads through and looks for one flash of greatness in a mediocre manuscript, and suggests her authors revise the rest of the pages to get to that level. She hopes that's authors take about 50% of her revision suggestions and that they don't work with the suggestions that don't feel true to them. She stresses the importance of working on your craft because that's what makes you get better and better and grow as a writer.

Michelle Poploff (Delacorte): (Note: She was the editor for this year's Newbery winner MOON OVER MANIFEST by Clare Vanderpool, the first debut author to win the award in 30 years. Also note: She's found four authors at SCBWI conference over the past few years.) The revision process between writer and editor varies depending on authors preferences and working style. She always tells authors to read out loud and she's a big fan of writers groups, saying that if you belong to a writing group, they can be very helpful advocates. She also suggests writers let things percoloate for a while as you revise. Revision is like redecorating, and sometimes you rearrange all the furniture in the room, and still there's still a lamp that's in the wrong place. She wants authors she works with to take their time to do the very very best they can on revising.

Claudia Gabel: From House to House--What Makes You Choose a Book

Claudia Gabel is Senior Editor at Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. She's also and author of the YA series IN OR OUT with Scholastic.

She would love to be able to go back in time and publish the Little House on the Prarie books.

She watches a ton of TV and sees lots of movies and reads lots of magazines for inspiration for series ideas. Writers, she says, should do the same things.

For her list, she's looking for writers who can have beautiful prose, but who can also write FAST. In the world of development, she says, they are often riding the coattails of trends, so they have to work quickly.

Her biggest pet peeve--no personality in query letters. She want to see who an author IS in a query. Put some, a lot, ALL of you in your query.

SCBWI TEAM BLOG Pre-conference Interview: Jennifer Rees

Today on Alice Pope's SCBWI Children's Market Blog, Alice posted the latest of our SCBWI TEAM BLOG Annual Conference faculty interviews. She talked with Scholastic Press editor Jennifer Reec.

Here's a bit from the post:

I'm particularly excited about interviewing Scholastic Press editor and Annual Summer Conference speaker Jennifer Rees because she got her start in children’s books working as a children’s bookseller at my favorite hometown bookstore, Joseph-Beth Booksellers.

At Scholastic, she acquires and edits fiction and nonfiction picture books, middle grade fiction, and YA novels. Some of the recent titles she worked on include SWIM! SWIM! by Lerch; FINALLY by Wendy Mass; WISH I MIGHT by Coleen Murtagh Paratore; AFTER EVER AFTER by Jordan Sonnenblick; EVERLASTING by Angie Frazier; SELLOUT by Ebony Wilkins; LIFE, AFTER by Sarah Darer Littman; FEVER CRUMB by Philip Reeve; and MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins. (You might have heard a little about that last one.)

At the Annual Summer Conference Jennifer will offer two sessions--YOUR VOICE IS YOUR VOICE: KEEPING IT REAL and WHAT'S HOT, WHAT'S NOT.

To meet Jennifer, as well as host of other terrific editors, register for the conference today. (It's in less than three weeks!) Click here for information. 

SCBWI TEAM BLOG Pre-conference Interview: Arthur Levine

I hope you've been enjoying our SCBWI TEAM BLOG pre-conference interviews--and they're getting you excited about our upcoming event! Our latest Summer Conference faculty interviewee is editor extraordinaire (and SCBWI board member) Arthur Levine who chatted with Jolie Stekly. Check out the full interview on Cuppa Jolie.

Arthur will be presenting Strong Emotions on the Page: A Master Class at the SCBWI LA event. Here's a bit from Jolie's interview:

"It was such a pleasure for me to interview one of my favorite people in the children's book world: Arthur Levine.

Arthur A. Levine is a Vice President at Scholastic Inc. and the Editorial Director of Arthur A. Levine Books, a literary, hardcover imprint of Scholastic. He is also an author and has a new book coming out (keep reading to find out more about it) in Spring 2011.

Let's jump right in..."

You can meet Arthur Levine in person (along with a ton of other terrific presenters) at the Annual Summer Conference in Los Angeles.
 
Click here to register for the event!

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