Creative Lab: The Miracle of the Picture Book with Allyn Johnston

Allyn Johnston is VP and publisher of Beach Lane Books, a San Diego-based children’s book imprint that she founded on April Fool’s Day, 2008. Among the authors and illustrators with whom she works are Marla Frazee, Lauren Stringer, Cynthia Rylant, Arthur Howard, Mark Teague, Mem Fox, Linda Davick, Jeanette Winter, Jonah Winter, Jan Thomas, Mary Lyn Ray, Amy Schwartz, Aura Lewis, Katie Mazeika, K. L. Going, and Debra Frasier.

Allyn Johnston reads and analyses one of many picture books during this Creative Lab

At the start of three breakout sessions on the "Miracle of the Picture Book," Allyn shares that she's looking for "imaginative brilliance" -- a manuscript that "delivers an emotional impact," an emotional experience that effects the reader and the child/children the book is being read to.

Allyn encourages us to consider that "it's not just a book, it's a performance for the reader" and that when picture books are done right, it's "Holy work at its best."

Among many shared examples, Allyn reads School's First Day of School by Adam Rex, illustrated by Christian Robinson, aloud to us, then considers what makes it work: How it's funny, emotional, a completely fresh take on the concept, with dialog that advances the story and deepens the emotion. And a good refrain.

When writing a manuscript, Allyn offers the advice that you're "writing a script for a piece of theater on the stage of a picture book."

And then we get hands-on! To make the point that a picture book manuscript is not just a block of text, Allyn prepared a block of text for us to cut up and place into a book dummy. (We take eight blank 8.5"x11" pages, folded hamburger style to make a 32 page dummy). 

The room at work!

Close up exercise work - printed out manuscript as block of text, scissors, and tape/glue

The text we do the exercise with is from Scarecrow, by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Lauren Stringer. 

After we've made our own choices, we get to compare the choices Lauren made for page breaks in illustrating the text by Cynthia.

Maybe the most valuable aspect of this 7.5 hour workshop is Allyn's live reading of first pages submitted by attendees, with her live commentary on what grabs her and what doesn't -- and why. 

There's lots more example books, Q&A, and advice... an amazing Creative Lab!

Mem Fox and Allyn Johnston: Let's Talk Picture Books... Q&A and Some Read Aloud Fun!

Mem and Allyn

Beach Lane editor Allyn Johnston and author Mem Fox are available for questions! Here are a few of their answers:

Someone asks about Mem's process, she tells us the manuscript can continue to change and be edited after Allyn's acquired it, and Mem is well known for having tremendously tiny word counts (powerful but tiny!) Mem says an easy trick for reducing your word count is to cover up the first paragraph of your story with your hand... You can probably live without it. Now do the same thing to the second paragraph, your story can probably live without that, too. She tells us we spend so much time setting up our stories and rarely do we (or the story) need that.

Someone asks Allyn whether or not an author should submit their manuscript with pagebreaks? And Allyn reiterates that your submission manuscript should not mark out pagination, but if you want to be a picturebook author, YOU do have to spend a lot of time figuring out pagination and building your own text-only dummies and understanding page breaks. Mem doesn't think about page breaks until after she's written a draft. And then she makes a dummy. The most important page turn, to Mem, is the page turn between 31 and 32. Mem says, therefore, you should start backwards when paginating.

Some of the books Mem read us and it was magical:

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes

Where is the Green Sheep?

Tough Boris

The Editors' Panel Begins!

#LA15SCBWI Editors' Panel underway

From Right to Left:

Moderator Wendy Loggia, executive editor at Delacorte Press/Random House Children's Books (primarily MG and YA)

Jordan Brown, executive editor with Walden Pond Press and Balzer + Bray at HarperCollins Children's Books

Allyn Johnston, vice president and publisher of Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster

Rotem Moscovich, senior editor at Disney-Hyperion

Sara Sargent, executive editor at HarperCollins Children's Books

Julie Strauss-Gabel, vice president and publisher of Dutton Children's Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers

Alison Weiss, editor at Sky Pony Press

Alessandra Balzer and Allyn Johnston: Editor's Panel

Alessandra Balzer is Vice-President, co-publisher of Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Children's Books. She edits everything from picture books to novels for teens.

Alessandra Balzer

Allyn Johnston is Vice-President and Publisher of Beach Lane Books, a San Diego-Based imprint of Simon & Schuster. She publishes books "for all ages and across all genres" with a "primary focus on lyrical, emotionally engaging, highly visual picture books for young children."

Allyn Johnston

The theme of the panel is for each editor to share their three must-sees and their three really-don't-want-to-see elements of a manuscript. Here are highlights of Alessandra and Allyn's comments:

Alessandra shares "I'm a sucker for voice." She needs to see voice, it conveys age, point of view, gender… it all comes through voice, and she must see that.

Allyn Johnson shares that she's looking for the unexpected. "If it has the ability to give me goosebumps" that's a really good thing. She also says that she's not a fan of long cover letters (she'd rather be surprised by the manuscript,)

As far as the what not to dos,

Alessandra cautions that the effort to not be boring can backfire if you overload the start of your manuscript with so much action and sex and drama that it's overwhelming… "introduce us to your characters."

And Allyn says, "Don't be weird." Don't submit your manuscript inside a plastic toy fish - which she s now holding up to prove that actually happened to her! [translation: your manuscript shouldn't need the gimmick to grab their attention.]

There's so much information and insights being shared!

Two last points, one for each:

Allyn Johnston - she asks herself of a picture book manuscript: Is it irresistible to read aloud? It must be, for her to acquire it.

Alessandra Balzer - in talking about having a hook, says, "what hook really means is the ability for the book to stand out." There's so much out there, what's going to make someone say, oh, you have to read this book - and that's yours?

The Editors' Panel!

It's starting!

Lin moderating the editors' panel!

And some close-ups!

Left to Right: Alessandra Balzer, Mary Lee Donovan, and Allyn Johnson

Left to Right: Allyn Johnson, Wendy Loggia, Lucia Monfried, and just a bit of Dinah Stevenson

Left to Right: Dinah Stevenson and Julie Strauss-Gabel

Allyn Johnston has worked with many picture book greats. She is Vice President and Publisher of Beach Lane Books located in San Diego.



Allyn sees picture books as a piece of theater, as a performance piece. They are meant to be read out loud to children who cannot read. When they are read aloud, you want them to be so delicious that the person who is reading it out loud is having the best time which captivates the child being read and he or she has a great time with the reader.

The language in picture books is closer to poetry than anything else. That doesn't mean there is rhyme.

Don't forget when you're writing how much is about the pacing and the page turn. Your best friend, if you're a writer, is a glue stick and paper to make a picture book dummy. At Beach Lane, they too make book dummies all the time.

Leave room for the art. Worry about making the writing stunning and calm down about telling the artist what to do. Picture book manuscripts almost never need illustrator notes.

Study Mem Fox to learn about rhythm and language. Study books you love and how the page turns fall, etc.

Allyn wants the ending experience to be *sigh* perfect.

Editor's Panel on Hits and Evergreens: Allyn Johnston

Allyn Johnston's an editor everyone dreams of working with. In her 24

Editor Allyn Johnston

years of children's publishing, she's shepherded some of the most wonderful books into shelves. Her authors and illustrators include Mem Fox, Lois Ehlert, Marla Frazee, Cynthia Rylant, Avi, M.T. Anderson and more.

Her imprint at Simon & Schuster is called Beach Lane Books, where she is vice president and publisher. Andrea Welch is the senior editor there (and is also at this conference).

Lin Oliver introduced Allyn as "our resident grump." This, people, is fiction.

Most of her long career has been based in California. They publish about 25 books a year, mostly young picture books, but also do novels for older readers. They've bought 15 manuscripts from people who've heard them speak and sent manuscripts in that way--so conference success stories can happen.

When she considers a picture book, she asks, "Does this thing have the power to do the magic with the word and pictures and the voice and the performance an adult does when they're reading aloud to a young child?"

What makes an evergreen and what makes a hit? 

Most editors are looking for long relationships with authors and illustrators we work with. "We aren't making the decision to buy your one project."

She's done 27 books with Lois Ehlert. All 27 are still in print (some via Harcourt). "That to me is extremely moving and gratifying."

The math of whether a book is "successful" is complicated, she said. "If we spent zillions of dollars on a book, it could be on a bestseller list for a long time but still might not earn out."

But a book that gets on a state list and goes into reprints--suddenly you've sold 100,000 copies. "You want the earn out when you're doing our job." It's not so much about bestsellers. 

Editors do a lot of behind-the-scenes maneuvering to acquire manuscripts. Anticipating the objections of others is a key part of the job.

"The great Sid Fleischman used to say to writers, 'point to the problem,'" Allyn said. "If there's a weakness, make it a strength."

Mostly, though, it's essential for editors to love the books they acquire. It's a bummer, she said, when you acquire something you don't really love and you have to find an artists and talk about it at marketing.

What quality do you respond to in a book? 

Allyn told us the story of how she acquired ALL THE WORLD, the Caldecott-honor winning book by Liz Garton Scanlon and Marla Frazee. A the time, she was working with Marla on another project. It wasn't going well, but Marla had sorted things out and was on a roll when Allyn got an email from Liz Garton Scanlon, an unagented writer who'd heard Allyn speak at a conference.

"I read it because it's very brief. And I called her as soon as I was done. I hadn't shown it to one other person at the house. I said, this is stunning and we're going to buy it."

Allyn sent it to Marla Frazee who was working on something else. She told Marla to drop what she was doing and illustrate the book. Marla wasn't so sure we wanted to, but she did.

The manuscript felt universal, and timeless. It struck an emotional chord and a fabulous satisfying ending--all keys for Allyn.

"It had some clunker stanzas in that draft, but it was all the things I dream about in a picture book manuscript just sitting right there," she said.



 

The Editors Panel Begins! What Makes An Evergreen A Hit

Lin Oliver introduces the Editors Panel.  From left to right: Namrata Tripathi, Andrea Pinkney, Donna Bray, Claudia Gabel, Allyn Johnston, Melissa Manlove, and Lin Oliver (standing)

Writers Intensive Panel: Making the Most of the Critique Experience



l to r: Aaron Hartler, Allyn Johnston, Alessandra Balzer, Jennifer Hunt


SCBWI's Aaron Hartzler moderates a panel of editors offering advice on critiques to a room full of writers awaiting them. Allyn Johnston (Beach Lane), Alessandra Balzer (Balzer & Bray), Jennifer Hunt (Dial) are the panelists.

Aaron asks about the anxiety that can come from critique situations.

Alessandra stresses that editors are on your side. Jennifer says that there is not a writer in the world who couldn't use some critique. Allyn confesses that editors are nervous too--it's pressure for them to have to deliver something helpful to writers on the spot.

Voice, characterization, dialog, pacing are the types of things that you'd see in an editorial letter and those are areas writers should be considering, Jennifer says. Those are the kinds of things that she listens for. With a short critique, she focuses on voice and characterization.

Alessandra stresses that, in group critiques, you listen to others, pick out the positive elements, and balance out the positive and negative when offering feedback. When you're taking feedback, again, listen and be open to the comments--they might not all be relative but they're all worth considering.

Jennifer says that is you're the person getting a critique, you shouldn't spend your time talking when you could spend your time listening. She also recommends after a critique meeting or group session, you think about your suggestions for a week before making changes so you have sufficient time to soak them in and consider them. She says that editors are your allies, and it's better to hear about something that doesn't work from an editor than later, down the line, in a revieiw. Editors are like the good friends who tell you, you have a beautiful smile, but there's some spinach in your teeth.

Allyn Johnston & Marla Frazee: Why We Still Love Picture Books (Even Though They're Supposed to Be Dead)

Allyn Johnston is the Publisher of Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Allyn and Marla Frazee have worked on a number of pictures books together (ROLLER COASTER, WALK ON, MRS. BIDDLEBOX, A COUPLE OF BOYS HAVE THE BEST WEEK EVER, BOSS BABY and more.)

Marla read the manuscript for an upcoming picture book called STARS. Allyn points out the unexpected language, that fact that is doesn't call out how it should be illustrated. It intrigues her.

Picture books, Allyn says, need to tell the story with both the text and the illustrations. The artist has to figure out how to do page turns, when to ramp up the emotions. A picture book has to build to a satisfying ending. They are written to be performed--and this is something that a lot of new writers forget. You have to think about the fact that you're writing something that will be read aloud. That's the key goal.

In the manuscripts Allyn gets, bad rhyme is a common problem. She also sees lot of manuscripts that aren't picture books but feel like they should be part of a chapter book. She's looking for manuscripts that give her "the feeling" a good picture book should. It's a rare manuscript that has that kind of strength, she says.

Allyn says writers should not send illustrations notes with their manuscripts--99.9% of the time, they are not necessary.

Marla disagrees with the notion that readers should be able to follow the story of a picture book without text. For books like ALL THE WORLD, she tries to think about what the text feels like when she's approaching the illustrations, allowing her illustrations to evoke a feeling rather than offering a literal interpretation of the text. She's prefers text that is not specific.

STARS will be published in October by
Beach Lane Books, but it's available in
the conference bookstore.

The Real Deal About Picture Books with Allyn Johnston

A knockout first session with the VP and Publisher of Simon & Schuster's Beach Lane Books. Allyn spent the session talking only about the words in a picture book with a focus on great opening lines. She handmade a bazillion blank dummies which the audience borrowed. As a group we turned the 'pages' of the books that Allyn read aloud which helped us all experience the rhythm and pacing of each picture book.

Some of the titles Allyn read (she is a SUPERB storyteller!) included:
Mem Fox's HATTIE AND THE FOX, Debra Frasier's ON THE DAY YOU WERE BORN, and Laurie Keller's SCRAMBLED STATES OF AMERICA

Allyn stressed that all of the titles above were gifts to the adult reader, setting them up to be mesmerizing tale tellers for our target audience. She asked that everyone read READING MAGIC by Mem Fox
For Allyn, "Picture books are an extremely emotional art form. When they work – why they work, is because they make you feel something." She then quoted Mem Fox, "You want the audience's emotional temperature to be changed throughout the reading experience."

Allyn mentioned a great new interview with faboo Marla Frazee which you should all read.

--Posted by Jaime

The Next Step: what to do after a critique

Lin: Do writers need to start on the day that's different?

Ari: Starting on the day that's different is OK. Starting on the moment that's different can be tough because readers don't know enough about the story.

Wendy: Every book is different. It should be organic to the story. And it boils down to the writing, (I can help you with the plot, but I can't help you reshape your writing--it all comes down to that.)

Allyn: The problems I see with beginnings when it comes to picture books, is that they are not the beginnings of picture books, they're the beginning of chapter books. What I'm looking for is one sentence that make me interested, that's a clear beginning. Another common problem--manuscripts written in sing-songy rhyme with lots of alliteration and no narrative arc.

--POSTED BY ALICE

Friday Afternoon Panel: You've Had Your Critique, Now What?

Lin Oliver moderates a panel of (left to right) Wenday Loggia, Ari Lewin, and Allyn Johnston.

Here's a taste:

Allyn: the manuscript that you brought might not be the first manuscript you sell.

Ari: Saw 4 things she'd want to see more of. A lot of action starts but needed to be grounded in world and who character is.

Wendy: The points given to you about your manuscript are not a checklist, but for you to consider - it's your story. See what resonates.

Lots of great advice - and all to a packed house!

-- Posted by Lee Wind

The Next Step: what to do after a critique

Lin: What did you see today?

Allyn: I didn't ask to buy anything today. I did ask everyone who sat at my table to send me something, but that thing might not be the thing we talked about today. Everyone should go home and think about that.

Ari: I got a lot out of being in a critique group and hearing the comments of the writers who brought up things I didn't think of. It just goes to show that every editor is going to thing a little differently about your work.

Lin: What advice would you offer writers on using the comments they got today?

Wendy: Go home and think about the comments you got today and decide what resonates with you. If you're consistently getting the same feedback, those may be the things you should concentrate on.

Ari: There's always a lot of negotiating between and editor and a writer. Think about the comments you got and if you don't think they'll work for your story, think of another way to solve them.

--POSTED BY ALICE

The Next Step: what to do after a critique

Lin Oliver is moderating the post-intensives panel on what to do post-critique.

Panelists include:

• Allyn Johnston, Beach Lane Books
• Wendy Loggia, Random House
• Ari Lewin, Hyperion

Stay tuned...

--POSTED BY ALICE

Exclusive SCBWI TEAM BLOG Interview: Allyn Johnston

The latest of our SCBWI TEAM BLOG exclusive pre-conference interviews with Winter Conference keynotes and speakers is up on Jaime Temairik's blog.

Jaime interviewed the always awesome Allyn Johnston, Vice President & Publisher of Beach Lane Books, who will be offering three breakout sessions on THE REAL DEAL ABOUT PICTURE BOOKS.

Click here to read the interview with Allyn.

And be sure to tune in *RIGHT HERE* starting Friday, for exclusive live Winter Conference coverage by our crack team of bloggers, Jaime, Jolie, Lee, Suzanne and Alice!

Click here to register for the SCBWI Winter Conference in New York City where you can see Allyn Johnston in person.

Allyn Johnston - Leave Me Alone With a Latte: One Editor's Picture Book Revision Process

It all starts with Allyn, sitting in a coffee shop, with an illustrator's book dummy and a giant stack of Post-its.

Allyn took us through the dummy revision of Cynthia Rylant and Lauren Stringer's SCARECROW page by page. Allyn writes her editorial comments on the Post-its which then get slapped to the dummy spread they reference.



Allyn showed many examples of Lois Ehlert's books and dummies -- from first sketch to final book. Did you know that Lois Ehlert does elaborate color dummies for each book -- as many as TEN or TWELVE dummies?!? Amazing.



My favorite line from Allyn:

A great example of one of the other roles an editor has it to believe in what you [the author/the illustrator] are doing... [to see that] fragment of your idea and go with you on that...To not panic and be able to ask calm questions...

Which relates to my favorite line from Andrea Welch (who came up to answer questions with Allyn):

Sometimes it is just a tiny sentence in a submission that captures our attention... Two words that make us want to work on something...

POSTED BY JAIME TEMAIRIK