Editor & Agents Panel: The State of Children's Publishing: What's Selling and What's Not - Sally Kim & Melissa Manlove

 

Sally M. Kim is an associate agent with Andrea Brown Literary Agency based in San Francisco, CA. She represents a wide range of children’s book authors, illustrators, and author-illustrators of picture books through middle grade. Sally is drawn to stories with a distinct voice, unexpected wit, aggressive pacing, punchy and/or emotionally resonant endings. When it comes to illustration, she gravitates to traditional mediums and is always on the lookout for versatile artists with a unique take on color, texture, perspective, and thoughtful details. Sally is especially eager to see authentic explorations of underrepresented cultures, relationships, and identities.

Question: What a typical day looks like?

Time blocking is huge for Sally. A block of :email catch up, reviewing manuscripts, giving feedback, following up with editors. Fridays are a catch all day.

Question: You are considered tastemakers. How do you decide what that’s going to be? 

“You’re the makers. We’re the tasters.” Sally is always excited to see what comes into her inbox. But what she’s in the mood for on any given day changes. 

Question: What are you looking for? What are you not looking for? 

Board books through MG (she is dipping her toes into YA)

Sally is looking for anything she doesn't have. 

What she’s not looking for: time travel, dead parents, rhyme. 

Question: What are some good self-promotion skills for authors/illustrators?

For those that dislike self-promoting, Sally would like you to think about it as celebrating every good moment in your life. With every bit of good news, you are sharing it with the people who support you. 

Melissa Manlove is an Executive Editor at Sourcebooks. She has been a children’s book editor for 22
years. Her acquisitions encompass a wide range of ages, formats, and fiction/nonfiction. When acquiring, she looks for fresh takes on familiar topics as well as the new and unusual. An effective approach and strong, graceful writing are important to her. She also has 23 years of children’s bookselling experience.

Question: What a typical day looks like?

Melissa’s day is a lot of answering emails, and depending on the day, attending a lot of meetings. Later in her day, she can usually carves out time to read submissions and do some editing. 

Question: You are considered tastemakers. How do you decide what that’s going to be? 

Melissa says, “Everybody matters.” She shares that it’s such a team effort. Children come first, of course, but a book (before it gets to kids) is touched by a lot of hands. 

For melissa, having been a bookseller, has also been very helpful. 

Question: What are you looking for? What are you not looking for? 

Melissa acquires fiction and nonfiction, through a large age range. 

Melissa loves to work on illustrated books, so she tends to mostly acquire books for younger readers. 

She gets excited when it’s something she hasn’t seen before. Something that feels fresh and new. Melissa loves to think about how to bring it to the market. 

Question: On how much editors reach out to agents to find what they are looking for. 

Melissa share that yes, relationships with agents are very important. 

Question: What would you like to see in a book proposal?

Being able to see that the writer knows their section and is well read in that format. Seeing that can help them rise to the top. 

Question: What are some good self-promotion skills for authors/illustrators?

Authenticity is gold. Find your way into social media that you can do authenticity. If you hate it, Melissa recommends to stay off of it. 

Question: Does an author/illustrator need to be focused on making their book go into a global space? 

There are books that they think when acquiring will work in a global market, but others that they know will not. Both work. America is the largest market.

Something to always keep in mind: There is no always. There is no never.

Panel: The Outlook for Children's Publishing 2024 - Alvina Ling & Susan Ven Metre

Alvina Ling is VP and Editor-in-Chief at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers where she has worked since 1999. She edits children's books for all ages, including Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer, The Wild Robot by Peter Brown, Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes, Troublemaker by John Cho, The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan, and The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. She co-hosts the podcast Book Friends Forever with author Grace Lin. Alvina lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and two cats.

Alvina is celebrating her 25th anniversary at Little, Brown. She works on picture books, middle grade, and YA. She has a soft place in her heart for middle grade. Books on the LB list tend to straddle both literary and commercial. 

TeMika :What are you reading?

Alvina: LUNAR NEW YEAR LOVE STORY by Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham 

She just finished reading BIG MAGIC by Elizabeth Gilbert

TeMika: What makes you fall in love to a manuscript? 

Alvina loves books that remind her of the books she loved as a child, books she loves right now, and books she wishes she had as a child. Being drawn in by voice is important, along with feeling like she wants to keep reading even when she's busy. 

TeMika: What is your editorial style? 

Alvina asks a lot of questions. She's not much of a line editor. She loves world building and asking a lot of questions about world building. She says it's collaborative, and more like a conversation. 

TeMika: Are there any things you consider when working with an author/illustrator rather than an author only?

If Alvina can picture what the book would look like from the text, that's important for a writer only. For an author illustrator it's a question of: Do I like the art style? 

TeMika: How do you find illustrators? 

Alvina echoes what the others have said about the importance of social media and websites. Little, Brown also has something they call picture book breakfast where the picture book editors and designers get together and share illustrators they've discovered

TeMika: Trends in picture books?

Alvina has a wish to shift back to more storytelling. 

***

Susan Van Metre is the Executive Editorial Director of Walker Books, a new division of Candlewick Press. Previously she was at Abrams, where she founded the Amulet imprint and edited EL DEAFO by Cece Bell, the Origami Yoda series by Tom Angleberger, the Internet Girls series by Lauren Myracle, THEY SAY BLUE by Jillian Tamaki, and the Questioneers series by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Pete Fornatale, and their daughter and the ghost of their Lab mix.

Susan works on mostly fiction and graphic novels. She's also in love with those books for kids aged 8 to 12. Susan is CeCe Bell's editor, who just had a wonderful conversation with Sarah Baker on the stage. 

TeMika: What are you reading? 

Susan: Ever Since by Alena Bruzas

TeMika: What makes you fall in love to a manuscript? 

Susan: The recognition that there are high stakes for kids in the ordinary events of their lives, and how big those feel to a child's life. 

TeMika: Are there any things you consider when working with an author/illustrator rather than an author only. 

For Susan, it depends on the type of book. Susan does get excited when she has an author/illustrator for a graphic novel. But, with picture books there's something wonderful about the partnership between author and illustrator, however the timeline can often be longer. 

TeMika: How do you find illustrators? 

Instagram is important way to find illustrators, as well as having a good website. 

On a final note: As the the panel wraps up, all the panelist see SCBWI as an asset to writers and illustrators in terms of learning and growth, to have a better understanding of the business, and for the all-important community.