Current Events

At a recent meeting of our writers group, one member commented, "I really don't like assigning my writing to any particular category, such as YA, middle grade, etc., because I'd like my writing to reach everyone." Wouldn't we all? It's probably impossible to get your book into the market without labeling it something, but there's good news! Books written for the young reader appeal to a very wide range of the reading public, as reported in this article from Publishers Weekly (9-13-12): "More than half the consumers of books classified for young adults aren’t all that young. According to a new study, fully 55% of buyers of works that publishers designate for kids aged 12 to 17 -- known as YA books -- are 18 or older, with the largest segment aged 30 to 44, a group that alone accounted for 28% of YA sales. And adults aren’t just purchasing for others -- when asked about the intended recipient, they report that 78% of the time they are purchasing books for their own reading. The insights are courtesy of Understanding the Children’s Book Consumer in the Digital Age, an ongoing biannual study from Bowker Market Research that explores the changing nature of publishing for kids. “The investigation into who is reading YA books began when we noticed a disparity between the number of YA e-books being purchased and the relatively low number of kids who claim to read e-books,” said Kelly Gallagher, v-p of Bowker Market Research. “The extent and age breakout of adult consumers of these works was surprising. And while the trend is influenced to some extent by the popularity of The Hunger Games, our data shows it’s a much larger phenomenon than readership of this single series.” Indeed, 30% of respondents reported they were reading works in the Hunger Games series. But the remaining 70% of readers reported a vast variety of titles (over 220), only two of which commanded more than five percent of overall sales – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Breaking Dawn. “Although bestsellers lead, there’s a long tail of rich reading that has interesting implications for the publishers of YA books in terms of discovery and consumer relationships,” said project editor Kristen McLean. The trend is good news for publishers, as these adult consumers of YA books are among the most coveted demographic of book consumers overall. Additional insights from the Bowker study show these readers are: • Early adopters: More than 40% read e-books, equivalent to the highest adoption rates of adult genres of mystery and romance • Committed: 71% say that if an e-book of their desired title was unavailable, they would buy the print book instead • Loyal: Enjoying the author's previous books has a moderate or major influence over the book choice for more than two-thirds of the respondents • Socially active: Although more than half of respondents reported having "no interest" in participating in a reading group, these readers are very active in social networks and often get recommendations from friends. Understanding the Children’s Book Consumer in the Digital Age is sponsored in the U.S. by Little Brown for Young Readers, Random House, HarperCollins, Scholastic, Disney, Penguin, DK, and Macmillan. To order a copy, contact Bowker Market Research at MarketResearch@bowker.com."

My Favorite Christmas Gift

As we get into the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I find December to be the hardest month to sit down and write. I am like an elf juggling candy canes in a blizzard. There you have it. A brief and very accurate simile of my December lifestyle. (And, yes, I already have a picture book story churning on this.) As I contemplated the necessity to update my blog with something inspirational about writing, I totally drew a blank. So I opted instead, to share something I hope others find inspirational. Last year, my then 7 year-old daughter came home on a mission. She was downright giddy over a special gift exchange in her class. As the Cane Juggler, I frantically rooted through her backpack to find the specifics. I needed a due date. I needed a monetary limit. I needed details. I found nothing. As my little one began pulling paper and glue from our craft closet, I confronted her. “What do I need to do or buy for this gift exchange?” She smiled and responded, “You don’t need to do or buy anything. I’ve got it covered.” So, for the next few hours, she plotted and planned her gift. I gradually pulled more details from her and found out that the exchange was an impromptu idea between her and a few friends. As a Recovering Helicopter Mom, I refrained from offering to buy a toy from Target, and let her make a present. After every piece was in place, she called me over to look at her creation. It. Was. Beautiful. So beautiful, I wanted it. I wanted it so much that I tried unsuccessfully to offer up the Target toy at that point. She loved that I loved it, but delicately reminded me that she did not make it for me, she made it for her friend. Although I’m sure I probably chewed off a significant portion of my tongue, I said no more. The following day, my daughter had me drive her to school so her present wouldn’t be damaged. I asked her the name of the child it was intended for and she innocently told me. I secretly contemplated contacting the child’s Mom to reacquire the present. How could that little girl possibly appreciate this gift as much as I did? Yet, I knew it was not meant for me, so I snapped one picture and painfully let it go. Later that afternoon, my daughter stepped off the bus and ran over to hug me. I asked, “How was the gift exchange?” She smiled and responded, “Well, no one else brought a gift in.” For a brief moment, I became really excited, thinking I would have that gift after all. But my daughter continued to tell me that although her gift was the only present, she still gave it to her friend. My daughter also told me that she told all her friends she made her present as a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. Although I do not have it in my possession, her homemade nativity will always be my favorite Christmas gift. Please check out the picture of it below.

Deb Dudley A.K.A. The Cane Juggler (Originally posted on Deb's blog, http://www.debdudley.com/twp-blog.html)

JRW Conference Redux

My experiences at the James River Writers Conference this fall (Oct 19 - 21) have truly been a gift that keeps on giving. The pre-conference intensive led by Kristen-Paige Madonia (kristenpaigemadonia.com), who presented a class on "First Words," is a good example. She advised the participants via email that it would be a "discussion that considers the creative elements likely to engage an editor or discourage them from continuing to read a submission..." She asked us to prepare the first page that we planned to send with our submission according to standard submission format guidelines: double-spaced with one inch margins and 12-point font, title and content beginning half-way down the page. I prepared my first page and ran a word count: 100, give or take. Whoa! How was I going to captivate an editor/agent with only 100 words? Exactly the point Ms. Madonia made in her class. On average, 100 words is all you have to fascinate/excite/seduce your submission target into asking to read more. As she promised, the class was enjoyable, supportive and loaded with constructive criticism. I've since revised my first page three or four times. Some of the changes are small, sometimes large. So far I 've made no changes that require a rewrite of the entire first chapter, but the introduction to my novel gets stronger each time. Each succeeding version improves and polishes; I am learning how to make my first 100 words sparkle and shine. And the silver lining to all this work? My writing in general is sure to improve. So look hard at your first 100 words, then look again, and again. The wily charms of Mata Hari or Cleopatra will pale beside your utterly irresistible first page!

RCW author Brian Rock in River City Richmond magazine

I am so grateful to have my group of friends, cowriters, and therapists known as Richmond Children's Writers. They help keep me focused, motivated, and (almost) sane! This Thanksgiving I am also thankful for a ncie write up I received from River City Richmond magazine (pg 14) in their Nov/Dec issue. They feature me and my latest picture book, WITH ALL MY HEART (ironically in a section titled, "Writer's Block"!) I'm also thankful for the cozy cocktail recipes, but that's another story!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Opening Worlds at VAASL

Troy Howell and Lana Krumwiede spent a couple of days with Virginia school librarians last week. Here's a shout out to all the librarians who work hard to get good books to young readers.

You're awesome!

Lana and Troy gave a presentation about the value of Fantasy and Science Fiction for diverse learners. You can read a transcript of their presentation over at Lana's blog: 

Opening Worlds: The Gift of Fantasy

Literary Agents: What You Should Know About Them

You've got your novel ready. You have written, rewritten, revised, edited, lost sleep, written and written some more. Beta-reader after beta-reader has torn it apart and you have made the appropriate changes. Is your manuscript perfect? Probably not, but it's as good as it's going to get.

Now what?

You are either going to self-publish or try to get picked up and published traditionally. If you are planning to get picked up traditionally, most likely you are going to try to get an agent to represent you.

What kind of agent do I want?

How do I get one?

Will they even know I exist?

I want to share with you some of the experiences I have had over the last few months as I have a) been researching agents and b) interacting with agents at local writing conferences I have attended.

The very best way to sum up the whole process of trying to get an agent was said by Rachel Dugas, a literary agent for Talcott-Notch, who said these wise words at Hampton Roads Writers Conference in September, "Trying to get an agent is like speed dating."

Say whuuuu?

I can tell you she meant it figuratively, because the moment you send an agent flowers, you have taken a step backward:-)

No, what she meant was that, just as in speed dating, when you are trying to find an agent it's all about making the right connection with the right agent. There is not just one agent out there for every writer.

I repeat, it's important to make connections with the right agent. And believe it or not, those same agents are out looking to make the same connection with you.

"Are agents really interested in making a connection with me?" you ask.

YES!

Question: How do you think agents make a living?

Answer: By building long-term, professional relationships with writers they feel they can represent.

That means YOU! That means right now, this minute, there is an agent out there who wants to work with you, now you just have to find them (which, I admit, is the tricky part).

But the first thing you have to remember is that they are people, just like you and me. Just like you want to find the right agent to represent your book - your baby - they want to find that story that they can fall in love with and they can share with the world.

You don't have to be scared when you talk to them and you don't have to be nervous and you don't have to hope that it's a once-in-a-lifetime.

You DO have to be professional and you DO have to do your homework. If a particular agent isn't right for you, more often than not they are going to give you positive feedback to help you improve your work so it's even better for the next agent that you approach.

As I mentioned, in the past six weeks I have talked to a total of five literary agents (and one editor) and every single one of them was approachable, willing to answer questions, and wonderful to work with. They were regular, everyday people that I was able to have a professional conversation with.

You can too!

To find out more about the agents that are out there, try some of the sites listed below:

- http://www.writers.net/agents.html

- http://www.literaryrambles.com/

- http://www.writersdigestshop.com/2013-guide-literary-agents

To find out more about some of the conferences that may be in your area where you can talk to an agent face-to-face, try some of these resources:

- http://www.newpages.com/writing-conferences/

- http://www.scbwi.org/Regional-Events.aspx

by Chris Sorensen

Giving Thanks

This fall marks my one year anniversary with RCW.   As we kick off the month of November, I decided to devote my first official RCW blog entry to this very special group of people.  They continue to provide me with priceless support, guidance and motivation.    As I see their successes, they inspire me.  As I read their pieces, they move me.  As I share my work, they help me.  THANK YOU to the members of RCW for walking with me on my journey to publication and giving me the confidence and the courage to keep writing. 

A portion of this message was originally posted on the TWP blog on 10/1/12.

Deb Dudley