Month: April 2020

Agent Interview: Jennifer Unter (The Unter Agency)

On By Only Picture BooksIn Agent Interviews

I had genuine worry that the COVID-​19 situation would understandably keep the OPB blog from continuing with the every-​Monday posts we’ve managed since we launched in April 2018. I’m incredibly stoked that we’re able to keep on trucking thanks to the generosity of literary agent Jennifer Unter who agreed to be this month’s Industry Insider Interviewee. What luck!

Here are three things you need to know about Jennifer before we get rolling.

  1. She has her own literary agency.
  2. She has her own literary agency.
  3. She has her own literary agency.

Let’s be clear about something. Jennifer has plenty of other selling points that make her an agent any writer would be ecstatic to partner with, but here’s what I’ve come to realize over the years—if you can launch your own agency and keep it up for more than a decade, you’re doing not just one thing but a BUNCH of things well. Let’s find out what those are!

Agency Website: www.theunteragency.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferUnter

RVC: There’s no way to interview anyone right now without asking this question—how has the COVID-​19 virus affected your work?

JU: It’s so hard to tell at this point. In the present moment, many editors are asking me to re-​pitch them with projects in June since they’re so overwhelmed with working from home (with kids and other issues) that they aren’t buying anything. A few of my books have been pushed back to 2021, but some are going forward as planned, so we’ll see how that works. I’ve been trying to support my authors whose books are out now with new ways to publicize–online storytime and the like. Publishing is a real community, so everyone is trying to help everyone else out and we’re all just getting used to the new (temporary) normal.

RVC: Thanks for that honest update. I get a lot of questions from students, colleagues, and writing friends about what’s going on in the writing world. We’re all sort of holding out collective breath.

JU: Holding our breath and taking very deep breaths at the same time, if that’s possible!

RVC: Exactly so! Let’s circle back to the beginning. At what point did you know you were going to work in the writing world?

JU: I knew when I was in college that I wanted to work with writing in some way. I was an English major and my favorite thing was to read books, so I figured that working in publishing would be an extension of that!

RVC: How did you land that first editorial job at Henry Holt & Co.? And what was the most valuable lesson you took from that experience?

JU: I went to the publishing course at NYU the summer after I graduated college and the editorial assistant job at Henry Holt was on the job board, so I applied and, luckily, I got it. My boss, Allen Peacock, was a brilliant editor, and he taught me to trust my instincts and to have passion for every project. Every book is at least 2 years of work and if you don’t completely love it from the get go, you’re going to fall out of love pretty quickly when you have to read it for the 4th time.

RVC: While you’re not a copyright lawyer, you did attend Fordham University School of Law, and you spent some years at an entertainment firm, so I’m guessing you have better-​than-​average insight into this. What’s the most common misconception that writers (and maybe some agents and editors) have about contracts in general, and/​or copyright? 

JU: Many people believe that contracts are ironclad or can’t be negotiated, but that’s not the case. In addition, contracts can be difficult to read or make sense of–that’s what I focused on as a transactional entertainment attorney. After reading many hundreds, they become much clearer!

RVC: Is there one part of them that most early-​career authors don’t appreciate or think though? I guess I’m thinking about what a genius move George Lucas made way back when to keep the merchandising rights (and sequel rights!) to the Star Wars franchise. Any recommendations for contract parts to read with extra-​care and attention?

JU: Definitely the competition clause. A contract should never prohibit a writer from doing their job, which is being a writer! A contract that doesn’t allow a writer to publish other things–whether it’s another book, an article, or anything that isn’t very similar to the work that is the subject of the contract–is going overboard and should be negotiated so that it’s fair to the writer.

RVC: Great advice there for sure! Now let’s talk about the decision to create The Unter Agency, LLC in 2008. 

JU: I knew I wanted to work for myself for a long time, but it’s hard to find the right moment. I had two young kids at home, and I wanted to do something that was for me. I felt like if I didn’t go for it then, I was never going to do it.

RVC: What was your first sale?

JU: David Gumpert’s Raw Milk Revolution to Chelsea Green Publishing.

RVC: Unlike some kidlit agents, you also represent a host of other areas—food/cooking, nature/​environment, biography/​memoir, pop culture, travel/​adventure, true crime, politics, and health/​fitness. What percentage of the books your rep are kidlit in general? And picture books in specific?

JU: I would say that 60–70% of my list is kidlit. And out of that 60%, probably ½ is picture books.

RVC: What do you like most about picture books?

JU: I love the whimsy and the truth of picture books. They are our emotions, distilled down to 32 pages.

RVC: What picture book project at your agency—at whatever stage it’s in—are you most excited about?

JU: That is not really a fair question, since I love them all! But, I think for this current moment, a picture book that just came out entitled Krit Dreams of Dragon Fruit by Emily France and Natalie Becher–which is about weathering change–is perfect for kids right now.

RVC: Okay, it’s time for another installment of the World’s Greatest Picture Book Blog Speed Round™(ish)! Jennifer, are you ready? 

JU: Ready, willing, and able!

RVC: Since your agency’s office is a half-​block from Central Park…“The strangest thing I’ve seen at Central Park was…”

JU: A clown with a pet snake.

RVC: Best-​yet-​somehow-​underappreciated indie bookstore in NYC?

JU: I think because there are so few of them, no bookstores in NYC feel underappreciated, but my favorite at the moment is The Corner Bookstore on the Upper East Side.

RVC: If picture books were comfort food, what would they be?

JU: Eggplant lasagna.

RVC: Top attributes of your top clients?

JU: Their dedication to their craft and their desire to bring joy to their readers.

RVC: Best non-​Unter-​repped picture book of 2019?

JU: Magic Ramen by Andrea Wang.

RVC: What’s the secret sauce of YOUR success?

JU: I work all the time! And, I love what I do.

RVC: Thanks so much, Jennifer!

 

 

Educational Activities: Winged Wonders by Meeg Pincus

On By Only Picture BooksIn Educational Activities

Winged Wonders: Solving the Monarch Migration Mystery
Author: Meeg Pincus
Illustrator: Yas Imamura
Sleeping Bear Press
14 March 2020
40 pages

Book description from Goodreads: “For decades, as the monarch butterflies swooped through every year like clockwork, people from Canada to the United States to Mexico wondered, ‘Where do they go?’ In 1976, the world learned the answer: after migrating thousands of miles, the monarchs roost by the millions in an oyamel grove in Central Mexico’s mountains.

But who solved this mystery? Was it the scientist or the American adventurer? The citizen scientists or the teacher or his students? Winged Wonders shows that the mystery could only be solved when they all worked as a team–and reminds readers that there’s another monarch mystery today, one that we all must work together to solve.”

Need some reviews of Winged Wonders?

And here’s the cover reveal and an author Q&A with Meeg Pincus at Celebrate Picture Books.

Educational Activities inspired by Meeg Pincus’ Winged Wonders:

  • Before Reading–From looking at the front and back cover: 
    • What do you already know about butterflies?
    • What do you think the monarch migration mystery is?
    • Why might butterflies be called “winged wonders”?
    • If you could ask the author any question before you read the book, what would it be?
  • After Reading–Now that you’ve read the book: 
    • Where did the people–scientists, citizen scientists, and regular folk–discover that the butterflies went?
    • What were the most important things you learned about butterflies?
    • What other story does Winged Wonders remind you of?
    • What is a citizen scientist?
    • How can YOU help the monarch butterflies?
  • Science–While Winged Wonders has lots of information about monarch butterflies within the main story and the back matter, there’s so much more to learn about these amazing creatures! Consider watching the following short informational videos to learn more: 
  • Activities–With an adult’s help, try the following butterfly-​themed crafts: 
  • Further Reading–Which of these other picture books about butterflies have you read? (Click on the book cover for more information on any of these titles!)

 

Author/​Illustrator Interview: Hannah Batsel

On By Only Picture BooksIn Author Interviews, Illustrator Interviews1 Comment

It’s always a treat to witness the beginning of a picture-​book career, and that’s what’s happening with the author/​illustrator we’re interviewing this month—Chicago artist Hannah Batsel, whose debut, A Is for Another Rabbit, comes out this month from Carolrhoda Books (Lerner Publishing). Hannah has a background in creating fine art and book arts, so she’s sure to have an interesting perspective on the process of becoming a picture maker. She’s also a self-​described “fashion idiot and rabbit superfan.” Talk about intriguing!

Let’s get to the interview to learn even more.

RVC: You probably don’t know this, Hannah, but I reached out to recent OPB-​interviewee (and Lerner editor) Carol Hinz for suggestions on early-​career writers who might be ideal for an OPB interview. Your name came up immediately—she clearly thinks you’re terrific. But here’s the real surprise—I already knew your name and work. You’ve got books in the Brizdle-​Schoenberg Special Collections Center at my college’s library, and I lurk in there a lot. 

Tell me about your interest in making special-​collections-​quality books like Ephemerus and Maneater, which are the two I’ve shown to my own students here.

HB: Wow, my reputation precedes me!

Well, I was first introduced to artist books and fine press books as a part of my printmaking studies, and I completely fell in love with them. I think that I’m a bit of a control freak, and the fact that I can write, illustrate, print, and bind an edition of books all by myself (and therefore obsess about whether that text line should be a sixteenth of an inch to the left or not for three days without annoying anyone else) is very empowering. Printing only small editions lets me branch out from the traditional codex structure and make weird double-​sided books, books with jointed paper dolls, fold-​out books that expand to twice their size—you name it! I think there’s a book design out there that’s perfectly suited to contain any conceivable human idea.

RVC: Let’s talk about my personal favorite—Maneater. It’s a boxed set of four books, where each sits inside the other like those Russian nesting dolls, and they’re held in place by little hidden magnets. And the story—if I recall it correctly—works backwards in time.

HB: It does work backwards in time—and then forward again! The smallest, innermost nested book takes place the furthest in the past, so as you read towards it, you get more context about the characters’ past relationships before having to read yourself back to the surface to finish the story in present day.

RVC: How did this project come about?

HB: This project was inspired by my collection of late-​19th-century mass market colonialist children’s books (a mouthful, I know). These books’ covers are gilded and colorful and just a treat to look at, but their beauty belies a lot of frankly horrifying ideas about the Western world’s relationship with both the natural world and the cultures of people they didn’t understand.

The four books of Maneater are all illustrated in that lush and extravagant style, and each of the four books follows a different character. There’s a mythical tiger god who rules over life on a tropical island, an actual tiger who is captured from the island and sent to a zoo, a villager on the island who must emigrate and work at the zoo once the island is stripped of its natural resources, and a wealthy shareholder who ends up employing the zookeeper as a butler after a tiger attack forces him into retirement. The books can be read separately, but only when you read them together does a legacy of colonialist greed become clear.

RVC: In what ways are artist books like picture books?

HB: I would say that all of my artist books are picture books! They are certainly for an older audience, but every single page in them is illustrated. Like other picture books, they are meant to be held and explored and looked at, not just read. I even have an artist book that’s only pictures: Overhead, a book that I wrote, printed, and bound all on a commercial airline flight (confusing the flight attendants to no end, I’m sure.)

RVC: You earned a BFA in Printmaking and Book Arts from the University of Georgia, followed by an MFA in Interdisciplinary Book, Paper, and Print Arts from Columbia College Chicago. Clearly you had a book-​focused future planned early on. When did you get interested in this career path?

HB: I had a professor at the University of Georgia who got me into artist books (thanks, Eileen!). Once it clicked for me that books could be made out of just about anything by just about anyone, I set out to do it in as many ways as possible. I feel fortunate to have found something that I can confidently say I’ll be making for the rest of my life in some form or another.

RVC: Let’s talk about your debut picture book. What’s the story behind A Is for Another Rabbit?

HB: I was speaking with my mom on the phone about how I’d like to write a children’s book, and how abecedaria (that’s nerd talk for “alphabet books”) were some of my favorites. I told her that I especially love animal alphabet books, but that I would probably want to make every letter about rabbits, which would make for a very boring book. We started goofing off and improvising pages (“U is for Uuuuuughh, seriously? Stop with the rabbits already!”) and while some of our off-​the-​cuff joke pages were a bit—well—vulgar for a younger audience, others did make it into the first draft of the manuscript.

RVC: How did the story change in the rewriting/​revision process? Was it always metafiction from the first draft?

HB: Very little of the original manuscript ended up changing, actually! It was mostly minor tweaks. It was always metafiction; I think that with a format as tried-​and-​true as the alphabet book, the most interesting thing to do was to throw a monkey wrench into it and explore what would happen if this very rigidly-​structured genre went awry.

RVC: Please talk a little about how you handle pacing via image and text. 

HB: This is something that I tend not to think too hard about; rather, I draft out what feels best to me intuitively and then show as many people as I can so that they can tell me if something feels off. Pacing is one of those things that’s hard to get a grasp on if you’re too close to the project, so having outside perspectives helps a lot. In general, I try to keep my text as tight and necessary as possible—if I can cut something from a manuscript, I do!

RVC: A Is for Another Rabbit uses rhymes, at times (yep—look what I did right there!). What’s your philosophy for rhyming well?

HB: Keep a consistent meter, jam as many rhymes in there as possible (not just at the end of the line), and above all else, use a rhyming dictionary! There’s no shame in it, and there are tons of free ones online; starting with a really great final line and then looking up rhyming words to build up to that finale is a great way to write a stanza.

RVC: The book is dedicated to “my favorite animal in the whole world: the rabbit.” What’s the appeal of these “feisty, fantastic, fluffy-​tailed” critters?

HB: One little-​known rabbit personality trait that I love is their sheer audacity, their absolute impudence. When a cat behaves like a jerk, at least he’s got the claws and teeth to back it up. A rabbit is a prey animal who has been running for his life in the wild for millennia, and yet you let him up onto your couch one time and he thinks he’s the king of the world!

The misbehaving rabbits in my book are inspired by a real rabbit, Pip, that I used to have. He was allowed to go anywhere in the house except for under my bed, so of course, he loved to try to sneak under when I wasn’t looking. Whenever I caught him snooping around for a way in, he would leap into the air with joy at the thrill of being caught and flee the scene! He seemed to like getting caught even more than succeeding!

RVC: I can sympathize with that because (when they were very little) my two kids loved to sneak into my office and riffle through my manuscripts, papers, stories, etc. and wait until I came back to catch them, and they’d laugh, laugh, laugh. Then they grew up and couldn’t care less what I do for a living.

What’s next for you in terms of the picture book world?

HB: I’m always working on my next book, and right now, I’m finalizing the manuscript and initial sketches for a new picture book that will make use of my letterpress-​printing background. I can’t tell you much, but I’ll give you a hint: if A is for Another Rabbit is a good Easter read, this next one would be better suited for Halloween…

RVC: I look forward to the spooky fun!

Last question for the main part of this interview. Since Carol Hinz got you into this, what’s it been like working with her and Carolrhoda?

HB: Carol and the team at Carolrhoda have been an absolute dream to work with. Making your own books like I do means that I had no idea how a bigger production worked, which book sizes were standard, what to put on a title page, what a book contract looked like, or even… oops… how to accurately manage a final deadline. But Carol and Danielle Carnito, my art director, held my hand ever-​so-​patiently and walked me through the whole process.

One thing that’s a bit strange is that I’ve never met either of them in person! From start to finish, making a book together was a multi-​year process, all over email. For all I know, Carol could be a bunch of rabbits standing on each other’s shoulders in a trench coat. Wait—have you ever met her?

RVC: Hold on now… while I’ve interviewed Carol, I have NOT met her. Hmmmm. You might be on to something here.

HB: I think so!

RVC: Alrighty—it’s time for the much-​heralded, always-​awesome SPEED ROUND. Rabbit-​quick questions + hare-​fast answers, please! Are…you…ready?!?

HB: I was born ready.

RVC: Your three favorite picture book rabbits?

HB: Wait, wait, I’m not ready!

Uhhhh, jeez, this is a tough one! Honestly, Richard Scarry’s vast herd of fictional rabbits would probably take up all three slots. Naughty Bunny, The Bunny Book, Bunnies, I Am a Bunny, not to mention all of the Busytown buns—the guy’s practically cornered the market on great picture book rabbits! Honorable mentions, of course, for Margaret Wise Brown’s many picture book rabbits, especially those of Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny!

RVC: Most surprising rabbit fact?

HB: Rabbits can’t vomit. Hey, you asked for surprising!

RVC: Best place a rabbit might go to get GREAT Chicago deep dish?

HB: Pequod’s, hands down. That caramelized crust…

RVC: Best picture book art you’ve seen in the last year?

HB: Daria Tessler’s riso-​printed zine, Three Magical Recipes from the Book of Secrets of Albertus Magnus, published by Perfectly Acceptable Press here in Chicago.

RVC: What’s going to keep you up tonight after doing this interview?

HB: Nothing. I can go to sleep within 15 seconds of hitting the pillow; it’s like a superpower.

RVC: Three things that are at the heart of your overarching creative vision?

HB: Magic, fine detail, and the exploration of power (and the power of exploration!)

RVC: From one Chicagoan to another, thanks so much, Hannah! It was a hoot cluck chirp uhhh, say…what sound do rabbits make?

HB: Hmm, well they do thump their back feet on the ground when they’re angry. But I think this interview has been more like a contented tooth-​chatter, don’t you?

RVC: Right. That’s what I meant. It was truly a tooth-​chattering swell time. Thanks for playing along, Hannah!

Picture Book Review: Paper Planes by Jim Helmore

On By Only Picture BooksIn Picture Book Reviews
Author: Jim Helmore
Illustrator: Richard Jones
Simon & Schuster Children’s
1 March 2020
32 pages

This month’s PB review is by Ryan G. Van Cleave (Chief Paper Plane Designer at Only Picture Books) and Ringling College of Art and Design Illustration Professor (and OPB lizard-​loving wunderkind) John Herzog.

 

–Ryan’s Review of the Writing–

Anytime you’ve got a story about friends separating, it seems like we tend to follow the one who goes to the new place. It makes sense. Stories are fundamentally about challenges and changes, and, of course, the person moving away will have those things aplenty.

But in Paper Planes, author Jim Helmore wisely shows us that the ones left behind are encountering their own brand of challenge and change, as we see with Mia, the child left behind when her bestie, Ben, moves far, far away.

One of the things both children share is a love for making paper planes. In fact, they had a Big Plan to create a paper plane so large that it could fly across a “great, wide lake” where they live next to in side-​by-​side houses at the start of the story. What are they going to do now that Ben and his family have moved so, so far from Mia?

Helmore doesn’t pull emotional punches as you can see here: “Hot tears fell from her eyes.” And we see Mia’s loneliness darken into resentment, shown in action by her taking a plane Ben gave her and smashing it. That kind of direct access to a character’s feelings will surely spark discussions in parents and readers about acceptable behavior and the power of emotions.

I’m quite taken by the art here–there’s an interesting contrast in play between the relatively lean prose and the dreamy aspects to the illustrations. I’ll let John explain that better below, since that’s solidly in his domain.

In sum, Paper Planes is an emotionally textured book about friendship and belonging that’s especially welcome in these challenging times.

4.5 out of 5 pencils

 

–John’s Review of the Illustrations–

I’m prefacing my review of Paper Planes with some historical context:

Right now, it’s April 2020 and the planet is engulfed in the coronavirus pandemic. The majority of businesses are closed, grocery stores can’t keep toilet paper and hand sanitizer in stock, and everyone has been tasked with the responsibility of practicing self-​quarantine and social distancing. Little to no air travel is happening as airlines have suspended service, and hubs of humanity from Times Square to St. Peter’s Square are empty. Friends, family, educators, and entertainers now largely communicate via video conference from their homes.

It is a very, very strange time — and it makes me appreciate Paper Planes all the more.

A lovely story of the triumph of long-​distance friendship, Paper Planes is timeless yet relevant. Mia and Ben are two friends who enjoy spending time with each other, and they especially love making paper airplanes together. One day, Ben tells Mia that he and his family are moving far away, and we see how Mia copes with the situation. Jim Helmore’s story is incredibly sweet and sensitive, yet believable. Mia’s frustration, sadness, and longing for her friend endears us to her, and I kept hoping that she and Ben would somehow be brought back together. Can their friendship endure despite being far away from each other? I’ll avoid spoilers here, but I will say that the result is realistic yet satisfying.

Richard Jones’ illustrations elegantly combine both the simple and complex. Mia and Ben, as well as their cute little dogs, are simply designed yet they’re surrounded by geese, seaside towns, and grassy fields that are full of complexity. The world is nicely balanced, and everything here feels effortlessly deliberate–a quality most illustrators (myself included) struggle to achieve. With Paper Planes, Jones makes it look like a cakewalk.

There’s also a very tactile feel to the illustrations, which is of course inherent in their execution, but also helped quite a bit by the presentation offered by Peachtree Publishing. The dust jacket, for instance, uses a very textured substrate that adds a sophistication and warmth to the overall feeling of the book. Likewise, the interior pages use a matte finish that allows the reader to soak in all of the sumptuous earth tones and vibrant colors used by Jones. This is a high-​quality book — probably one of the best I’ve seen–that rightly deserves to be on everyone’s shelf.

Paper Planes provides a message of hope for all who are far away from friends and loved ones. Granted, given our current situation with the coronavirus pandemic, that message resonates even more. However, I can’t help but feel that I would love this book regardless of what’s happening right now. Its message of friendship transcending distance is timeless.

4.5 out of 5 crayons

John Herzog is an award-​winning illustrator and educator. His clients include Hasbro, Dreamworks TV, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Scholastic, and Highlights for Children. He also teaches illustration classes at Ringling College of Art and Design.

John is a member of the Society of Illustrators and SCBWI, and received the 2018 SCBWI Magazine Merit Award for his Highlights High Five cover illustration. He lives in Florida with his wife, two kids, a pair of geckos, a South American horned frog, a bearded dragon, and a fish.

He is represented by Shannon Associates.