Tag: Editor Interviews

Editor Interview: Connie Hsu (Roaring Brook Press)

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This month’s Industry Insider interview is with Connie Hsu, Editorial Director at Roaring Brook Press. She was born in Taiwan and grew up in Alabama, though Connie admits to being “one of THOSE editors” who didn’t dream of working in publishing when she was younger. Thankfully, she discovered the Sweet Valley Twins series in the school library, and really identified with the character Elizabeth, who wanted to be a writer. From that point on, Connie knew she wanted to be in media.

Connie took a detour in college as a psychology major at the University of Illinois, but after a year, she switched to advertising, followed by a Master’s degree in journalism. It took two internships—one with a Chicago magazine and one with an Atlanta magazine—for her to realize her true calling was in publishing.

Let’s find out how she went from that realization to creating an impressive career in children’s literature where she’s been able to work with some of the most exciting picture book makers working today.

Roaring Brook Website

Connie’s Twitter

RVC: One of my favorite PBs in the last few years is a book you edited–Dan Santat’s After the Fall, (which I included in OPB, of course). What was the biggest challenge you and Dan had in making that book work?

CH: From the get-​go, we knew that the story arc would end with Humpty Dumpty climbing back up the wall, to show him overcoming his fears, after taking the time to heal from his trauma. But we felt that simply going back up doesn’t quite capture the sense of personal triumph, to push through so much pain and fear. We had several conversations about how to make the story and character feel transformative, to show how Humpty Dumpty is changed forever by his choice to climb up. Dan jokingly mentioned that Humpty should hatch, since he’s an egg, and noted that the imagery might terrify young readers. We laughingly referenced the iconic scene from Alien. But when Dan mentioned that, it felt right. Of course Humpty would hatch and take flight! And Dan was totally on board to try it, going through rounds and rounds of sketches to get the moment just right.

RVC: The Alien reference is hilarious. I’d never have guessed it, though, since that moment in the story is so sweet vs science fiction‑y.

Now, whether you’re working with Dan Santat or a fresh-​out-​of-​college illustrator, how do you know how much you can/​should push them?

CH: I think this varies from editor to editor. I’m accustomed to pushing my creators fairly hard, because I believe that the best work isn’t easy. To produce something truly standout and special, there should be some struggle, because we have to always questions ourselves and what we’re doing—and why it deserves notability.

That said, there are different styles of pushing. I saw that when I worked with the legendary picture book editor Neal Porter, who is so gentle and nuanced with his directives; he asks open-​ended questions and encourages his creators to take time to incubate and think. Meanwhile, I feel I’m more like a coach on the field, running drills and patterns.

RVC: In early 2020, you picked up Mark Pett’s I Eat Poop: A Dung Beetle’s Story at auction. What specifically motivated you about that book to bid against other companies? 

CH: It was Mark’s brilliant combination of great, evocative title, smart and innovative concept, and an expressive and relatable character. I knew from the tiny cover thumbnail in my email that I wanted to love the book. And when I got into the story about a young dung beetle who is embarrassed about eating poop, I saw so many layers to this story. It’s got the fun potty humor mixed in with important themes about identity, heritage, and self-​acceptance. And it’s hilarious to boot!

RVC: In general, do you think book auctions are a good thing?

CH: In some ways, auctions are good for letting creators know what the market value for their work is, and it informs the publishers too. However, I find it challenging when advance levels skyrocket. It’s great for the authors and their agents, who take a commission, but I sometimes worry that it sets unrealistic expectations. A book that sells for a very high advance will need to perform even better in the market for the project to be financially sound, and sometimes, not even the best marketing and publicity can make that happen. Sometimes, it’s just luck. What I worry is that the book and its creator(s) will be seen as a business failure. This can mar a creator’s sales track and make it more challenging to bring on more books by them in the future. It’s also such a personal blow to go down in advance too.

RVC: I can hear the chorus of currently unpublished authors howling, “I’ll take a book auction any day of the week, even if my track record and future advances take a hit!” But there’s another solid route to success, isn’t there? 

CH: I’ve been fortunate enough to have some authors who will submit to me exclusively. Their agents can still get them a very strong advance, and it deepens the trust and bonds I have with them, which I feel leads to better books.

RVC: Let’s back up a little bit. Before you got your New York publishing career going, you worked as an intern and a freelance writer for celebrity gossip magazine In Touch. Care to share any behind-​the-​scenes secrets?

CH: I know this shouldn’t have surprised me, but the majority of the gossip news was planted. Either someone would get a tip from a publicist, or we would try to create drama. For instance, one assignment of mine was to show a paparazzi photo of a woman celebrity to several doctors, who were willing to be quoted in the magazine, and ask if they thought the woman looked pregnant. My job was to go through a list of doctors until one said yes, and that would be the story we ran. That person did not ultimately have a baby, and I later felt bad that we probably just caught her at a bad angle and made a big deal out of it.

RVC: I’m glad you were able to move on from that to more rewarding work. Yet at one point, though, you were living in New York City, taking on odd jobs, and you ended up working for a daycare. How’d you go from that situation to landing a job at Little, Brown?

CH: Working at the daycare allowed me to revisit childhood favorites, like James and the Giant Peach. It also exposed me to more recently published books at the time, like Orphan Train by Verla Kay, which opened my eyes to the depth and complexity that a picture book could have. When I mentioned enjoying reading these books to a friend of mine, who worked at Scholastic Book Club, she forwarded me a job posting with Alvina Ling at Little, Brown and encouraged me to apply. I hadn’t thought about children’s books as a career at the time. When I had my first interview with Alvina Ling though, I knew I had to have the job. She inspired me from the get-go!

RVC: What are some of the biggest differences between working in the magazine world and the book world?

CH: The magazine world felt very ephemeral, and the timelines were also very tight. There’s this stress on making sure the magazine had content and it had to be created, no matter what, while the stress I feel from publishing is making sure authors and agents are happy and ensuring the best quality book possible. Books have more permanence, and the feeling of pride when a book is done is just so much more satisfying.

RVC: Back to the present. Let’s break down a typical day in the life of Connie. Put some percentages on how much is spent on each of the following–queries/submissions; email; meetings; editing; industry news.

CH:

  • queries/​submissions: 10%
  • emailing: 40%
  • meeting: 40%
  • editing: 5% (mostly happens during nights and weekends)
  • catching up on industry news: 5%

RVC: I think writers have this mental image of editors hunched over manuscripts day and night–yes, in this mental image, it’s universally agreed that the manuscripts are always paper–helping us all make dynamite books that change the lives of young readers now and for generations to come. But like the rest of us, the reality for editors is an ocean of emails and an avalanche of meetings. Fair enough!

Let’s talk about happier things. Agent lunches—great thing, or the greatest thing?

CH: A great thing. Some agents have become genuine friends and trusted colleagues. I feel lucky when an agent I adore shares an author with me who becomes a success. It’s like building a mini family.

RVC: What actually happens at these lunches?

CH: Agent lunches are something I do miss, because it’s a comfortable way to get to know someone and connect on projects. Sometimes, the effect isn’t immediate; rather, it’s an investment in getting to know the person and seeing the payoff down the line.

RVC: Got a great example of that?

CH: Sure–the agent Judy Hansen of Hansen Literary. Judy and I met over lunch a couple of years before I changed jobs and moved to Macmillan, where her author Vera Brosgol publishes her graphic novels with First Second. Judy wanted to keep Vera at Macmillan for her picture books, and when I got to Roaring Brook, she thought of me as a possible editor for Vera. Fortunately, we all connected wonderfully, which resulted in Vera’s debut picture book, Leave Me Alone!, a Caldecott Honor book.

RVC: In light of the COVID-​19 reality, what are you doing to replicate agent lunches?

CH: I’m having phone calls with agents, although I haven’t really had a chance to meet with new agents. The remote working has resulted in increased workload, so it’s been challenging to find time.

RVC: On average, how many submissions do you deal with each month?

CH: I average about 40 — 50 submissions per month.

RVC: While many editors (and agents, for that matter) use form responses to speed things up, you haven’t done that in the past.

CH: I try not to, because I understand that authors pour their heart and soul into projects and it helps them feel seen and heard to have a personalized decline letter. That said, with the increasing volume of submissions, I’ve had to resort to form letters.

RVC: How many of your response notes include an invitation to send it back—an R&R (revise and resubmit)? 

CH: Maybe 10 projects per year.

RVC: How many manuscripts do you take to the editorial committee for serious consideration each month? And what stakeholders are there besides yourself and your editorial team (which includes Emily Feinberg, who OPB interviewed not so long ago)?

CH: I bring about 3 – 4 projects per month and discuss with my team: Emily Feinberg, Kate Meltzer, Mekisha Telfer, and Nicolás Oré-​Girón. When we have an intern on staff, we invite them to participate. In the past, we’ve had our design team join, but not since we started remote working.

RVC: Beyond reading a manuscript aloud, what’s a strategy/​technique most picture book writers don’t know/​use but they really should if they want to move closer to the “YES!” they crave?

CH: Being aware of the marketplace is a huge help! Keep track of what’s coming around the bend and new deals. Signing up for Publishers Weekly’s Children’s Bookshelf gives writers a terrific resource.

RVC: Roaring Brook still has a small-​press feel, despite having the backing of a Big Five. How do you maintain that?

CH: We have an extraordinary publishing history in the short time we’ve been around (~25 years), with several award winners, and more recently, major bestsellers. It’s a legacy and reputation we uphold, while also bringing fresh and exciting voices to the list. We’re also a small team, like a family, where each person has a distinctive taste, but we have shared goals in wanting to publish high quality, notable books.

RVC: One last question for this part of the interview. What are two Roaring Brook titles that really represent your brand in the way you want it to be?

CH: I’ll share two recent titles: I Dream of Popo and Outside, Inside. Both are emotionally rich and memorable reads, and they tug at the heartstrings in the most perfect way.

RVC: Those are some memorable books, for sure (we gave a strong review of Outside, Inside at OPB not that long ago).

But we have to move ahead because it’s time for the LIGHTNING ROUND! The point values are tripled and the clock starts……NOW! What’s a secret talent of yours that most don’t know about?

CH: I’m very good at parallel parking.

RVC: Best late-​night reading snack?

CH: Baked Cheetos. All the pleasure, half of the guilt.

RVC: If you could be any picture book character for a day, who would it be?

CH: Peter from The Snowy Day.

RVC: What’s the One That Got Away?

CH: The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken.

RVC: Favorite non-​Roaring Brook picture book of 2020?

CH: Me & Mama by Cozbi A. Cabrera.

RVC: Three words that sum up your picture book philosophy?

CH: Unexpected. Exciting. Extraordinary.

RVC: Thanks so much, Connie. It’s been great getting to know what the secret of Roaring Brook’s success is–clearly it’s GOOD people being at the core of all you do!

Editor Interview: Kelsey Skea (Two Lions and Amazon Crossing Kids)

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This month’s Industry Insider Interview is with Kelsey Skea, the Editorial Director of Two Lions and Amazon Crossing Kids at Amazon Publishing. Prior to taking on this position, she worked as an editor at Disney Book Group—a real plus in my book, considering that I live in Florida which means I’m barely a stone’s throw from Orlando!

(Okay, Sarasota’s a brisk two-​hour drive, but when it comes to The Mouse, who’s going to quibble about a little distance?)

And here’s another reason I had to invite Kelsey to be part of the OPB friends and family club—I’m a fan of Two Lions books, as you can see!

Witness Picture Book Reviews for Anna Kang’s We Are (Not) Friends (Two Lions) and Joy Jordan-​Lake’s A Crazy-​Much Love (Two Lions)!

Behold Educational Activities for Lindsay Gray’s This Book is Gray (Two Lions)! and Todd Tarpley’s Naughty Ninja Takes a Bath (Two Lions)!

So, let’s see if Kelsey can help us figure out what makes Two Lions Books so appealing!

RVC: Looking back at when you first got hooked on books, where did you think it was going to lead you?

KS: I’ve always loved books. I remember going to the library from a very young age and the very proud moment I got my own library card. I also loved writing stories and was encouraged to write by my family. As a young girl, being a writer was one of the many possibilities I imagined for myself. I feel so fortunate to have ended up in children’s publishing.

RVC: What key training/​experiences prepared you for your editing career?

KS: I had a couple of internships and summer jobs that involved publicity, copywriting, and writing articles. Those, alongside my English literature classes at the University of Virginia, gave me insight into writing for different purposes and reacting to fiction (albeit of a different kind).

The best training was on the job. As an editorial assistant and assistant editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books, I tried to learn everything I could from the senior staff I supported. I was fortunate that they were all generous with their time and expertise—that’s something I always remember as a manager.

RVC: What’s the best advice you’d give to a current college undergraduate who’s interested in an editing career? 

KS: If possible, try to get some sort of work experience that relates to the field, even if tangentially. I came to my interviews for editorial positions with writing from a publicity internship, ad copy I’d written for my local radio station, articles I’d written for a local business journal, and some essays from literature classes. In a way, these all related to aspects of the industry, even if not directly. They showed I had the potential to write good jacket copy and critically analyze fiction.

During my interview, my first (future) boss asked me if I liked to organize. Reflexively, I said, “No.” Happily she started laughing, and then I jumped into how I was good at it even though I didn’t like it.

Pro tip: maybe be more enthusiastic about your organizational prowess than I was! Also, use your college’s alumni network to see if you can connect with someone in the field to learn more about it or possibly connect with a job opportunity.

RVC: Great advice indeed!

So, you joined Amazon in 2013, right after they acquired 450+ titles from Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books. How challenging is it to incorporate another press’ entire catalog like that and still keep up with your own publishing agenda?

KS:  It was an exciting time to join the company. The Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books list had so many strong titles, and some of those titles absolutely took off at Amazon Publishing. For example, Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano and Lee Harper, has had such growth that we’re publishing a fifth book in the series this summer, Turkey Goes to School, with a sixth book signed up for next year.

That’s one of the things I love best about Amazon Publishing—our books are supported in many different ways over their lifetime and constantly exposed to new readers.

RVC: How did those original Marshall Cavendish books differ (or not!) from Two Lions books? And what makes a Two Lions book a Two Lions book, in your opinion?

KS: Well, the Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books all became Two Lions books (or Skyscape, in the case of the YA titles), but as every publisher’s focus evolves over time, so has ours. Many of those titles were acquired with an eye to the institutional market, and while that is important to us, we’re also looking for books that have an emotional core that kids can connect with, as with Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant’s You Are (Not) Small series, which uses bearlike creatures to examine broad subjects like perspective, fear, perception of perfection on a level that’s very kidlike and full of humor and heart. Another great example is A Home Again by Colleen Kosinski and Valeria Docampo, out this fall, which is from the perspective of a house who closes itself off after its first family moves away, only to rediscover that it can be a home once again.

RVC: Let’s get specific about your job. What’s something about the editing process that might surprise people?

KS: People outside of the industry often think that my work focuses on grammar-​related issues. Thankfully, our terrific copyeditors make me look good in that respect. People are often surprised at how much of my day involves business decisions about our overall list or assessing and participating in new opportunities. Often they’re surprised to hear about the developmental process and how I work with closely with our art director from sketches through to the final artwork.

RVC: People talk all the time about the importance of community for writers and artists. What about community in terms of editors? 

KS: I’ve been fortunate to work with some amazing editors over the course of my career, and lucky to work with some amazing women, in particular, who really lift each other up. But beyond editors, I also work closely with folks from marketing, production, publicity, sales, and various other departments. What I love about the kidlit community is that those connections last, even if you fall out of touch with someone and run into them at a conference (and I’m imagining a post-​pandemic world where that will happen once again).

The publishing community wants the best for each other and that’s a nice thing to be part of professionally.

RVC: Complete the following sentence. Kelsey Skea is an editor who…

KS: …puts her heart—and her pencil—into working with authors and illustrators to make their book the best it can be.

RVC: What are a few of your proudest moments as an editor?

KS: It’s always a thrill to see a book you’ve worked on win an award or receive a great review, but the proudest moments for me are seeing a child’s excitement about a book or character, either in person or in a letter from their caregiver.

RVC: How do you balance the creative side of editing with the business side?

KS: As a publisher, I want to do everything possible to support the success of the books I acquire, so I spend a significant amount of time on the business side looking at the best opportunities for a particular title, whether that’s in terms of publicity, marketing, or placement in some of our programs, in addition to how it fits into the overall list. I work with these teams consistently to experiment and get creative with different ways to give our books exposure.

I spend a lot of time in creative development so the book is the strongest it can be. When possible, I try to group meetings to open up blocks of time when I can focus on a book-​in-​progress. I block out longer chunks of time for significant editing and sign out of email so that I can delve into the work uninterrupted.

RVC: Speaking of the business side of things…it SEEMS like you’re trying to buck the trend of books taking so long to come out. I especially note this with a series—like Dexter T. Rexter or Duck and Hippo—where titles come out without a year or two between them.

KS: We try lots of different approaches at Amazon Publishing in how we publish, including cadence. I always think about how long a child will be passionate about a picture book character before they leap to the next reading level or format. And so much in the way that people consume content now with binge-​viewing, I’ve tried to launch follow-​up picture books quickly so that if a child loves a character, they can read the next book as soon as we can get it to them.

RVC: What are some forthcoming projects you’re excited about?

KS: So many projects! It’s always a special treat to work with debut talent, and I have two titles this year that fall into that bucket: Julius and Macy: A Very Brave Night, a gentle tale of friendship and bravery from author-​illustrator Annelouise Mahoney that is enchantingly illustrated and comes out on April 1st, and Dancing with Daddy, a debut from Anitra Rowe Schulte and established illustrator Ziyue Chen, that tells the story of a girl who uses a wheelchair and communicates through gesture and a book illustrated with pictures that show her dreams of her first father-​daughter dance. I love that it’s a story many young girls can relate to, but coming from an underrepresented point of view.

Also this year, we have a couple of titles that address the importance of community and finding common ground: Hudson and Tallulah Take Sides from Geisel winners Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant, out this May, which features a cat and dog who can’t agree on anything, and Between the Lines from Lindsay Ward, out this fall, about a neighborhood that drifts apart and literally loses its color until a boy takes matters into his own hands.

RVC: I look forward to seeing those books!

But let’s toss a submission-​related bone (or two!) to writers. What are you just not interested in seeing right now?

KS: We’re pretty well covered on turkeys, dinosaurs, monsters, and fractured fairy tales. And no counting books, please!

RVC: And what’s the flip side of that? What kind of submissions would you love to see?

KS: For Two Lions, we’re looking for books from a diverse group of authors and illustrators that have an emotional arc, either driven by a memorable personality or featuring standout writing and illustration. We’re also always looking for seasonal titles.

RVC: One last question for this part of the interview. In all your experience as a picture book editor, what has most surprised you? 

KS: I think what surprises me the most—in a good way—is the sheer reach and impact a picture book can have each time I experience it. I love seeing a child in the UK dressed up as a character from a book I edited, or seeing a child’s reaction to a book knowing it is helping them cope through a difficult time. It’s easy to get a little caught up in my own world, so these moments are always a refreshing surprise that centers me and reminds me why my job is so important.

RVC: Thanks for that! But now it’s time for the SPEED ROUND, Kelsey. That means zippy questions and zoomy answers, please. Are you ready?

KS: So ready!

RVC: Favorite lunchtime pick-​up spot in Midtown? 

KS: When I need to grab a quick lunch, I like the chicken shish at Naya. I’m looking forward to getting some once we’re back at the office. There’s always a line out the door, but it moves quickly.

RVC: You’re caught singing in the shower. What song is it?

KS: Assuming I’m not groggy, maybe a little Zac Brown.

RVC: Biggest time waster?

KS:  Twitter. And pulling information into spreadsheets!

RVC: Five things you can’t do your job without?

KS: Creative thinkers. Outstanding authors and illustrators. A team who is passionate about kidlit. Literary agents. A sense of humor.

RVC: What are some recent non-​Amazon picture books that really caught your attention?

KS: Well, of course all of the Caldecott honorees—such a terrific group this year. Watercress by Andrea Wang and Jason Chin—can’t wait to flip through that. Oona by Kelly DiPucchio and Raissa Figueroa (Raissa is working on a book with us in 2022, We Are One), and The Tree in Me by Corinna Luyken.

I could go on and on, but I’ll stop there.

RVC: Let’s end with a single fave line from a picture book you edited.

KS: “You’ll show them a world that’s bright and true, so ever after, when they think of you, the world will feel full of love … and soft and sweet and new.” This is from World So Wide by Alison McGhee and Kate Alizadeh, and the pairing of Kate’s gorgeous art and Alison’s lovely text gets me every time.

RVC: What a terrific way to end! Thanks so much, Kelsey. It’s always a treat to partner with my friends at Amazon (like we did with Marilyn Brigham a few years back!).

Editor Interview: Melissa Manlove (Chronicle Books)

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This month’s Industry Insider interview is with Chronicle Books senior editor Melissa Manlove. I first met her in Miami back in 2018 when she gave an inspiring one-​day workshop on picture books with Sylvie Frank—I have pages of scribbled notes to prove it! And I’ve been a fan of Melissa’s ever since.

Melissa didn’t go the regular route to a job in the kidlit world. Her college major was Classics, and she also immersed herself in mythology, folklore, Shakespeare, Milton, Chaucer, Hindu religion, poetry, and more. Talk about a wide-​ranging liberal arts education!

Now it’s no secret that I’m a fan of Chronicle books, and Melissa’s own list has too many faves to list here, so I’ll simply limit myself to three really fine picture books that I urge you to read.

Now that we’re all pals with Melissa, let’s chat!

https://twitter.com/mmanlove

https://www.chroniclebooks.com/

RVC: Let’s start by talking about Chronicle. You’ve been there for 16 years. What’s the best thing about working at an independently owned company? 

MM: There’s a lot of trust invested in the people making the books—aside from covers, the book making process is the privilege of a very small group who work with the author and artist, and I think that makes space for the selfhood of the book itself.

RVC: That’s a great phrase–“selfhood of the book.”

Among your various superpowers is an ability to translate Latin and Ancient Greek. How did your college degree in Classics prepare you for a career in kidlit?

MM: I’ve forgotten most of my Greek and Latin, but my studies of those languages, as well as Russian, French, and Spanish really helped to underline that each language has its own rhythms and music. That and the background in mythology have been a help to how I understand story as a performance art.

RVC: How IS story performance art?

MM: Not all story is necessarily performed, but picture books—especially for the younger ages–are most often read aloud, and that requires the author to consider how their text informs performance. In my talks, I point out that all of the clues authors leave that might inform performance add up to voice. Storytelling started before writing, and passed from voice to ear to mind long before there was written history, and it is still in the profoundly human circle of firelight and voice (whether the firelight comes from a screen these days or not) that we remember what it means to have a shared story.

RVC: And there’s a great explanation on why so many editors are deeply concerned with a manuscript’s “voice.” Thanks for that!

Speaking of editors, I’ve got a few students at Ringling College who are interested in that as a career. When I tell them that a shockingly large percentage of an editor’s day is spent handling email and attending meetings, they don’t quite buy it. Care to drop a truth bomb on me/​them/​everyone?

MM: You are so right!

An editor’s job is in the vast majority a communications job—passing and filtering information between designer, production manager, copyeditors, proofreaders, fact-​checkers, sales reps, marketing, author, artist, agents … Editors are meant to be the hub of a wheel of people, and the guardian of what the book is meant to be to all its stakeholders. It means that I actually edit and read submissions on the weekends, mostly.

RVC: Let’s dig a bit deeper into the life of an editor. How many submissions do you see in a week?

MM: 10–15 from agents, another 5–10 from writers’ conferences that I’ve taught at. But Chronicle’s Children’s Division accepts unagented submissions, and of those we get about 200 per week.

RVC: What’s your favorite part of a workday?

MM: Editing is always my favorite—talking to writers about the craft of writing; talking about the infinitely varied path toward finding what a book wants to be.

RVC: Now I’m going to get all complimenty. It’s clear to me that you’re open to nonfiction picture books that avoid the expected approach, which often is cold precision and a sense of linearity and/​or formality. 

Take Josephine, for example. That book delivers facts, but it’s got real heart, too.

MM: True stories fascinate me, but even more fascinating is what makes a story feel true. That’s something you could give many names, and yes—heart is one of those. After all, what’s the point of telling kids about the world if we don’t also communicate why we should care?

RVC: Is it fair to say that Josephine—as well as many of your nonfiction books—fundamentally presents a transformation arc? Is that something you’re looking for in submissions?

MM: Often, yes! Readers love a transformation arc because when we see how a character can change themselves, we know we have that power, too. And changing ourselves is changing the world.

RVC: From looking at what you teach at conferences and at Storyteller Academy, rhyme is something you appreciate (when it’s done well). So, let me ask—how do you know when it’s done well? What do you look for?

MM: Poetry of all kinds is aware of the space it occupies—in its rhythms, in its breaths, in its white space on the page. Some people are more naturally attuned to the way language moves through its music. But every poet becomes familiar with the idea of scansion, whether they decide to use its structure to build something, or break it purposefully.

RVC: What’s the easiest way to help aspiring rhymers understand syllabic vs accentual poetry?

MM: The question is which you are counting to make a poem. Haiku counts syllables. Sonnets count syllables and accented syllables. Mother Goose just counts accented syllables. Take Humpty Dumpty—the first and second lines have a different number of syllables than the third and fourth lines. But all four lines have the same number of accented syllables—beats.

RVC: What are a few of your favorite rhyming books?

MM: I love Bubble Trouble, Go to Sleep Little Farm, Goodnight Moon, All the World, Bad Bye Good Bye, I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More…

And of course I’m very proud of my many rhyming picture books, which include Interstellar Cinderella and its sequels, Mighty Mighty Construction Site and its sequels, You Are New, Water Sings Blue, Green Is a Chile Pepper, and of course parts of Josephine.

Look for Bathe the Cat and It’s So Quiet coming soon!

RVC: Attendees of your SCBWI workshops on picture book voice rave and rave about them. Now, let’s be honest—if we wanted to really go deep into voice, that’d need to be its own interview. But can you share a misconception about voice that gets writers into trouble?

MM: I think the worst misconception is that a great writer has a single voice. That might be true of reporters. But adapting voice to story, character, mood—that’s what storytellers do.

RVC: In all your experience as a kidlit editor, what has surprised you the most?

MM: There are too many to count or rank!

One of the great gifts of this job is how wide a variety of skills it asks of you, and how wide a variety of experiences it offers. I suppose one is that I’m now teaching public speaking—something I feared and loathed for years. There’s a transformation arc for you!

RVC: What was your secret for moving from a state of fear about public speaking to being comfortable teaching it to others?

MM: The psychiatrist Fritz Perls said “fear is excitement without the breath” and that’s the truth—if you can take a breath and get excited about what you fear, the nervous energy before you go on stage becomes the energy you use to reach out to your audience, and to give them something that matters.

RVC: Love it. Thanks for that!

One last question for this part of the interview. You’ve been a bookseller for a long, long time. Do you still do that? And do you still put on puppet shows?

MM: Sadly, my mother (with whom I did the puppet shows) decided to retire from show business, but I still work at a bookstore on the weekend! I love recommending books.

RVC: Alright, Melissa—it’s time for the SPEED ROUND! Lickety-​split questions followed by zappity-​fast answers. Are you ready?

MM: Oh! Really? I—

RVC: What’s a secret talent of yours?

MM: Um. I can recite Ladle Rat Rotten Hut from memory?

RVC: If you had to live inside a picture book world for a day, which book would you choose?

MM: Oh, well, here at the end of 2020 I’m wishing for something cozy. Maybe something by Phoebe Wahl?

RVC: How would you use a 30-​second ad slot at the next Super Bowl?

MM: Probably for an encouragement to reading aloud to kids. Parents give it up too early and too easy, and it makes a huge difference!

RVC: What’s the One That Got Away?

MM: Small in the City. *shakes fist at Neal Porter* (Neal knows I love him)

RVC: Five things you can’t do your job without.

MM: People! That’s who it’s for.

Kids, educators, my friends and colleagues at Chronicle, my brilliant authors and artists, and my own child self.

RVC: Something your authors and illustrators probably say about you.

MM: Oh no. My anxiety and guilt wants to answer “delinquent”—it’s so hard to keep up with this job, especially in a pandemic year. But I guess what I hope I am to my authors and artists is someone who wants their hearts—what’s best and worst about them, what’s true.

RVC: Thanks so much, Melissa. It was great having you come by OPB!

Editor Interview: Kristine Enderle (Magination Press)

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photo credit: Elizabeth Dranitzke

Hello! We’re here today with Kristine Enderle, the Editorial Director of Magination Press. One of the things that intrigues me most is how she came to publishing in such a roundabout way (more on that in a moment!). Her Twitter bio declares her a “full-​time mom, all-​the-​time-​feminist, serious ally, and native Hoosier.” In terms of her publishing career highlights, she offers this sample of titles:

 

Girl: Love, Sex, Romance, and Being You by Karen Rayne (starred review from Publisher’s Weekly; one of Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best Nonfiction Teen books)

 

This Day in June by Gayle Pitman (Stonewall Award winner; ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom’s Top 100 Challenged Books)

 

My Anxious Mind: A Teen’s Guide to Managing Anxiety and Panic by Michael Tompkins and Katherine Martinez (ABCT Self Help Book Seal of Merit Award)

 

Something Happened In Our Town: A  Child’s Guide to Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazard (A New York Times and #1 IndieBound bestseller, A Little Free Library Action Book Club Selection, and an NCSS-​CBC 2019 Notable Social Science Trade Book for Young People)

 

Whew! That’s a great start. But let’s move on to the interview to find out a bit more about Kristine and her career.

RVC: As mentioned in the intro above, you might win the award for most unusual path toward becoming an editor—at least in terms of industry insider interviews here at OPB! You’ve got a BS degree in microbiology (minor in psychology) from Indiana U, right? What kind of career goals did you have back then?

KE: I honestly didn’t have any career goals! I was lucky enough to be allowed to just study whatever I wanted in college! I grew up in an enormous old house (with actual bats in the attic) in the middle of the woods in southern Indiana. There was always something smashed on the road that we could poke at, or strange insects or fungi living on rotting logs. My dad was a doctor and my mom was a nurse, so there were always ongoing conversations about medicine and health in my house.

RVC: That sounds like an awesome way to grow up.

KE: You bet! I grew to love the natural world and naturally (hah!) that flowed into biology coursework. Eventually after taking a microbiology course, my sights were set on what is unseen and I became fascinated by fungus and bacteria and have a sweet spot for infectious diseases.

RVC: After college, you worked as an AIDS research tech for the AIDS Vaccine Development Program at the National Cancer Institute, and then as a tech at Northwestern University’s Lurie Cancer Center. Isn’t the latter position where you started taking classes in writing?

KE: Yes. While working at Northwestern I took fiction writing, linguistics, and communication courses. I needed to move away from lab work to exercise the other side of my brain. I always hung out with English majors and musicians in school, so I finally got to take all those classes I missed as an undergrad.

RVC: What’s the most valuable thing you learned in those writing classes?

KE: That I am NOT a fiction writer! I have so much appreciation for storytellers and creative people now. Plus it’s more fun to be the oddball science nerd in the room than the way-​too-​serious poet.

RVC: What was the learning curve like going from a science researcher to a development editor at Human Kinetics, a sports science textbook publisher in Illinois? 

KE: Between working in the lab and my first publishing gig, I was a Medical & Scientific Affairs manager at the Alzheimer’s Association. This was pre-​Internet, so I wrote newsletters and fact sheets for the general public and answered the phone, fielding a ton of questions from families and caregivers about Alzheimer’s disease. Working there taught me to explain complicated concepts and technical language, so maybe this was what got me from the lab to publishing?

RVC: Sounds like GREAT training to be an editor.

KE: At Human Kinetics as a development editor, I had to look at big picture things in planning a textbook–editing and organization becomes a puzzle to solve as you need to figure out a way to fit and package a ton of information into ways people can understand and into one comprehensive and complete book, visually with photos, diagrams, charts, and graphs. I still do that at Magination. Our books combine science and literature (or evidence-​based information and creative expression) into something that is accessible and interesting to read.

A great example of this is Move Your Mood which is a hoot and teaches readers about how physical movement positively affects mood–there is psychological research to support this. Or Layla’s Luck. People tend to attribute a woman’s or girl’s success as them being lucky and not relating to their smarts, skill, and hard work. Layla takes aim at that.

RVC: Let’s dig a bit deeper into your publishing career. These days, you’re the Editorial Director at Magination Press. How does that compare to being a developmental editor? Writers ask me versions of this all the time—what’s the difference in terms of those roles?

KE: Editorial director really means that I am responsible for editorial strategy and focus of the press and oversee major initiatives, budgets, planning, and staff. But having come up through the ranks, I am still developing and editing and acquiring books because I have a hard time leaving that behind. I am still a senior/​acquiring editor and have a nice group of house authors I have been working with since their debut work. Many authors call me their editor (and that’s the best thing ever!)

RVC: Compare that to the roles of your Magination colleagues, Senior Editor Sarah Fell and Editor Katie Ten Hagen.

KE: Sarah and Katie do all that, minus the planning and overseeing, and have a bunch more books than me to develop. And they work with new authors mostly, and I’m technically their boss!

RVC: Thanks for that!

Now, some people might not realize that Magination Press is connected to the APA (American Psychological Association). How does that work?

KE: APA’s mission is to promote the advancement, communication, and application of psychological science and knowledge to benefit society and improve lives. So what that means for Magination Press is that we share world mental health expertise and psychological knowledge to help kids through rough patches. Some of our books deal with serious issues like depression and anxiety; others are more of those everyday things that bug you or that you may confront sometime during your life. Also just recognizing the sometimes-​tough job of being a kid these days. We want kids and teens to know that we are listening, we see what they are dealing with, and might have something that can help.

I’d like to think that books like Bye Bye Pesky Fly, Lucy’s Light, Jacob’s Room to Choose, and Lulu the One and Only really make a difference in the lives and well-​being of kids.

RVC: Here’s something else that people might be surprised by. Not only do you publish books exclusively for kids (ages 4–18), but you’re putting out 20+ books a year! 

KE: Yeah. We are kind of overachievers that way.

RVC: What’s the common denominator with all your kidlit?

KE: The stories (and nonfiction) really must be grounded in evidence-​based research. It’s true that there is a little bit of psychology in everything, but to be a publication of the American Psychological Association, the work must be based on science and fact. It would be irresponsible otherwise!

RVC: How vital is it that your writers have backgrounds in psychology or the sciences? Or know APA style?

KE: We prefer our authors be psychologists or are mental health professionals, but it’s not a prerequisite. If an author doesn’t have those credentials, we will hire a psychologist to write the endmatter/​readers note (to provide the psychological context for the story). Also all of our books are reviewed by our editorial advisory board that is made up of child psychologists. They act as peer reviewers and comment on the accuracy and relevancy of the psychological content and whether the coping strategies have merit.

Extra points for folks using APA Style/​Pub Manual 7!

RVC: Let’s say you publish a picture book on depression and so, too, does a NYC press. What are some of the likely differences in how a Magination picture book covers a topic like that? 

KE: Reviewed and vetted by the American Psychological Association, maybe?

RVC: That’s a key distinction, for sure.

Now, you just signed When Nana Dances, a picture book by Jane Yolen and her granddaughter about the relationship between children and grandparents, and how dance can be at its core. This isn’t as clear of an “issue book” as some of your others. Why did you have to snatch this one up?

KE: Because Jane Yolen!

No, really it’s a joyful celebration that combats ageism and models mentally healthy and happy intergenerational relationships. You know that emotional stress can speed up aging at the cellular level. So, this is stress-​relief and mental wellness at its core!

RVC: Your press is always at the trade shows—in fact, that’s how I learned about it. I chatted with one of your sales reps at BEA (Book Expo America) at the Javits Center in NYC a couple years ago, and I was impressed by the quality of the books and topics covered. 

KE: Thank you! You can find us all over, from the Bologna Children Book Fair to the Texas Library Association annual meeting to National Council for Teachers of English. We also attend psychological conferences like American Counseling Association, and of course APA’s Annual Convention.

RVC: For people considering writing for your press, what’s the most important thing they should know or understand?

KE: Despite our serious and sensitive topics, we love humor, humility, and honesty. Not sure what that means exactly for books… might speak more to who we are and our community of authors and illustrators we take up with.

Otherwise a couple things come to mind:

  • Do your research. Before submitting a proposal, please review our catalog: we don’t repeat topics year after year and are unlikely to acquire new titles on already-​covered topics.
  • Keep it universal. We are not interested in autobiography, reflections on childhood, or personal stories about family members, pets, or friends. Keep the appeal wide and general and keep the focus on interesting characters and good storytelling. Be careful with first-​person narrative. Good stories and excellent topics can sour with unrealistic, adult-​sounding, or dated dialog.

RVC: In all your experience with editing picture books, what has most surprised you?

KE: Just how many books I have signed after just reading the cover letter. Another book hooked me immediately with its proposed title–There’s a Cat in My Class!

RVC: One final question for this part of the interview. Your Twitter bio says you’re a “part-​time troublemaker.” Care to support that impressive claim with evidence?

KE: I live in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Washington, DC. Marching and protesting is what we do!

RVC: Okay, Kristine. We’ve now reached the SPEED ROUND. Speedy questions and even faster answers. Ready?

KE: Ready!

RVC: “If I didn’t have a career in publishing or science, I’d be…”

KE: A park ranger!

RVC: Fave secret lunch spot in DC?

KE: Indigo!

RVC: If you could be any picture book character for a day, who would it be?

KE: Nancy Drew!

RVC: Something that’s on your picture book wish list?

KE: A book about a whale.

RVC: An underappreciated Magination picture book that you simply adore?

KE: Underappreciated? I’m a huge fan of King Calm: Mindful Gorilla in the City. But I also adore our more recent relatively unknown activity book, How Do You Doodle: Drawing Your Feelings and Emotions.

RVC: The one must-​have for every picture book you acquire?

KE: A good pun or a dog.

RVC: Thanks so much, Kristine!

Editor Interview: Amy Novesky (Cameron Kids)

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Hold on to your collective literary hats, folks, because this month’s Industry Interview subject—Amy Novesky, the Children’s Book Editor + Director @ Cameron Kids—said “I would love to have some fun” with this interview.

Challenge accepted, Amy.

She also pointed out that while she enjoyed the OPB interview I did with her friend Abigail Samoun, her own life “is not nearly as exciting.”

Implied challenge also accepted, Amy.

So, to get things off on the right foot, let’s begin with a semi-​biographical free association thing. I’ll start a sentence, you finish it. Ready, Amy?

  • If Netflix is the answer, the question is… 
    • what do you waste time endlessly scrolling?
  • If Sausalito were a sandwich, the right condiment for it would be… 
  • When I was a child, my least-​favorite crayon color was… 
    • the broken one.
  • A penguin walks into your room right now, and it’s wearing a tuxedo because it… 
    • clearly is a character from a picture book.
  • The only thing more important than giving a child a book is… 
    • teaching him how to cook dinner.

Whew, we’re off to a great start. I think we’re ready for the regular interview now. Sound good?

So, let me offer up a few URLs of note, then let’s get to the interview.

RVC: As an editor and writer, you’ve been involved with making kidlit books for two decades. Are you a writer who edits, an editor who writes? Or do you have some other way of thinking about it entirely? 

AN: Both, depending on the day. But I think of myself as a writer first, always. Writer is who I am, editor is what I do.

RVC: Then let’s talk about writing first!

One of the clear throughlines in your own books is your affection for creative folks–Georgia O’Keeffe (Georgia in Hawaii), Frida Kahlo (Me, Frida), and Imogen Cunningham (Imogen: The Mother of Modernism and Three Boys), to name just a few. How conscious of a thing is that? 

AN: I do have a thing for women artists—especially painters. And I have consciously wondered why, and made the connection to my mom who paints, and to our ancestors, a large family of artists called the Peales, who were known for their early American portraits. My great (x4) grandfather, Raphaelle, painted still lifes; he was the rebel of the family. So maybe the artist/​portrait/​still life gene got passed down to me, and manifests in words, instead of paint.

RVC: That’s such a cool story.

AN: I am drawn to the arts, and to artists, because I have always been in awe of one who can paint, play the piano, dance, sing. What an amazing life. For me it’s not just the art but the way these artists lived their lives like works of art. Frida was a walking canvas.

Incidentally, one of the things that connects almost all of the artists I have written about is flowers, which, I also love: Georgia’s giant red poppies, the flowers Frida wore in her hair, the signature gardenia Billie wore behind her ear. The magnolia flower Imogen photographed close-​up. And, all of these artists, Louise Bourgeois included, were especially bad ass. Imogen, was probably the most bad ass of all: she managed to be an artist and make art, while raising three boys. That’s what my book, Imogen: The Mother of Modernism and Three Boys, is about.

RVC: Speaking of your books, let’s examine the launch of your picture book author career. What’s the story of that first book?

AN: I wrote Elephant Prince after a trip to India. Among the many things that amazed me was this elephant-​headed god named Ganesh. Who was he? And why did he have the head of an elephant? The story is also, simply, the story of a mother who longs for a child, which was something I could relate to; my son, Quinn, was born a year after the book published.

RVC: You just had another picture book come out this month—Girl on a Motorcycle. Congrats on that! What’s your 20-​second pitch for the book?

AN: Thank you!

Girl with a good job in Paris, leaves it all, jumps on a motorcycle, carries only the essentials (pocket knife, tarp, anti-​diarrheal, eyeliner, bikini, paper & pen …), rides around the world—from France, through Canada to Alaska…to India and Afghanistan…—breaks down, fixes bike, falls, gets back up, finds the world is beautiful and good, writes about it, returns home.

RVC: And all in one sentence, too? Consider me grammatically wowed!

I’m curious. Like the unnamed young Parisian in this story, have you ever dreamed “to go Elsewhere”? 

AN: Every day.

RVC: Don’t we all, right? Even before the COVID world we now live in. [sigh]

What was the biggest challenge you faced when creating this book?

AN: Not being fluent in French (despite—I’m appalled to admit—15 years of studying it in school). Luckily Anne-​France Dautheville, the subject of Girl On a Motorcycle, speaks decent and, comment dit-​on, colorful English. But I would love to be able to talk with her and read her books in French. When I visited her at her home outside of Paris, I felt tongue-​tied, in addition to totally jet-​lagged. Not the best combo for meeting and interviewing your heroine.

RVC: Well, if you ever want help with French, let me know. I am très good at it! (Spoiler–I might be overstating this a bit. “Très” might be the only thing I actually recall from my Ph.D. crash-​course semester in French.)

Moving on–what do you most admire about Julie Morstad’s accompanying artwork for your book Girl On a Motorcycle?

AN: I’ve been a fan of Julie’s work for some time, and she immediately came to mind for this book for her exquisite illustrations, her stylish characters, her sublime palette, which, in this book—beginning with those gorgeous sunset colors on the cover; the coppery brown, uncoated, separate ends; and the muted, earthy and airy hues throughout—takes my breath away.

RVC: Let’s switch gears to your work as an editor. What fulfills you most about that type of work?

AN: Working with words, and in a form that is so distilled, poetic and visual. And, because I am an equally visual person, looking for and working with illustrators and artists.

RVC: How did you get the editing bug?

AN: I’ve been writing since I could write. I studied poetry in college and got a masters in writing, with a focus on short story. It’s hard to make a living writing poetry and short stories, and so I went to work for a publishing house. When I didn’t get the fiction editorial assistant job, I applied to the other editor job that was open: children’s editorial assistant. I fell in love with the picture book form and discovered it was a really good fit for me, and I’ve been doing it since.

RVC: What was the most memorable thing about working for Chronicle Books, where you got that first job in editing?

AN: Living and working in San Francisco in my 20s, making beautiful books, and, the people—many of whom are still close friends, and some I even work with (2 of the 12 Cameron employees worked at Chronicle).

RVC: What was the first picture book you acquired there?

AN: Oh boy. The Go Go Dogs, about two dogs who travel the world, a consistent theme for me. It’s got to be about 3000 words and was clearly influenced by my love of Maira Kalman.

And then there was Isabelle and the Angel, illustrated by Georg Hallensleben, a French buy-​in about an art-​loving pig who falls in love with an angel in a painting at a museum. She loves him so much she becomes a security guard so she can be near him all night. I know, it’s a little odd. But the art is so gorgeous! I have a soft spot for esoteric French picture books, what can I say. The English-​language edition is, sadly, out of print, but I did fairly recently find the original book on the bookstore shelf at the Musée D’Orsay.

RVC: A few years back, you left Chronicle and ended up acquiring titles for two presses at once. How did that happen?

AN: I left my job in 2000 to write and raise a son, and I have been a freelance editor since. Being a freelancer can be tough. I’ve had many many jobs over the years—some I wish I never took and at least one, like my stint at Pixar, which was great fun. Such is the life of a freelancer.

RVC: Tell me about it! My up-​to-​date resume is 40+ pages long to accommodate all the people/​company I’ve worked with over 20+ years of being a writer. 

AN: I started working for Cameron + Company, beginning in 2010, book-​by-​book, and then helped launch their children’s book imprint in 2015. Still, it was only part-​time. When Creative Editions, another small, family-​owned press, offered me part-​time work acquiring for their list, I couldn’t turn it down. Living in the Bay Area on a freelance editor’s income is not easy. Luckily, I was able to do the latter from home, and the two lists are aesthetically different so, creatively, it worked out. I left Creative in February to focus on growing Cameron Kids. And, as of September 1, 2020, I can report that I am a full-​time employee of Abrams, New York, which acquired Cameron + Company.

In short, yes, we editors often wear many hats.

RVC: Why is this super-​new role at Cameron + Company (congrats on that!!) such a good fit for you?

AN: To be the editorial director of a beautiful, thoughtful, well-​curated list of books I helped create; to work with people I respect and adore; and now to be a west coast division of a major New York publishing house, whom I also adore (and who published two of my books: Me, Frida and Cloth Lullaby), is a dream job. It was a long time coming, a lot of hard work, patience, and literal blood, sweat and tears, and I couldn’t be happier.

RVC: What’s the most common misconception about picture book editors?

AN: That we like children. Just kidding!

RVC: Who or what has influenced you most as an editor?

AN: I will give you a who and a what.

RVC: Way to overdeliver!

AN: Who: Victoria Rock at Chronicle Books. I learned so much, mostly from typing up her long, handwritten letters to authors and illustrators.

What: traveling the world. The places I’ve been and have lived and loved—India, Mexico, Paris, New York, Southern California, San Francisco, Kauai—influence my books.

RVC: How do picture books create an opportunity for adult readers to be present with kids?

AN: A picture book is a beautiful, tactile object. It takes time to turn a page, to read the words, to stop and define a difficult word or concept or two. One misconception about picture books is that they are simplistic, but they can be quite sophisticated and profound. The best books stop time, allow you to be present, and isn’t that what we strive for with our kids?

RVC: Well said, Amy. 

Let me ask an industry question. I’m hearing mixed answers these days. Is COVID making things better or worse for writers? Some argue that editors working from home are able to get more done. Some argue that editors working from home are just as swamped as ever, or even more so. What’s been your experience? And what have you seen/​heard from colleagues?

Amy’s home office in March 2020.
Amy’s home office in September 2020.

AN: For me, despite it all, I have been incredibly lucky. I have space. I live in a beautiful place. I have work and I can work from home. My son is old enough now to manage his online schooling and make a sandwich. And so, while I’ve surely gone through as many pandemic phases as stages of grief—from the urgency of it in those first few months, to heaviness and depression and rage, to a measure of acceptance, to moments of stillness and creativity–I’m doing okay, getting work done, chasing new books, even writing a new story or two.

But I know many people, friends and colleagues, who are struggling to do it all. It’s a lot. And here in California, we have pandemic + wildfires + smoke + heat + power outages, and there’s always a few earthquakes rattling about. September has been a particularly harrowing and heartbreaking month. When I can get to the office, 1⁄2 hour north, I keep a go-​bag, a 7‑gallon jug of water, and masks for multiple emergencies, in my car.

2020 is making us all bad ass.

RVC: Bad ass, indeed!

Circling back now to your work as a bad-​ass picture book author—you’ve got an author trailer on your website. Not a book trailer, but an AUTHOR one. So cool! Where’d you get that idea? 

AN: I have a good friend who is a talented documentary filmmaker, and she and the co-​founder of her company generously offered to make a short film about me. I am super camera-​shy, so it was pretty excruciating for me, which is probably apparent in the pained look on my face. That and I’m not great at promoting myself and my work. And so I am so grateful to have such a beautiful piece in my portfolio. It’s at least 10 years old at this point, but the heart of it is still current.

RVC: How have people responded to it?

AN: I’ve gotten some really nice feedback.

RVC: Rightly so. It’s terrific.

AN: Thank you!

RVC: One last question for this first part of the interview. Craziest thing that ever happened re: a school visit you did?

AN: Okay, I’ve got a good one for you. On my way to a book event at a school an hour from my house, it was first thing in the morning, rush hour, I’d drunk a pot of coffee, and there was traffic, I was running late, hundreds of elementary kids were waiting for me, and, I had to go to the bathroom really really, like painfully, badly; I wasn’t going to make it. I pulled the car over as soon as I got off the freeway, jumped out and peed in a bush. I’m guessing some homeowner has probably got some good security footage of this children’s book author squatting on their property.

RVC: This from the lady who said her life wasn’t all that exciting! OMG! 

Regardless, it’s your time to shine, Amy, because it’s the…LIGHTNING ROUND! Electrifyingly fast questions and shockingly quick answers, please. Are you ready?

AN: Let’s do this.

RVC: Smurfs, fraggles, or trolls—most underappreciated not-​so-​tall creatures in pop culture?

AN: Fraggles.

RVC: Best place in Sausalito for a slice of California pizza?

AN: My house. When the sourdough starter stars align.…

But there’s also Sandrino on Caledonia Street!

RVC: What’s the One That Got Away?

AN: Parker Looks Up.

RVC: The responsibility of the picture book writer is…

AN: To write well.

RVC: Recent picture book biography you wish you’d thought of first.

AN: The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown.

RVC: The three most important characteristics that lead to picture book success.

AN: An authentic voice, a compelling story, and a Hell Yes manuscript (Cameron Kids’ motto).

RVC: Thanks so much, Amy. And not that anyone’s keeping score, but I think I won on both counts regarding our challenges. Fun and excitement was indeed had by all. 100% of my pre-​pub focus group of 2 agree.

So, thanks for sharing a bit of your literary journey with us today. It was great having you stop by OPB. Best of luck with the new book, too!

Editor Interview: Sarah Rockett (Sleeping Bear Press)

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The September 2020 Insider Interview is with…Sarah Rockett!

She’s an Editor for Sleeping Bear Press as well as for Cherry Lake Publishing and 45th Parallel school and library imprints. OPB knows all about her work because we’ve recently covered books she edited: Winged Wonders: Solving the Monarch Migration Mystery, Nature’s Friend: The Gwen Frostic Story, and The Boy Who Grew a Forest. (Yep—we enjoy Sleeping Bear books here at OPB!)

She’s a Michigan person through and through, and these days, she lives outside Ann Arbor with a husband, a son, and a cocker spaniel. And a whole bunch of books, one imagines!

Let’s get to the interview to learn a bit more about all Sarah does!

RVC: You earned a degree in journalism from Boston University. What turned you from a life of newspaper/​magazine writing toward the editorial side of things?

SR: News and magazine writing ultimately felt too fast paced for me. I found that I enjoyed spending more time on the text I was working with—to really be careful with language and more creative. I didn’t love the pressure of a news cycle.

RVC: What was your favorite piece of journalism you ever wrote?

SR: I did the Semester at Sea study abroad program in college and ended up writing a handful of pieces for my hometown newspaper while I was traveling. They were writer-​at-​large type stories—and rightfully buried in the paper—but they were a lot of fun to research and write.

RVC: Sounds like a nautically cool time! I wish I’d investigated such interesting off-​campus experiences like that as an undergrad.

Now, working in NY publishing is the dream for many. What were some of the unexpected benefits/​joys of being part of it?

SR: The big budgets were great. Knowing you had some frontlist “season makers” like a new Llama Llama book by Anna Dewdney or the latest John Green YA, as well as a really strong backlist with a good number of classics, meant we could take some additional risk with other projects. The publishing community in NYC was also really wonderful. I was always running into people from other companies—and it was really nice to talk with them about issues facing the industry and trends.

RVC: What was the biggest issue facing the industry at that time?

SR: When I was with Penguin, ebooks were just really taking off and it was so interesting to see how the industry was feeling out the best way to work with the technology. For adult books, the link to ebook is easy/​obvious. But for children’s books, there are so many more issues around the benefits of books vs ebooks. Many ebook developers wanted to include a lot of interactive features and animations–which can be great, but when does it become a game or cartoon and no longer a book? I don’t think the industry (or consumers) have figured it out yet, but it was really interesting to be in the hub of publishing when the initial ebook frenzy started.

RVC: If you had to summarize the most important thing you’ve learned about editing books for children, what would it be?

SR: I think brevity and specificity are the two most important elements to creating wonderful picture books. There’s something magical about leaving space in the text for a child’s imagination. And if you’re keeping text really tight, you have to be sure each word is working really hard for you—it has to mean exactly what you want it to mean.

RVC: About seven years ago, you left NY publishing and worked as a freelance writer/​project manager for ProQuest  for a year. 

SR: When I moved back to Michigan, there weren’t a lot of children’s publishing companies to work with. In fact, there’s exactly one in about a 500-​mile radius—Sleeping Bear Press. Working freelance let me keep my skills fresh while I nudged the owner of Sleeping Bear about an informational interview and waited for a position to open.

RVC: In 2013, you landed that coveted job. What were some of the differences between working at Sleeping Bear versus a large outfit like Puffin/​Penguin Young Readers?

SR: I love working with a smaller company. The doors to the owner and publisher are always open for questions and advice. And I love that there aren’t a ton of steps to project approval. If I’m passionate about a title or project, I can generally make my case to the owner or acquisition group and then move forward. There aren’t a lot of corporate hoops to jump through—which I think allows the editors (and everyone) to be more creative.

RVC: Let’s talk submissions. I know you like timely hooks (which right now probably means diversity, social justice, environmentalism, etc.), but it strikes me that Sleeping Bear leans toward picture books well-​suited to solid educational backmatter. Would you rather see a great-​for-​the-​classroom book, or one that’s a total laugh-​out-​loud good time?

SR: I don’t think I can choose! I really love working on books that have something important to say—whether that’s a biography of someone previously overlooked in history or a story that encourages kids to reduce their plastic waste, etc.—but books that are just pure fun are a delight! Truly funny, laugh-​out-​loud books are so hard to write, so they can be few and far between.

RVC: How many submissions do you see in a month?

SR: Probably 50–100.

RVC: What percentage of those is agented?

SR: I would guess about 20 percent of those are agented or submitted directly from an author I have a relationship with—the rest come in via email submissions per the guidelines on our website.

RVC: Help us understand what Sleeping Bear is really all about. What three picture books really capture the representative spirit of your press’ aesthetic and creative philosophy?

SR: The Legend of Sleeping Bear for its regional hook and unparalleled art. Memoirs of a Goldfish, which is funny and heartfelt. Winged Wonders: Solving the Monarch Migration Mystery, which is a great classroom title with really strong trade crossover—and the illustrations are just so lovely.

And I have to add A Boy Like You—a story with a really important social emotional message.

RVC: It’s interesting that you mention Memoirs of a Goldfish, because that’s how I learned about your press. I was at Book Expo America in NYC back in 2010 or so, and that book was a giveaway from your press. My kids enjoyed it so much that we eventually picked up the sequels–witness the photographic evidence (minus the Elf and Parrot ones, which my kids have hidden somewhere special, and they won’t share where)!

SR: Oh gosh! I love coincidences like that!

RVC: In many ways the publishing world is a small one, and kids really latch onto their favorites.

Back to the regularly scheduled interview…I’ve heard that you appreciate when an author sells themselves in a pitch letter. But there’s the flip side, which is when a not-​yet-​debut author might say, “Hey, I’m going to be the next Jane Yolen, only faster!” What are some examples of how to manage the middle ground between self-​promotion (the good version) versus SELF-​PROMOTION (the icky version)?

SR: It’s important for editors to have the facts on our authors. So writing groups you’re involved with, social media platforms, relevant professional experience, existing school or conference presentations, etc. But authors should stay away from subjective and/​or grandiose claims. If you/​your story is as good as you think it is (i.e. “the next Where the Wild Things Are”), we’ll see it—don’t force it on editors.

RVC: Great advice. And speaking of advice, what do you say about art notes?

SR: In general, I strongly advise against them. A submitting author’s goal is to have the acquiring editor feel personally and passionately about their story. It’s hard to feel an attachment to a story if every other line the author is telling you what you’re seeing. The beauty of publishing a picture book is that everyone involved brings something to the project (author, editor, illustrator, and designer) that makes it stronger. Let editors have that moment to really be engaged in the story.

RVC: One final question for this part of the interview. Rumor has it that you’re a mega-​fan of Gwen Frostic. Actual news or fake news?

SR: Yes! Love her. I grew up with her art and going to her studio in Northern Michigan—I even met her a couple time before she passed and I have a tattoo of one of her pieces!

When I received the submission for Nature’s Friend, I was SO floored!

RVC: Alrighty, it’s time for the Lightning Round! And that means the questions are zippy, the answers are zappy, and the fun is totally electrified. Are you ready?

SR: Let’s do it!

RVC: Which picture book character would you love to be for a day?

SR: Hannah, from Hannah’s Tall Order. She’s got an appetite and knows what she wants.

RVC: Best place in Northern Michigan to get a cherry pie?

SR: King Orchards on US-​31.

RVC: Pick a theme song for where your life is at right now.

SR: “You’ve Got a Friend” by James Taylor.

RVC: What’s your dream project?

SR: Something lyrical and important.

RVC: Favorite non-​Sleeping-​Bear picture book of 2020 (so far)?

SR: Your Name Is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-​Bigelow.

RVC: Three words that sum up what picture books mean to you?

SR: Growing little minds.

RVC: Thanks so much, Sarah! Next time I’m up in Ann Arbor, the Vernors ginger ale is on me!