What I Learned; What the Kids Learned by Dianne Salerni

I’ve been sharing stories of My Adventures in Publishing with my fifth grade classes ever since my first book was published – well, even before that – back before anything I wrote even came close to getting published. But this year was different.

In September, I told my students what I was working on – the story of a boy who discovers an extra day between Wednesday and Thursday and a mysterious girl hiding in the house next door who exists only on that secret day. They went nuts for the idea and wanted me to read it to them, but I declined, because I had written it as a YA story and there were inappropriate bits.

But they kept clamoring for the story, and when my agent got back to me and told me how much she loved the manuscript – BUT she thought it really ought to be written for MG – I knew immediately that she was right. Revisions commenced at once, and I hesitantly agreed to read the new version to my class when it was ready. This would be the first time I’d ever read one of my manuscripts to a class, and I was extremely nervous – even worried that parents might complain I was hawking my books. (This was not the case. Parents told me how excited their children were to getting a privileged peek at the book.)

The sale came in October, after an email from HarperCollins that arrived right before my last class of the day and stunned me to the point where I could barely teach. I shared the basics with my students – the 3 book deal, the enthusiastic compliments from the editor – but I also admitted I was nervous. Certain changes were mentioned in the offer, and I told the class, “I’m not sure if I’ll like these revisions.”

One of my students raised his hand. “Didn’t you tell us you already made a lot of revisions and ended up loving them all?” he asked. And he was right, of course. I had told them that, and furthermore, it was true. I could have hugged him.

I learned right then that students actually listen to what I say. They believe me. And they can even repeat back my own words exactly when I need to hear them. They root for me, and they believe in me. Needless to say, I completed those requested revisions, and LOVED them.

A couple days ago, I asked my students what they learned from following this book’s path to publication this year. Here’s what they said:

1. It takes a long, long time for a book to get published. Too long!!! (They have already seen a sneak peek at the proposed cover design and can’t believe the release date is still over a year away.)

2. You have to revise and revise and revise. Sometimes you have to revise things you don’t want to revise, but then you’ll probably like the changes anyway.

3. You don’t get to have your book just the way you want it. You have to collaborate with your editors and everybody else at your publisher.

4. The author doesn’t say what goes on the cover.

5. You have to have patience, time, and a tough skin, because people might criticize and say hurtful things about your book.

6. You don’t just send your book in to a publisher and they publish it. Sometimes they say no.

And perhaps the most important one …

7. You may be the teacher who tells us when we make mistakes, but when you are the author you make mistakes, too.

The Secret Lives of Our Books by Chris Eboch

As writers, we spend endless one-on-one time with our manuscripts. We know everything about them. A few critique partners may read the work; we may talk about it with some friends and family members. But we control the story, we know exactly what’s happening and when, the way a devoted new parent may know their infant’s every smile and burp.

But eventually, this thing you’ve birthed goes out into the world. You hope it will make friends, that others will love it the way you do and treat it well. You hope, perhaps secretly, that it will do something remarkable. Be important. Become a star.

For a while you can hold its hand. You can guide it through the torturous world of submissions, and fight for its integrity with the publisher (while letting those teachers groom it for even greater success).

But if all goes well, eventually you must step away. Like a parent sending a child off to college, a writer releasing a published book has to let go. You cross your fingers, say a prayer, give it a kiss, and try not to let your anxiety show. You’ve done your best to raise something strong and wonderful. Hopefully you’ve given your baby the tools to survive and even thrive. That doesn’t mean you’ll never hear bad news (or bad reviews), but you hope for the best.

And before you know it, this thing that was all yours belongs to the world. It’s off living its own life. You may only learn about its activities by chance.

Author Christine Kohler says, “It hit me that these books take on a life of their own when I discovered my first fiction series, the Growing Up Christian series for ages 5-9, published by Concordia in 1985, were being referenced by other authors in ‘at risk’ books for educators. To this day it amazes me where those books are located and sold. When I was looking at an Australian site one of those books was listed under my name and listed ‘At Luther Campus.’”

We hear reports on our literary progeny from surprising places. I got an e-mail recently from a friend in Montana who said he was talking about me to someone who thought The Well of Sacrifice sounded familiar. Sure enough, his niece had read it and loved it! I discovered that the book is an option in the homeschooling curriculum from a homeschooling mother who comes to our local SCBWI schmoozes. A Facebook acquaintance mentioned that a Gallup, New Mexico library has the book.

“I recently googled Wellspring of Magic,” Jan Fields says. “It was [just a] little fantasy novel for kids. But I’ve seen a Facebook group dedicated to it. I’ve seen Sims3 challenges based on it. I’ve seen book reports done on it, both a couple written and one in the form of a little podcast. I have gotten an amazing amount of fan mail from it. And I recently checked World Cat and saw this long list of libraries that are holding a copy. All of this astounds me. I wrote the thing as work-for-hire, and it went on to generate all this stuff.”

We can’t control which of our books are most popular. My biggest seller, according to BookScan sales data now available through Amazon’s Author Central, is Milton Hershey: Young Chocolatier, written under the name M. M. Eboch. It isn’t my favorite of my titles, but I’ve gotten fan mail for it. An acquaintance said her grandson liked it so much he bought a copy for his teacher. I can’t complain, but I feel like a parent whose “average” child made the Dean’s list while the “smart one” is struggling.

We may never know all the things our books are doing without telling us. I’ve found out teachers are using The Well of Sacrifice with their kids when the teacher e-mails me to request lesson plans. When I got invited to do a school visit, I discovered that the entire Elizabeth, New Jersey school district was using the book for all fourth-grade classes when they teach the Maya. I’ll never know exactly who is reading the book, or how it’s being used. But it delights me to know that my baby, birthed way back in 1999, has gone on to visit so many people, to teach, to entertain, and – dare I say it? – sometimes even to be loved.

 Chris Eboch‘s novels for ages nine and up include The Eyes of Pharaoh, a mystery in ancient Egypt; The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan adventure; and the Haunted series, which starts with The Ghost on the Stairs. Her book Advanced Plotting helps writers fine-tune their plots. Learn more at www.chriseboch.com or her Amazon page, or check out her writing tips at her Write Like a Pro! blog.

Chris also writes for adults under the name Kris Bock. Kris Bock writes action-packed romantic suspense involving outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. Read excerpts at www.krisbock.com or visit her Amazon page. 

700 Reader Contest Extravaganza!

Hello, you good-looking readers!!! 

In honor of us reaching our 700th Project Middle-Grade Mayhem reader, Project Mayhem will soon be hosting a celebratory contest!  Why else would we have the Project Mayhem DJ cat laying down the hot tracks?

The contest will have fantabulous prizes of:

Author and agent query critiques!
Agent phone call! Yes, a real live phone call with an agent!!
Author and Agent 10 page manuscript critiques!
Illustrator portfolio critiques (yes, we have illustrators covered too!)
Lots of new middle-grade books and ARCs for your reading pleasure!!

A NEW CAR!!

(Disclaimer: the new car is a lie and will not be awarded.)

But....

WE NEED YOU!!! 

The more followers we can get by Thursday the 31st when the contest takes off the more prizes for you! Get us past--and we mean way past--the 700 mark, so we can offer as many prizes as possible! We are so thankful for our growing readership and we want to do everything within our power to give you what you want!

Now then, let's not go over the deep end, but what's a cool prize you'd like to see that maybe we haven't thought of? Let's us know, maybe we can swing it!!

Last, but not least, please help us spread the word about this contest!! Share on facebook, twitter, absolutewrite, Google, and whatever other social media site you tend to stalk!

WE WANT THIS CONTEST TO BE
BIG

Thoughts, questions, ideas????
Let us know, and please, spread the word!! 

An Interview with Polly Holyoke, Author of THE NEPTUNE PROJECT

Polly Holyoke - THE NEPTUNE PROJECT
Disney Hyperion and Puffin Books UK
May 21, 2013

What inspired you to write this story?
I’ve often wondered where our species would go if we so totally foul up the land of our planet that we render it unlivable. It’s always seemed logical to me that eventually we would try to live in our oceans. After all, five-sixths of our planet is covered by seas. But first we would need to figure out a few small technical problems… such as how to breathe water! Genetic engineering takes care of that challenge very conveniently for the characters in THE NEPTUNE PROJECT.

What was your publication process like from initial idea to sale?
I was fortunate to have a relatively quick trip for this particular project. I wrote ten chapters and started marketing a proposal for THE NEPTUNE PROJECT, and my agent’s assistant wrote back shortly after Sterling Lord Literistic received it. He said they wanted to see the rest of the novel RIGHT AWAY. The funny thing was, I had completed six children’s novels before this one, and they asked to see the one novel in my closet that I hadn’t completed! I wrote and wrote and had the whole of the story finished four months later. Then I had a nail-biter of a fall waiting to hear if the main agent liked it, and HE DID! He sat down and read it in a day, and he staged an auction for it a week later. Then he pulled off another wonderful coup and sold the book to Puffin Books UK, so I started off with a foreign sale. I still can’t quite believe I’m getting paid twice for the same work, and that kids in the Commonwealth countries around the world are going to be reading my books!

What books shaped you as a reader and writer, from childhood to present?
I have always loved fantasy and science fiction. I read lots of C.S. Lewis and J. R.R. Tolkien, and later I loved Ann McCaffrey’s dragon books. I think reading so many books with excellent world-building in them helped me to understand how important that aspect of science fiction is.

What is one thing people misunderstand/tend to misunderstand about science fiction?
Sometimes sci/fi authors have incredible premises, cool technology and non-stop action, but the very best sci/fi, in my opinion, includes unforgettable characters. THE HUNGER GAMES works so well because Katniss is such a strong and well-developed character with plenty of issues and flaws.

Are you working on anything new?
I recently completed Book 2 in the Neptune series for Puffin UK, and I’m hoping they’ll want a third book which I already have plotted. But in the meantime, I’m always jotting down ideas for new stories. I sometimes wonder if the creative well might run dry for me, but somehow my subconscious is most obliging and new concepts and premises keep bubbling up!



Thank you, Polly, for joining us today! Best of luck with your debut.

Using new settings to refresh your story, by Yahong Chi

I was in the midst of revising my current middle-grade novel when one of my beta readers gave me a piece of feedback I found enlightening. In essence, she suggested I move my protagonist to a new location and have the next plot-related event happen there. Instead of returning to the same locale, my characters could interact in, and with, a whole new setting.

This struck home in so many ways. Why? Because a well-developed new setting introduces variety; allows different character traits to develop; provides potential plot fodder; and, finally, is just plain fun to write!

It would be impossibly monotonous if your contemporary middle-grade protagonist moved from home to school and back again for the entirety of the novel, wouldn't it? Not to mention it wouldn't be very realistic. Introducing a new setting can give your world more texture and make it feel more complete. This also has the bonus of making the scene a little harder to predict, especially if you've established certain routines in other settings (e.g. get nagged at by mom at home).

People act and think differently in different places, and this can be a powerful tool in developing your characters by showing, not telling. If your protagonist is shy at school, for example, a local soccer field may be the perfect place for her or him to let their confidence grow, which could then contribute to their overall character arc. Or contrast how your outgoing social butterfly is confident when helping tutor kids at a Kumon facility but feels small and inadequate when shopping at a big mall—and why. By having your characters interact with the setting, you can show facets of their personalities in different but potent ways.

The discovery of new places is always exciting, even if it's just a hidden grove of trees in an otherwise urban city; or it could be a new planet in a sci-fi novel that sparks the entire plot. Whatever the level, introducing a new setting always comes loaded with the potential of moving the plot forward. Clues or hints can be dropped, and clandestine meet-ups can be planned. Or, conversely, epic battles could take place there, or your worst nightmare could come true. Because of the shift in setting, possibilities open themselves up in all directions.

Finally, I don't know about you, but starting a scene in a new location is always a jolt of fun for me! I get to wind new bits of description into the narration, then figure out how these characters I've created are going to react. I get to explore the new paths offered by this setting and have character relationships develop in very interesting ways in the new locale. All in all, the new setting provides a feeling of freshness, an optimistic sort of "I-haven't-tried-this-yet-so-I-haven't-messed-up-on-it-yet!" feeling.

Of course, new settings should be as well-developed as possible, and too many locations can end up confusing the reader. As always, it's all about balance. So whenever you feel like you might be suffering from writer's block, or you can't decide how to move forward, try creating a new setting.

What do you think? Do you use your settings in this way?