The Children's Publishing Business...

It has been a big week in Children’s Publishing! 

First up Tools of Change Bologna followed by the Bologna  Children's Book Fair and then Spinning Tales....

Where, oh where, to begin.

I’ll go backwards.

Spinning Tales brought together over 115 Children’s writers and Illustrators from around the country to Auckland for the second National Conference of New Zealand Children’s Writers and Illustrators. This was a great learning and networking time for all of us. 

If you didn’t make it to the conference you must try to make the next one in two years time. The opportunity to spend time with others in the field is invaluable.  Learning from the speakers and the chance to talk with publishers is also worth gold. Each speaker was carefully selected to add value for the conference attender and any opportunities where you can sit down and pitch an idea to a publisher...is an amazing plus.

The FaBo Team met for the first time. This was an historic occasion. We have been working together for a year on our online story and we finally met the whole team...except for Brian but we’ll forgive him being in Australia. Plans were made for FaBo 2. New members... new challenges...new secrets to keep.

My personal take aways...The literary feast...and the art work it inspired. Gosh we have talented Illustrators who can draw and incorporate food in their drawing in new and innovative ways, not to mention the wonderfully entertaining stand up writers.

Kate de Goldi’s well deserved standing ovation! What a marvellous speech she gave as she received the Margaret Mahy Medal. Margaret was the first on her feet. The HUGE NEWS that New Zealand will be hosting the IBBY Congress in 2016.

The wonderful, amazing, Katerina Mataira who challenged us all with her statement at the Kaumatua Panel. ‘I am nearly 80....I am publishing ebooks and selling my work online and on websites...If you have a niche, forget Traditional Publishers and do it yourself!’

And that is what Tools Of Change, Bologna was about. 

How can we continue to tell stories in today’s world? Read this excellent post by Bridget Strevans, an Illustrator, who attended TOC. It is an overview, a challenge and a guide to helping us navigate our way through the changes in publishing.

Bookman Beattie linked to the Bookseller overview of the Bologna Children's Book Fair. It is a must read as it quickly encapsulates the state of Publishing Worldwide right now. Vampires are sucked dry, Dystopian is still in and heading towards us...Time Travel is about to be HOT.

If you want to spend a little more time on getting a sense of Bologna, Nosy Crow has two excellent posts on Tools Of Change and the Book Fair. Well worth a read!

In the tips and tricks basket this week,

Mediabistro has linked to a great page on understanding Story Arc by Kurt Vonnegut. Kurt used these grids in his lectures to explain how a story should grab you emotionally.

The great Larry Brooks of Storyfix has a wonderful post on story architecture. How and when you should build in those plot points.

Anne R Allen has a thoughtful piece on 3 things you must know if you are contemplating the Indie way.

The superb Bob Mayer takes a look at the keynote presentations about publishing that he makes at conferences  and  throws out most of the content in favour of what he knows now, what he is guessing and what he doesn’t know.

Following on from my post a couple of weeks ago, Alan Rinzler has a great column on Forbes.com  of advice for Amanda Hocking from authors and agents.

Over on Craicerplus (My Amplify Page) I have links to articles on

Making Money On Author Websites

Pitch Week with MG/YA Agent

Words Of Wisdom From Famous Authors

In the news this week is the speculation about the price of the eBook rights for Harry Potter. This is being negotiated  at the moment and reminds me of comments made by the publishers at Spinning Tales about eBook rights being non negotiable or deal breakers here in NZ. 
The margins are so slim here at the bottom of the world that eBook rights and world rights are the only way they can make money and if they don’t get both they may as well pass the project.... This is a good reminder to Writers and Illustrators...They are in a business and they need to know all the ramifications of the contract.

Enjoy,

maureen

The pic is the golden moments of going to a Kid's Lit conference... Every encounter is gold....

The following video is 60 seconds of Bologna....

Things Worth Doing

This last week I have been mulling over things worth doing. 

This started when I decided that during the  long weekend rather than fritter it away with the usual family activities spread out over an extra day we should make it count. So the contents of the kids bedroom were hauled out and painting, ceiling to floor, began...Of course the rainy weather meant that the room has taken its time drying and so the contents of the kids room are all over the house.... The kids had fun camping out in other family bedrooms and found going back to their nice clean bright room a wrench. But the room looks good...so it was worth doing.

Next week I am chairing a panel discussion on Boys and Reading at the City Museum. In preparation for this I have been sent little bios of the panel members, so I can introduce them properly etc. As I know all of the panel members this is a timely reminder for me to think about what I would say if I was asked to put a short bio together for someone who doesn’t know me. (Hmmm lucky I’m chairing this really, and can remain anonymous, letting the panel be the stars they are...) 

I recently came across a new site where 30 mid grade writers have gathered together to promote midgrade...and their short bios are entertaining and give a sense of their personal style. (Midgrade is commonly called junior chapter books or junior novels...for children 8ish-12ish. It’s my favourite age to write for. It’s my favourite age to teach as well. There must be something in that as I think sometimes I’m a ten year old trapped in an adult body...oooh gross.)

So in the spirit of worthwhile bios and media kits for authors, here is a great link to an article which gives a good run down on what the author should be including in this internet savvy age. This has to be the most comprehensive list of what to include in a media kit that I have seen. It covers every eventuality...sample questions... book trailers...definitely a must read.

Jody Hedlund has a great blog that I drop into from time to time. This week she has a great post on  5 tips for playing the smart publishing game.  I mentioned to a friend recently how many new writers want information on a plate now and who don’t realise that going out and researching is the start of learning about publishing. Of course Jody puts it so much better. She makes some worth while points about connecting with other writers and writing, writing writing.

Alan Rinzler has a superb post entitled The Number One Issue for Writers Today. If there is one piece of worth while writing advice you need to read... this is it.

And on the topic of worth while things to do...Today one of our own literary gems, Kate de Goldi, was awarded a major prize from the creative arm of our government to research and write a book about another quiet literary gem here in New Zealand. For those of us in Wellington, Susan Price is an icon of New Zealand children’s literature. Those of us lucky to have visited the amazing Susan Price collection of children’s books know what an amazing unsung hero she is. For one of our best children’s writers and reviewers to be given the means to write a scholarly study of Susan and the gift to the nation of her collection and what it means to children’s literature here...it is truly wonderful news. 

A very worthwhile project indeed.

Over on Craicerplus (my Amplify page)

There are links to articles this week on ...

So what comes next after Steampunk and Zombies?

Writing A Series – good points to remember.

10 ways authors can profit from instant free screencasts.

21 things you writers know that non writers don’t.

And a nod to my geek side

Top 10 places to find alien life...( I picked over half of them...so geeky am I )

Enjoy


maureen


pic is Kate de Goldi...(nice pic Kate)

The Best and the Worst...

Writers and readers week has finished and I made it to two events... The publishing in the 21st Century panel and the wonderful incomparable Neil Gaiman.

On refection, I had high hopes for the publishing in the 21st Century panel. I have been reading a lot of websites and blogs looking at industry comment from around the world, following discussions about the impact of the iPad. At the end of the session I looked at my friend and said “I’ve got more interesting and relevant comment on my blog than I just heard from these industry leaders,”(...which included a New York editor, an English agent and one overseas owner publisher and the commissioning editor of a literary houses here in NZ.)

It could have been so much more but no one was willing to stick their neck out except to assure the audience that there would be a golden future ahead and that publishing will always need filters like themselves to tell you what was worth reading.

Yes, we need filters but how many of us have read a book which finalled or won an award and wondered what the fuss was about? Sometimes their filters don’t work for us.

(Is anyone filtering the cell phone novel craze in Japan...the twitter novel craze...)

Neil Gaiman was amazing and wonderful and....Kate De Goldi was a wonderful interviewer (we are so lucky to have her.) Neil read three of his epic poems and had the whole sold out auditorium spell bound and silent for the entire time and then signed for three and half hours afterwards.

I wrote up my notes for Maria Gill and have since passed them on to people in Wellington who didn’t get the chance to see and experience God Gaiman. I am so lucky. (Let me know if you want a copy.)

Mary McCallum has blogged about the event and as she is more literary than I, has managed to do him justice and she has a dishy photo of him as well. IF you haven’t read any of his work go out and read The Graveyard Book (no you can’t borrow mine with the cartoon and personal message from Neil...sigh) It is wonderful writing. Or find Odd and the Frost Giants a little book he wrote for charity this year. (fabulous)

As the International Arts festival is finishing here, in Austin Texas they are being wowed by the South by South West conference and Festival. It is primarily known as a music and film festival but they have an Interactive arm and this has been providing some very interesting comment on changing times in publishing. Galleycat has collected comments on this years publishers panel on the brave new future which has links to some great notes, written and pictorial. Good thought provoking stuff.

DK publishers have released an inhouse video on The Future of Publishing which is doing the rounds (it’s a bit of a riff on the new generation video that had such an impact last year among teenagers.) However it is still very good. (watch right until the end)

And lastly a competition you might like to enter. Come up with the worst hook for very bad book. Chuck Sambuchino from Guide to Literary Agents is running the third worst storyline ever contest.

A past winner was this gem

"A man's lifelong plan to dress up like Jabba the Hutt and star in a new line of workout tapes finally comes to fruition, but everything goes horribly awry when the man gets ink poisoning, lead poisoning and mercury poisoning all at once."

Enjoy

maureen

Catching The Speeding Train in the Writing Journey

This week I have been thinking of added content....following on from ideas sparked by the 1000 true fans post and talking to various friends about the widening fields of being a content provider(author)

On Monday I was at Te Papa for the Institute of Modern letters Monday lunchtime talk series which featured Kate de Goldi talking to Vic. Writer In Residence, Paula Boock. Paula’s journey from editor to YA writer to script writer to TV Film producing to writing her first adult novel which we were privileged to listen to a bit of...(main character is a child tho, so she hasn’t strayed far away from us) and it got me thinking about the writing journey.

A long time ago I scribbled stories for myself then I thought I‘d better learn how to write so I went looking for the magic formula.(guess what... there isn’t one) Along the way I collected rejections...then I got an acceptance...I’ve made it, I thought...No I hadn’t.

Lots more rejections later then writing took a back seat to life...I got involved in the writing community, so I wrote by osmosis...free association with some of the best in the world at writers talks etc. Then back to collecting rejections, trying my hand at new styles of writing but always, always learning.

Our writing journeys take us into many lands where the language is different and the culture is foreign and obstacles look insurmountable...and so it is with the new ideas of writing content and digital media to the children’s author. But in essence it is applying your skills in a different way using a different medium or media. (I joked to Fifi on Monday that Paula could be a poster child for the Spinning Gold Conference as she has applied her skills across two or three medias. Fifi is a poster child...Martin Baynton is the poster child, Janice Marriot who is writing scripts for the Wot Wots is a poster child... (they are all marvelous New Zealand children's authors trying their hand at new media.)

They are leading the way for the rest of us...and I will learn from them by osmosis and posting little snippets of interest to you all, who are struggling, like I am, to make sense of the speeding train called ‘Social and Digital media as it applies to our craft.

So onto the Future....Eeeeek I’m not ready.....

Fourth Story Media a new publishing company in the ‘states’ are ready to launch The Amanda Project. CEO Mike Smith describes the company this way on their website.

Traditonally, stories would be told through one medium. A film would exist as a film. A book would exist as a book. Now, the internet and new forms of technology are enabling storytellers to tell their stories not through one medium, but through every conceivable form of media.
— Michael Smith, CEO & Owner, Mind Candy and Perplex City

To have a look at what they are doing with The Amanda Project go here or just look at the video below.




Chorion based in the United Kingdom is working with a range of writers and literary estates to add media content to enhance the book presence. Here’s what they have done for Agatha Christie but their flagship is Children’s lit....(their slide show is really cool)go take a look at their website.

Merchandising: PC games, jigsaw puzzles, mugs, pencils, cushions, deckchairs and more are available at retail and online.
Stage: We license first class productions worldwide and actively oversee the hugely successful Agatha Christie Theatre Company's ongoing professional tours in the UK.
Online: The official website at http://www.agathachristie.com/ features blogs, games, downloadable content, information on Agatha Christie and every story she wrote, newsletters and a very popular forum for her fans.

The world is getting bigger and bigger for the author(content provider)...but seriously have you thought about turning some of your writing into added content slogans for merchandise????

And finally as a present to Tania Hutley...(stat counter says her site sends the most people over to read my blog...I’m awed...) the following video because she loved the Buffy staked Edward post.

maureen

pic is the Ave Solar train in Spain and the new way to travel without carbon emmissions... it's as fast as a jet...the way of the future????