Bleah. I just finished watching the children’s-book-contest episode of The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. What a grim, unpleasant way to spend the hour. The folks at Random House came off all right — Anne Schwartz smartly seized the opportunity to pooh-pooh the sing-songy rhyme used in the losing team’s effort (and in so many celebrity-written books, though she didn’t say so) — but I really don’t see how the publisher benefits by being involved in such tawdry proceedings.
It is possible, though, that I underestimate the book-buying public’s hunger for an aquatic retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk written by an eight-member collective going by the name “Primarius” and illustrated by… by…
Uh, well, they didn’t say. Thanks, Madonna.
In far better news today, I received an e-mail from the agent I’d corresponded with last week. It was just a quick note to tell me that she’d received the package of manuscripts I’d sent her. What a gracious thing for her to do. And completely out of the ordinary, in my experience. You have no idea how many points that earned her in my book. And it took, what, a minute of her time? Two minutes? Why is that sort of gesture so uncommon in this business?
Meanwhile, there was more to do with The Day-Glo Brothers, including a lunchtime phone interview with a source for the second time in as many days. (Didn’t I say that “finished” is a relative term?) For a while, I was unnerved that one source was referring to something as a type of fabric and another was referring to it as a resinous material (yes, we are getting this nitpicky), but then I realized that they’re both talking about cellulose acetate. It’s a fabric, it’s a resin, it’s a plastic, and so much more!
Oh, and there’s a Category 5 hurricane barreling toward the Texas coast, with vast amounts of wetness expected to reach up here to us in Austin on Saturday. In the meantime, it’s supposed to be 101 degrees tomorrow. Happy autumn, y’all.
Hey, Chris! When I hear “nitpicky,” I’m guessing that you’re in the copy-editing stage of your book. Am I right? It’s fun to hear what’s going on with the process.
Hey, Chris! When I hear “nitpicky,” I’m guessing that you’re in the copy-editing stage of your book. Am I right? It’s fun to hear what’s going on with the process.
Hey, Chris! When I hear “nitpicky,” I’m guessing that you’re in the copy-editing stage of your book. Am I right? It’s fun to hear what’s going on with the process.
So many of you kid lit folks in Texas! I’m thinking of you all and hoping for the best.
I caught the last 10 minutes of the Martha-fest and was unimpressed. She’s not nearly as good as the Donald (who is only good in the sense that he’s ridiculous).
So many of you kid lit folks in Texas! I’m thinking of you all and hoping for the best.
I caught the last 10 minutes of the Martha-fest and was unimpressed. She’s not nearly as good as the Donald (who is only good in the sense that he’s ridiculous).
So many of you kid lit folks in Texas! I’m thinking of you all and hoping for the best.
I caught the last 10 minutes of the Martha-fest and was unimpressed. She’s not nearly as good as the Donald (who is only good in the sense that he’s ridiculous).
I agree, Kelly. Martha has the personality of a stone. The Donald, otoh, has the personality of a pet rock–much more interesting!
Chris–so you’ve decided to search for agents with novels or your pb’s? I’ve tossed around the idea for my pb’s, but I always see the 15% fly out the window, so I stop myself from querying. I do want to talk with Stephen Fraser at the conference. My new novel should be done by then. I’m excited about coming to Austin! Hopefully, there won’t be any more hurricanes to stop me. Uga.
I agree, Kelly. Martha has the personality of a stone. The Donald, otoh, has the personality of a pet rock–much more interesting!
Chris–so you’ve decided to search for agents with novels or your pb’s? I’ve tossed around the idea for my pb’s, but I always see the 15% fly out the window, so I stop myself from querying. I do want to talk with Stephen Fraser at the conference. My new novel should be done by then. I’m excited about coming to Austin! Hopefully, there won’t be any more hurricanes to stop me. Uga.
I agree, Kelly. Martha has the personality of a stone. The Donald, otoh, has the personality of a pet rock–much more interesting!
Chris–so you’ve decided to search for agents with novels or your pb’s? I’ve tossed around the idea for my pb’s, but I always see the 15% fly out the window, so I stop myself from querying. I do want to talk with Stephen Fraser at the conference. My new novel should be done by then. I’m excited about coming to Austin! Hopefully, there won’t be any more hurricanes to stop me. Uga.
Yep, Susan, we’re in the copyediting phase, though the questions I’ve been working on the past week or two came before the manuscript went to copyediting. I’ll post about the copyedits, once I know how those have gone.
Pam, I’m looking at agents for all my stuff — fiction and nonfiction, picture books and novels. I’ve made peace with that 15%, though — I’ll elaborate in a post in the not-so-distant future…
Yep, Susan, we’re in the copyediting phase, though the questions I’ve been working on the past week or two came before the manuscript went to copyediting. I’ll post about the copyedits, once I know how those have gone.
Pam, I’m looking at agents for all my stuff — fiction and nonfiction, picture books and novels. I’ve made peace with that 15%, though — I’ll elaborate in a post in the not-so-distant future…
Yep, Susan, we’re in the copyediting phase, though the questions I’ve been working on the past week or two came before the manuscript went to copyediting. I’ll post about the copyedits, once I know how those have gone.
Pam, I’m looking at agents for all my stuff — fiction and nonfiction, picture books and novels. I’ve made peace with that 15%, though — I’ll elaborate in a post in the not-so-distant future…