Editopia: Katie Teller with Curiosity Quills

Today we're pleased to welcome Curiosity Quills editor Katie Teller to Editopia. Here's a little more about her and read on to see how you can submit to her:

Born and raised in Australia, Katie’s early years of day dreaming in the “bush”, and having her father tell her wild bedtime stories, inspired her passion for writing. After graduating High School, she became a foreign exchange student where she met a young man who several years later she married. Now she lives in Arizona with her husband, daughter and their dog. She has a diploma in travel and tourism which helps inspire her writing. She is currently at school studying English and Creative Writing. Katie loves to out sing her friends and family, play sports and be a good wife and mother. She loves to write, and takes the few spare moments in her day to work on her novels.

Find Katie Online:

Website  | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads 

Hi Katie and welcome. First off: how did you get your start in the industry? Did you always want to be in publishing?

It kind of just happened. I'd signed with Curiosity Quills as an author, when they asked if anyone knew of people interested in becoming an acquisitions editor. So, I said I'd be interested, and after some supervised reading and reviewing, I slipped into my position. I've been doing it for about a year now and just love it.

That's great! Most authors are surprised to find out that editors’ days aren’t spent kicking back at their desks with mugs of tea and piles of manuscripts and that, in fact, most work reading happens outside of work. Describe what your “typical” day actually is.

I don't have a typical day. Each is different. But there's preschool, house work, the gym, author things like promotion and writing, and my biggest time consumer is my kid. I don't keep a tight schedule, but I do try to keep things within certain time frames. I do my reading during the kid's "quiet time" and once she's in bed.

I would guess a lot of our readers are familiar with that particular balancing act. What does your to-read pile look like? How many manuscripts are in your inbox at any one time?

I have a full and two partials in my inbox, and a decent size slush pile I'm determined to help shrink! I also have books by other writer friends I like to squeeze in wherever possible too. So my to-read pile is never ending.

What trends are you seeing in kidlit these days? Are there any subjects or genres you don’t want to see in your inbox? Any you want to see more of?

I see a lot of zombies, transferring to other dimensions, or straight contemporary girl meets boy, boy helps with *insert issue here*. I'm not a fan of zombies, vampires, or angels, and especially things that slam god. That's one way for me to slam you book shut. What I really want to see though, is a story for the sake of telling a story. No agendas, no soap boxes, just a raw story where I can get lost within the pages. Old school story telling. I feel like all the stories I've contracted have a firm grasp on that. Give me Narnia, Jane Austin, anything that will take me away from the real world and immerse me in the joy of escapism.

You address this above but I'll ask anyway. What are some things that would make a manuscript stand out to you?

Clean, crisp writing, a character who is smart and has a real heart. Someone I can look at and say, yeah, if I met you in real life, I'd enjoy hanging out with you. Again, a story that's a story I can get lost in and forget about day-to-day life.

Can you describe what the acquisition process is like at your house? What happens next once you’ve found a book you love?

So yes. There's the slush pile, which gets divided between our team, then we do our thing. Once I find one I love, I write out a proposal to our "higher ups" saying why the manuscript would fit well in our catalogue. Then, they give me a yes or no, because they can see all the manuscripts coming up and can see the grand scheme of things. Anyway, once I get the approval, I send through a contract to the author. The author then goes through the contract, and can say yes or no. If they say yes, they send through the signed copy, I arrange counter signature, then send it through to production to get it in the pipeline. Although I've handed them over, I love keeping tabs and helping out the authors wherever I can.

Without implicating anyone, can you tell us one of or some of the weirder submissions you’ve received?

Ahh… let me think. Usually I forget subs right away if they don't take my fancy. I've had some stuff that I read and think, Why would anyone write that, ever? But usually, I see people who aren't quite ready for publication yet.  Telling, information dumps, poor dialogue, all things that come in time with study and practice. That's what rejections are for, to help us get better. At least they should be. I usually try to give a reason why I've rejected.

As an author, that feedback from editors is sooo appreciated, even when it's not "hey I need your book on my list ASAP"! Okay, were reaching the end, where you get the chance to plug a few books on your list you’re excited about…

Well… Destruction by Sharon Bayliss is the first of a great series you won't want to miss, then The Undead by Elsie Elmore is coming out soon which is a fun and slightly gory read. I have two more in the pipeline as well, but they're a long way off so I'll leave them for now. But they will be GREAT!

Curiosity Quills will soon be closing to unsolicited submissions, but if you act fast, you can still submit to Katie following these guidelines:

Fill out the online submission form here: http://curiosityquills.com/submission-guidelines/ 

Include Attn: Katie/YAtopia interview.

Wanna Win a Giant Box of Buzzed-About Books?

Oh. Holy. Yikes! My book releases in less than a month and today I'm super-excited to share the trailer for it. Of course, I figured I'd make it just as much fun for you as it is for me, by sweetening things with a giant giveaway. I'm giving away two big boxes of buzzed-about books--some are ARCs, some are published, some are even signed--enough to stock a classroom library. 

First things first: a little about my book:

A love letter to NYC full of insider dish, At Your Service tells the story of thirteen-year-old Chloe Turner, who lives at the uber-fancy St. Michele Hotel alongside her concierge father. Desperate to follow in Dad’s footsteps, Chloe earns the role of Junior Concierge, helping to ensure the hotel’s youngest guests have memorable trips to her favorite city. Her life is backstage passes and cupcake parties until the day Chloe loses a princess in the middle of New York City! Racing from tourist site to tourist site, can Chloe find the young royal before her mistake becomes international news?

And HERE'S the trailer:

So who wants to win a copy of At Your Service (PLUS the rest of these middle grade books, including the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid School Planner and a signed Big Nate) for the teacher/librarian/school classroom of your choice? Or perhaps a big box of YA books like Scott Westerfeld's Afterworlds and Meg Wolitzer's Belzhar is more your speed. Here are the two prize packages up for grabs:

Middle Grade Prize includes ALL these titles:

YA Prize Package includes ALL of these titles:

Enter using the Rafflecopter below to win either or both. A winner will be announced on August 8^th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Update: this raffle has ended. Congratulations to Matt Little who won't the MG titles and to Deborah Udovic, who won the young adult titles. Two schools are very happy! If you participated, thank you!

How To Format A Manuscript To Publishing Industry Standards

Hello, lovely YAtopians!!! 

Why yes, I am in a good mood and that's because I'm kicking it on the beach this week. In honor of vacation, I've decided to recycle an oldie, but a goodie- a blog post I wrote some time back about how to format a manuscript- since I'm still seeing a lot of manuscripts in my freelance editing that are, well, a bit funky in terms of formatting. 

Is standardized formatting a deal-breaker? Of course not. But getting it right does show you've taken the time to research the industry and THAT says a lot about you to an agent or editor. 

Here’s how to format so you look like a seasoned pro who has done your homework!

First things first. Your manuscript should be saved as “TITLE Last Name” so that it’s easily searchable when an agent needs to locate it on his/her Kindle/e-reader.  The title should be in all caps and your last name does not need to be. You could also indicate “partial” or “full” in the document name if that applies. Please, please, do not label “TITLE version 4768” or “TITLE draft 2013”. You may have been polishing your ms for years, but I’m not sure you want to share that information at this point in the process. If you are using Microsoft Word, save the file as a .doc as opposed to .docx as not all agents can open the newer docx format.

Next, your document should begin with a cover sheet that looks like the picture below.  For the sake of your career, take five minutes and set up a professionally-named email account to use so that your cover sheet does not include MomofTwelve@crazytown.com or “Shmoopylovecakes@glitter.com. The bottom half of this sheet will be blank. A final note on this: round your word count up or down to the nearest 1,000.

The next page is where your manuscript begins. First things first, include a header on every page for agents who like to print out submissions, so if the pages get swept up in a windstorm the agent will instantly know who wrote this brilliant thing they’re reading and how to put it back in order!  Include your title, name, and contact information in the header. You should also include page numbers in the opposite top corner or on the bottom of each page.

You do not need to format your manuscript to look like a printed book (I actually did this–complete with cover art–when I sent my ms to my very first reader and she very politely and with a straight face, suggested I, um, reformat ASAP!) This is not yet a book, it is a manuscript, so there is no need to drop your chapter beginnings to mid-page or include photos you envision enlivening your text (If it helps you feel like you’ve written a novel versus a term paper, by all means save a copy like this that you can revel in! But send the agents the one that looks like a boring dissertation and let your words do the impressing instead.)

It should look something like this:

Note above that I used a standard font (Times New Roman and Courier are the two most requested by agents) and size (12-point) for all text (you can go to 24-point for the title on your cover page but otherwise 12, 12, 12!  All text should be double-spaced..

Next, go grab a published book off your shelf.

Trust me on this.

Open to the first page of any chapter and peek at the first line. It’s not indented. I know, I KNOW. You never noticed this before, in all your years of reading. Your mind is blown! But it’s true: The first sentence of chapter openings and of scene breaks are NOT indented. If you follow my instructions below, you will be formatting your text to automatically indent each paragraph so this is something you’ll need to fix manually when you’re done writing.

Speaking of indenting.  You’ll want to format your ms so that you do not hit the tab bar even once in the document. You also do not want to hit the space bar five times with each new paragraph. But why, Jen? It all looks the same on the page. Yes. Yes, it does. But, fates willing, when this sells in a giant multi-book deal it won’t to the person at the big, fancy publishing house formatting your manuscript into a book. And, more importantly at this stage, it won’t on an ereader, where it is extremely likely your book will be read by a requesting agent.

Instead (for Microsoft Word), along the top menu bar, go to Format and select Paragraph. Then fill out the form as follows with regard to margins, spacing, and indentation. This will set up your document so that when you hit the return key, the cursor will automatically indent five spaces for the start of the new paragraph.

You know how I mentioned above not hitting that space bar five times? You also don’t want to hit it twice. If you’re anything like me, you learned there were two spaces between sentences. Not no more! Now there is only one. If you can train yourself to write this way, you are golden. if you’re like me and just can’t get your brain to compute when you’re busy typing alllllll the words as fast as they form in your head, you can fix this at the very end. You’ll want to do a “Find and Replace”. Where you would ordinarily type a word for your computer to search for, you’re going to hit the space bar twice. Then go to the next line (replace) and hit the space bar once. Then hit enter. I would show you a pretty picture of this, but, well, it’s all kind of invisible. But it does work, I promise!

At the end of each chapter, select “Insert Page Break” from the Insert section along the top menu bar, rather than hitting return until you reach a blank page. As you revise, this will preserve your chapter breaks for you.

Finally, after the very last line of your ms, center a row of several ##### signs to let the reader know they’ve reached THE END!

On that note:

#########

Editopia: Meredith Rich with Bloomsbury Spark

Editopia is back! Today, we're thrilled to welcome editor Meredith Rich, the digital editor for YA and NA at Bloomsbury Spark.

Previously Meredith has also been a historical reinactor, a regular actor, a barista, a children's bookseller, a math editor, and a playwright. Many years and careers later she finally figured out that she loves storytelling, and that helping other people tell their own stories is even better. Her best days are spent with a good book and iced coffee in the park, preferably with someone else's dog to pet. You can find her on twitter at @MeredithJHRich

Bloomsbury Spark is a one-of-a-kind, global, digital imprint from Bloomsbury Publishing dedicated to publishing a wide array of exciting fiction eBooks to teen, YA and new adult readers. Their outstanding list features multiple genres: romance, contemporary, dystopian, paranormal, sci-fi, mystery, thriller, and more. Bloomsbury Spark is open to non-agented submissions, so if you have a manuscript between 25 and 60k words long, then please check out their submissions guidelines here: 

Hi Meredith! Thanks for being here. Okay, to start if off: most authors are surprised to find out that editors’ days aren’t spent kicking back at their desks with mugs of tea and piles of manuscripts and that, in fact, most work reading happens outside of work. Describe what your “typical” day actually is.

Hmm…my ideal day is something like this:

8:30-9:30: Answer all of the email as fast as I can, trying to get on top of my inbox. Often my favorite part of my day. I love email. Is that weird?

9:30-11: Either meetings or catching up on paperwork, metadata, marketing things.

11-1: Whatever needs doing. Sometimes this could be writing design memos for the cover, talking to freelancers, routing invoices, meeting with our Spark team, writing acquisition proposals, or chatting with authors and agents. I also really love spreadsheets so I try to slot some time to update all of them. There are many and they are all also color-coded. Of course.

1-3:  By this point I can try to settle in for editing for an hour or two. Sometimes I am writing longer edit letters, looking at arc, structure and characters, and with some I really look more at line edits from the beginning. I am very lucky that my authors are flexible and willing to take whatever feedback necessary! I am also lucky in that they forgive me for my overuse of "awkward" in line notes. 

3-4: Usually in the afternoon I try to look through some submissions and move things along. They can really pile up and I try to at least decide which ones I am interested in reading and then move them to my kindle to read later.

4-??? I head back to editing. We have two titles a month slated for Spark so I often edit at home and read submissions on the weekends.

Of course most days my actual schedule looks like this:

8:30-???: Meetings, emails, spreadsheets, meetings, emails, coffee, emails.

  

Ha! Yes. Those ideal days never quite happen, even with the best, color-coded intents, right? Without implicating anyone, can you tell us one of or some of the weirder submissions you’ve received?

One of the weirdest ones I have ever gotten involved a main character that had a really hard time with…certain bodily functions. I can’t even describe the query without it getting gross, but suffice it to say, it was quite easy to “flush” that one. (Sorry, couldn’t help myself. :)

*Snort* I really love the varied answers we get to that question. Switching gears a little, is there a particular book that sparked your love of reading or a book that you re-read time and again?

I don’t quite remember what age I was when I discovered Tamora Pierce, but I think it was probably around third or fourth grade. Reading her Song of the Lioness series was like discovering a whole new world that combined some of my favorite things. (Girls disguised as men, knights, magic, etc.)

I remember one particular family vacation to Germany where I only brought those four books with me, and I think I read the whole series through ten times by the end of the two weeks. One of my mom’s favorite photos of me features a very awkward Meredith on a train, ignoring the passing castles out the window, and completely engrossed in what Alanna does next.

How could anyone mind "awkward" when you also describe yourself that way?! That's adorable. Okay, so, I love to swim but have a total fear of drowning and I find it really hard to read books where that is a plot point. What about you? Anything you hate to read about? On the other hand, are there subjects you’re drawn to?

I am a super scaredy-cat as far as blood is concerned so I can’t read horror, as much as I might like to! I am ok with thrillers and mysteries, and I can handle violence in books as well if it is well placed and purposeful, but I can’t watch it on TV! For example I read and loved the Game of Thrones books, but I absolutely cannot watch the show. Just can’t.

As far as what I am drawn to without fail, I was a theater major in college and a historical reinactor right afterwards, so I love books with a historical twist or anything set in theater! I also love living vicariously through books set in small towns, mostly because I have lived in major cities my whole life. Also girls disguised as boys in fantasy always grabs my heart thanks to the aforementioned Tortall obsession, compounded by the fact that Twelfth Night is my favorite Shakespearean play.

is it bad that when girls disguised as boys come up, you think Shakespeare and I think Amanda Bynes movie? Hmm. Okay, ever since stumbling upon a tumblr feed that rounded up page shots of all the books that have a variation of the line “S/he released a breath s/he didn’t know s/he’d been holding” I spot it left and right in stories and now it makes me giggle! Also, I know about three people in my real life who have deep green eyes and yet every book seems populated with them! What about you? Any writer’s tics or cliché pet peeves that jump out at you?

I really can’t stand reading about girls who don’t realize how beautiful they are. I like a certain self-awareness in my narrators, and I find confidence likeable! Of course sometimes it could be essential to the plot, (if the character has an eating disorder, etc.), but the trope of spectacularly gorgeous heroines with hair like a waterfall and eyes like emeralds not knowing they are that gorgeous? I don’t buy it.

Amen to that!! Finally, here’s your chance to plug a few books on your list you’re excited about…

Ooh! Now choosing my from my list is like picking a favorite child…or dog. (I imagine picking a favorite dog would be harder. They all have puppy eyes!)

But, if I have to, these are the ones that I am working on at the moment that I fall for over and over again.

MY SOON TO BE SEX LIFE by Judith Tewes

 This YA contemp is so full of snark and heartwarming family drama, all with a girl who is just trying to take control of her own sexuality. I can’t get enough.

INKED by Eric Smith

Set in a society where tattoos are magical, fate altering, and mandatory, this YA fantasy takes you to the heart of corrupt government, and surprises me every time I read it. I am also pretty sure I will wind up with a tattoo by the time the release date rolls around.

THE EDGE OF YOU by Theresa DaLayne

This swoony New Adult romance is set under the midnight sun in Alaska. In the eternal words of Liz Lemon… I want to go to there.

ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT by Kristine Carlson Asselin

I love books about sporty girls, (perhaps to compensate for the fact that the only varsity sport I ever played was the dance team?), and this one hits the spot for me. It’s MYSTIC PIZZA meets THE CUTTING EDGE folks with a small town feel that evokes Stars Hollow. Get in line.

These all sound great, although I confess a soft spot for Any Way You Slice It because I'm friends with Kris and was part of the epic brainstorm session that went into titling that one. Can't wait for it! Thanks again for being here, Meredith!!

Editopia: Annie Berger, Associate Editor at Harper Collins

Our Editopia series continues and today I'm very excited to welcome Annie Berger, as associate editor at HarperCollins. I can say from firsthand experience that Annie is an incredible editor who wears her enthusiasm for publishing on her sleeve, which makes her also an incredible person.

Annie Berger graduated from Northwestern University where she majored in history and minored in religion. She attended the Columbia Publishing Course in the summer of 2009. After several internships at Dunham Literary, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, and Egmont USA she started as an editorial assistant at Simon & Schuster’s Aladdin imprint. There she worked with authors Brandon Mull, Rachel Renée Russell and Lauren Barnholdt. Annie was involved in many successful repackages including a Felix Salten line, new Anne of Green Gables books and the re-launch of Fablehaven. She was the editor for both the middle-grade and chapter book Nancy Drew and the middle-grade Hardy Boys series. Annie also signed up debut authors Jen Malone’s At Your Service and Gail Nall’s Breaking the Ice, which publish in August 2014 and March 2015 respectively. Now at HarperCollins Annie is delighted to be looking for both middle-grade and teen and works with authors such as Kristen Kittscher (The Tiara on the Terrace), Jo Whittemore (Confidentially Yours series) and Diane Zahler. Annie also assists with Gail Carson Levine, Lauren Oliver, and Rita Williams-Garcia.


Hi Annie! Let's cover a little basic background stuff first. How did you get your start in the industry? Did you always want to be in publishing?

I had no idea that I wanted to get into publishing until my senior year of college. Right about that time I was panicking about what to do next. I thought long and hard, talked to some people and decided that publishing might be it (book lover for life.) I attended the Columbia Publishing Course right after graduation and then went onto a series of internships. When I finally got my job at Simon & Schuster I was so happy that I danced around my living room blasting Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine. I had three wonderful years there and now I’m excited about my new adventure at HarperCollins!

What does your to-read pile look like? How many manuscripts are in your inbox at any one time?

So many manuscripts, so little time. Just kidding, it’s actually amazing that I have a job where my take home work is reading great children’s books. I definitely always have a stack to read, but I love it! I also like to read at least 50 pages of something before deciding it’s not right for me. There are usually some pending ones hanging out there too, that I’ve read and really enjoyed but am still debating over whether or not I think it works for my list. I don’t like to keep agents hanging so I try to respond in a fairly timely fashion, but those pending ones are the trickiest!

I think I speak for authors (and agents) everywhere in saying, "Thank you for timely responses!" What trends are you seeing in kidlit these days? Are there any subjects or genres you don’t want to see in your inbox? Any you want to see more of?

I think we are totally done (for now) with paranormal (I’m looking at you vampires) and relatively over dystopian. I’m seeing A LOT more realistic fiction, and that’s been working really well for us. I would love to see more fantasy. I love fantasy that’s seamlessly woven into the plot. I keep talking about this everywhere, but Maggie Stiefvater’s The Scorpio Races is a perfect example of this. Her book actually had me on Wikipedia double-checking that there were no such things as flesh-eating water horses. I’d also love to see more strange and off-putting stuff, bring on the books about cults!

I totally agree with you on those water horses. I was sooo intrigued by them. Cults, huh? Very cool. Okay, so without implicating anyone, can you tell us one of or some of the weirder submissions you’ve received?

Oh gosh, I’ve gotten a lot of strange ones. One was a very interesting (unsolicited) picture book submission about a love affair between a snail and a tape dispenser. Which is actually quite funny if you think about it, but definitely wasn’t right for me!

Um. I don't even... okay, I'm just going to leave that one alone. Now I know it’s just plain evil to ask a children’s book editor to name a favorite book, so I won’t. Instead, tell me about your favorite children’s book covers.

Well, I’m biased, but I am in love with the covers for the Anne of Green Gables repackages at Simon & Schuster. (note: see next question for that beauty!) I remember loving the covers for the Fallen books by Lauren Kate, I thought Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Vivian Siobhan was amazing, The Beautiful Creatures books were beautiful and I love the cover for 33 Minutes by Todd Hasak-Lowy. I also love those Penguin classics. Oh! I can’t believe I almost forgot this one…Nightsong by Ari Berk and illustrated by Loren Long is one of my favorites of all time, it’s my background screen on my work computer.

 

 

33 Minutes is on my bookshelf and even the spine is attention-grabbing! Is there a particular book that sparked your love of reading or a book that you re-read time and again?

There are so so many! But one of my absolute favorites of all time is Anne of Green Gables. I remember reading it for the first time while I was on vacation and just not being able to put it down. I’ve probably read the books in that series about six or seven times. And the best part of the story is that while at Simon & Schuster I worked on a repackage of them. That was probably one of the most rewarding parts of my career so far, writing the copy for one of my favorite books of all time.

That cover!! So, soo beautiful!! Okay, just a couple more. I love to swim but have a total fear of drowning, so I find it really hard to read books where that is a plot point. What about you? Anything you hate to read about? On the other hand, are there subjects you’re drawn to?

You know, I’m not a huge fan of “illness” books. I don’t think I’ve ever picked up a book about a child dying of cancer and said, “Yes, can’t wait to read!” The only exception to that is The Fault in Our Stars (just because I was such a big John Green fan before it came out.) But in general I’m not going to pick up a book that’s going to make me weep the entire time. On the flip side, I am a HUGE animal lover, so if there’s some kind of adorable something in there I am hooked. I also was obsessed with the Animorphs series growing up so I love the whole idea of transforming into animals.

All animal books except those about snails, I guess:) Ever since stumbling upon a Pinterest page that rounds up page shots of all the books that have a variation of the line “S/he released a breath s/he didn’t know s/he’d been holding” I spot it left and right in books and now it makes me giggle! What about you? Any writer’s tics or cliché pet peeves that jump out at you?

I am so glad you asked this. I am done with girls who are unaware that they are strikingly beautiful. I actually think this trend has definitely died down, but for a while every heroine thought she was a plain jane until its “revealed” to her that she is actually the most beautiful person who has ever lived. I’m not saying every main character should be horribly vain, but this kind of description never rang true to me.

Ha! I agree. Finally, here’s your chance to plug a few books on your list you’re excited about…

Well, let’s see. I have to say, this isn’t on my list anymore (tear) but I am so excited for At Your Service to come out this August! (note: Me too!!!) I also am in love with Kristen Kittscher and thrilled to be working on her next book, The Tiara on the Terrace, a sequel to the fantastic mystery The Wig in the Window. I know Jo Whittemore from my days at Aladdin, so I am very excited to get to work on her super fun, tween Confidentially Yours series. And I just took on a very cool Sci-Fi series that I think is going to be amazing. So lots of fun stuff in the pipeline!

I think you said it best above: so many books, so little time! But much better than the reverse, of course. Giant hugs and heartfelt thanks for being here today, Annie!!

Editopia: Simon & Schuster/Aladdin editor Amy Cloud

You all know we like our "topia"'s here at YAtopia and we've seen you waving pom-poms for our Guestopia, Agentopia, and Teentopia series. This month we're crazy excited to introduce a new regular series, Editopia, where we bring you interviews with kidlit's top editors!

For our inaugural interview, I'm going directly to the cream
of the crop to introduce you to MY adorable (and oh-so-
smart!) editor, Amy Cloud with Simon and Schuster's 
Aladdin imprint. She's a Brooklynite by way of Michigan, 
who loves 90's movies (further proof of her awesomeness) 
and foisting kale salads on unsuspecting friends (she'll never get me).

Hey, Amy! Giant hugs for being our brave first 
interview subject. Let's start with some basics. How did 
you get your start in the industry? Did you always want 
to be in publishing?

Like so many editors, I’ve always loved to read and thought
it would be ideal if I could somehow get paid to do it. After
a few post-collegiate stints at trade journals in my
native Michigan, I was accepted into the Columbia
Publishing Course, a six-week “crash course” in the New
York publishing industry. There I met Nicholas Callaway, who at the time owned a boutique publishing firm called Callaway Editions. I spent the next eight years of my life working with a tiny and tight-knight team on everything from Madonna’s children’s stories to a New York Times photo book about President Obama. It was a nontraditional publishing experience, but turned out to be the perfect way for me to learn the ins and outs of the business. (It didn’t hurt that I got to meet Madonna my third week on the job.) It was there that I realized my true love was kids’ books.

Ooh, meeting the Material Girl... so glamorous! Speaking of glamorous, most authors are surprised to find out that editors’ days aren’t spent kicking back at their desks with mugs of tea and piles of manuscripts and that, in fact, most work reading happens outside of work. Describe what your “typical” day actually is.

When I’m not in meetings, my mornings are usually spent answering emails, writing copy, answering more emails, approving layouts, writing editorial letters, reviewing contracts, creating P&Ls, putting together publishing plans, and, um, answering ever more emails. Lots of multitasking! I prefer to spend my afternoons doing what I love most: editing. Unfortunately, my mornings tend to run over into my afternoons. If I have any extra time in the day I’ll spend it reading submissions, but these days most of my reading takes place at home.

What does your to-read pile look like? How many manuscripts are in your inbox at any one time?

It depends on the time of year; over the summer and holidays can be slower in terms of submissions. But I’d say there are always at least 8 to 10 manuscripts hovering in my inbox at any given time.

What trends are you seeing in kidlit these days? Are there any subjects or genres you don’t want to see in your inbox? Any you want to see more of?

Lately I’ve definitely seen more Fault in Our Stars-type stories making the middle-grade rounds: realistic, somewhat quiet books with self-aware narrators, often grappling with medical conditions. There have also been a lot of realistic stories about kids travelling through space and inhabiting other planets.

As for what I don’t want to see: I’m really over the whole dystopian thing and I’m not a huge fan of high-level fantasy. I’d love to find more cleverly constructed mysteries and funny, contemporary tween novels with a strong hook.

What are some things that would make a manuscript stand out to you?

I’m all about voice and character. Authenticity rules supreme! I adore quirky, slightly offbeat humor—anything that produces a good belly laugh. A strong hook is a must. And honestly anything that gets me through a commute. If I can’t put down, there’s usually something there. Extra points if I miss my subway stop!

For the right book, ending up at Coney Island would be worth it, wouldn't it? Can you describe what the acquisition process is like at Aladdin? What happens once you’ve found a book you love?

If I’m over the moon about something I’ll pass it on to my Aladdin editorial colleagues for their thoughts. After they read it, we’ll get together and discuss what we like, what needs to change, and how it fits with our larger list. If they agree we should pursue it, we’ll take it to an acquisitions meeting, where our sales, publicity, marketing, and management teams all weigh in with their perspectives. From that point we crunch the numbers and make an offer.

What parts of your job comes most naturally to you? What’s the biggest challenge?

Honestly, I think the actual editorial part—diving into a manuscript and taking it apart to assess what works and what doesn’t—is my favorite aspect of the job. I’ve always had a critical eye.

Since I still identify as a shy kid, I’d say presentations of any sort terrify me.

I have to admit I was very surprised by that answer- you don't seem shy to me at all! So, in your opinion, what makes a good editor?

First and foremost, a true love of reading. There is such an abundance of reading involved in this job that you have to be willing to devote plenty of personal time to it. Being organized and detail-oriented is a big plus; book editors these days do a great deal of juggling, and you have to be able to stay on top of projects at all stages. Being able to trust your instincts is also key, though I think that’s something that comes with age and experience.

I know it’s just plain evil to ask a children’s book editor to name a favorite book… so I won’t. Instead, tell me about your favorite children’s book covers.

Hilary Knight’s Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle covers, I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen, Kay Nielsen’s cover for East of the Sun, West of the Moon, any of the Wildwood books, Winger by Andrew Smith. And I will always love love love the cover of Tina Fey’s Bossypants.

Nothing tops the man hands! I promised no naming favorites, but is there maybe a particular book that sparked your love of reading or a book that you re-read time and again?

When I was a kid I devoured books by Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, and Paula Danzinger. I think I read The Cat Ate My Gym Suit about twenty times before I was twelve! They made me feel connected to a larger experience, like what I was going through at the time wasn’t so weird or uniquely scary. As an adult I realized I wanted to work on books that would help and transform kids in the same way.

As far as adult books go, I usually read Lorrie Moore’s short story collection Self-Help at least once a year. She’s heartbreaking and hilarious in the same breath.

Adding to my towering TBR list! Granted, you're almost always reading, but when you do put the books down, what are your favorite things to do?

I love to cook meals for friends and loved ones, see live dance and music, spend time in the country, and scour second-hand stores for vintage finds.

Editors: they're just like us. Okay, last question. And actually it's not even a question. It's a chance to plug a few books on your list you’re excited about. Whatcha got?

I’m thrilled to be working with Bruce Coville on his much-anticipated funny and fantastical sequel to Goblins in the Castle, to be released in summer 2015.  He’s such an icon and it’s been an absolute honor to work with him.

Don’t Fall Down is a hilarious and touching winter 2015 debut from author Gail Nall about the competitive world of figure skating as well as finding your own voice.

Though it’s not on my list, Jodi Lynn Anderson’s beautiful middle-grade novel Ordinary World is coming from Aladdin in summer 2015. Her writing is simply gorgeous, and I can’t wait for others to fall in love with it.

There's also this wonderful tween concierge story coming up this summer that I'm sort of over the moon about. It's called At Your Service. J

*Blushes* I'm a little excited for that one myself. And as a lucky critique partner of Gail's, I can certainly vouch for the fabulous Don't Fall Down. Watching the Olympic skating this week has me itching to reread it. Amy, thank you so much for letting me ask you alllllll the questions. I hope tons of other lucky authors out there get the opportunity to work with you!