Posts filed under 'Booklover - Industry Pros'
January 16th, 2010
Today, I’m delighted to welcome back the popular Booklovers series! I’ve got tons of fabulous folks lined up for you in the 2010 edition. Just you wait and see. 
I met this lovely agent several years ago at a conference we both spoke at. She’s warm, funny, smart, approachable… pretty much everything you want in an agent relationship. I even got to see her at a conference again last year and had a blast. Many of you may know her from her popular blog, Daphne Unfeasible, and from her quick wit on Twitter (@daphneun). Please help me welcome the fabulous…
Kate Schafer Testerman
Thanks so much for being here, Kate!
Booklover Basics
Name: Kate Schafer Testerman
Title: Literary Agent
Company: kt literary, llc.
Tweetname: @daphneun
Short Bio:
Kate Schafer Testerman formed kt literary in early 2008, where she concentrates on middle grade and YA fiction as well as diving into some women’s commercial fiction and narrative nonfiction. Bringing to bear the experience of working with a large agency, she concentrates on all aspects of working with her authors, offering hands-on experience, personal service, and a surfeit of optimism. Her clients include Maureen Johnson, Ellen Booraem, S. Terrell French, Josie Bloss, and Matthew Cody, among other exciting newcomers. Her interests cover a broad range including teen chick lit, urban fantasy and magical realism, adventure stories, and romantic comedies.
Questions About You 2.0
The You 2.0 blog is about becoming everything you’re meant to be. It’s about pursuing your dreams, changing your world, showing gratitude, and paying it forward. Here’s a chance for our Booklovers to share what You 2.0 means to them.
1. PURSUING YOUR DREAMS: Everyone has the ability to be extraordinary, they just have to embrace what makes them unique and special and pursue their dreams with passion and confidence! Tell us a little about a dream you’ve achieved or are pursuing right now. If you’ve achieved it already, how does it feel to know you’ve made your dream a reality?
In all honesty, I didn’t know starting my own literary agency was a dream until I did it, and realized that, yes, THIS is what I’m meant to be doing. I always loved books, and found my way to a literary agency through a totally natural progression, but the more I worked on other people’s books, the more I wanted to expend my energies pushing titles that I was 100% behind – that were my choices to represent, to shepherd the authors through their careers, to talk to other people about and convince them they HAD to read them, and buy them. I was able to do that to some extent at my former agency, but starting kt literary last year has opened up an entirely new world of possibilities – sure, there are tough parts, but I find the good definitely outweighs any of the bad.
2. CHANGING YOUR WORLD: Changing the world doesn’t have to mean finding a cure for cancer or creating lasting world peace (though it definitely can!). It just means finding a way that you can make the world a little better off for having lived here, whether it’s making a difference to one person or a million, to the earth, to animals… whatever is important to you. What is one way you would personally like to make the world a better place?
Every time I make a new deal, I think I’m making the world a little better. I mean, sure, that may sound a little pompous, but for my authors, I like to think each new deal has the possibility of changing their worlds – for new authors, it’s finally being able to call themselves published writers! And since I work with YA and middle grade fiction, primarily, I love the idea that a book I represented and sold may inspire young readers to go on and be writers themselves – or, like me, take up a life working in publishing.
3. GRATITUDE: Gratitude is a huge part of the You 2.0 life. Taking a moment to count our blessings is the best way to remember what’s truly important (especially when life is hectic and crazy!). What are you grateful for?
My parents, for being readers, and inspiring in me a love of books. My dad was a huge fan of historical novels like the Patrick O’Brien Aubrey/Maturin series, and Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe books – that led me to discover historical novels myself, though they tended towards romances at first – which led to contemporary romance, which led to chick lit, which led to teen chick lit, which brings me back around to YA again. Also, to my elementary school principal, Sister Nancy, for telling me to stop reading during lunchtime – I’m a contrary sort, so that only made me want to read more! And the Port Chester (N.Y.) Public Library, which has these fantastic reading contests every year, and the librarians there who introduced me to Marguerite Henry, The Chronicles of Narnia, and so many more great books.
4. PAYING IT FORWARD: If everyone took a moment to pay it forward, even just once, the world would be changed in ways we can’t even imagine. What is one thing you’ve done (or plan to do) to “pay it forward” in some way?
I like to think helping to introduce teens to Maureen Johnson (who I knew as a friend before she became a famous writer and internet sensation) is a very nice line on my balance sheet. And I can’t wait for younger readers to meet the hero of Matthew Cody’s novel POWERLESS (Knopf, November 2009)! On a non-pitching-my-clients tangent, I like to think I’m helping writers understand the industry a little better with my Ask Daphne! blog and regular tweets. It’s a little thing I think I do every day to help.
Questions About You, The Industry Pro
5. Why did you choose a book-related career?
Probably because I never thought of anything else! I always knew I wanted to work with books, and when I got out of college and was looking for my first “real” job, I answered every ad in the New York Times classified for an entry-level position in publishing until someone told me yes. Books have always been a part of my life, and I’m thrilled to make them my career as well.
6. Tell us a little bit about what you do in your job.
As a literary agent, I help my clients find publishers for their work, negotiate contracts, sell foreign rights, and act as a sounding board and early reader for their manuscripts.
7. What do you love most (and least) about your job?
I love diving into a new book for the first time, and finding something that just blows my mind away. On the negative side, I hate waiting just as much as authors do for responses to my submissions, and the tedium of contract negotiation can be tiresome – but I have an awesome contracts manager who helps me get through it!
8. What do you think would surprise people about your job?
I think a lot of people might be surprised by what my day actually entails. Sure, sometimes I can take a reading day and just go through partials or client manuscripts, but most of the time, I do my work reading at night and on the weekends. My days are spent dealing with a hundred other things that are part of an agent’s job.
9. What do you love most about the YA and middle grades genres?
I love how important these books are to their readers. Those of us who are in children’s publishing, for the most part, are here I think because kids’ books touched our lives, and I love being able to pass that feeling on to someone else. Teens and tweens are so inspired by the books that they’re reading, so connected to the characters and the authors and the stories – it’s a feeling I hope they take through the rest of their lives.
10. What books impacted you as a teen/tween?
I mentioned the Marguerite Henry books above – I had my girlish horse phase as did so many tweens, and even took riding lessons for a little while. I think the first book that made me cry – great, heaving sobs – was The Chestry Oak by Kate Seredy (now, sadly, out of print). As I recall, the sobs may very well have come over something that happened to the horse in the book. I loved The Borrowers series by Mary Norton, though I’ll admit I had to look up the author’s name – the characters were what stuck with me for those books. And I wrote a fan letter to Francine Pascal about the Sweet Valley High books – I wanted to be a Jessica, but even then knew I was an Elizabeth. And wow, so many more.
11. What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Work on your craft. I think so many writers are so eager to be published RIGHT AWAY that they jump into the querying process too early and do themselves a disservice. Take time with your manuscripts. Polish them. Share them with trusted readers. Let them sit and gather dust while you work on other things, to be able to take them up again later and see the areas that need improvement.
Will the Real You 2.0 Please Stand Up?
12. I love the game Three Truths and a Lie because there are so many unexpected and interesting things about people that we never get a chance to learn about them. What are three truths and a lie that our blog readers can guess about you?
– I own a sword and several daggers and have been certified an Advanced Actor/Combatant by the Society of American Fight Directors.
– I collect copies of The Princess Bride by William Goldman, and have a dozen editions in multiple languages.
– I danced in the original London production of Riverdance until I broke my foot. <--UPDATE: That was the lie!
– My client Maureen Johnson and I lived in London together after college, where we often used to climb over garbage cans through the window of our flat instead of bothering with the locks on the doors.
(Readers: As always, your blog comments get you an entry into the Bundle o’ Bookmarks giveaways that happen throughout the month. You never know when the next impromptu Bundle giveaway will be for one recent commenter. Will you be the winner? I’ll update the post later to spill the big lie, so get guessing and have fun!)
Thanks to Kate for a fabulous interview!
September 23rd, 2009
This week, I’m delighted to be hosting another industry pro feature in the Booklover of the Week series. And I’m happy that today belongs to the fabulous/smart/funny literary genius who also happens to be my agent. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll recognize her as the oft-mentioned Agent Extraordinaire. (She also reps my fellow Tenner buds Rachel Hawkins and Chelsea Campbell among other stellar authors.) Please help me welcome the uber-fabulous…
Holly Root
Waxman Literary Agency
Thanks so much for being here, Holly!
Booklover Basics
Name: Holly Root
Title: Literary agent
Publisher: Waxman Literary Agency
Short Bio:
Holly Root began her publishing career as an editor in Nashville, TN before coming to New York and joining the William Morris Agency’s agent trainee program. She then moved to Trident Media Group, where she sold audio rights for the agency’s clients, before joining The Waxman Literary Agency in 2007 to represent her own list of authors.
Questions About You 2.0
The You 2.0 blog is about becoming everything you’re meant to be. It’s about pursuing your dreams, changing your world, showing gratitude, and paying it forward. Here’s a chance for our Booklovers to share what You 2.0 means to them.
1. PURSUING YOUR DREAMS: Everyone has the ability to be extraordinary, they just have to embrace what makes them unique and special and pursue their dreams with passion and confidence! Tell us a little about a dream you’ve achieved or are pursuing right now. If you’ve achieved it already, how does it feel to know you’ve made your dream a reality?
My husband and I moved to New York with a truckload of dreams and not much else. We were straight from Tennessee and running completely on moxie and caffeine. He’s an actor and I was just starting out in publishing, though not totally sure that I wanted to continue editing, so we knew NY was the place and decided we’d just figure the rest out. I am happy to say we did!
2. CHANGING YOUR WORLD: Changing the world doesn’t have to mean finding a cure for cancer or creating lasting world peace (though it definitely can!). It just means finding a way that you can make the world a little better off for having lived here, whether it’s making a difference to one person or a million, to the earth, to animals… whatever is important to you. What is one way you would personally like to make the world a better place?
To me, my job is changing worlds. For authors, it’s helping make that dream come true. And when I think about the books that have made me who I am—like most people I was deeply shaped by the books I read as a kid—it’s overwhelming to imagine that a project I had a hand in could be, will be, that book for someone. On a personal note, animal welfare causes are important at the Root house—both our cats are rescues.
3. GRATITUDE: Gratitude is a huge part of the You 2.0 life. Taking a moment to count our blessings is the best way to remember what’s truly important (especially when life is hectic and crazy!). What are you grateful for?
My husband and our cats. My family, a wacky-brainy-kind crew if ever there was one. My terrific inlaws (my husband’s family is absolutely a gift from above) and adorable niece & nephews, all of whom love books (yay!). My brilliant coworkers and delightful clients. Authors who inspire me, whether I work with them or not.
4. PAYING IT FORWARD: If everyone took a moment to pay it forward, even just once, the world would be changed in ways we can’t even imagine. What is one thing you’ve done (or plan to do) to “pay it forward” in some way?
I recently had the chance to go back to my university and speak about publishing. As a college student your concept of what you can do with your life is limited somewhat by the jobs you are familiar with, or at least have heard of—and growing up in the South, going to school in the South, there are entire industries you just aren’t familiar with, at least in any detail. Author I knew, but literary agent? I’d never even heard of it in college. So going back and saying, hey, I sat where you sat, and I found a career I love that I never knew existed—that was a fun day. Maybe none of those students will go into publishing, but I hope they came away knowing there is a lot of world out there.
Questions About You, The Industry Pro
5. Why did you choose a book-related career?
Voracious child reader. Got to college and became an English & pre-med double major so I could—get this—pull a Robin Cook and be a doctor who wrote. Somewhere around Organic Chemistry the flaws in this plan became apparent and I wised up & cut out the middleman.
6. Tell us a little bit about what you do in your job.
As an agent, I help authors with every step of the publishing path. For brand-new authors, that starts with reading their query letter and requesting the manuscript. Then if I think it’s right for my client list, I’ll sign the author and submit the book to publishers. From there, I’ll handle the business stuff—contracts, money, payout, deadlines. Then I’m the author’s resource for all the little questions that come up along the way from page to shelf, like “what if my cover stinks” or “what should I work on next” or “how do I ask for X from my publicist.” In a nutshell, I am a Sherpa on publishing’s Everest.
7. What do you love most (and least) about your job?
I love most the excitement of reading something and feeling the zing! of this is amazing, then seeing that manuscript become a gorgeous book.
I love least the harsh reality that I will never be fully caught up on reading submissions.
8. What do you think would surprise people about your job?
First, that I don’t read in the office unless a client’s hair is on fire; second, that I pass on perfectly saleable projects all the time. Shaping a list, for an agent, is not unlike shaping a client’s career—lots of great opportunities may arise but you can’t and shouldn’t say yes to them all unless they’re right for where you want to end up.
9. What do you love most about the YA and middle grades genres?
I mentioned it earlier, but I really think these are the books that shape who we become as adults.
10. What books inspired you as a teen/tween?
Oh, there are so many that I will only pick the top three, right now. The Dragonriders of Pern books by Anne McCaffrey. The Little House series, which is probably The Defining Series of my childhood (I loved the books so passionately that I never watched a single episode of the show; to small-me it was a horrible affront that they changed anything, let alone so much). And if you had to boil me down into one novel it is without question A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, though I loved the rest of the Murray books too, special props to A Swiftly Tilting Planet. I still have my childhood copies of all these books. I don’t think any of them have intact covers but I can’t bring myself to replace these beloved friends.
11. What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Read. Read some more. Write. Write some more. Tell the stories that beg to be told, as well as you can tell them.
Will the Real You 2.0 Please Stand Up?
12. I love the game Three Truths and a Lie because there are so many unexpected and interesting things about people that we never get a chance to learn about them. What are three truths and a lie that our blog readers can guess about you?
– In college I traveled around the country in a 15 passenger van as part of a drama troupe.
– In high school I ran a fanfic zine devoted to Anne McCaffrey’s Pern.
– I’ve been on three TV game shows but never won. **UPDATE: Here’s the lie!**
– I hate getting pedicures because my pinkie toenails are nonexistent and the manicurists judge me.
(BONUS: To celebrate Holly’s feature, your comment today gets you a double entry into the You 2.0 monthly contest for an ARC of The Cinderella Society or a prize dive in the awesome You 2.0 Prize Basket. Guess correctly and you get a bonus entry (that makes three entries in all)! I’ll update the post tomorrow to spill the big lie, so get guessing and have fun!)
Thanks to Holly for a fabulous interview!
September 9th, 2009
This week, I’m delighted to be hosting my first agent guest in the Booklover of the Week series. My guest today has edited or agented (she’s worked on both sides of the table) two of my favorite middle grades novels: The Wedding Planner’s Daughter by Coleen Murtagh Paratore (Simon & Schuster, 5/2006) and My Life in Pink & Green by Lisa Greenwald (Amulet, 3/2009). Please help me welcome the lovely…
Alyssa Eisner Henkin
Literary Agent, Trident Media Group
Thanks so much for being here, Alyssa!
Booklover Basics
Name: Alyssa Eisner Henkin
Title: Literary Agent
Publisher: Trident Media Group
Short Bio:
Alyssa Eisner Henkin is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and The Radcliffe Publishing Course. She worked as an editor for over seven years at Simon & Schuster’s Books for Young Readers imprint. In December of 2006 she joined Trident Media as an agent specializing in children’s books. Her focus there is on middle grade and young adult novels, and she is actively building her client list.
Questions About You 2.0
The You 2.0 blog is about becoming everything you’re meant to be. It’s about pursuing your dreams, changing your world, showing gratitude, and paying it forward. Here’s a chance for our Booklovers to share what You 2.0 means to them.
1. PURSUING YOUR DREAMS: Everyone has the ability to be extraordinary, they just have to embrace what makes them unique and special and pursue their dreams with passion and confidence! Tell us a little about a dream you’ve achieved or are pursuing right now. If you’ve achieved it already, how does it feel to know you’ve made your dream a reality?
When I was a tween I was the kind of kid who gravitated towards books about headstrong protagonists who loved to write and dream, and who always managed to have some romance, too. First as an editor and now as an agent I feel like I’ve played a conceptual and creative hand in some modern counterparts to my own childhood favorites, Anne of Green Gables and Betsy-Tacy. From The Mother Daughter Book Club and The Wedding Planner’s Daughter to My Life in Pink & Green and The Amaranth Enchantment, I’m helping to create books that I would have read over and over again when I was ten and eleven. It’s very fun.
2. CHANGING YOUR WORLD: Changing the world doesn’t have to mean finding a cure for cancer or creating lasting world peace (though it definitely can!). It just means finding a way that you can make the world a little better off for having lived here, whether it’s making a difference to one person or a million, to the earth, to animals… whatever is important to you. What is one way you would personally like to make the world a better place?
I would like to continue to work on books and perhaps one day on dolls/toys and online content that keep children young, happy, and connected to their parents for just a little bit longer. It’s quite common to see a seven year-old dressed like a seventeen year-old these days. And while I don’t think there’s any point in over-sheltering kids from sophisticated influences, I would love to follow in the footsteps of entrepreneurs like Pleasant T. Rowland of The American Girl Doll company and Maxine Clark of Build-a-Bear who have built multi-million dollar companies that celebrate rather than accelerate childhood.
3. GRATITUDE: Gratitude is a huge part of the You 2.0 life. Taking a moment to count our blessings is the best way to remember what’s truly important (especially when life is hectic and crazy!). What are you grateful for?
I am so grateful for my incredible husband and family whose support enabled me to pursue a creative career in the first place, a brilliant, accomplished group of friends that keeps me well-versed on the world beyond kids’ books, and finally a handful of publishing colleagues who mentor and champion me throughout every chapter of my career.
4. PAYING IT FORWARD: If everyone took a moment to pay it forward, even just once, the world would be changed in ways we can’t even imagine. What is one thing you’ve done (or plan to do) to “pay it forward” in some way?
I try to pay it forward every day by making lemonade out of lemons and sharing that sentiment with everyone I know. It’s not exactly saving the world in a hands-on Mother Teresa type way. But I believe that when you can help someone uncover his inner talents or abandon his inner fears through positive thinking that you are making the world stronger and richer.
Questions About You, The Industry Pro
5. Why did you choose a book-related career?
Publishing seemed to be a good way to combine my lifelong interest in creativity, stories, and ideas with my desire to learn more about the business world and what makes consumers tick.
6. Tell us a little bit about what you do in your job.
I seek out new talent, sometimes help authors shape their ideas to best suit the market, edit manuscripts, send out those manuscripts to editors who might buy them, negotiate those sales, and then help the client through the process from that point to publication including marketing, publicity and launch. I also work with colleagues at Trident in audio, foreign and film rights to find homes for the subsidiary rights for these books.
7. What do you love most (and least) about your job?
I love the thrill that each day brings—new manuscripts, great revisions, good news from booksellers and reviewers. I never get tired of hearing the happiness and belief in an editor’s voice right before an offer is made! I’m most troubled by the fact that several genres get too saturated too quickly, and then there’s suddenly a recoiling of consumer appetite that doesn’t always bode well for the books that are sold and published later on in the trend cycle. I think we need to either find a way to get these types of books to market sooner or otherwise not to over-publish within certain disciplines to the extent that we do.
8. What do you think would surprise people about your job?
That I feel terrible every time I reject a manuscript. Even if it’s not singing to me and I wouldn’t be the right advocate for it, I imagine what it would be like if the tables were turned and I was the one getting polite albeit form rejection letters for something I wrote myself! It takes much more fortitude to be an author in that respect than it does to be an agent.
9. What do you love most about the YA and middle grades genres?
I think I love the hopefulness that often pervades both genres, even in books that might be characterized as dark.
10. What books inspired you as a teen/tween?
I’ve already talked about Betsy-Tacy and Anne of Green Gables; I’ll also say books by Sydney Taylor, Lois Lowry, Elaine Konigsburg, Johanna Hurwitz, Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, Maxine Hong Kingston, Herman Wouk, and Maeve Binchy.
11. What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Pay particular attention to making your voice stand out and making your plot sizzle. Keep up to date on what the trends are—not to follow necessarily, but just to know what editors and agents might be looking for at any given time—it’s often changing.
Will the Real You 2.0 Please Stand Up?
12. I love the game Three Truths and a Lie because there are so many unexpected and interesting things about people that we never get a chance to learn about them. What are three truths and a lie that our blog readers can guess about you?
– I loved to act out Gone with the Wind when I was eight, and I was always Scarlet.
– Figure skating is my favorite winter sport.
**UPDATE: Here’s the lie!**
– July 4th is my favorite holiday.
– I’ve never been to Prince Edward Island.
Special Giveaway!
My new bookmarks for The Cinderella Society (complete with the official cover!) just arrived on Friday! To celebrate, I’ll be giving away signed bookmarks to one commenter on today’s post.
And, as always, your comment today also gets you an entry into the You 2.0 monthly contest for an ARC of The Cinderella Society or a prize dive in the awesome You 2.0 Prize Basket. Guess correctly and you get a bonus entry! I’ll update the post tomorrow to spill the big lie, so get guessing and have fun!
Thanks to Alyssa for a fabulous interview!
August 26th, 2009
This week, I’m delighted to be hosting another industry pro in the Booklover of the Week series. I was fortunate to meet this charming and super savvy editor at the RWA national conference the year I was a Golden Heart winner. My chat with her was one of the highlights of my conference. Please help me welcome the wonderful…
Natashya Wilson
Senior Editor, Harlequin Teen
Thanks so much for being here, Natashya!
Booklover Basics
Name: Natashya “Tashya” Wilson
Title: Senior Editor
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Short Bio:
I’m a California girl who moved east for grad school and then landed an editorial assistant position with Harlequin in 1996. I’ve been a voracious reader all my life, having discovered romance at age 9 with Love’s Tender Fury by Jennifer Wilde. Becoming an editor seemed natural after completing an animal science major in college (huh?!). When I realized I wasn’t interested in a science-related job, I completed an M.A. in magazine journalism. Harlequin then opened their doors to me and my lifelong reader’s knowledge of their books, and it’s been love ever since. Currently I live in New Jersey with my husband, daughter, and one on the way.
Questions About You 2.0
The You 2.0 blog is about becoming everything you’re meant to be. It’s about pursuing your dreams, changing your world, showing gratitude, and paying it forward. Here’s a chance for our Booklovers to share what You 2.0 means to them.
1. PURSUING YOUR DREAMS: Everyone has the ability to be extraordinary, they just have to embrace what makes them unique and special and pursue their dreams with passion and confidence! Tell us a little about a dream you’ve achieved or are pursuing right now. If you’ve achieved it already, how does it feel to know you’ve made your dream a reality?
Becoming an editor is the dream I never knew I had until I was in grad school for magazine journalism and happened to read two editor profiles in Romantic Times Magazine. I thought, wow, I don’t really like the writing aspect of working in magazines; I’m much better at editing other people’s work—I wonder if I could be a book editor? The possibility made my heart race with yearning. I’d never thought of it before, I don’t know why.
I wrote letters to the two Harlequin editors featured in the issue, telling them how their stories inspired me and asking if they could spare the time to let me know how they became editors for Harlequin. One of them called me—then, after listening to me ramble on about how much I love series romance and how many of their books I read each month, she told me I should submit a resume, as they had a newly opened assistant’s position. I did, and landed the job. It was like a fairy tale! I still can’t believe I get paid to read and edit. I probably take it too much for granted most of the time, but, every once in a while I look around my office and think, I am the luckiest person ever. I really do. Taking a chance and reaching out to someone for advice helped my dream come true.
2. CHANGING YOUR WORLD: Changing the world doesn’t have to mean finding a cure for cancer or creating lasting world peace (though it definitely can!). It just means finding a way that you can make the world a little better off for having lived here, whether it’s making a difference to one person or a million, to the earth, to animals… whatever is important to you. What is one way you would personally like to make the world a better place?
Here are some of the little things I do all the time to do my part: When I’m out walking or hiking, I often pick up some garbage and throw it away. Imagine if every single person picked up and disposed of one piece of garbage a day? I recycle. I donate my old clothes. I pay attention when children talk to me. I’ve donated to the Carter Foundation, the ASPCA, the North Shore Animal League, and my college. I take the high road when another driver tailgates me, honks at me, or cuts me off—it just isn’t worth the energy to get mad. Maybe if I calm down and don’t overreact, someone else in the world will be a little less angry and we can all calm down.
What would I like to do? That’s a hard one—because, if I really want to do something, why am I not doing it? Helping to create world peace and tolerance for everyone would be one of my ultimate goals. Finding loving homes for every orphaned and foster child and abandoned animal would be another. I did adopt all four of my house pets from pet rescue operations, for a start, rather than buying kittens and puppies. And they are all—okay, three of them are fabulous! The other one is on notice for peeing on the couch…! And I would like to do more to stop the pollution of the planet.
3. GRATITUDE: Gratitude is a huge part of the You 2.0 life. Taking a moment to count our blessings is the best way to remember what’s truly important (especially when life is hectic and crazy!). What are you grateful for?
Wow, I could go on and on about this one with all the personal stuff—family, friends, job, pets, health…but let me think outside of me. On the large scale, I’m grateful for the oceans, the mountains, the redwoods and all of the beauties of nature. I hope we’ll always have them, and that we’ll work to make them cleaner than they are now.
4. PAYING IT FORWARD: If everyone took a moment to pay it forward, even just once, the world would be changed in ways we can’t even imagine. What is one thing you’ve done (or plan to do) to “pay it forward” in some way?
I’ll tell you one thing someone did for me that I would like to pay forward. One night in college, I went out for dinner with a boyfriend. The restaurant was crowded, and a single diner indicated that we could share his table. My boyfriend and I looked over the menu and, realizing that together we didn’t have a lot of money, made some choices about what to have and share and what to bypass. Our neighbor soon left, smiling on his way out. We enjoyed the dinner thoroughly—and when we were ready to go, the waiter told us that the man who’d dined next to us had added our bill to his! That was so nice, and if I ever have the opportunity, I will sure do it for someone else. I’m just waiting to overhear the right conversation. I’ll never forget that feeling of being moved by someone else’s simple kindness.
Things I have had the opportunity to do are: give someone the extra change they need to make a purchase/buy a train ticket if they’re a little short. Let someone desperate or with a child go ahead of me in the bathroom line (and that is a sacrifice for me—I have a very small bladder! Sorry, TMI, TMI…) Do informational interviews with people looking for jobs or knowledge of the publishing industry, and try to connect them with people who might help them. Edit books/resumes/Web sites and other things for family and friends.
Questions About You, The Industry Pro
5. Why did you choose a book-related career?
Probably for the same reason as most other people in our biz—I love to read!
6. Tell us a little bit about what you do in your job.
I’m the senior editor for the new Harlequin Teen imprint. That means I oversee the publishing schedule, work with the editorial team to acquire books, assist marketing and art with whatever they need to create book packages and promotion plans, and read a ton of submissions. For the imprint launch, we put together signings for our launch authors, Rachel Vincent and Gena Showalter, for BEA, got our ARCs out to as many reviewers as we could (and still can), and we’re in the midst of organizing a blog tour to get the word out to teens and all readers who love YA fiction.
7. What do you love most (and least) about your job?
My favorite thing is finding a new author and making the call to say I want to buy his or her book. My least favorite is falling in love with a project only to lose it to another publishing house. Grrr.
8. What do you think would surprise people about your job?
I really don’t know. It all seems so normal and natural to me that I’m sure whatever surprises others would surprise me!
9. What do you love most about the YA and middle grades genres?
The sense of discovery, the feeling that everything is new again. There’s an earnestness, an honesty in many of these titles that makes me feel young again, reminds me of the basics of what we all go through in life. Not that I’m oh, so ancient, but, you know what I mean!
10. What books inspired you as a teen/tween?
Black Beauty, the Nancy Drew books, the Silver Brumby books, Copper’s Chance, A Wrinkle in Time, The Outsiders, Judy Blume’s books, the Anne of Green Gables stories, Love’s Tender Fury, Johanna Lindsey’s books, Harlequin’s first 200 Superromances, Shel Silverstein, The Little Prince, Ballet Shoes, Where the Red Fern Grows, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and so, so many more.
11. What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
If you truly love and want to write, do it.
On the professional side, learn the craft and write in your own style as only you can; don’t try to emulate someone else. Listen to the way your story sounds in your head. Find your voice.
Will the Real You 2.0 Please Stand Up?
12. I love the game Three Truths and a Lie because there are so many unexpected and interesting things about people that we never get a chance to learn about them. What are three truths and a lie that our blog readers can guess about you?
– I have a black belt.
– I play piano.
– I own a horse.
– I’ve completed a YA novel. **UPDATE: Here’s the lie!**
Special Giveaway!!!
Natashya has graciously offered to give away not one but TWO books from Harlequin Teen’s awesome Fall 2009 launch list! Be sure to comment for your chance to win either My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent or Intertwined by Gena Showalter plus a matching t-shirt for the book!
(Readers: Your comment today gets you an entry into today’s special giveaway PLUS an entry into the You 2.0 monthly contest for an ARC of The Cinderella Society or a prize dive in the awesome You 2.0 Prize Basket. Guess correctly and you get a bonus entry! I’ll update the post tomorrow to spill the big lie, so get guessing and have fun!)
Thanks, Natashya, for a fabulous interview and generous giveaway offer!
July 29th, 2009
This week, I’m delighted to be hosting the first industry pro feature in the Booklover of the Week series. I’m very fortunate that the lovely (and funny!) publishing dynamo I’m featuring today also happens to be my editor for The Cinderella Society. Please help me welcome the fabulous…
Elizabeth Law
VP & Publisher, Egmont USA
Thanks so much for being here, Elizabeth!
Booklover Basics
Name: Elizabeth Law
Title: Vice President and Publisher
Publisher: Egmont USA
Short Bio:
Elizabeth Law is a lifelong children’s book fanatic who currently works as the Publisher of Egmont USA, a new American children’s book imprint whose list debuts this fall. Previously, Elizabeth was Associate Publisher of Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers and before that was an editor for many years at Viking Children’s Books. A graduate of the University of Chicago, Elizabeth lives in New York City where she can indulge in her other great passion: going to the theater.
Questions About You 2.0
The You 2.0 blog is about becoming everything you’re meant to be. It’s about pursuing your dreams, changing your world, showing gratitude, and paying it forward. Here’s a chance for our Booklovers to share what You 2.0 means to them.
1. PURSUING YOUR DREAMS: Everyone has the ability to be extraordinary, they just have to embrace what makes them unique and special and pursue their dreams with passion and confidence! Tell us a little about a dream you’ve achieved or are pursuing right now. If you’ve achieved it already, how does it feel to know you’ve made your dream a reality?
When I was in college, I took a course on children’s literature from Zena Sutherland, the legendary children’s book reviewer. She told stories about Ursula Nordstrom vowing to quit her job if Where the Wild Things Are didn’t win the Caldecott Medal, or the mediocre reception that first greeted the publication of Harriet the Spy. I wanted to be part of that publishing world! I already knew that I loved children’s books, but in Zena’s class I hatched my plan to move to New York to become an editor.
So that’s what I did. I screwed up my courage to move to New York, and I shared a large one bedroom apartment in Manhattan with two other college graduates and supported myself as an office temp before I got my entry-level job as an editorial assistant at Viking Children’s books. When I left Viking 18 years later for Simon and Schuster, I had made it up the ladder rung by rung to associate publisher.
By the way, I don’t completely agree that you have to be confident to pursue your dreams, though I certainly think that it helps. I wasn’t particularly confident in high school or college, and I have read that that’s common: a lot of young women lose their confidence in their teenage years. But even though I wasn’t confident, I was good at putting one foot in front of the other. I think persistence plays a large part in getting what you want, too.
2. CHANGING YOUR WORLD: Changing the world doesn’t have to mean finding a cure for cancer or creating lasting world peace (though it definitely can!). It just means finding a way that you can make the world a little better off for having lived here, whether it’s making a difference to one person or a million, to the earth, to animals… whatever is important to you. What is one way you would personally like to make the world a better place?
I was a Girl Scout leader in East Harlem for 5 years and I was a tutor at literacy volunteers when I first moved to New York. But right now I find my work very consuming, and I don’t feel I have the energy to get really involved in volunteer work.
So I take my friends’ children to plays and musicals a lot. I love the theater, and I love sharing my passion for it. I have been able to bring kids backstage to meet actors I know, to see the wigs and make up, and to look at the sets and props close up. I think that these things can make a lasting impression. I wouldn’t have known about editing as a career if I hadn’t taken Zena’s class, and maybe one of these kids will realize that theater can be their profession because they meet people who make their living at it. Or maybe they will just learn how thrilling live theater can be. And that’s enough for me.
3. GRATITUDE: Gratitude is a huge part of the You 2.0 life. Taking a moment to count our blessings is the best way to remember what’s truly important (especially when life is hectic and crazy!). What are you grateful for?
I have a longer list for this than for my favorite books as a teenager! I am grateful that my parents let me move to New York City to pursue my dream of becoming a children’s book editor, even though I didn’t have a job when I moved here. In 1984, crime was bad in NYC and so was the economy.
Also, I recently spent the weekend with three friends I have known since my first week in college, when we were all undergraduates at The University of Chicago. I am grateful that I was wise enough to go to a school perfect for a geeky, book-loving person like me, and again, that my parents supported me. And I am really really grateful for what I learned there and the lifelong friends I made.
I am grateful that I have a job I love so much, and I think about that every single day as I walk out my front door. The fact that it’s a short commute is icing on the cake!
4. PAYING IT FORWARD: If everyone took a moment to pay it forward, even just once, the world would be changed in ways we can’t even imagine. What is one thing you’ve done (or plan to do) to “pay it forward” in some way?
Regina Griffin, our executive editor, and I have a wonderful assistant named Alison Weiss. Alison will be an editor one day, and while she works very, very hard at a lot of thankless tasks, we try to teach her what we’ve learned about children’s book publishing and being an editor. I think it’s our job to pass on not just what we know about how to, say, write an editorial letter or create catalog copy, but also to share our stories about the field, to tell her about books we published that maybe didn’t sell well, to introduce Alison to the people we know, just to prepare her for her next job. She ought to be able to stand on our shoulders, as it were, when she’s ready to be a fulltime editor.
Questions About You, The Industry Pro
5. Why did you choose a book-related career?
Do you know the quote from Alexander Pope’s “The Rape of the Lock” that reads “I lisp’d in numbers for the numbers came?” This career chose me. This is what I was born to do.
6. Tell us a little bit about what you do in your job.
Well, I read a lot in my free time, and I think I should still be reading more. I spend a couple of evenings a week and usually about a half a day on Sunday reading manuscripts that an agent, or one of the editors here, has recommended. And I read on the subway, at lunch, etc. If you are reading my facebook posts during the broadcast of American Idol on Tuesday nights, you don’t know that I’m thinking “I could be reading manuscripts right now!” When I read, besides thinking “Am I enjoying this?” I am wondering “Is it different than what we already have on our list? Would it satisfy a young reader? Is this an author who could write other books for us?”
All that reading happens when I’m not at work. At work, I’m involved in all the other hundreds of steps it takes to get a manuscript to publication.
7. What do you love most (and least) about your job?
I love, love, love being a champion for great books, whatever they are. As an editor and a publisher, I get to talk up our books at sales meetings, in house, to everyone I meet, on Twitter, etc. I was never a cheerleader in high school, but I feel like a natural cheerleader for our list. I also really like working with writers to help them bring out their best voice. I try hard not to put my own agenda on an author’s book, and I myself am not a writer. But I ask “is this what you want to say?” or “would you lose your reader’s interest here?” or say “we’d really love to know more about this part.” Collaborating in that way feels very satisfying.
The hardest part is saying no. At Egmont we are building a list from scratch, so I get to say “yes, we’d love to do this book” a lot, but I still have to say no to writers, to agents, or to editors here on staff if I think we can’t sell enough of a book, or that it’s not different enough, or won’t do well against similar titles.
The other thing that’s hard is not being perfect. Kind of like being in school, there’s always more I could be doing. Another letter I could be writing, phone call I could be returning, piece of copy I could be polishing. It’s a challenge not to self-criticize.
8. What do you think would surprise people about your job?
There are only 8 of us on staff at Egmont. The atmosphere is informal and everyone pitches in on everything, from opinions on jacket art to thinking of titles or selling taglines. When I started in publishing, I was expecting to work some place that looked like the movie Working Girl, and I bought a suit to celebrate getting hired. (In my defense, it was the 80s). But publishing is very friendly and we maintain a pretty low-key atmosphere. I wish all aspiring authors could sit in our office for one day. I think they would be a lot less intimidated.
9. What do you love most about the YA and middle grades genres?
I’ve never thought about this question before. It would be fair to say “I just really like to read, and these books are really good.” But to try to go a little deeper, in the middle grade fiction I read as a child, I wanted to picture someone like myself having adventures, or having a big family (I came from a small one), and I wanted to see the emotional issues I myself faced worked out within the story I read.
In YA, I wanted to read dark stories that reflected my own inner feelings of anger and confusion, or that talked about teens who were brave enough to get into trouble. I think a lot of teens really glamorize the dark side of life in their minds. Look at the novels of Laurie Halse Anderson, for example. Each heroine has a very tough problem and the book explores that problem with complete emotional truth. And those books are, deservedly, very very popular. Also, teens are usually wildly romantic (and deep inside, so am I). I think that accounts for the popularity of books like Twilight. As Regina and I always say, “It’s all about the yearning.”
10. What books inspired you as a teen/tween?
I don’t think I really read for inspiration as a teenager, though I read voraciously. It was the early days of YA literature and I loved reading books where teens died, ran away, or did drugs. (I adored Go Ask Alice, though it terrified me.) This was the early 70s, and there was still a lot of idealization of the perfect American family at that time, and I felt that I, myself, was being compared to other kids in my town with better grades, better looks, better poise. I knew things in my own family weren’t perfect, and I was eager to read anything that showed something other than the idealized life I felt I was being peddled.
I think things are different in the culture today—now being a “bad” kid is glamorized throughout our culture. But just like in the 70s, kids still need to read and think for themselves and sort out who they want to be.
A couple of characters in literature made a great impression on me and I think of them often, although they are from books I first read in elementary school. When I need to be brave, or handle a physical challenge, I often think of Laura Ingalls moving the whole woodpile indoors before the big blizzard. I mean, Laura survived the long winter, Laura could sew a buttonhole, I ought to be able to walk another half mile with a heavy bag! Or I think of something I learned from Harriet M. Welch, who was never embarrassed when she didn’t know something. “I can always ask” Harriet thought. I think that’s a good lesson!
11. What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Write your heart out. Don’t worry about trends, don’t worry about format. Just write the story you care about the most that’s in you.
Will the Real You 2.0 Please Stand Up?
12. I love the game Three Truths and a Lie because there are so many unexpected and interesting things about people that we never get a chance to learn about them. What are three truths and a lie that our blog readers can guess about you?
– I have an MBA **UPDATE: Here’s the lie!**
– I’m a trained lifeguard
– I briefly attended high school with Barack Obama
– I have gone sky diving
Special Giveaway!!!
To celebrate Elizabeth’s feature and all the great books on Egmont USA’s debut list, I’m happy to be giving away my galley of Pam Bachorz’s Candor (Egmont USA, 9/09). I just finished it last night and it is AMAZING. And being the gracious gal that she is, Pam has even offered to send a signed bookplate to the lucky winner! (Thanks, Pam!)
(Readers: Your comment today gets you an entry into today’s special giveaway PLUS an entry into the You 2.0 monthly contest for an ARC of The Cinderella Society or a prize dive in the awesome You 2.0 Prize Basket. Guess correctly and you get a bonus entry! I’ll update the post tomorrow to spill the big lie, so get guessing and have fun!)
Thanks to Elizabeth for a fabulous interview!
