FALL 2009

Posted November 1st, 2009 by Administrator and filed in Uncategorized
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CONTENTS

  • RA MESSAGE: It’s Not in Our Stars
  • SCBWI-Hawaii Annual Conference Preview, February 27, 2010
  • Those &*+$!  Rejection Letters
  • Does Your Manuscript Look Professional?
  • HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN Magazine Lists Their Current Needs
  • New Website: Picture Book Party
  • Kudos

RA Message:  It’s Not in Our Stars

By Sue Cowing

Forgetting for a moment the surprises the universe reserves for teachers who take themselves too seriously, I once set up an experiment with a class of ninth graders I thought were far too taken in by sky signs and horoscopes. For the next seven days, I proposed, half the class would clip the star-chart column in the morning paper and keep a log of what actually happened to them each day. I and the other half of the class would also keep the log, but promise not to look at the column. Then we’d compare notes.

Ahem. As I expected, those who read the charts all week showed a closer correspondence with their days’ events than those who didn’t. The only perfect bulls-eye in either group, though, was my own. For the black Friday of that week when I lost my paycheck, had three flat tires on two different cars, and got an audit notice from the IRS, my horoscope read: “Stay home if possible, but if not, travel by foot, and be especially careful with money.” I had to join in the howls of laughter at my expense.

Here is a horoscope for us children’s writers and illustrators that I’ve made up without consulting a single star, using quotations and proverbs as messages. The assignment to months is purely arbitrary (I even drew my own month’s message from a jar so that I could take part, too), but try pretending that the one appearing in your birth month just happens to be the very metaphor, semaphore, or what-for you need to keep on submitting and reworking, to figure out how to fill that plot hole or blank space, to make something difficult easy or fun, to free yourself from the fear of failure (or success), or to take a wild leap in a new direction. Then see what happens.

  • January: “It is wise to enjoy yourself, but it is a virtue to create enjoyment.” Persian proverb
  • February: “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” Pablo Picasso
  • March: “A bird doesn’t sing because it has the answer; it sings because it has a song.” Maya Angelou
  • April: “I’ve got the brain of a four-year-old. I bet he was glad to be rid of it.” Groucho Marx
  • May: “The day you decide to do it is your lucky day.” Japanese proverb
  • June: “When danger approaches, sing to it.” Arabic proverb
  • July: “When your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt.” Henry J. Kaiser
  • August: “For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.” Lily Tomlin
  • September: “Trust all Joy.” Theodore Roethke
  • October: “Adventure is worthwhile in itself.” Amelia Earhart
  • November: “There must be more to life than having everything.” Maurice Sendak
  • December: “I stopped believing in Santa Claus at age six when my mother took me to see him in a store and he asked for my autograph.” Shirley Temple Black

2010 SCBWI-Hawaii Conference Preview

Our 2010 all day conference is set for Saturday, February 27, at the Ala Moana Hotel, plus there will be an optional all-day fiction workshop with Kathi Appelt the day before. Plans are being finalized as this newsletter is in process, and it’s looking good! We’ll send out the complete information and registration form soon, but here’s a preview of what you can look forward to:

*For all:

  • general session with Nancy Siscoe, executive editor at Knopf on character development in both text and illustration.
  • after-lunch panel with representatives from Mutual Publishing, Island Heritage, and Bess Press who will talk about what kinds of manuscripts they are looking for and how to submit to them.
  • optional manuscript and portfolio critiques.

*For writers:kathyappelt

  • hands-on session with Newbury honoree Kathi Appelt on “Endowed Objects—What’s in your Character’s ‘Magic Box?’”
  • first-pages session
  • session on “The Art of Story” with Margaret South, who wowed us all at last year’s conference.

*For illustrators:

  • hands-on session with James Rumford, “Now That’s Another Story: the Art of the Picture Book”
  • presentation with Tammy Yee on “The (Happy) Marriage of Illustration and Technology”
  • presentation with Scott Goto “Working from References and Other Tricks of the Trade”

Click here for Conference Information and Registration Packet

Those &*+$!  Rejection Letters

By Lynne Wikoff

Two ancient, yellowed Peanuts comic strips wink to me from my bulletin board. One shows Snoopy on top of his dog house, typing a letter to a publisher who rejected him: “Gentlemen,” he writes, “Regarding the recent rejection slip you sent me. I think there might have been a misunderstanding. What I really meant was for you to publish my story and sent me fifty thousand dollars. Didn’t you realize that?”  The second shows Lucy “consoling” Snoopy after this rejection: “…No one is ever going to pay you for those dumb stories you write. And crying won’t help…Publishers very seldom pay authors just to keep them from crying.” (Too bad, yeah?)

My file folder of rejection letters should be labeled “Facts of Life” because, sadly, rejection comes with the I-want-to-be-published territory. Most of those rejections are garden variety form letters, but a few contain words of encouragement that I treasure. (There are also a few “holes” in my file, spots that should have been filled by a response to a submission, except the editor never replied at all.)

Given that writing and rejection skip along the path to publication hand in hand, coping with rejection is a skill we all need to cultivate. (This also applies to receiving no reply at all—some publishers’ websites say that if they don’t respond to a submission after a set length of time, that means they aren’t interested.)

Here are some suggestions to guide you when one of those inevitable rejections comes your way.

  • Think unprintable thoughts about the stupidity of the offending editor.
  • Take some time to cool down. Read some good books. Read some more.
  • Accept reality [insert trumpet blare here]: rejection is not personal. It’s a business decision. There’s a time to be creative and emotional (say, when you’re writing a first draft), and there’s a time to be business-like. This is the time to be business-like, so…
  • Re-read your manuscript with the expectation that it can be improved.
  • Revise your manuscript. Let it simmer for a week or, preferably, more and then re-revise.
  • Send it out again.
  • Repeat as necessary.

Does Your Manuscript Look Professional?

Does the overall look of your submission convey that you are a professional writer—or does it scream AMATEUR!  Admittedly, a properly formatted manuscript doesn’t guarantee a sale, but an incorrectly formatted one doesn’t just mark you as an amateur. It may also keep your work from being read—and who wants to take that chance?

Here’s how to look like a pro.

  • Typeface and type size. Use an easy-to-read serif font, such as Times New Roman. (Serifs are the teeny lines that finish off the main strokes of letters, and serif typefaces are considered easier to read than those without serifs—called sans serif.) Use 12-point type.
  • Spacing. Double space all manuscripts, including picture book manuscripts. (Picture book manuscripts are straight type, with no demarcations for page breaks.) Do not double-double space between paragraphs, except for a change of scene in a novel. Use only one space after a period or colon—that’s the standard for work that is to be printed. (For personal correspondence, two spaces after a period or colon is still the standard.)
  • Margins. The default settings in Microsoft Word are acceptable. If you use another word processing program, set your margins at one inch on each side of the paper.
  • First page.

At the top left corner of the page, single space as follows:
Your street address
Your city/state/zip code
Your phone number
Your email address

Double space twice, then center your title all in caps. Double space and center By [your name]. Double double space again, then begin your story.

  • Either right or left justified at the top of each page (except the title page), put your name, your story title (shortened if it is long), and the page number.
  • Use only 8 ½ x 11-inch white paper and black ink.

HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN Magazine Lists Their Current Needs

The venerable magazine HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN has issued the following listing of the kinds of submissions they are currently seeking. For specific requirements for submissions in the categories below see www.highights.com/current-needs.

Fiction submissions: send to Joelle Dujardin, Associate Editor.

  • For beginning readers, ages 4-8, up to 500 words: humorous stories; folktales; holiday stories, sports stories.
  • For independent readers, age 8-12, up to 800 words: holiday stories, humorous stories, adventure stories, historical fiction, sports stories.

Nonfiction submissions: must contain an expert review and a bibliography with more than just Internet sources.

  • What a Pro Knows, up to 800 words. Submit to Debra Hess, Senior Editor.
  • Gallant Kids, up to 400 words. Submit to Debra Hess, Senior Editor.
  • Science: 800-word and 400 word features and 50-word activities. Submit to Andy Boyles, Science Editor.
  • History/World Cultures: up to 800 words. Submit to Carolyn Yoder.
  • One-Page Activities and Short Puzzles, up to 275 words, and Short Games, Recipes, and Activities. Submit to Linda Rose, Assistant Editor.

New Website: Picture Book Party

The website Picture Book Party at  www.picturebookparty.com was created by Andrea Zimmerman as “a place to celebrate creating picture books. She says the site is meant to “give inspiration, information and fun to people involved in writing and illustrating picture books.” The site is a blog that rotates among five topics: picture books past, illustration, writing, real kids, and book business. You can click on any one of the topics and see all the past posts—great info in an easy-to digest format, and with links to other sites of interest.

Kudos

Sue Cowing’s middle grade puppet-and-boy story, FALL GUY, was sold to CarolRhoda Books in August and is scheduled for publication in 2011.

BeachHouse Publishing recently released two books by Vera Arita. CAN YOU CATCH A COQUI FROG? includes various Hawaiian animals and their habitats in a story sung to the tune of “Do Your Ears Hang Low?” ANIMALS SING ALOHA is a phonics book that teaches the sounds of the alphabet and is sung to Vera’s original tune.

Monika Mira has released an “earth friendly” edition, printed on recycled paper, of THE COMPLETE HAWAIIAN REEF COLORING BOOK, which includes more than 200 colorable illustrations and provides information on anatomical features, coloration, body designs, feeding habits and reproductive strategies.

MAX AND THE DUMB FLOWER PICTURE, by the late Martha Alexander with James Rumford, was featured in The New York Times book review section on October 11. The enthusiastic review ended with a lovely tribute to Jim: “Martha Alexander left notes and sketches for this story about the possibilities of ‘a blank sheet of paper,’ and James Rumford ably completed it.”