I slipped out of the house yesterday morning to hear Chuck Sambuchino of F+W Media talk about his experience in the publishing world (and his latest Guide to Literary Agents) and he mentioned that writers who are having a hard time breaking in to picture books (those 32-page kids books, more pictures than words) may instead break into YA or MG market, then say to their established agent/publisher, "hey, I have some picture books titles ready to go..."
It made me wonder if that's what Speak author Laurie Halse Anderson did with The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School, which I recently reviewed for The Plain Dealer. I rather doubt it, but maybe...
You can see all five of my reviews of back-to-school picture books in today's print edition/arts section, or check it out on the website.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Pile-up on my Reading Table
What extra time? The kids are in school now and my book table is overflowing. Sigh. I'll get to them, I'll get to them. "Them" being:
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
To Kill a Mockingbird* (PLEASE don't tell anyone I haven't read it yet!)
Crucial Conversations (I'm ambivalent about this one; stay tuned)
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley**
...and a couple more.
I'm already committed - three of the four above (and several others) have me enthralled. I should consider this a bit of training, I suppose. I love reading a pair of books simultaneously - as long as the pair consists of one fiction, one nonfiction. (I can't read nonfiction after dark; is there a support group for that?) To have twice as many books open at once, well, I'm in over my head here, folks. Any suggestions? Words of encouragement?
*Why are the best books the most likely to be banned?
*Has anyone read Jane Smiley's blog (at the Huffington Post) long enough to figure it out? If so, please let us all know.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
To Kill a Mockingbird* (PLEASE don't tell anyone I haven't read it yet!)
Crucial Conversations (I'm ambivalent about this one; stay tuned)
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley**
...and a couple more.
I'm already committed - three of the four above (and several others) have me enthralled. I should consider this a bit of training, I suppose. I love reading a pair of books simultaneously - as long as the pair consists of one fiction, one nonfiction. (I can't read nonfiction after dark; is there a support group for that?) To have twice as many books open at once, well, I'm in over my head here, folks. Any suggestions? Words of encouragement?
*Why are the best books the most likely to be banned?
*Has anyone read Jane Smiley's blog (at the Huffington Post) long enough to figure it out? If so, please let us all know.
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