New Market: Harlequin Teen

Children's Writer this month featured Harlequin Teen in their Publisher Profile. Harlequin, of course, its known for its romance novels, but Harlequin Teen promises not to be trashy or innapropriate for teens.

The publisher sights Stephenie Meyer's Twighlight, Scott Westerfield's Uglies and Meg Cabot's The Princess Diaries as the types of books they are looking for.

According to their website:

We’re looking for commercial, high-concept stories that capture the teen experience and will speak to readers with power and authenticity. All subgenres are welcome, so long as the book delivers a relevant reading experience that will resonate long after the book’s covers are closed. We expect that many of our stories will include a compelling romantic element.

According to Senior Editor Natashya Wilson, they are looking for novels set in "contemporary, paranormal, fantasy, science fiction, and historical world."

You can learn more about Harlequin Teen at their website.

When Smart Authors Get Taken

When considering submitting to publishers, contests, and agents, it's always a good thing to check them out first! Take a look at this article When Smart Authors Get Taken and see why even smart authors get scammed sometimes. To do your own search, I recommend Preditors and Editors for a comprehensive list of contests, agents, publishers, magazines, and much more.

Nine General Rules to Follow When Submitting Your Book

To those of us who have been in the writing business for awhile, these rules are no brainers. But for those just starting out, this list is an important one to read and consult.

Nine General Rules to Follow When Submitting Your Book or Manuscript to an Agent or Editor

#5: Writers Send Submissions In Strange Formats and Colors, is a pet peeve of mine. I did some freelance reading for a subsidy publisher for awhile, and the range of formats, colors and fonts was astounding!

If it doesn't look professional, don't send it.

From start to finish, the cover of Angeline

Check out how illustrator Stephen Macquignon went about drawing the cover of Angeline Jellybean, step-by-step, in his blog: http://scketch2color.multiply.com/journal

The Cover for Angeline is Here!

Let me know what you think.

Illustrations! Submissions! Readings! Oh, my!

I got to see some sample illustrations for Angeline Jellybean last night and--wow! I am so thrilled with them I could dance in the streets.

I've been working on a number of projects. My thesis (still not titled with only 10 pages left to go), a couple of picture books (Mr. Beta and You Oughta Like the Otters which desperately needs reworked and a different title), and random other things. I think my next round of submissions might be a picture book called Jason and Jamal. I wrote it around the time I wrote Angeline, so maybe that was when I wrote all of my brilliant work. haha.

I sent some poems out awhile ago. I'm not really expecting any acceptances. Of course it would be awesome, but I rather enjoy collecting rejection letters too. ;-)

Here's good news not about me: My boyfriend, Mark C. Bradley, will be a featured local writer at Ukazoo Books in Towson, MD on September 14th! Yay, Mark!

If things were simple. . .

I would have picture books floating around at different publishers right now. But things aren't simple, so instead I'm sitting here with a list published by SCBWI trying to find a home for Mango Dance, totally overwhelmed by the mass number of publishers and their imprints.

You know, it's ok, though. Doing the grunt work is part of being a writer, and something we all have to go through. What is starting to drive me crazy is the number of people I see asking other writers to do the tough stuff for them. "Can you recommend an agent?" "Which publishers publish multi-cultural picture books from the point of view of a five year old boy. . . " You get the point. I don't know the best publisher for your manuscript, simply because I don't know it as well as you do.

If things were simple, I'd have my thesis written by now. Totally revised too! But the world doesn't let me sit down and work non-stop on any one writing project. I have responsibilities beyond writing. That's just the way it is. But, I make time to write because I love it. I may not always be in the mood for it, but once I get started, it's like a natural high and I don't want to stop.

If things were simple, I wouldn't be stressed out right now about a million different things. Then again, if I weren't stressed out, I wouldn't need writing to relax me.

Thank goodness things aren't always simple

Me, me, me all over the internet!

My name now appears on the 4RV publishing website here: http://www.4rvpublishingllc.com/4RV-Authors.html

And look for my own bio page up within a couple of days!

Killing your darlings

They say writers must kill their darlings. I feel like I've already killed Angeline a thousand times. . . So one more time, for the sake of publishing a really, really good book, couldn't hurt, right?

I've written a brand new picture book in the same kind of style as Angeline. It's called Mango Dance, and it's based on an experience I had in Trinidad.

Oh, and that thesis is really running from me again! But it can't hide forever. Oh, no. I will catch up with it again!

Getting into Dodge

You know the expression "Get the Hell out of Dodge"? I have no idea what it means, but I wanna get into Dodge. The Dodge Poetry Festival in Stanhope, New Jersey, that is. As an English major in college, it was the coolest place to be at the end of September, and I always wanted to go, but never got to. This year, Ted Kooser is reading on Sunday! So, naturally, I want to go just to see him. And I've asked Mark to go with me and make a weekend out of it. After the last failed attempt, his time I will meet Ted Kooser, come hell or high water.

In other news: I am working on a short story for middle schoolers about a "sixth grade sleuth" with an over-active imagination. When he notices one of his fellow sixth graders going to the nurse's office every day, all kinds of crazy things run through his mind. Like maybe the kid is an alien getting tested by the nurse for the government. Turns out, his friend is not an alien, but a diabetic who must get his sugar level tested daily before lunch. So the "sixth grade sleuth" must learn a thing or two about diabetes and the mysterious box that is attached to his friend's hip.

And now for the official announcement: My picture book Angeline Jellybean will be published by 4RV Publishing in early 2009!! It still doesn't feel real to me; maybe that's why I haven't told anyone but Mark about it. But I secretely love thinking about my name on a book. This will be my very first book in print! Needless to say, I'm excited but overwhelmed with the thought.

Hehe

We now interrupt this blog for a bit of totally non-professional celebration:

*bounces off the walls with a big silly grin*

Ok, I'm good now. :-)

Angeline

Angeline might have home in a few months! I'll keep you posted.

Question

Are there any good books out there for kids about diabetes? Are any of them NOT self-published? More importantly, WOULD a book like that get published at a traditional publishing house??

Not that I'm saying I have any ideas or anything...

About a thesis, jelly beans, Ferris wheels and power cords

I think my thesis needs a title. Maybe it'll make it seem more real to me that I'm writing a publishable book if I name it. I just haven't written a poem with a line or a title yet that has stood out to me as "that's it!"

News: Angeline Jellybean is now out at a publisher. My Ferris wheel article is on its way to Cobblestone magazine. Unfortunately, I forgot to put an SASE in both. :-( We shall wait and see if they get immediately tossed in the slush pile or if I get responses. *crosses fingers*

No news on the power cord yet. I think I'm going through laptop withdrawl. My fingers are itching and I'm bored as ever.

Random semi-Updates

My computer is broken. :-( Something is wrong with the power cord. I'm going to see if it's possible to buy a new cord somewhere online. It's a writer's nightmare, for sure. I'm in the library attempting to work right now but it's not the same.

I couldn't mail my Ferris wheel piece and Angeline Jellybean today, either. Darn lack of big yellow envelopes in my apartment. I must add that to the list of things I need at the store.

In better news, my least favorite place to go on the storymobile wasn't horrible today. We signed up five new kids, and met an amazing young father with a two and a three year old, and he actually reads to his kids and was genuinely interested in books! Woo-hoo! People like that make my position so much less frustrating.

My goal: have something decent written to workshop on Monday!

My Niche

As per the lack of quality bug books out there. . . I've decided that bugs should be my niche. I'll be the bug picture book lady. Or at the very least, I should make bugs the next project on my list.

Online support for children's writers

So, I was talking to an online friend of mine today about the lack of support for children's writing, especially online. Think about it for a sec-- there are online support and critique groups for poets, fiction writers, and every genre from Erotica to fantasy. . . so why aren't there any for children's writers? Neither one of us could name a single one. We children's writers are perhaps the most secluded, misunderstood, and least supported of all writers.

I took a quick look at the work listed as "children's writing" on Writing.com, and I was disappointed at what I saw. Most people have no idea what's popular in children's literature, don't realize that kids shouldn't be talked down to OR treated like adults, and are totally clueless about things like the importance of rhythm and rhyme. While I don't pretend to know everything there is to know about writing for children, I don't allow myself to work inside a bubble that prevents me from learning, either.

I guess I'm really lucky that I have great teachers who have published everything from picture books to YA novels and are willing to share their secrets and support their students. I'm also lucky that I have such close interaction with children that I know their language, what they like, and how to engage them. Those two things, I truly believe, put me ahead of a lot of others.

Love's Chance?

Anyone know how I can get some recent copies of Love's Chance magazine? Apparently, they're so small that they can't afford to pay for publication in copies. I feel kind of dumb not knowing what kind of quality the magazine is, even after I've been published in it. Especially because it seems like they published me so quickly. I'm going to write a letter, but if anyone knows anything about the publication, could you please let me know? Thanks.

Getting my manuscript ready...

I'm planning on submitting my non-fiction article about the invention of the Ferris Wheel to Cobblestone Magazine. They're having an upcoming issue on great inventors, so I figured it would be a great fit! Yesterday, I sat down and wrote the cover letter and a fresh bibliography. Now, I need to write a detailed outline with all the info included in the article and send the whole package off. While I'm waiting for a response, I'll be attempting to cut the article down from over 1,000 words to a mere 800. . . what fun. :-P

Also, my new website (my children's writer-related one) has gone live. It's been up for awhile but I've been self-concious about letting a lot of people see it because I pretty much did the entire thing myself, and I know there are lots of mistakes. I should be proud of it, though. I needed very little help in its creation. You can find it at http://crystaleecalderwood.bravehost.com :-)

Rectangle

Today in the mail I received my two copies of the Rectangle as payment for publication! For those of you who don't know, the Rectangle is the literary journal of Sigma Tau Delta, the English Major Honor Society. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was among a great group of poets, including Cameron Conaway, former PSU-A classmate, Chatham MFA grad Nimi Finnegan, and current Chatham MFA student Meghan Tutolo. Congratulations to all of you! I'm honored to be listed among your talent. :-)