A Silly Song (our new incidental feature)

Old Grandpappy says a word to the wise,
Grow extra apples if you want extra pies.

Grandpappy says, Eggs get cold, no sense hollering—
excepting for to make colder eggs for swallowing.

Grandpappy, like as not, will add for the record,
No call for polka dot— when you're wearing checkered!

this is copyrighted.

A Publishing Industry Glossary

by our own Rick Walton...

(a brief sampling)

Advance - the best proof your project is moving forward.

Author - the costume a writer puts on when he goes to a cocktail party.

Backlist - books still in print, but which the publisher hides behind his back so they are hard to see.

Cover letter - a letter designed to cover the weaknesses in your manuscript.

E-book - E stands for everyone, as in everyone now will think they can write a book.

Graphic novel - a comic book that went to college.

Hardcover - the best kind of book to use as a murder weapon.

Mass-market - a type of book that most of the time the masses, with great enthusiasm, ignore.

Typewriter - the best writing device ever to use as a murder weapon.

Vanity press - a variation of "van o' depressed." So-called because you end up depressed with a van full of books.

Young adult - the average age of editors today.

From our collection of Silly Songs

She sells sea shells by the seashore—
Should she sally city-side, she'd sell more!


it's copyrighted, fyi.

Congratulations, You're Half-Pregnant!

a ms came in over the transom* and got a very positive reader report. we requested minor-to-medium items be addressed in a revise, and now the revised ms has arrived. although we could submit it now (shows we love it), we reigned in our enthusiasm. our new client is refining the remaining rough parts so the ms we show editors will (we hope) wow them. even if an editor does not make an offer, the editor will remember our client's talent and promise.

* a colorful metaphor of yore

Have We Bragged?

if so, then we have not bragged enough. illustrator Kevan Atteberry's TICKLE MONSTER has been kicking butt since 08. Kevan also designed the Tickle Monster Tickle Mitt, which has also sold umpteen thousands. all we have to say is, Local Boy (outside Seattle) Makes Good! keep your eyes open for BOOGIE MONSTER, coming soon to an airport, K-Mart, Target, and hundreds of other outlets near you!

Kevan is also illustrator of FRANKIE STEIN and FRANKIE STEIN STARTS SCHOOL.

We love Kevan!

How to Sell a Picturebook

in her second picturebook WINK: THE NINJA WHO WANTED TO NAP author/illustrator JULIE PHILLIPPS takes WINK into a toystore. to make things look toystore-like, on a display shelf in the background of one picture, Julie stacked units of a made-up toy Monkey Ho HO. Her editor asked, What is that monkey character in the background? then she offered a contract for Julie's third picturebook: MONKEY HO HO, due next year.

we almost forgot to ballyhoo our beloved Maribeth Bolt's new easy reader. we love our Step Into Reading titles: they sell like mad! we particularly love the surprisingly epic SLEEPING BOOTSIE— so much happens! and how about the cover, eh? that's what we call commercial.

Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire!

we can scarcely brag enough: Art Slade's steampunk-tacular THE HUNCHBACK ASSIGNMENTS (about which we have raved for sometime, as our followers know) won France's most prestigious award for non-French teen fiction. that's right: the top award!

the French edition of Book #1 translates to The Agents of Mr. Socrates: The Brotherhood of the Clock, which would have captured our attention, middle-schooler reading demons that we were.

if you have not read THE HUNCHBACK ASSIGNMENTS. . . why the heck are you doing reading our blog? you need to prioritize your reading. (put smiley face here.)

AN HISTORICAL!

Our

very

own

Pat
Hughes wrote the anti-Johnny Tremain story of the Revolutionary War. This smart, shocking, and gut wrenching novel posits the experience of real 18th century teens, no more likely to be cock-eyed patriots than teens today. then, as now, teens preferred freewheeling pleasures. but POOF! their lives exploded upon attack.

so far Booklist and BCCB touched FIVE 4THS OF JULY with fairy wands, rewarding the novel with those all-important STARS!

Pat rocks hard! this is a must-read. we are looking for the Scott O'Dell Award. start buzzing.