SCBWI Florida Workshop Part VII- Questions, Answers, & Gold Nuggets

This is my final post from the 2015 Florida SCBWI young adult workshop with Erica Rand Silverman, an agent with Sterling Lord Literistic, and Jacquelyn Mitchard, author and editor-in-chief at Merit Press. Click here for Part I  (Why Write Young Adult); Part II (Querying); Part III (Pitches); Part IV (Marketing Yourself and Your Work); Part V (Building a Lasting Career), and Part VI (Finding a YA Voice).

As promised, this post is a compendium of Jacquelyn's and Erica's answers to questions and other nuggets of writerly wisdom. 

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Who is your ideal client? 

• Someone who is hopeful, competent, committed to their story, and wish to make it the best possible book. Someone who is flexible and takes suggestions in a spirit of generosity and is not defensive.  
• Sometimes this can be tested by suggesting revisions. Will this potential client take my suggestions? This works both ways though--the client has to be happy with the suggestions also.
• Clients who are also educators and/or performers.  We can package them that way, brand them. 
• Looking for clients who are engaged in the industry. When we meet and talk, we’re feeding each other information. Clients teach us too. Be confident in what you want. If my client says yes to one hundred notes—that makes me concerned. Don’t just hand your work over. 

What are some of your favorite moments?

• When a client and I both see the same aspect of a story in the revision process.
• Erika: "I love the diversity of my client list. My day is full of people with lots of different types of talents. Illustrators, nonfiction and fiction writers."
• Jacqueline: "As an editor, I love when I read a book that I want to be a part of Merit Press. As a writer, when I can see the end and am able to create a symphonic ending. Before I get the ten pages of notes of things I need to change."

What advice do you have for beginners?

• Write. Find mentors, conferences, critique groups. 
• Read all the time. Jacqueline: "You should be swimming in words." Erica: "Be an active reader, really notice the writing." 

Can you share your writing process?

• Jacqueline: "I plan and research before I write. I do more than I need. I have a large tupperware container full of folders of notes, research,  and books I've consulted. I don’t just let my characters take me places. I would never build a cathedral and then realize I don’t have the cement." 

What is your best advice to writers?

• Jacqueline: “Don’t give up! Even If you haven’t been able to get the ring on the first round. Slow and steady wins the race.”
• Erica: "Don’t give up and publish it yourself right away. Let someone else give you money for your work. Let someone else edit your work; that will give grace to it. The critical process doesn’t happen without a group effort.” 

What is the your biggest "No-No?"

• Erika: "Don’t send a query to my home.  Don’t take my suggestions and then sign with another agent or decide to self-publish."  
• Jacqueline: "Don’t take my notes and suggestions and go to another publishing house and say, 'Can you give me more money?' Don’t have a specific advance in mind."

What are your thoughts on self-publishing?

• Self-publishing is starting to wane. The cost/benefit ratio is not there. Erica: "Don't self-publish unless there’s a strategic reason for doing it." Jacqueline: "Don't make a fear-based decision."

http://www.discoverychannel.com.au/images/worlds-biggest-gold-nuggets/

NUGGETS

• If you’re going to resist the editing process, you might as well self-publish.
• The young adult market is doing well in foreign markets because adolescent issues transcend cultures.
• Agents are looking for ways to adore writers. We want writers to succeed because that’s the dream we’ve showed up for.
• Magical realism is when magical things happen in everyday life. Example: When a character touches leaves, they turn blue. It has more realism than magic and is a different genre than fantasy. Bone Gap, a new young adult book by Laura Ruby, is an example. 
• Re: boundaries in young adult literature. You set the cringe factor. Your market is also the teacher, librarian, parent who is purchasing the book. Your job is to startle people; to be bold, but not just for the sake of shock. Be creative and artful.  Just because you can create a terrific image, doesn’t mean you should. 

SCBWI Florida Workshop Part I- Why Write Young Adult?

Congratulations to Vijaya Bodach who won Rory's Promise on last week's blog.

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Last Saturday I attended the Florida SCBWI's mid-year workshop. I spent the entire day soaking up information from two talented women, Erica Rand Silverman and Jacquelyn Mitchard. Since they generously agreed to share the content of their workshop, my blog posts over the next few weeks will be from my notes.  I will be listing the main speaker for each topic, but my notes include contributions from both women. 

Erica and Jacquelyn

Why Write Young Adult?

Jacquelyn Mitchard

• Protagonist and (usually) the antagonist are teenagers. They do the heavy lifting; they're the ones who get in and out of trouble.
• They're usually 16 or 17. 
• Rules about writing are there. You can break them if you do it with authenticity and class.
• Young Adult literature is relatively new. Catcher in the Rye (1950) was first YA book. 
• Voice--the way in which things are said--is so important. "Young adult literature often expresses the alienation that even happy teenagers feel."
• Young adult is the only segment of publishing that has been growing for 20 years.
• The topography of teenagers' emotions is huge. "In high school they are changing on a molecular level into another person."
• In the 20^th century, psychologists realized that an adolescent had to separate from family to become his/her own person. This was reflected in literature such as The Chocolate War and The Outsiders.
• Young adult is often written in an intimate, conversational style. Reader can connect with the characters on a friendship level. Adolescents still have enough of the child inside of them that they believe characters are real. (Reason why they'll get dressed up as a character for a book signing.)
• New Adult is already over.
• As an editor at Merit Press, Jacquelyn is looking for realistic contemporary fiction. "Hormones and heat, but not foul or graphic."
• Write large, not subtle. Don’t attempt young adult if you don’t read it and enjoy it.
• Unusual set-ups are good.  Fresh. Not contemporary slang that will give the book a shelf life of two years.
• In young adult fiction, layers are pealed back. Emotions are up front and genuine.  The teen's survival (either physical or emotional) is at stake.
• One half of young adult readers are adults because dark and light are more extreme.
• Young adult brings rebels to life.  Readers can live vicariously through characters. 
• Love and respect your teen audience.  "When you do this kind of writing you can change the world without preaching."
• When she is in the middle of writing a book, before she goes to sleep Jacquelyn thinks, “I’m going to be X now.” This taps into her sub-conscious.
• A book can’t be about an issue, like a parent's alcoholism. It’s about the conflict that is raised within the protagonist as a result of the parent's alcoholism.  
• If you want to write young adult, you better be reading it. 

This is one of the books from Merit Press.
Written by my FB friend, Christine Kohler,
it's on my TBR list!