SCBWI Florida Workshop Part III- Share Your Perfect Pitch and Find Out How it Sells!

    This is my third blog post from the Florida SCBWI young adult workshop. Erica Rand Silverman is an agent with Sterling Lord Literistic and Jacquelyn Mitchard is a prolific author as well as an editor-in-chief at Merit Press. Click here for Part I and Part II.

Erica and Jacquelyn interwove their remarks
into a tapestry of great advice.

• Don’t over reach.  You can use the “X” meets “Y” as long as you use examples that haven’t sold million copies. If you do, use a title that is known, but not over-known.
• Don’t send a photo of yourself.
• Don't say a family member loves your manuscript. 
• Don't send with spelling or grammar errors.
• Do Be concise, simple, and straightforward. 
• Do List writing programs and classes you have attended as well as degrees and awards. Be relevant, current, and honest.
• Do “Nuggetize” your work. Erika said to ask, "What is my books' essence?" Jacquelyn said it this way: "Find the statue in the block of granite." 
• Do Try to include the character’s stakes in the pitch.
• Do reference a client's work you appreciate. 
• Do say why you are pitching to this particular agent.
• Sometimes: Writing the pitch before you write the book helps you to conceptualize it. But writing it afterwards can help too.

[My experience is that it is helpful to write a pitch at different points while working on a manuscript. Before, during, and after!]

Image courtesy of baseball-clip-art.com
http://www.baseball-clip-art.com/baseball_clipart/stock_photo_of_a_baseball_pitcher_from_the_san_diego_padres_0001-0503-1811-5741.html

After their presentation, Erika and Jacquelyn invited participants to write a pitch and read it out loud. Building on a previously-written pitch, I read the following:

Dear Erica, 

I am writing to you because I met you at the Florida 2015 SCBWI conference and heard of your interest in young adult books. The other books you represent, X and X are  Y. [Where "X" are titled of books Erica represents and "Y"  is the reason I like them.]

Against the backdrop of segregation and Southern debutante society, Half-Truths is a young adult novel about an unexpected friendship between two teen girls-- one white, the other a descendent of a slave. When they discover a family heirloom that belongs to both families, their friendship is tested and proved. In the process of confronting her prejudices and fears, each girl finds a place in the New South.

Written from alternating points-of-view, my first young adult novel is complete at 80,000 words. I am the author of two nonfiction books for adults as well as many articles and stories for adults and children. I coordinated a SCBWI critique group for over twenty years, have taught writing to both adults and teens, and presented at numerous educational, library, and writing conferences. I review books and share insights into writing at www.carolbaldwinblog.blogspot.com and co-publish Talking Story, a digital newsletter which promotes literacy.
 

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Guess what?

They liked it! 

SCBWI Florida Workshop Part II- Querying in the Digital Age

    This is my second blog post from the young adult workshop I recently attended. Erica Rand Silverman is an agent with Sterling Lord Literistic and Jacquelyn Mitchard is a prolific author as well as an editor-in-chief at Merit Press. Click here for Part I. 

Erica Rand Silverman

These notes are from Erica's powerpoint presentation.

* Research agents in advance. Find out who represents what genre.

* Don’t ever pay for query services. Using Query Tracker is acceptable.

*  Prepare your query letter carefully. Agents will respond with the same amount of care which you take. "Sometimes we hear pings within our office and know everyone is getting the same query at the same time." That's ridiculous with an office full of agents looking for everything from children's picture books to adult non-fiction. It is appropriate to reference the agent's client list and mention what you like about these books. By doing this you are showing why you are seeking representation from this agent. 

*  Don’t name drop in your query.

*  There was a phase when publishers bought self-published books because they had great sales on Amazon. This is no longer happening.

*  Don’t be overly personal. Be yourself! Your work has to be first and foremost.

*  It's all about timing: the right moment with the right person.

*  Don’t list ten different projects you have.

*  Mention your work first, then your credentials.

*  If you find someone you really want to work with don’t submit to another agent. If you do multiple submits, be transparent at the bottom of the email.

* Follow the agency's guidelines for email vs. snail mail. Email may get seen quickly, but may never be seen again. Paper will eventually get read.

*  If an agent responds with “I’m interested,” feel free to nudge if you haven't heard back in a month. If they don’t respond to your initial query, don’t nudge.

*  A big problem in publishing is not having enough time to think. Writers need to be patient!

*  If you receive more than one offer, do a happy dance and then select wisely.  You need to give agents time to respond- at least one or two weeks. It is appropriate to write, “I’d love to hear from you if you’re interested before I make a decision on how to move forward.”  Treat other professionals with respect. If an agent is workshopping your work, they’re interested. It's like dating. Don't query another agent if the first agent is subbing your work.

* Erica recommended reading this blog from Wolff Literary on  choosing the right agent.

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Here are some of my previous posts on agents:

A Day in the Life of an Agent

Insights into Editing: A Conversation with Carin Siegfried 

If You Give a Writer a Cookie 

And on querying:

Putting Your Best Query Forward

Chasing Your Dream

Quintessential Queries (including Josh and Tracey Adams' tips, "Do's and Don't of Queries") 

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!

Rory's Promise: A Review and a Giveaway

Rory is a 12-year-old street smart orphan who keeps her promises.

First, she is determined to keep her promise to her dying mother that she’ll take care of her younger sister, Violet.

Second, she will absolutely not break her promise to five-year-old Violet: Nothing will ever, ever separate them.

It’s just that keeping these promises proves to be a lot more difficult than even spunky, Irish Rory Fitzpatrick ever imagined.

 

From http://christinabakerkline.com/blog/my-next-novel/

Co-authors, Michaela MacColl and Rosemary Nichols use the facts of the Orphan Trains in this fictionalized account starring Rory as the sharp-witted, courageous heroine.  Between 1853 and 1929 250,000 orphaned, abandoned, or homeless children were put on trains and brought out west. The Children’s Aid Society of New York sponsored many of them. At times, the families used the children for underage labor; this was before there were child labor and foster care laws. On the other hand, The Foundling, a Catholic  organization, took great care to place the orphans in their care in “good, Catholic families.”  

http://www.chsfs.org/blog/evolution-orphan-train-new-practices-and-waiting-children

Although Rory herself is a fictional character, many of the other characters in the book are real: Sister Anna, the nun in charge of placing the children; George Swayne, the agent who worked with The Foundling; Father Constant Mandlin a young French priest who couldn't communicate well with his parishioners  as well as the white women who were furious when Mexican working-class families received children and they didn’t.

http://www.neh.gov/humanities/2007/novemberdecember/feature/lost-children-riders-the-orphan-train

But I am getting ahead of the story.

Rory’s goal to make sure she and Violet stay together drives this story forward. As far as she’s concerned, not even plans to take Vi out west to the Arizona territory will stop her. Although she successfully sneaks on board the orphan’s train, her journey is not without moments of doubt.  Families who couldn’t have children of their own wanted cute little 5-year-olds—but would anyone want her sister also?

But the more happy families she saw, the more she wondered if Vi had a future that might not include Rory. If Vi had a chance for parents and a home, could Rory stand in the way of that?  p. 144

After a stressful journey, when the train finally arrives in Clifton, Arizona Territory everyone is shocked.  First, the stench of sulfur and a building belching dark smoke greet them. Rory soon learns that the town revolves around mining copper. In the small station, a mob of loud, white women pound on the train’s windows.  Later Rory is told,

"This place is bad for making babies. The air is thick with fumes and the water is full of metals from the mines. Nothing grows here. No trees. No babies.”  (pp.171-2)

A new conflict—one based on history—enfolds. The Protestant women believe they have a right to the children since they are the same race and skin color. But the children have been promised to the Mexicans so they can be raised in “good, Catholic homes.”

The white women are demanding and ugly. Rory is actually relieved when Violet and a little boy, William, are assigned to two kind Mexicans, Elena and Ramon Martinez. But her relief that Violet has found a family is tempered by her anguish of wanting to stay with her sister. Can she find a way to convince the Martinez family to adopt her also?

 

Downtown Clifton, circa 1915
http://visitcliftonaz.com/rich-history/

Rory’s concept of family--people who look alike--is challenged and her courage and loyalty are severely tested.  She needs every ounce of her abilities to think quickly and to act fast to help the orphans and to keep her promises.

At the risk of including a spoiler, I must share one of my favorite parts of this book.  At the end, when she tells Violet about the Martinez’s plan to take them both to Mexico Rory says,

"We’ll never see the Foundling again—or Sister Anna or the other kids,” she warned. “We’ll have to learn a new language too, Vi. And there won’t be any American kids to play with. We’ll always be different."

“Special?” Vi asked, her blue eyes shining with pleasure. 

“”I guess so,” Rory said ruefully.  (p. 250)

Leave it to a five-year-old to have a different perspective on what their new life will be!

Thanks to the generosity of Boyds Mills Press, I’m giving away a copy of this middle-grade novel for girls.  It documents a little-known period in American history, when Mexican families fought for the right to adopt white children. Also useful as a classroom book, Rory’s Promise will spark some interesting discussions about diversity.  If you are interested in adding this book to your library or donating it to a classroom, please leave a comment by Thursday, June 4. If you are new to my blog, please leave your email address also.