Amidst news of declining book sales, the takeover of electronic publishing, and big publishers shuttering imprints came two interesting articles last week. First, Penguin Young Readers Group is countering rumors of the death of the picture book with the Fall 2011 Penguin Portfolio: A Spotlight on Picture Books, a glossy, boxed collection of six full-color prints from six upcoming picture books. According to Publishers Weekly, about 500 of this lush promotional tool was delivered to booksellers, librarians, teachers, publishers, authors and illustrators. Penguin created a similar buzz last fall with a boxed set of five young adult Advanced Reading Copies (ARCs) distributed in a similar way.

The second article appeared in Children's Bookshelf: Egmont USA Gives YA Novel Its Biggest Launch to Date, about the September 6 release of Ilsa J. Bick's Ashes, and the publisher's six-figure marketing campaign that includes two author book tours (one pre-pub, one post), and "national consumer and trade advertising, online author video interviews, promotion at Comic-Con NYC, and outreach to science fiction and fantasy media."

So my question is this: Are publishers hand-picking bestsellers and then pouring money into advertising to guarantee results? And if so, what's left for the rest of their lists? And what goes into a publisher's decision to spend marketing dollars on a particular book? Quality, of course (though I've yet to read any of the promoted books, the buzz from some advance readers sounds promising). And the more a publisher pays to acquire a manuscript, the more it will spend to hype that book to consumers. But is all this expensive promotion really necessary? Many self-published authors have sold hundreds of thousands of copies of their books using their own home-grown, inexpensive marketing efforts. So would publishers do better to spread the publicity dollars around, or perhaps discount their books for smaller book stores and other sales outlets?

These big budgets could be a bit of we're-still-here muscle flexing (I do wonder why Penguin sent the Portfolio to authors, illustrators and other publishers). Or a nostalgic throwback to the glory days of print publishing and four-star book tours. Is this a hopeful sign for old-fashioned books? Or a waste of money on titles that would sell well on their own? What do you think?

If you're the parent of a teenage boy, or you want to write for this book-adverse group, you must read Robert Lipsythe's essay in the New York Times Book Review, "Boys and Reading: Is There Any Hope?" Finally, someone in the know (Lipsythe himself is one of a handful of authors who has routinely been a male favorite) gets to the heart of why so many teen boys fall into the "reluctant reader" category. And it has nothing to do with their reading skills.

Read it, pass it on to the parent of a teen boy, and then go write something for these kids.

Editors talk a lot lately about the almighty hook, that central idea that defines your story, makes it stand out from the competition, and can be described in a couple of sentences that are ready-made for the book jacket. But according to Traci Borum, a college-level creative writing instructor, some hooks quickly disintegrate into flimsy gimmicks, leaving the reader feeling cheated. In her article Does Your Story Have a Hook or Merely a Gimmick? she explains the difference, and uses popular movies as examples. Get more of Traci's valuable tips on her blog, Writer's Corner.

It's our latest project!  Here's the news release:

BUZZREADS.COM TO LAUNCH.  NEW SITE WILL SERVE AS THE CENTRAL HUB FOR FREE eBOOKS, APPS, STORIES & MORE FROM TOP NEW WRITERS

In publishing, the new magic price is "free".  Inspired by the success of such authors as Seth Godin and Cory Doctorow, many writers have learned that giving away free stories, chapters – even full eBooks – is a superb way to gain exposure and win over new readers.   And readers love getting free content and the chance to discover exciting new writers.

But there's one big problem….  There's no easy way for authors and readers to find one another.

Until now.

Introducing BuzzReads.com,  the one-stop source for writing that's fresh, new and free!

BuzzReads (http://buzzreads.com) is a clearinghouse — a meeting hub — for authors with something free to offer and readers with open minds to come together.  Fiction, nonfiction, adult and children’s lit, mystery, romance, sci-fi, thrillers and just about every other type of writing is supported.

Here's how it works:

An author with something free to offer readers (an ebook, app, sample chapter or standalone story or poem) fills out BuzzReads' online form.   If accepted, their offer is listed on the site and in the weekly BuzzReads Report e-mail update.  Readers who want the freebie go directly to the author’s site and download the story, poem, sample chapters or ebook.

In the spirit of "free", there's no cost for authors or readers.  It’s entirely free to list and it’s free to read the blog and receive the e-mail Report.

The site launches officially in September and is now accepting submissions from authors at http://www.buzzreads.com/?page_id=45   Readers can sign up for the free BuzzReads Report emails at http://www.buzzreads.com/?page_id=57

For more information, e-mail Jon at jon@buzzreads.com    

Visit BuzzReads Now:  http://BuzzReads.com

Submit your freebies now and, please, spread the word about this free service — tell all your writing and reading buddies to check it out!

Looking for a manageable recommended reading list for all ages of children's books? Four Delaware seventh graders — Benjamin, Brittany, Shayna, and Chrissy — told me about a site they've been using for their summer school ELA requirement: Sofa Adventures in Reading: Reading Suggestions for Kids, Tweens and Teens. A mixture of new books and older titles, the site breaks the list into four age categories and gives a nice summary of each book. Thanks for the tip!

And if you're serious about keeping tabs on the market and who's publishing what, check out the Spring Sneak Previews from children's publishers in a recent Publishers Weekly. Can you spot the next big trend?

Last June Apple rolled out its Version 1.3 of iBooks, which contains a read-aloud feature especially useful for children's ebooks. The text is read out loud by a human narrator (no computer voice), and there's an optional feature that highlights each word of text as it's read. In an email to publishers last week, Apple explains how to create such an ebook. Read about it here.

Before I started writing my book, Who Says Bullies Rule?: Common Sense Tips to Help Your Kids Cope, I knew that I wanted to provide a book for parents with tips that were both practical and easily implemented. Moreover, I wanted to offer ideas that would prove helpful to parents who are striving to help their kids deal with the physical and psychological effects of bullying.

After thinking about my experiences as an educator who witnessed bullying daily, I remembered how common sense could help bring about a resolution to most problems, whether the child was a preschooler or an older student.  

I also thought about how important it was to forge strong ties between the child, parent, and school system so that each important player working to prevent and stop bullying would keep the other informed of the problems the child faced. I believed that if children, parents, and the school system worked together closely, they would have a better chance of ending the child’s bullying dilemma. I also remembered the importance of parents knowing how to navigate the channels in their school systems in order to help their children with their bullying issues.

I’ve found that before beginning to write your proposal, you’ll need to be sure about the main points you want to stress in your book. If you have narrowed down the topics you want to deal with before you begin to write, you can structure your proposal around these important points.

Keeping all this in mind, I outlined sample chapters for the book, did a review of the related literature (what was out there already and what gaps needed to be filled), and sent the proposal out to the same editor who had published my teacher resource book about bullying.

Before you flesh out your proposal, first think about some new angles for a subject that interests you. Then write out a tentative table of contents. Summarize each chapter in a few words. Make it conversational and practical. Once you have a working table of contents with chapter summaries, rearrange it into what you think is the best order, and the book will easily take shape from these brief chapter summaries.

After the editor accepts your proposal and you begin to write your nonfiction book, you’ll find that you have to make many decisions. One is what tone you plan to use to get your information across. I’ve found that a one-on-one conversational tone (the same one used in the proposal) works for me. I like to pretend I’m talking to my audience (in this case, parents) in a relaxed manner, offering my best advice as I would at a parent/teacher conference.

If you plan to present case studies or opt for fictitious examples, you’ll have to decide whether you want to use real life situations or fictitious examples based loosely upon your personal experiences with the subject matter.

If you decide to use actual examples, you’ll need to obtain permission from your sources, which may prove time-consuming, and possibly, expensive. However, if you use fictitious examples, you’ll have to make them sound realistic enough that readers will be able to apply the information to their unique situations.

It’s also important to represent a variety of ethnic groups and lifestyles in your examples. Offering this variety gives more people the chance to identify with the people and situations in your examples. (In my book, for example, not all of the children come from two-parent families. Some parents are divorced, a grandparent is raising a child, one child lives in a group home, and a father is the custodial parent in another anecdote.)

The last part of writing your book, and one of the most important, involves editing. For tips about editing by using self-talk, see my upcoming article in the September issue of Children's Book Insider.

Remember to make writing decisions about subject matter and style before you begin your proposal and you’ll be one step ahead in writing a best-selling book.

Dr. Catherine DePino, the author of Who Says Bullies Rule?: Common Sense Tips to Help Your Child Cope, has written many books for children, teachers, and parents. Her chapter book, Blue Cheese Breath and Stinky Feet: How to Deal with Bullies, is widely used in bully prevention programs. For many years she served as an English teacher, department head, and disciplinarian in the Philadelphia Schools and as a student teaching supervisor for Temple University. Access her website at www.catherinedepino.com.

No matter how successful you get, writing a book is a humbling experience. Even Stephen King starts with a blank page. So when I read articles from published authors that talk about what they've learned along the way, I'm reminded of how small the gap from "aspiring" to "published" can be. The experienced are a little wiser, but they're still sweating it along with the rest of us.

In 7 Things I've Learned So Far, bestselling young adult author Carrie Vaughn offers two pieces of advice that I especially agree with: plot and character are the same thing (if you've been a CBI subscriber for very long or attended one of my Children's Authors' Bootcamp workshops, you know this is my mantra), and go big or go home. I love the latter — with thousands of new books published each year, why wouldn't you focus your energies on your most original, wacky, weird or provocative idea? Writing's hard work; spend your time with something that will get noticed. Discover your own genius and break new ground. Life's too short to play it safe, and kids will appreciate that quirky book that makes them see the world in a new way.

What are the qualities that cause some books to become classics, and others just beloved for one generation? This is the topic of a recent post on the blog for Lemuria Bookstore in Jackson, MS. To me, a classic infiltrates the consciousness of a culture in a way that it becomes a common reference. The other day, I referred to boisterous twins in a coffee shop as Thing One and Thing Two, and my friend immediately channeled Dr. Seuss. But classics also have to be timeless enough that they're kept alive and passed down to each new group of readers. Some wonderful books are such a product of their time that they're only meant to exist for 10 years or so, and then disappear. And that's fine too.

What are your favorite classics?