The Highlights Foundation is holding a Whole Novel Workshop on March 11-17, 2012, at the historic Highlights headquarters in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. The workshop offers an intimate setting to 16 students with lots of one-on-one attention from instructors. Workshop leaders include authors Kathy Appelt, Jeanette Ingold, Alan Gratz, and editor Martha Milhalick (Greenwillow). For more information, click here.
 

We're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but that's a bunch of baloney. The cover is our first impression, and it goes a long way toward determining if we're going to open the book and read the first page. Consumers know this, booksellers know this, and presumably publishers know this as well.

Which is why it's so baffling when a book has a terrible cover. I'm thinking in particular of middle grade and young adult novels, where the cover is the only illustration the reader sees. Why are so many of them misleading (looking dark and moody when the book isn't), inaccurate (ever seen a book where the protagonist depicted on the cover looks nothing like the author's description?), or just plain ugly? And to the teens and tweens who grew up in our visually-oriented culture, a bad cover says "This book isn't worth reading."

In her Publishers Weekly blog, bookseller Elizabeth Bluemle offers some cover tips for publishers, and self-publishers should also take note. One great idea: show a pdf of the proposed cover to a few booksellers and get their yes or no before the book is published. It's really a no-brainer: publishers get feedback from the people who see consumers' reactions first-hand, and sellers get books that help sell themselves. If you're self-publishing, you should be building relationships with local bookstore owners anyway, and asking for their quick opinion shows that you respect their expertise. This will only help when the time comes for them to carry your book in their stores.

Interested in learning how to write a book and send it to children’s book publishers? Come on over to The CBI Clubhouse for audios, videos, insider writing tips and much, much more!

These days, instead of digging through the slush pile, many editors are turning to the blogosphere for their next big book. And the newest group to catch the eye of the children's book industry is known as Mom Bloggers. A recent article in Publishers Weekly highlighted how Simon & Schuster hosted 29 of the most popular mom bloggers at a luncheon complete with authors and goodie bags. Why all the fuss? Because moms blog about the books they're reading with their kids, and other moms listen.

But publishers don't rely on mom bloggers to simply spread the word about new books. They also look to them to help create future titles. Editors like Kate Jackson of HarperCollins peruse blogs on a regular basis, looking for writing talent and book ideas. These bloggers are also willing to spread the word on self-published books (sometimes their own), that then catch an editor's eye.

There are two lessons here for both aspiring and published authors: One, don't ignore these mom bloggers when sending out review copies or planning your next blog tour. And two, blogging about children's books, and doing it well, clearly gets you on the publishing radar. This might end up being easier (and more fun) than sending out multiple unsolicited submissions and hoping to get noticed.
 

Seth Godin, bestselling author of 13 books about the post-industrial revolution, marketing, quitting, leadership and changing the way we share information (if you've never heard of Seth, start here), has partnered with Amazon on The Domino Project, a new way of inexpensively producing intellectual property and spreading it quickly. The Domino Project's newest offering is The One Page Book, a poster by Jess Bachman called "Death and Taxes", which explains with words and pictures how the U.S. government's budget works, using actual numbers for 2012. On one page the viewer gets a clear lesson of where our money goes.

How could you use this one page book idea for children? What about explaining nonfiction concepts in a visually-pleasing way, in a format that teachers can hang on the classroom wall? What possibilities does this open up for your work?

Now that ebooks have finally captured a share of the market, publishers are looking at so-called enhanced ebooks as the next big development. However, for a variety of reasons, the future for enhanced ebooks is murky, at best.

What is an enhanced ebook?

At this point, the best answer is “no one knows for sure.” Clearly an enhanced ebook is an ebook that includes more than just the text and illustrations from the basic print or ebook, but what those added elements might be is uncertain. Some publishers have discussed adding reader’s guides, author interviews and other materials that might assist the reader in reading or analyzing the book. While these additional elements might be of some value to book purchasers, they are hardly revolutionary, in that similar materials have been added to paperbacks for decades (although not in audiovisual or interactive formats). Other materials that have been proposed for enhanced ebooks include puzzles, quizzes and games, for children’s books, and audio and video materials such as radio and newsreel or television recordings, for biographies, books about historic events or time periods, and public affairs books. Depending on the type of book, it is certainly possible to imagine additional elements that could enhance an ebook, but moving from imagination to execution may prove to be a difficult process.

Who will control enhanced ebooks?

Given the current uncertainty surrounding enhanced ebooks, authors (at least those represented by agents) are understandably reluctant to give up enhanced ebook rights. An author might be concerned that the publisher will never produce an enhanced ebook, and thus if the author has granted enhanced ebook rights to the publisher, he or she will lose out on an opportunity to earn royalties from such a project. An author might also be concerned that the publisher will produce an enhanced ebook, but that the elements added to create the enhanced ebook will not be in keeping with the message, style or tone that the author intended for the book, or that each reader will have the ability to modify the book in ways the author never envisioned or intended to create his or her own enhanced ebook. Finally, the financial arrangements for enhanced ebooks are unclear, and an author will not want to commit to a fixed royalty or other terms without having some idea as to what will ultimately evolve in the way of prices, costs and royalty rates for enhanced ebooks.

From the publisher’s perspective, the publisher will not want the author to retain the right to produce or license an enhanced ebook separate from the publisher’s print or electronic editions of the same book, as a separate enhanced ebook may compete with or supersede the publisher’s print and ebook editions. While a publisher may be willing to give an author a right of approval over an enhanced ebook, the publisher most likely will not want an author to have absolute veto power over such a project, particularly if the publisher has to incur substantial development costs before getting the enhanced ebook to the point where the author can approve or disapprove. Read more

For those of you nostalgic for the wonderful PBS show Reading Rainbow will be happy to hear that the former show's producer and host, LeVar Burton, is launching RRKidz, a line of digital interactive children's books. RRKidz will be available as a subscription service through a free app for the IPad and select Android devices.

What's really exciting is that the list of titles (300 to start, with 45 added each month) will be curated by Burton himself, making it easy for parents and kids to find eBooks they like. The titles will be a combination of offerings from publishers and original content. Look for RRKidz to debut toward the end of 2011 or early 2012.

One goal Burton has for RRKidz is to raise the profile of quality backlist titles that might otherwise not get turned into digital formats by their publishers. You've got to love any venture that keeps great children's books alive and brings them to the attention of parents and kids.

According to GalleyCat, Amazon is considering adopting a Netflix-like model that would allow customers to rent eBooks for a subscription fee. Publishers, of course, aren't exactly leaping on board. Some worry that this would "downgrade the value of the book business." Others feel renting eBooks from the cloud would give the impression that books have little inherent worth.

What do you think? Libraries already have built-in expiration dates to their eBooks, making them vanish from your e-reader after three weeks. Amazon could engineer their rental books the same way. If the ability to rent books for a fee brings down their value, what have libraries been doing all these years where patrons can read for free?

And then of course there's Netflix. Somehow the movie industry has survived with streaming, on-demand movie services offering hundreds of movies for one monthly fee. Has this cheapened movies as a whole, or has it made all movies (independent and major studio releases alike) more accessible to everyone?

Of course Amazon would have to fairly pay publishers and authors for the eBooks to be rented (which is what publishers are really worried about when they talk about "value"). And the royalty will likely be less per book for rentals, but presumably the difference will be made up with an increased volume of readers. From the author's perspective, if more people are reading your books, doesn't that raise the value of everything you write?

That's my opinion. I'd love to hear yours.

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?

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!

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.