For my latest author Q&A, I interviewed Supriya Kelkar. I worked with Supriya on her middle grade novel AHIMSA back in 2015, when she had yet to land an agent or publish, but Supriya is now the author of nine children's books, with three more forthcoming! Learn about her inspiring road to publication here.
Read MoreFor my latest author Q&A, I interviewed Lorraine Hawley. Back in 2018, I worked with Lorraine on a full manuscript critique, and this past fall, her middle grade novel CURIOUS WORLD OF DANDY-LION was released by Lawley Publishing. Learn about Lorraine’s inspiration for this novel, how she landed an agent for her next two books, and what’s given her hope and kept her dreaming through her remarkable—perhaps magical—journey.
Read MoreI’m delighted to share my Q&A with Annabel Monaghan, who was my author at Simon & Schuster back in 2007 when I acquired her manuscript for Click!: The Girl’s Guide to Knowing What You Want and Making it Happen. In a rare move, my department ended up rushing it to publication six months after acquisition. Even more remarkable, however, is how Annabel has built such a successful writing career in spite of changing genres, categories, agents, publishers, and her approach to publishing.
Read MoreWhen client Mara Monoski told me that she decided to self publish her novel, I was curious about why she made this decision. When I first started working with her, she was on the traditional publishing track. Client Brett Burlison was also keen on finding an agent and traditional publisher but ultimately decided to publish his novel under his own label. Here is my brief interview with both writers about their experiences self-publishing and their advice for other writers considering the same.
Read MoreAs the traditional book publishing landscape becomes increasingly complex and competitive, more writers are considering independent paths. But given their audience, children’s book authors who self-publish face very different challenges from those who write for adults, especially in terms of design, production, and promotion.
Back in 2014, I asked literary agents Kevan Lyon and Kate McKean if children’s book authors should self-publish. In light of the many changes in book publishing since then, I thought I would continue the conversation, this time by speaking directly with writers who have published both traditionally and independently. Separately, I interviewed Zetta Elliott, who has released several books under her own imprint, including picture books; Brent Hartinger, who self-published a young adult series and a new adult series; Cheryl Klein, the author of a self-published a work of nonfiction; and Stephen Mooser, who released a middle grade book on his own.
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