Stacy Whitman's Grimoire

IRA in pictures

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Sun, 11 May 2008 00:52:46 GMT

I'm taking a break from tilling the garden with a potato fork (it actually works pretty well on a small plot and you don't have to use a gas tiller, though on anything like the 1/2 acre garden we had when I was growing up that would be torture--thank heavens my dad used a tractor, then a tiller, for that one!) and waiting on the cable guy to show up for the second time in two days (the guy yesterday hooked up our internet but completely unhooked the cable in two bedrooms) to bring you this entry about last week's International Reading Association conference. We had a brand new booth this year (if you've seen it in previous years, it looks very similar, with some tweaks like carved dragon heads on the bookshelves) and we really looked forward to meeting all the teachers who come to this conference. Normally, they say, attendance is in the 20,000 to 30,000 range. I'm not sure of this year's exact number, but I think I met every single one of those 20-30,000 teachers over the course of the three days I worked the booth!

I got to do the window displays in the booth this year--it was so much fun making it all pretty. The end result is a booth that looks very cozy, much like a cross between a Victorian bookshop and, as one teacher pointed out, a pub.

When I checked into the hotel in Atlanta, I was surprised to find a pretty fancy room--a balcony with a view of the pool (for which I'd forgotten my swimsuit, and it was great swimming weather), an iPod alarm clock (I need to get me one of these--I love that I can wake up to a playlist or play my iPod any time--right now I just use my computer for that), and weirdest of all, my bathroom towels decoratively folded. A flower for the washcloth under the soap dish, and a little shirt for the bath mat. I checked with my coworkers, and I seem to be the only one who had something quite that fancy. Apparently my housekeeper was on the creative side--but only for that first day, so I'm glad I got a shot of it before I used the bath mat! That was balanced out by how housekeeping kept moving my things around--even putting my toothbrush, which I'd left out to dry, into its travel case, and lining up all my allergy meds in a neat row. There's service, and then there's invasiveness. That was plain odd.

Please excuse the dark exposure. I'm a little too lazy today to do any Photoshopping.

soap dish

Bath mat

ipod alarm clock

The view

me, taking in the view

This year authors Candice Ransom and D.L. Garfinkle were on site signing their books--the Time Spies series for Candice and the new Supernatural Rubber Chicken for dlgarfinkle . We had some rubber chickens on hand to promote the debut of the Ed, the Supernatural Rubber Chicken, so they played a few antics on us, trying to take over the booth.

I also got to meet Lisa Yee ( lisayee ), a blog friend for a while but the first time we met in person--and of course, Peepy.

Lisa is the author of several hilarious books. Check out her Millicent Min, Girl Genius, Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time, and So Totally Emily Ebers.

And had ice cream with blog friend and fellow editor Alvina and her coworker Joe.

More pictures later. That's enough for one entry!

IRA in brief/Writing Excuses

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Tue, 06 May 2008 03:39:36 GMT

Atlanta is gorgeous. A normal warm spring day! It's gorgeous. I love Seattle, but I'm still in sweaters till June there. The other day was wearing a spring cotton shirt and a skirt, and it was just lovely.

Well, till I got coffee spilled on me at dinner, but hopefully it'll wash out. There have been a few weird moments like that this week, but never all that bad--don't worry, the coffee wasn't too hot and things happen. I just hope my favorite shirt won't be stained!

I've been meaning to post all week, because we've had some very photo-worthy moments--housekeeping in my hotel folded my bathmat like a little shirt, for example--but I have just been so exhausted! Who knew there were so many teachers?

So it's been a great show, and I'll post pictures soon.

Meanwhile, it's a little late for this, but make sure to catch the second half of my guest appearance on Writing Excuses, where we talk about submitting to editors and they ask me about Hallowmere and other great projects I'm working on.

Linkety

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Sat, 03 May 2008 13:59:37 GMT

Via Oz and Ends:

Scalzi discusses the state of YA fantasy and SF sales compared to adult. (Scalzi's got some good stuff this week!) Of particular note is that old refrain, often heard from authors and readers of adult SFF, that YA is an "undiscovered country"--when, as Scalzi points out, it's kinda that the adult SFF people just aren't in on the highly popular open secret that's selling far and above what any adult SFF bestseller is . . . .

From the mailbox

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:04:38 GMT

I'm taking advantage of still having internet at home when I thought it was going to turn off last night (we're in household internet transition) to post one last thing before I go dark for a week. I'll be at IRA next week, so it's unlikely I'll be posting from there.

On the flip side of the content question coin, a reader asks,

I’ve been reading your blog for awhile with interest. I have written a teen fantasy and I have a question about Mirrorstone and YA in general. My novel has some profanity, drinking, and sex. (I like to call it a Veronica Mars meets Tamora Pierce meets Joss Whedon type of book) This seems quite ordinary to me as my protagonist is seventeen years old. (And I remember high school vividly.) But I keep hearing that YA should be ‘cleaner’. Is that true and does it mean that I should submit to Wizards under the adult imprint?

Thanks for reading! As are most of my answers, this one is "it depends."

How graphic is the mature content? We at Mirrorstone keep to a fairly strict PG-13 standard, so anything of a graphic nature really isn't for us, but that doesn't mean we don't shy away from tough subjects. But Wizards books often have that restriction as well (though not as strictly) because of corporate policy--there is just a line we won't cross as a company.

That doesn't mean you won't find that kind of thing out there, though, in the YA marketplace. There is a YA book to suit pretty much any teen's taste, from the gamut of innocent adventure and fantasy like Shannon Hale (who nevertheless also doesn't shy away from extremely tough subjects) to the darker work of Holly Black and Melissa Marr. (See that previous post for more on that.)

But that doesn't mean we're the right publisher for you. Or it might. The best way to answer this question is to read widely. Read all our YA books--check out our anthology, Magic in the Mirrorstone, and see the kind of variety we're looking for--and notice that it has a Holly Black story and a Cecil Castellucci story, both authors who are known for their edgy material. Look at how they crafted their stories, and see if your work fits within that same gamut. Then check out other books from other publishers putting out books similar to yours, and after all that, submit accordingly. You may decide that we're not quite a fit for you--but then, you might.

Now, the secondary issue in your question is adult versus YA. Is an edgy novel with a 17-year-old protagonist YA, or is it adult?

Again, it depends.

Generally if your protagonist is living your story in the moment--not looking back on being 17 from the point of view of a 30-something--then that's one clue that it's YA.

Generally if teens (including the teen you remember yourself being at 15 or 16, because kids read up) would be more interested in the story than adults would, then it's YA. Check out coverage of the "Think Future" Panel Debates to see some good discussion of this issue. Note what George Nicholson of Sterling Lord Literistic said about S.E. Hinton's books:

Nicholson provided some historical perspective, recalling the days there was no category called “young adult.” Then, in the 1970s, a few writers came along “who had a social context,” such as S.E. Hinton, and a teen audience was identified and located. “When [Hinton] was first published by Viking,” Nicholson recalled, “No one wanted it in the adult world. But when the book was republished as a book for teens, with a new cover, it began to sell in the millions.”

With that in mind, who do you see reading your books? Thirty-somethings? Twenty-somethings? Or right smack in the teen years, anywhere from 12 to 18 or 19 year olds?

Also, boys or girls?

If you're looking for teens to read it, you should be trying to sell it to a publisher who publishes books for teens, and then target a YA publisher who targets the readership you're looking to reach.

Teens, especially boys, do read the books published by the adult imprint at Wizards, so perhaps that complicates it and takes you back to square one, but I think if you just make sure to keep in mind what kinds of books that publisher makes and send it to the imprint with books most like your own, you'll be fine.

More on self-publishing

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Thu, 01 May 2008 18:37:41 GMT

John Scalzi has some great points today that extend our discussion of self-publishing from a couple weeks ago. Specifically I don't think I covered the returnability issue:

3. No access to bookstores or other retail outlets, because most bookstores won’t take non-returnable items, which my printed books would be. This further limits the chance that people who don’t already know me will find my work. This is a problem because I do in fact get a lot of my readers from people taking a chance on my books in the bookstores (for that I can thank my book and cover designers, who help draw their eyes in the first place). There are ways to get around this, but they take lots of time and effort.

Check it out.

Opening the slush can be dangerous

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Thu, 01 May 2008 18:07:44 GMT

Man, that was one heck of a papercut. Right on the pad of my index finger, too.

International Reading Association

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Thu, 01 May 2008 01:49:49 GMT

If you're going to be in Atlanta for the International Reading Association conference, be sure to stop by the Mirrorstone booth, #721. Lots to see and authors Candice Ransom and D.L. Garfinkle will be signing in the booth. Also, each author will be the star of her own reception in the Hyatt Regency one night that week. Make sure to stop by and say hi, and get a signed ARC or book! Hear more from Candice and Debbie as they discuss, respectively, transitional readers and using humor to reach reluctant readers.

Here's the signing schedule:

Monday, May 5
Time Spies author Candice Ransom signing in booth #721
10:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Candice Ransom presentation and reception
Hyatt Regency Spring Room 6 p.m.

Enjoy a glass of wine and a light snack with acclaimed children’s book author Candice Ransom for a very special presentation on Sending Them Back to the Past to Help Reach the Future: Using the Time Spies Series to Guide Transitional Readers.

Tuesday, May 6
Supernatural Rubber Chicken author D.L. Garfinkle signing in booth #721
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Candice Ransom signing in booth #721
3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

D.L. Garfinkle presentation and reception
Hyatt Regency Spring Room 6 p.m.

Sit back with a glass of wine and a light snack and meet acclaimed author and humorist, D.L. Garfinkle as she discusses Laughing and Literacy: Using Humorous Books to Turn Reluctant Readers into Eager Readers.

Wednesday, May 7
D.L. Garfinkle signing in booth #721
11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Shared-world fiction has a lot in common with the small screen

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 01:06:11 GMT

I've said I'd write about this for a while and I've never quite found the time. I still don't have a lot of time, but I needed blog fodder and this is a long-standing question. Also, I think that even if you create your own world and intend to write a series, there are a lot of storytelling lessons to be learned from shared-world fiction.

As you probably know, Wizards of the Coast is known for its shared-world fiction--fiction in worlds shared by many authors. Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, and Eberron may be the most familiar WotC brand names, and outside of us, in adult and YA fantasy, there are novels in the Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Smallville, and many other universes. Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden are also shared-world fiction--and the models upon which a lot of shared world series build. (Notice how many shared worlds are media tie-ins. This is not always the case, but as I'll discuss below, movies and TV shows do lend themselves well to this kind of print fiction.) The challenges of writing within these already-established worlds are completely different from making up your own world from scratch--but at the same time, can be freeing in many ways, too.

Mirrorstone has several shared-world lines: Dragonlance: The New Adventures, Star Sisterz, and Knights of the Silver Dragon were our company's first forays into children's literature, and all of them were set in worlds shared by many different authors who had to coordinate between themselves and the editors to ensure consistency in style, worldbuilding, character growth, and plot. DLNA was set in the same world, Krynn, that Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's original Dragonlance Chronicles were set, Star Sisterz got their world from a game by the same name, and Knights of the Silver Dragon used the world and monsters of the game Dungeons and Dragons.

Writing in a shared world is a great way for beginning writers to increase (and show off) their writing chops--and get their name out there. Rather than having to come up with the world--and sometimes even the characters--on their own, the writer can play with plot and characterization within an already-established world, complete with its own rules. Rather than having to make up the world, the writer can focus on story arc.

The challenge of doing so, of course, is that you can't just say, "I think Buffy should now have wings and be able to fly about the planet." Buffy's world has rules, and (warning: spoilers in link) unless she specifically has an affair with a particular kind of creature, she's probably not going to suddenly sprout into a giant. But this is important in creator-owned stories, too!

Then again, the challenge of doing so can also be to see just how you can explain certain things within a given set of rules, such as how a kender might be able to do magic.*

But don't let that fool you--because writing in another world can be just as challenging as making up your own, but in a different way. Shared-world series have changed a lot since Nancy Drew, but we might learn a lot from the old girl sleuth, too. (Which won't be covered in this post, as I went off on a tangent, but definitely see Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women who Created Her for more information on the Stratemyer syndicate, who had a lot of shared-world mysteries for young readers in its day.)

I think the best way of looking at shared-world series is by using TV shows as a model. Multiple writers work on TV shows. Writers on a show may change from year to year, so the creative mix sometimes changes--but overall, the show must have a consistent voice, characters must remain consistent even as they grow (if the characters are meant to grow, of course). A lot of quality TV shows are made in this collaborative environment, and I think shared-world book series can have that same high quality of storytelling.

I often use favorite teen and fantasy shows as examples of storytelling for my shared-world authors (and for series in general), too--because shows like Veronica Mars (especially the first and second seasons) (also, created by a YA author), Firefly, Heroes, and Buffy use storytelling skills that can be easily transferred to writing book series. For example, look specifically at plot arcs. What kinds of plot arcs does a TV series like Veronica Mars deal with? First season, we had the season-long plot arc of the mystery of Veronica's best friend's killer. Then we had plot arcs that might last a few episodes, usually dealing with her relationship between her friends or boyfriend. Then there was the plot of the episode, whatever mystery Veronica was solving that night.

How can we apply these plot arc ideas to novels? For one thing, a series has to have an overall arc, whether you're talking about a trilogy or longer. If you're a fan of the Wheel of Time series, you have probably been following my friend Brandon Sanderson's discussions of how he's working on wrapping up the tail end of the series. While that's not a shared world in the strictest sense--after all, Jordan always intended to finish his own series, but his health got in the way--this is similar in that Brandon must deal with writing in someone else's voice, finishing up story threads that he didn't lay, and working with characters and plots that he didn't create. Jordan planned the arc of the series years ago (and created the notes and outlines that Brandon is now using as his guide). And so it is with any series, including shared-world, though with something as open-ended as shared-world sometimes all you can do is plan an arc and hope the next arc fits in.

So then we go back to the TV show idea--the Lost writers, for example, say they've known generally where they want to end the series since they began it, but they couldn't know whether the first season would be the only one or not. So it is in shared-world fiction a lot of the times, so you have to break down your arcs a little bit so that readers can still be satisfied with the smaller resolutions, while still left wanting more. At the end of an episode (one volume), that episode's arc should be wrapped up. But questions might remain. Veronica may only have found one clue to who killed her best friend--and that clue itself might lead her in the wrong direction next time. But the high schooler who just paid her $500 to find out who planted fake test scores in his locker should find out by the end of the episode who done it.

The Hallowmere series is technically a shared-world series because Tiffany Trent, its creator, is not the only writer playing in this world. The books are being released at the rate of about three or four a year, and I fear what I might do to Tiffany if I tried to make her write three books a year all by herself! So we brought in a few coauthors who are taking on the points of view of the main character Corrine's friends. Books 1-3 have an arc all their own--Corrine goes to Falston, discovers the world of the Fey, and from there they head off to adventure in mysterious places as Corrine and her friends try to track down the Unhallowed.

But at the end of Corrine's arc in volume three, the story isn't nearly over. No, actually, the story only grows from there. In volume four, Maiden of the Wolf, Canadian author Angelika Ranger (dragonegg), joins Tiffany Trent to write from the point of view of Ilona, the stubborn tomboy Hungarian. Each coauthor must coordinate with me and especially with Tiffany to make sure that her or his details match up with Tiffany's vision of the series and with where the series is going for each of the rest of the authors, to ultimately wrap up with Tiffany's solo conclusion in book 10, Ouroborous Undone. Each book has its own arc, revealing all sorts of mysteries, but supports the greater arc of the entire ten-book series.

Oh, there's so much on shared worlds I could pontificate on, and I'm afraid this post is already long and convoluted, and I have work to do. So let's stop here and see where we go. What kinds of questions might you have on shared-world fiction? Does this help answer some of them?

*Kender are a hobbit-like race in the Dragonlance world which are considered, basically, so ADD that they can't learn magic, but also some people believe it's a racial trait for them not to be able to do so. Personally, I like that Dragonlance: The New Adventures turned a lot of those stereotypes on their heads.

Topic for a future post: Working with an editor in shared-world fiction, working as an editor in shared-world (coordination between authors, series bibles, etc.)

Writing Excuses: Submitting to Editors

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:26:07 GMT

Want to know more about submitting to editors? Check out the conversation over at Writing Excuses this week and next.

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 05:21:20 GMT

I took some pictures of the B&N event this afternoon on my cell phone to post here, but when I got home from that (after running several errands) not only were the pictures missing, so were all my phone numbers and pretty much everything on the phone, and it wouldn't connect to any service. It's like I got hit with a personal EMP.

Did all the normal revive-your-phone bit, called Verizon, and it turns out this phone just sucks (it's a refurbished replacement) and I have to go get another new one.

So, sorry about no pictures. It was a good event, and we're grateful that the store invited us. Here's hoping I can get a new phone before leaving for Atlanta, because I can't imagine doing a trade show without a cell. It makes it so much easier to coordinate all those people.

Thankfully, I've been using the online backup service that downloads my address book daily or weekly or something, and all I'll have to do is get a new phone and I can have all that restored--though I won't get the pictures back, or any ringtones I bought (don't think I did, since the 3 I bought on the last phone disappeared with the replacement), or my text messages (which I rarely do, but the ones I have I'd like to keep, especially the ones from 411 for numbers I never remember to program into my phone). And all my calls are going to voicemail rather than out into the void, so I'll be able to call anyone back. I'm not ignoring anyone, I promise!

Whoa.

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 05:11:04 GMT

Whoa.

Whoa...

Just watched the first episode of Dr. Who season 4.

Whoa.

Yeah. It's that good. I think you should start watching Dr. Who if you haven't yet. This might be the best show on TV right now.

Also, just saw Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, and that's also really good. Some great storytelling, combined with original characterization and some nice surprises. Definitely one to see.

Also: Lost? It wasn't doing so hot for a while there, but I must admit catching up online all at once helped to put things together, and now I'm back into the swing of things.

And Supernatural last night--also quite hilarious.

And Ugly Betty--still pretty good.

Are we seeing a pattern here? I'm getting out of the house tomorrow.

Actually, getting out of the house and doing a bookstore event. If you're a teacher in the Seattle area (or anyone in the Seattle area interested in books), stop by the Northgate B&N tomorrow afternoon. Sasquatch Books will be there earlier in the afternoon, and I'll be there representing Mirrorstone from 2-4. Have a good weekend!

Via PW: The power of a good book

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:57:54 GMT

"From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: After reading Forged by Fire, Sharon Draper's novel about sexual abuse, a seventh-grade girl reported her phys-ed teacher, who has just pled guilty to molesting the girl and her three sisters."

IRA and travel by air

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:18:28 GMT

Perhaps I'm a little late to the discussion of this, as I haven't had time to keep up on people's blogs lately, but did you hear about this? After May 1, half the airlines I know of are going to start charging for checking a second bag. That means I'm screwed at Christmas, when I often go home for over a week (large bag) and take presents and nearly the kitchen sink with me (another large bag). I had joked about this day coming, but I'm still a little surprised it is. This is only going to make me less likely to travel by plane. Which means less likely to travel, period, because I ain't driving anywhere either. Trains, perhaps? Bah. Guess I'll ship presents by mail when I go home for Christmas this year.

Wherefore art thou, high speed rail?*

In other news, in the first week of May I'll be down in Atlanta for the International Reading Association annual conference. I really like this conference. I went for the first time last year when it was held in Toronto. I never need to take a whole lot with me for trade shows--unless we've forgotten something, but then we usually FedEx big boxes of stuff to the show floor--but I always end up bringing a suitcase full of books home with me. But not if I have to pay $25 for it.

*Well, that would only help me with about half the country. Seattle to Atlanta, for example, not so much.

It's torture-the-kitty night!

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:42:18 GMT

I think the LOLcat caption of this one should be "Noa's Ark kitteh not ready to sale" or something. The intent was to do a Noah's Ark animals-as-sailors thing, as I had some sailor capes and some animal heads, and I was trying to figure out just how perverse I could get with my ever-patient cats.

It really was torture the kitty night--I couldn't get both of them in the same shot together at the same time looking right.

This one looks like the lion is eating Mogget's head.

I think this juxtaposition of expressions speaks for itself.

This one's ALMOST good.

Now he looks like he's being eaten from below. Or has a mirror reflecting a cartoon cat.

The end. At least for them.

Next week starring me!

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:55:40 GMT

There's a new Writing Excuses podcast up today, as there is every week. They've had some good conversations and I think this is turning out to be a good resource for writers. So if you haven't stopped by, try it out.

Next week, they'll be interviewing me, so don't miss it. I'll post a link when it goes up. In the meantime, there's the YALSA podcast from Support Teen Literature Day in which Kelly Czarnecki interviews me about fantasy, teens reading, and contests. I can't seem to do a direct link, so look for #47. Heck, listen to them all--they're also a good resource for librarians especially, but also anyone interested in teens and their literature, because they talk about all sorts of important issues relating to YA lit and serving teens.

Information please?

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:53:20 GMT

My friend* is currently traveling in India visiting another friend. He's been to Laos several times (where he speaks the language, hence the Lao on the blog) and to several other countries but never to India. The other friend is working on a documentary for a small school for a few months, so they're meeting up and doing some touring at the end of her stay.

His last two entries have had me rolling with laughter. I want to go there and experience this myself someday--though perhaps without the getting sick part. Or even closer to home--just going somewhere I haven't before, perhaps doing a world tour by visiting all my old roommates from Mexico, Brazil, Canada, England, Korea, and Belgium. (I seem to be forgetting someone.)

Speaking of traveling, I've been thinking of going to Mexico for a while. I finally got back in touch with an old roommate from there, who is now working in the Benemerito School in Mexico City. And I have been looking for her email all night, and it seems to have disappeared. Did I forget to move it from the junk mail box? I hope not. (Even if I never make a trip down there I wanted to write her back!) But that means I'm back at square one at getting a hold of her, and LinkedIn seems to have closed the loophole where I could send her brother an email without subscribing if I tried to add him as a friend. Google is failing to find me a homepage for the school (Benemerito de las Americas) and my Spanish is rudimentary at best. Can anyone suggest a good way to find someone in another country, where you go to find that kind of information? It's hard enough in the U.S., even with phone directories online. I'm lost when it comes to searching in another country (unless you're talking about family history--then I do much better).

*Did I mention how much I envy all my friends who have traveled the world like this? I've been to Canada and Scotland, so that's a start, but I have plans for something fun soon. There was a sale on Mexico flights last month and I'm kicking myself that I didn't just up and go.

More Teen Literature Day

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:35:08 GMT

If you haven't seen today's PW Children's Bookshelf, go take a look at more coverage of Operation Teen Book Drop. (Scroll down to "In Brief.")

Support Teen Literature today!

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:08:17 GMT

Yesterday morning, I was on TV. But all I did was wave--the real spotlight was on the Readergirlz, YALSA, and the staff of Children's Hospital Seattle, which was one of the many hospitals across the country that received the books donated by Mirrorstone and by 20 other publishers for their teen patients. And today the Readergirlz will be on Northwest Afternoon, so if you live locally, check it out.

Today, I'll be taking a few of my own books and donating them to the library. What will you be doing today?

Readergirl Diva Lori Ann Grover with Tim Robinson of King 5.

King 5's reporter, Tim Robinson, Lori Ann Grover, and Justina Chen Headley.

One Readergirl, Ellen, enjoys a book.

Janet Lee Carey (author of Dragon's Keep and The Beast of Noor) and Shelly Mazzanoble of Mirrorstone (author of Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress: A Girl's Guide to Dungeons and Dragons)

Shelly Mazzanoble of Mirrorstone

The Readergirlz founders with YALSA Past President Judy Nelson--Justina Chen Headley, Lori Ann Grover, Judy Nelson, Janet Lee Carey, and Dia Calhoun

And I thought I had problems with it as a kid

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:49:09 GMT

see more crazy cat pics

The reason we have copyeditors and proofreaders

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:38:23 GMT

This week I've been up to my ears in the duties that most people outside of the writing/publishing world think that an editor spends all her time at: proofreading and copyediting. The truth is that the copyeditor and proofreader are different people from the editor, and that I as the editor do a lot of what might be termed managerial duties at this stage--sending the manuscript out and receiving it back in, accepting and rejecting changes, and then keeping an eye out as I'm going through those changes for anything the author, copyeditor, proofreader, and I might have missed in previous passes.

It's actually kind of fun, but in a much different way than earlier on in the life of a manuscript. This step in the process really brings in my detail-oriented side. Comparing details and thinking about minutiae perhaps might not be as exciting as the developmental stage, but it's an important step in the life of a book. The extra eyes of the copyeditor and proofreader are vital to making sure that I haven't missed typos, grammatical problems, blue eyes here and green eyes there on the same character, and other mistakes--mistakes that readers will always catch.

The thing about being an editor is that you're looking at different versions of the same text four, sometimes five or more times. When I'm first editing, I'm not looking for grammatical problems because if a character isn't working, the text might change dramatically. Not to mention that typos can be introduced in the course of even small revisions, so it's best to leave the detail work until the big picture is taken care of.

Perhaps likening this to the installation of a new bathtub will help: you don't caulk the seals of the old tub and then rip everything out and put in the new tub, because you'll just have to recaulk (can you tell I just learned how to caulk a tub last weekend?). So leaving the details until the third or fourth pass is necessary.

But that means that by the fourth time I'm reading it, the eye can easily elide over mistakes, even very obvious ones. This is why another pair of eyes is crucial to catch those last few errors. And then it comes back to me, the one who knows the project best (on the publisher's side--it also goes back to the author for one last look), to be sure that it all comes together.

So that's what I'm doing this week--working on bringing it all together for a couple books in various stages.

Where does that manuscript go?

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 05:40:02 GMT

One link I forgot about earlier today: Editorial Anonymous has a great post today on the heroic journey of the requested manuscript. As I've just finally found a few moments for finishing off a few partials and manuscripts this afternoon and gotten caught up on a huge stack of the pile, this rings home for me today!

Operation Teen Book Drop and links

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 21:46:54 GMT

I'm on the mend, health-wise, I think. I still have a horrendous cough and practically no appetite, but at least the chills are gone. I think I'll sleep all weekend.

In author and book news, cynleitichsmith is giving away a copy of Magic in the Mirrorstone and By Venom's Sweet Sting. Note that the deadline is fast approaching! Cynthia interviews Magic in the Mirrorstone editor Steve Berman here.

Next week we've got a couple fun events approaching. Support Teen Literature Day is next Thursday, April 17. As part of that, YALSA and the Readergirlz divas are hosting Operation Teen Book Drop, a charitable event where publishers, authors, and whoever else wants to get involved will be donating books to numerous children's hospitals. I'll be heading over to one here in Seattle--check out the wiki for ideas on how you can get involved in your neighborhood. If you're on Facebook, let the Readergirlz know that you'll be Rocking the Drop!

A small matter of some very large tape

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:20:08 GMT

I'm opening mail right now, and paused for this public service announcement.

If you, like my cousin Cindy wrapping a Christmas present, feel like you need to tape every crevice of your submission envelope just in case, please take a step back and imagine you're an editor with a letter opener that can't find any purchase.

If it takes me more than 30 seconds to open your letter--and if I have to navigate multiple taped-up layers--you're doing something wrong. Cease and desist with the tape, already! A neatly sealed envelope will do. If you feel you need to tape it to make sure it'll stay closed, then leave a little hole where my letter opener can get in. You certainly don't need to tape up every corner, including the corners of the part of the envelope that the manufacturer sealed.

That's just overkill.

Rest assured, you don't want to be remembered as the person whose submission took me five minutes to open.

ETA: Can I also just go on the record with my enduring love for the self-sealing envelope?

If there's a virus to catch, I will end up catching it

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:30:58 GMT

So it seems lately, at least. Last Thursday morning I headed to work with my workout bag, hoping to get a run in down in the gym at some point during the day. But by 11 am, I was headed back out the door not to the gym but to home, where I slept for the next two days and have been coughing and aching ever since. I was well enough to get up and go back to work today, but I'm still on the miserable side. So if you're wondering where I am, I'm probably sleeping. Or coughing. It really snuck up on me.

Curse my useless flu shot. Dang mutations.

I'll be back to posting about editing/writing stuff at some point, whenever this allows me to think again without conserving brain power. My doctor tells me that the viruses they're seeing nowadays are lasting more like 2-3 weeks compared to 2-3 days in past years, and I so don't want this to last any longer than it already has.

BYU Writing for Young Readers

stacylwhitman@gmail.com — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:57:37 GMT

As I've mentioned before, I'm going to be at BYU's Writing for Young Readers conference June 16-20. Their website is now live, so if you're interested in a workshop that will really delve into your writing, this is for you. I've never attended, but I hear really great things about it. Each track has faculty assigned, and they'll look at the first chapter or two of your book and really workshop it.

I'll be speaking there and then just generally participating, networking, etc. The title of my talk is “Passion or Practicality—Writing for Love or the Market."

So go check it out, and sign up if it sounds like just the thing you've been looking for.