Archive for December, 2009
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
Our Coming Sabbatical
I am a huge fan of good design, and also a great fan of pithy expression. So it probably makes sense that Stefan Sagmeister would be a hero of mine. He has a firm in New York that has designed packaging for many things you’ve likely seen but not known came from his team, and [...]
33 Comments » - Posted in Announcements/Agency Biz, Inspiration by Michael
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
How to Sign with An Agent
Today on her blog, my lovely client Shannon Morgan detailed twelve ways an agent can sign a potential client based on our own experience just about one year ago. I thought I’d return the favor and catalog the twelve steps a writer may experience when signing with an agent. (Author’s Note: If you look hard [...]
23 Comments » - Posted in Choosing an Agent/Submitting, The Industry by Chris
Monday, December 7th, 2009
Results of the Villains Poll
The other day, I asked readers to vote for their favorite villains of children’s literature. We received some great responses. There were a slew of witches from various stories, included witches of the sea, the West, the Waste. Harry Potter’s foes received several nods, although no one picked Voldemort, the big bad guy himself. A [...]
6 Comments » - Posted in Sweet Nonsense by Chris
Saturday, December 5th, 2009
Agenting Picture Books v. Agenting Novels: Part One of Two
[Some weeks back I was in Chicago to give a couple of talks at an SCBWI conference. While I was in fine form for much of the conference, I punted my final talk, to my chagrin. Part of the issue was an ill-advised, last-minute rejiggering of my notes and talking points into a confusing mess [...]
59 Comments » - Posted in On Writing by Michael
Friday, December 4th, 2009
Favorite Kidlit Villains
There are many great villains out there, from the moustache-twirling doofuses, to the sick and twisted sociopaths, to the evil wizards bent on world domination or the misunderstood loners who think their heinous acts are actually doing good.
Kids books have seen the arrival of some truly memorable villains in the past few years, so I [...]
47 Comments » - Posted in Sweet Nonsense by Chris
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
Phone Book
If you haven’t seen it yet, this video has been making its way around the InterBloggaTwittersphere today:
Short of making the cardboard frame yourself and purchasing an iPhone to slip inside, we’re not quite there in terms of this capability on the current eReaders, but this video does suggest some wild possibilities, no?
22 Comments » - Posted in Sweet Nonsense, The Industry by Chris
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
A Holiday Auction for an Upstart Crow
See that woman up there? She’s swell. That video has nothing to do with this post—and worse, is months old—but it does give you a sense of the wonderful Bridget Zinn.
A few weeks ago, we sold her first two novels at auction to Hyperion/Disney. While a book sale always gladdens drear heart, this one was [...]
