Newbery Discussion Stays Heated

The Newbery Award discussion continues to dominate the children's book world amongst critics and readers. I take that back.  The economy and struggling publishing companies are the talk of the town.  So the Newbery comes in a close second--okay, not that close. 

Here is an article in the Washington Post about the controversy--or invented controversy-- surrounding the most prestigious award--along with the Caldecott--for children's authors.

I'm in love with the dash today. And probably not using it correctly. 

Where do I stand on all this? Do you care? 

The Newbery Award is not judged on popularity, but at the same time, they seem to keep picking books, with the exception of a few, that are not popular with the target audience.

 

 

In Case You Missed It

In case you've been busy with lame office holiday parties--the one where Sandy the office manager has too much to drink and admits she/he only watches animated movies--the publishing industry is feeling the money crunch... big time!

Here is an article over at PW (Publishers Weekly--you should have it bookmarked!) that explains MacMillan's latest answer to the economic woes. This included layoffs at Clarion, one of my favorite imprints, which publishes Gary D. Schmidt and Linda Sue Park (two authors you must read if you're writing for young readers)

How will this affect unpublished authors like me and (possibly) you? It's not a good time for any writer, though publishers are still looking at agented manuscripts. They're always looking for the lone golden hair that stands out (that was horrible). 

Publishers obviously have less money to invest in projects, so they will be taking an even closer look at all aspects of a manuscript before committing to it.  It just means that the competition will only become fiercer. Less money = less books to publish. Seems like publishers are moving to a QUALITY OVER QUANTITY philosophy. Shouldn't they have been doing this in the first place?

Only time will tell how this all shakes out...

Back to writing. 

Query Letter Advice

Check out this post by Caren Johnson (Caren Johnson Literary) on writing query letters.

http://johnsonlitagency.wordpress.com/

Tis the Season for Newbery Picks

For those of you who have middle grade/YA interests, post a comment here with your pick to win the 2009 Newbery Medal.

My pick: The Underneath, by Kathi Appelt