Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She?

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Howdy, Campers!

My poem for Poetry Friday lurks below, as does the link to PF.

And so the calendar brings us back to our annual series of Thanks-Giving. This year we're focusing on authors we want to thank.

I'm writing this post on the day after the presidential election, 2016. And on this day, the author who comes to mind besides MLK (whose quote has literally led me through this day: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice"...King, by the way, was paraphrasing the words of 19th century abolitionist Theodore Parker...) is the indefatigable Molly Ivins.

Who, you say? Ivins was a smart, sassy, journalist and author who wrote, among other books,  Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? (about which Ann Richards, former governor of Texas said, "Molly Ivins has birthed a book and it is more fun than riding a mechanical bull and almost as dangerous.") She was Jon Stewart before Jon Stewart was Jon Stewart.

I heard her speak in a Santa Monica, CA bookstore around 1995. Then and there I wanted to quit my job, take classes from her, be her assistant, be her best friend, carry her books...anything. I was bowled over by her honesty, passion and humor, in equal parts.

Here are a few Molly Ivins quotes that helped me today. Perhaps they'll give you energy to jump back into the fray:

"The thing is this: You got to have fun while you're fightin' for freedom, 'cause you don't always win."

"It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America."

"The thing about democracy, beloveds, is that it is not neat, orderly, or quiet. It requires a certain relish for confusion."

"We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action... Raise Hell. . . . We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, 'Stop it, now!'"

"Many a time freedom has been rolled back - and always for the same sorry reason: fear."

"So keep fightin' for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce."

Thank you, Molly Ivins, for always inspiring.

I'd hoped to wake up to a different result on November 9th. But I have...

NO REGRETS

by April Halprin Wayland

I have no regrets,

says the Great egret.

He languidly roams

like a dancer on toe
.

or a plantation master

in new heeled boots,

regally cruising through

marsh grass and ooze.

.

No regrets, repeats

the Great egret

as he reaches the river

mirroring sky.
.

I want to ask how,

I want to ask why.
.

poem © 2016 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved

from Pixabay.com

Don't forget to enter our book giveaway!  Enter to win a copy of TOBY by Hazel Mitchell.

Thank you, Jama, for hosting today!

inspired by suffragettes (including my grandmother) and posted with love by April Halprin Wayland

Paying Tribute to 4 Nonfiction Authors as Thanks-Giving

We TeachingAuthors are celebrating three week of Thanksgiving to focus on our favorite authors.

Nonfiction books are better today than ever before.  For the most part, gone today is the silly fictional dialogue that filled “nonfiction” books of my childhood.  Now nonfiction books are historically accurate and tell complex, true stories in interesting ways. 

I am thankful for many contemporary nonfiction authors.  Below I am going to name a few of them along with their books that I particularly enjoyed and why.

Sally M. Walker

Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland
Secrets of A Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H. L. Hunley

Walker’s book showed me how to science and history work could together to tell a fascinating story of both. 

Susan Campbell Bartoletti 

Growing up in Coal Country

Kids on Strike

Bartoletti’s books showed me how to deal with stories that are not as well known as others, and how powerful photographs can be in telling a story.

Russell Freedman

Lincoln: A Photobiography

Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor

Freeman’s books showed me to think outside the box about how to write about history.

Jim Murphy

A Great Fire 

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

Murphy’s books showed me how tell the timeline of a story. 

These authors and others have produced bodies of work that are amazing.  I am thankful their books are in libraries. 

Carla Killough McClafferty

Don't forget to enter our book giveaway!  Enter to win a copy of TOBY by Hazel Mitchell.

Thank You, Authors, and a Poem to Ponder

With this blog post, I begin an annual Teaching Authors series we call Three Weeks of Thanks-Giving. This year, we decided to focus on our favorite authors.

Of course, I couldn't pick just one. As Election Day approaches, I'm grateful for people who stick their necks out, contribute their time and energy, and work to make the world a better place. (Note that I'm speaking for myself here and not necessarily for any other Teaching Authors.)

Children's book authors are generous people. Our own April is a co-founder of Authors & Illustrators for Children, an organization of more than 1200 children’s book creators committed to vote, campaign, and speak out for candidates who will create a safe, healthy, and inspired future for children everywhere.

Are you Facebook friends with authors? Read their posts to find out how they are involved. Christine Taylor-Butler, Marilyn Nelson, Ilsa Bick, and our own Bobbi offer their thoughtful analyses of news articles based on fact, not opinion. Carol Munro volunteers at a polling station. Shana Corey and Kendra Levin work to Get Out The Vote.

In "Election Reflections & Caring for Your Creative Heart," Cynthia Leitich Smith writes about participating in the election "in a way that preserves, reflects and/or affirms your creative life." Deborah Underwood and Jacqueline Woodson offer encouragement to those of us who are overwhelmed by the negativity in this campaign.

These are just the authors whose posts I've noticed in the past few days. I know there are many others who care and give and help. Feel free to add their names in the comments if you want to recognize their contributions.

Here's an excerpt from a powerful Election Day poem, "Let America Be America Again" by Langston Hughes.

O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

If you haven't already done so, please vote!

Rosi H. is our winner in the 2017 Children's Writer's and Illustrators Book Giveaway. Congratulations, Rosi!

Be sure to enter our current Book Giveaway for a chance to win a copy of Toby by Hazel Mitchell and a swag bag filled with all sorts of Toby goodies.

Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Laura Purdie Salas's Writing the World for Kids. Enjoy!

JoAnn Early Macken

Book Giveaway: For the Love of Toby! And a Wednesday Writing Workout!

Hazel and Toby

Hazel Mitchell, illustrator extraordinaire, rescued a small poodle born into a puppy mill. Toby needed a lot of love and patience to overcome the tragedy of his birth. For months, Hazel shared her journey with her Facebook friends and family as she worked to heal the puppy’s shattered ego. Finally, Toby accepted  Hazel and found his forever home. In 2014, Toby disappeared. What followed was nothing short of a heart-wrenching Walt Disney movie. People from the community and beyond gathered to help Hazel search for the lost Toby. Around the world, others followed the desperate search for Toby. For eight days, we held our breath. When Toby was found, there rose a collective sigh and a standing ovation all for the love of Toby.

Inspired by this experience, Hazel tells the poignant story of a boy who rescues a puppy named Toby. It’s more than a melt-your-heart read aloud about a boy and his dog, however. As a rescued puppy, Toby can be difficult. He has some bad habits. He doesn’t trust his new family. The story underscores the challenges faced by those who rescue animals, even as it highlights the rewards. Important themes include devotion and patience and, of course, the enduring and endearing love we share with our four-legged family members.

Today, I am honored to have Hazel as a guest. Join me as Hazel tells the story how Toby became a story…

Toby's First Picture

"I rescued Toby from an animal rescue shelter in Maine in 2013. Poor Toby had a difficult start in life and when he came to live with us. He was very insecure and frightened. He’d never lived with people in a proper home. He was rescued with eight other poodles from a hoarder situation. So his new was strange to him. Little by little Toby came out of his shell and it was good to see him blossoming. But along the way there were many ups and downs. Sometimes he’d seem to be really progressing and then he would be scared by something and would lose ground again. It was hard to watch his struggles with situations other dogs take in their stride. It was frustrating for us too!

As an illustrator, I wanted to capture the emotions of my little waif on paper. I began to sketch him almost as soon as he came to live with us. The more I sketched him the more convinced I became that I wanted to write a story about him.

 Now, there are very many stories about rescued and stray dogs. How could I make Toby’s story compelling enough to stand up among the many dog books on the bookshelves? A story must have a beginning, a middle and an end. And in picture books the character is often trying to solve a problem. Well, Toby had a big enough problem … how to overcome his fears and become a normal pet dog. Try as I might, I could not find a satisfying story arc about Toby in his everyday real life setting with me and my husband. I felt I needed something more than that to engage with the reader.

As I drew Toby and moved away from the realistic renderings of him to a looser, more accessible style for a picture book, I began to draw him with a child, a boy. The boy reminded me of a friend’s child back in England. The more I sketched the more I realized that the boy was the secondary character I needed in the story of Toby. A boy who adopts Toby. Now I had a relationship to work with! I brainstormed ideas about the boy, and, after a couple of false starts, I gave the boy a problem he was working through too – he’s just moved to a new neighborhood and he’s trying to settle down and feels lonely. He sees a girl out walking her dog. Then he finds a flyer from the local animal shelter on the doorstep and he sees a picture of Toby. Voila!

So that’s how Toby came to have a fictional family. Once I’d created this world around Toby, it was easy to include some of the real things that happened and emotions he went through – hiding, not playing or wanting food, messing in the house and then when he started coming out of his shell – sleeping on the bed, watching for my husband through the window and the less socially accepted incidents like running through flowers and chewing eyeglasses! The boy and his dad have to work out how to live with Toby and help him. Ultimately the boy never gives up on Toby and one of the book’s themes is not giving up, patience and persistence."

Here’s how you can draw your very own Toby! 

 Do you have a favorite pet story? Why not write your very own Toby story. (Don’t worry, if you don’t have a favorite pet, perhaps you have a favorite stuffed toy.) Draw your favorite pet, using Hazel's guidelines, and write a story about them! Share your story with us in the comments below!

Join us in our celebration of Toby and all our beloved pets! We have a giveaway!

Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter to win ONE giveaway copy of the new edition of Toby. We also have a swag bag filled with all sorts of Toby goodies! You may enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options.


If you choose option 2, you MUST leave a comment on TODAY'S blog post below or on our TeachingAuthors Facebook page. If you haven't already "liked" our Facebook page, please do so today!

(If you prefer, you may submit your comment via email to: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com.)

Email subscribers: if you received this post via email, you can click on the Rafflecopter link at the end of this message to access the entry form.

The giveaway ends November 15 and is open to U.S. residents only.

P.S. If you've never entered a Rafflecopter giveaway, here's info on how to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway and the difference between signing in with Facebook vs. with an email address.

Bobbi Miller

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Into the Woods...

Karen Grencik

... in search of red foxes.

I graduated from the graduate program at Vermont College of Fine Arts Writing for Children and Young Adults (VCFA) with a four-book contract for picture books that highlighted my love of American folklore and history. But, as much as I knew about writing and story, I knew nothing of the business of children’s publishing. And it is, foremost, a business.

I signed on with the first agent who would help me with the multi-contracts. This relationship wasn't a hard find. I already had the contract in hand, or rather contracts. This meant, I already did the hard work. This is never a good idea. Like any relationship, you want to get to know each other, ask questions, and make sure it's a good fit. You don't get married after only a first date. And an agent-writer relationship is akin to a marriage. ( See Mary Ann's wonderful discussion on her relationship with agents!) This agent sealed the deal with the contracts, but a couple of significant  issues arose. She had signed the boiler plate contract. The contracts included a couple of damaging, very strict clauses:  the option clause, which gives the publisher the privilege of publishing your next book, and the non-compete clause, which restricts the author from publishing another book that competes with the work in question. This first agent didn't negotiate to reword or remove them, and I didn't know enough to ask what they meant. Needless to say, that relationship ended in a quick divorce. I found another agent, via one of the agent's clients, but more problems arose.  According to this new agent, because of these clauses, I couldn’t submit work elsewhere, and she couldn’t renegotiate the clauses because she wasn't the agent on record.

 In other words, my career was not only stalled, it was completely derailed.

 That relationship also quickly, of course. Determined, I went to Author’s Guild, learned what I had to in order to understand these clauses, and then I renegotiated the particular clauses myself.

My first two picture books came out in 2009, eight years after signing the contract. The second book was published a year later. The third book came out in 2012, eleven years after signing the contract. The fourth contract was cancelled. Thankfully, I had a strong circle of friends, in particular Eric Kimmel and Marion Dane Bauer, who understood that business side of things and shared their wisdom and support through those many years.

But there was yet another, stronger riptide I had to steer through. Beginning in 2001, the children’s market was changing dramatically. The folklore picture book market was bottoming out. The very genre that I had studied, loved, and sought as my career was no longer an option. What the heck do I do now? Where do I go from here?

Writers have to find a way to adapt. 

Into the woods I went, searching for a place where I belong. 

The challenge became in combining all that I had learned and loved in folklore and history. For a long while, it was a hit-and-miss effort. Finally I had this manuscript, Big River’s Daughter. It was a middle grade novel, an historical American fantasy. By now, I was unsure if it even fit in a market that no longer viewed folklore as relevant. Even historical fiction was having a hard time.

And that’s when I learned my greatest lesson: the importance of patience and perseverance.

I met Emma Dryden via Facebook, when she was describing her experience as a passenger on a Windjammer cruise – the very one I had gone on as I was researching my book, Big River’s Daughter! I’ve known about Emma for decades; she’s legendary in the field. It turns out, she had just started her own business, drydenbks. I signed up, asking her a crucial question: Where do I fit in now?

And of course, Dumbledore that she is, she helped clarify my thinking and create a plan that would help me achieve my goals. Not only do writers have to adapt to the shifting markets, sometimes they have to make their own place.

Part of that plan included an introduction to agent Karen Grencik, who it turns out had just started a new agency, Red Fox Literary. And this time, I wasn’t shy about asking questions – even dumb ones. And we talked, and talked, and talked. I was cautious given my previous experience. Still, it didn’t take long before I knew: She was the one! One month after we teamed up, Karen sold Big River’s Daughter. Three months after that, she sold my second middle grade novel, Girls of Gettysburg.

All things happens for a reason at the time they are supposed to happen. As River plunges into the wilds of the frontier, taking on the Pirates Laffite and the extraordinary landscape of the mighty river herself in the rough-and-tumble Big River’s Daughter, there is that truth of River’s journey: if one perseveres, life can be full of possible imaginations.

 Speaking of perseverance and possible imaginations, don't forget to enter our Book Giveaway to win a copy of the Children’s Writers and Illustrators Market 2017!

--Bobbi Miller

The Great Agent Hunt: Eight Lessons Learned.

     I am fortunate.  In the past fifteen years, I've sold and published a dozen books, more or less. (Let's not talk about the one I sold five years ago and has yet to be published.) When I say I sold them, I mean exactly that. I do not have an agent.

     I would love to have an agent to take over the time consuming details of submission and contracts. A writer without an agent doesn't have a snowball's chance in July of getting any meaningful changes to a contract.

    In my search for the Right Agent, I've submitted and schmoozed and networked for ten years...and I still don't have an agent.

     Why not?

    It's a combination of personal taste (the agent's) and your potential to make the agent buckets of bucks. I've been told I'm too "literary" as opposed to a book that could become a cartoon series, complete with action figures.  I write historical fiction, which is a "hard sell." (At least the agents I queried felt that way.) Many agents do not like representing picture book authors who are not also illustrators. Guess who writes picture books but is not an illustrator?

    Let me tell you about my Quest for the Perfect Agent, and the lessons I learned.

    Lesson One:  It's harder to publish without an agent than it was in 2000.

    When I sold My Best Friend in 2001, there were still a number of major publishers who would read slush pile (unagented) submissions. This number has dwindled considerably over the years. I publish with three different houses; only one of them still takes unsolicited manuscripts.

     My Best Friend won two major picture book text awards. I've lost count of the number of reading lists and college courses that use this book.  Not too shabby for a book published eleven years ago. Today, it might never be read by an editor at all, without an agent pitching it.

At the Zolotow Awards for My Best Friend. I'm standing between Gretchen Will Mayo, and TA JoAnn Early Macken.

       Lesson Two:  Having a publishing track record does not guarantee you an agent.

      I sold my second book, Yankee Girl to another publisher after it was turned down by the company who bought My Best Friend.  Yankee Girl received a lot of attention for a first novel.  Publisher's Weekly made me one of their "Flying Start" authors. There were some starred reviews, as well as some not so stellar ones. In fact several library systems and schools banned the book.  It was long-listed as an ALA Notable Book, was an Outstanding Social Studies book, and nominated for a dozen state book awards.  The first printing sold out in six weeks, which is a rarity.

     With all this attention, I some how thought that an agent would arrive on my doorstep with balloons, roses and one of those giant cardboard checks, and a contract. Obviously I had seen too many Publisher's Clearing House ads.

      Lesson Three:  Literary agents don't recruit. You have to go looking for them.

      Once I stopped imagining hordes of agents clamoring for my attention, I began The Great Agent Hunt.  I queried, I pitched, I struck out.

      Lesson Four:  Agents' slush piles are not the same as an editor's slush pile.

      Sometimes, if you're lucky, an editor might say, "This book isn't right for us, but I like your style. Feel free to send me anything else you write.

      There are no second chances with agents. Send your most polished pitch/manuscript because once an agent has rejected you, you can't pitch to them again. They have already formed their opinion as to whether you are "their kind of author."

      After a solid year of trying, I had a long list of agents who had decided I was not their kind of author.

      Lesson Five: Agents rarely sign clients from the slush pile.

      After re-reading Guide to Literary Agents, I learned the vast majority of agents will only read pitches/queries/manuscripts "recommended by a current client of the agent."  I had lots of friends with agents, who all generously recommended me to their agencies.

     I submitted my next novel to Joe Agent the hip-hop-happening Rock Star of children's agents, recommended by multiple friends who were clients.

He read the first three chapters, then called me.

     "This is great!" he enthused so loudly I had to hold the phone away from my ear.  "Send me the rest, tout suite!"

    I dropped the phone and dashed down to Fed Ex with the remaining 250 pages. Overnighting the manuscript to New York cost me forty dollars. But who cared? I was going to be in Joe Rock Star's world.

   A week later, Joe RS called me back. I trembled as I answered the phone.

  "I gotta tell you, I was really disappointed with the rest of the book," he said.

     I stopped trembling.  At the end of an hour, I learned I'm too literary, nobody likes historical fiction and he didn't care that my first two books were successful. So much for the Rock Star.

     I was afraid to the submit to the next friend-recommended agent. If Joe had been The Rock Star, Josephine Agent was a Multimedia Superstar/Agent. She represented adult best sellers, and Newbery winners.  Her books were optioned for movies. I sent my pitch.

    Another phone call. In a five minute monologue, this woman rattled off her credentials.  Another request for the book "And I mean I want it on my desk tomorrow."

   Another Forty bucks to Fed Ex.  Then I waited.  And waited. I tried to contact her. Email, snail mail.  I even tried calling her. Whoever answered her phone had never heard of me, or my book, and no, Josephine was too busy to talk to this person who said she sent a book.  I never heard word one from Josephine, her agency or any of their minions.

    Lesson Five:  All agents are not created equal.

    Anyone can say they are an agent. I had a friend who found an agent in an LA bar. The "agent" was really an unemployed actor with no publishing experience at all. Fairy tales can come true. My friend's book became a best-seller and was optioned for a movie (that was never made.)  If this guy had not been my husband's life-long friend, I would not have believed any of it.  Until I saw the book on the New York Times bestsellers. I would say the whole thing never happened.

    Another friend mentioned her agent. After so much querying, I knew who was who at the agencies.  Her agent was unfamiliar to me.  My friend couldn't tell me what writers she represented or how many books she had sold.

    I looked up Unfamiliar Agent on the website Predators & Editors which used to call out the fakes, frauds and phonies in the publishing world. (Alas, this site is no longer operational, for lack of some to maintain the site. Please, someone, volunteer!) Sure enough, my friend's "agent" was on the Predator's list.  It gave her address as someplace like Pocatello, Idaho. Anyone with a cell phone can work anywhere, but most successful agents live near a major publishing center--NYC, LA, Boston.

    The coup de grace came when my friend told me she had been with this "agent" for five years, with nary a sale to show for it. Or even rejection letters. Just the "word" of this person that books had been submitted and rejected.

    Um...thanks but no thanks.

     Lesson Six:  Don't "marry" the first agent who asks you.

     You wouldn't marry the first person who asks you on a date. OK, maybe you did, but you didn't do it after the first date, right? And you asked questions, lots of questions before you said yes? You did, didn't you?

     An agent is your literary spouse. You're making a commitment "till death do you part." Or you decide, for whatever reason, this relationship just isn't working out. However, just like marriage, dissolving the partnership does not erase the past. Your ex-agent will continue to collect 15% of the royalties for the books he represented. The thrill is gone, but agent's payments are forever.

     Lesson Seven:  Agents work for you, not the other way around.

     Some of my friends go through agents like Kleenex. These authors didn't ask the right questions beforehand. Your agent should be compatible with your work style and expectations.  Here are some questions to consider.

     Will the agent represent a book he doesn't personally like?  The answer is usually no; it's hard to sell something you aren't totally sold on yourself. At this point, your agent has become another layer of possible rejection before an editor even sees the book.

     Does the agent help with revisions, or do they simply send out the book as received?

     How many clients do they handle and who are they? (There is no such thing as "literary confidentiality.) What books have they sold recently?

    How many times will your book be submitted, before the agent decides it's unsellable?
Some authors are unpleasantly surprised when their agent submits to three "big box publishers" and considers the job done. Why? Because smaller publishers offer smaller advances, which means a smaller 15% for the agent. It's not worth their time.

    Do you like and trust this person?  It's tough being "married" to someone you don't even like. And you would sure want to trust someone who is handling your money.

    Lesson Eight:  Don't give up hope.

    If you really, really want an agent (and I do) don't give up the hunt. I did, temporarily, but I'm ready to get back in the game. My WIP will be finished sometime next year.  There just has to an agent somewhere who loves historical fiction, and wouldn't mind representing picture book texts, no illustrations. As the Michael Buble song goes, "I just haven't met you yet."

And when I do, you will be the first to know.

Don't forget to sign up for our our current book giveaway for a copy of the latest CWIM.

Posted by Mary Ann Rodman