I've know Sue Shippam for several years now. I first met her when she attended one of my writing workshops. Since then she joined my monthly writing group, and I have provided manuscript critiquing and mentoring on various projects. Sue is incredibly disciplined - finishing more projects than most people I know. She is a passionate writer, and is clearly driven to write every day, regardless of what is going on in her life.

For this post I interviewed Sue, who decided to self-publish an e-book version of her novel, Spaced Out. This is the first in a series, and I can highly recommend it for middle graders. She writes fluently and creates fun characters, producing an action-packed space-themed thriller. You can buy the book on Amazon here.

What made you want to write children's books in the first place?

I don’t think I ever grew up. I love reading about animals that can talk and children having scary adventures even now. It’s a great away of escaping the stresses and strains of my adult life. I still get a thrill out of the little things in life like ladybirds and baby bunnies (see my website www.minilops.co.uk) and am renowned for putting my hand up when a zoo keeper wants an assistant - much to the embarrassment of my children.

Can you tell me about what inspired you to write this book, and the series?

I was driving with my husband through the countryside in the early evening and the light was casting strange shadows in the woods. It was then I heard a boy’s voice in my head (Yes, I am bonkers!) and saw the beam drop down from the UFO. Nathan was born and we flew off from there. Once I was on the band wagon the ideas kept coming and as I’ve always fascinated by the paranormal, the world was my oyster. My second book Spooked Out! and third book Driven Out! followed quickly after that.

How do you get in the mind of a 10-year-old boy?

Once I hear the character’s voice in my head I’m away. It’s as though I am inside of his/her head and looking out through their eyes. In many ways it’s like being possessed. I think about the characters all the time wherever I am and whatever I’m doing. Often it takes months or years before I know the characters well enough to put pen to paper. My first book is a case in point; Billy lived with me for over three years before I started to write his story. I understood him intimately and was so wrapped up in him that I was lost when I finished his story. I’d been with him throughout his father’s infidelity and his parent’s divorce and I missed him dreadfully.

What made you decide to self-publish?

Sheer frustration! Spaced Out! was with Oxford University Press for over five months. Their editor had told me at the SCBWI Conference that she loved the way I wrote and I thought I was there – but my manuscript duly landed with a heavy thud on the mat with a covering letter, saying that their editors had read my manuscript (it was well thumbed) but they weren’t interested. I decided that if it could stay that long with a publisher then it stood a chance.

Spaced Out! had also been runner up in the Brit Writer’s Awards the year before and I had been invited to the awards ceremony. I’d also trialled the book at a local school and the children had loved it so I was confident in that there was a market for it.

Can you talk about the self-publication process?

When I was approached by the people running the Brit Writer’s Award offering a self publishing package for £99, I didn’t feel I had a lot to lose. So I spent days re-editing and re-editing and bullying my artistic daughter into creating the cover for Spaced Out! Then I submitted it to them and they did the rest. You can go here to see my cover and the opening chapters.

I know you have other books in the series. Are you planning to self-publish those, or to try for mainstream publication?

I would love to have Spaced Out! printed as a book. That’s my ultimate dream, but in the mean time I’m happy to build up an Amazon/Kindle fan base.

What tips do you have for someone else who is thinking about self-publishing their own ebook?

Get other people’s opinions. I was lucky enough to know a children’s author and he, along with the Head of English at my daughter’s school, read my first book and they were both very complimentary. Through this I was invited to join a writing group in Shoreham where we were expected to read our work out loud which I found incredibly difficult. The other writers were writing adult literature, so I didn’t feel at home.

Shortly after that I saw your ‘Writing and Illustrating a Children’s Book Worskshop’ advertised. Heart in mouth I attended and found I wasn’t alone and there were like-minded souls out there! Since then I haven’t looked back. I joined your critique group and have honed my skills from there.

It was a great help to get your one-on-one manuscript critique. Your comments were always well-thought-out and honest, and when you thought I could do better, you told me so but in a very supportive and constructive way.  You asked the right questions and left me to consider where my plot was going and why. Through your help my grammar and punctuation have also improved greatly.

The monthly writing group also provides a great support network and we all share our highs and lows. We’re excited for each other when things look rosy and understand how much rejections hurt, so can encourage each other to pick ourselves up, shake ourselves down and get back to work. This has been a great help to me.

It is also worth joining the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. The membership is expensive but they run some excellent conferences and regularly have Agent’s Parties where you can listen to what agents are looking for and have the opportunity to pitch your latest masterpiece.

The most important piece of advice is to keep writing. When I look back at some of my early drafts I shudder. No wonder an agent wasn’t interested. The more you write the better you get. It’s the old adage of ‘practise makes perfect.’

One MA Student’s View of the London Book Fair

The size of the London Book Fair Posters hanging over the equally vast entrance advertised its importance and reduced mine. What was I, a mostly-teacher, partly-student and ever aspiring writer doing here? Surely a thousand flashing lights and whirring sirens would go off as I passed through those wide, looming doors alerting security to my unimportance and inevitable lack of ability to contribute anything of value to the day’s events?

Luckily, I was not in an Austin Power’s movie and I managed to cross the magical threshold into Grown-Up Book World Undetected. Half an hour and a two- pound cup of tea later I had located the lovely Laura- whose wonderful blog is now saving me from the trauma of working out how to create my own – and we were going through other student’s and my own itineraries for the day. If you are reading this blog it probably comes as no surprise to you but I was delighted to learn that her specialism is children’s literature and thus I would have someone to hold my hand in at least some of the events. I was less delighted to learn that I was supposed to find some way to talk to a publisher (what talk to an actual, real life person that produces books, real books? Are you crazy?)  I put that task aside for the moment and enthusiastically made my way half-an hour early to locate ‘The World into words: Why Reading Non-Fiction is Vital for Children’. ..

The World into Words: Why Reading Non-Fiction is Vital for Children

I have never really given much consideration to non-fiction. I don’t write it and I usually have to bully myself into putting down Patrick Ness or Philip Reeve to read it. However, as a teacher, I am aware that there are others who feel the opposite; chiefly (though not exclusively), reluctant boy readers. Thus I bit the bullet and went along to this seminar to see what information I could extract to inspire both myself and the kids I teach.

The panel consisted of chair Jake Hope, reading development manager for Lancashire council and lively ladies Viv French and Nicola Davies; both writers of what neither would term ‘narrative non-fiction.’ Both their opening statements were passionate defences of their genre, which they felt strongly to be an area of children’s literature which was much misunderstood by publishers, teachers and the general public alike. They each had quibbles with the use of the term ‘non-fiction’ to define their work and were keen to point out that ‘stuff that is not fiction,’ and ‘fiction’ are both about sharing information and thus do not have as clearly demarcated a line between them as is usually presupposed.

With dramatic flourish, French argued that in the adult book world genres such as autobiography or travel writing are not pigeon-holed as purely ‘non-fiction’ and that the same open-mindedness and respect should be given to the children’s ‘stuff that is not fiction,’ market as well. She felt that the best books allowed children to interact, answered their questions but also stimulated a passion to know more, regardless of perceived genre. She argued that the desire to know more as a result of reading ‘stuff that is not fiction’ is an equally imaginative process as reading a straightforward story.

‘What she said,’ said Nicola Davies with a laugh. She emphasised similar points, describing the mode of ‘story’ as ‘a carrier bag for information.’ She argued that this could be emotional information, cultural or factual and that it was the process of reeling out the ‘rope of information at the right pace and at the right tension’ which is important, regardless of the information type it contained.

The discussion heated up when the topic moved on to address children’s publishers’ attitudes to ‘stuff that is not fiction.’ Nicola Davies argued that many publishers’ refusal to be flexible about genre had led to what she described as ‘tile-grouting’ books. She defined such books as ones which had lots of jazzy pictures- the ‘bricks’- and then words slapped onto the page as ‘grouting,’ without enough attention paid to the overall structure. She felt that this was catastrophic, especially as these are the sorts of books given to reluctant readers. She didn’t feel that this type of book was capable of being engaging or inspiring and at worst, might have the opposite effect.

This comment set fire to a cacophony of surprisingly fierce (at least to a non-fiction virgin like myself) debate. Nicola was interrupted by an audience member and non-fiction writer who attempted to defend ‘so called tile-grouting books,’ and the level of work that goes into them. She revealed that non-fiction writers are often suffering from poor pay, tight deadlines and consequently overwork. Viv French responded that this was precisely part of the problem. She blamed the publishers’ lack of ability to recognise the skill involved in non-fiction writing for children. She suggested that such writers needed to be paid better and be given more time to enable them to complete their texts to a higher standard. The need to raise the profile of children’s ‘stuff that is not fiction,’ texts through better marketing and reviewing was also discussed and reference was made to its already superior status in both Australia and the States.

Teachers were next in the firing-line as Nicola talked about multiple visits to schools were teachers had often confessed to her that they were ‘not much of a reader’ and were subsequently not able to identify quality texts. This prompted a comment from a teaching member of the audience who felt that she was a reader but she did not feel that she had enough broad knowledge to understand which texts might be suitable for the variety of reading levels she came across in her class. She also felt that she was hampered by a lack of resources. This is a viewpoint I can empathise greatly with as, even as a writer and avid reader of children’ fiction, when I first started teaching my Year 5 class I often chose texts which I loved and therefore felt the children would. Often, in reality, they actually turned out to be too hard for portions of the class. Even when I chose texts which were the right level it was not always successful. I have tried and failed, more than one, to get my high ability kids to appreciate Alan Garner’s The Weirdstone of Brisingham, but they just find the pace too slow and the language too old fashioned. Luckily, I had a literary deputy head who eventually bought in reams of books and ‘Book Power,’ a scheme of work in which the basis is the choice of inspiring and level appropriate texts. But what do teachers do if this is not the case? The authors empathised with this viewpoint and suggested that the solution was to advocate better training at PGCE level as well as developing links with local libraries to aid in resourcing.

This led onto another hot debate about the importance of libraries and the need to keep libraries open. The massive variation of library services between local councils was discussed, though the reasons for this and precise solutions remained unclear. However, it was generally agreed upon that if you worked or lived in Redbridge you were lucky and if you wanted your children to be a reader then you’d better move out of Barking and Dagenham post-haste!

As the seminar drew to an end I felt increasingly that I had stumbled into a tiny sauna of controversy. The field of children’s writing which is ‘stuff that is not-fiction,’ seemed to me to be one which is ripe in debate and has multiple implications for other areas too. Whilst I am in a position to agree with the author’s arguments regarding teacher training, not being a ‘stuff that is not fiction,’ expert, I would have to undertake more research before I could critically comment upon both author’s strong opinions concerning the structure of ‘stuff that is non-fiction,’ and it’s publishers. Nevertheless, the fact that it is an area of heated debate which as a reader, writer, teacher and student of children’s fiction, I have never come across before, suggests that they probably do have a case to make. If I don’t know about it then how likely is it that the general population do? And if readers, writers, teachers and students are not aware of this as an issue, how on earth are children supposed to get access to genuine, quality ‘stuff that is not fiction’ texts?

I don't know if non-SCBWI members can access the SCBWI Bulletin (their publication). But hopefully you can through this link.

I was happy to read an article focusing on diversity (or the lack of diversity) in terms of who is writing children's books and getting published in the US, but also SCBWI's intention to increase their efforts to attract more diversity in terms of their members. In the article, Suzanne Morgan Williams sites the CCBC annual statistics showing how many books have been published by, and about, people of color. According to the CCBC, 95% of books published in the United States in 2010 were written by white authors, while 91% were about white main characters. The SCBWI article compares this to census figures that show that almost 40% of people in the US are from ethnic minority backgrounds - so there is a clear mis-match. American president of SCBWI, Stephen Mooser, is quoted as saying, "SCBWI is dedicated to being an important advocate not just for diversity in books for children but of diversity in those who aspire to write for young audiences.”

Suzanne Morgan Williams states that she has been carrying out interviews with colleagues from diverse backgrounds to get their input on this issue. She writes,

So far, the responses are as different as the people answering them. But there are some common themes. 1) They were avid readers as children. 2) They want to write what they want, without being restricted by their race or ethnicity, although many choose to write about their own backgrounds. 3) They have concerns about the publishers needing to make profits to stay in business, and yet they see this as limiting the viability of books that aren’t about white kids. 4) Some feel that when books about nonwhites are published, they may not get the exposure that other books do.

These answers resonate with much of what was said at a recent round-table discussion I ran (along with Pop Up and the Runnymede Trust) with a group of diverse published authors and artists in the UK. I will be further working through what was said at this gathering, as well as interviews I've carried out with authors in the US, the UK, and Canada - in preparing for my presentation at the Race and Publishing Conference to take place in Aix-en-Provence, France at the end of March.

But back to the SCBWI Bulletin. At the end, the author asks members to email their thoughts on the following questions: "Do you have ideas about what else the SCBWI could do? Do you have thoughts on diversity in publishing? About multicultural writing and illustrating?"

I hope members will contribute, from the US and beyond. Here's the letter I just emailed:

Dear Stephen,

I was very happy to see Suzanna Morgan Williams' article about diversity in the latest SCBWI Bulletin. This is such an important issue, and one that I've spent quite a lot of time considering as well. I worked at Children's Book Press as an assistant production editor for four years, and was an editor at Lee & Low Books for two. Since then I've moved to England and become involved on the academic side, continuing to focus on issues of publishing and diversity. This led me to write and publish my article, "White Privilege and Children's Publishing" (which you can read on the Write4Children journal, published by the University of Winchester).

I've given suggestions to publishers in the past about finding and developing more authors of color, based on my own experiences as an editor. This is a list I made of what I had done in the past for a blog interview carried out by author Zetta Elliott:

·      seek out published authors for adults (fiction and non-fiction) who I thought could write for young readers;

·      contact editors of anthologies (especially those featuring diverse authors, or, for instance, Native American stories) and ask for suggestions of new talent;

·      post on listservs and bulletin boards for writing groups featuring authors of color – sometimes saying I was looking for something in particular (such as contemporary Native American or Filipino American stories – anywhere I saw a hole in the market)

·      contact journalists who wrote in relevant areas to see if they had considered writing for young people

·      talk to curators from museums representing diverse communities to have them tell me about artists or concepts that might work for children’s books

These days, you could post on blogs saying you are actively seeking diverse new authors and illustrators and the word would certainly spread.  I get frustrated when I hear editors say they would love to publish more diverse authors if their stories would only come across their desks.  Getting through all the steps it takes to get published is a huge obstacle, so this really needs intentional efforts from editors.

I'd be happy to contribute to a discussion on this topic with SCBWI. I'm an American living in England, and am equally committed to looking at this in both countries.

As far as what SCBWI could do, I think there are few things (off the top of my head):

Make sure to feature authors and illustrators of color at SCBWI events, conferences and lectures. This sends the message that SCBWI is inclusive and committed to featuring people from all different backgrounds.

Create a scholarship (if there isn't one already) aimed at aspiring authors and illustrators of color. Perhaps this could be combined with youth or students, in an effort to try to find and develop young talented people from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Do active outreach to attract members from diverse communities. This is how I approached soliciting submissions for the New Voices Award when I was at Lee & Low. In fact, if Lee & Low have some mailing list from the New Voices award, that would be a perfect place to promote SCBWI, and perhaps to advertise a certain number of free places, or scholarships to aspiring authors/illustrators.

Get members who are based in more diverse communities to promote the work of SCBWI. New York is the center of publishing, and also an enormously diverse city. Get authors (such as Zetta Elliott) to become involved in this initiative. She is passionate about increasing diversity in children's books (read her moving blog post, "Something like an open letter to the children's publishing industry" to see some of her thoughts on this issue). If you involve people of color at the heart of your efforts, as leaders in shaping a program, you are more likely to create something effective and really inclusive.

You can also develop mentoring programs, or ask published authors/illustrators if they are willing to donate their time to mentor new and developing authors and artists of color. If you highlight that as something that SCBWI is developing, and send out press releases and try to get coverage (especially in news sources that might be most likely to reach more diverse readers), then it would both benefit the profile of SCBWI as an organisation, and also show that this was part of your intent.

That's what I can think of at the moment, but I'd be happy to contribute further if you would like. And I really wish you the best of luck in these important efforts.

Does anyone have other ideas? On either side of the pond?

Illustration by Polly Noakes

It's always gratifying when clients are inspired by my feedback. I was delighted after critiquing a picture book manuscript by published illustrator Polly Noakes to get this quick email reply from her:

"This is fantastic, just what I wanted and needed. I have had a quick look and will look again properly tomorrow but just wanted to let you know how pleased I am with your suggestions, insights and general comments. Brilliant!"

On February 16th, Sara Grant gave an excellent presentation on revision at Roehampton University, where I work part-time as a Senior Lecturer. Sara (above left, in the red sweater/cardigan) spoke in detail about how she approaches the revision process. An experienced editor and now author of YA fiction, she was accessible, friendly and full of useful tips.

Astrid Holm (above right, holding the book) is a friend and client - represented by AM Heath, she's written a fantastic historical novel - Chaucer meet Hollyoaks - which was short-listed for the Chicken House Award. She attended the workshop and has written the following blog post describing Sara's talk. Afterwards, Sara, Astrid and I (in the back of the photo, short brown hair) jumped in my car and bumbled our way to Jasmine Richards' double book launch. Jasmine, sporting the fetching pirate shirt, is the author of two news books written under pen names: Oliver Twisted and Book of Wonders. Pick them up if you can!

Here is Astrid's post - and thanks very much to Astrid for writing it up.

Sara is a bit of an expert on editing, having worked for Working Partners for many years editing their children’s book series, as well as being on the other side of the editing process. Her YA dystopian book Dark Parties was released in the UK earlier this year and she is editing her second book now. We gathered at Roehampton University, where senior creative writing lecturer Laura Atkins had organised the talk.

The first piece of vital advice Sara had was to get on and finish a first draft before doing any editing. Then you have your ‘rough clay,’ as she put it. She remembered how, when she first started writing, she would spend time re-editing the chapters she had written the previous day before getting down to writing fresh stuff. Sara soon realised this was taking all her creative energy, spending time going over material that might well get cut or drastically changed in the second draft.

Sara also advised us to write a synopsis and an ‘elevator pitch’ before editing, to find out where the heart, or the main message of the book is. (I would highly recommend buying Nicola Morgan’s ebook Write a Great Synopsis for this. It certainly helped me to get to the main themes of my work) By focusing on the purpose of the book, Sara explained you were less likely to go off down creative cul-de-sacs.

The beginning of the book is vital, (as I’m sure you all know). In the first thirty pages or so, the reader needs to know the who, what, why and when of the story. The how is what then makes up the bulk of the book. When editing, look at the ending too. Have you actually answered satisfactorily all the questions and conflicts raised at the beginning?

Sara admitted that she loves charts and lists and generously shared with us her process of going through her manuscript with a highlighter pen, and lots of post it notes (where would we all be without those!) focusing on different aspects on each pass. This helps her to see where there are imbalances in:

Exposition

Emotion

Setting

Action

Dialogue

Flashbacks/Background

Sara then goes through her story focussing on each main character, making sure they have the right amount of attention. What is their purpose in the story, their unique character traits? Do you learn enough about them to make the reader care what happens to them in the action? She said she had a tendency to make her sidekick characters more interesting and quirky than the main one, so this helped with getting this balance right. She checks each character’s

Presence in the story

Dialogue

Description

Emotional Arc

Necessity

Sara also checks each character's dialogue. Is it believable? Does it ramble on too long? She then checks where the action is happening. Much of Dark Parties was happening in the main character’s bedroom, so Sara used this as an opportunity to change the locations and show the reader more of her dystopian world.

Where a chapter ends is important too and chapter lengths can be varied to create different effects in the book. Sara also advised to keep an eye on timelines. E.g. one chapter is over the course of a day, and the next one spans a couple of months. Not that there is anything wrong with that, she pointed out, so long as you are conscious of the effect you want to create in your story.

Phew! We were all very impressed by Sara’s dedication to editing and her expertise on the subject. The Roehampton students commented that they were surprised at the amount of work a story needs to get it up to publishable standard and were keen to go away and try some of her editing techniques with their own work.

Thanks Sara for such an interesting talk.

Here's Andy's write-up:

It was a packed room above the Theodore Bullfrog Pub in London, and firstly I must thank the couple that left a seat free near the front so I could quietly slip in late and mainly un-noticed. Secondly I must apologise, as these notes are anything but comprehensive and focus almost entirely on teenage fiction. The headlines, then, are as follows:

Books for teenagers/young adults are huge. Hunger Games is now, Barry reports, the biggest book in the US, as well as shifting enormous amounts online. Crossover sales also play a major part in this, with an accelerated pace in the children to adult market.

However, the current book market is generally “unstable”, Lauren warns us, especially for new authors.

There are no trends or genres that aren’t currently being accepted. Supernatural and dystopian books are still selling strongly. Traditional fantasy (Lauren), more literary works (Ruth), war and historical fiction (Barry) are all popular, and across all age ranges, humour is a winning ingredient.

“The voice” is key. From picture books to crossover pieces it’s the voice that excites these editors. After that, a great premise that’s easily conveyed will help get your books noticed, but the voice is paramount.

Covering letters can also be extremely important - but more so the pitch contained.

Publicity departments love blogs and bloggers. Getting your work noticed on teen blogs is especially good.

A few eBooks and Apps are being made by picture book publishers but it’s very much a “wait and see” approach by all involved.

A graphic format for older children, mixing pictures and words, is something Barry would very much like to see. It could fall somewhere perhaps between Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Hugo Cabret. Could it be digital? While graphic novels remain a small market in the UK.

And then the panel ended and we descended on publishers like pigeons on a bread bag in Trafalgar Square.

I'm going to be the speaker at the Lewes Children's Book Group's AGM gathering. The topic of my talk is, "What's the Story? Issues around diversity and publishing in the UK." This will start at 7:30 pm, and will take place at the Lewes Public Library (near Brighton). It is free of charge, and all are welcome. Please do come by and say hello if you are in the local area. You can also support this important organisation which aims to promote the reading and enjoyment of children's books (as is a member of the Federation of Children's Book Groups).

I've just posted my December newsletter - with news and updates, along with gift vouchers for manuscript critiques and mentors. I hope everyone has a great festive season!

You can read the newsletter here.