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Illustrator Hazel Mitchel signed a contract to be represented by Literary Agent, Ginger Knowlton of Curtis Brown Ltd., New York City
Illustrator Michelle Kogan has Two Paintings on Exhibit at the United States Botanic Garden, DC through November 2014. They are Wildlife Comes to Lake Shore Drive and Rogers Park Dunes Restoration and Piping Plover, watercolor and watercolor pencil.
Amalia Hoffman won the 21st century Children’s Nonfiction Conference Illustration Award in June.
If you sent me a success story and I didn’t put it up, please send it again to me. The last month has been extremely busy and I feel like I missed someone.
Remember, Agent Jenny Bent is doing four of our first page critiques this month. Below are the guidelines:
Here are the submission guidelines for submitting a First Page in July:
Please “July First Page Critique” in the subject line. Please make sure you include your name, the title of the piece, and whether it is as picture book, middle grade, or young adult, etc. at the top.
Please attach your first page submission using one inch margins and 12 point font – double spaced, no more than 23 lines to an e-mail and send it to: kathy(dot)temean(at)gmail(dot)com. Also cut and paste it into the body of the e-mail and then also attach it in a Word document to the email.
DEADLINE: July 24th.
RESULTS: August 1st.
Use inch margins – double space your text – 12 pt. New Times Roman font – no more than 23 lines – paste into body of the email
You can only send in one first page each month. It can be the same first page each month or a different one, but if you sent it to me last month and it didn’t get chosen, you need to send it again using the July’s directions. Of course, it doesn’t have to be the same submission.
I absolutely love Doris’ illustration!!! Congratulations to everyone on their accomplishments.
Lynnor Bontigao said, on 7/11/2014 9:03:00 AM
I LOVE Doris’s watercolor artworks! It was such a humbling and learning experience to see her do a demo at the NJ SCBWI conference. She was so mild-mannered and very relaxing to talk to. So wonderful.
I’d like to thank Anna Olswanger from Liza Dawson Associates for sharing her time and expertise with us this month. Your first page is the first thing anyone sees of your story, so the more we can hone the beginning, the better off we will be in writing a successful book. I know we can all learn from these sessions. Even if it is not your first page, you can make note of the thoughts of an editor or agent after they have critiqued the page.
Here are the four first pages picked this month and Anna’s thoughts:
Hope Grietzer The Carousel Keeper Middle Grade Novel
A parade of green swells rose and sank in the murky water beneath the boat. The deck of the ferry dipped again, and for a moment Sadie felt weightless.
“Just ten more minutes,” she thought, gripping the rail as the ferry climbed the crest of the next swell. A gusty wind tugged at her baseball cap like a passing pickpocket, and Sadie’s hand flew up to protect her cap. She squeezed her eyes shut.
“Bit choppy today,” a voice said.
The steward approached, the ends of his white jacket flapping in the breeze like seagull
wings. Red hair hugged his head, and his ears stuck out like pot handles.
“Anything I can do for you, Miss?”
“Can you send me back to Ohio?” Sadie forced a small grin.
“I would, except I promised your uncle I’d deliver you to the island safe and sound.” He
glanced around the crowded ferry. “Follow me.”
Sadie eased away from the rail. The mischievous deck sank before her sneaker could reach it, and then rose so that her foot smacked it hard.
“Feels like I’m walking on the moon,” she thought, hobbling after the steward.
The man paused and gestured toward a vacant seat. “The ride should be smoother here.”
A mother with a squirmy toddler shifted to make room as Sadie sank onto the bench. Across the aisle, a wiry man in a brown suit coat gave Sadie and the child a nervous glance and tugged his briefcase closer. Sadie gave him her best smile but he scowled back, his thick eyebrows drawing together like a blackbird’s wings.
Sadie wished her brother Jamie was here. He had a knack for making friends. But Sadie
traveled alone, sailing toward Summer Island while her parents flew to Brazil. They broke the
news to her last week.
HERE’S ANNA:
The Carousel Keeper
I would keep reading beyond the first page to find out what life will be like for Sadie on Summer Island. (Will she find a friend? Will she see the steward again? What is her uncle like?)
I do think some minor details are distracting: the image of red hair hugging the steward’s head, for example. What is the point of that detail, or of the detail of his ears sticking out? It feels as though the author may be trying to fill up space. The deck being “mischievous” feels like overwriting, and what is it like to walk on the moon? The reader has been experiencing the choppiness of the ride, so would walking on the moon be “choppy?”
Is there a significance to the bird imagery? The stewards’s white jacket flaps like seagull wings. The man in the brown suit has eyebrows that draw together like a blackbird’s wings. Make it clear if an image is part of a theme. Otherwise, the details seem arbitrary.
The hint of Jamie at the end is nice.
Annina Luck Wildermuth
Ned Bunting, Ghost Spotter & the Ghost with the Hooded Cloak Middle Grade (ages 8 – 12)
Ned was two hours into his watch, crouched behind the old elm at Walnut Hollow graveyard, when he spotted his first ghost of the night. Of course, he’d seen all kinds of ghosts the week before when he was still in training with his older brother Tom, but this was different. He was alone now.
As his luck would have it though, he could already see that this one was a poor excuse for a ghost. All its potentially distinguishing marks were obscured by a voluminous hooded cloak.
The horse it rode was equally undistinguished, poking its way among the graves, slow as molasses.
How am I supposed to identify this ghost? wondered Ned, starting to worry. As Walnut Hollow’s new ghost spotter, he was supposed to identify and log in all the ghosts who came through the town and make sure that they were obeying the local haunting laws.
He fumbled now to produce Ghosts of the Thirteen Colonies & Their Classification from inside his vest. Satisfied that the horse and rider were making slow progress at best, he thumbed the book’s worn pages, his lantern flickering beside him. Ghosts were portrayed in great detail with identifiable characteristics. There was General Whitelsby, the angry, old red-coat in his unmistakable British uniform and Abigail, the Quaker in her fancy white neck ruff. The mad horseman from Sleepy Hollow always carried his head under his arm. Ned’s eyes darted to the graveyard, and he groaned inwardly. Nothing.
And then the wind whipped up, blowing through the tree’s branches and whistling its way between the gravestones. It twirled around the ghost and lifted its cloak into the air to reveal a small, cross girl in the frilliest dress Ned had ever seen. She looked straight at him and wailed: “How am I ever going to accomplish my mission, now that I’ve been so rudely unmasked?”
HERE’s ANNA:
Ned Bunting, Ghost Spotter
This first page ends on a nice note of suspense, so I would want to read further, but the first sentence is too long and clunky. Try to clean it up, since that is an editor’s first impression of your manuscript.
It’s not clear why you have the detail that this ghost was a poor excuse. Tom is logging in ghosts and making sure they obey the local haunting laws, so his luck is not that this ghost is a poor excuse, but that it has no distinguishing marks.
The use of a book implies that this is a contemporary story. Is that what you intend, or is the story set in the past? If it’s set in the past, then shouldn’t the book be manuscript pages with handwritten notes?
When Ned’s eyes dart to the graveyard, he groans. If he’s groaning because he still can’t identity this ghost, then make it clear that he is looking at the ghost, not at the graveyard (in general) to eliminate any confusion.
The last paragraph is perfect.
Liliana Erasmus - Song Of The Sentinel - paranormal middle-grade.
What is father doing here? I told him to stay out of it. This isn’t his battle to fight. His glorious days of vigilance are over. Gone. It’s my turn now. Why doesn’t he get it? He is dead. I am not. And he knows I’m here, I can feel his light shifting closer. His presence. My lantern blows out.
“Go. Away,” I urge him in silence.
I don’t even turn around to look into his empty eyes, or at that ridiculous horse that carries him around, for what? To attract all the hungry creatures in the neighborhood and make my life more miserable than it already is? I have to keep position and here he comes, shimmering behind me like a lighthouse signaling, Look here! You see ‘m? Now suck his life out!
They’re coming. I’m not sure how many this time. Three? Four?
“Father, for God’s sake, leave! Let it be.”
Once again, he backs off, his light dimming and I know he’s further away, but never for long, never too far from danger… from me.
The September wind has fallen, the trees stand breathless, moonlit tombs lie in repose and I still get that paralyzing chill down my spine. The buzzing in my ears is getting louder, it’s growing until it becomes a constant whistle in my head, ticking me off. If I jump now, they’ll know what to do with me. I’m on my own. They are with one, five… eleven, damn! I have to wait for them to stick their tongues into the earth before making any sound. One of them is not sniffing the graves. It’s holding back for some reason, tilting its snout in the air, tail high and stiff, while that foul smell of decay reaches my nose, making me gag. I swallow the sourness without blinking. The furry carcass is staring right at me.
HERE’S ANNA:
Song of the Sentinel
I would probably keep reading this manuscript, but this page is confusing. Here are my concerns:
The narrator speaks in both vernacular and formal language: “stay out of it” and “doesn’t he get it” don’t work with “His glorious days of vigilance are over.”
It also doesn’t make sense for the narrator to say, “he knows I’m here” when it’s the narrator who can feel the father’s presence.
The phrase “my life more miserable than it already is” is vague. The reader needs a hint of what has been going on. Miserable in what way?
Who says “Look here! You see ‘m? Now suck his life out!’ The reader can’t tell.
Who says “They’re coming. I’m not sure how many this time. Three? Four?” Again, the reader can’t tell who is speaking.
What does it mean for tombs to “lie in repose?” It sounds as though the author is trying too hard here to be literary.
What does it mean that the narrator “still” gets that paralyzing chill down his or her spine? Has this happened in the past?
“Ticking me off” sounds too slangy, and too trite.
What does it means to swallow the sourness “without blinking?” What does sight have to do with taste in this instance?
I like the images in the last paragraph, and I especially like the suspenseful last sentence. I would continue reading, but the author should clear up all the confusion on this first page so that an editor will feel that the author is in control of her craft.
Meg Eastman Thompson, THE TRUTH ABOUT JUSTICE. MG/YA novel
Restless as a yellow-jacket at a barbecue, I bounded down the sidewalk to fetch the bread and milk for supper as Mother had ordered, heading for the Piggly Wiggly. I was lonely, missing Effie more than ever. Wondering where she and her family had hidden. Not wanting to believe they’d never come back.
When Missy and I had promised Effie we’d stand by each other no matter what, we’d taken our vows seriously. It hadn’t mattered back then that Effie was colored. We three were true friends. As I passed Liberty High and turned left toward the grocery store, there was not a friend in sight. Most everybody had been sent away, what with the coloreds asking to come to our school.
My next-door neighbor and sometime friend, Missy Pridemoor, and nearly everyone else, was having fun at church camp. I had begged to go, but Daddy insisted I was too old to be a camper. When I’d protested, he made it clear that, three years away from college, I was too young to make my own decisions. As usual Mother stuck by him.
When I was little, she’d always say, “Amelia Justice Queen, your Daddy knows what’s best for you.” But it was 1963 now and I was changing, along with everything else in our country. Even Mother was starting to speak up. When she told Daddy that camp was nothing but a non-stop revival meeting, it got me thinking. I didn’t need to be saved. Nor did I want to waste the end of my summer vacation listening to some preacher baying like an auctioneer. I stopped complaining. At fifteen, going on sixteen, I was smart enough to pick my battles.
Besides, I wanted to enjoy my last days of freedom. I skipped along. Released from their impossible overprotectiveness, which had only grown worse since stopping integration was once again on the school board agenda, I was determined to make the best of my trip to the store.
The Piggly Wiggly’s deep freeze was heavenly. I lingered by the ice cream treats.
HERE’S ANNA:
The Truth About Justice
Although I think this manuscript has potential because of the voice and content, I found the first page so full of exposition (and some of it confusing), that I don’t think I’d continue reading. Look at the first sentence and how long it is—the first page feels a bit like this (stuffed with information).
I don’t understand who the narrator is and what she wants: In the first paragraph, she is lonely for Effie; in the second paragraph, she seems to be missing her friends in general; in the third paragraph, she wants to go to camp; in the fourth paragraph, she decides she doesn’t want to go camp; and in the fifth paragraph, she seems just to want to enjoy her freedom. All of these motivations feel like too much for one page. The narrator has to have one overriding motivation that will take her (and the reader) through that first page—and on through the book.
It’s also confusing that in the third paragraph, the mother sticks by the father, but in the next paragraph she tells the father that the camp is nothing but a non-stop revival meeting.
And, finally, a fifteen-year-old protagonist is a bit too old for a novel that has the feel, at least in this opening page, of a middle grade novel (the narrator skips). If the author could lower the age and focus the narrator’s motivation, she should have a first page that an agent or editor would want to keep reading.
Thank you everyone for participating. Happy revising.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading these first pages, as always And hearing the opinions of a professional in the business is ALways so helpful. I’m not one to read ghost stories, so I don’t know how original “ghost spotting” is, but it was definitely original to me! Great premise, I thought
And I LOVE that illustration, Kathy
maggielyonswriter said, on 6/28/2013 7:22:00 AM
Very informative critiques. Thanks so much Anna and Kathy.
Carol Federlin Baldwin said, on 6/28/2013 7:50:00 AM
Enjoyed reading these first pages and Anna’s insightful comments. Thanks to all who participated.
Liliana said, on 6/29/2013 6:02:00 AM
Thank you for the critique, Anna. So grateful for the advice you’ve given. Who knows, – I didn’t even consider it – maybe there is a story to be explored here. But first, I have some clearing up to do
To all participants: it was a pleasure meeting your characters and reading these unique openings. Write on!
And Kathy, thank you for offering us so many opportunities to grow and find our way <3
Hope Grietzer said, on 7/1/2013 8:43:00 AM
Thank you so much for the critique, Anna. Wonderful advice on firming up my first page!
And thanks to Kathy for making this opportunity possible. I enjoyed reading all of the participant’s creative entries.
This fun June illustration was sent in by Dow Phumiruk is a pediatrician who has found her passion in children’s book illustration. Most of her work is digital, and she enjoys using a bright, colorful palette. She joined SCBWI in 2011 and is looking forward to her first national conference in LA this summer. Here is a link to see more of her art: www.artbydow.blogspot.com.
Looking for an agent critique? You might be interested in this critique auction:
Literary agent Anna Olswanger has donated a critique for an online auction by The Born Free Foundation (an international wildlife charity that works throughout the world to stop individual wild animal suffering).
You can submit up to 10 pages of a manuscript for a 10-minute phone consultation. It’s a great chance to get feedback from a professional.
For those of you who don’t know Anna, she has been an agent with Liza Dawson Associates in New York for eight years and has sold to Bloomsbury, Chronicle, HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin, Penguin, Random House, and Simon & Schuster, among other publishers. She is also this month’s Guest Critiquer for Free Fall Friday. Stop back tomorrow and see what Anna has to say about the first pages that were chosen this month.
Do you have a book coming out and would like to have it reviewed. Here is an opportunity for you:
In the July issue of Parenting: School Years, Carol Bower Cohen reviewed nine children’s books for summer 2013. She says, “The experience was both exhausting and exhilarating. Although exhausting, it is something I’d like to do again, so if any NJSCBWI writers have a book coming out that they would like it reviewed, they can contact me at my new blog, www.bookgirlblogger.blogspot.com.
Even if I am not working on a freelance review for a print magazine at the time an author contacts me, I can review it on my blog. A link to my blog was placed in my author bio that ran with the review, so my blog is getting more exposure.” You can read about it here.
Would you like to win an new book to read? I have won a few books by entering similar contests.
• [for educators & librarians] Send me a photo of you and your class or reading/book group with any of my books and a description of how you used it with them.
Are you an illustrator and use Photoshop and a Wacom Tablet? If so, You might be interested in this:
About the Contest
It’s quite a challenge bringing your creativity to reality. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible, especially when using Photoshop and a Wacom tablet to expand the creative possibilities of your work.
Here’s your chance to share one of your incredible makeovers for an opportunity to win some cool prizes, as well as see your work featured in an upcoming issue of Photoshop User magazine.
Simply submit a before and after image of your greatest hit and tell us how Photoshop and a Wacom tablet helped you transform your creative vision into a real-life masterpiece.
Contest Timeline
Contest Open: June 15, 2012
Contest Deadline: July 31, 2012 Public Voting:
June 15 – August 3, 2012 Winners Revealed: August 10, 2012
Click here to see all of our Incredible Makeover Contest winners.
People’s Choice Award
While a panel of NAPP and Wacom officials will decide the grand prize winner, the contest will include the bestowing of a special People’s Choice Award. The general public will have a chance to view and rate all entries. Once all votes are calculated, the image with the most votes and highest rating will be crowned the People’s Choice Award winner.
It’s easy to spread the word and get votes. Simply share your art with others and collect as many votes as you can.
Email it. Your email address book should be the first place you go to find your closest friends and family. Shoot them an email with a link to the voting page and ask them to rate your artwork and help spread the word.
Facebook it. Create an event on Facebook about your contest entry and invite all your friends. Keep the event open for anyone to attend so your friends can invite more friends to vote. And don’t forget to click the Facebook icon within the Share tab so you can remind your friends to vote from your Live News Feed.
Tweet it. Tweet a link to your entry in our contest every single day. It will remind those who are following you on Twitter to vote for your entry. You can add a link to your entry by clicking on the Twitter icon within the Share tab.
Blog it. Do you have your own blog? If so, be sure to post about your entry to let others know what it’s all about and what your motivations are. Share the link to make sure all your readers help you rack up the votes.
Great post! Lots of good info here! Thanks a bunch Kathy!
:Donna Marie said, on 6/27/2013 7:54:00 AM
Wow, Kathy! This is quite the “Melting Pot” of blog posts! A beautiful illustration by Dow, a great opportunity for an agent critique, giveaways and a contest! You are one busy woman! Thanks!
Dow Ng said, on 6/27/2013 8:21:00 AM
Thank you for enjoying my summer illustration, Donna Marie!
:Donna Marie said, on 6/27/2013 8:35:00 AM
Dow, I LOVE the ladybugs and your use of color
:Donna Marie said, on 6/28/2013 6:06:00 AM
Christine, I just checked out your blog and came across one of the best, most moving speeches I’ve ever heard, given by David McCullough Jr. This man so eloquently expressed something I (and I’m sure, others) have felt and believed most of my life. How wonderful! Thank you for posting it on your blog
Christine Brower-Cohen said, on 6/28/2013 11:15:00 AM
Thank you!!
Tracy Campbell said, on 6/28/2013 4:33:00 PM
Dow’s art is delightful.
Kathy, thank you for all this great info.
CALL FOR ILLUSTRATIONS: Please remember to send in your illustrations for June. It is a great way to get seen and keep your name out there to get noticed. Send to Kathy.temean(at)gmail.com. Please submit .jpgs at least 500 pixels wide.
Anna Olswanger has agreed to be our Guest Critiquer for June’s First Page. For those who like the picture prompt, you will find it at the bottom of this post.
Anna Olswanger is a literary agent with Liza Dawson Associates in New York. Anna has been a literary agent since 2005 and has sold to Boyds Mills Press, Marshall Cavendish, Dutton, HarperCollins, McElderry, Pomegranate, and Random House Children’s Books, among other publishers. Specializing in: middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction, some adult fiction and nonfiction, children’s illustrated books, and Judaica.
Anna is particularly interested in working with author-illustrators.Anna enjoys discovering new authors and illustrators. She is looking for “voice,” the sound and rhythm of an author that could be no one else’s, and has a special interest in children’s picture books (author-illustrators only), adult nonfiction, Judaica, animal stories, and ghost stories. Contact her at [email protected].
In addition to being an agent, she is the author of the picture book Shlemiel Crooks, a Sydney Taylor Honor Book and a Koret International Jewish Book Award Finalist.
You may have attended some of her workshops, like Why Was My Manuscript Rejected? 3 Agents, 3 Opinions, with two other agents (see www.3LiteraryAgents.com). Writers in the Northeast may also know Anna, because she coorinated the Jewish Children’s Book Writers’ Conference at the 92nd Street Y for many years. In addition, she founded the website http://www.Host-a-Jewish-Book-Author.com
I only accept email queries (no snail mail queries, please.)
Please insert (cut and paste) the first five pages of your manuscript into the body of your email. (I’m leery of opening attachments from addresses I don’t know.)
WRITERS Sending in a First Page:Please attach your double spaced, 12 point font, 23 line first page to an e-mail and send it to kathy(dot)temean(at)gmail(dot)com. Also cut and paste it into the body of the e-mail. Put “June First Page Critique” or “June First Page Picture Prompt Critique” in the subject line. Make sure you have your name on the submission, a title, and indicate the genre.
SUBMISSIONDEADLINE: JUNE 17th.
The four chosen and their critiques will be posted onJune 28th.
CALL FOR ILLUSTRATIONS: Please remember to send in your illustrations for June. It is a great way to get seen and keep your name out there to get noticed.
Anna Olswanger has agreed to be our Guest Critiquer for June’s First Page. Deadline will be June 18th, so I wanted to give you an early heads up. For those who like the picture prompt, you will find it at the bottom of this post.
Anna Olswanger is a literary agent with Liza Dawson Associates in New York. Anna has been a literary agent since 2005 and has sold to Boyds Mills Press, Marshall Cavendish, Dutton, HarperCollins, McElderry, Pomegranate, and Random House Children’s Books, among other publishers. Specializing in: middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction, some adult fiction and nonfiction, children’s illustrated books, and Judaica.
Anna is particularly interested in working with author-illustrators.Anna enjoys discovering new authors and illustrators. She is looking for “voice,” the sound and rhythm of an author that could be no one else’s, and has a special interest in children’s picture books (author-illustrators only), adult nonfiction, Judaica, animal stories, and ghost stories. Contact her at [email protected].
In addition to being an agent, she is the author of the picture book Shlemiel Crooks, a Sydney Taylor Honor Book and a Koret International Jewish Book Award Finalist.
You may have attended some of her workshops, like Why Was My Manuscript Rejected? 3 Agents, 3 Opinions, with two other agents (see www.3LiteraryAgents.com). Writers in the Northeast may also know Anna, because she coorinated the Jewish Children’s Book Writers’ Conference at the 92nd Street Y for many years. In addition, she founded the website http://www.Host-a-Jewish-Book-Author.com
I only accept email queries (no snail mail queries, please.)
Please insert (cut and paste) the first five pages of your manuscript into the body of your email. (I’m leery of opening attachments from addresses I don’t know.)
WRITERS Sending in a First Page:Please attach your double spaced, 12 point font, 23 line first page to an e-mail and send it to kathy(dot)temean(at)gmail(dot)com. Also cut and paste it into the body of the e-mail. Put “June First Page Critique” or “June First Page Picture Prompt Critique” in the subject line. Make sure you have your name on the submission, a title, and indicate the genre.
SUBMISSIONDEADLINE: JUNE 17th .
The four chosen and their critiques will be posted onJune 28th.
Wow, Kathy, I not only missed the conference, but have been missing so much on your blog lately! I’m reaching the end of my major house-cleaning and organizing (now in my 9th straight week!) and am allowing myself to browse through some recently missed blogs and posts. These illustrations are great! I’m tempted to write a first page, but I don’t think I’ll have time over the next week. We’ll see! I hope so and I hope Anna gets some good pages to read Since she’s interested in ghost stories, you certainly picked a great prompt illustration!
Tracy Campbell said, on 6/12/2013 7:06:00 PM
Hi Kathy,
I always enjoy reading “Free Fall Fridays”.
John and Maria’s illustrations are super.
Tracy
Anna Olswanger has agreed to be our Guest Critiquer for June’s First Page. Deadline will be June 18th, so I wanted to give you an early heads up. For those who like the picture prompt, you will find it at the bottom of this post.
Anna Olswanger is a literary agent with Liza Dawson Associates in New York. Anna has been a literary agent since 2005 and has sold to Boyds Mills Press, Marshall Cavendish, Dutton, HarperCollins, McElderry, Pomegranate, and Random House Children’s Books, among other publishers. Specializing in: middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction, some adult fiction and nonfiction, children’s illustrated books, and Judaica.
Anna is particularly interested in working with author-illustrators.Anna enjoys discovering new authors and illustrators. She is looking for “voice,” the sound and rhythm of an author that could be no one else’s, and has a special interest in children’s picture books (author-illustrators only), adult nonfiction, Judaica, animal stories, and ghost stories. Contact her at [email protected].
Ms. Olswanger has a background in editing and has worked with the author Mary Ann Schaffer on the adult novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, which became an international bestseller.
She represents Jim Carroll’s THE BOY AND THE MOON (Sleeping Bear Press), Nell Dickerson’s GONE (BelleBooks), Luli Gray’s ANT & GRASSHOPPER (McElderry), Michael Hall’s MY HEART IS LIKE A ZOO and PERFECT SQUARE (Greenwillow), Zack Miller’s TRADESTREAM YOUR WAY TO PROFITS: Building a Killer Portfolio in the Age of Social Media (Wiley), Margaret Peot’s INKBLOT (Boyds Mills Press) and THE SUCCESSFUL ARTIST’S CAREER GUIDE (North Light Books/F+W) Barry Rothstein’s EYE-POPPING 3-D BUGS (Chronicle), Jennifer Sattler’s SYLVIE (Random House Children’s Books), CHICK ‘N’ PUG and PIG KAHUNA (Bloomsbury Children’s Books), and upcoming books by Allida Black (Penguin Classics), Cathy Fishman (Cavendish), Brett Hartman (Cinco Puntos), Michelle Markel (Balzer & Bray, Eerdmans, and Chronicle), Patricia Hruby Powell (Chronicle), Alan Rabinowitz (Houghton Mifflin), Vince Vawter (Delacorte) and composer Marvin Hamlisch (Dial).
In addition to being an agent, she is the author of the picture book Shlemiel Crooks, a Sydney Taylor Honor Book and a Koret International Jewish Book Award Finalist.
You may have attended some of her workshops, like Why Was My Manuscript Rejected? 3 Agents, 3 Opinions, with two other agents (see www.3LiteraryAgents.com). Writers in the Northeast may also know Anna, because she coorinated the Jewish Children’s Book Writers’ Conference at the 92nd Street Y for many years. In addition, she founded the website http://www.Host-a-Jewish-Book-Author.com
I only accept email queries (no snail mail queries, please.)
Please insert (cut and paste) the first five pages of your manuscript into the body of your email. (I’m leery of opening attachments from addresses I don’t know.)
We understand the priorities and passions that motivate editors, publicists, sales directors, and marketing directors.
We consider each of our books to be an exciting kernel that can grow – into an international bestseller, into a movie, into a calendar, into a career. That’s the power of a thrillingly told story, and that’s what people expect from our submissions.
Many of you already know Anna Olswanger as a literary agent atLiza Dawson Associates, but she is also the author of Shlemiel Crooks (Junebug Books, 2005), a Yiddish-inflected Passover story, named a Sydney Taylor Honor Book and PJ Library Book and now author of her new book GREENHORN. In 2011 the Kaufman Center premiered a family musical based on Shlemiel Crooks at Merkin Hall in New York. Anna is a literary agent and lives in the metro New York City area with her husband. Her website is www.olswanger.com
She taught business writing for twelve years at the Johns Hopkins Center for Training and Education, and writing for physicians for five years at Stony Brook University Hospital. She continues to give writing workshops for corporations and universities. (See more about Anna as an agent further down in this piost.)
Daniel, a young Holocaust survivor, arrives at a New York yeshiva, his only possession a small box he never lets out of his sight. He rarely talks, but Aaron, a stutterer taunted by other boys, find his voice and a friend in Daniel.
The mystery of what’s in the box propels this 48 page book with interior colored illustrations by Miriam Nerlove, but it’s the complex relationship of the school boys that reveals the larger human story. Young readers, as well as adults, will find Greenhorn moving. Families will want to read it together.
Newbery Medal winner, Karen Cushman says, it is “A tender celebration of friendship, family, and faith. I cried at the horror and humanity of this simple story. Read it with your arms around someone you love.”
ISBN-13: 9781588382351
Publisher: NewSouth, Incorporated
Publication date: 3/1/2012
Pages: 48
Age range: 10 – 14 Years
Miriam Nerlove received her master’s degree in printmaking from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and worked for a time in the photograph and slide library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. She lives with her family just outside Chicago, where in addition to illustrating, she enjoys writing, painting, listening to music, and working part-time at a library.
More About Anna the agent:
Anna Olswanger has been an agent with Liza Dawson Associates for seven years. She focuses on adult nonfiction and children’s books from picture books to YAs, and especially enjoys working with author-illustrators. Although she rarely takes on novels, she’s intrigued by historical fiction (especially mysteries), ghost stories, stories with animals as the protagonists, Southern settings, Judaica and Israel.
Anna has sold to Balzer & Bray, Bloomsbury, Boyds Mills Press, Delacorte, F+W Media, Marshall Cavendish, Chronicle, Cinco Puntos, Dutton, Eerdmans, Greenwillow, Houghton Mifflin, McElderry, Pelican, Penguin Classics, Pomegranate, Random House, Sleeping Bear Press, Star Bright, and Wiley.
Although most of Anna’s clients are author-illustrators, she enjoys working with any author who has a new slant on an old idea. Zack Miller’s book, for example, describes how to use the new social media (Facebook and Twitter) to make investment decisions.
Anna is not interested in what she calls “baby bumble bee” stories. She doesn’t like superficiality in any genre, especially YAs. We can all see suffering and dying. What do you, the writer, see beneath that?
Anna works hard with authors to get their manuscripts into shape for submission. In that sense, she’s also an editor. She finds that most manuscripts need work on the plot, so if you’re a potential author or illustrator client, be ready to go through many revisions before Anna agrees to send out your manuscript. Her job is to get the story to the point where an editor will make an offer. (And then be prepared to make more revisions for the editor.)
You can read interviews with Anna online at Cynsations, the blog of Cynthia Leitich Smith, and artistsnetwork.com, the site of Artist’s & Graphic Designer’s Market. You might find other interviews with Anna on the Web, but most have outdated information. For example, these days she prefers email queries, not snail mail. If you send an email query, you’ll hear from her in a day or two. If you send a snail mail query, you might not hear for a month or longer.
So, having read the above, if you think Anna would be the right agent for you, start by sending her an email with a few details about your book. She can usually tell from a query if she would be the right agent, and if not, don’t take it personally. Just move on to the next agent. This is a subjective business and it’s a matter of finding who you click with.
If Anna likes what she reads in your query, she’ll ask to see the first five pages of the manuscript in the body of an email. (She doesn’t open attachments.) At that point, she’ll either ask to see more of the manuscript, or let you know she’s not the right agent for you. She’s not able to give feedback if the latter is the case, and you’ll find that true of most agents (they reserve that time for their clients).
On behalf of my friend, Anna Olswanger I am happy to share the following announcement about a terrific writer's workshop in the New York area.
Fall Workshop
Where Do I Go From Here?: 3 Literary Agents, 3 Opinions
You took the first step: you wrote a children's or YA manuscript that you are excited about—but where do you go from here?
We think we can help! We are three literary agents (Andrea Cascardi of Transatlantic Literary Agency, Anna Olswanger of Liza Dawson Associates, and Ann Tobias of A Literary Agency for Children's Books) who specialize in children's books and who are in regular touch with our clients and their publishers. We are once again offering our workshop Where Do I Go From Here?: 3 Literary Agents, 3 Opinions in New York City for children's book writers.
We offer this one-day workshop to help those who are trying to make sense of the publishing world. We will cover such areas as how to find an agent and/or a publisher, marketplace considerations, writing tips, and joining critique groups. We will read part of your manuscript in advance of the workshop and be prepared to discuss it with you in a small-group roundtable setting. We cannot guarantee publication but we can bring much-needed clarity to your pursuit of becoming a published author, and help you make the next step.
Workshop date: Sunday, November 13, 2011
Location: SLC Conference Center, 352 Seventh Avenue (at 30th Street), 16th Floor, New York, NY 10001
Time: 9:00-4:00 p.m.
Fee (includes continental breakfast and lunch): $295.00 to September 30, $345.00 thereafter
2008 CWIM Agent Updates... As mentioned in my recent newsletter (click here to subscribe), here are full CWIM listings for some agents and art reps who've recently sent us updated information. (2008 CWIM page numbers are included.)
LIZA DAWSON ASSOCIATES (page 278) 350 7th Ave, Suite 2003, New York, NY 10001. E-mail: [email protected]. Web site: www.olswanger.com. Member of SCBWI, WNBA, Authors Guild. Represents 10 clients. 30% of clients are new/unpublished writers. 50% of material handled is books for young readers.
Anna Olswanger coordinates the Jewish Childrens's Book Writers' Conference each fall athe 92nd Street Y in New York City and is a children's book author. Represents Fiction, nonfiction; author-illustrator pictrue books. How to Contact Query with first 5 pages. Must include e-mail address for repsonse. Considers simultaneous queries.
Represents Fiction, nonfiction; author-illustrator picture books. How to Contact Query with first 5 pages. Must include e-mail address for response. Considers simultaneous queries. Responds in 4 weeks to queries; 8 weeks to mss. Obtains most new clients through recommendations and queries. Terms Agent receives 15% commission on domestic sales; 20% commission on foreign sales. Offers written contract. Charges client for color photocopying and overseas postage.
EDUCATIONAL DESIGN SERVICES LLC (page 278) 5750 Bou Ave, Ste. 1508, N. Bethesda, MD 20852. E-mail: [email protected]. Web site: www.educationaldesignservices.com. Contact: B. Linder. Handles only certain types of work. Estab. 1981. 80% of clients are new/previously unpublished writers. Represents Considers text materials for K-12 market. "We specialize in educational materials to be used in classrooms (in class sets) or in teacher education classes." Actively seeking educational, text materials. Not looking for picture books, story books, fiction; no illustrators. How to Contact Query with SASE or send outline and 1 sample chapter. Considers simultaneous queries and submissions if so indicated. Responds in 6-8 weeks to queries/mss. Returns material only with SASE. Obtains clients through recommendations from others, queries/solicitations, or through conferences. Recent SalesHow to Solve Word Problems in Mathematics, by Wayne (McGraw-Hill); Reviewing U.S. & New York State History, by Farran-Paci (Amsco); Minority Report, by Gunn-Singh (Scarecrow Education); No Parent Left Behind, by Petrosino & Spiegel (Rowman & Littlefield); Teaching Test-taking Skills (R&L Education). Terms Agent receives 15% commission on domestic sales; 25% on foreign sales. Offers written contract, binding until any party opts out. Terminate contract through certified letter.
SALZMAN INTERNATIONAL (page 290) 1751 Charles Ave., Arcate CA 95521. Phone/fax: (707)822-5500. E-mail: [email protected]. Web site: www.salzint.com. Commercial illustration representative. Estab. 1982. Represents 20 illustrators. 20% of artwork is children's book illustration. Staff includes Richard Salzman. Open to illustrators seeking representation. Accepting both new and established illustrators. Handles Accepts illustration. Terms Receives 25% commission. Offers written contract. 100% of advertising costs paid by illustrator. Advertises in Workbook, ispot.com, altpick.com. How to Contact For first contact, send link to Web site or printed samples. Portfolio should include tearsheets, photocopies; "best to post samples on Web site and send link." Finds illustrators through queries/solicitations.
Prior to opening his agency, Scott Treimel was an assistant to Marilyn E. Marlow of Curtis Brown; a rights agent for Scholastic, Inc.; a book packager and rights agent for United Feature Syndicate; the founding director of Warner Bros. Worldwide Publishing; a freelance editor; and a rights consultant for HarperCollins Children's Books.
Represents 100% juvenile books. Actively seeking career clients. Not seeking picture book authors, but author/illustrators may submit. How to Contact Send query/ouline (include word count, number of chapters, and protagonists' ages), SASE, sample chapters of no more than 50 pages. No multiple submission. Queries without SASE will be recycles. No fax. queries. Recent Sales Sold 29 titles in the last year. Right Behind You, by Gail Gailes (Little, Brown); Comic Guy, by Timothy Roldand (Scholastic); Kitchen Dance, by Maurie Manning (Clarion); The Ninja Who Wanted to be Noticed (Viking); Love is a Good Thing to Feel, by Barbara Joosse (Philomel); Kiki, by Janie Bynum (Sterling); The Hunchback Chronicles, by Arthur Slade (Penguin Canada); Before and After Otis, illustrations by Cyndy Szekeres (Harcourt); Grandma Calls Me Beautiful, by Barbara Joosse (Chronicle). Terms Agent receives 15-20% commission on domestic sales; 20-25% on foreign sales. Offers verbal or written contract, binding on a "contract-by-contract basis." Charges for photocopying, overnight/express postage, messengers. Offers editorial guidance, if extensive charges higher commission. Writers' Conferences Speaks at Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Conference, The New School; Southwest Writers Conference; Pikes Peak Writers Conference. Tips "Keep cover letters short and do not pitch. Let your work speak for itself."
WYLIE-MERRICK LITERARY AGENCY (page 284) 1138 S. Webster St., Kokomo IN 46902. (765)459-8258. E-mail: See Web site. Web site: www.wylie-merrick.com. Contact: Sharene Martin-Brown or Robert Brown.
From Wylie-Merrick's Sharene Martin-Brown: "Although we continue to work with our established children's authors, we are not looking for new clients in this area.
ASCIUTTO ART REPS., INC. 1712 E. Butler Circle, Chandler AZ 85225. (480)899-0600. Fax: (480)899-3636.Web site: www.Aatreps.com E-mail: [email protected]. Contact: Mary Anne Asciutto, art agent. Children's illustration representative since 1980. Specializing in children's illustrations for children's educational text books, grades K thru 8, children's trade books, children's magazines, posters, packaging, etc. Recent Sales Bats, Sharks, Whales, Snakes, Penguins, Alligators and Crocodiles, illustrated by Meryl Henderson (Boyds Mills Press). Terms Agency receives 25% commission. Advertising and promotion costs are split: 75% paid by talent; 25% paid by representative. US citizens only. How to Contact Send samples via email with a cover letter résumé. Submit sample portfolio for review with an SASE for it's return. Responds in 2 to 4 weeks. Portfolio should include at least 12 samples of original art, printed tearsheets, photocopies or color prints of most recent work. Tips In obtaining representation, "be sure to connect with an agent who handles the kind of work, you (the artist) want."
Unlike tadmack above, I tend to love movies made from books--or, rather, anticipating such motion picture renderings. Most of the time, though, I probably wind up in the camp that does not favor a particular movie version of a book. But the animation of Harold and the Purple Crayon was excellent. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
I’d like to thank Anna Olswanger from Liza Dawson Associates for sharing her time and expertise with us this month. Your first page is the first thing anyone sees of your story, so the more we can hone the beginning, the better off we will be in writing a successful book. I know we can all learn from these sessions. Even if it is not your first page, you can make note of the thoughts of an editor or agent after they have critiqued the page. 
And hearing the opinions of a professional in the business is ALways so helpful. I’m not one to read ghost stories, so I don’t know how original “ghost spotting” is, but it was definitely original to me! Great premise, I thought 
This fun June illustration was sent in by Dow Phumiruk is a pediatrician who has found her passion in children’s book illustration. Most of her work is digital, and she enjoys using a bright, colorful palette. She joined SCBWI in 2011 and is looking forward to her first national conference in LA this summer. Here is a link to see more of her art: 
Chance to win FAKING NORMAL by Courtney C. Stevens! Published by Harper Teen. 
About the Contest
Thanks!
CALL FOR ILLUSTRATIONS: Please remember to send in your illustrations for June. It is a great way to get seen and keep your name out there to get noticed. Send to Kathy.temean(at)gmail.com. Please submit .jpgs at least 500 pixels wide.
ISBN-13: 9781588382351 
Wow, congrats, everyone!
And, Doris…you do such beautiful work :)
I absolutely love Doris’ illustration!!! Congratulations to everyone on their accomplishments.
I LOVE Doris’s watercolor artworks! It was such a humbling and learning experience to see her do a demo at the NJ SCBWI conference. She was so mild-mannered and very relaxing to talk to. So wonderful.