Secret Series author Pseudonymous Bosch (a.k.a. Raphael Simon) has inked a deal for a new middle grade trilogy with Penguin’s Dial Books for Young Readers.
The not-yet-titled first book is slated for release in 2013. Literary agent Sarah Burnes (from the Gernert Company) negotiated the deal with editor-at-large Jennifer Hunt. Hunt will edit the project.
Bosch (pictured, via) submitted this “secret” statement in the release: “It is a thrill to be working with Jennifer Hunt again as well as with all my new friends at Dial. As my readers know, I love to eat, especially anything chocolate. I couldn’t be more excited to embark on this important search for three new cooks. If bread is the staff of life, then a good cook is…What? Not cooks, books? I’m supposed to write three new books? Oh, no—how distressing!”
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
A View From the Top: 4 Publishers Discuss our Industry
Jennifer Hunt oversees the acquisitions and development of all middle grade and young adult fiction for the Little Brown for Young Readers (LBYR) list.
Jennifer started with aninternship with Beacon Press. She also worked forTime Magazine and Money magazine. She then went to Random House, from there to Lee and Low, and finally to Little Brown where she's been for 9 years.
Considers it a boutique house, and she loves their philosophy: to strive for us to be the best in class.
At Little Brown for Young Readers there are thee distinct imprints: Poppy, LB Kids, and LBYR. Likes to think LBYR is an imprint that authors can find a career at. Jennifer likes to think it's a place where they never give up.
Across the three imprint there are about 12 editors and their offices are all together. They communicate and this should be considered when you are submitting.
Lin: What is the creative climate of children's books?"In our history great story telling has been around for ages and it will continue to be around for ages."
"Where ever we are going in the future, there is still a place for storytelling, and we should keep our minds focused on that."
As far as marketing and allocation, LBYR likes to think of each book individually.
Lin: How is your company regarding multi-media?There's a whole team that dedicated to multi-media at LBYR. One thing that has changed editorially is that they now think about the digital piece before/while acquiring a book.
Lin asks all four to provide advice to all of us. Jennifer recommends you think about your own excellence and write towards that.
An excellent note to end on.
The lastest TEAM BLOGger to post a
Summer Conference faculty interview is TEAM captain Alice Pope who interviewed Jennifer Hunt of Little, Brown. Below is a bit from the post.
Click here to read the full interview. The time draws near for the 2010 SCBWI Annual Summer Conference and today I offer yet another TEAM BLOG pre-conference faculty interview. I've talked with the amazing Editorial Director of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Jennifer Hunt.
Jen oversees the acquisition and development of all MG and YA fiction for the Little, Brown. She edits an impressive list of award-winner, bestselling and über-popular authors including Sherman Alexie, Sara Zarr, Cornelia Funke, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Pseudonymous Bosch, Cressida Cowell, Walter Mosley, Paolo Bacigalupi, and Jewell Parker Rhodes. (She also the proud editor of SCBWI’s very own Aaron Hartzler!)
Jen is offering two breakout sessions--PEAK TO PEAK: HOW TO BUILD A CAREER AFTER YOUR FIRST BOOK and AN INSIDE LOOK AT LITTLE, BROWN BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS--and participating in a panel--A VIEW FROM THE TOP: 4 PUBLISHERS DISCUSS OUR INDUSTRY.
Click here for registration information for the Annual Summer Conference conference where you can meet Jennifer Hunt and a long list of other editors all as generous with their knowledge and advice.
Jennifer Hunt is an Editorial Director at Little, Brown for Young Readers.
A little about Little, Brown:
-original publisher of Little Women and Catcher in the Rye
-do not believe in chasing trends
-a boutique publisher with a very focused list
Pillars of great YA writing:
-An authentic voice is the most important part of an YA book. It must be age appropriate. It must be character specific.
-Authentic Story: need to be able to make the evergreen topics fresh again and again.
Pillars of great YA writers
-They take their work seriously and are dedicated to excellence.
-They respect their audience.
-They are willing to hustle.
Q & A Time!
Too cool when an editor hands out books to those who ask a question. Much editor love for that!
So, of course, I had to ask:
Q: "You fall in love with a book. It has authentic voice and authentic story. Is there a particular thing you find yourself asking of your authors in the revision process?
A: Can you make it more layered? (In the sense of character, Jennifer does not like them to be thin. They are more authentic with many layers.)
POSTED BY JOLIE STEKLY
Jennifer Hunt, editorial director at Little, Brown, is discussing her list as a whole. The idea that there's only one type of success is not true--there are many types.
Backlist gems, like A Mango Shaped Shaped Space by Wendy Mass.
The great debut: Twenty Boy Summer, by Sarah Ockler--a title that was really helped by YA bloggers.
A writer that finds a voice and audience like Julie Anne Peters (Luna).
A career changing book, like Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr--this is the kind of book that puts and author on the map.
Success through vision, like The Curious Garden, by Peter Brown. The success is in the execution more than idea.
Phenomenons, like the Twilight series. There's no secret there, nothing that can predict it, just timing and luck.
POSTED BY ALICE POPE
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