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Titles--heartache city! The title must do everything a synopsis or query does: grab the reader, provide a summary, and hint at the action yet to come. A lot of time goes into working up a good title, and it's not just the author's work, either. The editor, the editor's coworkers, and sales and marketing all have their say; everyone's input must be considered.

Titles cooked up and rejected for A WHOLE LOT OF LUCKY:

• Two Flavors of Lucky
• The Year of My Magnificent Luckiness
• Three Million Dollar Girl
• The Duplicitous Luckiness of Hailee Richardson
• Serendippitydoo
• Lucky Me
• Impossibly Possibly Lucky
• Hailee Richardson, Girl Millionaire

My editor and I brainstormed pages of titles and promptly rejected most of them. The problem lies in the word "lucky:" phrases involving "getting lucky" are imbued with the wrong kind of nuance! Also, we wanted to avoid words like jackpot or other buzzwords that are too close too gambling. (This was hard, because even the buying of a lottery ticket is gambling.)

My sister suggested "A Whole Lotto Lucky," and the powers that be loved her suggestion! With a bit of morphing, my sister's words became A WHOLE LOT OF LUCKY.

Now you can try your luck without all the heartache my editor and I went through! For a free, signed hardcover of A WHOLE LOT OF LUCKY, just enter the Goodreads contest!

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When Stories Start to Go Wrong!

Here are some descriptions of manuscripts. Read them and figure out what’s wrong:

• 6000 word, ABC book
• 13,000 word middle grade
• 250,000 YA/teen novel
• 2000 word YA poetry book
• 4000 word picture book

Match Audience with Length and Format of Your Story

In each of these cases, the format, especially the length of the manuscript, does not match up with the intended audience.

Here’s a typical run down of manuscript lengths for different formats:

Picture book, including ABC titles. The hottest items are under 500 words. Some picture books can go up to 2000 words, but those are iffy. The audience for picture books can be anything from birth to about 10 years old. Usually the break down is something like 1-3 years old, 2-4, 4-8 or 6-10, though it varies from publisher to publisher.

The best advice for a picture book manuscript is “cut it in half.” Yes, it’s hard in 500 words to have a beginning, middle, end, a satisfying narrative arc, and a character that kids want to spend time with. Welcome to the difficult world of picture books.

ABC books, especially Sleeping Bear Press ABC titles, sometimes will go longer. But essentially the ABC format is just a way to organize information. These are not true ABC books for preschoolers.

Beginning reader and early chapter books. These are aimed at the beginning reader, so ages 4-8. For the truly beginning reader, the text may just be a couple words on each page. This is the only place where a publisher will try to control vocabulary, choosing words with regular spelling or from the sight vocabulary lists. By second grade, though, kids are reading short chapter books, and there’s more leeway in vocabulary and complexity of texts. These run maybe 6000-12,000 words, again depending on a publisher’s inclination and publishing program. Usually these are contemporary stories, grounded in a child’s real world.

Short chapter books. Some people add this category for 3-4th graders. These are short novels (novelettes?) of about 12,000-20,000 words. The topic of these books changes slightly to allow for historical fiction, science fiction or fantasy, or mysteries.

Middle grade novels. For grades 5-8, or about 10-14 years old, the middle grade audience has a wide variety of interests that are reflected in their fiction. Novels for this group run 30-80,000 words, but tend to fall more in the 40-60,000 range. Only the rare Harry Potter will go to 100,000 or more.

YA/Teen novels. For ages 12 and up, the YA or Teen novel has an almost free rein in length, complexity and subject matter. Still even here, the average novel might run 60,000 or so. You can go longer or shorter, if there’s a good reason for it. Some have said that YA novels are just like adult novels, just 100 pages shorter and without the sex scene. Today, you can add both the 100 pages and the sex scene. What distinguishes this literature is the tone of the story, particular the tone of rebellion of some sort. It’s a time of life when kids must break with their parents and figure out life for themselves; that’s what is reflected in the liter

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For each question, select the answer which best describes your job, and add up your points at the end to determine how good your job is.

Rise and Shine

1. It’s still dark outside when I get up (5 points)
2. The room has a faint hint of dawn’s light when my alarm goes off (3)
3. I am the master of my own schedule (0)

Leisure

1. I try to go to the restroom (even if I don’t need to) more than three times in one hour to pass the time (5)
2. I have occasionally thought about going to the restroom (even if I don’t need to) while at work in order to escape boredom (3)
3. I only use the restroom at scheduled break-times and never even think of taking unscheduled breaks(3)

Climate Control

1. The Mohave desert are probably cooler than my job location (5)
2. I can survive with a tank top or short sleeves (3)
3. I usually wear a light cardigan to fight the chill (1)

Paraphernalia

1. My job requires a sunhat, Gatorade, Windex, pruning shears, tools or other cleaning/maintenance supplies (10)
2. I bring nothing because a monkey could do my job (5)
3. My job requires Critical Thinking skills so I usually just bring a blackberry, laptop, and/ or a pen (0)

Compensation

1. Uncle Sam would pay me more to stay home and watch TV (10)
2. I make less than the national average for my job title ( 5)
3. I am able to live comfortable fulfilling life on my salary (0)

Insurance/ Planning for the Future

1. “I’m probably not contagious”, or “It’ll probably go away” or “Grab the duct tape and aspirin, I hope we don’t have to amputate this time” (25)
2. “Top Ramen and Waffles again, we have to the deductible this month” (10)
3. “Thank goodness I had my insurance card with me, otherwise I might have had to fill out extra paperwork” (0)

Attire

1. My work attire comes with a name tag and rubber soled shoes (5)
2. My work attire is pretty casual (3)
3. My work attire is formal and/or business casual (0)

Food

1. “I thought I had a tic tac in here somewhere, oh well”(10)
2. “Where’s the taco truck?” (3)
3. “Should I have one martini or two?” (0)

Regarding The Boss

1. ” You’re lucky I’m on parole this month” or “Where is my concealed carry permit” or “If I wear sunglasses, maybe he/she won’t know it’s me” (10)
2. “Has he/she ever heard of fa-breeze” (5)
3. “My boss is usually tough but fair” (0)

Internal Fraternization

1. “No means no”, “It’s never as good as the first time”, “I really need this promotion”, “put that camera away” or “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas (25)
2. “Is he/she checking out my junk?” (5)
3. “Maintaining cordial and professional relationships with colleagues is the key to success” (0)

Bonus

• My job requires holding a sign and standing on a sidewalk ( 100 points)

Your Results:

0-15= A+ : You are just too legit to quit, you lucky duck

15-45= C-: Consider quitting, you’re better off selling stuff on eBay or Craigslist

50-100 F : See ya! Go home, and let Uncle Sam spring for the donuts from now on. You don’t have to take it anymore

Over 100 F-: Consider a life of crime( just kidding) , 3 hots and a cot

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For each question, select the answer which best describes your job, and add up your points at the end to determine how good your job is.

Rise and Shine

1. It’s still dark outside when I get up (5 points)
2. The room has a faint hint of dawn’s light when my alarm goes off (3)
3. I am the master of my own schedule (0)

Leisure

1. I try to go to the restroom (even if I don’t need to) more than three times in one hour to pass the time (5)
2. I have occasionally thought about going to the restroom (even if I don’t need to) while at work in order to escape boredom (3)
3. I only use the restroom at scheduled break-times and never even think of taking unscheduled breaks(3)

Climate Control

1. The Mohave desert are probably cooler than my job location (5)
2. I can survive with a tank top or short sleeves (3)
3. I usually wear a light cardigan to fight the chill (1)

Paraphernalia

1. My job requires a sunhat, Gatorade, Windex, pruning shears, tools or other cleaning/maintenance supplies (10)
2. I bring nothing because a monkey could do my job (5)
3. My job requires Critical Thinking skills so I usually just bring a blackberry, laptop, and/ or a pen (0)

Compensation

1. Uncle Sam would pay me more to stay home and watch TV (10)
2. I make less than the national average for my job title ( 5)
3. I am able to live comfortable fulfilling life on my salary (0)

Insurance/ Planning for the Future

1. “I’m probably not contagious”, or “It’ll probably go away” or “Grab the duct tape and aspirin, I hope we don’t have to amputate this time” (25)
2. “Top Ramen and Waffles again, we have to the deductible this month” (10)
3. “Thank goodness I had my insurance card with me, otherwise I might have had to fill out extra paperwork” (0)

Attire

1. My work attire comes with a name tag and rubber soled shoes (5)
2. My work attire is pretty casual (3)
3. My work attire is formal and/or business casual (0)

Food

1. “I thought I had a tic tac in here somewhere, oh well”(10)
2. “Where’s the taco truck?” (3)
3. “Should I have one martini or two?” (0)

Regarding The Boss

1. ” You’re lucky I’m on parole this month” or “Where is my concealed carry permit” or “If I wear sunglasses, maybe he/she won’t know it’s me” (10)
2. “Has he/she ever heard of fa-breeze” (5)
3. “My boss is usually tough but fair” (0)

Internal Fraternization

1. “No means no”, “It’s never as good as the first time”, “I really need this promotion”, “put that camera away” or “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas (25)
2. “Is he/she checking out my junk?” (5)
3. “Maintaining cordial and professional relationships with colleagues is the key to success” (0)

Bonus

• My job requires holding a sign and standing on a sidewalk ( 100 points)

Your Results:

0-15= A+ : You are just too legit to quit, you lucky duck

15-45= C-: Consider quitting, you’re better off selling stuff on eBay or Craigslist

50-100 F : See ya! Go home, and let Uncle Sam spring for the donuts from now on. You don’t have to take it anymore

Over 100 F-: Consider a life of crime( just kidding) , 3 hots and a cot

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