How to use this Page

If you are writing a book, you have the chance for editor Kate Sullivan from Little, Brown, & Company to read and critique your first page.

Kate Sullivan is an editor for Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, working primarily on commercial and literary Middle Grade and Young Adult fiction. She is the editor of Ash by Malinda Lo, an ALA William C Morris YA Debut Award finalist and Lambda Award for YA nominee. Kate also works with international bestselling authors Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Cornelia Funke, and Darren Shan. Upcoming, she has a YA steampunk series by New York Times bestselling adult author Gail Carriger, and a MG fantasy epic cowritten by New York Times bestselling authors Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong.

She is primarily looking for novels that make her laugh aloud on a crowded subway, are smart without being boring, feature monsters, or have strong, defiant characters (who may or may not have a penchant for monstrous behavior). Previous to working at LBYR, Kate worked at Walker Books for Young Readers, where she worked on picture books, MG, and YA.

For the writers who liked the First Page Picture Prompt, you can use the illustration below by Versper Stamper to inspire a new first page. www.vespersongs.com/ .  Everyone else is free to send in any first page they have written.

1. If you are a published author, you have a chance to be the Featured Author of the Month – be interview and get your book or book seen.

2. Illustrator’s have a chance to be featured on Illustrator Saturday.

3. Illustrators who have already been featured on Illustrator Saturday, Illustrators who want t be considered for Illustrator Saturday, or Illustrators just starting out and do not have enough artwork to be featured, can still get their artwork or new illustrations seen by professionals in the industry by participating.

In order to narrow the submissions down, I have come up with the following:

1. If you choose to follow me or are already following me, you will get your name put into the basket.

2. If you put a link up on your blog or website, you will get your name put in the basket. If you have both, you can choose to put a link on both and get your name in twice.

3. Do two Tweets about a post on my blog and get your name in the basket. This can be repeated three additional times for a total of four times in the basket. Tweets must be done on separate dates.

4. Post something on Facebook and get your name in the basket.

5. Do it all and you will have your name in the basket eight times. On November 24th I will put all the names in the basket and I will pull out ten names and read the first pages that go with the name. Out of those ten, I will pick 4 to send to our quest critiquer for November.

Here is what you need to do:

WRITERS: 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 “December First Page Critique” or “December First Page Picture Prompt Critique” in the subject line. Make sure you have your name on the submission, a title, and indicate the genre. Also let me know which steps you took, so I will know how many times to put your name in the basket. If you end up doing more things to get additional entries, then e-mail me by December 19th (This is a few days earlier, because of the holidays) with the updated number you have completed. Please let me know what you have done and when, so I can check it out.

Published Children’s Book Writers: You can also participate by doing one or more of the five above steps to get your name in the “Book Feature” hat. If your name is drawn, I will do a post featuring your book, an interview, bio, and pictures of the cover and interior art (if that applies). Author Susan Hood was the winner for October. Ann Rinaldi was the winner in November.

Please put “December Children’s Book Promo” in the subject area and let me know the steps you took, so I can put the correct amount of slips in the basket. Please send it to kathy(dot)temean(at)gmail(dot)com. Deadline November 24th.

ILLUSTRATORS: If you are an illustrator, you can participate and choose to get featured on Illustrator Saturday or get your new book featured by following the five steps for the writers. Please put “December Illustrator Feature” in the subject area. I will need to know what steps you completed to get into the basket and I will need a few illustrations or if you want to promote your book, then send the name and cover along. Also include a promotional blurb. Please send it to kathy(dot)temean(at)gmail(dot)com.

Call for illustrations for December (You do not have to be narrowed down to send in a piece of art for December). I’m looking for Christmas, Chanukah, New Years, and or a winter scene illustrations. You do not have to wait, I will post the illustrations as they come in. I would like to have them no later than November 25th, since it is hard to find the right place for your work, instead of squeezing it in at the end of the month. I would love to have something to go with the election on Tuesday. Please make sure the illustration is at least 500 pixels wide and include a blurb about yourself and a link to see more of your work. Please send it to kathy(dot)temean(at)gmail(dot)com and put “December Illustration” in the subject box.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

IT IS TIME TO NOMINATE WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING www.kathytemean.wordpress.com for the WRITER’S DIGEST’S 101 BEST WEBSITES FOR WRITERS!

If you have enjoyed the articles and information you received everyday this year, please help by dominating my blog. Submit an email to [email protected] to nominate my blog www.kathytemean.wordpress.com

I would greatly appreciate your help.

Thanks!