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Justin Chanda presents his keynote address at #LA16SCBWI |
Justin Chanda is Vice President & Publisher of the four flagship children's imprints at Simon & Schuster: S&S Books for Young Readers, McElderry Books, Atheneum, and the new Salaam Reads. He oversees the publication of two hundred and fifty titles per year ranging from the youngest picture book to the edgiest YA. Justin continues to edit, working with the likes of Jon Sciezka, Loren Long, Kenneth Oppel, Patricia MacLachlan, Peter Brown, Michael Ian Black, Karma Wilson, Dan Krall, Morgan Matson, Mike Lupica, and Debbie Ohi. He is also the publisher of Saga press, a newly minted adult Sci-Fi-/Fantasy imprint. Follow him on Twitter @jpchandaSome highlights from Justin's upbeat speech...
Justin covers statistics:
•Children's print books are up over last year
•Teen title sales (especially ebook sales) are down
•2015-2016 have been terrific years for Indie Bookstores
Justin covers trends:
"Trends are the mortal enemy of authentic writing"
#EndTheTrend
And offers some excellent advice:
"The story comes first.
Your story, authentically told, in your own way."
His keynote discusses so much more, including the role of teachers and librarians who "are on the front lines of…getting the right book to the right kid." And how blockbusters "are not the true measure of a book's worth - nor should they be."
Final quote to share, from Justin's significant focus on diversity and how it is so necessary and needed in children's literature:
"Variety is the the true business of children's books, and business remains good."
Children's Books 2015: Report From The Front Lines gets underway with, left to right:
Stephanie Owens Lurie, Associate Publisher, Disney-Hyperion
Laura Godwin, Vice President and Publisher, Henry Holt Books for Young Readers
Beverly Horowitz, Vice President and Publisher, Delacorte Press
and
Justin Chanda, Vice President and Publisher, S&S Books for Young Readers
The long view:
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Lin introduces the panel! |
Close-ups from right before the panel began...
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Stephanie Lurie (left) and Laura Godwin (right) |
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Beverly Horowitz (left) and Justin Chanda (right) |
By: Maryann Yin,
on 9/29/2014
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Galley Cat (Mediabistro)
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Actor Nathan Lane (pictured, via) and his life partner Devlin Elliott will team up as writers for a picture book series. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers will release the first installment, Naughty Mabel, in Fall 2015.
According to the press release, the story follows “a fabulous French bulldog based on Lane and Elliott’s very own naughty (but adorable) pup. Mabel is the queen of the Hamptons and has a penchant for getting her perfectly pedicured paws into trouble.”
Publisher Justin Chanda negotiated the deal with Brenda Bowen of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates (representing Lane and Elliott) and Abigail Samoun of Red Fox Literary (representing Krall). Chanda will edit the manuscripts. Animator Dan Krall has been brought on to create the illustrations.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Printz Honor-winning writer Kenneth Oppel and Caldecott Medal-winning artist Jon Klassen will partner to create a middle grade novel entitled The Nest.
The story follows a boy named Steve as he and his family navigates through the difficulties of caring for Steve’s sick baby brother. This will be the first time Oppel (pictured, via) and Klassen (pictured, via) collaborate on a book project.
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers publisher Justin Chanda negotiated the deal with Writer’s House literary agent Steve Malk. Chanda will edit the manuscript. A release date has been scheduled for Fall 2015.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
E.R. Frank, an award-winning children’s books author and psychotherapist, will be publishing her first novel in ten years.
Frank’s (pictured, via) new book, entitled Dime, features an intense story about teen prostitution. Atheneum Books for Young Readers has scheduled a release date for summer 2015.
Publisher Justin Chanda negotiated the deal with Compass Talent literary agent Heather Schroder. Chanda will edit the manuscript himself.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Justin Chanda is vice president, publisher of three flagship children's imprints at Simon & Schuster: S&S Books for Young Readers, McElderry Books and Atheneum. He oversees the publication of two hundred and fifty titles per year ranging from the youngest picture book to the edgiest YA.
Justin feels he needs to begin by telling us: the e-book has not engulfed our universe; printed things on paper have not been eradicated; self publishing has not taken over; drones are not delivering our books--yet.
The good news is: children still need books.
Get ready! Justin tells us there's a new trend! It's going to change the face of publishing forever. It's contemporary YA. This has been the reaction lately, as if contemporary YA hasn't been done. Tell that to Judy Blume and Laurie Halse Anderson.
This business in cyclical.
Trends are undeniable and influenced by many factors. They are not predictable. You can't write to a trend. If you do, that trend will already be over by the time you're done writing your book. You have to write the book that you are meant to write. "Your voice is the biggest capital you have in this business."
While there are still what is considered girl books and boy books, there's a great rise in gender-neutral books in middle grade. This is great.
Picture books continue their rise back to life. Yes! Successful picture books now tend to have an identifiable character, humor, adult and child appeal, and they are leaning younger (targeting about 5 too 6 year old).
Justin is a huge fan of e-books. They have done a lot help and sustain the reading growth.
There was a belief that ebooks would kill the picture book, but that is not true. The wonderful printed books that you read with a child in your lap are selling more and more.
The adoption of the Common Core standards across the country is now a key focus. People have said it will kill fiction in the classroom. Common Core is far from perfect and we don't even know if it will be around in a few years. Consider that Locomotion by Brian Floca has found great success and is being used in classrooms as part of the Common Core, but it was written well before Common Core was in place.

Our job as writers is to create good books, not to write toward a trend or the Common Core. Just like trends there will be different educational waves that will come and go.
On diversity: It's the responsibly of publishers and publishing houses to publish books that are as diverse as the world we live in. However, the responsibility is not solely in the hands of the publishers, it's also in the hands of those of us writing the books, the agents representing them, the store selling books. We are all in it together.
Our main focus as writers and illustrators should be story. Write books. Illustrate books.
Simon & Schuster plans to create a new imprint specializing in science fiction, fantasy, and horror books “for readers of all ages.”
Jon Anderson, executive vice president and publisher of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, will oversee the not-yet-named imprint. In an interview with Publishers Weekly, he revealed that this imprint will acquire books for readers of “YA and above.”
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
YA author Becca Fitzpatrick has landed a deal for her “stand-alone psychological thriller” called Black Ice. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers plans to release this novel in fall 2014.
Publisher Justin Chanda negotiated the deal with Inkwell Management literary agent Catherine Drayton. At the moment, Fitzpatrick is promoting the final installment of the Hush, Hush saga, Finale. That book will hit bookstores on October 23, 2012.
Fitzpatrick (pictured, via) gave this statement in the release: “Black Ice is about a girl who backpacks the Teton Range over spring break of her senior year of high school but things go terribly wrong. Like Hush, Hush, the inspiration behind Black Ice comes from my own experiences during my teen years. It’s very satisfying to finally be working on a project that has been floating around my head for so long.”
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
By: Hazel Mitchell,
on 7/9/2012
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So last week I shared a bit about my experience at ALA. Here is the rest of the dirt. This time no pictures of me (possibly), just fawning over famous-er and hugely (brilliantly) talented people (and therefore this post will get lots of hits).
Seriously.
It was like Wonderland (or WondLa- land, but I didn't get to see Tony DiTerlizzi). A famous face at every turn. Fun to say hi, to have a chance conversation, to meet a hero and be inspired. Here are some inspiring moments and inspiring people ...
The charming, enchanting and legendary Ashley Bryan, signing his book 'Word's to My Life's Song'.
If you haven't read it yet, GO get it.
And then I got to sign my book for Ashley when he dropped by Charlesbridge Booth! A-MAZ-ING.
A hug from Mr. Bryan can keep you warm and inspired a long time, let me tell you.
Here is the wonderful David Small. I love David's work .. his loose and yet controlled line work is so awesome. He's signing 'One Cool Friend' by Toni Buzzeo of MAINE. So I had to get a copy ....
LUUURRRRVVV this drawing he did!!!

4 Comments on
What happened at ALA Anaheim 2012 - Part deux, last added: 7/10/2012
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Justin Chanda chillaxing by the hotel pool |
This is Justin Chanda's first SCBWI conference. I'm not sure why. He's a force to be reckoned with at Simon & Schuster, and he's incredibly enthusiastic about children's books. He starts glowing and levitating when he talks about them. He's our kind of dude.
As the publisher of 3 flagship imprints at Simon & Schuster— Atheneum, BFYR, and McElderry— Justin helps bring about 200+ books into the world every year.
His session was all about mythbusting. Here are a few.
Myth #1: Commercial = Bad
He looks for a balance of of literary and commercial titles on his lists. Commercial doesn't mean non-literary, or not well-written, it means readers are reading.
Myth #4: We are no longer interested in publishing picture books.
Justin says picture books are the backbone of children's publishing. He believes they have a long life ahead of them, he love thems. He does admit they'll be publishing less of them, but that's a good thing. For all kid book genres, he says aspiring writers are competing with the shadow of a publisher's backlist, the long gone authors that still rank in the top 200 for sales numbers. Rather than have a hissy fit, he says there's much to be learned by studying these backlists.
"There is no Fancy Nancy without Eloise. There is no teen literature without The Outsiders."
"In the past, it was a 'cute' side genre for a publisher. Now, children's publishing is a 4 billion dollar a year industry that sometimes carries a publisher through a fiscal year."
It has been tough in the last few years with the economy and the many layoffs in publishing, but for Fall 2010 the industry is gearing up for a very big year, and Justin feels things are turning around.
Justin has a Love-O-Meter! When approached by editors who want to acquire a book he says to them, "If you're face is melting off to buy it, I will let you buy it." He calls these the passion projects. "It's lightning striking somewhere and I want to continue to foster that as a publisher."
He mentions trends and tribulations for middle grade and teen books. And what's working for promoting them and what's not.
"The rise of the internet, it's all about the actual online marketing that the authors are doing. A nut that hasn't been cracked for mg, you can't blog and tweet a middle grader, that's illegal... It might take a few years, but it is so much a part of what's working now, and networking and connecting with teens is how teen books are going like hotcakes."Justin talks about books he likes. Lots of face melting comments.
And here's his stance on e-books:
"E-books are great. They are wonderful. Anyone who tells you different is wrong. It's just a new avenue to get great stories out to kids and adults. It's like the Wild West right now, and we are still trying to figure it out. I do not believe e-books are going to eradicate the hardcover books. I know it will be difficult for booksellers, but I'm embracing it. And the iPad is going to be a great way to develop picture books. Digital publishing in general is not replacing things, its just a way to get more people reading."He mentions the recently launched
LOSER/QUEEN by Jodi Lynn Anderson, a book only available online. A serialized novel! Readers get to choos
You write as fun as you draw. Judy Wirzberger
Thanks Judy! Praise indeed.
Love, love, love this post. The next best thing to going to an event like this is pictures from someone who was tickled to be there. Thanks for putting faces to some of the names I've heard of for so long.
And yes, to have a character come to life and walk around a show is an admirable goal. Make it happen.
Wendy
Thanks thanks thanks! It's great when you can share ... hope you get to go too!