Wednesday On Writing: SCBWI Shop Talk - Saturday, April 28, 2012

  

Thanks to everyone who came to Saturday’s Shop Talk – we missed those who couldn’t make it, especially our co-coordinator Kim Sabatini. But I took a lot of notes, so hopefully my report will be the next best thing to being there.

We started off with news of upcoming writing events. The next event in SCBWI’s Eastern NY region is “Dinner With an Agent,” co-sponsored by the Clavarack Public Library, at the Red Dot Restaurant in Hudson, NY on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 5:30pm. It’s the first of its kind and will feature four agents: Wendy Schmaltz of Wendy Schmaltz Agency; Miriam Altshuler of Miriam Altshuler Agency; Jennifer Laughran of Andrea Brown Literary Agency; and Liza Pulitzer-Voges of Eden Street Literary Agency. During each course, an agent will join a table of attendees to talk about her work and the types of books that she’s interested in representing. Then, the agents will switch tables with each course. I think this is a great opportunity to talk to agents and make connections in a small-group setting. Registration is already filled, and unfortunately, I couldn’t make it. But I’m looking forward to hearing reports from those who are attending, and I hope that more dinner events will be planned in the future.

Looking ahead to next year’s Mid-Hudson Valley conference, we learned via regional director Nancy Castaldo’s online announcement that it will be at the Ramada Conference Center in Fishkill, NY on June 1 – 2, 2013. Last year’s conference took place there, and I think it’s a good venue and conveniently located near I-84. The conference has been expanded to two days, and will be our region’s biggest one yet! As the details develop, they’ll be posted on SCBWI Eastern NY’s conference page at http://scbwi-easternny.org/conferences.php .

Karen Orloff talked about the “Tricks of the Trade” mini-conference (not affiliated with SCBWI) that’s being held in conjunction with the Millbrook Literary Festival on Saturday, June 16, 2012, at the Grace Church in Millbrook, from 1 – 4pm. The fee is $25, plus one can of food for the church’s food bank, and Karen said that registration is limited to 50, but (as of Saturday) there are still about 20 spaces available.

It will feature some great speakers, including picture book authors Jacky Davis and David Soman, who will give the keynote speech. Karen Orloff, along with fellow picture book author Susanne Leonard Hill, will give a workshop on creating picture book characters. K.L. (Kelly) Going, the award-winning author of YA and middle-grade books, as well as the instructional book, Writing and Selling the YA Novel, will present a novel writing and publishing workshop. Award-winning illustrator Steven James Petruccio will give a workshop on school visits. And freelance writer and editorial consultant Tracy Marchini will present a workshop on writing query letters.

 Unfortunately, I have a prior commitment, so I won’t be able to attend. But several people at Shop Talk plan to go – I’ll look forward to hearing some great reports of the event. More information about the Millbrook Literary Festival can be found at www.millbrookfestival.org.

April is National Poetry Month, so our topic for the meeting was poetry. Bill Joel and Michelle Mead were our guest speakers and shared their experiences and successes with writing and publishing poetry for children and adults.

Reflecting his background as an educator, Bill brought a hand-out of examples of children’s poetry by some notable children’s poets. He said that Douglas Florian is known for poetry picture books that play with words. X.J. Kennedy writes poetry for older kids. Jack Prelutsky and the late Shel Silverstein are two renowned and well-loved poets known for using a lot of humor in their work.

Bill also brought a hand-out with two examples of his own poetry – “Toodles” was published in Fandango in 2007, and “Pick me, pick me!” was published in People Poetry, Diversion Books, in 2011. And he read a few poems from his self-published collection, It’s a Jungle Out There!

He said that kids enjoy wordplay and they respond to rhythm – the sound of the words will catch them. Visual words will put a picture of the poem in the reader’s mind. Young kids won’t catch metaphors, but they will catch similes. Rhyming poetry is good for little kids – it helps them with reading – but older kids don’t need it as much. And kids always respond to humor – especially when it’s “gross.”

Bill said he hears a poem in his head as he writes it, and he also reads it aloud – poetry is meant to be read out loud, because it comes from the oral tradition of bards singing poems. He edits as he writes, and pays attention to techniques such as rhyme and meter, but poetic elements shouldn’t be noticeable – if a reader notices the elements first then the poem doesn’t work. The elements should be seamless, and the poem should flow. He talked about the concept of “enjambment,” where one line grammatically flows into the next. If done correctly a reader will read through the sentence, without noticing the line breaks.

He thinks the best way to get good at writing poetry is to read a lot of it and to write every day, even if you think it’s crap. There’s no one style of poetry writing – you should do what’s best for you. He suggested joining local or online poetry critique groups – feedback from readers and fellow writers will help you to develop your technique. And he mentioned a yearly event, the Dodge Poetry Festival – it’s the largest poetry event in North America, and features major poets such as Billy Collins. This year’s festival will be in Newark, NJ, on October 11 – 14. For more information, check out the website - http://www.dodgepoetry.org/

Bill has been published in several print markets, such as local magazine Chronogram – he said the Chronogram editor gave him good feedback. “Pick me, pick me!” was published in a poetry anthology. And he’s also been published in several quality online markets that have high criteria for publication. He said that many online publications aren’t paying markets but are excellent training ground, and are good for publication credits. Some print markets will pay in copies. When a poem is accepted, the publication has “First North American Rights” of the work. But later, a poem can be reprinted. Bill collected his published poems in his chapbook, It’s a Jungle Out There! He stated where the poems were first published in his acknowledgments page.

Michelle has been published in numerous print and online poetry publications. She brought a stack of print magazines that featured her poems, as well as a binder full of her online publications.

She said she’d started out in poetry by self-publishing – first with a ‘zine for adults called Artless & Naked. She had many friends who were writers and artists, and she wanted to give them a creative forum for their work. That was in the ‘90s, and was a true labor of love – she did everything from page layout to printing and collating copies to distributing the seasonal issues. And she funded the ‘zine out-of-pocket. It even went international – she had several pen-pals in England and Europe who were writers, and she published their work and sent them copies to distribute in their regions.

Then, she and Kathy, a co-worker in the Barnes & Noble children’s department and fellow children’s book lover, started Whimsy, a ‘zine for kids. It featured poems, short stories and artwork, by children as well as adult writers and artists. Michelle and Kathy also wrote reviews of children’s picture books, beginning reader books and middle-grade books. And Michelle did interviews with children’s book writers and illustrators. She started with local authors and illustrators, like artist James Ransome and author Da Chen. The success of those interviews gave her the confidence to approach “big” names for interviews, like Jack Gantos – one of her favorite authors. Her interview with him appeared in one of Whimsy’s last issues – health, family and financial issues caused her and Kathy to decide to take a break from publishing the ‘zine. Michelle said she has thought about reviving Whimsy, especially since it could be done online, rather than as a costly print publication. And Bill – who had been published in Whimsy – offered to help her with the aspects of online publishing. I’d love to see Whimsy start up again – I think it was an enjoyable, thoughtful and well-produced addition to children’s periodicals.

Michelle said that she did these ‘zines for fun and for the experience – and that a lot of it was just “bullshitting” her way through it all. She said that if you want to try something, just take a chance and do it. Life is too short for fear, and you can accomplish a lot if you try.

In 2003, she published a chapbook, Moongirls and Nightdreams, through Palace Poets – the editor knew of Michelle through a mutual friend who’d also published a poetry chapbook, and he contacted her about it. She said it was the first time she was paid for her work.

Her first poem that was published in a print magazine was for Songs of Innocence (and Experience) in 2004. She had come across the magazine, and liked its gothic tone. So she sent in a poem, and then didn’t hear back for several months. She was ready to just give up on it and move on, when the editor responded, saying that there had been a setback and the issue was coming out late, but he wanted to publish her poem in it. So it was worth the wait!

She agreed with Bill that joining a writing group is a good way to get feedback to improve your writing. She belongs to an online writers’ group, and has made many friendships and contacts through it.

She started submitting to online markets – first she just got credits, and then she started getting paid. One of her favorites is EMG-Zine (www.emg-zine.com) – many of her poems have been published there. Other favorite online publications are The Clockwise Cat (www.theclockwisecat.com) and Underneath the Juniper Tree (www.underneaththejunipertree.com).

She suggested Waterways: Poetry in the Mainstream as a good print market – it is based in NY and has a regional theme. She’s been published in several issues. (For more info, the website is http://www.tenpennyplayers.org/mags.html.) She’s also had good success with Polluto, a UK print magazine that’s one of her favorites. She said they have very weird themes, like “Identity Theft and the Octopus Kid,” that are interpreted in many different ways by the writers and artists. She’s also been published in another UK magazine, Trespass – she said that for some reason, British magazine take to her; maybe it’s because she’s from the U.S. and they like her international appeal.

She also said to look out for unusual markets – several general magazines and special interest publications have poetry pages. She placed in a poetry contest in the Pennysaver, and also had a poem published in Cross Stitch Crazy – she was especially pleased with that acceptance, because it combines two things she loves: writing and cross-stitching. And both publications are paying markets.

Michelle said she writes mainly ekphrastic poetry – poems inspired by visual art, such as paintings, drawings, or photographs. One of her favorite artists is James Tissot – she said he told stories within his paintings, so it was a natural response for her to write poems about them. She’s also greatly inspired by the artwork of her brother Eric, who passed away three years ago. He was also a poet and writer, and she thought it would be fitting to honor his creative work by writing ekphrastic poems to go with his paintings and drawings. (Since the meeting, she has finished the project and published their collaborative book, Divided Together, through Lulu. The website features a preview of the book, and Michelle’s poems are a creative, beautiful and heartfelt interpretation of Eric’s wildly imaginative and creative abstract art. I’m ordering a copy for myself and one for my sister, who was a friend of Eric’s. It’s a great and moving example of poetry as a powerful form of emotional and artistic expression.

(http://www.lulu.com/shop/michelle-mead-and-eric-mead/divided-together/paperback/product-20093193.html)

Michelle’s poems often invoke emotion, even when she writes to fill a publication’s specific theme. She said that the themes can sometimes be challenging, such as the ones for emg-zine.com – they have published her poems for themes like unicorns, trains, leaves, wizards, Egypt and selkies. Sometimes she will write right up to a last-minute deadline, and then just sends her submission in. She said she’s got nothing to lose, and it keeps her in the habit of writing and submitting.

She recommends Duotrope (www.duotrope.com) – a free resource for writers, with a submissions tracker for poems and short stories that she uses to organize and keep records of her submissions. The site has a database of over 4,000 current markets, and sections for print and online markets, as well as for different genres – including children’s writing. It sends out weekly updated market lists, too – that’s really important in the ever-changing publishing world. It keeps track of deadlines, and also compiles acceptance/rejection statistics of a writer’s submissions.

Bill said that it’s OK to do multiple submissions, as long as you state in your cover letter that you are submitting to other markets, too. He said to keep a cover letter short and simple, and gave an example: “Please accept the following poems in consideration for your publication.” He said that he’s gotten some rejections lately, but the publishers aren’t using the word “rejection” as much anymore – they are using “decline” or “pass,” and he thinks it’s an attempt to lessen the negativity of it.

Michelle said she thinks that rejections are OK – they are an acknowledgment that you are a writer. She said it’s good to not take anything personally and to remember that it’s all subjective, and many times, up to an editor’s particular interest or even mood. She said that the more you submit, the more you get used to it, and the more chances you have for publication. They both said that there many opportunities for poets, in print and online publications. Michelle suggested the Cricket magazine group that has publications for all age groups, from toddlers to teens. And Highlights for Children is a popular major market.

SCBWI members get a bi-monthy bulletin, with updated market news and listings. And Writer’s Digest publishes annual market listing books – the Poet’s Market includes a section on children’s poetry, and so does the Children’s Writers and Illustrators Market.

After Bill and Michelle’s informative and inspiring presentation, we encouraged anyone who had written children’s poetry to share it with us. Irene Kipp impressively recited her humorous poem about a family's table and their attempts to make it stable. And Peggy Stork read her sweetly wistful poem about a child’s wish on a dandelion. Everyone agreed that both poems were well-written and appropriate for the children’s poetry market. Bill gave Irene and Peggy a bit of technical advice, and we encouraged them to consider submitting their work. Michelle said she’d help out with market choices and the submission process.

All in all, I think it was a productive and stimulating meeting – even a non-poet like me learned some good and useful things. And I hope that everyone was able to take home something that they can inspire and inform their writing in the coming month.

The next Shop Talk is Saturday, May 26 – I asked for suggestions for topics for that meeting and for future ones. Bill is interested in the children’s short-short story market, and said that there are opportunities for very short pieces in magazines and online publications. He also suggested discussing “boys’ books” and “girls’ books” and the differences and similarities in writing for each gender. And he said that maybe we could have “homework,” such as giving out a first line, to be used as the beginning of short pieces that could be shared at upcoming meetings. We also talked about writing queries and 1 or 2-sentence “elevator pitches” for our current works-in-progress. All of the ideas are great, and I’ve mentioned them to Kim. We’re going to come up with topics for the next few meetings, and we’ll post them so everyone can know what to expect each month.

Any other suggestions, as well as questions or feedback, is much appreciated. Hope to see you all next month!