Articles

Meet Literary Agent Lori Steel

By Susan Koehler on October 30, 2024 / Articles, Editor / Agent Spotlight

It’s been a big year for Lori Steel. As an established literary agent with a track record of solid experience and successful clients, she decided to open her own agency, SteelWorks Literary. We’re grateful that Lori found the time to be a part of our agent spotlight, and we know you’ll enjoy learning more about her.

Hi Lori! I think it would be great to start our conversation by learning a little about your path to becoming an agent.

My path to agenting started working with books first as an educator and school librarian, where I had the privilege of matching young readers to books. I am also a writer, and my experience as an MFA student at Vermont College’s Writing for Children and Young Adults program was transformative. Shortly after graduating in 2012, I was given the unexpected opportunity to be an assistant at Greenhouse Literary, which was then housed near DC. Later, I interned at other agencies, before joining Jacqui Lipton and team at Raven Quill Literary. When RQLA merged with Tobias Literary, I joined the wonderful team at Red Fox Literary before founding my own agency, SteelWorks Literary.

Starting your own agency is a big deal! Can you walk us through the experience?

It’s been an exciting and busy launch, with an incredibly warm reception (and support!) from editors, fellow agents, and other industry colleagues. It’s gratifying to see SWL client projects already thriving, with plenty of new deals, books releasing to strong reviews, and recent Society of Illustrator recognitions for two SteelWorks titles.

How would you describe the mission and vision of SteelWorks Literary?

I’ve always had a vision for creating an agency home focused on craft and career development, and a sense of community. A place where deals are made, of course, but also relationships are forged, alongside a professional development mindset. SteelWorks Literary is a space where creatives are supported and encouraged to explore, stretch, and grow beyond expectations and conventions.

It sounds like you’ve created a great environment. I’m sure a lot of authors are watching for your submissions window to open. What are some things you’d like to see in their queries?

A strong pitch that showcases the narrative voice and plot effectively, compelling pacing, fully realized setting, and a professionally crafted query letter will get the best attention.

Which genres/themes/subjects are you drawn to/not drawn to?

I’m drawn to middle grade stories that reflect a deep understanding of their audience and trust readers to create inferential leaps where warranted. I’m particularly drawn to setting-rich environments – even in contemporary novels – where the author’s sense of place feels authentic and realized.

Didactic narratives that place message above story-telling, space-bound sci-fi, and overly heavy informational text aren’t strong fits for my list.

What advice do you have for authors who would like to send you a query?

Give yourself time and space to ensure your project is ready for submission. A few weeks or months later is not going to impact interest, but quality of story will! And when it’s ready to share, keep an eye open on SteelWorks Literary’s social media pages and the agency’s website for open windows. I also open for special events such as conferences and workshops.

Here at the Mixed-Up Files, we are all about middle grade, and I understand you also have a great fondness for this wonderful category of literature. What do you love most about middle-grade novels?

Middle Grade is that special audience of independent readers, who are still open to trying all varieties of formats. With the age range of 8-12 (generally), this audience tends to have wide appetites. They’ll read an entire mystery series, before diving into a WW2 historical novel, or a humorous contemporary, illustrated novel. They crave connection and insights into the world, as they seek to find their place within it. What I love most is that this audience is still open to read-alouds – and a strong MG novel will always have this quality! Hook a reader at this age, and you have a reader for life.

What are some of your favorite current middle-grade novels?

Right now I’m reading Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures and am swept away by the rich language and worldbuilding, dynamic pacing, and a sincere trust she shows her readers. Her books never disappoint and I have a deep appreciation for the depth of scholarly work she puts into each of her books.

We’ve all heard the distressing news about the “middle grade slump” and some downward trends in this market. Where do you think the middle grade market is headed?

This is a tricky question as it’s impossible to know how the market will respond to readers’ fluctuating needs, interests, and other outside forces. Currently, we’re seeing strong interest in graphic and illustrated novels, and a return to the shorter, more accessible middle grade novel format. While more robust page counts have been challenging to sell this past couple of years, the pendulum will swing back again. It always does! Readers need books, and new stories, with as much page count, genre, and format varieties as their intended audiences.

It seems like you’ve been very busy at SteelWorks Literary. Tell us about some current SWL projects that you’re excited about.

I’m excited about all SWL forthcoming projects! But since we’re talking middle grade, I’ll share Tate Godwin’s debut graphic novel series – starting with Operation: Cover Up! – which releases January 2025 from Andrews McMeel. Operation: Cover Up! introduces three unlikely friends as they navigate the complicated and comical terrain of fifth grade, learn how to be good friends, and remain true to themselves.

I’m also excited about Jilanne Hoffmann’s HeartLand debut middle grade novel. It’s a coming-of-age story told in parallel timelines and alternating POVs – in both prose and verse – about a girl on a sixth-generation Iowa farm, the legacy of the 1980s farm crisis, and a rooted-in-reality environmental cover-up that threatens the groundwater of the entire state (Little Brown Young Readers, fall 2025).

We’ve learned a lot about your work. I’m sure everyone would like to know more about ***you*. What are some of your favorite things that have nothing to do with being an agent?**

Time with family and friends. Being outside – whether that’s walking the dog, working in the garden, being near the water, or going for a hike…and baking for after-walk treats.

Where can authors learn more about you?

You can find out more about SteelWorks Literary on Instagram and Facebook @Steelworksliterary, and on Bluesky @steelworksliterary.bsky.social. Of course, you can also check out my MSWL.

Thanks so much for joining us, Lori! It’s been great learning about you and SteelWorks Literary, and we wish you all the best!

Diversity in MG Lit #49 Aug., Sept,. & Oct. 2024

By Rosanne Parry on October 16, 2024 / Articles

Lots of great new diverse middle grade books in the last few months. These books are representative of what comes my way at the independent bookstore where I work and are by no means the only diverse books that have published in the last few months. As always I love to see further recommendations in the comments.

I’m going to begin not with a diverse book but one of particularly timely interest Your Vote Matters: how we elect the US President, by Rebecca Katzman, Scholastic, 2024. There are many books on electoral politics. This one is concise yet comprehensive. It offers the broadest introductory information about things like caucuses, primaries, voting rights and political parties. It’s even handed and current up to the 2020 election. However, it does not mention the Jan 6th insurrection. Given the target audience of 3rd to 5th graders I have mixed feelings on the omission. I think it’s worth overlooking that problem in favor of having a useful guide to electoral politics for this age range.

Disability is the least served segment of diverse readers so I was happy to see a new series from the Mayo Clinic Press. It’s called Helping Paws Academy They are early readers and use the vehicle of hospital or clinic therapy dogs to give information about various medical conditions ranging from cuts and stitches to leukemia. I read Cricket Gives Comfort: exploring epilepsy. The prose was plain and clear and the illustrations fairly basic, but I was impressed by the amount of ground it covered in a straightforward way. It was written by a physician, Pat McCaw MD, and there are six initial titles. This would be a great resource for a school library.

As always there are many new MG novels in the fantasy ca

tegory that mix mythology, magic, and world cultures. Here is a round up of the most recent and the world culture they represent.

Jaden Powers and the Inheritance Magic, by Jamar J Perry. African-American. Bloomsbury

The Crossbow of Destiny by Brandon Hoàng. Vietnamese. Scholastic Press

Beware the Heartman by Shakirah Bourne. Bajan. Scholastic Press.

Jasmine is Haunted by Mark Oshiro. Queer and Latinx. Tor, Starscape

Kwame Crashes the Underworld by Craig Kofi Farmer. Ghanian. Farmer is a debut author. Roaring Brook Press

I’m always happy to see a good sports book for MG readers and elated to see three sports-based graphic novels.

Like Irish step dancing, Lion dancing is both a cultural expression and an athletic competition. Cai Tse is a lion dancer herself and a member of the Chinese Youth League of Australia. She brings her experiences exuberently to life in

Lion Dancers. Simon & Schuster

We are Big Time written by Hena Khan and Illustrated by Safiya Zerrougui, Random House, tells the story of an all hijabi basketball team in the midwest finding success on the court and a deeper Muslim identity. Zerrougui is a debut illustrator.

Between the Pipes is a graphic novel about a 13 year old gay First Nations hockey player in Canada navigating both his own culture and the toxic masculinity of high contact sports. The author Albert McLeod is Cree and Metis and a human rights activist specializing in 2Spirit history and identity. The artist, Alice RL, is a non-binary Ojibwe. Highwater Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Sticking with graphic novels but shifting to historical fiction and nonfiction, Black Lives: great minds of science by Tonya Bolden, illustrated by David Wilkerson is a new graphic novel series from Abrams. It delves into the lives of nine African-American scientists. Each one includes a life timeline and endnotes. The book is geared for the younger MG reader and will serve as a great introduction to science professions from aviator to marine biologist.

Pearl by Sherri L. Smith, illustrated by Chistine Norrie, Scholastic, covers ground I have not yet seen in a book for a MG reader. Set in WWII Hawaii and Japan, it’s the story of a young American woman who was sent to Japan before the attack on Pearl Harbor and survived the bombing of Hiroshima. It’s based on a memoir and because of the topic I’d recommend it for older MG grade readers.

When We Flew Away: a novel of Anne Frank before the diary by Alice Hoffman, Scholastic Press, is a prose novel about the years before the Frank family went into hiding in Amsterdam. It chronicles the relentless deterioration of their human rights. The book is written with the cooperation of the Anne Frank House.

The Salt Thief: Gandhi’s heroic march to freedom by Neal Bascomb is not just the story of Gandhi’s march to the sea but also a look at his influence on peaceful protest in the years following his activism. It comes with extensive bibliography and source notes. Scholastic Focus

Stealing Little Moon: the legacy of the American Indian boarding schools, by Dan Sasuweh Jones is an extensive chronicle of Indigenous people in America. It’s a heartbreaking read and follows, in part, four generations of the author’s family and their incarceration at Chilocco Indian Agricultural School. It includes historic photographs and an extensive bibliography of resources. It mentions many boarding schools across a more than a hundred years of cruel and shocking history. It does end with recent efforts of Deb Haaland, the Secretary of the Interior, to investigate and fully report on the Indian schools and information about the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. Dan Sasuweh Jones is a former chairman of he Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. Scholastic.

Thanks for supporting diverse books!

Rosanne

WNDMG Author Interview with Lynnette Mawhinney about her New Book

By Shifa Safadi on October 9, 2024 / Articles, Author Interviews, Diversity, WNDMG

WNDMG Author Interview with Lynnette Mawhinney about her New Book

I’m so excited to be able to introduce you to author Lynnette Mawhinney today. Lynnette’s book is titled Mamie Phipps Clark, Champion for Children (Magination Press), which is was published February 6, 2024.

I absolutely love graphic novels, and this one is nonfiction too! It is so important, with themes of fighting against segregation, of historical events in America like the Brown vs. Board of Education case, and an amazing Black woman who can inspire all of us.

I encourage everyone to buy a copy for themselves and their classrooms and libraries.

About Mamie Phipps Clark, Champion for Children:

Description taken from online:

This inspiring graphic novel tells the story of groundbreaking psychologist and civil rights activist Mamie Phipps Clark, PhD and her research in the racial identity and development of self in Black children, the work that ultimately played a vital role in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case.

Part of American Psychological Association’s Extraordinary Women in Psychology series.

Mamie was born and raised in Hot Springs, Arkansas, during a time when United States laws intentionally disadvantaged Black people and permitted racial segregation. This profoundly impacted her life and work and instilled in her an unstoppable force to champion for Black children. Mamie made a difference with science – she studied math and psychology at Howard University. She was first the Black woman to graduate from Columbia University with a doctorate degree in psychology. Mamie expanded her earlier master’s research into the famous black-doll/white-doll experiments that exposed the negative effects of racial segregation in children. Along with her research partner and husband, Kenneth Clark, Mamie became expert witnesses in several school desegregation cases, including Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954, which effectively ended racial segregation in school. Mamie dedicated her life to advocate for children who deserved more than what society offered them and she built the Northside Center in Harlem, NY to support children with special needs, academic programs, and mental health services.

Filled with interesting news stories and thought-provoking activities, this book encourages readers to carry on Mamie’s legacy and become champions for themselves and others in their community.

Interview with Lynnette:

I loved getting to talk to Lynnette about her new book and I think you will enjoy meeting her as well.

SSS: What a description! This book sounds SO important, and I cannot wait to read Mamie’s inspiring story. What inspired you to write about Mamie?

LM: Magination Press approached me to write this book, as it was the next in the series Extraordinary Women in Psychology. I knew about Dr. Clark from the doll test, but after that, I didn’t know much about here. Deep diving into the research to bring her to life, I was just taken aback as to how much her work has influenced all of us—even today. The more I learned about her, the more, the more she inspired me, and the more motivated I was to bring her story to light.

SSS: How do historical events and laws impact society today? What can Mamie teach us about the world today?

LM: Dr. Clark’s story teaches us that change can be a long process, but it also has lasting impacts. I think Dr. Clark teaches us to stay the course, keep justice and youth at the forefront. When we advocate for justice-oriented change, the historical events and laws need to be simultaneously embraced, analyzed, and challenged for continued and lasting change.

SSS: I love graphic novels. How was it like to collaborate with an artist on this project?

LM: In this world, I don’t get to collaborate directly with the illustrator, as all requests go through our editor. But working with Neil was great, as he graciously took any feedback I had given the editor. His artwork and truly gift was the key to bringing Dr. Clark’s story to life, and I am forever grateful.

SSS: The subject of segregation is so important, and teaching anti-racism is a must in classrooms. How can nonfiction help teach students to advocate for justice?

LM: My immediate response is, “when we know better, we do better.” That, I hope, is one of the lessons that history teaches us. We can learn from our past in order to do better for and with humanity in the future. Dr. Clark’s story tells us how youth can continue to be advocates for change, and how being a visionary can help to change make a difference for justice.

SSS: Do you have any more incredible book recs for us?

LM: I am currently in the middle of reading When the Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed. It is also a non-fiction graphic novel/memoir about Omar’s life growing up as a refugee in Kenya. I haven’t finished reading it yet, but so far, the book has been wonderfully done! It’s a compelling read.

SSS: Thank you so much for this beautiful rec.

Link to order Lynnette’s Book here.

Writing Process

SSS: When did you start writing this book? How do you think your background of being a Professor of Urban Education help you in writing?

LM: I stared the research process in 2021. Dr. Clark was NOT easy to research, as she was often pushed to the side because she was a woman. I often joked that this research process was like “Where’s Waldo” and trying to find Dr. Clark’s legacy and story.

As a scholar, I honestly had to use all my research skills I have been trained in with this process. I interviewed people, spent LOTS of hours in libraries, and went to museums to collect data. As a matter of fact, this project pushed me to learn new research skills with exploring archival research and helped to build me up as a researcher.

SSS: How is the process of writing a graphic novel different from writing a picture book, or an adult book in prose? (I noticed you are so prolific!)

LM: This was an extremely new and different process of writing. For a graphic novel, I would say it is equal to writing a screenplay. In a graphic novel, I had to not only write the story and dialogue, but I also had to write out each scene. It was like writing “stage direction” or in this case “visual direction” along with the dialogue. It was fun, as it really got to push my visualization of Dr. Clark’s life.

SSS: Any advice for fellow authors?

LM: Keep writing and keep exploring. Don’t be afraid to try new ways of writing or contributing your voice to this world because what we all have to say and share with the world matters.

Bonus!

SSS: Bonus question! Is there anything I haven’t asked that you’d like to share with us?

LM: Dr. Clark was a visionary and way before her time. I hope that readers enjoy the book and get to see just how her work continued to influence all our daily lives.

Thank you so much Lynnette for answering my questions! I hope everyone picks up a copy of your beautiful book.

About Lynnette Mawhinney PhD:

LYNNETTE MAWHINNEY, PhD, is an award-winning writer, creator, and long-time educator. Dr. Mawhinney was a former high school English teacher at the School District of Philadelphia and transitioned into teacher education. She has conducted teacher trainings in the U.S., Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, South Africa, Bahrain, and Egypt. Dr. Mawhinney is Professor of Urban Education and Senior Associate Dean for Strategic Academic Initiatives at Rutgers University-Newark. As a secret artist, she applies her craft of visual-based approaches to her research and scholarship on the recruitment and retention of teachers of Color. She is the author and editor of five academic books.

In 2020, Dr. Mawhinney was the recipient of the American Educational Studies Association’s Critics Choice Book Award for her co-written book, There Has to be a Better Way: Lessons from Former Urban Teachers.

Aside from academic books, Dr. Mawhinney is a children’s book author. Her first book, Lulu the One and Only, received an acclaimed starred Kirkus Review, along with awards such as the Notable Social Studies Trade Book Award by the National Council for Social Studies and the Children’s Book Council. Her new book, Mamie Phipps Clark: Champion for Children, is a biography graphic novel for youth.

Dr. Mawhinney is also the Founder and President of Gaen Knowledge, LLC, a consultancy firm that performs traditional and visual-based evaluation and equity audits for organizations (e.g. PreK-12 schools, higher education institutions, and clinical health settings).

Links:

Website: www.lynnettemawhinney.com

Instagram: @lkmawhinney