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The Nonfiction Family Tree

By on May 28, 2014   /   Author Interviews, Book Lists, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, News, Nonfiction  

A few weeks ago, I attended the New England SCBWI conference in beautiful Springfield, MA. I had the pleasure of sitting in on a workshop given by  Melissa Stewart and Sarah Albee on Nonfiction. It was fascinating!  There was so much GREAT information that I felt it would be good for others to learn about it. I contacted Melissa and she graciously agreed to be interviewed.   For those of you that haven’t heard of  or been lucky enough to meet Melissa, here’s a little about her:

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Melissa Stewart is the award-winning author of more than 150 science books for children. She has always been fascinated by the natural world and is passionate about sharing its beauty and wonder with readers of all ages.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in biology from Union College in Schenectady, NY, and a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University, Melissa worked as a children’s book editor for nine years before becoming a fulltime writer in 2000. She has written everything from board books for preschoolers to magazine articles for adults.

Melissa believes that nothing brings nonfiction writing to life like firsthand research. While gathering information for her books, she has explored tropical rain forests in Costa Rica, gone on safari in East Africa, and swum with sea lions in the Galapagos Islands.

When Melissa isn’t writing or exploring the natural world, she spends time speaking at schools, libraries, nature centers, and educator conferences. She serves on the Board of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Keene State College Children’s Literature Festival.

With the advent of Common Core, nonfiction seems to be taking off. Can you give us a little background of how nonfiction has changed over the years? Wow, it’s changed A LOT. Fifteen years ago, most nonfiction text was rather dry. If an author wrote a manuscript with a strong voice, it was edited out. Today editors want, no demand, a strong voice. In the past, authors were supposed to be unbiased, but today it’s perfectly okay for writers to express a point of view.  Art and design has also changed. Ever since desktop publishing software was invented, illustrators and designers have been experimenting. The result is dynamic designs that kids can’t resist. The upshot is that today’s nonfiction has a dual purpose. It delights as well as informs.  

 

In your talk, you broke nonfiction up into seven categories. Can you explain these categories? Sure. In my talk with uber-talented author Sarah Albee [link: http://www.sarahalbeebooks.com/], we drew upon the work of a group of highly-respected academics who call themselves the Uncommon Corp [link: http://nonfictionandthecommoncore.blogspot.com/]. They classify nonfiction books into seven broad categories. Data: In more friendly terms, you might call this category Fasts Facts. It includes Eyewitness Books, The Guinness Book of World Records, and my own book Animal Grossapedia. These are the concise, fact-filled books that groups of boys love to read together and discuss.

Expository: You might call this category Facts Plus because the facts are interwoven into a content-area explanation. This is could be considered “traditional” nonfiction in some ways, but there’s nothing old-fashioned about today’s expository titles. Their engaging text and rich, dynamic art and design are sure to delight as well as inform young readers.

Narrative: This is a category we’ve heard a lot (I mean A LOT) about in the last few years. It’s the current darling of awards committees. Narrative titles present facts in the form of a true story with a narrative arc.   As you learn about the next few categories, I think you’ll see that some of the books that have been lumped into the narrative category should really be thought about on their own terms, based on the author’s approach to the information.

Disciplinary Thinking: These books reveal how scientists and historians go about their work, how they evaluate evidence and form theories. The structure could be narrative, but it usually isn’t. This category might also be called something like Experts at Work. Scientists in the Field books are the perfect example, but there are plenty of other examples. Skull by Mark Aronson is one that immediately comes to mind.

Inquiry: This category could also be called Ask and Answer. In these books, the author raises a question or a group of related questions and then seeks the answer. Sally Walker’s Written in Bone and What Bluebirds Do by Pamela F. Kirby are great examples.

Interpretation: For these books, authors research a topic widely, find their own meaning in the information, and present the content from that point of view. Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman is the first title that leaps to mind, but I’d also put books like Those Rebels, Tom and John by Barbara Kerley in this category. I think we’ll see more of these books in the future because this type of presentation directly supports Common Core.

Action: This is category offers a separate spot for titles that invite young readers to take action. The most obvious examples include Citizen Scientists by Loree Griffin Burns and the Science Play series by Vicki Cobb. I’m not sure this system is the be all and end all, but it’s a very interesting way for writers, teachers, librarians, and other book lovers to think about nonfiction. It stretches the way we think about current books and future possibilities, and I think that’s extremely valuable.

 

Do you think certain topics lend themselves to certain categories? Yes. I think narrative nonfiction works very well for biographies and books about historical events. These topics naturally have a beginning, a middle, and an end. With enough research, an author can craft the alternating scenes and summary architecture that characterizes narrative nonfiction. When writing about science, math, or the Arts, narrative nonfiction may not be an option. Even if it is, it may not be the best choice. For a broad overview of any topic, expository usually works best.   Two great examples are Bugged: How Insects Changes History by Sarah Albee and 9780802734228_p0_v4_s260x420 A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Carolyn Cinami Decristofano.     If writers think about these categories at the beginning of a project, I think they may have an easier time coming up with a great way to approach a topic and a solid structure for their book. It provides some options, so we aren’t just shooting in the dark.  

 

Which one do you think is most popular with kids? Why? Data books are clearly the most popular with kids. Most school librarians will tell you that titles like The Guinness Book of World Records is almost constantly checked out. Elementary-aged readers love fascinating facts, so Data books can be good for hooking beginning readers. But many educators worry that these books don’t do much to help kids build their reading skills. Right now, thought leaders like Jonathan Hunt and Marc Aronson feel that we need a new breed of book that forms a bridge between Data books and long-form nonfiction that students are expected to read in middle school and high school.

 

Which categories do teachers tend use in their classrooms? In recent years, teachers didn’t use much high-quality trade nonfiction in the classroom at all. But the hope is that Common Core is changing that. Right now, teachers are struggling to learn about nonfiction, and they are building their classroom libraries. Luckily, most school librarians have been singing the praises of the new nonfiction for several years now, so they are becoming trusted advisors in schools where they exist. We need more school librarians!

 

Any tips for readers about how to find fun, engaging nonfiction books? Here are some lists to keep an eye on. They include great nonfiction titles from all seven categories:

  • AAAS/Subaru Prizes for Excellence in Science Books
  • ALA Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award
  • CRA Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Book Award
  • Cook Prize for STEM Picture Book
  • Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices List
  • Cybils Nonfiction for Middle Grade & Young Adult
  • Cybils Nonfiction Picture Books
  • NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
  • NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12
  • YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults

 

How do you see the world of nonfiction changing for the future? That’s a great question, and I’m not sure I really know the answer. My hope is that we’ll see more nonfiction being published for children. Although I think many editors are now more open to reviewing nonfiction submission than they were in the past, what I hear is that they aren’t yet acquiring significantly more nonfiction manuscripts. This may be because many editors are still trying to get up to speed on the market. They need to familiarize themselves with what’s out there and gain an understanding of the characteristics of best-selling and award-winning nonfiction. Some editors may also be in a wait-and-see mode, wondering how long Common Core will stick around. There is a lot of controversy regarding the testing associated with CCSS, but the standards themselves are sound. Still, educators are famous for a throw-the-baby-out-with-the-bathwater mentality. They tend to move in completely new directions every decade or so, abandoning previous ideas rather than revising them.

 

Of all the books you have written, do any stand out as having been really fun to write? Perhaps they were about a topic that you loved or in a format that you enjoyed.  I guess I’m still an elementary-aged fact-lover at heart. One of my favorite books to research and write was Animal Grossapedia because it’s so chock full of amazing examples of how animals use pee, poop, vomit, slime (mucus), and spit to catch food and stay safe. But what I also really like about this book is that as kids read example after example, they gradually come to the book’s central idea—that animals have an amazing array of adaptations and behaviors that make it possible for them to survive in the world. So I’m sharing an idea that’s a central tenet of biology, but in a package that they find irresistible. To me, that’s a successful book.

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Thanks so much for helping us to understand the wild and wonderful world of nonfiction, Melissa!!

To learn more about Melissa see her website at www.melissa-stewart.com.  Melissa also has a great blog called “Celebrate Science” where she focuses on cool nonfiction books, how she writes them, and talks more about the classification and structure of nonfiction books. Check it out here:  www.celebratescience.blogspot.com

 

**** Jennifer Swanson is the author over 20 fiction and nonfiction books. She is a science nerd at heart and loves to learn new and fun science facts which is why her shelves are filled with books!!

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Diversity in Children’s Literature: The Search for the Missing Characters (and Authors!) of Color

By on April 25, 2014   /   For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, News, Op-Ed  
courtesy scholastic.com

courtesy scholastic.com

A recent study conducted by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin discovered something shocking. Of 3,200 children’s books released in 2013, a mere 223 were by authors of color, and 253 were about people of color.

If you break that down by ethnic group, that amounts to 93 books about African/African American characters (and only 67 by African/African American authors); 57 about Latino/as; and 69 about Asian and Pacific Islanders. And it was an embarrassing 34 books about Native American characters, with only 18 of those books actually written by Native American authors. No matter how you slice it, it’s no where near enough; a mere fraction of the percentages of those communities represented in the U.S. population.

courtesy bookriot.com

courtesy bookriot.com

At least it has generated some serious conversations. In last month’s New York Times Sunday Review, Walter Dean Meyers asked: Where are the People of Color in Children’s Books? In Meyer’s words, “Books transmit values. They explore our common humanity. What is the message when some children are not represented in those books?”

In the same issue, Meyers’ son, Christopher Meyers wrote of The Apartheid of Children’s Literature, suggesting that a dearth of characters of colors in children’s literature results not only in children being unable to see themselves in the stories they read (what we might call the ‘mirror’ function of literature), but also in children being unable to chart their future possibilities (what we might call the ‘map’ function of literature, in other words ‘you can’t be what you can’t see.’). He argued,

[Children] create, through the stories they’re given, an atlas of their world, of their relationships to others, of their possible destinations…We adults — parents, authors, illustrators and publishers — give them in each book a world of supposedly boundless imagination that can delineate the most ornate geographies, and yet too often today’s books remain blind to the everyday reality of thousands of children. Children of color remain outside the boundaries of imagination. The cartography we create with this literature is flawed.

Subsequently, there’s been a lot of buzz about ‘diversity’ in children’s literature. Interestingly, most of that ‘buzz’ has been about YA books, including this CNN post which asks, “Where’s the African American Harry Potter or the Mexican Katniss?” (Ok, never mind that Katniss was described as olive-skinned in the books, I won’t even go there..)  Author Heather Tomlinson has done a terrific round-up of some of the recent ‘diversity’ conversations taking place here on her blog, including this comprehensive post from bookriot (with even more links) which urges “We Need Bigger Megaphones for Diversity in Kidlit.” In the post, author Kelly Jensen asks,

In a world where John Green takes up nearly half of the New York Times YA Bestsellers list… why aren’t more people like him, with enormous social platforms, giving a little time to these conversations? What does he — or any other of a number of well-positioned, socially-connected YA authors (white men and some white women) — stand to lose from addressing these concerns? Would a reblog or a retweet of one of the first of a series of stories kill their career? Or would it help the voices of those who deserve to be heard get that attention? Would they reach members of their fan bases eager to discover more stories that they have been craving?

Diversity talk seems to be all around the industry right now. When, in mid-March, an attendee at the the New York City Teen Author Book Festival asked why she had only seen  one author of color speak all weekend, no one had a good answer for her. Agent Jim McCarthy, who had an author speaking on one of those all-white panels, subsequently wrote about the experience, asking the following interesting questions: “…where is the root of the problem? Is it in the largely white make-up of the publishing industry? Are we weeding out material by and about experiences we simply don’t understand? Is there an institutional racism that hasn’t been broached yet?”

The issue of institutional racism is a huge one, and it’s one that negates the claim that maybe authors of color don’t write, or at least, don’t write as well as white authors. In a powerful essay called “Diversity is Not Enough: Race, Power and Publishing,”  called the children’s publishing industry to task. The Market, he argues, is not a mysterious and ineffable thing (Who knows! It’s just The Market!), but rather, something constructed by people — people who chose which books to publish, which books to write about/share/review, and which books to economically support regarding promotion and marketing. Blaming authors of color for not knowing ‘their craft’ is simply “the language of privilege – the audacity of standing at the top of a mountain you made on the backs of others and then yelling at people for being at the bottom. If it’s not the intangible Market that’s to blame, it’s the writers of color, who maybe don’t have what it takes and don’t submit enough anyway. Read the subtextual coding here – the agent first places the onus of change on the folks with the least institutional power to effect it, then suggests we probably won’t be able to find the time (i.e., lazy) to master the craft.”

Older quotes from this Vanity Fair interview with actress Anika Noni Rose, in which she says, “There are so many writers of color out there, and often what they get when they bring their books to their editors, they say, ‘We don’t relate to the character.’ Well it’s not for you to relate to! And why can’t you expand yourself so you can relate to the humanity of a character as opposed to the color of what they are?”

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courtesy juliedillonart.com, courtesy buzzfeed.com

The issue is one that is as central to Middle Grade novels and Middle Grade authors as YA novels and authors. Is there an apartheid in MG literature? The numbers surely suggest yes. Rather than blaming The Market or, worse still, middle grade authors of color, perhaps we as a community need to come up with some solutions. These solutions might include:

1. As the CNN article suggests, BIGGER MEGAPHONES. Who are the biggest middle grade names and voices out there? Kate DiCamillo, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, WE NEED YOU (and people like you) to not only support books by and about people of color, but lend your voice and considerable authority to the conversation.

2. Agents and Editors willing to believe in, invest in, and market authors of color (and stories about characters of color). But agents and editors need support too – so we need agencies and publishing houses committed to issues of diversity. (While recognizing that some are already so, I’m looking at you, Tu Books)

How can you help your organization put diversity on the agenda? Maybe your agency/publishing house needs to regularly read and share blogs addressing diversity like that of the  CBC diversity committee. Maybe your agency/publishing house needs to have a book club, google hang out, or twitter chat where you read, discuss and recommend to each other stories by and about people of color (even from among books you don’t represent!). Maybe your agency/publishing house needs to hire more agents or editors of color! Maybe your agency/publishing house could publicly pledge to increase the number of authors of color they represent, or books they publish by and about people of color! (And become an industry leader and role model for doing so!)

3. Librarians, teachers, parents, and readers to promote and embrace stories by and about characters of color – and not just during African- or Asian American history months! Stories that represent our diverse world are needed by all children all year round – not once a month, and not simply trotting out special ‘ethnic’ books for ‘ethnic’ children. And think about genre, too — are all the stories about African American characters historical fiction addressing segregation and slavery? Does your science fiction and fantasy collection feature any Native American, Asian American or Latino/a authors?

4. Authors Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo established the Diversity in YA blog (and reading series!), perhaps there needs to be a similar blog set up called Diversity in MG!

5. Established authors paying attention to ‘who else is at the table’ (or on the panel, as the case may be). Is there a wonderful author of color or book about a character of color you love? Pass it on to your editor or agent! Talk it up on your blog! Tweet, Instagram or shout from the rooftops about it! Someone helped you get where you are, why not pay it forward? (while this is related to point #1 above about bigger megaphones, I also don’t think you need to be a ‘major name’ to support diversity.)

Authors, how’s this for an easily achievable step: When invited to speak somewhere, take the responsibility to ask who else is coming. I learned this trick from several white male academics I know who, when asked to speak somewhere, always ask who else is going to be there. If they realize it will be yet another all  white panel/speaker series/conference, they suggest other names. I actually know of one man who has bowed out of several panels to make room for other voices. Now I’m not advocating for tokenism (stick that one person of color on the panel!) but for us as colleagues to think how even small everyday actions can help us be a part of the solution, rather than  part of perpetuating the problem.

6. All authors paying attention to the diversity present in their stories. Now, like my comment on panels above, this doesn’t mean ‘stick in a token kid of color/disabled kid/LGBTQ kid’ into your story, but rather, that we all write stories that reflect the world around us (and most of us live in a pretty diverse world). There are plenty of good resources on writing cross culturally out there – but I recommend this post on the “12 Fundamentals of Writing the Other (and the Self)”  by , and this one by Cynthia Leitich Smith called “Writing, Tonto and the Wise Cracking Minority Sidekick who is the First to Die.” 

N.B. Although obviously important, I put this point about writing across cultures purposefully last. This is because I think it problematic that conversations about diversity in children’s literature so often become only about non-POC authors being ‘brave’ enough to write racially diverse stories. Now, I’m not endorsing any type of essentialism – ie. suggesting something ridiculous and limiting like authors should only write about characters whose ethnicities, sexualities, genders, etc. are exactly like theirs. Of course not. But I still want to borrow here a slogan from the disability activism movement: ‘Nothing About Us Without Us.’ In other words, I think that any conversation about racial diversity in kidlit has to be first about encouraging, nurturing, publishing, promoting and celebrating authors of color. (Right? Right.)

What other solutions do you as a readership suggest? Let’s use the comments section to  brainstorm – and of course celebrate your favorite middle grade stories by and about people of color!

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Being Small is Good: A Conversation with a Small Press

By on April 4, 2014   /   Author Interviews, News  
@ 2013 Familius, LLC.

@ 2013 Familius, LLC.

We talk a lot about middle-grade books here at From the Mixed-Up Files. But most of the books we highlight come from the big, national publishers in New York City. I’ve been curious to learn more about smaller publishing houses.

Luckily for me, I ran into a good friend of mine, Carol Lynch Williams, a well-known MG and YA author.  Co-writing with her friend Cheri Pray Earl, they’ve published their lower middle-grade Just In Time series with a new and very small publisher, Familius. Today I talk with them, their illustrator, the company’s design director, and the company’s CEO to learn the process of publishing a book with a small press.

The cast for today’s interview (click on the links below for a more detailed bio of each of our players):

Carol Lynch Williams, co-author of the Just in Time Series
Cheri Pray Earl, co-author of the Just in Time Series
Manelle Oliphant, illustrator of the Just in Time Series
David Miles, Director of Digital Development and Design at Familius
Christopher Robbins, Founder and CEO of Familius
MUF (the Mixed-Up Files interviewer, aka me)

MUF: Welcome to all of you! First, let’s start at the beginning of this process. Carol and Cheri, how did you decide to write this series of books together?

Carol Lynch Williams

Carol Lynch Williams

Cheri: I asked Carol to write the series with me because (a) we are hilarious when we are together. We sort of feed off each other . . . or something. It’s magic; (b) neither one of us writes lower middle-grade novels—we write YA and adult mostly—but somehow we can achieve a younger perspective when we write together (The Dumbening Effect?); and (c) when the idea for the series first jumped into my head, it came as a story told by both main characters, George and Gracie. I love the variety of personality and the texture that format gives to our writing and to our stories.

Carol: Cheri called me one day, told me her idea of twins traveling in time and started to ask if I might want to write with her. The words weren’t even out of her mouth when I said, “Yes!” Her idea was fun and intriguing. While I have written plenty of middle grade novels, and several young adult, too, together Cheri and I can write for a younger reader. It was scary when we started. But it’s been a lot of fun. We’ve researched like crazy. Gone back and forth like crazy. Worked crazy hours to get the best books we can.

MUF: How did you find Familius, and what was the submission process like with a small press?

Carol: Cheri and I had the first two books written when we went to visit Christopher Robbins. We’d actually sold them to another small press. But things hadn’t worked out there. I’d met Christopher before, was actually working on a nonfiction book with him (a book I wrote with my second daughter entitled SISTER, SISTER). I kept thinking Cheri and I should see what he thought of the Just in Time series. I knew Christopher wanted to start publishing young adult books. I was tentative about approaching Cheri. We were headed to another small publishing house. And a brand new house, at that.

Cheri: Well, our good friend, Rick Walton, put us in touch with Christopher Robbins and we pitched our idea for the series to him. We drove out to his beautiful home in Huntsville, Utah where he introduced us to his family and made us lunch. He liked the idea of Just In Time, and after some follow-up discussions about our target audience and marketing and such, we started working together on the series. I’d say maybe six weeks went by before he said yes to us. That doesn’t happen in big publishing houses, I can tell you. Your agent does all the pitching and the publisher doesn’t make you lunch at his/her house. It could take months and months before you get an acceptance or a rejection, or it could happen on the spot. That happens too. The same with small presses, but in my experience they tend to be even slower at responding than big houses. Fewer hands to manage submissions?

MUF: Since there are two of you writing the series together, how do you decide on a story for each book? Is it harder to pick an idea with two heads in the pot, or do you find The One comes just as easily as it does when writing your own books?

Cheri Earl Pray

Cheri Earl Pray

Cheri: Carol and I begin a new book in the Just In Time series by digging around in whichever state we’re writing about to find interesting people or events in that state’s history. We look for lesser-known historical events, at least lesser known for most people. We talk back and forth for a week or so about the cool stories we’re discovering and then decide which we like best. We’ve never had problems deciding on The One; not sure why. I think maybe we have the same taste in suspense. For instance, Book Four (coming out in Fall 2014) is about an event that happened off the Georgia coast in early 1942, right after the United States entered WWII; Georgia is our state for Book Four. Most kids don’t know that WWII was fought in part on US shores; in fact, most adults don’t know that either.

Carol: And Cheri and I wanted to write about facts that kids might not know about. Sure, lots of children in Pennsylvania know about the chocolate factory there in Hershey. But few kids in other states know what a kind and good man Milton Hershey was. We seek out stories we know little about. That spark our interests.

MUF: So, what happens at Familus after you finish writing a book in the series?

Cheri: Carol and I draft a book, revise and edit it to get it as clean as we can—for content as well as micro stuff—before we email it to Maggie Wickes, the executive editor at Familius. She emails the manuscript to our editor for the series, Amy Stewart, who then reads the book and gives us input on the story (macro stuff). We revise and email it back to her. We do this back and forth until Amy thinks the book is ready for micro editing, which she also does. Then she emails the manuscript to Maggie. David designs the book and emails the galleys to Amy, Carol, and me before the book goes to press, then he inputs the edits we suggest.

For our first three books, all of this back and forth was done via email. But starting with Book Four, Maggie will send us (me, Carol, and Amy) hardcopies to look at just before and just after the book is designed. The beauty of working with a new and small press is that if a process, for instance the editing process, needs some tweaking we get to say, “This needs tweaking,” and our publisher listens to us. We negotiate the new process until everyone is happy. That’s why we now work on hardcopy pages instead of electronic pages midway through the editing process; it was a negotiation. Very cool.

Carol: This IS one of the cool things about being at a smaller house. We work closely in all parts of the process. Again, that’s different in the national world of publishing.

MUF: And that’s a great segue into the art and design aspect of creating a book. David, as Cheri mentioned, you are in charge of the book designs for the Just in Time series. How does the design process work with a small press?

David Miles

David Miles

David: As we’ve talked with librarians and sales reps, we continue to find that design is a critical—and sometimes tricky—part of the success of a series. On one hand, you want the books’ look to be fresh and original. On the other hand, I hear from librarians that they’re expecting a certain “look,” a result of years of successful children’s series that have inadvertently set the conditioned standard for children’s packaging. And therein lies the challenge: make something different, that isn’t. We’ve worked to create a series look that we feel incorporates our favorite elements of some of the most celebrated children’s series packages, while still offering our own flavor. It took a few goes to find what we wanted, but we’re excited with the result. That new look will be rolling out later this year.

The art department of a small publisher is, well, small. For the Just in Time series, I’m acting as both the art director and the book designer. This presents some definite challenges, but it does have some pros to it as well. Between just Manelle and myself, we complete every detail of the cover illustration, the cover design, the series logo, the layout, the interior illustrations, the back-cover marketing copy, the visual extras in the front matter—all down to the last semicolon. It’s a lot of work for just two people, but it also means that we have a cohesive, solid package that’s consistent throughout. And it means that we work more as a team. I work to guide Manelle in the development of her illustrations, but Manelle is also welcome to offer critique and suggestions for the development of the front cover or book design. The emails fly back and forth and the result, I think, is a much stronger package. Roles do emerge more strongly when final decisions need to be made, but for the most part, it’s a team effort.

MUF: Manelle, as the illustrator, when were you brought in on this project?

Manelle: I was chosen as the illustrator when Carol and Cheri had the manuscript at a different publisher. It was a project I was really excited about so when they decided to move to a new publisher I was disappointed. I found Carol at a writers and illustrators conference and told her I really wanted to illustrate the books and to suggest me when she found a new publisher. I sent her the sketches I had been working on and later when they found Familius they recommended me. I was lucky that Christopher and David thought I would be good a illustrator for the project too.

MUF: What is your process for creating illustrations for this series?

Manelle Oliphant

Manelle Oliphant

Manelle: I usually don’t see the manuscript until one of the final drafts. I know I can start sketching and the story isn’t going to change. It makes for less work that way.

As I read it, I underline things that are important for the illustrations, scenes, descriptions etc. Then at the end of each chapter I write down a few ideas of what in the chapter will make a good illustration. After that I start researching. It’s important to get the historical details right and I usually need a good amount of photo reference. I usually use the internet for this and I pin any relevant image on a Pinterest board. By the time I’m finished with the book I have around two hundred images pinned on my board. The images can be anything from pictures of the historical character in the book, to costumes, to a picture of what corn looks like. I also ask the authors any questions I have about the story or the time it takes place.

After that I start sketching. Before I can do the images I have to makes sure I know what any new characters look like. I sketch up quite a few character sketches before I can start drawing the images that actually go into the book. I have to make sure the new characters will look the same every time I draw them, as well as fit the style of the reoccurring characters like George and Gracie. After that I start on the sketches that will become the finished illustration.

When the sketches are done I send them to David. We talk about any changes that need to be made and make sure everything is reading clearly. Once we make changes if any I can then finish the illustrations.

MUF: Let’s talk a little bit about the business side of a small press. Christopher, as founder and CEO of Familius, you can see the company’s big picture. Is the process of editing and publishing a book the same with your press as with the larger publishers?

Christopher Robbins

Christopher Robbins

Christopher:  The process of editing and publishing a title is basically the same between national publisher and small press. Both have an intention to publish nationally, even globally. However, the large publishers sometimes have more influence due to economies of scale and size to influence buyers. Editorial still requires careful editing, but large houses traditionally have editors who have had decades of experience while small presses are either start ups or houses that depend on quick learning and intelligent editors with less overall experience. However that is not always true as I know many small independent presses who have editors with 40 or more years of experience.

MUF: Cheri and Carol, what do you see is the biggest difference between publishing with a small press and one of the Bix Five?

Cheri: You’ll be, as my agent, Steve Fraser, says “A big fish in a small pond” with some small presses. You may get more attention, more marketing dollars, more access to your publisher, depending on the press.

Carol: Cheri and I know the owner of the company. He’s our friend. He’s invested in this series. When we met with him in his office that first time, he wanted to know what Familus could do for us, as writers. In all my years of publishing, I’ve never had the big boss say much more than, “Love your book.”

MUF: Speaking of the business side of things, marketing and distribution make up a huge part of publishing. How does Familius, and other small presses, compete with the larger publishers, Christopher?

Christopher: All publishers regardless of size have the same access to the traditional bookstore market, either online or brick and mortar. For titles with established authors or platforms, both types of publishers have opportunity to influence in store marketing. Where national publishers have an edge is that they have larger marketing budgets. This does not always result in success however. I have published multiple best-selling authors who then left for much larger houses for large advance royalties who were extremely disappointed in the sales results with the national publisher. Smaller publishers often have a competitive advantage in that they are more hands on and able to reach niche markets. The internet and democratization of publishing has leveled the playing field and independent presses and self-published authors are dramatically influencing the industry with bestselling titles, marketing creativity, and industry innovation far more than the national houses.

MUF: It sounds like, because your company is so small, that many of you do the job of several people, particularly when it comes to the marketing side of this business. Do you find this to be true, David? You did more than just the book design, is that right?

David: Because Familius is still launching out of the gate, your hats don’t end there. I’ve also been heavily involved in the marketing strategy for the Just in Time books, doing everything from designing bookmarks to creating a website to planning virtual author visits and book orders. Again, there are challenges, but the pros are rewarding. I love seeing a book progress from start to finish. I see the earliest, roughest manuscript filled with notes from Cheri and Carol to each other (and believe me, those are hi-la-ri-ous), the illustration sketches, the marketing copy, the layouts, the advanced galleys, the finished book, the book signings, the school visits, the notes from kids that love them—even a photo of one girl that dressed up like a horse to deliver a book report on the first book in the series (whose courage I applaud—I was Augustus Gloop in 3rd grade). It means you get a bird’s eye view of the full series progressing while simultaneously wringing your hands over the details. And that’s honestly fun!

MUF: Thanks to all of you for sharing your journey with us. It’s been illuminating to see how small presses, and yours in particular, are making a difference in today’s publishing world. We wish all of you the best of luck with this and the rest of your projects.

Readers, check out Carol and Cheri’s newest book in the Just in Time Series, THE WIZARD OF MENLO PARK, out May 20, 2014.  Also check out the other published titles in the series, THE RESCUE BEGINS IN DELAWARE, and SWEET SECRETS IN PENNSYLVANIA.  And be sure to visit Familius on the web at www.familius.com.

And as an added bonus, Familius is offering the first two books in the Just in Time series to one lucky winner. Please leave a comment below to be entered. The winner will be announced Sunday, April 6, 2014.

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Elissa Cruz likes to talk to her writing and illustrating friends about today’s kidlit publishing world. In addition to working here on this blog, she is also the founder of #MGlitchat and ARA for SCBWI Utah/Southern Idaho. She writes middle-grade fiction and is represented by Josh Getzler of HSG Agency.

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