Posts Tagged editor interview

Editor Spotlight: Tara Weikum

Tara Weikum has worked in publishing for decades.  Starting as editorial assistant with ALA Booklist Magazine in 1996, she then spent three years  as an associate editor with Disney Publishing. In 2000, she moved to HarperCollins where she’s been ever since. Beginning as an editor, she became editorial director in 2009, and vice president, editorial director in 2013. In 2024, she was promoted to vice president, publisher of HarperCollins’ new Storytide imprint. From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors borrowed Tara for a quick chat to learn more about her career, influences, and Storytide in general.

headshot of Tara Weikum, vice president and publisher, HarperCollins' Storytide imprint

 

MUF: Thanks for agreeing to speak with us, Tara. Congratulations on launching this new endeavor. First off, what can you tell us about the Storytide imprint? What’s its focus or specialty?

TW: The Storytide imprint publishes powerful and distinctive stories with commercial, bestselling potential as well as literary merit, across all genres. Our focus is on middle-grade and teen fiction.

MUF: What has your career path been like so far? How did you get into publishing in general, and editing in specific? What was your educational background?

TW: Like many in publishing, I was an English major. I grew up in the Midwest and after college I attended the Rice University Publishing Program, which is no longer around. That immersive experience was what convinced me to take the leap and move to New York, after a year of working at the American Library Association in Chicago, to look for opportunities in publishing.

MUF: What sort of duties and responsibilities do you fulfill in your current position?

TW: Editors wear many different hats. I currently oversee the Storytide imprint and team of editors. We are focused on shaping the imprint identity with the books and authors we publish.  I manage budgets, acquire new projects, edit manuscripts, write copy, review design and marketing materials—the list goes on!

MUF: Did you always know you wanted to work with this aspect of the field?  Did you ever dream of being an author?

TW: I’ve always dreamed of working with books in some capacity. I never aspired to be a writer myself but I devoured everything I could get my hands on when I was growing up, and I was always the person that friends asked for advice about their English assignments and personal writing. I grew up on a farm in a rural area so bookstores and even libraries were hard to come by. My childhood reading appetites were fed with a wide-ranging variety of books I could scrounge up from friends and relatives by authors such as VC Andrews, Shel Silverstein, Frances Hodgson Burnett, and Danielle Steel; series like Harlequin Romance; and classics like the Trixie Belden and Bobbsey Twins books, supplemented by books that were assigned at school and birthday gifts. The adage of “reading widely” was true for me by necessity and I believe it helped inform my ability to love all kinds of books across genres.

MUF: What books have inspired you along the way, whether growing up or as an adult? What books do you wholeheartedly recommend at any given opportunity?

TW: Books by authors such as Jandy Nelson, Franny Billingsley, Jacqueline Woodson, Alison Bechdel, and Casey McQuiston are some favorites over the years. Kate Atkinson’s Life after Life and Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow are two adult novels that were wonderfully devastating. And of course from my own list of middle-grade I’ll hand any of Katherine Applegate’s incredible novels to any child or adult, as well as Thanhha Lai’s award-winning verse novel Inside Out & Back Again.

MUF: What do you look for in books and submissions? What catches your attention and calls to you?

TW: If a premise feels fresh and offers a unique twist on an idea, and the writing is engaging and compelling, I’m often open to considering manuscripts. Since I’m drawn to a variety of genres I like to consider a range of subjects.

MUF: Do you have a favorite age range or genre to work with?

TW: I’m drawn to contemporary realistic novels; romance; magical realism; and light fantasy across middle-grade and teen.

MUF: What sort of tips, tricks, and advice do you have for aspiring writers, editors, or even agents?

TW: Reading widely in the area in which you’d like to write or work is definitely the top piece of advice. As a writer, what will help you see how and where your future books might sit alongside current books, or how they can be set apart in an intriguing way. And as an editor or an agent it’s important to be knowledgeable about the market. And for aspiring writers in search of an agent, research who represents your favorite writers as a first step to finding a good fit for your own work. For future editors and agents, internships will provide incomparable insight into the ways in which all manner of publishing works, and can help guide you to find out where you’d like to work.

MUF: Do you have any interesting hobbies or interests? How do you unwind and relax?

TW: I work remotely and live in Hawaii, so everything water-related is a favorite of mine, from snorkeling to swimming to stand-up paddleboard. I also volunteer regularly at the local humane society and take shelter dogs on hikes and to the beach.

MUF: Do you have any upcoming Storytide releases you’d like to plug? Any juicy announcements?

TW: Lady’s Knight by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner is a raucously funny and romantic teen novel publishing in early June; The Haunting of Bellington Cottage by Laura Parnum is a gently spooky middle-grade novel coming in July; No Sam! And the Meow of Deception, Drew Daywalt’s sequel to the NYT bestseller They Call Me No Sam, is coming in September; and Thorn Season by debut author Kiera Azar is a sharp and sexy romantasy also publishing in September, in both hardcover and a gorgeously spec’d out deluxe limited edition.

Cover of Inside Out & Back Again Cover for No Sam and the Meow of Deception Cover for The Haunting of Bellington Cottage

Editor and Agent Spotlights

We love spotlighting agents and editors every month! There’s so much you can learn from their interviews.

Are there any MG agents or editors you hope we’ll spotlight soon?

If so, please let us know in the comments.

Any MG agents or editors who would like to be interviewed—please tell us and we’ll be in touch with you as soon as possible.

Just in case you’ve missed some of these interviews, here’s a list of them to check out. Happy reading!

*Things may have changed with some of agents and editors from older interviews. The best thing to do is check for agents at https://querytracker.net/ for updated information and helpful links. You can also check out the Manuscript Wish List (MSWL) for agents and editors.

 

AGENTS

Michaela Whatnall

Kaitlyn Sanchez

Leslie Zampetti

Dani Segelbaum

Ali Herring

Christie MeGill

Victoria Doherty-Munro

Molly Ker Hawn

Adria Goetz

James McGowan

Kristin Ostby

Sarah N. Fisk

Lynnette Novak

Ameerah Holliday

Jacqui Lipton

Tina Dubois

Joyce Sweeney

Tracey Adams

 

EDITORS

Rachel Stark/Disney-Hyperion

Elizabeth Law/Holiday House

Alison S. Weiss/Pixel+Ink

Chris Krones/Clarion

Thalia Leaf/Calkins Creek

Carol Hinz/Millbrook Press & Carolrhoda Books at Lerner Publishing

Karen Chaplin/Quill Tree Books/Harper Children’s/Teen

 

We can’t wait to share more spotlights for amazing agents and editors soon!

Interview with Stephanie Lurie, Editorial Director of the Rick Riordan Presents imprint at Disney-Hyperion!

Hello Mixed-Up Filers!

Are we in for a treat! A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to meet Stephanie Lurie at a Florida SCBWI conference, as well as take a workshop she was giving. Besides being extremely informative, she couldn’t have been nicer.

If you don’t know her, she’s the Editorial Director of the Rick Riordan Presents imprint at Disney-Hyperion, and I’m thrilled to feature her in the Editor Spotlight!

Hi Stephanie, thanks for joining us today!

JR: You’ve had a long, successful career in publishing. Could you tell us a little bit about your path to becoming an editor, and eventually working for Disney-Hyperion?

SL: Being a children’s book editor was a career choice I made very early on. When I was fifteen, a local bookstore owner asked me to review a book a townsperson had written for young adults. As I read the book, I thought, “Too bad this woman doesn’t know how kids really think.” It was an “aha!” moment for me: I could help authors make their books stronger. I’m not even sure how I knew such a job existed. . . .

I went on to be a creative writing major at Oberlin College, and during the first semester of my senior year, I had an internship for college credit at Dodd, Mead and Company in New York (a publishing house that was ultimately acquired by Thomas Nelson Books). My experience working for a children’s book editor at Dodd, Mead proved to me that I had found my calling. Dodd, Mead offered me a job after college–for a whopping $8,000 a year!–in sales promotion and customer service. I learned a lot, but I wanted to get back to children’s editorial. I jumped over to Little, Brown, where I grew up from editorial assistant to senior editor over twelve years. After that I ran the imprint Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for six years. My next stint was as president and publisher of Dutton Children’s books at Penguin. In my ninth year there, a friend of mine who was working at Disney Hyperion talked me into applying for an editorial director job by saying, “How would you like to do what you are doing at Dutton but not have any other imprints competing for marketing and publicity attention?” That sounded pretty good to me, and over the past decade there I have enjoyed being part of a boutique publisher within a huge entertainment company.

 

JR: That’s some exciting journey! What was the first book you worked on?

SL: I had a generous boss at Little, Brown who allowed me to “cut my teeth” on manuscripts by their top authors at the time, such as Lois Duncan, Ellen Conford, and Matt Christopher. One of the first authors I acquired was Neal Shusterman, who has gone on to be a New York Times bestseller and a National Book Award winner with other editors.

JR: When you first saw The Lightning Thief, what about it appealed to you so much?

SL: Rick Riordan’s first middle grade novel, The Lightning Thief, was acquired at auction before my time at Disney. Rick chose to go with Miramax Books, which eventually became part of Disney-Hyperion. Jennifer Besser (now at Macmillan) edited the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I took over as Rick’s editor after she left, picking up on the Kane Chronicles trilogy. I was amazed by how he made ancient Egyptian mythology relevant to modern readers with exciting adventure, relatable characters, a healthy dose of humor, and a breakneck pace. He makes it look easy.

JR: What’s changed in publishing between the time you started and now?

SL: What hasn’t? I’m so old (How old are you?), I pre-date office computers! Yes, we had to type on Selectrics, using carbon paper. The biggest changes have come from: corporate buy-outs of family-owned companies, which necessitated more attention to the bottom line; the rise of chain bookstores; the Harry Potter phenomenon, which brought hardcover fiction back from the brink of death; the importance of social media in author promotion; Amazon’s dominance; and today, more focus on diversity.

JR: I grew up doing all my reports on typewriters. Slightly easier now. And by the way, I could’ve sworn I heard Gene Rayburn say the “I’m so old” part before you answered (How old are you?) But back to the interview. Disney has recently acquired a lot of new properties. Does that mean anything for the publishing division?

SL: Disney now encompasses several premiere brands, such as Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and Fox Entertainment. We can publish against all of these brands, from straight movie tie-ins to extension books that tell new stories based on the characters from the movies. It also means that there is more opportunity for intercompany synergy for authors writing their own IP (intellectual property).

JR: What do you enjoy the most about your job?

SL: I’m having a blast helping Rick curate the Rick Riordan Presents line of middle grade fiction by under-represented authors who want to write stories about their own cultures’ folklore and mythology. I send him submissions to consider, acquire the projects we agree on, edit the manuscripts, and collaborate with my colleagues on book design and promotion.

JR: All that sounds like a tremendous amount of fun. What sort of books do you look for?

SL: For Rick Riordan Presents, we want the same qualities that make Rick’s own books so popular, because the imprint was created to satisfy his fans’ craving for adventure based on mythology. We look for a funny, snarky teenage voice; a fast pace; an exciting, high-stakes plot; and a likeable but flawed protagonist who grows over the course of the story.

JR: The kinds of books I love! Are you very hands-on with your authors?

SL: I’ve always enjoyed helping writers bring out their story by asking pointed questions and making suggestions to improve logic, flow, and clarity. For the Rick Riordan Presents authors, my guidance may be a bit more involved, because there is a certain flavor we are trying to achieve while retaining the author’s own voice. It’s a delicate balance.

JR: What’s the state of publishing right now, in particular, Middle Grade? 

SL: It can be difficult for a book—any book—to break out in this time when there is so much entertainment content for consumers to choose from and there are fewer retail outlets for print. Amazon is grabbing more and more market share, but the online site doesn’t encourage browsing. Buyers who shop there usually go already knowing what they want. This is part of the reason best-selling authors remain best-selling authors and new authors have trouble competing. Authors need to partner more with their publisher on promotion as a result.

JR: Probably more important than ever for authors to get involved in the promotion process. What advice can you give to authors?

SL: The best way to learn to write is to read, read, read, and write, write, write.

Remember that you are communicating with an audience and not just writing to satisfy your own ego.

A good concept isn’t enough by itself. Write the entire manuscript.

You may have to land a literary agent before you can land a publishing deal.

Choosing an agent and editor/publisher is like choosing any partner. Make sure there is good chemistry between you.

Be open to feedback but stand up for what is important to you.

Don’t expect the publication of your book to satisfy all your desires or change your life.

Writing the book is only 50% of the work; promotion after publication is the other 50%.

School visits are still one of the best ways to build word-of-mouth.

Support other authors on your way up, and they will (should) do the same for you.

 

JR: All of that is outstanding advice. In my experience, many authors have been extremely supportive of each other. I think strong relationships are extremely important in that regard. I read that Harriet the Spy was one of your favorite childhood books. I have a few friends who wholeheartedly agree with you. What did you love about it and what other books were among your favorites?

SL: I loved how honest Harriet the Spy was about a kid’s real life—I believe it was one of the first contemporary middle grade novels ever published. To this day I enjoy books in which a well-meaning main character makes a big mistake that causes them humiliation, e.g. The Truth About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin. As a kid I also enjoyed animal-based fantasies such as Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White, and The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. High fantasies such as The Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings stood out, too.

JR: The Narnia books were also among my favorites as a child. Speaking of childhood, what’s one thing from your childhood that you wish could come back?

SL: My fun-loving dad. He taught me to always remain a kid at heart.

JR: Okay, that answer hit me. If there’s one thing I could wish for from then, it would also be to see my dad. How can people follow you on social media?

SL: For publishing news and comments, Twitter is probably the best bet: @SOLurie.

JR: Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to add?

SL: Thank you for inviting me to answer these questions. I greatly admire authors—both aspiring and published—and wish everyone a fulfilling journey. Your book could be the one that makes a reluctant reader a forever reader, changes a kid’s perspective, and inspires someone else to be a writer.

JR: Extremely true. Thank you again for taking the time to speak with us today!

 

Well, that’s it for now, Mixed-Up Filers. I’d like to once again thank Stephanie Lurie for joining us! And if you ever see her listed to speak at a conference, I strongly suggest you go listen!

Until next time . . .