Posts Tagged kidlit

Author Matt McMann Gets Monsterious!

By on May 15, 2023   /   Author Interviews  

I was so excited when Escape From Grimstone Manor, book one in Matt’s new series Monsterious, showed up at my house. While book mail is always a thrill, this spooky read was high on my list. And of course, Matt did not disappoint. I read it in one sitting!

Monsterious is pitch-perfect middle grade, ideal for both reluctant and avid readers, and fans of Goosebumps and Five Nights at Freddy’s. Each book comes in at fewer than 200 pages, and every chapter ends with a chilling cliffhanger that will keep kids turning the pages. With the first two books publishing simultaneously, each book in the series completely stands alone, with a different setting and main characters—and different monsters—in each installment, and can be read in any order. I see these books as a great addition to summer reading lists.

And fortunately for us, Matt was up for chatting about Monsterious and how it came to be.

 

Welcome, Matt! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us over here at Mixed Up Files! Let’s start at the beginning. What inspired the Monsterious series? Can you remember the spark?

My wife, author Lisa McMann, was reading an article aloud and mispronounced the word “mysterious” saying “monsterious” instead. I said, “That would be a great middle grade book title,” and she replied, “No, it’s a whole series, and you should write it.” So I did! I loved the idea of crafting a series of spooky middle grade monster mysteries.

 

 

In Escape from Grimstone Manor (series book #1) is there one character you identify with the most?

Escape from Grimstone Manor features three best friends who are trapped overnight in a haunted house amusement park ride and discover the monsters are real. Taylor is outgoing, brave, and spontaneous to a fault. Zari is cool, level-headed, and intellectual. Mateo is timid, cautious, and artistic. While there’s a bit of me in all of them, I definitely relate the most to Mateo. I was a scared, artistic kid like he is!

 

 

 

The books in the Monsterious series can also stand alone. What made you decide on this approach? What are the challenges of starting over with a whole new cast of characters each time? 

Since the idea for Monsterious came as a series concept vs. an individual book concept, I took the opportunity to choose the type of monster mystery series I wanted to write before thinking of the stories themselves. A dynamic series features the same characters in a multi-book story arc (ex: Lord of the Rings). A static series features the same characters in episodic adventures (ex: Nancy Drew). In an anthology style series, the books are tied together by a place or an idea or a theme, but each entry is a standalone story with a unique cast of characters (ex: Goosebumps).

I chose an anthology style series because I liked the freedom it gave me to write about any monster, anywhere, with anyone. Since it’s a less common format, I thought it might help me stand out to editors in a crowded marketplace. Not being constrained by a single meta story arc was also appealing—I knew if I could sell Monsterious to a publisher and find an audience, then I could write in this series for a long time, which I would love.

The challenge with this type of series is needing to write new characters for each installment who are both interesting and well-rounded. There’s also a lot of names to come up with! It definitely takes additional work and imagination, but it’s totally worth it.

What do you hope young readers will take away from your books?

I was a scared kid. I grew up being afraid of almost everything—the dark, bullies, the woods, our basement. But I loved spooky stories. Seeing the characters in those books face their fears gave me the courage to face my own. And they were just so cool! I hope readers will find the same courage and fun in Monsterious books that I found when I was that age.

What was your favorite book as a kid? Did you like scary stories?

I had so many! I read a lot of adventure and sci-fi books when I was quite young, then got hooked on fantasy with the Earthsea trilogy by Ursula K. LeGuin and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley was a game changer for me. I was captivated. That led me to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and then I checked out every book in the library on Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, werewolves, vampires, you name it!

What do you mostly read now?

I’m reading a lot of great middle grade to steep myself in the voice and emotions of that age group. Lindsay Currie writes incredible spooky middle grade, and Starfish by Lisa Fipps was fantastic. I’m reading a lot of standout realistic contemporary work from my 2023 debut middle grade author group, including Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt, It Happened on Saturday by Sydney Dunlap, and Miracle by Karen Chow.

Talk to me about your path to publication. Did you encounter surprises or unexpected twists in the road?

I wanted to be author since I was a kid, but studied music in college and was a professional musician for twenty-six years. When I burned out on music about five years ago, Lisa suggested I go after my dream of writing books. We went to a hotel for a weekend getaway, and she said we couldn’t leave until I wrote my first chapter!

I had a chance to pitch that first book to an agent over dinner and he requested the manuscript. After reading it, he said it had potential but needed a lot of work, and if I was willing to make significant edits, he’d read it again. I did everything he suggested, and after that second reading, he signed me!

We went on an exclusive submission to an editor at a Big Five publisher, and she said the same thing—it had potential but needed a lot of work, and if I’d do some edits, she’d read it again. I made her changes, she liked it, and said she was taking it to her team. I was floored. What I thought was going to be a throw-away practice novel not only got me an agent, it was going to get me a book deal on my first submission! And then it didn’t. The team wasn’t excited, and she passed. The manuscript went out on multiple waves of submissions for over a year and never sold.

During that time, I wrote a second book. That went out and got rejected by everyone. I wrote a third book that never even went out on sub. Then I came up with the idea for Monsterious, and my agent loved it. He took it on an exclusive submission to Penguin Random House, and it sold immediately in a four book deal. My childhood dream has come true!

You have the good fortune to be married to New York Times bestselling author Lisa McMann. What did you learn from watching her journey that helped with your own?

I was the luckiest aspiring author in the world to have Lisa as my mentor and writing coach. I’ve learned too many lessons from her to count, but one of the biggest was that being an author is business. If you want a long-term career, you need to know as much about marketing and admin as you do about writing. I think that’s where a lot of really talented writers struggle—to think and operate like a small business. Lisa is the most creative person I know, but she also has a great business sense, so I’m trying to emulate that in my own career.

What advice would you offer to aspiring authors of all ages?

  1. Read great authors
  2. Write what you love
  3. Find a supportive writing community
  4. Share your work with writers you trust and believe their critiques
  5. Listen to good writers talk about writing (podcasts, videos, webinars, books, live events, etc.). I highly recommend the Writers With Wrinkles podcast for craft, inspiration, and entertainment value!
  6. Write! Practice, practice, practice, and don’t give up

Do you have any writing rituals you swear by?

When drafting, I write at least 1000 word a day. Having that as a minimum gives me a clear sense of accomplishment and, when I know my target book length, allows me to map out how long it will take me to complete a first draft. I also start each drafting session by editing what I wrote the previous day. It gets me back in the flow of the story and when the draft is completed, I’ve already finished one round of edits.

Where can readers best find you if they want to reach out?

I really pumped about my newly revamped website MattMcMann.com (thank you Deena at deenawarnerdesign.com!). Readers can contact me there and get my free spooky short story for signing up for my newsletter. I’m also @matt_mcmann on Instagram and Twitter.

Thank you, Matt!

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Agent Spotlight: Molly Ker Hawn of The Bent Agency

By on April 28, 2023   /   Editor / Agent Spotlight, For Writers  

Molly Ker Hawn, Managing Director and Literary Agent at The Bent Agency

Hi, everyone! I’m so excited to welcome Molly Ker Hawn of The Bent Agency to our Agent Spotlight here on The Mixed Up Files. Molly leads the London office of TBA and works with authors from all over the world — including Angie Thomas, Hilary McKay, Dhonielle Clayton, Casey Lyall, Stephanie Burgis, Meera Trehan, and many more—selling directly to publishers in the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia. I’m also lucky enough to call her my agent, and she graciously agreed to answer some questions about querying, author-agent relationships and the publishing world today. Thank you, Molly!

MD: Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time listening to the podcast The Sh*t No One Tells You About Writing, where each episode begins with the agents critiquing query letters listeners have sent in for feedback. What are you looking for in a query letter? Other than NOT addressing you as “Dear Sir” or “Dear Agent”, how important is the personalization part of the query letter for you? 

MKH: I know writers really agonize over query letters, so I’m pretty forgiving when I’m reading them. A hook-y pitch is most important to me, and maybe a line or two of bio. It doesn’t have to be long. You don’t have to convince me that you’re interesting; I’m trying to evaluate your book, not you. Personalization is less important  – I don’t need to be flattered or to be convinced that I’m The One. If there’s a particular reason they’re querying me, then I’m glad to hear it, and it’s always nice to hear that someone enjoyed a book I represented (and why), but there’s no need to scrabble around for a connection that isn’t genuinely there. 

MD: My query to you was the old fashioned way: a cold query with no connections. What percentage of your clients would you say have come to you that way?

MKH: That’s such a good question! I think a lot of people assume that you need an ‘in’ to find representation, but most of my clients have come to me via out-of-the-blue queries. There is nothing – nothing – like the feeling of reading a submission from someone I’ve never heard of and feeling that zing of recognition that they’ve written something special.

MD: Something that’s not often talked about is that sometimes a writer’s first agent is not their forever agent. My understanding is that before querying a new agent one must no longer be with a previous agent. What other etiquette is important to know when looking for a new agent? How should the author handle putting information about it in a query letter? Have your clients who’ve previously had other agents come to you through recommendations or through the slush pile?

MKH: I think most agents would agree that it’s bad form to approach a new agent before you’ve parted ways with your current one. I personally am uncomfortable with it. Once you’ve formally terminated your agreement, you can say in your query that you were previously represented by [name] — you might as well say who your old agent was, because potential agents are likely to ferret that out anyway via Publishers Marketplace or Twitter or some other online source. The important thing that agents will want to know is whether your current project has been submitted to publishers by your former agent.

In the last couple of years I’ve started working with a few writers who’ve had previous representation, but not even all of those came with a personal referral. It’s lovely when they do, because a recommendation from a current client is the kind of praise I value most. It’s not at all necessary, though.

MD: In the UK, it’s uncommon to see middle grade novels in hardcover. In the US recently there was a lot of brouhaha on social media about Barnes & Noble no longer stocking a majority of hardcover middle grade novels. Have you seen this hurting newer North American MG releases? Have you seen this changing how publishers are buying middle grade novels—and going about their sales and marketing of them?

MKH: I know that many children’s writers saw B&N’s shift to stocking fewer hardcovers as a targeted attack on MG, but we’ve been watching their overall buying practices change for a while now. And when you look specifically at MG, B&N has reported returning about 80% of the hardcovers they bought in from publishers. You don’t need an MBA to see that the status quo wasn’t sustainable. 

I’m starting to see more publishers plan to release new MG simultaneously in hardcover and paperback – that’s an interesting solution. A lot of libraries will be happy to keep buying the hardcovers, and the retailers can have the editions that they think they can sell. I don’t love the effect this has on advances and royalty earnings, of course – a paperback sale earns less than a hardcover sale. But I want there to continue to be a wide range of children’s books published for a diverse audience, and some experimentation is going to be necessary to make that happen.

MD: What are you loving about being a children’s book agent these days?

MKH: The same things I’ve loved since I started: the thrill of discovery, the sense of satisfaction I get from helping books I care about find an audience, the camaraderie of the children’s book industry, the satisfaction of effectively advocating for authors and making them as much money as I can. And I love working with my team at TBA. We have such a good time, and we’re constantly learning from each other. I’m very lucky.

MD: Where can people find out about what kind of projects you’re looking for and how to query you?

MKH: I’ve got detailed information here and I keep it up to date. I read all my queries myself and respond to all of them, as long as spam filters don’t get in the way.  

Thank you again to Molly for this fabulous interview!

 

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News From the CBC

By on April 16, 2023   /   Oh MG News  
Middle Grade Authors

The mission of the Children’s Book Council (CBC) is to support the children’s publishing industry by connecting publishing professionals and creators with young readers. And they find a lot of ways to fulfill that mission. Take a look at some of the things the CBC is doing in the world of children’s books.

The CBC Diversity Initiative

White box, rainbow stripe, CBC Diversity

Founded in 2012, the CBC Diversity Initiative advocates for an inclusive and representative children’s publishing industry. The initiative is rooted in the belief that ALL children should see themselves and their worlds reflected in books. 

As part of this initiative, the CBC champions diverse book creators and their books, and they create and maintain diverse reading resource lists that can be used by teachers, librarians, booksellers, and parents.

The #FReadom Movement

Letters to color in spelling #FReadom

The CBC actively supports #FReadom. This movement was launched by Texas librarians in 2021 as a way to combat book bannings. #FReadom resources are intended to highlight the positive impact of intellectual freedom, celebrate school libraries and librarians, and draw attention to the need to make diverse books available to young readers.

The CBC has made available six different coloring pages to support the #FReadom movement. Download the free coloring pages here. 

Children’s Book Week

Blue background, green and black book running gleefully, text "Read books. Spark change."

As part of their Every Child a Reader program, the CBC designates two separate weeks during the year to celebrate the joy of reading. Established in 1919, this is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. This year, Children’s Book Week will be celebrated May 1-7 and again November 6-12. 

This year’s theme for Children’s Book Week is Read Books. Spark change. You can download printable resources, including the free poster created by Rilla Alexander that speaks to the power of books and stories to inspire positive change.

Partnering with SLJGraphic illustrated, gray background, colorful characters, rainbow stream

In 2022, the CBC partnered with School Library Journal (SLJ) to create two posters celebrating the freedom to read. First, they worked with Penguin Random House and artist Rafael Lopex to create the “Open Books, Open Doors” poster to promote free expression and access to diverse books. You can download Lopez’s poster for free.

Next, they worked with artist Chan Chau to produce a poster themed “Imagining a world with you.”  The poster celebrates LGBTQIA+ children and teens, and it was showcased and made widely available by multiple organizations, including the CBC. You can download a copy of Chau’s poster for free.

Banned Books Week

Red book cover by yellow tape, text "Banned Books Week"

The CBC also partners with the American Library Association (ALA) to support and promote Banned Books Week. Launched in 1982, this annual observance has become more relevant now than ever. This year, Banned Books Week will be observed October 1-7. Mark your calendars!

Free downloads and information from last year’s Banned Books Week observance are still available on ALA’s website. While there, you can also find “Social Shareables” to show your support on multiple social media platforms.

Learn more about the Children’s Book Council and all their initiatives to promote free access to books and celebrate the power and wonder of books for young readers by visiting cbcbooks.org.

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