tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post2486203855454132641..comments2024-03-26T18:28:06.391-04:00Comments on Evil Editor: Face-Lift 911Evil Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03879826770199639420noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-83165495897496997092011-05-28T20:48:22.802-04:002011-05-28T20:48:22.802-04:00Actually, the two chapter book series I mentioned ...Actually, the two chapter book series I mentioned above have hoards of screaming fans. There's big bucks in both chapter books and middle grades... for maybe one published author out of 100. Probably pretty much the same as any other genre.<br /><br />You do need to zero in on what it is you've written, though ;)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-71392688327064796832011-05-28T06:28:28.284-04:002011-05-28T06:28:28.284-04:00Anything you can use, you may have :).Anything you can use, you may have :).nonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00415222406280230021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-80163987547577904772011-05-28T03:28:26.695-04:002011-05-28T03:28:26.695-04:00Oh, AlaskaR, you're open and candid, and hardl...Oh, AlaskaR, you're open and candid, and hardly ever obnoxious. If you really wanted to be abrasive, arrogant and inflammamatory you surely would have been AlaskaSlytherin!<br /><br />But - is it true that published MG writers DON'T have hoards of screaming fans mobbing them wherever they go? They don't command million-dollar advances? OMG! That's it, I've abandonned that ambition. I'll start writing a vampire novel instead.Jo-Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15705983780352542190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-17908590827538600692011-05-28T00:29:17.113-04:002011-05-28T00:29:17.113-04:00Oh good, you _have_ done the research. And better ...Oh good, you _have_ done the research. And better than me! since books for very young readers are out of my skill range. Yes, illustrated text must be the genre I was thinking of, but I had conflated it with straight picture books.<br />Chapter books have illustrations as well, often. Dammit, why do so few adult books have illustrations? I still like my stories to have pictures.batgirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15143310557906978680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-714270103108250942011-05-27T22:22:16.944-04:002011-05-27T22:22:16.944-04:00Sounds like a fun story and appropriate for grade ...Sounds like a fun story and appropriate for grade school kiddos. Cannot advise whether it would best fit the chapter book vs middle grade category so don't know if that's a good length or if more words are needed. Seems like the plot would work for either.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-70618266772090817282011-05-27T21:34:52.449-04:002011-05-27T21:34:52.449-04:00Jo-Ann, unfortunately to answer that I'd have ...Jo-Ann, unfortunately to answer that I'd have to tell you my real name, and I'm reluctant to do that because I'm a pretty obnoxious person in my AlaskaRavenclaw persona and I probably p*** a lot of people off :). But if you walk into a public library in the U.S. my books will most likely be sitting there in the children's section not attracting very much attention. That, alas, is what success looks like, for the vast majority of writers.<br /><br />It's true that technically chapter books could be considered a subset of middle grades, but they're generally called chapter books: think Magic Tree House or Junie B. Jones. Or Random House's Step Into Reading. To be a chapter book you really want to be around a 1st-2nd grade reading level. And of course that means not just the Flesch-Kincaid thing on the computer but stuff like concept density... I've never written a chapter book myself.<br /><br />But, whichever, you do need to decide exactly what you've written and where it belongs. I'd advise going to the library, finding what's recent that looks like what you've done, and seeing who published it and as what. Do a lot of reading of this kind of book.<br /><br />If you haven't done that already.<br /><br />The hi-lo market's not a very big one. In fact, the reluctant reader market is, as you might guess, by nature not huge.AlaskaRavenclawnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-30731862340966560782011-05-27T20:59:34.518-04:002011-05-27T20:59:34.518-04:00It is a cute story.It is a cute story.Dave Fragmentshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17985158361431606939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-31376913527000330722011-05-27T20:30:30.868-04:002011-05-27T20:30:30.868-04:00@ Alaska... you have published MG titles? Envy, en...@ Alaska... you have published MG titles? Envy, envy! I had to check your blog, but - my curiousity went unsatisified. <br /><br />How can I get to read your pubb'd pieces?Jo-Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15705983780352542190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-142755182821606102011-05-27T20:27:35.179-04:002011-05-27T20:27:35.179-04:00Thanks for chiming-in.
@ Buffy - lovely query! I...Thanks for chiming-in. <br /><br />@ Buffy - lovely query! I might even borrow some, if that's ok by you.<br /><br />@ Alaska - yeah, Chapter Book is probably what I had in mind, reading age closer to 7-9 years. Maybe I misunderstood but I always thought that MG was the age range between picture books and YA - of course, that covers many reading ages. But you seem to be saying that "Chapter book" is a specific category that comes between Picture book and MG. <br /><br />Many children's publishers have imprints/ series of shorter stories for that age group- ie- kids who are starting to read independently. Their publishing guidelines don't actually call them "chapter books", each publisher has its own term (emerging/ independent/ confident reader and so on) but thankfully their websites do specify word lengths, and 10k is within the limits of many of these.<br /><br />Some also publish titles specifically for the so-called reluctant readers, (older kids who would rather eat their own vomit than read) the stories are brief (8-20k), but the subject matter appeals to 10-12 year olds with a reading age of 6-8 years. I'm not saying Cattitude is such a story.<br /><br />@Batgirl. "Picture books" tend to have a much shorter word count, less than 500, usually (I believe). Any longer and they call it an "illustrated text", as the text carries the content and the pictures just help boost the child's comprehension. And provide a respite from the daunting sight of pages crammed with words.Jo-Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15705983780352542190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-2699425023257636932011-05-27T15:46:28.883-04:002011-05-27T15:46:28.883-04:00The story sounds like fun, a mashup of The Incredi...The story sounds like fun, a mashup of The Incredible Journey with that Flushed Away movie. <br /><br />Like others I'm boggled by the wordcount. 10k is a novelet or long short story. Or a picture book. Which worries me because it suggests that the author hasn't researched the market, though the query is fairly professional.batgirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15143310557906978680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-31802452130249045362011-05-27T14:05:45.952-04:002011-05-27T14:05:45.952-04:00Ah, middle grades!
10k is way way short. 20k woul...Ah, middle grades!<br /><br />10k is way way short. 20k would be short.<br /><br />My last MG was about 65k, and the hardcover is about 300 pages. It doesn't look fat on the shelf. It looks about the same as the (MG) books next to it. The contract I had before I wrote it called for 50k, I assume on the grounds that that's an average middlegradey kinda length.<br /><br />There are much shorter MGs, but they tend to be written by writers so famous they can do whatever they want.<br /><br />What are you thinking of in terms of age? Are you actually thinking chapter book? People get the two confused sometimes; chapter books are for roughly ages 6-8. This might be a good length for a chapter book. I think.AlaskaRavenclawnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-78567302929716471442011-05-27T13:54:32.445-04:002011-05-27T13:54:32.445-04:00The query should probably all be in present tense....The query should probably all be in present tense.<br /><br />Life for champion climbing cat Jack is fine until his human introduces a snooty Siamese rival, an annoying puppy, and, worst of all, a bossy lady who won't allow curtain climbing or chair scratching and who gets fur-wettingly teary whenever Jack tries to please her with a dead mouse.<br /><br />Jack's plan to rid himself of at least two of these nuisances backfires, and all three animals are banished to the backyard. Out there, Jack can at least climb out of the puppy's reach, but he still can't make him stop yapping, plus he can't climb out of the Siamese's reach or get her to stop miaooooowing in a foreign language. Great!nonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00415222406280230021noreply@blogger.com