Thank you for being a Cynsations reader!
Effective immediately, this blog is on hiatus for the week. We’ll return Nov. 30 with more inspiration, insights and information on children’s-YA writing, illustration, literature and publishing.
In the meantime, keep up on all those topics with Cynthia Leitich Smith on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
By Erik Talkin
I had been the talented “nearly” man for a while, with a middle-grade that was purchased by a mid-level publisher that promptly decided to get out of the MG market before the book was published.
This was followed by a novel that went to the final stages of acquisition with a major publisher, before the marketing department decided that series were out that week.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Erik Talkin on Finding the Book You Are Uniquely Qualified to Write »
By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Gayleen Rabukukk, Stephani Eaton, Suma Subramaniam, and Gail Vannelli for Cynsations
Spotlight Image: If Animals Gave Thanks by Ann Whitford Paul, illustrated by David Walker (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020).
Author/Illustrator Insights
Q & A With David Yoon by Sara Grochowski from Publishers Weekly.
Recently I chatted with Nasugraq Rainey Hopson, Tirzah Price, Rob Costello, and Monica Roe, four of Rural Voices’ (Candlewick, 2020) talented contributors. Here’s what they said about rural stories, stereotypes, and the representation of rural life in literature.
What do you hope readers take away from Rural Voices?
Continue Reading Guest Post: Nora Shalaway Carpenter & Challenging the Rural Stereotype »
Many people believe that fiction is creative writing drawn from the depths of a writer’s soul, while nonfiction is simply a recitation of facts gathered from a few standard sources. Nothing could be further from the truth.
To put this troubling misconception to rest, fifty of today’s most celebrated authors for children have come together to share a critical part of the nonfiction writing process that often goes unseen.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Melissa Stewart Shares How Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep »
Welcome to Ernesto Cisneros and Ash Van Otterloo! These two middle-grade debut authors will share with us the inspiration and challenge of staying true to their roots while writing for a young audience.
Ernesto Cisneros
What was your initial inspiration for writing this book?
Efrén Divided (Quill Tree Books,
Today, I am so excited to welcome Bree Bender to the Cynsations Team! Bree joins us as a reporter-at-large covering the many facets of the children’s-YA community.
Welcome to Cynsations! Could you tell us about your vision for your coverage here at the blog? Why did you decide to take on this role in the conversation of books?
First,
Virginia Buckley, esteemed and beloved editor, died on Oct. 21 at her home in Leonia, New Jersey. She was 91.
Obituary: Virginia Buckley from Publishers Weekly by Shannon Maughan. Peek: “Buckley was a novice editor at the publisher Thomas Y. Cromwell in 1971 when she was paired with a writer named Katherine Paterson, who had submitted the manuscript for her first novel.”
Born on May 11,
By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Gayleen Rabakukk, Stephani Eaton, Suma Subramaniam, and Gail Vannelli for Cynsations
Spotlight Image: The Mysterious Stones by Enrique Pérez Díaz, illustrated by Yayo (Crocodile Books, 2020).
Author/Illustrator Insights
Literature Is a Bridge for Dreams by Enrique Pérez Díaz from We Need Diverse Books.
I recently talked with Andrew Rushton, Associate Publisher with NordSüd Verlag (Switzerland), and Beth Terrill, Editor, NorthSouth Books (U.S.), to learn more about publishing in two different markets. In the above photo, Beth Terrill and Lulu the dog are enjoying a good story.
For people who are not familiar with NordSüd Verlag (NorthSouth Books, in the U.S.), can you tell us how the company developed a publishing presence in both the Swiss and the U.S.
Continue Reading Industry Interview: Andrew Rushton of NordSüd Verlag & Beth Terrill of NorthSouth »
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