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Welcome, Karen Kane, sign-language interpreter by day, children's book author by night (and at all times in between)!

6/30/2019

Salutations, Karen! So happy to have you here! Please, do tell about your journey to becoming a kidlit author.

Glad to be here, Dionna!

To answer your question, I’ve always loved to read, but I didn’t start writing books until I had read The Artists Way by Julia Cameron. Part of The Artist Way program is to free-write three pages a day. You write about anything—how grumpy you feel, what you ate for breakfast, what is annoying you. You just dump. The idea is that by page three you have cleared away enough of your brain clutter to find out what is underneath. And for me what was underneath was the dream of writing a children’s book. The beginning of my manuscript The Hayley Show was started in my morning pages. Although I didn’t sell it, that book got me my agent.

In 2010, I joined SCBWI, which became a wonderful source of support and information. Through SCBWI, I learned about Vermont College of Fine Arts Writing for Children and Young Adults MFA program. And it was at VCFA that I wrote Charlie & Frog.

Why did you decide to write this story, one that features the Deaf community?

I never planned to write about the Deaf community. I always felt that my writing life and my life as a sign language interpreter were separate entities. But all those years I was interpreting, this story was percolating—I just didn’t know it. One of my advisors at VCFA, A.S. King, wanted me to write something new. She felt I would grow more as a writer with new material. So I began writing short stories. And then one day, while sitting at my computer, this story started to come out of me. And Frog, who is Deaf, came to me clear and strong. Her character was easy to write.

What about your characters and their friendship mirrors your life-experiences?

I tend to be more like Charlie, the quieter one. Frog fights for what she wants and has never met a stranger. Not that being quiet means weakness. Charlie is anything but weak. But Frog helps Charlie find his own strength by modeling her own power and inner drive. That is true for me, too—my closest friends show me how I can embrace my own strengths. Also, as a kid, I had fun exploring with my best friend. I wanted Charlie & Frog to have that same freedom to explore the village of Castle-on-the-Hudson. And who wouldn’t want to ride a gondola across the river on their own? Sign me up!

How did you find a home for Charlie & Frog at Disney-Hyperion and why were you pleased?

When my agent tried to sell The Hayley Show, I had about seventeen rejections (I lost count!), and one editor who was interested, but who couldn’t convince her publishing house to buy it. Ten years later, I was fortunate to have five editors who wanted Charlie and Frog! (Moral: Don’t give up! Keep writing!)

My editor at Disney-Hyperion, Tracey Keevan, is terrific. Tracey happened to watch a documentary about Martha’s Vineyard one week before she received my manuscript. Two hundred years ago, Martha’s Vineyard had a large Deaf population. Both hearing people and Deaf people signed on the island. When looking back, islanders often couldn’t remember who was Deaf and who was hearing because everyone signed. Tracey was excited to work on this story after watching that film. And I was thrilled that Disney-Hyperion hired a Deaf artist, Carlisle Robinson, to illustrate the inside chapter artwork of Charlie & Frog!

What are you working on now, and why are you enjoying it?

I am currently promoting my second Charlie & Frog book--The Boney Hand! It was published in June 2019. I love the characters and setting of Charlie & Frog, so it’s wonderful to be immersed in them again. I am also working on a picture book. Picture books just make me happy. And it’s a nice change of pace from a middle-grade book, as they are so different from each other.

Karen Kane’s path to Charlie & Frog led her from a small village near Rochester, NY, to the bustle of Washington, DC. The people she met along the way inspired her writing with their warmth and humor, especially those in the Deaf community. Karen graduated from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and received her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. When she’s not writing, Karen spends her days as a sign language interpreter at Gallaudet University or lost in the stacks of her local library. Charlie & Frog, her debut novel. was nominated for a 2019 Edgar Award Nominated Book in the Best Juvenile category! Find her online at Karen Kane Books.

All Charlie Tickler wants is for his parents to listen. All Francine (a.k.a Frog) Castle wants is to be the world’s greatest detective. So begins the friendship of Charlie and Frog, who soon become a crime-solving duo, restoring order to Castle-on-the-Hudson. Click the above covers to order your copy today!

ASL-Kids images used with permission.

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Welcoming Angela Dominguez, award-winning children's book author & illustrator!

6/29/2019

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Salutations, Angela! Thanks so much for stopping by to chat with us. So, how did you find your way to becoming a kidlit artist?

I always knew I wanted to do something creative. However, it wasn’t until college that I decided I wanted to be an illustrator. There were so many majors in art school. It was difficult to pick just one. Thankfully, I had a 2D-design teacher whose work inspired me to study illustration. His work was similar to Lane Smith’s traditional illustrations, and it reminded me of how much I loved the The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. It rekindled my childhood obsession with creating books.

From there, it wasn’t a direct shot into doing kidlit. I studied general illustration and thought I would be an editorial illustrator. There was such a prestige about that type of work. Still, outside of class I found myself drawn to children’s book illustration. I even placed in an international children’s book illustration competition called Teatro while I was still a student. Despite that, it wasn’t until the last semester of school when I took a children’s book illustration class that everything aligned.

For the first time, I could play with camera angles, humor, and a rhythm. I could tell stories, something I always loved. I could get lost creating a whole world for a book. I also had an excuse to read a ton of a kidlit! With some hard work and some luck, I started getting interest in the work as soon as I graduated. Then I was recommended to SCBWI by Abigal Samoun, who at the time was still an editor. She now has her own literary agency called Red Fox Literary.

SCBWI really helped launch my career. I received my first small book from Children’s Book Press at Illustrator’s Day in San Francisco. More importantly my book, Maria Had a Little Llama, began as assignment from a SCBWI Spirit conference in Davis, California. I am happy to say I’ve been illustrating for over ten years and writing six years professionally.

What do you love about being a children's book creator?

I love telling a narrative and being able to draw things that I find amusing. I’ve always been on the sillier side so this is the perfect outlet for me. Also I adore the marriage of words and pictures. As a child, I could get lost reading a book and that never went away. Now, more and more, it’s the interaction with the kids that really motivates me. Seeing what they relate to during school presentations—not just what I relate to—gives me inspiration.

As you've been honing your craft over the years, what's one of the biggest things you've learned so far.

Luckily, I studied illustration, so my learning curve with the craft has been easier. I think the biggest things is learning how to draw kids well. It’s been a bunch of practice and studying different illustrator’s work. I’ve even created a graduate character design for a children’s book course at the Academy of Art University. When it comes to being an author, the learning curve has been larger. I often force myself to write for practice and I read children’s literature as much possible.

Probably the biggest learning curve though, is realizing the amount of promotion and business skills you need to have. People assume because it’s a creative field and everything can be done at home that you don’t have to network or promote, but that’s a huge part of the job. After all, this children’s literature is its own business.

What types of manuscripts do you love illustrating and why?

My favorite books to illustrate are ones that either feature animals and/or have plenty of room of interpretation. Probably one of my favorite books to illustrate was MARTA! BIG AND SMALL. It has minimal text so I was able to come up a with concept for where these animals lived. That was great collaborative project. I also love illustrating my own stories because there is even room to be creative!

What are you working on now and are you having fun?

I am working on a picture book with Candlewick. It’s still in the early stages, but it’s about a girl who is scared of bees. Coming up with expressions and reactions has been so much fun. I’m also working on a few story ideas. I find that it’s important to always be generating new projects for myself. It keeps me busy and hopefully it turns into a book!

angeladominguezbooks.com

Angela Dominguez was born in Mexico City but grew up in the great state of Texas. She is the author and illustrator of several children's books and a two-time recipient of Pura Belpré Illustration Honor. Her debut middle grade, Stella Díaz Has Something To Say, was a New York Public Library and a Chicago Public Library pick for Best Books for Kids in 2018, winner of SCBWI Sid Fleischman Award, and an ALA Notable. When Angela is not in her studio or visiting schools, she teaches at the Academy of Art University. She is represented by Wernick and Pratt Literary Agency.

Images featured in this blog post are used with permission from Angela Dominguez and Lee & Low Books, Inc.

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Welcome, Susan VanHecke, copyeditor extraordinaire!

6/13/2019

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Salutations, Susan! Thanks so much for stopping by to share with us the ins and outs of what you do as a copyeditor for publishers of books written for younger audiences.

Hi, Dionna! Glad to be here. What do you want to know?

Once an author sells a manuscript, when does a copyeditor step in with his or her red pen?

The minute a contract is signed, an author is welcomed to the editorial process, where the manuscript will be honed and polished to its greatest shining potential, most likely with help from a copyeditor.

But what, exactly, does a copyeditor do?

Once the author and editor have ironed out the big-picture components of the story—plot and character development, structure, pacing—most likely through a few rounds of revision, the manuscript heads to copyediting. Here the focus on the text goes from wide-angle to close-up. The copyeditor puts the manuscript under the microscope, correcting errors, querying questionable passages, and preparing a style sheet, a record of editorial choices that's used throughout the production process to keep everyone on the same, well, page.

Through several reads, the copyeditor will scour the manuscript word for word, sussing out errors and inconsistencies. He or she will correct faulty spelling, grammar, punctuation, and usage and ensure consistency in spelling, hyphenation, numerals, fonts, and capitalization. The copyeditor will track continuity of plot, setting, and character, keep on top of chronology, and fact-check people, places, and events for accuracy. He or she may also eliminate wordiness and clichéd writing, smooth out transitions, and revise sentences for flow and readability.

WOW! I had no idea a copyeditor did so much! Is there more?

Whenever the copyeditor comes across a confusing or possibly incorrect passage in the manuscript, he or she will flag it with a query. Just like it sounds, the query is the copyeditor’s question to the author on behalf of the reader. If a phrase, sentence, paragraph, or turn of events doesn’t seem to make sense, instead of revising the passage directly, the copyeditor will ask about it in a query, leaving the tweaking up to the author. The helpful copyeditor will often suggest a possible revision in the query.

The copyeditor will also format the manuscript to comport with the publisher’s in-house style guide. The style guide is a compilation of editorial preferences specific to that publisher. For example, some publishers like signs, labels, and words on T-shirts to be set in SMALL CAPS. Others prefer ALL CAPS. Or Initial Caps. Or “Initial Caps with Quotation Marks.”

But what if editorial changes are made, and the manuscript evolves?

To keep track of all editorial decisions made while working on a manuscript, the copyeditor will create a style sheet. This document lists character names and info, unusual words not in the dictionary, treatment of words and numbers, story timeline, and other issues specific to the manuscript. This helps all those working with the text at the publishing house—editors, copyeditors, proofreaders—keep things consistent. That way, green-eyed Tasha Clark of 212 Erie Place who turned fifteen on page 6 doesn’t become brown-eyed sixteen-year-old Sasha Clarke of 221 Eerie Court on page 206.

When the copyeditor is finished, the manuscript will be returned to the author's editor, who might add more comments before forwarding it to the author.

Do authors sometimes get overwhelmed by all the corrections and suggestions?

An author can, understandably, feel overwhelmed by the copyeditor’s corrections and queries. All those marks! My advice to them is don’t freak—the copyeditor’s working in your best interest. However, the book is, of course, the author's—so the author shouldn't think every correction or revision must be accepted. There’s a magic word in copyediting: stet. It means “go back to the original.” The author can override any of the copyeditor’s marks with that simple word (though the editor may disagree and discuss with the author why).

Remember, the copyeditor’s always got the author’s back. Your copyeditor’s mission is to help make the book its absolute best. Once all the issues spotted in copyediting are addressed and resolved, the manuscript will be ready to move to production, continuing its transformation from words tapped out on the computer to that gorgeous book in a reader's hand.

Authors should feel privileged to have your red pen and sharp copyeditor's mind keeping watch over their manuscripts, Susan! I know I'm honored to have your trusty red pen upon the Highlighter, the newsletter serving the Mid-Atlantic SCBWI, of which I am the content editor!

How might publishers contact you?

They can find me at SusanVanHeckeEditorial.com, my copyeditor's website and thanks again for having me, Dionna!

The pleasure's all mine!

Susan VanHecke is a copyeditor for some of the top publishers in the industy. Writing as Susan Wood, she's also the award-winning children's book author of ESQUIVEL! SPACE-AGE SOUND ARTIST, AMERICAN GOTHIC: THE LIFE OF GRANT WOOD, and ELIZABETH WARREN: NEVERTHELESS, SHE PERSISTED. You can find out more about Susan's books and her red pen at
SusanWoodBooks, SusanVanHeckeEditorial, and @SusanWoodBooks.

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Welcome, Karen Kane, sign-language interpreter by day, children's book author by night (and at all times in between)!

Welcoming Angela Dominguez, award-winning children's book author & illustrator!

Welcome, Susan VanHecke, copyeditor extraordinaire!

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