Interview with Frances Gilbert, Editor-in-Chief of Doubleday Books for Young Readers

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Doubleday, editor, Frances Gilbert, Writers Day

FRANCES GILBERT started her career with books in high school when she worked in the children’s department of her town library. After graduating from university with an M.A. in English, her first job in publishing was as a Book Club Editor at Scholastic Canada in Toronto. She moved to New York in 2000 to set up a children’s editorial division at Sterling Publishing. In 2012, Gilbert moved to Random House Children’s Books where she is Editor-in-Chief of Doubleday Books for Young Readers. She is also a successful author of several children’s books.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! We’re excited to have you as a Keynote Speaker at SCBWI LA’s 2019 Writers Day event. You’ve been in the industry since a teen and, as an author yourself, understand publishing from both sides. As an editor, please share with us some reasons that picture book manuscripts are rejected.

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HarperCollins Editorial Assistant and SCBWI-L.A. WWR Faculty Member Stephanie Guerdan on Intersectionality, Representation, and Geekery in Kid Lit

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diversity, fantasy, geek culture, Graphic Novels, intersectionality, LGBTQIA, SCBWI events, sci-fi, speculative fiction, Stephanie Guerdan

HarperCollins Editorial Assistant Stephanie Geurdan is on faculty for this year’s SCBWI-L.A. Working Writers Retreat (WWR). She came to HarperCollins in2017 following jobs at a literary agency and as a bookseller. Some of the titles she’s worked on include New York Times best-selling author Natalie Lloyd’s ProblimChildren trilogy, critically acclaimed author Tiffany D. Jackson’s sophomore novel Monday’s Not Coming, and The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, the sequel to the Stonewall Honor-winning The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. She is interested primarily in middle grade and YA, especially in speculative genres and graphic novel formats, with a focus on inclusive stories from fresh voices. And she’s here today to share her insights and expertise!

SARAH PARKER LEE: We’re so excited you’re joining us for the WWR! At these kinds of events, what are editors hoping to accomplish? If you come away from them with a manuscript you want to acquire, what catches your eye first?  

Scholastic Senior Editor Matt Ringler on the Goosebumps series, his love for revisions, and plot arcs in reality television

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SCBWI Los Angeles Writers Day faculty member Matt Ringler is a Senior Editor at Scholastic where he edits chapter books, middle grade, and YA fiction.

He got his start at Scholastic in 2001 as a summer intern during his freshman year of college and, minus a short stint as a freelancer, has been there ever since. He compares the internship to winning the lottery, landing him the opportunities to work with Scholastic Editorial Director and author David Levithan and to witness the height of Harry Potter domination.

His books include the Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine, the Game Changers series by Mike Lupica, the STAT series by Amar’e Stoudemire, and Sharon Robinson’s middle grade novel, The Hero Two Doors Down. His YA list includes Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky and It’s Not Me, It’s You by Stephanie Kate Strohm.

Matt talks to Kite Tales about his work and Writers Day in Los Angeles, taking place March 3.

Erlina Vasconcellos: Your books are so diverse and range from long-running series to debuts. How do you choose the books you edit?

Matt Ringler: A lot of that is a combination of luck and paying careful attention to the books I’m acquiring. With a long-running series, there’s always books to work on. That allows me to be really choosy with [the non-series books]. I always want to do something different from what I’ve just done. When I took over on Goosebumps, I sort of became the middle grade horror person. I like it, but I don’t always want to work on middle grade horror. The same thing happened when I acquired my first YA project—everything agents were sending me suddenly mirrored this one book I bought. But I like to read all age ranges; I read all genres.

EV: What are the elements of a strong series? And how should writers present that series to you? Do you want to see a whole plan?

HarperCollins Editor Karen Chaplin on Defining Voice, Trends, & Time Management

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Karen Chaplin began her publishing career at Scholastic. She was an editor at Puffin Books/Penguin Young Readers Group for six years before she moved to HarperCollins Children’s Books, where she is currently a senior editor of picture book, middle grade, and young adult fiction and nonfiction. Karen received her undergraduate degree in English from the University of Delaware, and her MA in English from Simmons College. When she’s not working, she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, finding DIY projects to do, and dabbling in photography. She also has graciously offered to do a Q&A with us!

Sarah Parker-Lee: As an editor, it’s your job to take a writer’s labor of love and not just fine-tune it but take it to the next level. What are you looking for when you first begin this process?

Karen Chaplin: One of the first things I look for in a manuscript is voice. The voice of the story, of the main character, of all the characters, really needs to draw me in from the first few pages, and if that happens, then the author has got me hooked. Plot points, character issues, the ending—all of that can be modified. But the voice is difficult to accomplish, and if an author nails that, it’s a fantastic start.

SPL: Any advice for writers working with an editor, whether they are first-timers or old pros?

HarperCollins’ Alyssa Miele: Critiques, Word Blizzards, Queer Representation in Middle Grade, & Music to Edit By.

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HarperCollins Associate Editor, Alyssa Miele, loves fiction chock-full of strong, flawed, and loveable characters whose stories stay with her long after she’s earmarked, underlined, and reread the heck out of them. From commercial to literary, queer to straight, and everything in between, Alyssa loves books that inspire, haunt, and captivate. Alyssa’s recent projects include Changes in Latitudes by Jen Malone, Confidentially Yours: Vanessa’s Design Dilemma by Jo Whittemore and The Arrival of Someday (working title) by Jen Malone (Summer ’19). Alyssa was on faculty for this year’s Los Angeles Working Writers Retreat and spent a weekend in Encino with our members as they dove into their writing and tweaked, polished, and maybe even dismantled their projects. For tips, insights, and music to edit by, keep reading!

Sarah Parker-Lee: As faculty for the WWR, you gave feedback on attendees’ work, but you also had to share space with them for a weekend. Did that change how you approached critiquing? What is your “critique style?”

Alyssa Miele: Meaning, is it hard to critique someone’s writing when they could potentially be sleeping next door to you? Ha! I don’t think that occurred to me until after the first few group critiques, when, heading back to my room, I saw some of the writers walking to their rooms along the same walkway as mine. And of course we share meals and social hours, which really turned out to be a rewarding experience for me. But to answer your question, no, it didn’t change my approach. We’re all adults and, whether writer, agent, or editor, we’re all there to get better in some way or another. I got a very good vibe from the writers. In between critiques, everyone was conscious of giving you your time and space to recharge for the next critique group.

My “style” is pretty laid back. I tried to avoid ever sitting at “the head” of the table. I tried to have the writers open up the conversation before I would give my two cents…I very much believe that I was a guest, allowed into their sacred writing retreat environment, and I wanted them to feel like I came with the upmost respect for their time, their writing, and their process. I didn’t want anyone to feel or think I was the end-all be-all of advice, because the truth is that everything they do, and everything I say, is subjective. So I’m very much of the mind that — here is what I think, but if that doesn’t track with what your vision is, let’s hear some other opinions. I know I bring marketplace and publishing experience to the table, so I hope they could find helpful takeaways in that part of my critiquing, but other writers at the table provided helpful insight, too.

SPL: Critiques can be a hard experience for a writer, to give and to receive, but are super necessary. Any tips on how to stay open, be honest, and choose wisely? 

Agent, Editor, & Author Kari Sutherland On First Lines, Revisions, & Representation

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Author Tips, critiques, Kari Sutherland, publishing, SCBWI events

 

Agent and author Kari Sutherland joins this year’s LA SCBWI Working Writer’s Retreat faculty. She was a Senior Editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books before joining the Bradford Literary Agency in 2017 and she co-writes the middle grade Menagerie series with her sister, Tui Sutherland. She’s worked with bestselling and critically acclaimed authors on projects such as the #1 New York Times bestselling Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard and the #1 New York Times bestselling Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard. Needless to say, she knows a thing or ten or about writing, editing, and publishing books, and she’s here to share some of that knowledge with us!

Sarah Parker-Lee: You graduated from Williams College with a B.A. in English and Psychology. Why do you consider this the perfect combination for working with authors on character and plot development?

Kari Sutherland: I’d say both fields help me pinpoint when a character is behaving in a way that isn’t authentic or in a way that may produce a reaction in readers that the author is not intending. Having studied the way minds work, it gives me insight into personality and character growth. With my English studies, I know how to catch and keep a reader’s attention through voice, sentence structure, and plotting. Psychology classes also prepared me to be an excellent listener and to help coax out what a person really wants to say – in this case, through their manuscripts.

SPL: Your Bradford Lit bio says you’re passionate about helping to polish each manuscript and equip your clients for success. What does that entail?

Get to Know Samantha Swank, Scholastic Assistant Editor and Working Writer’s Retreat Faculty

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Samantha Swank is an assistant editor at Scholastic, where she works on fiction and non-fiction for ages zero-eight. She is a faculty member for the Working Writer’s Retreat, set for Sept. 15-17 at the Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino. She talks to Kite Tales about her work, children’s publishing, and her love for Benjamin Franklin.

EV: What made you decide to sign on as faculty for the Working Writer’s Retreat? What can participants expect from you?

SS: I thought the Working Writer’s Retreat sounded like a great opportunity for me, both professionally and personally. It’s great to get out there and meet other industry folks and talent, and there are worse places to do that than in California! My goal is to offer the participants some helpful feedback about their manuscripts and give them an idea of what I’m hoping to acquire going forward. And they can definitely expect an impassioned karaoke performance on Saturday night.

Pam Gruber: Editor’s Perspective, Writers & Illustrators Day Faculty

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authors, Cecilia Vinesse, Claudia Gray, Emily Lloyd-Jones, Jen Calonita, Josh Sundquist, Pam Gruber, publishers, publishing, YA, young adult

Pam Gruber is a Senior Editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers where she has worked on everything from novelty and picture books to novels. She primarily acquires middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction. She loves alternate histories, off-beat teen romances, witty voices that can make her laugh and cry simultaneously, and stories of characters being asked to see their world in a different way. She is also on the faculty for this year’s Los Angeles SCBWI Writers and Illustrators Day (Feb. 25^th) where she will deliver a keynote and lead a breakout session on immersive world-building. For a great preview and insights from an editor-extraordinaire (and cute cat photos!), read on:

SARAH PARKER-LEE: Your list includes a hybrid graphic-novel series, VIP by Jen Calonita, Claudia Gray’s new space opera, Defy the Stars, and YouTuber Josh Sundquist’s debut novel, Love and First Sight. You certainly don’t dwell in traditional spaces for content or creator! What makes you want to take a risk on non-traditional projects? What’s the difference between non-traditional and straight-up gimmicky?

Melissa Manlove: Editor’s Perspective, 2017 Writers and Illustrators Day Faculty

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authors, illustrators, Illustrators Day, Melissa Manlove, picture books, publishers, publishing, writers, Writers Day

Melissa Manlove is an editor at Chronicle Books in San Francisco. Her acquisitions tend to be all ages in nonfiction; ages 0-8 for fiction. She’s also a keynote speaker, a breakout session speaker, manuscript critique faculty, and an illustration contest judge for the Los Angeles SCBWI Writers & Illustrators Day, coming on February 25^th, 2017. When acquiring, Melissa looks for fresh takes on familiar topics as well as the new and unusual. An effective approach and strong, graceful writing are important to her. She also has 17 years of children’s bookselling experience and is currently on staff at Book Passage.

Sarah Parker-Lee: Your workshop intensive for the SCBWI Los Angeles Writer’s and Illustrator’s Day event, “What We Say Without Saying: Developing Voice in the Text and Art of Picture Books,” is for authors and illustrators. “Voice” is so often associated with text. What does it mean for illustrations? Do authors and illustrators find one voice together, or a way to intertwine their individual voices?

Melissa Manlove: Voice is a lot of things at once, but style and point of view are a couple of the biggest parts, whether you’re talking about text or art. Artists can make a lot of decisions that will make an impact on readers without them being very aware of it—choices that are ‘show not tell’ in the art, like palette, texture, composition—and decisions that ought to be deliberately calculated to communicate what’s most important about the book they’re illustrating; to evoke emotion, to tell a story.

Authors and artists always have separate voices, but when they are both working towards the same (or complimentary) narrative goals, they achieve a harmony that makes them feel like two halves of the same whole.

Stephanie Stein: Editor’s Perspective

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editor, HarperCollins, middle grade, publishing, Stephanie Stein, writing tips, YA

HarperCollins Children’s Books editor Stephanie Stein works on a range of YA and middle grade fiction by authors including Kiera Cass (the Selection series), Erin Hunter (Warriors), and Cynthia Hand (The Last Time We Say Goodbye). As faculty for this year’s SCBWI Los Angeles Writer’s Day, Stephanie gave a compelling keynote address, “Writing Your Book (Not Someone Else’s)” and a breakout session on what to expect from an editor when you’re revising your work together. Kite Tales caught up with her after LAWD16 for a follow-up on defining your writer’s voice, why that’s essential to getting published, and why everyone’s path to publishing looks different.