kt literary » Operation Redwood

A Year in Queries

Kate — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 00:07:10 +0000

I had great intentions this year to post quarterly status reports on my query stats, but I seem to have missed a quarter (here’s April and July, at least). A quick recap: in the first three months of 2010, I saw 1,297 queries and requested 20 partials, passing on all of them. In the next three months, I looked at 1,560 queries, and asked for 16 partials. So, for the first six months, we’re talking about 2,857 queries and 36 partials of five chapters each. No wonder I didn’t get a lot of other reading done!

But what about since then? A search of my query mailbox shows 2,130 queries received and responded to since July, with another hundred or so that went right to my spam folder. I requested 41 partials, which is a better average than the first half of the year, but does include material from a conference, as well as just emails. And I asked for three full manuscripts.

So who did I say yes to? Well, I signed Erin Danehy in July, with a YA urban fantasy. And I may have more news to share next week, on something I’ve been asking for all year. We’ll see.

But roughly, you’re looking at .04% odds. And… wow. That’s tough. It’s stark, seeing those numbers. But you know what? I’m still looking. Ok, not right now — any queries received after midnight tonight will be deleted unread. But I have no doubt that next spring, when I reopen to queries, I will be starving for something great to read, and I have no doubt you guys can bring it.

What other stats can I share that may be of interest? I closed new domestic deals for Josie Bloss, Matthew Cody, Trish Doller, Stephanie Perkins, and Ransom Riggs, plus several more that I’m excited to officially announce soon. I finalized foreign deals for rights in Chinese (both simplified and complex characters), Croatian, Germany, Hungarian, Indonesian, Portuguese (in Brazil), and Australia and the UK, and closed on a film option for Matthew Cody’s Powerless.

We got some great reviews, including several stars, and a lot of love from the internets for for our books and our authors — I couldn’t be prouder. Tom Sniegoski’s Fallen series hit the New York Times bestseller list, and over a million nerdfighters heard John Green praise Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.

What else? Sara Beitia’s debut The Last Good Place of Lily Odilon came out to much praise, Kater Cheek’s weekly webcomic brought chicken-related laughs, S. Terrell French’s Operation Redwood continued to win awards, Sara Raasch got a tattoo and finished college, Susan Steward went to the Kennedy Space Center as part of NASA’s TweetUp program, Daniel Blau Rogge moved back to NYC, and Amy Spalding rocked the improv stage at LA’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.

And what can we look forward to? LOTS!!

January brings the release of XVI by Julia Karr, Small Persons with Wings by Ellen Booraem, and the US release of Pink by Lili Wilkinson. Looking beyond that, Spring sees the long-awaited release of The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson, the sequel to 13 Little Blue Envelopes, and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, while Summer brings us Carrie Harris‘ debut Bad Taste in Boys. Fall takes us to London for The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton and The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson, the first in her new series, and gives us Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins, Faking Faith by Josie Bloss, and The Dead Gentleman by Matthew Cody.

Plus, my own long-expected debut of BabyUn.

I can’t wait to have even more things to celebrate! In the meantime, I hope you all have a very happy, healthy, and book-filled holiday season. I’ll check in here occasionally with more news as I have it to share. Merry merry!!!

News Round-Up

Kate — Mon, 24 May 2010 16:24:07 +0000

Before I head off to BEA and the possibility of less-than-daily posting, I wanted to share some recent news you may have missed. Shall we?

Matthew Cody announced the title for his brilliant new middle grade novel — stay tuned for THE DEAD GENTLEMAN, coming to stores near you in Summer 2011!

Carrie Harris is the newest Active member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, with BAD TASTE IN BOYS due from Random House in July 2011.

ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS by Stephanie Perkins is already making waves ahead of its December 2010 debut from Dutton, with fabulous blurbs from Lauren Myracle and Maureen Johnson.

“Imagine a mug of rich, thick hot chocolate. Now add a swirl of sweet whipped cream. Yummy? Oui. Well, Anna and the French Kiss is richer, sweeter, and–yes–even hotter. You’re in for a very special treat.” — Lauren Myracle, New York Times bestselling author of Peace, Love & Baby Ducks and Let it Snow.

“Very sly. Very funny. Very romantic. You should date this book.” — Maureen Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of 13 Little Blue Envelopes and Scarlett Fever.

We’ve also sold German rights to ANNA, to Random House Germany. (Publishers Marketplace link, subscription required.)

Operation Redwood by S. Terrell French is on the Horn Book’s Summer Recommended Reading List.

There’s even MORE good stuff pending, but not yet ready for release. Stay tuned!

Congrats to REDWOOD!

Kate — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:40:46 +0000

Congrats to S. Terrell French and the fabulous people at Amulet — Operation Redwood just won the 2010 National Green Earth Book Award for Children’s Fiction! Following is the press release:

The 2010 Newton Marasco Foundation (NMF) Annual Green Earth Book Award winners reinforce the importance of environmental stewardship to our nation’s youth at a time when the country is renewing its focus on climate change and other environmental issues.

Every year, NMF, a non-profit environmental charity, partners with Salisbury University in Maryland to honor and promote environmental books that inspire young readers to appreciate and care for the environment. The Green Earth Book Award is the nation’s first environmental stewardship book award for children and young adult literature.

“One of the beauties of the Newton Marasco Green Earth Book Award is that it recognizes an author who’s writing about a topic that is of vital importance to our Earth, yet it’s an area that, until recently, received little attention,” said Pam Spencer Holley, past Green Earth Book Award judge and author of the American Library Association’s Quick and Popular Reads for Teens.[...]

“The 2010 Green Earth Book Award goes to authors who have captured the essence of stewardship,” said Amy Marasco Newton, president and founder of the Newton Marasco Foundation. “Through their words and illustrations, these books not only raise awareness of environmental issues, but also instill a sense of responsibility for nurturing, protecting and defending the natural environment. I encourage educators, parents, grandparents, and youth clubs to include these books in their programs to help spread the word of what the next generation of environmental stewards can accomplish!”

I’m so pleased for Susannah, whose book really was a labor of love.

Has anyone else gotten some great news lately? Let’s turn the comments into a feast of congratulations!

OPERATION REDWOOD a Top Ten (twice!)

Kate — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:11:11 +0000

Just got some great news about S. Terrell French’s Operation Redwood! First, from Daily Kos, which prefaces their list thusly:

Best-seller lists, the air waves, oped pages, and blog posts have been filled with Steven Levitt’s and Steven Dubner’s shallow,truthiness-laden Superfreakonomics. [...] There are, essentially, innumerable works more worthy of our attention and engagement, even if we constrain ourselves simply to books also published in 2009.

Thus, after the fold, ten books published this year that are more worthy of your time and money…

Whether or not you agree about Superfreakonomics, you have to be happy for Redwood! Their praise:

A quick and amusing read which, based on the four sixth-graders who reported on it to me, has the potential to open eyes of young people about individual action and the use of media action to help turn the tide on devastation of our environment. At times, for this reader at least, the writer made me close my eyes and think.

Then, from the Mother-Daughter Book Club, their list of Top Ten books written in 2009 by women. And a noteworthy explanation:

This doesn’t mean that men are not writing books that appeal to mothers and daughters, because they do. And in fact, my list of favorite authors for mother-daughter book clubs includes a healthy mix of both genders. I’ve always stressed to my daughters that gender shouldn’t be a consideration for competence, and that they should form opinions of others by their actions. Even so, some days prompt a sense of solidarity with certain groups and today is the day for women writers.

There’s more snow on the ground, or I would totally climb a tree in celebration!

Interview Links

Kate — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:01:28 +0000

So, needless to say, I didn’t quite manage to set up the automatic posts I’d hoped to do. But I have been collecting some exciting links to share, now with more gremlins! (I got tired of posting pictures of chain links.)

An interview with S. Terrell French is up on Cynthia Leitich Smith’s blog Cynsations, in her New Voices Series celebrationg 2009 debut authors.

I shared this on Twitter earlier, but here’s an article from the Arizona Daily Wildcat in which I’m quoted talking about publishing.

Finally, I’m delighted to share what I hinted about the other day:

Don’t miss the end, which reveals a secret about author Matthew Cody.

More Love for Our Authors

Kate — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:59:56 +0000

If a book doesn’t spring to the top of the bestseller list when it’s released, is it over? Maybe for folks like Dan Brown (as if!) but not for children’s books, which can grow and grow and grow — both in sales and in attention. For instance, check out this tweet from Kirkus Reviews:

The most tragically overlooked book of 2008: THE UNNAMEABLES, by Ellen Booraem. Reviewed 9/1/08.

Which led this blogger to pick it up, and post this review (in part):Don’t overlook this one. To do so is simply Unnameable.

But that’s not all! The Horn Book’s list of Newcomers “highlights exceptional work by the latest crop of novice authors and artists,” and features not just The Unnameables, but also Operation Redwood by S. Terrell French!

Reviews and press mentions like these are the best examples I can give of the power of writing quality work and trusting that it will find an audience — which isn’t to say that Ellen or Susannah have been resting on their laurels since their books’ publications! It’s about keeping a presence on the internet, working with your publisher to continue to promote your books, and basically doing everything you can to be sure your book is in front of the people that matter.

If you’re committed to being an author, you need to know it’s a long-term commitment, not a flash in the pan gig. Are you ready for that? Can you keep up what you’ve been doing to promote yourself and your work for the next five years? The next ten?

“one of the finest children’s novels of the year”

Kate — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:48:11 +0000

I love Betsy Bird. Not only for her insightful, entertaining blog, Fuse #8, not only for her co-sponsorship of Kidlit Nights Drinks across the country, but also for this amazing, erudite, overwhelmingly positive review of S. Terrell French’s debut Operation Redwood:

I wonder if contemporary children’s authors ever look at the writers of the past and think to themselves, “It was easier then. You could get away with so much more.” Morality, at least in retrospect, was so clear cut and uncomplicated in the books of the past. You could have a kid defeat a great big villain with relative simplicity and folks wouldn’t object at all. Or maybe not. That’s how we think of old children’s books… as simple. But when you try to sit down and think of all the realistic novels of the past, their conclusions are never as free and easy as all that. I’m mentioning all this because I just finished, Operation Redwood, one of the finest children’s novels of the year, and while reading the book I kept thinking about how author S. Terrell French never cheats her readers. She is constantly covering her tracks and making this a strangely realistic middle grade novel, albeit one about kids trying to take down a big business. It’s a first novel on the author’s part, but French has crafted an interesting, intelligent, and ultimately satisfying debut that will undoubtedly garner more than a few fans. A book that shows us that doing the moral thing is a complicated business.

When I tell you that this is merely the opening paragraph to an incredibly well-thought out review that parses the book from soup to nuts, I hope you’ll understand how unusual and amazing that is.

Please read the whole thing, and thank Betsy, when you get a chance, for introducing such considerate criticism into the kidlitosphere.

Trying to Avoid a Kerplooie

Kate — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:47:10 +0000

Gah! I have so much good news to share, but which I can’t talk about yet, that I might EXPLODE! It’s been a wild, crazy couple of weeks, and I expect fall is going to be one of flying colors — if I can just keep my head from exploding before then. Hate the tease? Sorry about that. All will be revealed soon, so please stay tuned.

In the meantime, I can share this review of Pink by Lili Wilkinson. Lili’s at the Edinburgh International Book Festival right now, and I’m very jealous. Not just for the books, and the fabulous authors she’s keeping company with, but for Edinburgh itself, which is one of my favorite towns in the UK. What’s not to love about a city with a volcanic rock formation smack dab in the middle of it, crowned by a castle? Swoon.

Also, check out this great interview with S. Terrell French, author of Operation Redwood. The interviewer asks a couple of fun questions, including “If you weren’t an author, what would you be?”

Well, readers, what would YOU be?

SLJ Review of Operation Redwood

Kate — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:35:19 +0000

Why yes, I DID take Friday off for a long holiday weekend, thanks for noticing! But I’m sure you were all way to busy with your Writing Prompts to really care, right? Don’t forget, you have until 12 midnight, mountain time today to add your hook and your link to the comments on the post to win a FREE book of your choice from the kt literary library. In the meantime, I’m thrilled that Operation Redwood by S. Terrell French got a nice School Library Journal review, which reads, in part:

Fast paced and full of fun, the story captures the excitement and satisfaction of defeating a large corporation. [...] Julian’s relationship with his younger cousin is well done, balancing the tension of a favored kid with genuine affection. Teachers will be able to use this novel for Earth Day discussions and can foster conversations on environmental activism of all types. The resolution reminds readers that everyone, no matter how large or small, can take action on issues that are important to them.

Gratz, Susannah!

Linkapalooza!

Kate — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:21:17 +0000

The tabs on my browser have flowed over to a second row, so it’s time for another tab-closing session of Linkapalooza! First up:

First, the School Library Journal ran one librarian’s “Open Letter to Kids’ Book Publishers.” Then, editor Andrew Karre wrote a rebuttal to her point about the length of books being published.

I don’t disagree that there are books out there that are too long, and I really love short novels, but I respectfully (but firmly) reject the notion that there is a meaningful general limit to length.

Today, he tweeted librarian (and author) Lisa Chellman’s response to the Open Letter, with a brilliant riposte to the original writer’s request for more books with books instead of girls.

Hey, listen up writers and editors! Any book that doesn’t specifically deal with breasts and periods and pretty, pretty princesses should be about boys. Because boys don’t see themselves reflected in literature, film, politics, science, or sports nearly enough. Because boys are the default. Because we’re lazy slaves to the patriarchy.

Excuse me while I barf.

Thinking of Andrew Karre, who was kt literary client Josie Bloss‘ first, brilliant editor makes me think of Josie herself, the cover of whose latest book Band Geeked Out is featured on Jacket Whys, picking up on another trend in cover design. A note for Jacket Whys: Band Geek Love had the same style design!

Then on to another kt literary client, S. Terrell French! Into the Wardrobe has a great interview posted, where Susannah talks about her inspirations and the rewards of writing Operation Redwood. There’s another short review from the King’s English Bookstore in Salt Lake City here, which calls Operation Redwood “intriguing and sensational”!

Next, a quick mention of Vacations From Hell in the Sacramento Bee — notable for being a list of fantastic summer titles not just for kids, but for all readers.

And I’m sure you already heard about the brouhaha around Alice Hoffman’s response to a bad review, but you should check out Jennifer Weiner’s blog about it in the Huffington Post.

And finally, I still want this.

What’s on your mind? Any links you want to share? Add ‘em in the comments!