squeetus

Leaner, meaner trim size coming your way!

I'm mostly shy about self-promoting. In my real life, I never bring up my profession with people I meet. When asked about it, I usually answer briefly and then change the subject. I've mentioned here before, I spent years doing school and book store visits usually without ever mentioning my books. But there are two consistent exceptions:

RAPUNZEL'S REVENGE and CALAMITY JACK, y'all!

I don't know why it's so much easier for me to tout these books. Probably because they're not mine alone. I co-wrote them with my husband Dean and artist (no relation) Nathan Hale.

Possibly also because they're FREAKIN' AWESOME.

Here's the thing about these books. Librarians who know them and stock them tell me they can't keep them on the shelves. I hear this constantly from school, public, and classroom libraries across the country: the kids fight over these books. The kids read them again and again. My avid readers read these books. My non-readers read these books. My non-readers became readers because of these books.

They're absolutely life-making for me, these comments.

Then I also hear: I can't find these books. Bookstores don't carry these books.

When we first wrote Rapunzel's Revenge, I couldn't name a single other graphic novel for young readers. Children's book publishers were not yet publishing graphic novels. We thought we'd have to try to publish it with a comics publisher. That world was new. Bloomsbury took up the book, and when we decided on a trim size, we chose a comic book size, because that was what had been established.

Shortly thereafter traditional children's publishing got into graphic novels in a huge way, and they all went for a smaller trim size, one that could fit on bookstore shelves beside other novels.

So my publisher, Bloomsbury, has decided to revisit these books. Since their reception by readers has
been so great but bookstores can't fit them on regular shelves, they are re-releasing both books in a smaller trim size. The smaller size will start replacing all the other books in about two months.

What does this mean?

Hopefully that you will start seeing these books regularly available in your local bookstores!

But it also means that the larger size will disappear. So if you like that size (I do) then BUY NOW!

And may I recommend? Boldly again, since I only speak about these books boldly. Buy the hardcover. They get re-read. Lots and lots. And paperbacks fall apart. So invest in the hardcover. That thing, as Nate says, will stop bullets.

Happy reading, and yee-ha!

And now for something completely different...

After publishing Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack, one of the most common questions posed to me and my husband/cowriter Dean is: "What is it like to collaborate?" We made this 90 second film hoping to shed more light on that question.

So, does that answer your question? #helpful

We made this movie a couple of years ago for our talk at the SCIBA dinner (So-Cal indie booksellers). We also demonstrated our collaborative process through a Spanish telenovela and interpretive movement, as is our wont. I think it was enlightening--especially for those in attendance who had taken advantage of the open bar. Our dear friend An Dinh shot and edited it. He and his awesome wife Tamiyah make a random appearance. Shout out to Bugsy the Guinea Pig, the true star of this profound work of artistic genius.

Also, please join me weekdays in July for the Squeetus Summer Book Club. A chapter a day in Princess Academy in preparation for the August release of Palace of Stone.

What are Jack and Punzie up to now?

Like most of the creative arts, people don't get into writing books in order to make money (not if they're smart anyway). We write novels because we have characters and stories and words pressing us to do so. Most writers I know think of any income they make as a way to support their writing habit rather than as a career, because of course, the hourly wage would usually work out to be pretty pathetic. So a huge, HUGE reward for writers is to hear back from readers and see that our works have been read and impacted someone and made someone fall in love with reading or pass through a tough period or love and/or understand themselves or others better or any of the magical things books do.

So when I saw this blog comment I had to pass it along to the husband and to illustrator Nathan Hale:

Two years ago, when my older daughter was in second grade, I spotted "Rapunzel's Revenge" at our local library and checked it out. Molly saw me reading it and was instantly intrigued, and I assured her she could read it as soon as I was done. She took it to school. When I stopped by the classroom later that week to volunteer, I saw that there were two girls sitting side by side at a table, sharing the book, with two MORE girls standing behind them, reading over their shoulders. Each page got turned when all four girls agreed they were ready for the next page. This AFTER Molly had actually made a handwritten waiting list because so many of her classmates wanted to borrow it. And THEN someone liked it so much she took it home and I NEVER SAW THE BOOK AGAIN and had to pay $22 to the library to replace the copy I'd checked out. Siiiiigh. So YES. YES. OMG not only do children READ your books, they beg, borrow, and steal them.    (This Christmas, I bought copies of "Rapunzel's Revenge" and "Calamity Jack" for my younger daughter, who's seven. She ADORES these books and has re-read them repeatedly.) 

Nathan was so delighted, being Valentine's week, he wanted to make a Valentine for all our awesome readers out there. Thank you, thank you! And here's your love from Nate:

Oh man, how much this pic makes me want to do a third...

The best Christmas present

From a reader mom:

"Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack brought our Christmas present opening to a 10 minute full-stop. The girls were so engrossed they hardly acknowledged our presence. It took a lot of coaxing to get them to continue opening gifts! Thanks for helping feed my girls' love of reading with your excellent books!! Merry Christmas!"

EDIT: I just realized that the title makes it sound like I'm claiming that my books are the best Christmas present. What I meant was that the best present for me was hearing about these girls who loved the books! Shuffling myself off now...

Rapunzel: no cape, no tights

This made my day! Fabulous librarian and graphic novel guru Robin Brenner made a Rapunzel outfit and sported it recently at ALA. (Which reminds me...I will be doing a costume contest around Halloween. Dressing up as characters from any of my books gains you entry. Send photos.) This outfit is what we called Rapunzel's superhero outfit from calamity jack. I love it.

In rapunzel's revenge, Rapunzel wears pretty ridiculous clothing for the first half of the story. Then Jack buys her some new garb. In the script when she first puts it on, we described it to Nate Hale (illustrator) as the moment Superman emerges from the phone booth. It's her kicking-butt clothing, the clothes that express the kind of girl she's become. Jack buys them for her, showing how well he knows her, and how highly he thinks of her awesomeness. This is a lad who is not intimidated by a powerful girl. You gotta love Jack. (He was pretty easy to write. I happen to be married to a man who is the least sexist person I've ever known. Can you imagine I'd marry him otherwise? How lucky his three daughters are/will be to have a dad like him!)

In calamity jack, Rapunzel goes to the big city and tries to fit in with how she thinks Jack wants her to be. She spends the first half in a cumbersome (though lovely) Victorian dress. At one point she goes out to buy Jack a piece of clothing (I won't spoil it if you haven't read it yet). It is the one thing in all the world he would want and best expresses who he is. While she is out, we decided she would shed her constricting garb and buy herself a new, updated superhero outfit, one that combined elements from the previous but with a slick, urban style. This is Rapunzel Kicking Butt in the Big City. Nate grew up in a theater family and has a wonderful sense of costumes. He did lots of research and sketches until he found just the right look for her. I LOVE the jacket. She's so awesome in these clothes.

Nate really is incredible. I could pour over calamity jack for hours, examining all the little details he includes. Genius. He created a live, bustling, turn-of-the-century, steampunk/fairy tale city and perfectly expressed a hundred different characters. Pure genius.

Graphic novels: the great satan

re: last post, Charlotte's Web was the #1!

I was at TLA in San Antonio, Texas these past few days. I love Texas librarians! Seriously, librarian conferences rock. You meet up with old author friends and hang out with new librarian friends. I spoke on a panel about graphic novels with Jennifer Holm (Babymouse) and Jarrett Krosoczka (Lunch Lady). Good folk. At one point I got emotional (I hate when I do that) trying to express how grateful I am to librarians. It was so lame, because I know I sounded like a complete suck up, but I feel passionate about it, and in case I didn't express myself well, I want to try again here.

Graphic novels for kids are important for many reasons. Here are a few:

1. They provide an important transition book from picture books to chapter books.
2. They provide a storytelling hook for visual learners of any age.
3. They are the most likely kinds of books embraced by "reluctant readers"
4. They teach kids to interpret sequential art, a brain-taxing activity that teaches visual literacy, valuable in our increasingly graphical world.
5. They allow younger kids to stretch their reading abilities. (e.g. the vocabulary in rapunzel and jack is above most 4-8 year-olds, but younger kids are still willing to read them and can understand because the text is supported by visual storytelling. People I know who are life-long comics readers tend to have amazing vocabularies, and an advanced vocabulary is important for literacy.)
6. They require a different kind of brain work than reading prose and much, much more brain exercise than watching a movie.
7. Kids who will only read a certain genre of prose novel are more likely to leave their genre comfort zone for a graphic novel than a prose novel. A kid only reads fantasy? Offer a non-fiction or realistic fiction graphic novel.
8. Readers with disabilities, English as a second language, and other obstacles have often thrived with graphic novels.
9. Advanced readers also thrive with graphic novels, gaining insight from analyzing text-and-picture storytelling and uses of the visual medium. It's a highly creative exercise.
10. P.S. They're also fun.

Many adults are still hesitant about graphic novels. I've heard from many school librarians that when classes come in to check out books, some teachers will tell their students they can check out anything besides graphic novels. They should only check out "real books." Obviously not all teachers feel this way. I know many teachers who are passionate supporters of the medium. But others do. I hear the same thing from booksellers with regards to parents. A parent might be willing to buy a prose novel for a child, but not a graphic novel.

Why are so many adults down on this medium? A few reasons:

1. The fear that once kids start reading graphic novels, they'll only read graphic novels. (Studies have shown this fear false, and teens who read GNs are more likely to read other kinds of books for pleasure than their non-GN reading friends. There are those who only read comics...but I know those people, and if they weren't reading comics, they wouldn't be reading anything at all.)
2. The cultural bias against books with pictures. The goal, for many parents, is to wean their children from picture books. Aren't GNs a step back? (There are still words in GNs. Kids are still reading! And visual literacy is an important part of our world too. This idea is peculiarly American.)
3. The belief that graphic novels are, in fact. GRAPHIC! (The medium of sequential art doesn't necessitate violence and sexuality. Some GNs are graphic in that way, many are not.)
4. Generations of belief that comic books are trashy and no good. (Some of the best writers alive today are writing GNs. Again, the medium doesn't determine content. As Jarrett pointed out at TLA, Stephen King and Beverly Cleary write in the same medium.)

If it weren't for libraries, I don't think there would be enough of a market for graphic novels for young readers to validate their publication. Comic book stores are starting to carry more books for the younger set, but like the other book stores, their selection tends to be limited and I hear from them that the sales are not great. This is, I believe, because it's the adults doing the buying, not the kids. I think this will change, as the prejudice against GNs has been changing, but slowly.

And yet I hear from dozens of librarians (especially elementary and middle school librarians) that "I can't keep rapunzel's revenge on the shelf." You are far more likely to find calamity jack in a library than in a book store, and I think that's because a library is where the kid is doing the selecting. A school library is the place where a child is most likely to be able to pick out her own book, unsupervised by a parent or (sometimes) a teacher. A library is where children choose. A library is where children can discover what they love to read without someone trying to push them onto "harder" material or more "grown-up" books. A library is magic.

I hope I never come across as speaking in absolutes. Most of the teachers and parents I know are passionate supporters of any good books that can transform a non-reader into an eager reader. And I don't blame those who are hesitant or fearful of GNs. That's their own understanding. Meanwhile, libraries have been stocking manga and GNs years before anyone else caught up. Without libraries, I don't think books like rapunzel's revenge and calamity jack would ever have seen print. And I never would have had the inexpressible joy of receiving the dozens of emails and notes from parents who tell me, "My son/daughter never read a book in his/her life until your graphic novel. And now, he/she reads all the time." That is worth anything. Thanks, librarians. In a time when we're seeing libraries disappearing, book budgets cut, and librarians taken out of schools, I hope you know that the kid lit authors know what you do, why you're essential, and appreciate you. I vote for libraries.

Rapunzel's Revenge book trailer contest: Vote now!

Here are the awesome entries in our rapunzel's revenge book trailer contest!  Please watch all the entries before voting at the end of this post. Voting ends February 25. Thanks to all for taking such time and care to produce these beautiful trailers.

Alex Rogers

Alysa Smith

JeReveDesLivres

George Ingram

Heather Zundel

JeReveDesLivres (poem)

Online Surveys & Market Research

Calamity Jack party: a GRAPHIC account!

Here are some (shocking!) photos from our (alarming!) King's English launch party for (earth shattering!) calamity jack. Intrigued...? I thought so.

Dean, Nate, and I talked about making the book. Blah, blah, blah. Why does my husband's shirt have a bloody hand print? Because it's his Intermural Zombie Hunting League team shirt. Obviously.

 
Nate's awesome presentation on the making of a graphic novel. The cutie kids sat on the floor. Where they could better put their hands in front of the projector. Obviously. Nate made a graphical homage to this moment on his blog.

 
More talking. Questions answered. Two super secret projects revealed. Does Nate look like he's keeping his distance? Almost as if...he doesn't trust us, for some reason? Weird.

Through Interpretive Movement, Dean and I explain the process of Collaboration.

With a big finish!

Look at these cutie kids! Rapunzel is decked out from head to foot. Awesome! And cowboy little brother was definitely smiling on the inside.

Two Rapunzels show the world how to whip evil! A shout out to Mindy Hale who knit this unbelievable wig for me at the Rapunzel launch. It appeared on the Today Show even, the most famous wig in America! I should have just worn this wig the entire time. My other hair looked awful. Just texted my hair dresser: emergency!

Check it out! Freddie came! I love costumes. I really do.

Thanks to the King's English and Anderson Library, and everyone who came out. We had a wonderful time. I found it interesting that for this book release, our audience was mostly adult women and young families. A really wonderful crowd! But I wondered, where are the teens? Are Saturdays just too busy? It is commonly acknowledged that picture book and middle grade events tend to be better attended than YA events, because teens just don't get out there much on their own. So teenagers, what gets you to a book event? What day/time, what incentives, what gets you to push pause on your busy lives and get to a bookstore?

Leaving the Forest...for now

Answering more emailed questions:

"I felt like Forest Born left the door open for more books. Will there be another Bayern book?"

Not at the moment. I won't make the mistake of ever assuming I'm done with those books for good. But I don't think of them as a series necessarily. They are four books with interrelated characters. If another story seizes me in its clutches, then I'll write it. But forest born was one of the hardest books I've ever written, and I don't feel capable of diving back into that world right now. Besides, I really like how forest born feels there, book-ending goose girl. I'm at peace with the books and very involved in a couple other projects right now. But maybe someday! It makes me happy that people want to go back to Bayern again.

"Can we enter the rapunzel's revenge book trailer contest more than once?"

Sure, why not? calamity jack comes out in a few short weeks, and sometime after that we'll wrap up the  contests. I just did a search on youtube, and it looks like the first five videos there are contest entries. (The very first by Goshzilla isn't part of the contest, so don't be scared away by its awesomeness!)

For those who haven''t seen the contest info, check out this blog post.

Two! (count 'em--two) Contests!

I feel so noticed! The fabulous John Green (author of Looking for Alaska, etc.) blogged about my August 21 post, and then did anyone catch that Roger Sutton commented on the last post? He's the editor of Horn Book magazine. As professional reviewers both, I was fascinated with their point-of-view. And I think Roger's right--what qualifies as a "spoiler" can be different for everyone. And you need to be able to talk about the book's plot to some degree in a review. I have had professional reviews (as well as casual reviews) that revealed the ending of the book, such as including naming the murderer in a murder mystery, unmasking characters in disguise, and declaring late-book deaths. There may not be easy rules with regards to spoilers, but in my opinion, if an event takes place in the second half of the book or is a mystery the story revolves around, it's best not to reveal it.

Okay, so here's the subject-promised contest number 1:

the actor and the housewife in a bookclub near you! Read the actor and the housewife with your bookclub and then report the experience. I'll select the account that interests me the most (I know! Vague criteria!) and the winner will get a big ol' box of books, filled with my titles (signed) as well as others. Remember how exciting it was to go to school the day book orders came in? And getting that new stack of books? That's how it'll be. But even cooler. No real guidelines for this. You can write me an account, send me a link where you've posted photos, or make a video, or do any combination of the three. However you want. Shorter seems better, i.e. a 3000 word commentary or a 15 minute video can get boring. Email me the account (or link to it, if you post a video or a blog with photos), with the subject line "Actor and the Housewife contest" to squeetus (at) gmail (dot) com. Please no attachments. Contest runs through January 2010.

And on to contest number 2:

 Rapunzel takes her revenge! Create a book trailer for rapunzel's revenge, post it on youtube, and send me the link. Please put "Rapunzel Revenge contest" in the subject line and send to: squeetus (at) gmail (dot) com. No rules, but again, shorter is better (I recommend under 2 minutes), and of course, keep it clean. Contest runs through January 2010, the month the sequel, calamity jack, will be released! I announced this contest earlier, so let me clarify something: Marcus Aurelius made this fabulous trailer, but it is not entered into the contest, so don't worry that you're competing against his awesomness. The winner for this contest will be selected by popular vote. In January, I'll post links to all the entries. Again, the winner gets an amazing array of books, including many of my titles, all signed.

Have fun with these! I can't wait to see the entries.

Also, one more link--this is a blog kept by an illustrator father and his four kids. For their third anniversary, professional illustrators chose a drawing made by one of the kids and redid it in their own style. I love how the profressional illustrations celebrate rather than "correct." Really lovely. What great kiddos!

We're #4!

Many of you have seen or glimpsed the awesome cover for rapunzel's revenge (in stores August) but here it is in all its glory!

It's on Amazon now, which always makes a book feel more real. It's always a kick to see the ranking of a book, and among Rapunzel-themed books, we're #4!  Ha-HA! For awhile there, I'm told, Strawberry Shortcake Rapunzel was beating us out, but no more! Take that, Shorty! You think you're so cool with your strawberry-scented hair and coven of friends who taste like desserts? Don't act so cute--you promote CANNIBALISM and it's time the world knew your true nefarious purpose. How are you gonna take over the world now that we bumped you out of number 4, huh? I'd like to know.

Let me just prepare you for three months of build up for the release, because I don't know that I've ever been so excited about a book as I am for this one. I usually feel uncomfortable promoting my own works. But maybe because Dean co-wrote it and Nate illustrated, so it's not all me, I feel no shame at all. That's right, prepare for Shameless Shannon and her army of Flying Monkey Publicists.

Here are a couple of cool bloggers' early reviews:
The Reading Zone
Miss Erin

Also, sorry what I said about Strawberry Shortcake. That was uncalled for. I'm sure she's a very nice little girl who had a difficult childhood and can't help her desire to consume sweet, sweet human flesh.

Needle in a haystack

Thank for the bolstering, guys. This book really is a tough one. I sure chose a tricky story to tell, clever me. I don't mean to whine, but as I'm using this blog to in part describe the writer's experience, I want to make sure I'm being honest and describe the low times as well as the high.

Some people have asked me why it's so hard to get established as a new writer or to get your book out there. I thought this might be interesting to you, to put in perspective. Here is a photo of our graphic novel rapunzel's revenge on display in a booth at Comicon in NYC last month. Our beautiful baby! Out in the world for all to see!

Here is a photo of the booth where it was being displayed, along with dozens of other books from this publishing house (including American Born Chinese, which was awesome). We were very lucky to be here at all.

And here is a map of the exhibitor's hall for the con. If you can even see it on this map, look for one of the tiniest squares--that was our booth.

Now imagine the dozens and sometimes hundreds of other graphic novels, comic books, and novels on display in all those other booths. Those don't even come close to representing all the books out there, just the ones being shown at the con. You begin to get an idea of how tiny one book can be in the marketplace, how hard it is to make a noise. This is a tough business. Be under no illusions as you go forth, intrepid writers. It's tough to write a book, it's tough to publish a book, then it's tough to sell it.

Which is why those things cannot matter to us, or we'll go crazy. It all comes back to the story. Just tell the story.