fuzzillo

• From a publisher's point of view each book they take on is a calculated gamble which can have terrible results if it goes wrong so there is a large amount of responsibility placed on the editor's shoulders. 
• Once the editor has found a manuscript which they love they have to go through a series of hoops to get it pass the sales and marketing team. They need to prove they can make a 40% profit on each book, although in reality this doesn't happen often. 

• There are a number of factors that will reduce the risk of the gamble the editor is taking with a new author and these can often determine if they take on a manuscript or not:

1. The author will have demonstrated a knowledge of the market
2. The author will have already have a readership through blogs, newspaper columns etc. and will be prepared to do a portion of their own publicity.
3. The author has shown that they are responsible, professional and will deliver the goods. 

• The US publishing market is much more open to books as an idea whereas the UK market is more focused on the book as a product.  From his experience the major publishers are directed a lot by what the supermarkets and major chains will sell,  which is predominately celebrity based (be it about the celebrity or by the celebrity) including those writers who are celebrities in their own right, your Grishams for example.  He gave the example that if Tesco's won't stock it then the major publishers won't print it.  

• That being said the US market is much more open to new ideas and he feels that this narrowness of the major UK publishers has greatly helped smaller publishers build up their sales and establish themselves as reputable publishers.

• Mal makes the very good point of all it will take is one big author to chuck the publishers and do it themselves for there to be a major change in the industry.  Would be interesting to see that. 

• Like Mal, he agrees that the publishing/bookselling industry at the moment is just so difficult for any new and interesting work to become available that if no one will publish your work publish it yourself.   

• At Salt they tend to take a 10 year bet on an author.  That meaning if they author is unknown when they first publish that they expect it will take about 10 years for them to become 'famous'.  

• The author needs to take responsibility for their readership and they are expected to undertake publicity work themselves such as blogging to generate their own readership. Like Gillian said.
  

siddhabenjamin

This is the final part of School Librarians Revealed, a report on the joint SCBWI-BI Central East Region/Ipswich Children’s Book Group meeting with two Suffolk school librarians: Jayne Gould and Alison Baker.

Authors are Real People: The Secrets of School Visits

Children really love to have authors come into school and often feel that they are meeting “a famous person”. So it’s not surprise publishers are very keen to have authors come into school or go on tour. Pupils find writing workshops very good and are always interested in hearing how writers go about writing, for example, Jeremy Strong talks about his writing shed.

When writers come into school they need to be able to “hold” a class and talk to them. Often the best authors have some sort of show, do something special and sparkle. But authors don’t need to be all singing all dancing. Douglas Hill, for example, had a very quiet presence and delivery, but still held the children with the story he told.

Writer should have a plan and know what they are going to talk about or do. If the children are misbehaving author shouldn’t be afraid to make them pay attention rather than waiting for teachers or librarians to intervene. Anne Cassidy told off three girls at the back of an audience of 100 for talking and the students were far more shocked at being picked out by the author than they would have been being told off by a teacher.

Authors also need to be flexible and adaptable. “Don’t panic when things go off plan, just go with the flow,” suggest Allison, “and the children will respond.” Keep an eye on the audience - if you’re losing their interest, wind things up quickly.

Best Books of Last Year

As part of our discussion we talked about what everyone in the audience and on the panel thought were the best books published last year or once there are most excited about when they read them.

• All three of the Charlie Fletcher books — about statues coming to life in London: Stoneheart, Ironhand and Silvertongue.
• Gideon the Cutpurse by Linda Buckley-Archer - the third instalment is hotly anticipated!
• The final book of the Noughts and Crosses Trilogy – Checkmate by Malorie Blackman
• Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. It was considered a big book to get into, but it was a nice story and a good adventure that attracted a wide range of readers in the school libraries. Interestingly, it genuinely crossed the gender divide because girls like Valkyrie Cain and boys like Skulduggery.

Favourite books

The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson is regarded as a modern classic. Many librarians felt they could constantly give it to any child who could read and that they know that there isn’t anything bad to take from it, but a good story.

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsal (www.jeannebirdsall.com) is very highly thought of by Jayne, but had not had much success yet selling it to students.

The London Eye Mystery by the late Siobhan Dowd was very popular with year four onwards at Broke Hall School.

Alison felt he couldn’t go wrong Michael Morpurgo.

Mrs Marriage Project by Pauline Fisk — this book caught the imagination of one librarian, but she couldn’t sell it to most of the girls in her school.

Boy Books and Girl Books

Authors that bridge the gender divide

·         Robert Muchamore

·         Roald Dahl

·         Michael Murporgo

·         JK Rowling

Books that bridge the gender divide

·         Horrid Henry by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross

·         Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

·         London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd

·         Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan (very popular with year six)

·         Vampirates by Justin Somper

·         The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickett

·         The Roman Mysteries by Caroline Laurence

·         Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi

There are obviously many books that would definitely are boy read or girl reads. One librarian had tried very hard to persuade boys to read “Not Quite a Mermaid”, but could not overcome the pink cover. During a session on choosing books, Not Quite a Mermaid was a definite no when judged by the cover, it became a probably not when the blurb was read out, but, after being read the beginning of the story the boys were interested in it, but would not borrowed because of the pink cover.

And, Finally….

Jayne had a very interesting exercise with some of her year six pupils to help them break away for what they normally read and to read something different. She selected books for each of the pupils and put them in an envelope which they were not allowed to open until they were back in the classroom. They were told to have a go at the book and to come back and talk about it. The pupils were excited by the exercise and it worked very well.

I’d like to thank Jayne Gould and Alison Baker as well as everyone who attended the discussion at Broke Hall School. I’m also very grateful to the school for allowing us to have our meeting their with the Ipswich Children’s Book Group. You can find out more about British SCBWI by visiting http://britishscbwi.jimdo.com/

siddhabenjamin

This is part three of School Librarians Revealed, a report on the joint SCBWI-BI Central East Region/Ipswich Children's Book Group meeting with two Suffolk school librarians: Jayne Gould and Alison Baker.

What Librarians Want: Gaps on the Shelves

We talked with our panel and audience about what they felt the gaps on their shelves were and the books they wished more writers and publishers were producing.

*Good but not lengthy fantasy - Spiderwick Chronicles (Holly Black and Tony DiTertizzi) were really popular (although helped by the film).

*Broke Hall School finds it hard to keep Horrid Henry (Francesca Simon and Tony Ross) and Beast Quest (Adam Blade) on the shelves, so more like these would go down well.

*Good, short books that would make good class readers for Year Five/Six would be welcomed. Anything ideal for teachers to read aloud to their class, but doesn't take up a term to read, would be good. Once by Morris Gleitzman was cited as a good example of a book very easy to get through in class but has a lot to build lessons and discussions around.

*Fiction about Sport, for example, a rugby series.

Laugh Out Loud Funny

*More humorous stories for older readers - somewhere between Horrid Henry/Jeremy Strong (too young) and Louise Rennison (too old).

High Interest, Lower Challenge

High interest level but easy reading books are in great demand. One in 10 students at Stoke High School is an EAL (English as an Additional Language) student, many from a Polish, Portuguese or Afghan background. It is difficult to source books in their own language to help them keep up their mother tongue as well as helping them to read English.

This is even more of a problem in special need schools, where teenage interest needs to be expressed at Biff and Kipper reading level. Students who use the Makaton symbol system to aid their reading find it hard to have any books suitable for them and staff often resort to remaking the books for their students. As an audience member said, it's like "learning to play the piano at 11 and having to play nursery rhymes. It's embarrassing."

Scary

Students are always asking for "really scary books" (from Year Three onwards). However, what staff find scary and what the students find scary is another matter.

From Scary to Censorship

Interestingly, Darren Shan is not stocked by many librarians. In the primary school library in particularly there was a fine line between stocking a wide range of books and keeping them suitable. Even Robert Muchamore’s CHERUB series is not stocked after the second book at some libraries because it was felt the violence and teenage content escalates through the series, although CHERUB is very popular with many students.

Manga is popular at the high school library, but titles are selected with great care as most of the publications are only suitable for 18+ (and often contain offensive (violent and sexual) material not suitable for a school library). The school does have a Manga club -- which also has a cultural focus on Japan. However, most manga’s violence and gore is mild compared with many of the computer games children play.

However, it could be argued that it is better to read about some of these areas than it is to see it on TV. At least with reading, there can be a difference between what is written and what is understood by the reader. Most people recognise the children see worst things at home -- many students have watched 16 and 18 rated movies with their parents. (Year One, Two and Three students have seen Lord Of the Rings, and at least one Year One student has seen The Dark Knight).

Biography

Age appropriate biographies are a real gap in the market. Marley and Me by John Grogan was cited as a prime example of a biography that worked very well. The author adapted to his biography for younger readers (Marley: A Dog like No Other) and it’s very popular. The students would not have tackled the adult version.

Many girls are into the so-called agony biographies -- often led by their mothers reading, for example, Child Called It (David Pelzer) or My Sister's Keeper (Jody Peacock). While the grown-up version isn't really suitable for Year Six, an age-appropriate version would be desirable.

Coming soon - Part 4: What are the Best Books and Who Writes in a Shed?

To read an extended version of this entry, visit: http://benjaminscottauthor.wordpress.com/2009/04/18/school-librarians-revealed-part-3-the-books-librarians-want-written/

siddhabenjamin

This is part two of School Librarians Revealed, a report on the joint SCBWI-BI Central East Region/Ipswich Children's Book Group meeting with two Suffolk school librarians: Jayne Gould and Alison Baker.

The Book Keepers: The Role of Librarians

"The only way you can learn to make choices is by making choices," says Jayne Gould, “and part of that process is making the wrong choice”. Despite the temptation to interfere in children's reading choices, most librarians felt that only in exceptional circumstances do they step in. They support a pupil’s right to make choice and try a book.

Librarians are keen to encourage pupils to read and to keep them borrowing books. Part of the process is helping pupils find something appropriate, by both content and reading age, and, at the same time, challenging. They also have a role to play in helping developing readers.

Problems do occur, for example, in Broke Hall School, Year Four boys started going for the longest books they could find so they could be seen reading "great thick books". But many of these books came back the next day because they were too challenging a read. So Jayne Gould worked very closely with teachers to establish reading scheme: specially chosen books were placed in five colour types and the students had to read one book from each of the coloured tubs in order to get a gold certificate.

In the older school, the problem can be the opposite. Year Nine students still take out Horrid Henry when they should be challenging themselves, although with a mix of reading abilities, some students still need something more appropriate to their reading age, like quick reads.

Stoke High School has had a lot of success with a paired reading scheme. Pupils who read at below chronological age, but not low enough for corrective reading, are paired with stronger, older readers. They meet twice a week for 20 minutes to practice reading out loud. The scheme not only makes dramatic improvements to reading ability (and enjoyment) over six months but also creates some strong friendships. It is not unusual for pupils to improve their reading age by two years during the scheme. It also helps the students to learn to pick appropriate books and get satisfaction from being able to get into and to the end of the story.

Age banding

The move by many UK publishers to start “age-banding” books is hot topic of the moment. Unsurprising to anyone listening to the debates, staff in schools are almost universal opposition to age banding because it would stop a lot of children picking up books.

Students are largely self censoring. They often don't want to read something that is not suitable for them and they will bring them back. An 11-year-old girl in one library borrowed a book that had been put into the library by a previous librarian and returned it for being too explicit. Most readers will stop if they are uncomfortable with the book.

Even in the high school library, most of the students do not look at the adult book section. Alison Baker jokes that they've trained them all well! However, Year 10 and 11 students do read Agatha Christie, Mills and Boon and "good adventure stories".

During her days as a bookseller, Jayne had a customer who wanted to buy the classic Black Beauty (by Anna Sewell) for a 5 year old without realising that might be inappropriate for the youngster.

The difficult comes with people who don’t work closely with children or know the children's books market. How do they make choices to buy books for children? It would be helpful to the “grandparents” buying books, but at the heavy price of stigmatising children and excluding many from the pleasures of reading.

For more information on the age banding debate visit:

• No to Age Banding
• Publishers Association 

Coming soon - Part 3: The Books Librarians Want Written - watch this blog!

To read an extended version of this entry, visit: http://benjaminscottauthor.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/school-librarians-revealed-part-2-%e2%80%93-keepers-of-books/

siddhabenjamin

On 21 January 2009, SCBWI Central East Region and the Ipswich Children's Book Group held a joint meeting at Broke Hall School (Ipswich) to hear from two Suffolk schools librarians. Jayne Gould and Alison Baker were kind enough to come and talk about themselves and their libraries.

A Tale of Two Libraries: how different school libraries work

The Stoke High School Library operates from a single room, but is a school library and a public branch library. It has two sets of staff (one for each function) and two sets of stock, although the stamped school stock is interfiled. Alison Baker is the Stoke High School librarian and has worked there for over 10 years. She started as a branch librarian before moving to the school side when they needed a chartered librarian.

Broke Hall School Library is not shut away in a separate room, but part of a school thoroughfare so most children pass through it every day. It has grown alongside the expansion of the school (which now has over 600 children) and has had a librarian, Jayne Gould, since 2000 (she was previously a children's bookseller at the Ancient House, Ipswich). The library has over 15,000 books on its catalogue and is one of the largest school libraries in Suffolk. It is one of the few that has a dedicated librarian.

Book Fairies: How Books Appear on the Shelves

Both librarians listen to what students ask for - suggestion cards are also used for students to write down books, authors or topics they want stocked. Children need feel they have ownership of the library and are encouraged to talk about what they read.

Pupils talk to each other about the books they read, so that often filters through to requests for stock. Children are often influenced by the display in Waterstone’s, WH Smith and Tesco.

Authors’ visits have a very profound effect on borrowing which extends far beyond the few weeks after their visit, for example, even a year after her visit to Stoke High School, Anne Cassidy’s books continue to be in great demand (there is already a long waiting list for her new book).

Film and TV adaptations have a huge influence too. They often draw in new readers and encourage existing readers to challenge themselves with longer books.

The greatest challenge is keeping up-to-date with what is being published. A lot of decisions about stock are made on the basis of reviews and children's books magazines (like Carousel - http://www.carouselguide.co.uk/). Jayne's background as a bookseller and membership of the local Children's Book Group has proved invaluable.

Gaps in stocks are always highlighted when students undertake individual or group projects on "what interests them." Alison tries to suggest students pick their projects only after they've looked on the shelves. But students still challenge the libraries with eclectic or esoteric requests, for example, books on boxing, or slugs and snails. When projects are about exotic animals, reference works can be hard to source, for example, books on Golden Tamarins.

Ultimately, librarians seem to work on gut instinct and knowing the children in their school. Budgets are obviously an issue and some creativity is needed in building up stocks, for example, feeding in commission from book fairs and adding the occasional review copy to the library.

Coming soon - Part 2: Keepers of Books. Watch this blog!

To read an extended version of the entry visit: http://benjaminscottauthor.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/school-librarians-revealed-part-1-%e2%80%93-book-fairies-and-golden-tamarins/

candygourlay

• Libraries create readers.
  


• Libraries aren't Borders or Waterstone's or Tesco. However wonderful a bookstore may be, it is still a business driven by profit. If libraries were properly funded and buying enough books to keep publishers happy, publishers will have the breathing space to take risks with new authors, more "literary" books. They will have enough bottom line to nurture unripe talent.
  


• Librarians love books. A librarian will recommend a book because he/she has read it and loved it. Not because of some statistic that a sales rep has produced or because a publisher has paid for its promotion.