Mo Willems and his pigeon. Smile material. Masterful picture books!
In 2011, Mo was invited to give the prestigious Zena Sutherland Lecture. He titled his talk "Why Books?"
Here are some highlights:
The SCBWI Winter Conference in January was different. The air bubbled with fresh optimism and renewed enthusiasm (amid familiar cautions, of course).
GOOD NEWS
Amazon is publishing 122 books (electronic and print) this fall, and 'aggressively wooing' some top authors, reports The New York Times. The New Republic says “writers should embrace Amazon’s takeover of the publishing industry.”
While playing down Amazon’s market power in its newly assumed role as publisher in addition to retailer, one Amazon executive noted that “the only really necessary people in the publishing process now are the writer and the reader.” And Amazon?
Amazon Publishing is a new market opportunity for writers, and can be seen as a force for necessary change in the industry. Amazon’s willingness to share the Nielsen Bookscan sales data with authors has other publishers following suit.
On the other hand, concerns have arisen: will Amazon Publishing add editorial value or will it be a glorified vanity publisher, loosing an avalanche of slush pile dross? What about those ‘unnecessary’ people like agents and editors? What of books from traditional publishers sold through Amazon: could they be quietly buried on the site if they compete with Amazon's own titles?
To manage its group of six imprints Amazon has hired ‘well-regarded’ professionals including former agent and former CEO of Time Warner Book Group, Laurence Kirshbaum, and Ed Park, author of the ‘acclaimed novel’ Personal Days, and previously editor of The Believer and The Village Voice.
Several well-known authors are signing on, including self-help author Tim Ferriss and reportedly, actress and director Penny Marshall. Businessweek notes that thriller writer Barry Eisler, who turned down a $500,000 two-book deal with a traditional publisher earlier this year, later signed with Amazon. Eisler was swayed, at least in part, by Amazon’s ability to publish an e-book version and a paperback within a matter of days, both at cheaper prices than the traditional house’s practice of charging print prices for e-books. “What I care about is readers, because without readers I can’t make a living… If I can find a way to get readers books that cost less and are delivered better and faster, I want that.”
Sounds good, but what about less recognized authors? Will worthy authors, and in turn readers, get lost in a wave of low quality text? Will Amazon ensure the same credibility as traditional publishing houses?
What effect will Amazon's increasing dominance have on our industry?
Strange how life works. You spend time in a publishing desert and then, by a quirk of scheduling, you have books published two months in a row. Happy dance? Oh, yes!
This week, Okenko Books released my picture e-book app FALLING LEAVES AND FOOLISH BROTHERS.
Last month it was TEN KINDS OF CHAIRS TO COUNT. (See my post on 4/8)
Now if I could persuade a certain print magazine to publish the four pieces they're holding, maybe this publication-a-month streak could continue for a bit. Ha! Not very likely!
I know two in a row won't happen again, but the digital world does seem to run on an express timetable. I waited four years to see my traditionally published picture book. With Okenko Books I also waited for illustrations, but in each case, it was only one year from contract to publication!
Is digital publishing of original picture books always this fast? Or was I just lucky? Could anyone with more digital publishing experience take a guess?
(My post title thanks to Dr. Seuss and Bartholomew Cubbins)
My first app has been published! Or could I say my first app book has been published? Look, Ma, no paper, but it's still a book.
Why did I go this route?
TEN KINDS OF CHAIRS TO COUNT has a humorous, rhyming text aimed at toddlers. I wrote the story years ago and tried to peddle it as a board book, but individual board
books (from decidedly less-than-famous authors) are a hard sell. So when the app market opened, I started investigating companies. The first app publisher I submitted to loved the story, but they wanted it already illustrated. Then I discovered Okenko Books and learned they would supply illustrators. They bought TEN KINDS OF CHAIRS, a second manuscript called FALLING LEAVES AND FOOLISH BROTHERS, and plan to schedule a third.
As their website explains, Okenko Books works on a subscription basis - pay for six months, or for a year, and you receive one new title each month automatically downloaded to your reading device. Interesting concept. Some Okenko titles will become available as single purchases. They plan to give my TEN CHAIRS a voice over and eventually sell it as a standalone title - then I will get royalties.
I'll never get rich, and no publishing company is perfect, but it's an alternative for manuscripts dwelling in a dark drawer. I have favorites I've never been able to sell. My foolish brothers stories (in spite of numerous revisions for different big six editors) weren't bought as either picture books or easy-to-reads. Does the traditional publishing world have higher standards than the app world? Maybe, but I think each world publishes excellent, as well as mediocre material.
Has anyone else who writes for the 3-8 crowd considered entering the app market? What do you see as the pros and cons?
J. A.'s previous post about apps got me to thinking about how to evaluate them. My first thought was that reviews are one method of separating the good apps from the garbage, a traditional way of bringing selectivity to the marketplace. In addition to professional journals, there are general audience websites that review apps for children - including Best Kids Apps. But will parents pay attention to reviews? Apps are an inexpensive and instant purchase. No more driving to the bookstore or the library. Is it just easier to purchase quickly and take a chance on quality?
Then wondering whether reviews will be heeded, led me to a more basic question: how do you judge an app?
Elizabeth Bird of New York Public Library, gives her answer in Planet App: Kids' book apps are everywhere. But are they any good in School Library Journal.
Do you agree with her eight criteria?
