Author: Loree Burns

To read Stories Behind the Story: Part 1, click here.

To read Stories Behind the Story: Part 2, click here.

Otherwise, read on …

I mailed my TRACKING TRASH book proposal to Houghton Mifflin on June 25, 2004. About five weeks later, on August 5, I got an email with a snappy return address and my book title in the RE: line. For reasons I still can’t explain, I assumed the email was from a disgruntled colleague who was writing a book also called TRACKING TRASH. Imagine my surprise when I opened the message, prepared to fight to the death for my beloved title, and found this:

Hi Loree,

My name is Erica Zappy and I work in the children’s division at Houghton Mifflin. We came across your manuscript entitled Tracking Trash: Oceanography and the Science of Floating Ojects, which was addressed to Amy Flynn. Amy no longer works here at Houghton, but I read through the ms myself and I really liked it …

OH.

MY.

GOD.

In the two years since that email, I have gotten to know Erica better. She is a good editor– generous, funny, and smart. Together we’ve worked through the little dramas of birthing a book—including the loss of some important photographs, a schedule change that found me in Europe the week final proofs were due, and communicating via email from her office in Boston and my seat atop one of London’s Big Red Buses. I have grown to appreciate her positive outlook and gentle bedside manner (by which I mean her editing never hurts).

In honor of Publication Week, I asked Erica to join me here on my blog for an interview. So, please welcome Ms. Erica Zappy, Associate Editor at Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.

This is fun for me, Erica, because I don’t get to chat with you much. I’ve often wondered, but haven’t had a chance to ask, about your background and how you came to be a children’s book editor. Do tell!

I attended Simmons College and was pretty much an English major from the start. I knew when I was in high school that I wanted to be an editor. I just didn’t know what kind or what my options were at the time. At the beginning of my sophomore year, I took a children’s literature survey course. We were told by the instructor that there was no need to purchase any or all of the books on the syllabus (because there were a lot!) as they’d all be available at the library on reserve. Well, I was so smitten by the first class and by the syllabus that I bought about 30 books that evening at the local Barnes and Noble. It just felt right, and I pretty much knew then and there that I’d stick with children’s books. I later attended the Columbia Publishing Course (formerly the Radcliffe Publishing Course) in 2001 and went to Candlewick as a sales rep. before I came to Houghton as an editorial assistant. I worked on a lot of books that had been orphaned by staff changes. TRACKING TRASH and a picture book called DEAR MISS PERFECT both came out in Spring 2007 and were the first books that I acquired and worked on solo.

So, besides stopping by my blog for an interview, what is on your “To Do” list today?

Well, we had an editorial meeting first thing this morning — we discuss editorial procedures/housekeeping as well as any manuscripts or artists we are looking to get feedback on. I brought TRACKING TRASH to an ed meeting years ago and it was very well-received — and you know what happens next! Then I have been sorting through my inbox (both virtual and actual), making sure I have responded to folks who are waiting to hear back from me. I will spend most of the rest of the day working on any of the following: a large stack of manuscripts that need to be declined (sadly); revision letter for a novel I am working on; and reading the last draft for a new Scientists in the Field book that is due to pub in Spring of 2008.

I read in the March/April New England SCBWI newsletter that you enjoy fiction with well developed, three-dimensional characters and picture books with spare, lyrical text. And I know from experience that you have edited several Scientists in the Field books (my own included). Do you find it difficult to move between such different projects? And do you have a favorite genre?

I don’t find it difficult yet — but perhaps it’s because I haven’t been doing this for all that long! I’m still game for anything, really. Nonfiction projects tend to be more overwhelming, because there are a lot of cooks in the kitchen, I guess. Photos from various sources, maps, graphs, FACTS to keep STRAIGHT, names to spell correctly (like Alguhas? Or is it Agulhas? [Note from Loree: this is a TRACKING TRASH term … ten points if you can tell me what it refers to!]) and things like that. Novels are a bit more personal. It’s not often that you read a novel 3, 4, 5, 6 times — but that’s pretty much a guarantee when editing a novel. And picture books are more difficult at the beginning, when you are trying to find the right artist for a project — and striking a balance between text and art is not easy. I don’t think I have a favorite genre — but since I’ve become an editor, I’ve really found myself rethinking my attitude towards nonfiction and appreciating it for the amazing things it can do for a young reader.

Do you want to mention some of the books you have edited recently?

The last few books I have worked on: another Scientists in the Field coming out in the fall called EMI AND THE RHINO SCIENTIST, by Mary Kay Carson and Tom Uhlman. It is the story of Emi, the first Sumatran rhinoceros to give birth in captivity in nearly 100 years, and all of the folks who helped her acheive this. It’s a great story of the amazing work zoos can do, conservation, teamwork, perserverance. And rhinos are SO CUTE. I also just finished editing a picture book/poem book called THE MOON IS LA LUNA: SILLY RHYMES IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH, by Jay Harris, with pictures by Matthew Cordell. It’s a combination of English and Spanish that might help young kids learn some basic Spanish words early on. Here is my favorite:

A light is called una luz.
(Luz is said like, “loose.”)
If la luz is loose
You may say with a smirk,
“Unless it is tighter,
La luz will not work!”

I’m also just finishing up editing a book called THE FROG SCIENTIST by Pamela S. Turner and with photos by Andy Comins. It is part of the Scientists in the Field series and is about a scientist from Berkeley who studies the affects of pesticides on frogs and how that might affect humans at some point. It is sort of controversial, has a great hero, and frogs are also darn adorable.

I took a gander at the Slush Pile at HMCo during one of my visits to your office, and it was far less intimidating than I expected. How is the Pile these days? If you could pick one adjective to describe how you approach that puppy, what would it be?

The slush seems much better handled these days. We have some more readers in-house, which helps us get through it faster. One adjective…hmmm…inspiring? It used to be scary — now I only hope to find good things in there — like TRACKING TRASH!

And now I have to ask: how much of what you publish do you find there?

Not a ton, but it’s certainly not “nothing,” either. Probably 2-3 things a year on average are from the slush, or at least are from someone we found in the slush and with whom we started a relationship.

One of my favorite books about this business is DEAR GENIUS, THE LETTERS OF URSULA NORDSTROM (edited by Leonard S. Marcus), and I know you are a fan of it as well. How would you say the job of a children’s book editor has changed since Ms. Nordstrom’s time?

Unfortunately there is far less witty correspondence — everything happens quickly, by email and phone, even revision letters and suggestions are often relayed via email. I’m sure it was in Ursula’s time, but nowadays with buyouts and conglomorates, publishing is definitely a business. There is a bottom line. And there are definite trends that dictate what we do or do not publish.

Now that I have brought up Nordstrom’s letters, I simply must share my favorite. It was written to Hilary Knight, whose ELOISE IN BAWTH was being published by Harper but had experienced a series of delays. All parties were at wits end when this letter was sent to the author:

Dear Hilary,
I hesitate to worry you, but I thought I should tell you that some enemy of yours is writing me very angry letters, and signing your name to them.
Have a good week. Love, Ursula

No one wants confrontation, of course, but if it arose, wouldn’t you just love to use that line?

(flagging the page for future reference…)

Before you leave, we have to talk about blogs. I mean, does the editorial world have an official stance on them? They clearly add a fluidity factor to the more traditional, static author website, and this may help site visibility and traffic. But does all of this cyber-hoopla translate into book sales? And is it even remotely possible that editors find the time to visit potential author blogs?

I love blogs. I am a full-on blog addict. I read a ton of them. I’m not sure yet if we’ve figured out how to really WORK a blog to get more sales, but the more I see authors and illustrators with their own blogs, the more I’m convinced that it helps and does not hurt. I’ve checked out every blog or website that any author or illustrator I’ve been interested in might have — especially illustrators. To me, there is no reason why in this day and age, as an illustrator, you shouldn’t have a place online to showcase your work. Blogs are certainly making their mark — I know the marketing team is really trying to figure out how to best utilize them.

One last question, Erica. Okay, technically, three, but they are related. Do you manage to find time for pleasure reading? If so, what do you read? And what, pray tell, is your most recent favorite?

I wish I could read more! It is the worst part of this job, for me. I read on vacation pretty much, or on long car trips. I generally read sort of literary novels. I’m not much for chick lit (at all) or “beach” reads, though the last book I read was THE RUINS by Scott Smith a few weeks ago, and that was not really serious literature, and was totally gross and disgusting — but I could not put it down, so there you go. Over my honeymoon I read THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER, but I did not like it at all. I felt manipulated and did not like the characters. I tried to read THE DANTE CLUB on the honeymoon but that was almost too stodgy for the beach. I buy a lot of nonfiction, for adults, but generally don’t read them all the way through. I dabble and find stuff I like to read within the book — I read a lot on animal rights, behavior, shelters, etc. That’s sort of my genre for nonfiction. In my bag now is THE TIPPING POINT by Malcolm Gladwell. I will probably read THE ROAD soon, the new Cormac McCarthy in paperback. Now it is an Oprah pick — interesting to see this as a choice for her. I am also addicted to cookbooks. I think I am going to Border’s right now to buy the new Giada DeLaurentis, EVERYDAY PASTA. And there you have it.

Thank you for stopping by, Erica. And thank you for helping me to bring TRACKING TRASH into the world!

 

Where were we? Oh, yes, I had me a good idea for a children’s nonfiction book and, thanks to Terry Turner, I also had a publisher in mind. All I had left to do was write up a proposal, send it to the publisher, secure a book contract, and, write the book. Easy peasy …

… except I had never written a book proposal before.

Enter Patricia Fry, writer, publisher and educator. Patricia teaches writing classes online, and in the Summer of 2004 I registered in her “Write a Successful Nonfiction Book Proposal” eight-week course. It was one of the smartest things I could have done.

In Patricia’s class, I learned how to do market analysis and create a promotional plan for my book. I wrote a synopsis, a chapter outline, and an autobiographical sketch. While I was doing all this, the most amazing thing happened: my book snapped into focus. Patricia helped me to think through my idea, to understand how it fit into the existing canon of children’s nonfiction, and to adapt my proposal accordingly. At the end of her class, I had a proposal strong enough to submit to Houghton Mifflin. And by the end of the summer, they had offered me a contract for TRACKING TRASH.

Patricia is a kind and generous teacher, and I recommend her books and courses to anyone starting out in this business. If books and classes aren’t your thing, check out her publishing blog. You won’t regret it.

Thank you, Patricia, for everything!

 

I’ve decided to treat my book release the same way I treat my birthday. It is just too important an event to be contained in a single day! Why not celebrate for a week? Or more? I’m going to spend the next couple weeks telling you some of the stories behind the story, and introducing some of the people who helped me to bring TRACKING TRASH into the world.

So, here we go…

Today’s star is Terry Turner. Terry was the Children’s Librarian at the Gale Free Library in the spring of 2003, when I was just starting to focus my writing energies on books for children. And she was the person who first put a Scientists in the Field book in my hands.

At that time, I had three children under the age of five. I had put my career as a research scientist on hold in order to care for them full-time, and I was writing as a means of staying sane. One day I read an AP article in the local paper called “Duckies floating to eastern beaches”. It relayed the story of a shipment of plastic bathtub toys that had accidentally spilled into the Pacific Ocean. The twenty-nine thousand ducks, frogs, beavers and turtles had been floating for eleven years and scientists were predicting they would soon start washing up on New England beaches.

Okay, call me crazy, but I found this astounding. Go ahead and look at a world map. The path from the middle of the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic coast of New England is not a simple one. The article claimed there was a guy—a professional oceanographer—who had been tracking the tub toys for the decade since they had fallen into the ocean. This man predicted the toys had traveled through the Bering Sea, across the Arctic Ocean and down into the Atlantic. He was using the information he had gathered by following the toys to study ocean currents. Excuse me, but could there be a more interesting way to get kids thinking about oceanography? I was convinced I had found the perfect topic for my first book project …

… until Terry straightened me out. When I told her I was going to write a picture book about the tub toy spill, she looked stricken. “Um, hold on,” she said, and then she dashed into the stacks. She came back with a copy of Eve Bunting’s DUCKY. Turns out Ms. Bunting had the same fabulous idea I did … but she had her brainstorm ten years earlier, when the spill first happened. My book had already been written!

I read DUCKY, of course, and it is a fine book. But it is very different from the story I wanted to tell. It is a picture book for young children, and it doesn’t delve into the parts of the story that most intrigued me: How did oceanographers find out about the spill? Do grown men really chase these toys around the world in the name of science? How do they find them? And what do they learn about the ocean when they do? I told Terry that I thought there might be room in the world for another children’s book on the topic. This time when she dashed off into the stacks (librarians just LOVE to do that, don’t they?) she came back with Ellen Jackson’s LOOKING FOR LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE, a “Scientists in the Field” book.

“Maybe you could do something like this,” she said as she handed me the book.

Reading that book was a revelation. It was, indeed, the perfect format for telling my version of the ducky story. And it opened me up to the idea that I could write about the things that most excited me—science and scientists—for an audience I cared deeply about—children.

So, thank you, Terry Turner, for being the sort of librarian who can dash into the stacks and always come back with the right book. And thank you for setting me on the road that has led me here, to Publication Week.