Do I Really Need More Ideas?

Picture book ideas. I have a lot of them. In notebooks, on napkins, on teeny weeny scraps of paper. Do I really need more of them?!

For the first time ever since I had my kids, I've been working a regular old nine to five job. It's been four months and I have to say, I now have mad respect for writers who have families and full time jobs. I mean, knowing it must be hard and actually doing it and feeling how hard it is are two different things. I've had book ideas, sure, but I have been terrible about writing them down! And I certainly haven't had as many ideas as usual with my focus being pulled in an entirely different direction. Numbers! I work in an accounting department. My chat status since I started? wORkiNg WiTh nuMbERs. PleASe SeND hElp!

I'm looking to this year's Picture Book Idea Month to give me a kick in the butt and get me back in the right direction--carrying that notebook and writing things down, and allowing myself to revel in work that is wholly important to me despite having to focus on other things as well. You never know what little nugget of an idea may turn into a great picture book. So, do I really need more ideas? Yes. Yes I do.

Don't know what Picture Book Idea Month is? Wanna join in? Check out Tara Lazar's blog.

Oh, and you see that super cuter banner for Picture Book Idea Month up there? That was created by Bonnie Adamson, illustrator of Bedtime Monster. How cool is that!

Monster List of Picture Book Agents--Paul Rodeen of Rodeen Literary Management

Take a look at the Rodeen Literary Management website and you might start drooling. What a great bio! What a fabulous list of clients!(Although from my research I suspect it may not have been updated lately. He just may be too busy selling books! I don't subscribe to Publisher's Marketplace but from my search results it looks like he's still making sales.)

Like many agents that will take on picture book authors, information on Paul Rodeen is a little tough to find. But there definitely seems to be enough to help decide whether or not he may be the right agent for what you write.

Mr. Rodeen has a shelf of books by his clients on Shelfari.

There are five things Paul Rodeen looks for when reading submissions in a short post at the Chinook Update.

You can find a couple of interesting tidbits from Dori Butler's conference notes on her livejournal page. Yes, it's an old post but the way he judges a picture book is pretty tried and true.

In an agent profile on page 4 of The Acorn, Mr. Rodeen states that rhyming verse is nearly impossible for him to sell. So if you're a rhymer, he's probably not your guy.

You can find submission guidelines on the Rodeen Literary Management contact page.

Paul Rodeen represents: Stephen Shaskan and Aaron Reynolds.

This post is part of the Monster List of Picture Book Agents. If you have any changes that you think should be made to this listing, please contact me or leave them in the comments. Thanks!

Only One Published Book? Aaack!

What do you do when you are asked to do a library visit but only have one published picture book that takes mere minutes to read? First, you panic. Ha ha. Kidding.

Mostly.

After you stop kicking yourself for immediately saying yes and wondering what you were thinking, a good idea would be to go and talk to a librarian. Maybe even a librarian at the library you are going to visit. Why? Librarians know their audience when it comes to storytimes and they just might have some ideas for you.

I went and talked to one of North Central Regional Library's great librarians and regional supervisor, Sharon. She was so enthusiastic about me visiting that she didn't even see me having only one published books as a problem. Her brilliant solution? "Read some picture books from childhood that inspired you." Viola! Easy solution! Now why didn't I think of that?

I took Sharon's idea and ran with it. To go along with my reading of Bedtime Monster I chose two of my favorite monster books from childhood, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, and There's a Nightmare in my Closet by Mercer Mayer. Those two books along with a little talk about being an author then a craft, and my program lasted over an hour. Happy kids, parents, and librarians. I definitely call that a success.

Now, I could have been a sport and read two more recently released picture books. Maybe even books written by friends. I actually had a couple in mind and suggested it. The thinking here? It was my time to shine as the author of a new book. Reading classics helped me have a little something special juxtaposed to these great books.

Well, it seemed to work out. Nobody asked my why I didn't write those other books instead of mine. Not even close. They applauded me. People told me they loved my book. Huh. A girl could actually get used to this.

Monster List of Picture Book Agents--Jennifer Mattson of Andrea Brown Literary Agency

Trying to pull up information on agents that represent picture books has me thinking, it can be difficult to find enough information on an agent to tell whether or not they may be a good match for you and your writing. But, you have to do the best you can with what you find and take a chance. That's my submission philosophy anyway.

This month's addition to the Monster List of Picture Book Agents is Jennifer Mattson, one of the agents at the great Andrea Brown Literary Agency. There is not a ton of information on her but I did find tidbits about Jennifer's preferences in a few posts online.

You can find Jennifer Mattson's agent profile on the Andrea Brown Agents page. You can also see some representative deals.

There is a must read interview with Jennifer on Guide to Literary Agents: Agent Advice.

Janet Tuttle blogged about a workshop she went to that Jennifer gave. She talks a bit about picture books.

Jennifer did an auction critique. Her bio talks a little about what she loves in picture books.

You can find out how to submit to Jennifer Mattson on the Andrea Brown Literary Agency submission page. Note that the Andrea Brown Agency wants to see a full picture book manuscript and that no response in 6-8 weeks means that they are not interested. Jennifer is but one of the agents at Andrea Brown that represents picture books so take a good look at all of the agent bios on the agency website and choose wisely.

Jennifer Mattson represents Kim Norman and Linda Ashman.

12/14/2015 Update:

Jennifer is now on Twitter @jannmatt

There is also some good information on Jennifer in this post by Julie Hedlund.

This post is part of the Monster List of Picture Book Agents. If you have any changes that you think should be made to this listing, please contact me or leave them in the comments. Thanks!

Fun With Rejections!

Rejections—trees really shouldn’t be wasted on such horrible news. That bad writing juju needs to be recycled into something good. Yes, there’s the wallpaper option, but that’s so depressing. Why not use them for fun?

How can a rejection letter be fun?

1. Use them as a dartboard. “Sorry it’s not right for us,” is worth zip.
2. Put all your rejection letters in a binder so you can show your family and friends that yes, you actually do work. Watch the looks of dismay and confusion on their faces as you show off your personal rejections.
3. Make a happy-faced mask to hide those bad feelings rejection brings.
4. Rip them up and jump in them. Who needs leaves!
5. Cut out the words in your rejection letters and rearrange them into acceptances: Your manuscript is right for us. Sorry you are not accepting submission requests at this time. Best of luck with your publisher.
6. Decoupage something for a successful friend that needs to be reminded of what it feels like to not get what she wants.
7. Light a bonfire. Roast some marshmallows and make s’mores.  Your family will be begging you to get more rejections.
8. Stuff a pillow —or a mattress —or a friend’s mouth (see #6).
9. Make paper maché bookends to hold up others’ books that have been published. Every time you grab a book you’ll be reminded that successful authors have been rejected too.
10. Seal those form rejects in envelopes and mail them to others at random. If everyone knew how bluntly writers are rejected they might sympathize with us a little more.

If you can’t bear to do any of these things, put those rejection letters in a suitcase and take them on vacation. They’ll feel much better in paradise.

Resources for Picture Book Writers

I wanted to give all of my picture book writing friends a heads up. Susan Uhlig has put together a great list of resources for picture book writers. From Getting Started to Layouts and Standards to Revising. She even gave the Monster List of Picture Book Agents a heads up. But shameless self promotion aside, this is a great list! I plan to dive right in and study up. I don't think I can ever learn enough about writing picture books!

Monster List of Picture Book Agents--Kathleen Rushall of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency

Kathleen Rushall is a newer agent who is still building her list, always a good opportunity for a writer looking to find an agent. But first, of course, you must figure out if she would be a good match for you.

You can read Kathleen's agent bio at the Marsal Lyon Literary Website where it states she "is open to unique, quirky picture books."

She talks a little bit about what types of picture books she is looking for in an interview at YA Fusion.

If you take a look at Kathleen's AgentQuery listing (she sent in the info herself) it's good to note that, "She looks for strong voices & characterizations, and is interested in multi-cultural stories."

In an older interview at Love YA from when Kathleen was with Waterside Productions, she gives some interesting, and still relevant, answers to how and why she became an agent and what kinds of books she likes.

Query letter info is one of the good things you will find in an interview with Kathleen at Deana Barnhart's blog.

Kathleen is scheduled to speak at the Central California Writer's Conference in April 2012, and I found her bio to be informative.

At QueryTracker a few picture book writers have left some priceless nuggests of pb rejection info.

You can find Kathleen Rushall on Twitter @katrushall

Marsal Lyon Literary accepts electronic queries and hard copy submissions. Check out their submission guidelines.

I could not find any actual picture book authors that Kathleen represents, but I do know that she really likes Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake by Michael B. Kaplan. How do I know? I read it on twitter. Join in if you haven't already!














This post is part of the Monster List of Picture Book Agents. If you have any changes that you think should be made to this listing, please contact me or leave them in the comments. Thanks!