Interview with Amy Meltzer Thursday, Aug 28 2008

Getting your books into print is tough nowadays but far from impossible.  From time to time we’ll profile writers who’ve made it happen.  Check out their stories.  You just might find the tip or insight you need to move your own work onto the printed page.  Our first featured author is Amy Meltzer, author of a children’s book, A Mezuzah on the Door.

 

An Interview with Amy Meltzer

 

First of all, congratulations on publishing your new book! A Mezuzah on the Door is a picture book for children. Can you tell us about the title?

 

A mezuzah is a Jewish ritual object traditionally hung on the doorpost of each room in a Jewish home. It consists of a decorative case, and stored inside the case is a brief section of the Torah hand-written on parchment.

 

What is the story about?

 

The story is about a young boy who moves to a new house, and how the tradition of hanging a mezuzah helps him adjust to his new home.

 

What made you decide to write this book?

 

I taught first grade at a Jewish school for several years, and part of the curriculum was to teach about the tradition of hanging a mezuzah. I looked for a picture book to read to my students and discovered there wasn’t a single children’s book on the topic. After my first daughter was born, I left teaching and it seemed like a good time to try to write my own story.

 

What kind of writing had you done before?

 

In truth, not much. I was incredibly lucky to have my very first manuscript accepted for publication. I had always enjoyed writing. I had taken a prose writing class in college, and wrote a weekly column for my high school paper (about a million years ago) but really hadn’t tried much fiction. As a teacher and a parent I had, of course, read many, many children’s books.

 

You published Mezuzah with Kar-Ben Publishing. What kind of press is Kar-Ben?

 

It’s a division of Lerner Publications that publishes only Jewish children’s books – mostly picture books, but some chapter books as well.

 

Why do you think they chose to publish Mezuzah? What made your book a good fit for their list?

 

Mainly, I think it was a good fit because, as I explained earlier, there was a need for this kind of book. They asked for a lot of revisions before they accepted my story for publication, but I guess they felt that it was fairly good in its original form. Because the topic is included in almost any curriculum, I’m guessing they knew they could count on almost every Jewish school in the country wanting to buy at least one copy.

 

You worked with an illustrator for this book, Janice Fried. How did you find Janice, and what has it been like to collaborate with her?

 

After Kar-Ben purchased the manuscript they had complete control over the book, including selecting the illustrator. I was enormously lucky to end up with someone so talented. I think she did a great job of bringing the characters to life. However, it wouldn’t really be accurate to say the we collaborated. I didn’t see the illustrations until they were finished.

 

What has been the best part about publishing your book?

 

How happy it made my mother. Really.

 

Is there anything you wish were different?

 

I didn’t know anything about contracts when I signed mine. While I’m not sure I could have done any better financially on my first manuscript, I didn’t understand that according to my contract I really would have no part in the editing process. They made some changes in the text of my story that I really wasn’t happy with and didn’t know about until the book was essentially finished. If I’m lucky enough to sell another story I will make sure that I am involved in the edits.

 

Good advice—writers should always be careful when they sign contracts, and consult a lawyer if they have any questions.  Do you have an yother advice to offer aspiring writers who are looking to publish children’s books?

Join a good critique group.  Keep reading and writing. Try to think of something no one else has written about. Mostly I would say write because you enjoy it, and don’t get too discouraged by the heaps of rejection letters you are likely to receive.

 

 

Thanks, Amy.  We certainly agree with you about the critique groups—that’s the reason we started our website, www.screwiowa.com.  We have a forum there for writers to connect to one another no matter where they live or what they write, and we also offer information on how to give good feedback, tips on craft, and so on.

 

Thanks for asking!

 

Mezuzah is available through amazon.com. 

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Myth Busters Thursday, Aug 21 2008

This week’s topic: Agents

 

 

Myth #1:  In order to get published you have to have an agent.

Reality: Over 400,000 new titles were published last year, and around one-third of them were self-published—without an agent.

 

Myth #2:  The best way to get an agent is to have a connection.

Reality: Having a connection never hurts, but most people don’t.  They get their agents the old-fashioned way: through hard work.

 

Myth #3:  If your book is good enough, an agent will take you on.

Reality: It’s not unusual for people to contact over 100 agents before they find one who will take them on.  This includes people whose books later went on to become best-sellers.  One agent we know gets around 25,000 queries each year from aspiring writers, and takes on around 6 new clients each year.

 

Myth #4:  If you have an agent, your troubles are over.  You’re guaranteed a sale.

 

Reality: Agents work hard to sell their clients’ work.  They don’t always succeed.

Myth #5:  A good agent will edit your manuscript and make it sellable.

Reality:  Some agents offer editing advice to their clients, but many don’t have the skills or time. 

 

Myth #6:  You have to pay a fee to get a good agent to read your work.

Reality:  You should never pay anyone to read your work.  Even top agents read manuscripts for free—if they think they might be interested in representing them.

 

Myth #7:  If you can’t get an agent, you might as well give up.  Your work isn’t any good.

Reality:  Agents turn down good books every day.  And remember (myth #1), you don’t need an agent to get published.  There are many other avenues available to you.  Stay tuned.  We’ll talk about some of them in the weeks to come.

 

Worst Rejection Ever Contest

 

Have a rejection you’re willing to share?  Here at Screw Iowa, we’re running a contest.  Let’s see who’s gotten the worst.  Here are two of ours:

1) The agent who didn’t even bother to write back to us on her own stationary.  Just stamped REJECTED on our query letter and sent it back.

 

2)  The agent who went to the trouble of reading our manuscript and then rejected it because it “wasn’t what he wanted it to be.”  Well, duh.  Did it ever occur to him that maybe it was what WE wanted it to be?  Our response (which we didn’t send, of course): Hey, buster, why don’t you try writing your own book?

 

 

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Chocolate Chip Cookies Wednesday, Aug 13 2008

Ever go to the grocery store to pick out a box of chocolate chip cookies? The aisle is full of varieties, packed in all kinds of boxes and bags, every possible size and color and shape. Mini-chips, dark chocolate, soft-baked, hard.

Now imagine that you’re a baker with the best chocolate cookie recipe ever. Everyone loves your cookies, even your mother-in-law. You finally decide to take them public. So you march to the closest Nabisco factory, recipe in hand. To your surprise, you find that you’re not the only person with a new chocolate chip cookie recipe to sell. There are thousands of bakers just like you, each claiming to have a new and unique cookie, better than the rest. The factory has hired a purchasing agent, just to screen the applicants, but you can’t even get him to try a sample of your cookie. He has boxes and boxes of cookies already, moldering in every corner of his office, piled from floor to ceiling, You leave the factory incensed—and outraged. How will you ever get anyone to buy your cookies if they won’t even take a bite?

What does this have to do with writing, you ask? Well, take a look at that manuscript you’re working on. Don’t think of it as a book—think of it as a chocolate chip cookie.
It’s a matter of supply and demand. There are simply far more books being written today than the publishing industry can possibly handle—just as there are far more cookie recipes than anyone could ever bake. Even delicious ones.

What’s a writer to do?

There’s no easy answer, but it helps to understand that publishing is nothing special. It’s a business like any other, controlled by the same economic factors that affect every other industry, including the need to make a profit to survive. Go to any bookstore. The shelves are already crammed with books. Your job is to figure out a way to squeeze in room for one more.

It also helps to realize that none of this is new. Writers have always struggled to get their books into print. Like baking, it helps to be creative, and like any other business endeavor, it helps to be persistent. In the weeks to come, we’ll profile writers who have made it into print, along with other intriguing news from the publishing world. You might be surprised at what you learn. There are new and inventive opportunities for writers springing up by the day—one of them just might be right for you.

By the way, if you happen to have the best recipe ever for chocolate cookies, please don’t be shy. Send it along. At Screw Iowa! we’re not ashamed to admit we’re addicted. Sometimes a little bit of chocolate is just what we need to fuel the muse.

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