Young Adult Award (not a Hugo) Ratified!

Those who have followed this blog over the years know that I’ve been pushing for a YA Award to be a part of the Hugo Awards for a few years. Previous reports about it can be found via the links at the bottom of this post.

During Worldcon 75 this year in Helsinki, Finland, the question of a YA Award came up again at the business meeting. The previous year's YA Award Committee report was to cover its decisions on the following questions:

Will the award be named for a person? Will the award be called ‘YA’, ‘teen lit’, or some other such thing?

Alex Acks reported on the Hugo Awards rules changes at the Business Meeting – nominations, Best Series, and, most importantly, the Young Adult Award.

The committee report given last year at Sasquan had a good breakdown on how various other awards determined what was YA, what was middle grade, and the pros and cons of using marketing categories. The YA Committee decided that the Award should be treated like the Campbell Award (not a Hugo), so that a strict definition of what constitutes YA wouldn't be needed, nor would a word limit (which is what determines several of the categories of the Hugos).

However, the Committee couldn't decide on a name for the award. They created a committee to collect and evaluate name ideas.

The report from the YA Award Study Committee listed the names they collected via several surveys. It went into their naming considerations: should the award be named for a person or an idea, were there other awards already using the proposed name, and several other points. One point that a few people missed at the Business Meeting was that, if a personal name of an author was suggested, the committee also looked at whether the author's other works would somehow reflect negatively on the award. They eventually decided against personal names for the award.

The Committee came up with ten names on their shortlist. Those ten names were run past a group of people knowlegeable in cultural diversity and cross-cultural sensitivity. Those ten names were then put on a Public Shortlist Voting Survey which people could vote on from January 15 through March 15, 2017. They had both a Facebook and a Twittter page from which they promoted the survey, and those of us following the whole award debate also passed on the news about the survey. The final name chosen by the Committee after all that was Lodestar.

I recommend that anyone interested check out the Committee's report. There were quite a few names suggested by people and the Committee did a fantastic job checking and evaluating each one.

The name will be ratified at the 2018 Business Meeting in San Jose. The Business Meeting in Helsinki (after a lot of procedural backs and forths*) voted to ratify the Young Adult Award (Not A Hugo) 65-27. And there was much cheering. The Young Adult Award will be on the Hugo nomination form for the 2018 Hugos. Yayy!

Hopefully the Business Meeting in 2018 in San Jose will ratify the name as the Lodestar Award. Which will work out nicely for the 2019 Worldcon, which will be held in Dublin, Ireland. The Guest of Honor for that Worldcon has already been announced, and the GOH will be Diane Duane! (I highly recommend her YA Young Wizards series)

What do you think of the YA Award (not a Hugo)?

* Seriously, a lot of back and forths. If you really want all the details, Alex Acks detailed it in a liveblog starting at 1116. And running until 1245 (whew).

Young Adult Award (not a Hugo)

During WorldCon (MidAmeriCon II) this year the question of a YA Hugo came up again at the business meeting. The previous year's YA Award Committee as per the 2015 report was due to report on its decisions on the following questions:

Will the award be sponsored like the Campbell’s? Will the award be named for a person? How will the votes be tallied? How will the category be defined? By age, by marketing category, or by general ‘teen’ designation? Will the award be for science fiction/fantasy or speculative fiction? Will the award be called ‘YA’, ‘teen lit’, or some other such thing? Will there be a word length limit, such as 40,000 words? Details of the sunset clause? The issue of dual eligibility?

The Sasquan report has a good breakdown on how various other awards determined what was YA, what was middle grade, and the pros and cons of using marketing categories.

The report of this year's YA Award Committe doesn't have a direct link (yet). It can be found starting on page 37 of the pdf of the WSFS Agenda for the Business Meeting. If you don't want to read through the pdf, the good news is that the YA Award Committee decided that the Award should be treated like the Campbell Award (not a Hugo), so that a strict definition of what constitutes YA wouldn't be needed, nor would a word limit (which is what determines several of the categories of the Hugos).

The bad news is that the Committee couldn't decide on a name for the award. The report goes into their decisions against naming the award after any one particular author. Instead, they recommended, if the award proposal passed, to create a committee to collect and evaluate name ideas. Which means an actual award would be delayed at least another year.

The Facebook page for YA Hugo Proposal posted that the YA Award proposal passed. That page will also put up links to where you can submit suggestions for the name of the award once links or an email is announced.

For those interested in the procedure of the meeting, Rachael Acks Liveblogged from the Business Meeting on August 19, 2016. The section on the YA Award is 1015-1029. The August 20 meeting covered the YA Award from 1144-1201 (there's also a quick summary).

Here's hoping next year's WorldCon in Helsinki will finally see the creation of a Young Adult Award!

Friends

Friends and friendship are usually an important part of middle grade and YA books, no matter what genre.

Making friends, keeping friends, helping friends (or being helped by them), singling out a best friend - if these aren't the main focus of the story, they're usually a subtheme.

With most of the middle grade stories I've read recently, the friendships are always centered around school.

How well does that reflect real life? Even keeping in mind the real life changes among generations?

I'm of the generation that was shooed outside to play on our own. Friendships developed around kids in the neighborhood, no matter what age. We didn't all go to the same schools, though, so most kids had a different set of friends at school. And then came home to play with the neighborhood friends.

Nowadays, parents arrange playgroups of kids around the same age, who may or may not live within a few blocks. Next is preschool, so another set of friends, again of the same age. School may separate out some friends and add new friends.

If books are to be believed, once you start school, you leave all your other friends behind and focus only on school friends. Is that the case in real life? Or is this just for the convenience of the story?

At what stage do friends become friends because of shared interests, rather than because of location? When I was in elementary and high school, I was the only one of my friends who read science fiction. I didn't make friends who shared my interests until long after I had graduated.

Some middle grade and YA stories list friends by their characteristics, rather than as a person. One friend is fashion-savvy, another is the sports expert, yet another is bookish while one likes to cook, etc. Just writing that sentence reminded me of the ponies in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Though I guess friends can be friends because they like each other, not for what they can do for each other or what interests they have in common.

What have you noticed about friends and friendships in middle grade and/or YA stories? What ones do you like?

Emotions!

Everyone has emotions! Even Vulcans, though they try to suppress them.

And yet, I remember when growing up that my favorite stories were ones where the main character remained calm no matter how desperate the situation was. My favorite television characters were Mr. Spock in Star Trek and Illya Kuryakin in Man From U.N.C.L.E., both very good at hiding their emotions.

That might have been the writing style of the time. I might have been drawn to those books either because as a middle child I had learned that only the youngest child was taken seriously for over-reacting, or because I had been told that the only way to survive a bully (not referring to my youngest sister there) was not to react to them.

When the style changed so that "teen angst" became a thing, some authors seemed to go a bit overboard. Characters came across all sounding the same, like a spoiled youngest child, even if he or she was the eldest.

MG and YA changed again, and so did what was popular. First person POV could allow a reader to feel the character's emotions while the character could tell themselves to try to hide what they felt, to be cool.

Which style appeals to you?

I'm looking forward to seeing "Inside Out" Friday. I'm writing this blog on Thursday, so my reactions will be added late on Friday after the matinee. (For those looking for a review, Gloria Oliver will probably have a link on the Facebook page for YA Authors You've Never Heard Of to her review at some point).

Just from looking at the first trailer, I liked the idea that the emotions were broken down to five - Anger, Disgust, Fear, Joy, and Sadness - with all others being some variation of degree of those five. What's cute is that each of the emotions for each person has something identifying the person - the mother's hair style and glasses, the father's mustache. Interesting that the mother's emotions are depicted as all female, the father's are all male, yet Riley's are male and female. Maybe that will change as Riley grows older. Sadness seems to be in the lead for the mother, while Anger seems to be in charge for the father's emotions. But perhaps I'm over-analyzing too much from just the first trailer.

Some of the trailers raised other questions. For one, I do wonder how Disgust knows what broccoli is before the infant Riley (or even the other emotions) learns even the name of the vegetable. And, since baby Riley had a positive experience (after Disgust and Anger had their say), why is Anger so upset years later that broccoli is on pizza? I'm not hunting down other trailers or the website, though, until after I see the movie, as I want to see the movie without being spoiled.

UPDATE:

I'm still processing my reactions. Gloria Oliver's review is here, for those looking for a review. I didn't get any answers to the questions I had coming in to the movie, and the writer in me has a few more "Why?" questions coming out. But I did like it - the artwork is great and the world inside the characters' heads has been well-built.

What do others think?

Middle Grade and Young Adult

At this blog we tend to use terms like "middle grade" and "YA", with the assumption being that the readers will understand them. I've been on a number of panels lately at science fiction conventions where questions from the audience demonstrated that people don't always understand the difference between the two labels. Even what YA is has been a major source of disagreements in discussions about whether there should be a YA Hugo Award. So this post will be an attempt to break those groups down and perhaps other posters to the blog will add their points of view as well.

Short history lesson. Back when I was growing up, there was no label for YA or middle grade. You started with children's books, and then at some point you, your parent, or perhaps a librarian knew you were ready for the adult collection. "Ready" didn't always mean "emotionally mature" - it might be because that's where all the good fantasy/science fiction was shelved or it might be because you had already devoured all the books in the children's collection and your parent/librarian was tired of hand-picking books from the adult collection. (Interlibrary loan was only for adults back then.) Publishers did have some authors who wrote 'juvenile' (I do remember the Heinlein Juveniles were a thing at one point) and those would be shelved in the children's collection. Sometimes.

YA emerged as a label in the mid-70s (some will say 1950s or 1960s, but not where I was) and at that point it was thought to cover ages 10 through 18. Middle grade as an age range for books started about the time midde schools/junior highs became the fashion in the US - around the late 80s in some areas, early 1990s in others. Why and how have some classics have been relabeled as YA even though the term never existed when the book was written? It's all about the protagonist.

In panel discussions, several points have been repeated over and over. Age of the protagonist is one factor in the split between MG and YA. Middle grade has the protagonist aged between eight to twelve years old. In YA, the protagonist is older, usually thirteen and up. New Adult is a new term for the college-aged protagonist, which up to now was covered (sometimes) under YA. Classics - those books published before these terms came into use - often are relabeled YA if the protagonist fits in that age range, even if the main character is actually an adult reflecting on their childhood/young adulthood (Jane Eyre and To Kill A Mockingbird). Tamora Pierce's Circle series starts with her young mages around 10 years old. That was considered YA when the series first appeared, so her books might be considered MG by some and YA by others.

Middle grade readers have gatekeepers - parents and librarians who evaluate the books before purchase. So panelists often agree that swearing and sex is a dividing line between middle grade and young adult, no matter the age of the protagonist. Violence isn't always an issue with some gatekeepers.

Other dividing points (and there are always exceptions): middle grade covers external situations and adventures while YA is more introspective. Middle grade is more optimistic, while YA can be more edgy with uncertain endings. Middle grade focuses more on friends and family, while YA focuses on society. Before Harry Potter, middle grade books had a low word count, but that's not always true now.

Some other websites and blogs that discuss the definitions and distinctions:

• https://www.sfwa.org/2013/02/an-introduction-to-middle-grade-and-young-adult-fiction-part-1-definitions/
• http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/the-key-differences-between-middle-grade-vs-young-adult
• http://migwriters.blogspot.com/2010/06/mg-vs-ya-fiction-whats-difference-by.html
• http://www.dystel.com/2012/03/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-middle-gradeand-were-willing-to-ask/

How does the proposal for a Hugo for Best YA stand? There was supposedly a committee set up at the last Worldcon to look into it. There is still a Facebook group for the YA Hugo Proposal, but it's been quiet since 2014, and with the latest uproar about the 2015 Hugo nominations I'm not sure if there will even be any discussion about the topic at the business meeting at this year's Worldcon. We shall see.

What do you think are the differences between middle grade and young adult?

TUMBLEWEED CHRISTMAS

Twenty-two days until Christmas.

Are you ready? Have you put up your tree? Hung stockings from the fireplace?

My tree is up, waiting for decorations. The rest I hope to do tonight.

Monday's post by Christine was about books making great gifts. She's right. You can put them in stockings, wrap them with sparkly paper, and even mail them easily.

My Christmas story is TUMBLEWEED CHRISTMAS, a picture book for early readers.

Did you know that Chandler, Arizona actually uses tumbleweeds for their tree in town?

Watch the tree being built. Neat.

 

History of the tree.

 

This unique Chandler tradition began in 1957, when Chandler resident Earl Barnum raised the idea of a tumbleweed tree after he saw a similar one in Indiana built out of cone-shaped chicken wire with pine boughs stuck in the holes. Many members of the community helped create the first tree in Chandler using tumbleweeds that they gathered from around town. Little did these folks know that they were the first to do such a thing and that it would continue as an annual Christmas tradition from then on. In fact, Chandler is the only city in the southwestern United States that has such a tree.

 

 

The cat in the corner isn't interested in the books.

 

So what's on your shopping list?

Here are some of mine for tweens and teens.

Happy shopping. 

 

 



What’s in Your Pockets?

Or in your backpack? Or hanging from your belt?

We all remember a scene from a television show or book when a character just happens to have an important item necessary to solve a problem in his or her pocket, don’t we? The Doctor with his sonic screwdriver or psychic paper or strange bit of metal that he happened to pick up along the way. No, wait, that was MacGyver that spent the first part of the show picking up odd bits of things that he would later pull out of his pack and assemble into something. Batman may not have pockets, but he sure manages to carry quite a number of useful items in his utility belt.

I don’t remember having pockets of infinite capacity when I was young, but those would have come in handy. I remember having all sorts of useful stuff – gum, pretty stones (seriously, check my post on collecting. I collected a lot of stones), pocket knife, tissue-wrapped interesting dead bugs (had to wrap them in tissue otherwise the legs broke off), string, a slingshot at one point, rubber bands, money occasionally, a house key on those times when someone wasn't going to be in the house when my sister and I got home – as well as things that maybe weren't so useful or fascinating when pockets were emptied at the end of the day.

A character in a Middle Grade story could have any or all of those items in his or her pockets. Maybe an item might be important to the story or they could be just interesting indicators of the character's personality. If this was a YA story, something in the character’s pockets (if mentioned at all in the story) would have to be important in some way. Otherwise the contents of the pockets (or purse or backpack) won’t be mentioned at all. Since time is limited, a television program might only have a brief glimpse of stuff, but only an important item would be shown in focus.

If a YA or Middle Grade story is set in present day, one item that would probably be necessary would be a phone of some sort. It does reduce tension if the character can contact his or her parents or help of some type so easily, so characters tend to lose or break that item a lot.

One major complaint I have about women’s clothing (and girls’) is the lack of pockets. Of course women don’t need pockets, the fashion industry insists, they carry purses. Pockets are important. My work clothes had to have pockets and I heavily used my jacket pockets (for keys, sticky notes, pens, flash drive and tissues, all necessary in my job). Maybe the need for pockets is why lab coats are so popular among mad scientists.

My character Peter in The Crystal Throne had his Scout knife and a small roll of duct tape in his pockets when he was pulled into a magical land and both items came in handy later. The items my injured agent in “The Twin Bond” (Agents & Adepts) finds in her pockets don't initially register with her (she's lost her memory), but she automatically reaches for them when her memory returns.

Harry Potter is lucky enough to be set in a time where wizard/school robes have pockets that can hold a wand and other items. My wizards carry a lot of pouches on their belts with magical ingredients.

The main character in the story I’m currently working on wants to become an explorer. So she carries a number of items in her pockets in order to test whatever she comes across outside in her neighborhood. Though I'm beginning to think that some might need to be carried in her backpack. I started with pocket magnifier, magnet, small multi-tool, and specimen bags, but I have a feeling the character will add more as the story goes on.

What stories have you come across where pockets or the contents of them turn out to be important? And yes, that also includes purses and backpacks.

So You Wanna Write a Novel? PART ONE

I often have discussions with people who will say to me "Wow- that is so cool you actually have published novels. I wish I could be disciplined enough to write one. I have this great idea..."

Well, I will say...why not?

It is an ambitious task, no doubt, writing and finishing a novel. It takes weeks, or months of writing on a daily schedule. Even a few sentences a day. BUT- before you attempt it ask yourself these questions:

* Have I thought out the plot enough to be able to sustain a compelling story for 200-300 pages?
* Are the characters fleshed out to create a cast of interesting and unique individuals?
* Do you know your world well enough to describe it and make it a character in itself?
* Maybe you idea would make a better short story? Or a screenplay?

Lets assume the answer to the first three questions are a resounding YES. Now what? Well, that depends on your personality and style. If you are a detail oriented and obsessed with planning than use that strength. Write a chapter by chapter outline. This could be as simple as chapter names or as complex as detailed descriptions.

If you are more impetuous and like the freedom of spontaneous creation that go that route...(BUT if your are penning a complex thriller than I suggest a detailed outline noting all the twists and turns and red herrings. There is no such thing as a meandering page-turner. )

No matter what genre you are writing I would suggest one rule of thumb regarding planning: Know WHY your story ends. Not so much WHERE or WHEN but WHY are you writing it? You sent your hero (or anti hero) off on an advnture. Why? What is he or she to acomplish or learn? Every word you write pushes the main character towards that end. If you have your destination set firmly then you can stop at a few roadside attractions on the way as long as they offer a worthwhile view. The little tangents and character surprises (where the characters begin acting "on their own" is one of the greatest joys of writing.

You will find the first few chapters flow easily. You're excited and motivated. Then you hit a few speed bumps and this is where the champs are separated from the wannabes. Keep writing. Set a daily goal. Make it easy–one paragraph. That's it! If you promise yourself ten pages a day I will tell you exactly what will happen. The first two days you will meet your goal. YES! Then day three you'll stop at 5 pages. OH OH. Then 6 you'll write two. UGH. Then one. I SUCK. You will be discouraged and you'll stop and that stack of thirty or so pages will remain just that–an unfinished novel.

Trust me. If you write something per day, a page, a paragraph, a sentence BUT keep it going every day I promise that by the end of the year, max, you'll have your first draft.

A YEAR! UGH.

Well ask yourself this: did you have a completed manuscript at the end of last year? If not, just think how nice it will be to have one at the end of next year.

Sart with the questions above. Answer them honestly. Then start your novel. One word at a time and watch the stack grow.

To be continued...

Michael DiCerto is the author of Milky Way Marmalade and recently his first middle grade novel Book One of The Adventures of Rupert Starbright: The Door to Far-Myst and Book Two: The Adventures of Rupert Starbright: The Secret of My-Myst.
www.mikedicerto.com

Scarletta Press expands children's book titles in 2013

The new year brings a new market for children's book writers. Minneapolis publisher Scarletta Press is branching out with two new imprints. Scarletta Junior features fiction and nonfiction for middle grade readers, and Scarletta Kids publishes picture books and storybooks for children up to age eight.

Scarletta started publishing children’s books in 2011, with Lost in Lexicon, a novel by Pendred Noyce. A second children’s title, The Ice Castle, also by Noyce, followed a year later.

According to Scarletta’s publicity director Desiree Bussiere, “We rethought our structure: how to acquire books and what the future face of the company would be. We realized we really enjoyed producing and marketing children’s books. It prompted us to look for more children’s titles, and thus create our imprints.”

Of the 12 titles Scarletta will publish in 2013, six are Scarletta Kids titles, four are Scarletta Junior titles, and two are adult titles.

Be advised, their reading period is November 1 to March 1. Their Junior Readers and Kids imprints focus on literature and picture books with educational twists, exciting illustrations, and engaging plots.

Please query first with cover letter, synopsis, and one or two chapters (30 pages or less). Agented and unagented manuscripts are welcome. Send your query by mail or email to:

Editor
Scarletta Press
10 South 5th Street, Suite 1105
Minneapolis, MN 55402

Or email an attachment to: info@scarlettapress.com

For more information please read Scarletta Press Submission Guidelines

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The best kept secret -- Amazon Children’s Publishing

I have been an Amazon Vine Reviewer since 2008. Every other week I receive an email featuring dozens of free products -- from books of every genre to iPhone covers to toys to dog treats. Amazing stuff – really! I get to pick two items shipped free. All I have to do is review them. The only downside of this Vine arrangement is supplies are limited. About half the time, the products I choose first are already gone. Even so, I feel lucky to be a Vine Reviewer. Last month my catalog choices were slim. The toys were all gone, only books left, and few of those. I chose these two new picture books -- 

When they arrived I discovered they are both published by Amazon Children’s Publishing. Firefighters! is a paperback (also in board book, and Kindle edition – of course). 1-2-3 Va-Va-Wroom! is a hardcover (also in Kindle edition). Rhyming text and action-packed, colorful illustrations make these books a hit with my almost 4-year old grandson. I read and review lots of picture books. My grandson enjoys these books every bit as much as he enjoys two books I recently reviewed, Boot and Shoe (Simon & Schuster) and Wumbers (Chronicle) -- if not more.

I knew Amazon had gotten into the publishing business in 2009. But I thought they were publishing nonfiction and adult genre fiction. I didn’t know Amazon had a children’s publishing division. Out of curiosity, I googled “amazon children’s publishing.” The first thing I learned is that Amazon Children’s Publishing publishes “Quality books for young readers of all ages, from toddlers to teens.” Click on the link to see the broad -- though somewhat still limited -- selection of books for young readers. Quite impressive.

As it happens, I have three picture book manuscripts I think might be a good fit for Amazon Children’s Publishing. But I couldn’t find any submission guidelines at their website. I did find an email address and sent a request for submission guidelines. As of this writing I haven’t heard back. I will post an update here, if and when I do receive those guidelines.

I googled “amazon children’s publishing submission guidelines.” All I could find was a blog post from author/editor Deborah Halverson at DearEditor.com: Submitting to Amazon Children’s Publishing:

“Tim Ditlow, Associate Publisher of Amazon Children’s Publishing, spoke about his months-old program at the 2012 SCBWI Summer Conference last week. While official submission guidelines are still being created, he said ACP is indeed accepting unsolicited submissions. For now, send a query email to acp-submit@amazon.com. Attach your full picture book ms or the first 3 chapters of your MG/YA fiction as pdfs or Word documents. There’s no time frame for responses yet.”

Don’t get me wrong. I have no beef with Amazon. They sell my books and they give me free stuff. I own a Kindle and I buy lots more books and stuff at their website and partner sites. We have a symbiotic relationship. But Amazon is notorious for their lack of communication. It’s not always easy to get an answer to your question. In one way or another we have all experienced it. Everyone has an Amazon story. But in this case, with Amazon Publishing, one would think they might get hip to the whole communication thing – like, social networking. But there’s no “follow us on Twitter” or Facebook buttons on their website either. So apparently not. 

That’s unfortunate because I also googled onto this article:  Amazon Struggles to Crack Publishing. As it turns out Amazon is finding out something we “indies” have learned about the publishing business –– distribution is a bitch.

Here’s a picture book concept – this little author mouse has a suggestion for the giant Amazon king of the jungle: Fix this distribution mess! If anyone can do it, the mighty Amazon can. In the end, they will set us all free from the tangled Ingram-Walmart-Target-B&N-Baker & Taylor web that’s keeping thousands of books out of stores and libraries – yours and mine included. 

How about the rest of you “indies” out there? Do you have any advice for this struggling new indie publisher?

Peggy Tibbetts

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