Friday Forward: Joanne Levy's SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE, and a DOUBLE GIVEAWAY!

It's Friday, and today at the blog, Friday means FREE STUFF!

But first, let me introduce to you the wonderfully funny middle grade book that is Joanne Levy's SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE.

Here's the blurb from Goodreads: After she’s hit by lightning at a wedding, twelve-year-old Lilah Bloom develops a new talent: she can hear dead people. Among them, there’s her overopinionated Bubby Dora; a prissy fashion designer; and an approval-seeking clown who livens up a séance. With Bubby Dora leading the way, these and other sweetly imperfect ghosts haunt Lilah through seventh grade, and help her face her one big fear: talking to—and possibly going to the seventh-grade dance with—her crush, Andrew Finkel.

This is a delightful, fast read. Lilah is a frank, funny heroine, whose relationships with her best friend and dear departed Bubby sparkle with humor. While I found her to be a little on the nice side - her attempts to help her father AND her music teacher AND Andrew's ghosted father reveal a more generous and philanthropic girl than any twelve-year-old I have ever known - there was enough hilarity to win me over. The scene in which Andrew's ghosted father tells her to prove his existence by telling Andrew she knows about his underwear stands out, in the best possible (read: side-splittingly funny) way. This is definitely worth picking up.

And to hep spread the word about this book, I have a SMALL MEDUM AT LARGE Prize Pack!

The prize pack includes: One SIGNED copy of SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE, one bookmark, and one wristband, to go to one lucky commenter! WOO-HOO! And for TWO OTHER lucky commenters, I have a bookmark and wristband each!  THAT'S THREE PRIZES!

AND, as if that weren't enough, you may remember my review of Michael Ian Black's I'M BORED, illustrated by the immensely talented Debbie Ohi, from a couple of weeks ago. Well, I have a copy to give away! WOO-HOO!

So, Here's the skinny:

For ONE ENTRY, you need to:

1) follow this blog;
2) leave a comment on THIS POST with your email address so I can contact you if you win something.

For EXTRA ENTRIES, you can blog/tweet/facebook/Google+/whatever about it. One entry per thing you do, but you MUST PROVIDE ME LINKS IN THE COMMENTS. I have limited time to spend on the interwebs searching for random mentions of my giveaways. I need to spend that time writing my own book so I can give away a copy of it to one of you one day. Cool?

COOL.

You have two weeks. I will draw names on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, at MIDNIGHT. So get commenting!

And Happy Friday!

Query Critique Wednesday - Denise's Queries!

Good Morning! Today we have TWO picture book queries from Denise. Wow!

For those of you who are new, here's how this thing works. I post queries from the brave souls who email them to m, along with my feedback on what's working and what isn't and how to make them shiny and bright. Then, you guys throw in your own two cents in the comments! The only rules are that you have to be honest, AND you have to be nice. No slamming or flaming, guys.

Let's get this party started!

Denise's first query is:

DearMr/Mrs_________,

Geared toward the 4-8 year old market, PHEWIE HUGHIE is a humorous 486 word children's picture book.

Hughie loves his toots and the louder the better and Hughie thought everyone should love his toots. Well, Hughie has a hard time finding someone to appreciate his wonderful ability until two children come to an important dinner and Hughie is told to remember his manners.  Mayham happens after Hughie realizes he just can’t hold it in.  What’s a boy to do? 

I am a member of SCBWI Canada East, and the SCBWI picture book and middle grade groups. I look forward to hearing from you.  Thank you for taking the time to consider PHEWIE HUGHIE.  Please note, this is a multiple submission.

Sincerely,

There's a lot to like about this concept - fart-loving boys! - and the basic elements of the query are there, which is good, but I think the descriptive paragraph needs some clarification. Here it is with my feedback in red:

Dear Mr/Mrs________,

Geared toward the 4-8 year old market, PHEWIE HUGHIE LOVE THE TITLE! Is this a rhyming book? If it is, you should say so. is a humorous 486 word children's picture book.

This is kind of an abrupt start. If you're going to open with the housekeeping - which is totally fine, and which a lot of agents and editors prefer - I'd recommend prefacing it with a bit of personalised stuff: I saw you at x conference/read x interview/whatever and because you said y, I'm sending you my manuscript....

Hughie loves his toots and the louder the better and Hughie thought everyone should love his toots.  This is a run-on sentence. Since the last portion is implied, I think this query can do without it. Love the idea of a kid who loves his own farts! This is every little boy's dream. Well, Hughie has a hard time finding someone to appreciate his wonderful ability until two children come to an important dinner This  raises some questions - why important? Why important with KIDS present? - and feels a little awkward. Maybe try reframing the inciting incident to eliminate those gaps and focus on the really crucial element: Hughie now has an audience for his farts. and Hughie is told to remember his manners.  Mayham Typo: Mayhem. happens after Hughie realizes he just can’t hold it in.  What’s a boy to do? Instead of ending with a rhetorical question, which some people don't mind but a lot of people dislike, maybe hint at where this goes: do the kids love his farts? Hate them? Join in?

I'd also include some comparatives here: this book will appeal to fans of A book, B book, and C book. It's good to give the person you're querying an idea of where your book will fit into the marketplace, and it gives him or her more ammunition to use if your book goes to acquisition. Another good place for comparatives is at the end of the first paragraph.

I am a member of SCBWI Canada East Good to include this!, and the SCBWI picture book and middle grade groups I am not aware of these groups. Do you mean the critique groups? In which case you should mention that they are critique groups, and mention the Canada East part, since different regions have their own groups. Or skip the critique group part - many have said they don't need to know about it. I look forward to hearing from you.  Thank you for taking the time to consider PHEWIE HUGHIE.  Please note, this is a multiple submission. Great closing.

Sincerely,

All together, not a bad query. With some reworking in the middle there, I think Denise will be ready to go.

And here's her second query:

Dear Mr/Mrs________,

Geared toward the 6-12 year old market, MALLIGA’S RAINBOW is a touching 927 word children's picture storybook.

Malliga and her Amma (mother) shared many memories, but the most memorable to Malliga was when they would play who could find the rainbow after a rain. After losing her Amma, Malliga has trouble facing the ache in her heart.  Her Appa (father) helps her and together they find a way to help Malliga one stitch at a time.

I am a member of SCBWI Canada East, and the SCBWI picture book and middle grade groups. I look forward to hearing from you. 

Thank you for taking the time to consider MALLIGA’S RAINBOW.  Please note, this is an exclusive submission.

Sincerely,

This, in my opinion, a pretty strong query already. I have some comments, but very few. Here's my feedback in red:

Dear Mr/Mrs________,

Geared toward the 6-12 year old market, MALLIGA’S RAINBOW You excel at titles. is a touching 927 word children's picture storybook. You've put yourself in the danger zone here. "Picture storybook" is a phrase usually equated with books like Beatrix Potter's TALES OF PETER RABBIT or A.A. Milne's WINNIE THE POOH, and while those books sell steadily, I have heard it said by editors and agents that that's more because people want to share their childhood memories with their kids than because the current market demands more stories like those. Books for young kids are now either picture books or chapter books. Your word count puts it into the picture book category - chapter books are typically 5,000-10,000 words - but your age range says chapter book or novel. I suspect that this is actually better aimed at the 4-6-ish market. (Don't be afraid to write books about death and loss for little kids; they need them as much as older kids do.)

Also: I have the same comment about the opening paragraph as in the last query.

Malliga and her Amma (mother) shared many memories, but the most memorable to Malliga Memorable is repetitive - maybe "Malliga's favorite"? was when they would play who could find the rainbow after a rain. After losing her Amma, Malliga has trouble facing the ache in her heart.  Her Appa (father) helps her and together they find a way to help Malliga one stitch at a time. I love this last part. This is a great paragraph! Super job. It's clear that Malliga has a cultural background, so I would say what that background is somehow, so it will be easier to imagine how to market this book.

I am a member of SCBWI Canada East, and the SCBWI picture book and middle grade groups. I look forward to hearing from you. Same comment as in the other query.

Thank you for taking the time to consider MALLIGA’S RAINBOW.  Please note, this is an exclusive submission. You don't really need to say that it's an exclusive submission; in fact, they usually assume that a submission is exclusive unless you say that it is simultaneous. However, you may wish to put a time limit on the exclusivity: "While this is an exclusive submission, I will send it to other agents/editors if I haven't heard from you in x months." I've read that something in the neighborhood of 3-6 months is typical.

Sincerely,

Despite the sea of red - sorry, Denise! - this is actually, in my opinion, a really good query. The most important section - the descriptive paragraph - is really solid. There were just a couple things that took a lot of explaining at the beginning and end!

Do you have your own comments? Ideas? Thoughts? Share them in the comments! Let's help Denise out!

And be sure to come back on FRIDAY for a giveaway!

Monday Musings: Heroic Princesses, Body Image, and the Size of Ariel's Butt

Happy Monday!

I've been busy over the weekend learning how to use video-editing software, which I hope will lead to much better quality YouTube videos in the not-too-distant future. But in the meantime, we'll have to settle for ideas over looks.

Which, interestingly, dovetails nicely with my latest vlog:



See you tomorrow, when I'll post my reading of The Elephant's Child in two parts, and announce the book I'll be reading in the lead-up to Halloween. I can't wait!

Friday(-ish) Forward: I'M BORED!

Good morning, beautiful readers! Happy Saturday!

Since neck pains stopped me from posting my Friday Forward on Friday, I'm posting today! The weekend days all run together anyway.

Today I am VERY excited to feature I'M BORED, a delightful picture book written by Michael Ian Black and illustrated by the lovely, clever, and very talented Debbie Ohi.

I'M BORED features a little girl who is bored out of her mind - until a talking potato makes her prove just how much fun kids can have. With a twist ending that will have pre-schoolers howling with laughter, this book will help kids cure those boredom blues. As for the moms and dads, I DARE you to look at the last page without laughing! You will not be able to do it!

I'M BORED is out now, and can be found in a good bookstore near you, or at Amazon.

IshtaReads Rudyard Kipling's How The Leopard Got His Spots, and Explains the Armbands She's Wearing.

So since I wasn't able to vlog until the middle of Thursday night, I made two vlogs back to back. This one was fun - I'm getting more relaxed and having more fun as I do more of these. Hope you enjoy it! My neck is still a bit stiff, and I think it's that huge sucker of a book I've been reading from. Plus, the rest of the stories are all too long for vlog posts. So, my next vlog will be a "rant," but a fun one. I hope you'll join me for it. :-) Later, folks!

Ishta Reads Rudyard Kipling's How The Rhinoceros Got His Skin, Which is Her Favorite Just So Story EVER

I woke up with a very stiff neck on Wednesday, so I wasn't able to blog or write or vlog or do much of anything, really, except lie on my back on the floor and wish I were somewhere where there were no kids and where I had a numb spinal column. Fortunately, I was doing sort-of okay by the evening, but I was still not really in vlogging shape until late (very late) Thursday night, when I did this: I think the hidden moral of this is, "Rhinos are dumb." Because, seriously. Just take off the darn skin and shake out the crumbs already! But whatever. It's still a great story. Thank for watching!

Ishta Reads How The Camel Got His Hump, and finds a surprising geographical link to Amelia Earhart

Hi there! No time today for more than my daily Vid, so here it is: Incidentally, I think the choosing of a landing place no more than half a mile wide and a mile and a half long might not have been the best decision, but it was the biggest thing for miles, so she didn't really have many options. (I suppose the argument can be made that airport landing strips are smaller than that, which is true, but airports are surrounded by roads and fields and other reasonably good landing places in case the pilot makes a mistake, while an island is surrounded by, you know, water, which isn't a very good alternate landing place at all.) Also: you can find all my videos on my youtube channel, IshtaReads. See you there! And see you here tomorrow!

The Brave New World of Vlogging

Okay, so remember last week when I said I was going to do more reading and also some vlogging and that they would be linked?

Well, this is what I was talking about.

Me reading How the Whale Got His Throat, by Rudyard Kipling

This is going to be my new project for a while - a video a day of me reading something short-ish, starting with the Just So Stories, which I really love for their fun spirit, even if they do moralize. (They're products of their time, and they're very imaginative, so I can forgive the moralizing.) This is a new thing for me, and I'm not sure how it's going to go, and I'm not sure what I'm doing or whether I'm doing any of it right, but if you like what I did and want to see more of it, I'd be really grateful if you'd like it/link it/do whatever else you do to spread the word. That would be totally awesome and I would love you forever.

In other news, be sure to stop by Literary Rambles today, where my friend Natalie Aguirre is interviewing a very special young expert in the field of kidlit.

ALSO! There will again be changes to the blog! Daily vids will be linked here, as well as Wednesday Writing posts (which will either be craft-oriented or Query critiques) and Friday Forward posts (which will be reviews of books I've read and liked and sometimes will be giving away). This means TWO POSTS on Wednesdays and Fridays! WOOT! But less about writing in general.

I know. Changes suck. But this change will be a lot better than the last change, which consisted of me not blogging at all for the whole summer. We take what we can get, no?

Hasta Mañana!
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Summer Shenanigans

Wow. So much for "springing back into the swing of things."

So, this summer I realised a few things:

1) Blogging takes up a lot of time;

2) Reading takes up a lot of time;

3) Keeping up with my writer friends takes a lot of time, although I enjoy spending this time;

4) Writing should be taking up more time.

So here's the skinny:

1) Less blogging, more vlogging. More on that very very soon.

2) More reading* and also reviewing**, since it will help with 4 above. Check in with me on Goodreads (link in the sidebar), or here, since I will be copying and pasting reviews to both places.

3) Much more keeping up with writer friends. I can be found at TorKidLit Tweetups on the first Wednesday of every month and at Toronto CANSCAIP meetings on the second Wednesday of every month. If you write books and live in the general vicinity of Toronto, I shall see you there! I'm the tiny lady with glasses who is swamped by her hair.

4)Writing will be taking up more time. Every evening, at least one scene. It might be a half-page scene, but it will be a scene nonetheless. I'm pantsing my way through this thing and the only way to keep it moving forward is to keep moving forward with it.

In other news, Hubbles and I have family and friends in Old Blighty, so we took the kidlets to see the Olympics. YouTube clips and thoughts video (videos? I can't decide) to come soon, linked here.

Also, we're homeschooling, starting tomorrow. I live on the edge, my writerly friends. The edge of sanity.

Until next time!

*Numbers 1 and 2 will be linked in what I hope will be a pleasant and enjoyable surprise. Stay tuned.
**Please don't actually ask me to review your book - I only want to do largely positive reviews, and I only know it will be one of those after I actually read the book, so I'm just going to pick the books I review. But if I know you, and I liked your book even though you had no idea I had even read it, then you might be pleasantly surprised one day. Deal?