Category Archives: Publishing

In the news…

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Some lovely person at Quill & Quire looked at Seeing Red, and had this to say:

Junior CSI fans might enjoy Seeing Red: The True Story of Blood (Annick Press, $14.95 pa., $22.95 cl., Feb.) by Vancouver author Tanya Lloyd Kyi, who informs readers about all things sanguineous, from sacrifices to forensics. One hopes accompanying illustrations by graphic novelist Steve Rolston only required a bit of sweat and tears.

Thank you, Quill & Quire, especially for the use of the word “sanguineous.” I wish I’d used that in the book!

As far as I know, Steve has now stopped bleeding from his eyeballs and is once again able to work on other projects.

Anyone know poetry?

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I received an e-mail from an old friend last week. He’s hoping to publish some of his poetry, and wondering how to begin. Well, let’s be honest here. I know approximately nothing about publishing poetry. Here’s what I told him. Does anyone have other ideas?

It’s certainly a hard market to break into, but it’s not impossible. Traditionally, the best method is to submit to journals. Then, once you have some publication credits, you gather up your work and start submitting it as a book.

Two of the best known journals in our area are the Malahat Review and Prism International. I’m sure there are many more, though. You should probably invest in a copy of the Canadian Writer’s Market. It includes listings and submission guidelines for each magazine and publisher.

As you say, my genre is quite different, but one of the things I find most helpful is a critique group of other writers. These can be tricky to find. One of the best ways is to sign up for a course or workshop, and hit on some of the other participants… find out if anyone’s in a writing group, or interested in starting one. It can be nerve-wracking for the first few meetings, having other people talk over your writing in front of you, but groups are usually highly supportive. It’s nice not to work in a vacuum!

An alternative to in-person writing groups is a good on-line one. I took a really helpful workshop one season through the Vancouver-based WritersWebWorkshop and I think I’ve seen poetry classes on their list sometimes.

That’s it. That’s all I’ve got. More advice welcome!

It’s all about the space metaphors today

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Things are a little busy around Chateau Kyi this week, because the first edit of my manuscript arrived Monday morning like a molten meteor of doom, and landed blazing on my desk.

Okay, that might be slightly melodramatic. Waiting for the edit was worse than the edit itself. The comments seem very reasonable, and they all appear in a lovely shade of lavender. Lavender makes everything more friendly, no?

Plus, I feel better about edits in general ever since watching this John Green video about the editorial letter for an early draft of The Fault in Our Stars. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, start about 1:50. He reads this cosmically long sentence about missed opportunities to discuss the meaning of martyrdom. I haven’t gotten that note on a manuscript yet, nor have I ever received a sentence that long from an editor. And for these things, I’m thankful.

The art of proposal

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There’s a great post at Kidlit about how to write a non-fiction query.

You’ve probably heard my thoughts on this before. Recently, I’ve found that my children’s non-fiction queries also need a unique concept or treatment to go along with the subject matter. For example, a book about how human nerves work… too boring. But a book about the nervous system featuring graphic-novel style illustrations and the Marquis de Sade as a narrator… that will sell.

Obviously, that’s not a practical example for children’s non-fiction, but you get the idea. Concept is key!

The stork arrives again…

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Yes, the stork arrived twice in one season. I’ve had twins!

The latest advance copy arrival is The Lowdown on Denim. It’s quite different than any of my previous books — a little younger in tone, a little more imaginative, and a little more hip in its illustration style. (The illustrator goes by the name CTON and signs off his e-mails ‘word’. I think that explains the entire graphic style, no?)

The book also has one of my favourite covers ever.


New arrival!

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Look what the stork dropped off! A brand, spankin’ new copy of 50 Underwear Questions. This one arrived in Canada by plane, in a box of advance samples. The rest are still on a ship somewhere between here and China. But they’re on the way!

After looking first at manuscript pages for months, then at illustration roughs, then at page proofs, there’s nothing like holding a real book in your hands.

Just so you can share the advance-copy fun, this is a highly scientific glimpse of ancient undies:

When Skype goes bad

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After a telephone meeting earlier this week, I received this e-mail from my publisher:

I was asked to send you the link to download Skype (not that you wouldn’t be able to find it on your own, but here it is): https://login.skype.com/account/signup-form?application=download&return_url=http://www.skype.com/go/downloading-page&intcmp=join. It would be great if you could sign up for an account. And we could see you on video, to make sure you’re not rolling your eyes while we’re talking. (Just kidding, we don’t normally use video. But if we wanted to see what you’re wearing, we could!)

Well, let’s not even talk about what I’m wearing some days and just hope Google Earth isn’t looking into my living room window. But here’s a bigger problem. During the impromptu telephone meeting, I was frantically scribbling revision notes and forgot to take the chocolate chip cookies out of the oven, which caused some silent cursing and oven mitt waving. AND, as soon as I answered the phone and appeared distracted for oh… a nanosecond… my son decided that it would be a good time to pull out the splatter paint kit from Christmas and do some self-supervised painting in the kitchen.

Whenever I complain about something like this to my mom, she says, “Oh, you’re just lucky you have cordless phones nowadays.” Yes. It’s true that it would be more difficult to control splatter painting had I been attached to the wall by my ear. But… Skype? I’m just not sure how this cookie-crisping, splatter-paint controlling, revision-scribbling fashion nightmare would go, should it be broadcast live over the internet.

I think I’ll just go outside naked and wait for the satellite to spot me.

Cover crises and other news

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My second draft is off into the hands of my writing group. The ending still sucketh, but the group tends to be a forgiving (and helpful) bunch. I’m hoping someone will have a vision of the perfect final scene. And share it. And maybe just write the darned thing.

In non-fiction news, my impromptu proposal is accepted, and I’m at work on the first chapter already, in preparation for a meeting with the illustrator. The illustrator actually lives in Vancouver and I get to meet him in person (!!), which will be a strange and unusual experience after working with the brilliant Ross from New Zealand (the 50 Questions series) and the amazing Clayton from the Far East (The Lowdown on Denim).

Speaking of Denim…

The cover, possibly my favourite cover of all time, has been conservative-ized after objections from the U.S. sales force. I was quite devastated, initially, having fallen in love with the leg hair and all. But, Clayton managed something just as fun, without any hint of flashing.

This is one of the interesting things about children’s books: you have to appeal to the readers AND remember the 70-year-old aunts who might be holding the credit card.