Well, these three ladies hardly need any introduction. We’ve got Holly, Molly, and Martha back, and this time, they’ve promised an amazing time answering your questions! I believe their words were “Unscripted! Uncensored! Unbelievable!”
And it is. Oh, it is.
Martha Mihalick is an editor at Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. In her more than ten years there, she has worked with many acclaimed authors and artists. Martha acquires books for children and teens of all ages, from picture books to young adult novels. Recent books she has edited include the Morris Award and Andre Norton Award finalist The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson and its sequel The Crown of Embers, Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin, Breathe by Sarah Crossan, Entwined by Heather Dixon, and The Last Apprentice series, among others. She’s on twitter as @marthamihalick and her website is marthamihalick.com. Check out what’s happening at Greenwillow Books at greenwillowblog.com.
Molly O’Neill is an Editor at Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books. She edits both literary and commercial projects—everything from picture books to middle grade to young adult novels. She seeks vivid stories, original voices, and manuscripts with a strong sense of place—in short, the kind of books that keep readers thinking and imagining, long after the last page. Books that she’s acquired as an editor include Veronica Roth’s #1 New York Times bestselling DIVERGENT trilogy; the YA sci-fi INSIGNIA trilogy by S. J. Kincaid; Nola Buck and Sarah Jane Wright’s picture book A CHRISTMAS GOODNIGHT; Bobbie Pyron’s award-winning middle grade A DOG’S WAY HOME; and the forthcoming middle grade DESTINY, REWRITTEN, by Kathryn Fitzmaurice.
Molly’s been in children’s books for nearly a decade: before becoming an editor (her absolute dream job!), she worked on the Marketing/Publicity side of the industry, first at Clarion Books and then at HarperCollins. She blogs about editing, publishing, art, and life at www.10blockwalk.blogspot.com and tweets at @molly_oneill.
Holly Root is a literary agent with the Waxman Leavell Literary Agency, where she represents authors of commercial adult fiction and nonfiction, as well as novels of all sorts for young adult and middle grade readers. Prior to joining WLA in 2007, Holly Root worked at the William Morris Agency and Trident Media Group.
Did you guys know someone was going to put stuff on your heads when you made this video?
You ladies are awesome! Thank you so much for answering all those questions. Love the “hats” you all wore this year. LOL
Love the hat/mask changes. Thanks for everyone who submitted the great questions that I need to know but didn’t know that I didn’t know it yet. Thanks for all the great answers! Wow, I needed to know this.
Great advice! I especially liked when you talked about the 2012/2013 books you liked and why. I also liked when you taked about first lines and what hooked you.
Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to help make WriteOnCon one of the best conferences ever.
I’m enjoying watching this – and the great thing is, I can pause and go get some tea! Thanks for sharing – good stuff. Merci beacoup
Thank you so much for this! It’s been a fun hour!
The special effects are hi-larious!
Just finished watching the video. I took note of some of the books you all recommended. I can’t wait to check those out. Thanks for the advice.
You three are awesome… helpfully so, and so relaxed. Thanks. Couldn’t believe the time went so quickly. I found the masks and other special effects cute, a bit distracting, but took lots of notes. You covered so much. I definitely need to look over my first lines. I love Shannon Hale; must go check the post.
This was excellent, amazing! I listened while ironing and starting dinner for tonight. It made the ironing go faster!
This was the most interesting comparison about middle grade vs. YA. It made me think of my middle grade and YA manuscripts. People always use Harry Potter as the example for both. And really, not only does book 4 get darker (usual comparison), but it gets more about Harry’s Journey instead of a focus on friendships and family.
Thanks for the book recommendations. I’m also looking up Shannon Hale’s blog post now.
I loved the structure of this video with all three of you interacting… I’ve never seen a vlog like that, and I greatly enjoyed it!
There was some great advice here. Thanks, ladies. The best first lines bit was really helpful and has made me wonder if my current opening for my YA MS is even really the beginning of my story. Love the self reflection this discussion encourages.
This was excellent! Informative and entertaining
. Thanks so much for sharing your time and insights.
Thank you ladies for answering all the great questions.
What an awesome, informative video (made hilarious will all the hats and stuff). Thank you for your insight. Much appreciated.
Thanks for answering all the questions! You girls are awesome! And thanks to the people who submitted questions- there were some gooders in there!
I loved the format of the presentation! Like the Live chats, but in video.
It’s great to hear your perspectives like this. It makes me feel less intimidated as a newbie.
Thank you.
Wow!!!! This is great! Thank you so much for your time! This was very informative and fun to watch/listen to!
What a BRILLIANT video event. Writeoncon – and all the supporters who bring us tons of advice and insight – rule! Thanks, all
Martha, the tiara suits you very well.
Great questions and great answers! Thanks to Molly, Marth, and Holly for taking the time out of their day to clear up the many misconceptions out there.
An observation related to children and e-books: At the middle school where I teach, every sixth grader was handed a free iPad last year. In my advanced reading class, I passed out hard copies of our novels and (if the e-book was free) had them download the electronic version. Despite the fact that kids had a free iPad, I still found that when we read excerpts aloud, most of them used the hard copy I’d given them instead of the e-book version. The only exception was when we worked on vocabulary. Then the search function on the e-book version became very handy.
On a similar note, my summer reading class (grades 6-8) allows kids to pick any book they want to read and then I conference with them individually on their reading skills. Of my fifteen students this past summer, only one brought in a Kindle. About two of them brought in books from libraries (or ones they purchased in book stores). The remaining twelve chose books from my classroom library. So yes, teachers and librarians definitely influence what kids read.
Sorry, Martha, I dropped the “a” in your name. *blushing*
I enjoyed your advice again this years. It’s easy to see you selected the perfect professions. I just finished Born Wicked a couple weeks ago and love it too. Your suggestions for books has my TBR pile growing. It can never be big enough.:)
Thanks so much for all the helpful info!
It’s always helpful to hear answers directly from those “in the know” – and it’s even better when the answers are delivered in a fun and entertaining manner. Thanks again!
This was really informative!
Lots of great books I need to read.
Molly, I cheered when you said “The One and Only Ivan.”
I met Katherine Applegate and got to hear her speak about the book.
I love that it is about art, friendship, and is written with such a good voice.
I read it in one sitting and couldn’t stop talking about it, much to the dismay of my housemates, who are all in their late 20s and barely read.
I am changing that.
Great Q&A! Thanks for putting this together–and for answering my question. (Hi, Holly!)
Like Kathy, I also cheered when Molly mentioned THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN. That is the only book that has ever made me simultaneously laugh and cry at the exact same spot (“Picasso,” for anybody who’s read it). Ivan’s voice was spot-on and so appropriate for an MG audience. LOVED.
Really enjoyed this! How awesome is it to receive advice from the pros? So awesome!
I think the MG, YA, etc. lines may be a bit blurrier than suggested. ENDER’S GAME for example was written for the adult Sci-Fi market, but it’s now found in the MG section without any edits.
So much great information – my brain is whirling. Thank you!
I can’t believe you guys answered ALL of the questions you received! Thanks for your dedication and insight.
Thank you SO SO MUCH. That was extremely helpful and, as always, you all were entertaining and thoughtful with your responses ;o)
You guys are SO AMAZING I can’t even-
*flails* THANK YOU. THANK YOU. Oh, and btw, my brother was all like “ARGHHHHH” each time you guys changed masks/hats, so THANK YOU for that, too! It’s always nice to have your brother annoyed. >:D (unless he’s annoyed at you. Then that’s a totally different story.)
Such great and varied advice. And I love the crowns/halos/whiskers/etc.
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