Cover Reveal for DANGEROUS DISEASES

Crusty pink scabs. Explosive diarrhea. Black, swollen bumps. These symptoms aren’t just the stuff of gross out stories and horror movies. They are real symptoms, caused by real diseases. And some people are suffering from them right now.

Doesn't it sounds gross? I love it.

It was scary research, but so interesting. I'm so grateful for my editor Jennifer Besel at Capstone who pushed me to get the voice of this book to the right combination of high-interest and authoritative.

This is my fourteenth nonfiction book (my 11th with Capstone Press) and is available early in 2014.

A Bit about Work for Hire

As a writer of work-for-hire, nonfiction books, I’ve been involved in fourteen books for the school library market. Eleven of those are available (if you're interested, click on the "my books" tab above). I look at these projects as truly a team effort, between my editor, a content consultant, the design team, and me. All the players are equally important in making a high-concept, interesting, and visually exciting final product.

The whole project starts with the assignment. Once I accept and sign the contract, I get the author guidelines. These guide me, as I research and write the first draft.

Truth be told, I’m always a little nervous turning in that first draft. I’m not an expert on the topics about which I write. I’m a researcher and a reader. I follow the writer’s guidelines to craft a book that introduces kids to an interesting topic at their own level.

Revision

The revision part is where things get interesting—as far as the team process. I’m usually holding my breath to make sure I haven’t made myself look like an idiot to the editor and consultant. Editor notes usually come back via comments and track changes in Word. Usually I see things like, “make this section longer,” “add a sidebar here,” “move this section to chapter four.” Sometimes the suggestions are more extreme. A couple of times, editors have changed mid-stream. In that situation, there might be more significant changes after the first draft, especially if the new editor has a different vision.

You might get specific, easy-to-follow instructions for changes. That’s great. On the other hand, you might get a vague suggestion, and it’s up to you to figure out what to add. On one book, I was asked to write a paragraph that kids would have to paraphrase as part of a “try this” activity. The book was about how to research; the paragraph ended up being something about volcanoes—not at all the content I was writing.

Advice

My best advice for revision for work-for-hire is to remember that this is a paying gig. This is not your pet novel. Make the changes as suggested, as quickly and efficiently as possible. Change the content based on what the consultant says. If you disagree with any of the suggestions, by all means, talk to your editor and work it out. But, by and large this is a team effort. Be a team player and don’t be a diva, and you’ll get more assignments.

I'm happy to answer questions...I'm away for the weekend, so I'll respond to comments next week!

Good Luck!

O is for Outlining

I cringe when I hear this word. It's not my favorite part of writing.

It's a necessary part of my contract work. Every work-for-hire assignment requires an outline, just to make sure your vision and your editor's vision are in the same stratosphere.

I've recently done a bit more outlining for fiction. I just completed my most comprehensive outline for a novel ever. Literally, at least one (more often two) paragraphs about each chapter. It's almost 10 pages long. This is a feat for me, even though for some of you plotters it may not sound like a big deal.

I'm hoping this will make for an easy road map for my rewrite. Yes, I'm rewriting my novel. Hopefully it won't take five years. I'm aiming for mid-summer. And I hope my outline will help.

Do you outline?

Balancing Busy w/ Busy

How do you do everything you have to do?

Some days I feel like there are so many balls in the air, there's just no way they are all going to stay up. But they have to. No choice!

I did a school visit this morning. I worked on a revision for a work-for-hire project. Picked up a sick kid at school. Grocery shopped, made dinner, talked to a friend on the phone. I've got a deadline next week, and one two weeks after that. Oh, and then there's the NESCBWI conference (did I tell you guys that I'm on a panel with my Vickie Motter, Kate Messner, Jenn Laughran, Stephen Fraser and Christine Brodien-Jones? Well, yeah, I'm not freaking out about that at all.) And that's not counting the novel revision I'm dying to get back to. You know, the novel. The dream.

I'm not complaining. I love that I've got stuff going on--I've always wanted to be a writer. And, I'm writing. But tomorrow's a work day. A real work day, as in "the day job." If only there were 25 hours in the day. No, then I'd just sleep longer. Maybe another day in the week? A third hand? I know, a clone!

Maybe I need an intern?

Well, how do you guys get everything done?

Work For Hire Q&A

A couple of days ago, a reader asked if I’d post about work-for-hire. 

First, a definition:

Generally speaking, a work assigned to an author by a publisher—based on contracted guidelines—is called work-for-hire. Sometimes the author will be credited—sometimes not. The author may not hold the rights to the work, and may not receive royalties. Sometimes the details differ based on the contract or the publisher. Here’s a definition from Wikipedia--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_for_hire

Basically, the bottom line with work-for-hire is that you don’t have any rights to the work after it’s completed. You can’t use it as a writing sample. You can’t sell it to anyone else. It can be fiction or nonfiction. Typically, you’re paid an agreed-upon sum to complete an assigned project.

Disclaimer: I’m not an expert on this stuff. Just one author with my own personal experience.

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1.      What do you think a writer should consider before agreeing to write a children's book as a work-for-hire?

Think about how much ownership you want for everything you write. Your work-for-hire piece might have your name on it, but you might not have written 100% of the contents. In my experience, WFH is a team approach, with editors and graphic designers having as much input as the author. It’s a fantastic experience, but it’s not all yours the same way another piece would be. The final product may not be the same piece you turned into the editor and you may or may not have a chance to see the final work before it goes to press.

2.      How do you put a work for hire proposal together?

For the most part, you’re not going to put together a proposal for work-for-hire. You’ll probably apply for an assignment much like you apply for a job, with a cover letter, resume, and writing samples. Depending on the publisher, you may write individual samples specifically for them. For me, when I initially applied to Capstone, I sent writing samples that I had already written. Like any other writing query or submission, make sure you look at the submission guidelines and send what the individual publisher requests.

3.      How do you get paid for a work-for-hire project?

Again, this varies by publisher. But, for the most part, you’ll be contracted for a lump sum. Usually, you’ll get half upon delivery of an outline or first draft; and the other half when the editor accepts the final document.

4.      Do you need an agent for Work-for-Hire?

As most of you know, I have an agent (the lovely Vickie Motter of Andrea Hurst Literary). She is not involved in my work-for-hire contracts; she works exclusively with me on my middle grade and young adult fiction. However, I do consult with her on occasion when it comes down to deadlines and new projects and how they might or might not impact my fiction.

5.      What does having work-for-hire work on one's resume say about one's writing career?

Work-for-hire books are professionally published works. You are paid to write them. Therefore, you are a professional, paid writer. That’s huge! I feel very strongly that my work-for-hire experiences have opened doors for me professionally. I can do school visits and feel much more legit that I did before—though that’s my experience and personal opinion talking. Just because I feel like it makes me more legit, doesn’t mean it will be that for you. And I’m certainly not implying that it makes anyone who hasn’t done work-for-hire less legit. If you’re writing, you’re a writer!

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My work-for-hire has been an incredible addition to my writing career—three years ago I was struggling with advancing my career, not sure what type of writer I was going to be. As of January 2012, I have eight books published, with three more in various stages of progress. All but one are with Capstone Press, so my experience has been limited to that publisher.

My fiction is still a work-in-progress, but I’m certain that my nonfiction work-for-hire has made me a better writer, and given me some street cred. And sometimes, feeling legit can make the world of difference to a fragile ego.

Thanks to all the readers who asked questions. Any other questions—feel free to ask in the comments.

Questions about Work-For-Hire

I've been asked to do a post on Work-for-Hire, but I want to make sure I'm addressing specific questions.

So.

What are your questions about work-for-hire? Leave them in the comments and I'll build a post to answer them later this week or next week.