Allyn Johnston, formerly editorial director at Harcourt in San Diego, where she worked for 22 years, spoke at a CLN event here in Minneapolis last week. I had heard her speak before, and I was interested to hear what she would share about her new imprint (still unnamed) at Simon & Schuster, where she accepted a position after her job at Harcourt was eliminated.
About 40 area writers and illustrators gathered at Debra Frasier’s house to hear Allyn talk, ask questions, and catch up with colleagues and friends we hadn’t seen in a while. Allyn’s talk was informal, funny, and passionate. She spoke about the trauma of losing her job and the challenge of starting a new one with some very different responsibilities in such an open, honest way. It was an intimate setting, and it would feel rude to recount the conversation in which she really shared her own hopes, fears, and frustrations with us.
But there are a few things I can share, especially for those of you who aren’t acquainted with Allyn and her tastes.
Allyn’s real love is picture books. That’s what she’s passionate about.
She looks to picture books to forge a connection between the adult and the child.
Picture books are like miniature pieces of theatre, with each page turn moving to a new scene. That last page turn, from 30-31 to 32, that’s the one that has to have the strongest emotional impact. That’s where the arrow “goes right in there” (thumping chest).
Picture books are also like poems, due to their spareness and emotional density.
She used to not like rhyming books, until her son (now 12 years old) was born. Now she publishes quite a few of them.
Andrea Welsh (also from Harcourt, formerly Andrea Beebe) will be working with Allyn starting in mid-July.
The imprint will publish 20-25 books per year, mostly picture books, but some novels and nonfiction, as well.
She doesn’t like illo notes unless they are ABSOLUTELY necessary.
A few books will come out in spring of 09, but they won’t have the imprint name on them.
The official launch will be in summer of 09, with a 3-book launch.
She likes the briefest possible cover letter. Include your credits, but not a big summary of your story. Try to pretend you’re writing a sales handle for your manuscript. But, don’t open with something like: “Dear Allyn Johnston: All children love dogs.”
*********************************************************************************************************************And if you missed Nonfiction Monday, check out Padma Venkatraman’s guest post yesterday about researching her historical fiction novel, Climbing the Stairs.