Breeding and Writing: A peek into new territory

 

–by Tracy Lucas

 

I was at my favorite regional book festival earlier this month, mingling and selling, and in the process got the chance to strike up conversations with authors from all over the country. Some I’d heard of, some I’d not, but all were interesting to chat with, of course.

I’ve actually been thinking about making a jump to kid-lit. Not instead of my small press work, mind you, but in addition to it. Call it a sideline, if you will.

Talking with folks who have successfully charted in YA waters, I realized quickly that none of my hard-wrought publication credits matter. I mean, sure, I can say that I’ve sold tons of work to someone who isn’t my mother and doesn’t have to like me. There’s that, and that helps.

But in juvenile book circles?   I have no pull. I know no one well. Nobody owes me favors, has read my work, or remembers meeting me at a workshop.

They don’t. They haven’t. They wouldn’t.

I’m a novice all over again.

There are things from my own experiences I can carry with me. I know how to darling-murder. I know that kids aren’t stupid and that writing down to them is. I know only a few books make it** and that it’s a brutal fight to the top, if you’re even given the chance with a big-name publisher, and that if the opportunity arises, you’ve got to handle it carefully. I know that you’re not supposed to say “psych” or “gnarly” anymore, or comprise entire novels based on ’80s rock star storylines.

(Okay, sorry. That last one was a joke. A bad one. I’m tired.)

I’ve been reading a lot of YA lately, mostly due to time constraints, and I’m finding that there’s a lot to dig into. Middle-grade novels are actually pretty cool, if you’re open-minded and want to give them a go, and many of them have harder and more potent topics than the adult novels I’ve seen on the trade paperback shelves the last few years. Seriously. Wringer? Among the Hidden? The Giver? Amazing, tough stuff. All of it.

It’s all the heart, packed into a tighter package. It’s tense.

I want in.

Still, setting out for a new destination brings new challenges, some which I’m sure I can’t even see coming right now. Are there new boundaries?   New pitfalls? Crazy barriers to the millions of dollars I’d like to make?

Probably.

There always are.

I’m going to try it anyway, soon as there’s time.

After the projects I’m working on now are wrapped up and spiffy, I’m going to throw a little children’s literature into the mix. No idea how I’ll market it, where I’ll send it, nor who will buy it—but wandering around in something new is half the adventure, isn’t it?

Besides, my kids are only gonna love me if I manage to get famous writing stuff their friends have actually heard of. None of them are impressed by my editing a literary journal or running a freelance business.

When have you blatantly switched (or as in my case, added) publishing gears?   Has it worked out?

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** (Incidentally, is anyone else who followed that link more than a little weirded out that Catcher in the Rye is A) listed as a kidsӉ㢠book and B) only six slots higher than a Berenstain Bears book from 1974?)