Tuesday 30 December 2014

Buzz Words

Buzz Words (All the Buzz about Children's Books)

In 2006 I started Buzz Words, a subscriber-based twice-monthly online magazine exclusively for people in the Australian children’s book industry. The aim of the magazine is to keep readers abreast of what’s currently happening in the children’s book industry and to give readers opportunities to become informed and published.

As Buzz Words aims to be as up-to-date as possible, I am constantly searching for material such as local and international news, opportunities, markets, competitions and awards, festivals and conferences and up-coming workshops. To do this, I’ve had to subscribe to numerous newsletters here in Australia and overseas, and to pay for memberships of writers’ organisations. I spend many hours every week trolling the internet and social media as well as sending emails, trying to contact individuals who work to publicise their organisations’ events. Being in the industry for over 30 years, I can also rely on my many contacts to keep me informed. A lot of emailing goes on, believe me!

Other features in every issue of Buzz Words are publishing house profiles, short profiles of people in the industry, and an interview. As a productive children’s author I’ve compiled an up-to-date database of in excess of 100 Australian children’s book publishing houses (large and small), together with the names of publishers, editors and their contact details. I use this database -- as well as the internet -- to create the publishing house profiles, supplementing them with logos taken from the publishers’ websites. A few recent publishers I’ve turned the spotlight on are Black Dog Books, Book Island, Laguna Bay and Bloomsbury Spark. Interestingly, while I was researching recently, I discovered a new Australian children’s publisher, Dragon Tales Publishing; I sent them a novel manuscript and they contracted it!

Profiles in Buzz Words are invariably of children’s writers and illustrators. These people are usually subscribers. This provides a great opportunity for other readers to see the ‘faces’ of fellow subscribers so I always include a headshot of the person being profiled. Interviews are generally with other people in the industry, such as publishers, editors, publicists, distributors, booksellers, reviewers and librarians. Sometimes I am able to snare an international ‘celebrity’ (for example Derek Landy, the UK author, in the 1 October 2014 issue).

There is always an article in each issue of Buzz Words. In the last few – and upcoming issues -- there was/is a comprehensive survey of self-publishing (with many links), a look at subsidy publishing, a peek at the behind-the-scenes of book distribution, a recommendation of how to generate income as a children’s author and the experiences of authors in schools. I have researched and written all of these articles, but I have also paid writers who approach me with appropriate ideas.

Other features of Buzz Words are recommended books and websites/blogs, subscribers’ achievements, letters to the editor and -- of course -- book reviews. There are lots of links provided to all of the above.

As Buzz Words editor I have the good fortune to employ twenty excellent book reviewers. Publishers send these women copies of their latest children’s and YA titles and the reviewers send their reviews to me when completed. Buzz Words has a standard reviewing policy and format. If a reviewer feels a book (such as a self-published title) is not up to standard, they are not required to review it. I edit all incoming reviews and then schedule them to appear in the Buzz Words blog http://www.buzzwordsmagazine.com All of the books are provided with links in the magazine in every issue.

Researching, writing and editing Buzz Words – and sourcing photos and illustrations -- certainly takes up a lot of time and energy. But the benefits are many. Foremost I ‘meet’ many in the industry I might not otherwise have met. I also learn much and keep abreast with trends and developments. The feedback from subscribers is always positive. I feel as though I am contributing to the industry which has been so kind to me for the past three decades I’ve been in it.

Dianne (Di) Bates has published 120+ books for young readers, including books which have won state, national and children’s choice awards. Di is a recipient of The Lady Cutler Award for distinguished services to children’s literature from the Children’s Book Council of Australia. She can be contacted via her website http://enterprisingwords.com.au or dibates@outlook.com





Wednesday 26 November 2014

Thumb Pickles and Other Cautionary Preserves



Darcy-Lee Tindale is thrilled with the release of her novel, Thumb Pickles and Other Cautionary Preserves, published with JoJo Publishers. This middle grade reader, aimed at 10 to 14 year olds, is a collection of stories and includes the parable about a boy who is born with no thumbs (because SOMEONE should not have been running with scissors). Darcy-Lee Tindale believes even villains can fall in love – which she demonstrates in the title story Thumb Pickles and Other Cautionary Preserves, while telling the tale of how a person’s difference might influence the way they journey through life.

Inspired by Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and influenced by the 1845 classic collection of cautionary tales Der Struwwelpeter (Stockheaded Peter) by German writer Heinrich Hoffmann, Darcy-Lee responds to the common question authors are so often asked: ‘Then what happened?’ These are the stories you won't believe and the stories your parents don't want you to believe. Klaus Von Fohn loved horseradish way too much; Signor Stupido pulled rude faces; Lorcan O'Reilly never washed behind his ears, and because someone ran with scissors, the children of the whole village of Tenderville lost their thumbs. This collection of cautionary tales shows how ignoring good advice can lead to finding yourself in a real pickle.
These are the stories you won't believe and the stories your parents don't want you to believe. Klaus Von Fohn loved horseradish way too much; Signor Stupido pulled rude faces; Lorcan O'Reilly never washed behind his ears, and because someone ran with scissors, the children of the whole village of Tenderville lost their thumbs. This collection of cautionary tales shows how ignoring good advice can lead to finding yourself in a real pickle.
These are the stories you won’t believe and the stories your parents don’t want you to believe. This collection includes the story of ISBN: 9780987609618
ISBN-10: 0987609610
Audience: Teenager / Young Adult
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 166
Published: 19th November 2014
Publisher: JoJo Publishing ISBN: 9780987609618
ISBN-10: 0987609610
Audience: Teenager / Young Adult
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 166
Published: 19th November 2014
Publisher: JoJo Publishing ISBN: 9780987609618
ISBN-10: 0987609610
Audience: Teenager / Young Adult
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 166
Published: 19th November 2014
Publisher: JoJo Publi
Klaus Von Fohn who loved horseradish way too much; Signor Stupido who pulled rude faces; Lorcan O’Reilly who never washed behind his ears, and because someone ran with scissors, the children of the whole village of Tenderville lost their thumbs. This collection of cautionary tales shows how ignoring good advice can lead to finding yourself in a real pickle.

Darcy-Lee has many writing credits which include plays, poems and prose published in The NSW School Magazine, Celapene Press, Tincture, ZineWest, Black & Blue Publications, Penguin Books and children’s readers with McGraw Hill, Education. This year she was shortlisted at The Australian Crime Writer Association for the Ned Kelly Award, a prize which has been honouring the best crime-writing lurking in Australia since 1995, for her short story The Scars of Noir in the 2014 Sandra Harvey Short Story Ned Kelly Crime section.

When not scribbling, Darcy is a dramatic arts teacher by day, and has a background in directing, acting and theatre-sports. She has appeared on stage, television and in film. While Darcy is passionate about the performing arts, her first love is story. And while Darcy enjoys seeing the end result on stage or in film, she loves the joy of the first discovery, the author’s voice, thoughts, ideas, themes, and the story in the initial printed word. Her first passion is in books and novels, and the scope and insight a book or novel can give the reader.
Thumb Pickles and Other Cautionary Preserves is available in all good bookstores, just in time for Christmas.
ISBN: 9780987609618
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Pages: 166
Publisher: JoJo Publishing
Target: 10 – 14 years

Links to purchase your copy: