Nov 22

Nov 22 Episode #39: How Publishing is Like Dating

Exciting times in the lives of Grace and Alvina! Book cover announcements, holiday promotions, travel, dating, book festivals…you definitely want to tune-into this week’s episode.

First things first, Grace and Alvina catch up on each other’s lives like always. Grace had a super exciting week as the cover for her MULAN novel was published! It was especially fun because it was published in a very mainstream way with Entertainment Weekly. Grace was feeling quite glamorous!

You can read the article here.

Grace also mentions her holiday promotion going on right now in time for the Holidays! You can order the “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” box set from the The Carle Museum and she will autograph and include a hand cut greeting card (remember those?) plus a specially made map!

Alvina just got back from a week of traveling! She went to Texas as well as Toronto. In Toronto she traveled with the guy she has been dating for the past two months! Many people use traveling with their partner the first time to determine wether or not they’re a good match. Alvina does not because she claims she can travel so well with just about anyone!

Is publishing life similar to dating life? Here’s the big question on their minds. Alvina once said “reading submissions is like dating”. They discuss in detail exactly what she meant by that. Reading a manuscript is a HUGE commitment. You basically marry the book! It’s important to know what you’re getting into. Just like dating, it’s hard to know exactly what the person is like until you meet them in person. Alvina talks about her experience meeting never-met-before agents for lunch made blind dates a little easier because it was basically like the same thing.

Grace asks, “how has technology changed both publishing and online dating?” There are some similarities! The main point is that they have created a larger pool so it may always leave you wondering…what else is out there?

The book friends end the episode expressing what they’re grateful for of course. Grace is grateful for the young readers appreciating her at the Texas Book Festival who helped put a few things in perspective for her.

Alvina is so thankful for her assistant!

2-Minute Book Reviews -with Alison Morris

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Alison Morris is a nationally recognized children's book buyer with an infectious enthusiasm for reading and 20 years' experience matching books to readers. As the Senior Director of Title Selection for nonprofit First Book, she oversees the curation of children’s and young adult books on the First Book Marketplace, hand-selecting a diverse range of titles that speak to and address the needs of kids in underserved communities, with a keen eye to inclusion, authenticity, and kid-appeal. She previously served as Senior Editor at Scholastic Book Clubs, Children's Book Buyer for Wellesley Booksmith and The Dartmouth Bookstore, and was the founding blogger of the ShelfTalker children’s book blog for Publishers Weekly. She'll be joining us from her home near Washington, DC where she spends LOTS of time discussing books with her husband, illustrator and graphic novelist Gareth Hinds.