Coming Back To Life

I'm sure you all recall that last fall Gyldendal Undervisning renewed our agreement to use some material from Saving the Planet & Stuff in one of its textbooks for teaching English. Last week they notified me that they've decided to increase the first-print run of the edition. More books!

And then just a couple of days ago I learned that my flash creative nonfiction, Heroes, has been included in The Bending Genres Anthology 2018-2019. The piece was published at Bending Genres in 2018.

Writing can be a discouraging slog. But one of the neat things that can happen in publishing is that sometimes something you've published in the past suddenly gets a little new life, as was the case for me this past week.

I can remember back in the day suddenly hearing from my editor that foreign publishers wanted to do editions of my books.  My Life Among the Aliens was published in Japan. Japan! (And Italy and Germany, which also did editions of two of my other books.) And then there was that time I was notified four times that states had included A Year With Butch And Spike on their student readers' choice award lists. When Happy Kid! went on to one of its two award lists, it resulted in a second printing for the book, because those lists generate sales and the book was right at the point where it needed a new printing to meet demand. Another year I got an e-mail from my editor to let me know that The Hero of Ticonderoga was being talked about at that year's ALA conference. And the next thing I knew (seriously, it was within a day or two) I found out that the ALA was naming it a Notable Book for that year.

Now, yes, I am using my recent news as an opportunity to relive past glories. But I have a point apart from that. The point is: I was through with those books. I may have still been promoting them at school visits or where and when I could, but the writing, the editing, the publishing was all done. I wasn't working on those books any more. And, yet, things continued to happen for them. 

That these kinds of things happen is one of the many things I didn't know about writing and publishing when I was getting started. Yes, it was one of the better things.

So Children's eBooks Do Sell

G. P Putnam

Published by moi

I have four eBooks out in the world. Three were published by G.P. Putnam's Sons at the same time the company published the hardcover editions of my last three books. I published the fourth one, an eBook republication of one my earlier out-of-print books from Putnam. Nonetheless, my impression has been that children aren't big eBook readers. I've heard speakers say eBooks are the next big thing for children. But when visiting schools, speaking with librarians and parents, and in give-and-take on-line, I haven't seen it happening. In fact, I've read that eBooks are very much a middle-aged woman reader thing. Not a kid thing, at all.

G. P. Putnam

Then last month I received my most recent statement from Penguin Random House.  They've revised the statement, so it's a little easier to read. (Hey. It's not just me who has trouble with those things.)  I was surprised to discover that I've  sold a few copies of each of my eBooks during the period the statement covers. What was more surprising was how many eBooks I've sold overall.


Now, we're not talking bestselling numbers here. The numbers are just higher than I expected. When I told a family member how many eBooks of Happy Kid! have sold...Well, let's just say I got a reaction. Our expectations were that low.

G. P. Putnam

Of course, children don't buy many books of any kind. Adults buy books for them. No doubt adults are buying these. Are they buying them for their children's e-readers? Are they buying them for their own e-readers, so they'll have some child reading available for child reading emergencies in cars, doctors' offices, etc.? (I can see myself doing that.) Are they buying them for themselves to read? (I have done that.)

Whatever the reason, someone is buying these particular children's eBooks. I assume that means they're buying other children's eBooks, too.

Happy Kids Here, Happy Kids There

A few years back, G. P. Putnam's Sons published my book, Happy Kid!, about a boy who is reading a book called Happy Kid!: A Young Person's Guide to Satisfying Relationships and a Happy and Meaning-Filled Life! I'm sure you've all read and enjoyed it.

Last night I learned that PenguinRandom House has published The Happy Kid Handbook: How To Raise Joyful Children In A Stressful World.

The only connection is in my mind.

A Chance To Buy Some Gauthier Hardcovers

My hardcovers are all out of print, but I noticed yesterday that Amazon still has some of two titles and is offering them at bargain prices. You can get these books for less than the cost of many paperbacks. In fact, right now you can get Happy Kid! for less than the cost of its Kindle version.

Happy Kid!

A Girl, a Boy, and Three Robbers

Notice that in the title of Three Robbers we use the Oxford comma. Yes, I am  pro Oxford.                     

"It was like comedy central"

I was doing a little ego surfing recently (it's the only ego polishing I get these days), when I came upon the Reading Rocks at D.R. Hill Middle School's post on Happy Kid!. Be sure to read the astute comments.

I've also learned this weekend that a copy of Happy Kid! is making its way down the hall in a graduate dorm at Simmons College. Another astute group of readers.

An Unfortunate Coincidence

While I was at a writers' retreat yesterday, I learned about a new book called Happy Face by Stephen Emond. The cover and title couldn't help but catch my eye, given how similar they are to Happy Kid!.

Then I read what the book is about--"a shy, artistic boy who decides to reinvent himself as a happy-go-lucky guy after he moves to a new town." Happy Kid! is about a boy who is "friendless, mistakenly taking super-difficult accelerated courses, and infamous for allegedly being involved in a violent "incident" on the bus" "...but a self-help book from his well-meaning mother changes all that. Magically, the book seems to know all about him. And it wants him to improve his life."

Happy Kid! was published four years ago, which is probably a generation in publisher years. Nonetheless, it's hard not to be frustrated.

Happy Face's author even lives in my state.

UPDATE: After fifty minutes or so of exercise and a hot shower, I have started moving on. Also, is the Happy Face cover supposed to be a paper bag? Because that would make it different. Let's say it's a paper bag. Yeah. Ommmm.

Summer Book Club Questions

MotherReader's summer book club members sent me questions last week, and here are my answers.

I think this is such a neat thing for Pam to be doing with her blog. And her Girl Scouts, of course. I would think so even if she hadn't included my book. Really, I would.

Get A Load Of These Cookies!

MotherReader is running a Summer Book Club for her Girl Scouts, and their second book was Happy Kid!. Notice the fantastic cookies they had to go along with their book discussion.

I was a member of an adult book club for many, many years. The level of discussion at most of our meetings was nowhere near as high as at Pam's. I'm not just talking about the meeting for my book. Take a look at the report on the discussion of the first book, Shug by Jenny Han.

One of the most interesting revelations to come out of the first two discussions--some of the club members aren't terribly fond of realistic fiction. Very thought-provoking.

Watch MotherReader for my answers to her club members' questions, which should be up at her site some time next week.

I'm going to remember those cookies.

Good News For Happy Kid!

Happy Kid! has gone into a second printing. Happyhappyjoyjoy. I must remember this moment when I'm angsting about other things. Yeah. That's right.

More Good News For Happy Kid!

Happy Kid! is on the master reading list for the Sequoyah Book Awards in the Young Adult category. That's the Oklahoma Library Association's readers' choice award.

An Anniversary Gift

I wasn't expecting any gifts for Original Content's anniversary because a blog anniversary isn't a big deal like International Women's Day. (I just heard last night about a guy from a former Soviet bloc country who buys his wife a gift each year for International Women's Day, which just happens to be today in case anyone in our capitalist stronghold would like to start observing the event.) However, I received an e-mail Thursday afternoon from the home office informing me that Happy Kid! has been nominated for the Georgia Children's Book Award.

I like the folks in Georgia. They nominated Butch and Spike for the same award a few years back.

Our Lives On The D-List

While I was on vacation last week, I caught an episode of My Life On The D-List. (That link didn't go to a site with Kathy Griffin doing standup when I plugged it in here. If it does now, I deny all responsibility.)

Watching The D-List made me think of my trip to the Twilight Zone Convention last year. The TZ Convention was similar to a literary festival, and the life Kathy Griffin projects on The D-List is similar to life for a lot of us kidlit writers.

Maybe I'm just self-centered, and everything reminds me of my own life.

But, think about it. In last week's episode, Kathy was going to London where she was going to do a stand-up routine, and she was trying to promote it. Sort of the way we writers try to promote an appearance at a bookstore, see? Or even a new book. Or an old book. Or even just our names. Evidently Kathy has a following in the U.S., and she was trying to promote herself to the same group in London. That's similar to how we kidlit writers try to promote ourselves to librarians. Wait. No. We should be trying to attract reading teachers. No, no, no. Booksellers! We've got to make sure the booksellers know who we are!

Kathy and her posse were always looking for ways to get her some publicity. Writers do the same thing. Should I contact bloggers? Make a trailer? Submit workshop ideas to conferences? Mail postcards to schools? Throw myself a book launch party? What should I do, what will I do, to get a little higher up on the literary hierarchy?

Man, I so related to that show.

This is good place to mention that the September issue of School Library Journal has an article called Rules of the Game: Focus on Middle School that includes Happy Kid!. And the print issue uses the cover!

Imagine Kathy Griffin and me jumping up and down.

On A More Upbeat Note

If you've published a book and you're really lucky, things will continue to happen for it without you having to move from your chair.

Two good pieces of news have come in regarding Happy Kid!:

Happy Kid! received a very nice review at Ms. Yingling Reads, a very attractive looking blog maintained by a school librarian. I've only scanned some of her posts (though I read every word of the one that related to me, of course), but one of the things I find interesting is that she's careful to consider the tastes of the student population she serves.

My editor tells me that not only has Happy Kid! been included on the Bank Street Children's Book Committee Best Books of the Year list, it received a starred entry. I'm particularly appreciative of this because Bank Street College was supportive of my early books. I'm delighted the folks there liked Happy Kid!, too.