The Stars Are Coming to a Children's Bookshelf Near You
I don't mean to sound ornery, but doesn't it seem like a lot of very successful adult fiction writers are lately honing in on our market? First it was James Patterson with his series for kids that, despite bad reviews, is on the NYT Bestseller List. And now John Grisham will be writing a middle-grade series as well. Gentlemen, it's already a crowded market out there. Please save some shelf space for the rest of us.
What do you think about author celebrites writing for a new age group? Carl Hiassen certainly did a good job when he moved to the children's book market, and others have deservedly won awards for doing so, like Sherman Alexie. But I wonder: Is this just another case of publishers going with the proven name, regardless of quality, just because they know it will sell books?
What do you think about author celebrites writing for a new age group? Carl Hiassen certainly did a good job when he moved to the children's book market, and others have deservedly won awards for doing so, like Sherman Alexie. But I wonder: Is this just another case of publishers going with the proven name, regardless of quality, just because they know it will sell books?
Hi Liza,
I heard about you and your work from Dave Haussler who has just done a fabulous cabinet refacing for me. If I were a children's or young adult author, I would be concerned that established writers are honing in on my market. As for cross-over writers, I also am a big Sherman Alexie fan. I taught high school English for over 30 years and used his stories in class within the last decade or so. Some of the language was objectionable but we didn't read those parts aloud. We then viewed "Smoke Signals," which was based on a story included in "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven."
I'm not sure what can be done about the authors who are seeking to double- dip, but I'd be interested to hear more about it.
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So sorry not to have responded. Seems I had a backlog of comments not sent to me until now. David is great. We had ours done by him many years ago and it has held up. Regarding cross-overs, what can be done when publishers rely on names that will be surefire sellers? And many times the cross-overs are successful, which is only to chldrens' benefit, and ultimately what it's really all about.
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