The Call with Steve Hickner

Before I sent out my agent queries, I braced myself for the tidal wave of expected rejections. I’ve worked in the entertainment industry for a long time and I knew first-hand what the chances of success would be like. In fact, right outside my office was the assistant to one of DreamWorks development executives, so I had a front row seat to the battlefield of disappointed faces. My point is, I figured that Charlie Bucket had a better chance of finding a Golden Ticket than I did in getting an agent.

The closest thing that I can compare to sending out agent queries is when those rats will hit that lever repeatedly in the hopes that it might deliver a treat. Well, one day, I sent out a few queries and I got a request for a full manuscript.

Cue heavenly choir: a full manuscript.

I told myself, don’t get too excited. I’m sure the studio with Pluto Nash felt they had something at the time. (“My god, we have Eddie Murphy!”)

Not long after I sent the manuscript, I got an email from Lynnette saying that she liked the material and wanted to discuss possible representation. I was thrilled, and vowed on the spot to never again mock Sally Field for saying, “You like me, you really like me.”

I have to confess, the details of the phone call are all a blur now, but one thing about it stood out: Lynnette struck me as a wonderful person. She really loved books, loved telling stories, and most importantly, she cared about people. I know selling books is a crazy pie-in-the-sky pipe dream, but having someone along with you on the journey makes it worthwhile.  

Even now, I am grateful for the countless hours I spent scouring manuscript wish list to find the right agents to send my material to. Because all that work led me to getting that phone call from Lynnette Novak and working with the Seymour Agency. 

To all of them, I am—and will be—forever grateful. 

One more thing, if this is needs to be edited, nuked of adverbs, and spell checked, then that’s another reason why I need Lynnette Novak. 

About Steve Hickner: 

Steve Hickner has worked at many of the fabled studios in animation: DreamWorks, Disney, Amblimation, Aardman, Hanna-Barbera and Filmation.  His extensive career includes experience with both the production and artistic sides of the process, serving as Producer on such films as:  American Tail II: Fievel Goes West, We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story, and Balto.  His director credits include Bee Movie and The Prince of Egypt.   In addition, he has contributed to such feature films as Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Little Mermaid, The Great Mouse Detective, Madagascar, Shrek Forever After, Peabody and Sherman and Home.  His television credits include the childhood favorite, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Steve has contributed to theme park and location-based entertainment projects in China, Dubai, London, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hollywood.  He recently collaborated with Steven Spielberg to write and direct the Comcast sphere film, The Power of I. He has been a guest speaker at many colleges and universities, film festivals and animation events.  He is the author of Animating Your Career, and Animation Rules!  

Twitter:  @HicknerSteve

Instagram: @stevehickner1

Website: stevehickner.com

The Call With Hannah Lapehn

Agent Lynnette Novak emailed me about a week after I queried her. In that email, she asked if she could set up a phone call. Of course, I said yes! I used the time in between to research pretty much everything about her, the Seymour Agency, and their reputation. I called my mentor, spoke with other writers and had lots of questions lined up to ask her. 

When Lynnette called, I knew right away that our personalities were going to mesh well. She had a lot of questions for me at first, then she talked about my story. That’s what really drew me in. Her passion for my work and her belief that it was something special was exactly what I was looking for. 

Lynnette’s transparency was also a selling point. She agreed to let me contact another client of hers, answered all my questions, and explained what her editorial style looks like. 

Lynnette offered me representation during that call. I took some time to mull it over and email other agents I had queried. Then a few days later, I signed the contract! 

About Hannah Lapehn:

Picture book writer Hannah Lapehn is a member of the SCBWI and Julie Hedlund's 12x12. She has attended many conferences including the Highlight Foundation's Crash Course into Children's Publishing, the SCBWI Middle of the Map conference, and Hannah Barnaby's picture book workshop. In 2019, she was selected by author Jill Esbaum for the PBChat Twitter Mentorship Competition. 

Hannah likes to write stories that make kids laugh and think about others. She's always on the lookout for creative ways to make that happen. 

Website: hannahlapehnbooks.com

Facebook: Hannah Lapehn

Twitter: @HannahLapehn

Yahoo: hlapehn@yahoo.com

The Importance of Horror in Kidlit with Hannah Kates

By Madison Parrotta

Of the many genres in Kidlit, horror is one that tends to be tiptoed around, especially for middle grade books. Author Hannah Kates, however, shines a light on horror through her writing, and deems horror to not only be entertaining, but important for kids and teens alike. She names herself the “author of strange tales,” even though as a kid, she was easily spooked by everything and couldn’t watch scary movies.

Ironically, this fear got her started with writing horror for kids. As a kid, she one day came home to find that her hamster had had babies and then ate them, which made for a terrifying experience. This later inspired her work as an adult, and this was when she discovered that kids like scary books, even though horror is an underrated genre.

Even so, the common tropes of the horror genre are known to nearly everyone—vampires and werewolves. They’re not just made-up creatures from out of the blue, but they come from fear. Vampires are representative of the fear of consumption, while werewolves invoke a fear of all the changes that come with puberty. What one can glean from all this is that horror can teach lessons, especially to children.

According to Hannah, the most important thing that horror can teach is that fear isn’t necessarily a negative emotion. What is scary for kids and adults alike is usually things that don’t make sense, but when horror characters face their fears and survive, they are the ones who are in charge and have power. When kids see themselves represented in an MG or YA book, they realize they too can survive their own struggles.

In Hannah’s words, “Life can often be frightening, confusing, and bring turmoil without any explanation or reason. Scary stories prove to us that we can make it through. We can be heroes, we can find help, and we can actualize these experiences/the second and third-order consequences they have in our lives.”

About Hannah Kates:

Hannah Kates ran away to join the circus at a very young age. Aside from being an author, she also considers herself a professional adventurer and has chalked up misadventures everywhere from the streets of Mumbai to the ranks of the French Foreign Legion. If she's not skulking around cemeteries, you can find her running for ridiculous distances, having tea with her corgi, Bilbo Handsomepants, or playing honky-tonk piano.

Website: https://authorhannahkates.com/

Twitter: @hannahkates1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorhkates

The Call with Gabrielle Prendergast

My call came as a few emails at first. Having had agents before, both good and bad, I think I went into it with my eyes wide open. But even from the email I had a good feeling because Lynnette had written "We would love to talk to you about this MS, future projects, and your CAREER GOALS"(my emphasis). This was so important to me. When we spoke on the phone, my good feeling was reinforced. Lynnette and Nicole were so enthusiastic and wanted to hear about everything else I had on the go (which was A LOT) so I knew they were interested in working with me for the long haul. That's what I wanted. I took my time making a decision because I wanted to be careful and make the right choice, but even though I've only been with the agency for a while, it's already going GREAT and I'm so happy!

About Gabrielle Prendergast:

Gabrielle Prendergast is an award-winning writer, teacher and designer living in Vancouver, Canada. She writes picture books, middle grade fiction, and YA contemporary and historical as Gabrielle Prendergast. Her science fiction and fantasy stories are published as G.S. Prendergast.

She has won the Monte Miller Award, the Westchester Fiction Award and The BC Book Prize as well as being nominated or short listed for numerous other honors. Gabrielle has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia and has taught writing at Sydney University, San Francisco State University, UBC, Royal Canadian College and at numerous conferences.

Website: www.gsprendergast.com

Twitter: @gabriellesarap

Instagram: @gsprendergast

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorgsprendergast

     

 

 

The Call with Joel Shulkin, MD

Since I'd found Lynnette on Twitter, I was already following her, when I saw her tweet about a thriller manuscript she was really enjoying & hoped it would hold her interest through to the end. Naturally, I was hoping it was mine, but there was no way to be sure. A day or two later, she again tweeted how much she loved the manuscript. I "liked" the tweet. A few minutes later, she followed me back. My heart jumped. Okay, I thought, don't get your hopes up. I'd been close to getting an agent before, but after 80 rejections it was hard to think she was really talking about my manuscript, right?

An hour later, an email appeared in my inbox. Again, I tried not to get overly excited, but my body didn't want to listen as my hands started to sweat and my pulse accelerated. I opened the email and read, "ADVERSE EFFECTS is AMAZING!!! I would love to talk to you..."

I had to wait until the next day to talk to her on the phone, so overnight the adrenaline had ebbed but the exhilaration remained. By the time we finally spoke, I could barely think straight. She talked about what she loved about the book and asked me about other projects I had written or had in the works, and then she said, "So, I'd like to offer you representation." Since I had already read through her MSWL & profile and decided she was the perfect one to advocate for my book, and her enthusiasm only confirmed my decision, it took less than a second for me to say yes. With the help and support she's provided over the past two years, I haven't regretted that decision for a single moment.

About Joel Shulkin, MD:

Joel Shulkin, MD, is a developmental-behavioral pediatrician and United States Air Force veteran with a master’s in public health. Having been lucky enough to be mentored by the legendary Michael Palmer, his short stories have appeared in various print and online journals, and he has won several national and local writing awards for fiction and poetry. He lives in Florida with his wife and twin daughters.

Website: https://www.authorjoelshulkin.com/ Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/drjoelshulkin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjoelshulkin/ Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/drjoelshulkin/

The Call with Shachi Kaushik

I first happened to cross paths with Lynnette Novak on Twitter. I sent her my manuscript seeing her pinned tweet. In a couple of days Lynnette got back to me expressing keen interest and requesting to have a phone call.   

Being a first timer, this was an exciting as well a nervous moment for me. I took help from my SCBWI community to understand what to expect from an agent call.

What I thought would be like a job interview turned out to be a candid conversation between me and my agent Lynnette. 
 
She was seeking more clarity on my work, my motivation behind writing picture books, my long-term vision and goal, and gauging if a working relationship could be established. Right from the get-go Lynnette made me feel at ease. She spoke of my manuscript’s potential.
 
As much as Lynnette, I was also trying to figure out if my agent would be a right fit for me. This is a long-term relationship.
 
She answered all my questions and cleared my doubts about the process and the final product. She discussed her approach when it comes to showcasing work to publishers. I can recall Lynnette’s words stating ‘teach my clients how to improve their writing and grow as authors’ was a very important factor for me. Knowing that she herself has been a writer and worked as a freelancer editor, I knew I wanted someone like her. I knew a writer with the editorial eye could help me tweak my work and further enrich my ideas.
 
Lynnette offered representation to me over the phone. Finally, I accepted Lynnette’s offer in writing. I really liked her enthusiasm for my work and felt a great connection and was able to imagine her being part of my picture book writing journey.
 
My agent and I finally made it official on Social Media using Twitter (#TeamNovak) and also on other platforms consecutively. YAY!!!
 
For me it was a stay at home celebration maintaining social distancing. 
 

About Shachi Kaushik:

Hailing from a legal profession back in India, Shachi found her new calling in life when she moved to the US a couple years back to start her married life. Shachi spends significant time volunteering for activities at the Round Rock Public Library as the host for Bilingual Hindi-English Storytime. Shachi’s writing is a whole-hearted attempt to retain the diminishing culture and tradition that could be passed to generations to come. 

 

Shachi also spends time mentoring students which further helps her develop new ideas to serve the Children-Parent community through her book writing. She is a monthly contributor to Austin South Asian for the “Picture Book World” section and her articles have also appeared in Austin Family and BrownGirl Magazine.

 

Twitter: 

@KaushikShachi