Picture Books and Ebooks: A Winning Combination?

Ebooks are the new frontier of publishing in a fast-paced industry (hello, Amazon’s “used ebooks”). As digitizing becomes more common, new obstacles and innovations unique to the ebook abound. For publishers of titles for both children and adults like Scarletta, the books that pose the most exciting challenge in going digital are picture books.

From the beginning, picture ebooks demanded new technology that adult fiction and non-fiction did not. It was only in 2011 when color display readers were developed and the first picture ebooks were published. Though the picture quality doesn’t compromise the vividness of the illustrations, some aspects can be lost when a print picture book is transferred to ebook form. The two-page spread, for instance, which is a panoramic-like illustration that reaches across two pages, can be accommodated by Apple’s iPad, but can’t be fully appreciated in readers like the NookColor or the Kindle. Fold-out spreads, end-paper art, and different book sizes (think a tall, skinny book about giraffes) are among the embellishments that are unique to print picture books.

And what are the effects of this digital shift on our young readers?

Coffee Boy?

It’s been two weeks in the office and no one—not one single person, not one single time—has asked me to get them a cup of coffee. I’ve yet to make copies of that finance report or pick up lunch down the street for the gang.  It seems to me that Scarletta has no idea how these internship things work.  For now, let’s keep it our little secret.

Instead, I have this whole little routine in the office that seems to go off without a hitch.  I sit at my own desk, with my own stack of mail, with my own (terrible, uncomfortable, utterly the worst) chair, and I do the work of a typical employee in an acquisitions role. Registering all of our submissions—both hard copy and electronic—occupies a good chunk of my morning. It’s fun to sift through our submitted materials and take a first look at all of the titles that come through our doors.  There are picture books, YA novels, memoirs, and even pamphlets—well, a pamphlet—describing the various types of vermin that inhabit our world, most of which we aren’t even fully aware of. After hundreds of paper cuts and under-the-breath questions like “why is this so sticky?” and “who uses this much tape?” it’s off to the Internet to catch up on book news.

Do you know how much information is on the world-wide-web?  

The Other Intern

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to start this paragraph. It’s embarrassing, really. Should I be funny?  How professional do I sound? Do I sound competent? Does anyone care? What’s the issue, Josh? Oh, that’s your first sentence?  What was Nora thinking when she brought you on board? Is that a coffee stain on your shirt? How many times are you going to press backspace today?  

As the new worker bee for Scarletta Press, I just want to make sure that everything I do is perfect, perfect, perfect. I am so sweaty right now.  Profusely perspiring at my desk is not where I wanted to be at 9:30 on my second day in the office.

Oh, I’m a worrywart too.  That’s probably clear. 

What else, what else? 

We've Got New Interns!

As spring creeps closer, bringing a new crop of exciting titles from Scarletta, so too have there been a few changes around the office lately. The other staff members and I were sorry to see our fall intern, Lexy, go. But allow me to introduce one of our new spring editorial interns, Emily.

***

Hello! My name is Emily, and first I just want to say that I’m really looking forward to this opportunity to be a part of Scarletta. This season is an especially exciting time to join Scarletta as books from the new imprints are going to press. As we pioneer Scarletta Kids, Scarletta JR, and Red Portal, the last being a new hybrid model for self-publishing, a new vision for the future of what books can be is taking shape.

It was this willingness to innovate in the face of a quickly changing publishing world that initially drew me to Scarletta. While continuing to publish the inspiring stories that are a hallmark of their titles for adults, I was impressed by both the educational and literary quality that Scarletta’s upcoming children’s books promised. The experience and knowledge that I bring to Scarletta is, I hope, equally comprehensive. While my undergraduate education focused on English literature, I have also worked as a literacy tutor and student teacher in elementary school classrooms. I’ve learned that children are unique as readers go; not only do they deserve enthralling stories that will ensure they are lifelong readers, but books that also keep in mind how they are developing as learners. Because of our work at Scarletta, such books are making their way into the hands of young readers.

I look forward to being a part of Scarletta’s evolving vision as a press through editorial support and sharing the latest news here in our blog. Next month, we’ll begin a year in which we’ll publish more titles than ever before. The first title is Nalah and the Pink Tiger, a book I’m particularly enthusiastic about, and one that brought a puppeteer to our author list! Amazing things are happening every day at Scarletta. I look forward to sharing them with you!

--Emily

A Note From Lexy, Scarletta's Editorial Intern

So often, interns are belittled to coffee runs or stuffing envelopes. Fortunately, my experience as Scarletta's fall editorial intern was much more valuable, and due to Scarletta's small size and friendly staff, I got to be very involved in many of the steps it takes to take words on a page and turn them into a book.

My first responsibility was to read through new submissions and organize them. I was surprised no only by the huge amount of submissions a small Minnesota press got, but also by the wide range of content that spanned every genre and character imaginable. It was clear that this was a very busy, yet very creative environment, one where everybody's vision and talent helped to create the finished product.

The launch of Scarletta Kids brought piles of picture books to our desks. Envisioning the colorful illustrations and whimsical characters, then brainstorming with the rest of the staff about what the manuscript would allow the designers and illustrators to do, pushed our imaginations. Seeing how words become a playful puppet show or an interactive e-book indicated that books are not remaining static, but becoming more dynamic, creative, and interactive, especially for young readers.

Every detail is considered and re-worked until the color scheme, font, and illustrations come together to bring the words to life. I realized over my four months that the many small steps in this process and the decisions made are what gives each publisher their own specific fingerprint on the books published. That cover, that type, those words-- they have been mulled over and picked for specific reasons. Each of the designers, marketers, and editors at Scarletta make up a team of some of the most innovative and imaginative people I have worked alongside. With the new imprints, a stronger social media presence, a new website, and magnificent spring books, there is an energy in the office that I was not expecting in what so many have deemed to be a dying industry. These books are the final product of so many talented people and their creative vision.

Every time I walk into a bookstore with its packed shelves, or crack open a new book, I will be reminded of the collaboration of bright minds that sparked each one into being. I am excited for Scarletta going forward, and though my time with them is over, it seems like a new direction for them is just beginning!

-Lexy

Spread the Love: Apply to Be a World Book Night Giver

Full disclosure: this is our please-apply-to-be-a-World-Book-Night-giver blog post. The deadline is fast-approaching (ok, it's tomorrow!), so if you've been having internal debates, or even external ones, about whether or not to apply, we're here to settle the argument and tell you to APPLY!
For those of you who don't know about World Book Night (or WBN), it takes place on April 23, and over the course of one night, thousands of givers hand out over half a million specially printed books to people who don't normally read that much. In places as varied as bus stops, coffee shops, shelters, and grocery stores, people go outside of their comfort zones to spread the love of reading and hand out a book to someone. It's a magical thing.
Last year was the first time it took place in the U.S. and it was a resounding success. Here are some of the quotes from WBN's website:

“Gave a book to a woman this morning, who took it with tears in her eyes. She told me that she rarely gets to the library and cannot afford to buy new books on her own. She graciously took the book, opened it up, smelled the pages, said ‘God bless you, my child,’ and walked away clutching her new found treasure. Makes me tear up too, thinking about what a difference we are making today!” – Adrian
“Tonight I had a high school boy say, ‘I’m new to the whole reading for fun thing,’ and then show me the books he got for #wbnamerica.” – Lauren
“I gave

The Kite Runner to a veteran who had been stationed in Afghanistan. He was very excited to read the book and ‘learn something about the place and gain some understanding.’ So rewarding. Thank you to the organizers, authors and publishers!” – Jennifer “Shared my books with ESL students tonight. They were so excited and a bit surprised that it was for ‘enjoyment,’ not ‘homework.’ Thanks for a wonderful idea.” – Kevin “It was great to walk back by where I had been and see people already reading!!” – Colleen

This year--with over 2,000 library and bookstore partners, and events that will be hosted around the country--things prove to be just as exciting. It really is a wonderful night and a great thing to be a part of, so like we said before, APPLY! In fact, we'll make it really easy for you, here is the link directly to the application. The only hard part is deciding which book to give...

How Characters Are Created - From Idea to Full Illustration

Most children's book editors will tell you that when they read a manuscript for the first time, they are always thinking about the potential illustrations. Which lines will go in the spread? What action will be illustrated? How can the illustrations and the text work together? What will the characters look like? What style of illustrations do we want?

All of these questions, and more, run through our minds when we are working on a new picture book, but the last two are especially important early on. Many people might not realize that characters can go through many phases before they become what ultimately ends up in the book. And that is exactly what happened with one of our new picture books, Monster Needs a Costume by Paul Czajak, which will be the first in a new series called Monster + Me and is being published this fall by Scarletta Kids. It's an adorable rhyming story about a monster who keeps changing his mind about what to dress up as for Halloween. Ultimately he learns that a little creativity and boldness makes for the best costume of the night. Obviously, that fun and creativity needed to come across in the illustrations as well, and over the last month, we have been working with our wonderful illustrator, Wendy Grieb, to come up with the perfect look for Monster and the little boy who takes care of him.

We can't talk enough about how great of an illustrator Wendy is. Right away she had a ton of ideas for Monster, and sent us countless sketches. Here are a few of them:

We always knew from the text that Monster is big. He has an innocence about him, but he's definitely huge and has a significant presence in the room. So the one highlighted above seemed closest to what we were after: burly and big, but friendly. Working off of that description, we got to these (aren't they cute?):