I’m back. Time for “Paying it Forward”

• Colleen
• Paying It Forward Series
• 5 Comments

This Saturday I attended the Rutgers One on One Conference in New Brunswick, NJ.
The last time I went to this conference I posted a ton of information I received in a post called “Paying it Forward”. I’m prepared to do it again. It may take a few days, so let’s start:

*The following is a list of editors and agents bio info and genre preferences. Not all accept unsolicited queries, so check their submission requirements.

Caroline Abbey is an Associate Editor at Bloomsbury Children’s Books. Caroline acquires and edits at all age levels with a focus on middle grade and YA fiction. Her current projects include Jen Nadol’s paranormal debut, The Mark, the zany middle grade adventure, Pickle Impossible, by Eli Stitz, and the middle grade mythology-inspired Pandora series by Carolyn Hennesy. Her recent acquisitions include The Kid Table, a contemporary YA novel about teenage cousins still sitting at the infamous kid table, by Andrea Seigel and Melissa Walker’s Small Town Sinners, a YA novel about a teen girl’s experience starring in a Hell House and questioning her own faith. Caroline was previously with Simon Pulse before joining the Bloomsbury team.

Jenne Abramowitz is an Editor at Scholastic Trade Paperback/Club Originals. Jenne Primarily works on commercial chapter books and middle grade series fiction, as well as a small selection of PB’s, easy readers, and nonfiction for the school market. She has worked with authors Natasha Wing, Seymour Simon, and True Kelley. Some of the upcoming books she edited include the My First Biography picture book series by Marion Dane Bauer, the chapter book Cornelia and the great Snake Escape by Pam Munoz Ryon, and Hiro’s Quest, a fast-paced ninja series by Tracey West. Jenne is most interested in clever, funny series fiction with unique premises and quirky characters, and is a sucker for a good mystery. She is probably not the right editor for historical or high concept novels, or anything too dark and edgy for the school market.

Kaylan Adair is an Associate Editor for Candlewick Press. Kaylan is the editor of the Golden Kite Award-winning novel Down Sand Mountain by Steve Watkins, as well as the humorous YA novel Swim the Fly by Don Calame and the picture books The Missing Chick, written and illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev, and And Then Comes Halloween, written by Tom Brenner and illustrated by Holly Meade. She is also the American editor of the Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness, which includes The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask and the Answer. While Kaylan works on all genres and age ranges, she is most interested in adding middle-grade and YA novels to her list. She is looking for fresh, compelling stories and powerful new voices.

Eve Adler is an Associate Editor at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. Eve works on a variety of formats from baby to YA, and is looking for manuscripts for all ages: PBs, MG novels, and YA. She has worked with award-winning authors and illustrators such as Kimberly Willis Holt, Elise Broach, and Janet Tashjian. She enjoys manuscripts with a fresh voice and exceptional writing; for MG and YA projects, she likes historical, contemporary, edgy, coming-of-age, and humorous stories, and for PBs, she’s most interested in texts that have curriculum tie-in or educational hook.
Heather Alexander is an Editorial Assistant for Dial Books for Young Readers. Heather is interested in acquiring books for all age ranges, from PBs to YA, especially character driven stories with a unique voice or hook. She loves raucous PBs (especially ones written in prose and that are without an obvious lesson), funny, unique MG, and smart contemplative YA. She is not mad for high fantasy, but can get down with contemporary or urban fantasy and almost anything post-apocalyptic with a literary bent. She is not necessarily the go-to gal for non-fiction or vampires. She co-edited the upcoming Every Cowgirl Needs a Horse by Rebecca Janni. Recently, Heather has been working on a hilarious PB of etiquette, and co-editing a NG novel for boys, doing research for the just-published The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and assisting on countless other titles.

Kate Angelella is an Assistant Editor for Aladdin/Simon and Schuster. Kate works primarily MG and tween fiction. She has edited the Canterwood Crest series by Jessica Burkhart, Dani Noir by Nova Ren Suma, The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon and the upcoming Magic Repair Shop books by Amanda Marrone. Kate is particularly interested in commercial, high concept MG and tween fiction. She loves sassy, chick-lit-y tween novels; paranormal or magical realism; and novels with strong, angsty female protagonists. Generally speaking, Kate is not a great match for picture books.

Jennifer Arena is and Executive Editor for Random House Children’s Books. Jennifer is the line manager of the Stepping Stones series of early chapter books, which include the Junie B. Jones and Magic Tree House Series. She is looking specifically for early chapter books with strong plots and interesting characters of around 8,000 to 11,000 words, both stand-alones titles and series, as well as easy-to-reads. Recent titles she has edited for the Stepping Stones series include Marion Dane Bauer’s The Green Ghost, Ilene Cooper’s Look at Lucy, and Lynne Jonell’s upcoming Hamster Magic.

More tomorrow…

Coll