From: Davis, Jill <JIDAVIS>
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2000 11:48:42 -0500

As a nonfiction editor for children's books it is the highpoint of my job to see writers I work with find the kinds of details--whether it's the perfect quote from an oral history or a mindblowing photograph--that make nonfiction feel immediate and important and passionate.

One problem editors face, especially with biography, however, is convincing our publishers to take on biographies of lesser- known subjects-?cause not every biography can be about Eleanor Roosevelt or Helen Keller. Right?

I would appreciate hearing from teachers and librarians about how they handle introducing children to these less famous people and also hear how likely they will be to pick up something different.

(My selfish and possibly innappropriate reason for asking: Viking has a biography of the physicist Richard Feynman coming up and in addition, I want to sign up a biography on the life of Laura Bridgeman, the deaf, blind woman who was a national heroine in the mid 1800s. Is there a market for these biographies?)

Thanks,

Jill Davis Senior Editor Viking Children's Books
Received on Wed 01 Nov 2000 10:48:42 AM CST