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Re: How much...?
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From: Christine Taylor-Butler <kansascitymom_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2011 15:18:34 -0600 (GMT-06:00)
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Many writers are attempt ing to write controversial subjects from a more honest vantage point. But those manuscripts aren't getting through the gatekeepers. In some cases, the cha racters are adjusted (or the authors learn to write) characters that are ho peful, cuddly, or (you fill in the blanks) have a non-ambiguous feel good e nding. But children don't always live a reality with a happy ending. Life i s messier than that.
Children's publishing is about profits, not pur suit of truth. So what is published isn't necessarily representative of wha t's being submitted which is why so many established authors are quietly lo oking at options to produce some work independently. And, truth be to ld, I know several authors of award winning books that smile for the camera but don't "love" the book that was edited and published because of what wa s changed or stripped out. So I think it's an important distinction t hat a published book may or may not always represent the author's intent. S aid a close friend: "I was forced to write a book I didn't want to write wi th a character I didn't love anymore." But to say that in public would be p olitical suicide. The proof, for me, is when the only people raving about t he books and recommending it to others are the adults not the children it w as intended for.
On the flip side, there are some subjects that are easier to absorb when seen from a distance. I don't need to touch the dead body with my own hands to know a horrific crime was committed. I do t hink, however, that the media does tend to mine the same territories ad nau seum for safety reasons and because they're a "sure bet" to earn out an adv ance.
But yes - children are subjected to brutal death in Har ry Potter, a horrific, bloody pregnancy in Breaking Dawn, but we can't talk about the things they see every day on TV.
A good example of a book that is "unfiltered" in it's raw honesty is THE MIDDLE PASSAGE by the late Tom Feelings. I couldn't get through the book in one sitting and it does r equire some cushion for a child to decompress those brutal images. But it k nocks the message out of the park.
The place for us to start is to d emand more honesty and more variety of voices at acquisitions. Publishing i s the only industry I've ever worked with that spends little or no time wit h its end-user. Instead, we allow the voices of additional gatekeeper s down the line to filter the material and influence what is produced. By t he time the child gets their hands on the material, it may be far removed f rom what the author - or illustrator - intended.
Based on my work wi th college bound students over the past few decades, and from countless sch ool visits working with younger students for the day, I've always contended that if publishers actually KNEW their readers, they'd have more of them c lamoring for their books without an adult putting it in their hands.......C
IN
-----Original Message-----
From: Claudia Pearson
ew y
I do not understand why it is okay to wr ite about vampires ripping humans apart, but not okay to write about humans doing the same thing to one another, especially when it is a truth which n eeds to be taught and explored with the hope that it could be prevented fro m ever happening again.
Received on Sat 19 Nov 2011 03:18:34 PM CST
Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2011 15:18:34 -0600 (GMT-06:00)
D"
font
Many writers are attempt ing to write controversial subjects from a more honest vantage point. But those manuscripts aren't getting through the gatekeepers. In some cases, the cha racters are adjusted (or the authors learn to write) characters that are ho peful, cuddly, or (you fill in the blanks) have a non-ambiguous feel good e nding. But children don't always live a reality with a happy ending. Life i s messier than that.
Children's publishing is about profits, not pur suit of truth. So what is published isn't necessarily representative of wha t's being submitted which is why so many established authors are quietly lo oking at options to produce some work independently. And, truth be to ld, I know several authors of award winning books that smile for the camera but don't "love" the book that was edited and published because of what wa s changed or stripped out. So I think it's an important distinction t hat a published book may or may not always represent the author's intent. S aid a close friend: "I was forced to write a book I didn't want to write wi th a character I didn't love anymore." But to say that in public would be p olitical suicide. The proof, for me, is when the only people raving about t he books and recommending it to others are the adults not the children it w as intended for.
On the flip side, there are some subjects that are easier to absorb when seen from a distance. I don't need to touch the dead body with my own hands to know a horrific crime was committed. I do t hink, however, that the media does tend to mine the same territories ad nau seum for safety reasons and because they're a "sure bet" to earn out an adv ance.
But yes - children are subjected to brutal death in Har ry Potter, a horrific, bloody pregnancy in Breaking Dawn, but we can't talk about the things they see every day on TV.
A good example of a book that is "unfiltered" in it's raw honesty is THE MIDDLE PASSAGE by the late Tom Feelings. I couldn't get through the book in one sitting and it does r equire some cushion for a child to decompress those brutal images. But it k nocks the message out of the park.
The place for us to start is to d emand more honesty and more variety of voices at acquisitions. Publishing i s the only industry I've ever worked with that spends little or no time wit h its end-user. Instead, we allow the voices of additional gatekeeper s down the line to filter the material and influence what is produced. By t he time the child gets their hands on the material, it may be far removed f rom what the author - or illustrator - intended.
Based on my work wi th college bound students over the past few decades, and from countless sch ool visits working with younger students for the day, I've always contended that if publishers actually KNEW their readers, they'd have more of them c lamoring for their books without an adult putting it in their hands.......C
IN
-----Original Message-----
From: Claudia Pearson
ew y
I do not understand why it is okay to wr ite about vampires ripping humans apart, but not okay to write about humans doing the same thing to one another, especially when it is a truth which n eeds to be taught and explored with the hope that it could be prevented fro m ever happening again.
Received on Sat 19 Nov 2011 03:18:34 PM CST
