How you found me: part 3

Lots of click-throughs to this blog result from straightforward searches including "Boys of Steel" and "picture book biography."

Lots, but luckily, not all.

This is part 3 in an irregular series revealing some of the irregular search phrases—all verbatim, most strange—that have led people here:

• topless beach Fairfield CT
• motivational speakers superhero elementary
• bee keeper speakers in Houston
• some biographies than one kid did
• students prefer non-fiction picture books
• is their a name for books with text and some pictures
• book steel and kindness
• the characteristics of a noble man
• Batman vs. Hitler
• sticker mania
• how you found me

A different type of father

Today, when the creative force behind an iconic character dies, it's unthinkable that this would not be mentioned in mainstream news and entertainment publications.

Yet when Batman co-creator and original writer Bill Finger died, in 1974, no obituary ran in the New York Times...or Variety...or anywhere else...

...except two lesser-seen DC Comics publications (neither was a regular monthly comic book). One was an oversized special called Famous First Edition: Batman #1 (1975).

This is the inside front cover:

"Last February, The Batman lost a father. One of his two real fathers, that is."

The one who is never officially named as a father, despite the undisputed paternity test on record here and elsewhere.

The query that sold "Boys of Steel"

At the Wooster (OH) Young Authors' Conference, an aspiring author (and mother of one of the Young Authors) was asking me about getting published. We've stayed in touch and this week, she e-mailed me two questions.

One of the questions: "Do you have any suggestions as to how I can sell myself to an editor when I have never been published previously?"

Every editor is different so there is no one-pitch-fits-all answer. But generally, it doesn't matter if you've been published. What matters is if you wrote a good book. (Every author used to be an unpublished writer. And every author, regardless of how many well-received books s/he's had published, can still turn out a subpar book.)

Of course an editor will not get to your good book unless you introduce it both in a professional manner and in a way that makes it irresistible. In the query letter, describe your book as if it were flap (or back cover) copy, or even a poster tease, engineered to hook that casual browser.

Here is the query I sent Janet Schulman, the editor who eventually bought Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman (which, at that time, was Boys of Steel: The Subtitle Is Undetermined):

I'm a writer who's authored over [oops—should have been "more than"] 40 books with publishers including Scholastic, HarperCollins, and Dutton. I also write regularly for magazines including Nickelodeon and National Geographic Kids. I don't work with an agent, which is why I'm contacting you directly.

May I have your permission to submit a picture book manuscript? I ask you because of The Boy on Fairfield Street. My manuscript is similar in that it focuses on the origin of another 20th century icon. Here's a one-line summary:

In the thrilling days of yesteryear, after a sleepless summer night, two shy boys create a character who will become the greatest icon in the history of pop culture.

I know the picture book market is tough right now, but this would be the first book on this subject in this format; plus the subject is as kid-friendly as they come. With all due respect to Ben Franklin, Pocahontas, Rosa Parks, and Neil Armstrong, the shelves are starving for some new blood, and my subjects are particularly inspirational. I'm confident that this book would appeal to a whole bunch of libraries, school and public. And there's a whole other active market for it which will be obvious once you read it.

If I may send it, to what address?

I didn't give the title or even specify the subjects of the book. Funnily, the book itself doesn't include the word "Superman" in the story proper. But that's off-topic.

The other question the aspiring author asked this week: "What is currently the turnaround time from putting an article or query letter in the mail to receiving the editors acknowledgment and answer?"

There is no "currently." It varies from editor to editor, day to day.

I e-mailed the above query on 2/22/05 at 11:10 a.m. I heard back at 11:26 a.m. But I e-mailed other editors queries before that...and, in some cases, have yet to hear back. So again, it varies.

(I should clarify that industry protocol typically dictates that unpublished writers not e-mail an editor unless submission guidelines or the editor him/herself has stated that is okay.)

Magazine covers and pop culture museums

Coincidence 1 of 2

Hard as it is to believe, Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman is the first standalone biography (for any age) of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. (They’ve been a part of more involved comics histories, of course, but they’d never had a book to themselves.)

Why was I the fortunate one who got to benefit from this odd oversight?

Because my uncommon last name sounds like one of Superman’s colleagues?

Because one of my high school friends turned out to be Lois Lane’s grandson?

Because my daughter has the same name as Superman’s Kryptonian mother—though I swear I didn’t remember that when we named her?

Or is it because of March 14, 1988?

That day was a milestone for both Superman and me. It was the date of the issue of Time magazine that featured Superman’s 50th anniversary on the cover.

It was also my 16th birthday—when a boy becomes a man. Wait, that’s 13…or is it 18? No, 21…

Regardless, sixteen is significant because it’s the age You’ll Believe a Man Can Drive.

I had first become acquainted with Superman a decade earlier, but I like to believe it was on that day when our destinies synced up. Exactly twenty years later, Boys of Steel came out.

Coincidence 2 of 2

This also involves Superman and also requires mention of a(nother) high school friend, a one Mr. Barker. (Stay with me—I’m also not done with Coincidence 1 of 2.)

Unlike most of my friends, I was not able to line up a post-college job before graduating. So I went to my hometown, Cheshire, Connecticut. It’s lovely, but not a place with much opportunity for a young person who wants to work in the popular arts.

After a demoralizing summer of fruitless searching, I finally landed a position at Abbeville Press, a book publisher in New York. (This was the company at which I would publish my first book and meet my future wife.)

A couple of years later, I learned that the Barker Animation Art Gallery and the Barker Character, Comic, and Cartoon Museum opened…in Cheshire. A world-class collection of pop culture prints and obscure memorabilia, side by side…in Cheshire.

(I asked my high school friend Barker about it, and the founders are his cousins.)

My parents had left Cheshire soon after I moved to New York, so I rarely went back. When I did, if I saw the Barker comic compound, it was only from my passing car. Always in a hurry but not always with good reason, I never stopped.

Flash forward to 2008. To promote Boys of Steel, I went to the 30th annual Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois, also a lovely town but even sleepier and more remote than Cheshire. Yet it does boast a pair of rather unusual tourist attractions.

Being the “official” home of Superman, it is home to the world’s only Superman Museum. It also has the Americana Hollywood Museum. I marveled at the seemingly endless array of pieces this place houses, including collectibles related to superheroes, film noir, science fiction, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, James Bond, probably Jesse James for all I know. Life-sized models of classic monsters, TV Guide issues, old board games, movie props, and more kitsch are arranged high and thick in room after room.

I was astounded that such a collection was assembled in this unassuming town. Some of the people who lived nearby probably didn’t fully appreciate the magnitude of it, or even know about it. I remember thinking that the town was lucky to have this sprawling time capsule of pop culture icons in their collective backyard and remember thinking how much I would’ve loved to have lived near a place like it when I was a kid.

Flash forward to this past weekend. It just so happened to be the 31st annual Superman Celebration and I just so happened to be not in Metropolis but in Cheshire. For the first time, I went inside the Barker Character, Comic, and Cartoon Museum. But I felt like I was back in the Americana Hollywood Museum.

It hadn’t occurred to me that they could be two of a kind—maybe the only two of their kind in the world?

And one of these rare places, a place I would’ve loved to visit as a kid and work for as a young adult, was in my hometown…just too late for me.

But not in every way.

In the fall I will be doing a Boys of Steel event at the Barker Museum…

…which, incidentally, perhaps coincidentally, displays a copy of the March 14, 1988 Time.

Library book shelving: a cautionary tale

I only recently became aware that some libraries are shelving Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman according to its Library of Congress number, 741.5—the drawing/cartoons section.

Yet I want it to be shelved with all the other picture book biographies. The picture book bios of Muhammad Ali are not shelved in sports and the picture book bios of John James Audubon are not shelved in birds...

Libraries can overrule the LOC designation, and indeed some have shelved Boys of Steel in biographies—but, for example, only 10 out of the 130 or so libraries in my home state.

I wonder if some librarians shelved it in 741.5 only because they didn't realize it is a biography. They don't have time to become familiar with every book they process, given the volume. They see "Superman" on a cover and the shelving response is automatic. Who would figure a book with that word in the subtitle is nonfiction?

What I did not realize until this past weekend is that no picture book biographies (at least none I checked) are catalogued as biography. Therefore, it is always up to librarians (or library distributors) to determine when a book would be better served shelved in biography rather than with the subject. In other words, my original plan to try to get the Library of Congress to re-designate Boys of Steel is, mercifully, unnecessary.

The effect of the book will be limited if it remains in the drawing/cartoons section. Kids who look there typically want books on how to draw. They would not necessarily be surprised to find a biography on Superman's creators there—yet they also may not pay it much mind given their purpose in looking in that section.

I feel circulation of Boys of Steel would increase significantly if it were shelved in an area where more kids regularly browse (often because a biography assignment forces them to). Some of those kids would be pleasantly surprised to stumble upon unconventional picture book nonfiction among the multiple books each on Abraham Lincoln, Babe Ruth, Amelia Earhart, and Ashton Kutcher.

Thank you to Marc Aronson at Nonfiction Matters for helping me spread the word about this by posting a slightly different version of this post even before I did, and thanks to Betsy Bird, also at School Library Journal, for offering to do the same.

Librarians! Please reshelve! Picture book biography authors! Check your shelving!

6/17/09 addendum: A sage poster on Betsy Bird's blog explained a detail that makes the difference: the Library of Congress adds a "B" to the catalog number if the book is a biography, meaning the librarians are explicitly signaled that the book can be shelved either with its subject matter or with biographies. Thank you, B, and thank you, BB!

The kids have spoken

I'm humbled to report that Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman made the Children's Choices 2009 list. Here is how the list is described on the International Reading Association site:

A booklist with a twist! Children themselves evaluate the books and write reviews of their favorites. Since 1974, Children’s Choices have been a trusted source of book recommendations used by teachers, librarians, parents—and children themselves. The project is cosponsored by IRA and the Children’s Book Council.

Superman in the classroom

Columbus, Franklin, Beethoven, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Wright, Ruth, Roosevelt, Roosevelt, Siegel, Shuster, Parks, Armstrong, Obama.

Hold up—a couple of impostors snuck onto that list. All of those people are typically discussed (or at least touched upon) in history class. And all of those people (along with many more textbook names) have been the subjects of multiple picture books...except Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, creators of Superman, widely considered to be the world's first superhero.

Teaching history is a process of ranking consequences. Teaching time is limited (more than ever these days, with increased emphasis on test preparation). Therefore, plenty of people who made significant contributions to society don't get classroom coverage—those contributions are not judged to be significant enough to bump any of the "validated" names above.

Luckily, however, we are in the Golden Age of Picture Book Biography. Part of what I mean by this is that we live in a time where writers are writing and editors are publishing picture books on people who are not textbook names but could be—and, arguably, should be.

Perhaps thanks to a picture book, some of these people eventually will be.

In other words, the Wright Brothers weren't famous before the public had heard of them. I am stating the obvious, but you smell what I'm cooking.

Imagine the time before the general public knew the name Philippe Petit. Some might have said, "Never heard of him. Can't be that great of a story." After the book The Man Who Walked Between the Towers came out in 2003, many probably said, "Can't believe I never heard of him. Really glad I have now."

What writer of illustrated nonfiction wouldn't want to be the first to publish the story of the first (and only) daredevil to string a cable between the World Trade Center towers and walk between them?

Is this achievement as significant as setting a home-run record or as refusing to move to the section of the bus designated for your race? To some, emphatically not. To others, enthusiastically yes. Yet if it is a riveting story with insight into the human condition, does this matter?

Declining to publish or read a book on a person you haven't heard of is counterproductive to the purpose of publishing. It is about bringing new stories to light, or illuminating new aspects to familiar stories.

Declining to mention such figures in the classroom is similarly regretful. I have had the fortune to meet many enlightened teachers who see the value in sharing a story like Siegel and Shuster's with their students, even though it is off-curriculum. One teacher I met even made a lesson plan (complete with a Venn diagram!) about Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman. Actually, he made two: an 8-page version for students and a 15-page teacher's edition.

Here is a review of the book by the Graphic Classroom, which advocates using comics in teaching.

Christopher Columbus : terrestrial exploration :: Babe Ruth : baseball
Franklin Delano Roosevelt : crisis leadership :: Neil Armstrong : space exploration
Ludwig van Beethoven : classical music :: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster : ?

What made me cry in kindergarten

Kids sometimes ask me what I was like as a kid. Read the handwritten comment on this kindergarten report card (click to enlarge):

So same as I am now.

Nickelodeon Magazine 1993-2009

In my sixteen months of blogging, I have never been so jarred by a publishing industry news story that I was compelled to post a response immediately...until now.

Word broke today that Viacom is shuttering Nickelodeon Magazine.

The print magazine industry has been under siege for some time, so it should not be a surprise to hear of any one publication folding. Yet if there was a list of magazines that I would have said are immune to the digital invasion, I would have guessed Nick would be on it.

The apparent end of Nick Mag is sad for multiple reasons.

The magazine editors are a remarkably accomplished (and nice) bunch. I have full confidence that they will soon find (or be snatched up by) other outlets that recognize their talent. I had a rewarding relationship with Nick since my first sale to them, in 2001; thanks to my work for the magazine, I was able to segue into writing for other divisions of Nick.

For the past five years, I've made a point to praise Nick at literally every school (and most other venues) I've spoken at. Some elementary educators and librarians could not get past the celebs and licensed characters on the cover to discover the smart non-licensed content it always featured as well. It was a simple yet savvy (and, to me, defensible) strategy—hook kids with familiar faces and then ambush them with other less glam (but often more enjoyable) content inside, such as theme-based nonfiction and humor. My only quibble with the magazine was that it accepted advertising for junk food. But I understand the realities.

I know almost nothing about Nickelodeon the cable network. I know almost nothing about their characters. I have never watched an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants (and to the disappointment of many kids at the schools I visit, I can't draw him, either).

Yet I know that the passing of Nick Mag is a genuine loss for kids. It was one of the most consistently quality products (in any medium) for young people. It did die once before, in the early 1990s, but it came back. I hope that one day soon, it can pull that off again.

We create and then we wait

Here is the article from The Daily Record of Wooster, Ohio, about the Young Authors' Conference of May 14 and 15 at which I was the honored guest:

What do you think of this cover?

Here is the cover for Vanished: True Tales of the Missing, due out in January through the Scholastic Book Club. (It will hopefully also be available in bookstores, but that Scholastic division has not made that decision yet—maybe I'll circulate a petition.)

The book comprises the stories of seven people who disappeared, some of whom were not heard from again; I blogged a bit more about it earlier this spring. Based only on that information, what is your opinion of the cover design?

I'll be curious to see if anyone has the same first reaction I (and my wife, separately) did. Be honest—I am comfortably used to criticism. And I will share my take shortly.

A library with muscles

After the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators panel I sat on last month, the Coordinator of Youth Services from the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Connecticut, came up to me and shared fun news.

As I understood it, inspired by Ross MacDonald's art for Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman, the library commissioned him to create the centerpiece images to promote their summer reading program. The theme is "Super Readers Summer."

For something else super, compare the endpaper of Boys of Steel with this first drawing:

All images courtesy of (and not to be used in any way without permission from)
Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT, and Ross MacDonald

Winter Words

In December, I had the privilege of being one of four authors on a panel at the Fairfield (CT) Public Library, as part of Winter Words, a daylong annual conference aimed at aspiring writers. The podcast of that panel just went up:



This was the best panel I've been on to date, in terms of chemistry among the panelists, quality of questions asked, and spontaneous humor generated. Anyone interested in books would be interested in what my fellow authors had to say, yet if an hour is too long to commit to, here is one of many ways to take a shortcut...the approximate times at which my answers begin:

7:20 why I write and why for children
12:49 anecdote that gives one reason why I continue to write for children
19:37 where I get character ideas
26:41 am I in a writers' group
28:29 my research/writing process
34:42 a little joke
38:40 how I come up with original ideas
44:25 who my heroes are
52:58 what I am working on now
55:26 audience question: do we or does publisher pick book titles
58:36 audience question: how important are reviews

Again, this is not to say that my answers are any more engaging than anyone else's.

If, before I listened to the podcast, you'd asked me how many times each of us spoke during the panel, I'd have said four or maybe five times. I was surprised that it was at least double that. Now I have a greater appreciation for how much can be packed into an hourlong panel.

The woman behind "The Man Behind 'Boys of Steel'"

Note the placement of those quotation marks. If it read "the woman behind the man behind Boys of Steel," then I'd be referring to my wife (who edited 18 drafts of the book and is name-dropped in the dedication). Here I am referring to Barbara Heins, a longtime writer for the Greenwich Time.

She kindly interviewed me in October. And today, she kindly informed me that at last night's Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism Awards for 2008, her article about Boys of Steel won first place in the category "arts and entertainment article in daily newspaper with a circulation under 21,000."

"I thank you for sharing your story in such an engaging way that my peers thought of it so highly," Barbara humbly wrote me, but of course it wasn't me rambling but rather her listening and writing that earned her this distinction.

Yet being even the smallest part of someone else's journey to an award feels about as good as winning an award yourself. Congratulations, Barbara!

Young authors in Ohio

On May 14 and 15, I was the guest author at the 32nd annual Young Authors' Conference in Wooster, Ohio (also home to the annual Buckeye Book Fair, the state's largest).

Six hundred elementary and middle school students participated. Each had written (and in most cases also illustrated) their own books, fiction and nonfiction. Some of their books reminded me of books I made when I was in school—though mine were less slick, written on lined paper with a cover made of wallpaper scrap. Other books I saw at the conference were hardcover, coolly bound by a company in Kansas—I don't believe that option existed when I was a kid!

Thursday evening, I spoke in a gorgeous building they called a chapel but which looked like an auditorium.

The audience was some of the student authors, their parents, and often, their younger siblings (all of whom were quite patient for an evening event not aimed at them). Afterward, one parent came up to me for advice. She had taken a children's book writing course and wants desperately to try to publish—yet she is desperately afraid of rejection. I mean on the verge of tears desperately, with her husband nodding along near her as she emphasized her fear. I asked what she is more afraid of—trying and failing, or never trying and therefore never knowing if she would have succeeded. She is going to try.

The next morning, I spoke twice to groups of 300 each time, then signed a whole lot of books, a fraction of which was on display when I arrived:

Many of the kids asked me to also sign their custom-made books, which I would not do. My name doesn't belong on their hard work! I was happy to sign another sheet of paper (usually the cover of the event program) for them. Besides, they all got a pre-printed bookmark with my signature as well.

Sorry for the creepy blanked-out faces of the children, but you understand.

The event went so well that I volunteered to recommend other writers for the 33rd annual and beyond.

Warm front from Houston

At the end of March, I made my first trip to Houston. This week, I received a packet of feedback from the students and staff of one of the schools I visited there.

Some of my favorite comments:

"Maybe someday we will become friends and get coffee and talk about our ideas and write a book together."
— C, age 10
[I often say exactly this—that perhaps some of the students I talk to now will one day become my fellow authors.]

"I found it quite shocking that you enjoyed Superman enough to write a book about his creators. I never knew one person could get rejected that many times."
— J, age 10
[Shocking!]

"Tell your family I said hello."
— M, age 9

"I deeply enjoyed the lecture you relinquished upon our minds. Before your talk I would give up on anything I couldn't perfect in 3 or 4 tries. You have inspired me to keep on trying and never give up, your generosity will never escape my now enriched soul of my willing to keep trying."
— A, age 10
[Three or four tries...he obviously knew about persistence before I showed up.]

"I laughed so hard my heart hurt."
— V, age 10

"You are definitely in my top 5 of heroes."
— J, age 9
[I would be the last person to call myself a hero for anything I've done, but a comment like this is, of course, beyond humbling. Most of all, I wish I knew who the other four are...]

"If Superman didn't give up then I'm not going to, either."
— a different J, age 10

"It was thoughtful for you to come all the way from Minnesota..."
— A, age 9
[I live in Connecticut. I have never been to Minnesota.]

"The school librarian read [Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman] to our class before you came. It really shows that it doesn't matter how old, smart, or popular you are—you can make a difference."
— W, age 10

Possibly my #1 favorite of the bunch:

"Your speech has opened a new door for me. Who knows, maybe you'll see me when I become a physician. All I know is if I achieve my goal you'll be the first person I contact apart from my family and friends. No promises though."
— K, age 10

Panel of picture book authors

On Saturday 4/25/09, the Fairfield County (Connecticut) chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators hosted a panel about the craft of creating picture books on which I had the pleasure to appear.

Thank you to all who took time on the first summery day of the season to sit indoors and participate, whether in the audience or alongside me (the only male in that photo without groomed facial hair—scruff doesn't count). Thank you also to those who supported our books afterward.

The Golden Age of Picture Book Biography

After I speak in schools, I hope students feel that "nonfiction" is not synonymous with "non-interesting." (Actually, I hope they recognized that before I showed up, but field reports often indicate otherwise.)

Now I want to address another publishing misconception. "Picture book" is not synonymous with "children's book."

I do not call myself exclusively a "children's author." Yes, some of my books usually do not score readers beyond children, particularly nonfiction series books for the school and library market. Such books must adhere to an established format and that often leaves little room for a creative imprint. A child may have no choice but to read such a book, but an adult interested in the subject will almost certainly look for a more lyrical approach.

Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman is a picture book and it is shelved in the children's section of bookstores, but I wrote it for all ages. I've appeared at a diverse bunch of venues for it, from museums to comic conventions. At most of them (aside from school visits, naturally), I seem to be signing more books to adults than to kids.

The crossover potential of nonfiction picture books is an idea that some people in publishing have not embraced. In many cases, sales don't give them reason to...but that is perhaps because some authors haven't seen the value in promoting their books as crossover books.

They really should.

We are in the Golden Age of Picture Book Biography, and that's good news whether or not backpacks and pigtails are still part of your routine. If a book is well-written, who cares how many (or few) words it has? Less is, as always, more. (Except, perhaps, with Twitter.) More than a couple of adults have told me that they actually prefer to learn about a subject in a picture book as opposed to a longer text. In our overscheduled modern lives, that's just good time management.

Of course, other adults feel that getting an introduction to a subject via a picture book is embarrassing. But it seems hypocritical to dismiss a relatively short, well-written nonfiction book simply because it has custom illustrations instead of photographs (or instead of no images at all).

Why? Well, since when are pictures just for children? We have all encountered adults who have art on their walls, pillars of photo albums, and something besides a solid color as their computer background—not to mention coffee table books brimming with glorious images. (With respect, I don't know anyone who has bought a coffee table book to read it.)

And you can't name a mainstream magazine or web site that doesn't consider strong visuals as important as strong reporting and writing. Visual literacy—learning how to read a layout dominated by graphics—is a growing topic in education and everyday life.

On a commercial note, one so obvious yet infrequently discussed, writing a book that attracts (and is accessible to) both kids and adults increases an author's market potential.

Though good illustrated nonfiction can have an all-ages audience, that is not the only reason I feel we are in the Golden Age of Picture Book Biography. Overall, the quality of writing in new nonfiction picture books has never been richer.

The days of starting a picture book biography with "Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in Kentucky" are as dead and buried as, well, Abraham Lincoln. Vivid language is imperative, but it's about more than that. It's also about approach. Biographies don't need to start with birth and end with death (or success). The illustrated portion of Boys of Steel covers only about ten years, roughly 1930 to 1940, though I do address what happened next in a text-only, three-page author's note. Nonfiction picture book writers have more freedom in terms of structure and style than ever before.

What's more, a healthy number of nonfiction picture book biographies profile people who (to my knowledge) have not had any previous trade book (for kids or otherwise) to themselves. Even Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, brains behind one of pop culture's most ubiquitous figures, were virgins in the standalone biography genre before Boys of Steel. They've been integral parts of larger comics histories (notably Men of Tomorrow and Superman: A Complete History), but they've never had a book just about them.

A quick and therefore criminally incomplete list of picture book biographies that are forerunners of their subjects (which in some cases means at least one other book on the same subject has come out, but only after the picture book):

• The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors (color inventors)
• Strong Man: The Story of Charles Atlas (bodybuilder/marketing wizard)
• The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins (modeler of life-sized dinosaurs)
• Sawdust and Spangles: The Amazing Life of W.C. Coup (circus/aquarium pioneer)
• Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor (first woman to get a patent)
• Fartiste (about Joseph Pujol, who turned flatulence into performance art)
  
• America's Champion Swimmer: Gertrude Ederle (first woman to swim the English Channel)

Dang. That list should be longer. If you can, please add to (and correct) it in the comments.

And then there are plenty of picture book biographies that come out after an "adult" biography, but an adult biography that did not get wide exposure or is out of print. I have examples but I will spare you for now. Suffice it to say we are talking about some fascinating individuals.

Just because a person has not been the focus of a biography before does not mean his story is not worth telling. Aren't we all perpetually hungry for "new" stories? Nonfiction writers are also detectives. I often feel the more unknown a figure (or an accomplishment of a well-known figure), the more engaging a book about him/it can be: "How could I have not heard about this before?" What writer would not take that as a high compliment?

So what about the youth audience for picture books? A subject for a future post. In the meantime, let's recap.

This is the Golden Age of Picture Book Biography because...

• it's really an all-ages format, despite how many such books are marketed
• visual literacy has become essential in our graphics-heavy digital age
• picture book nonfiction is written with more flourish than ever before
• in our ever-busier era, concise writing is in high demand
• increasingly, picture book biographies are the first biographies on certain people
• everyone likes pictures

Pictures sure would have made this long post go by faster...

Death comes for Supermen

On 4/17/09, I was one of the authors appearing at a book fair at the Birch Wathen Lenox School in New York City. Each author read to an assigned class, took questions, then returned to the book fair to sign books. Here is a (going on memory) exchange after I read my class Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman:

student 1: Are Jerry and Joe still alive?
me: No, Jerry died in 1996 and Joe died in 1992.
student 2: Didn't Superman also die?
me: There have been Superman stories for 70 years. He's died several times but always comes back. His most publicized death was in 1992.
student 3: So Superman and Joe died in the same year. That's weird.
me: You know, that is weird.

Speaking of milestones, 71 years ago today, Action Comics #1 went on sale.

A risk of writing about the living

I wrote a book called Vanished: True Tales of the Missing that is due out in January from Scholastic. It consists of seven (non-illustrated, 3,000-word) true stories about people who disappeared under a diverse range of circumstances.

Half (well, four) of them were never heard from again. The rest resurfaced between a day and more than 30 years after they went missing. Some were swallowed up by the wilderness, others dropped off the radar in urban environments. The youngest was five. The oldest was in his late fifties.

All the disappearances happened within the last 100 years—the earliest in 1925, latest in 2007. Some of these people are still alive. Of those, I had several burning questions about one, so I tried to contact that person.

Let's call this person A. The person who responded on behalf of A (let's call that person B) was more than kind and helpful.

But B also had three requests:

• to edit my piece about A before it was published
• to receive six copies of the book
• to be paid for inclusion in the book

Many writers would balk instantly at the first request. "No one edits me but my editor!" But I was happy to agree to that—as always, I wanted the piece to be as accurate as possible. Plus I would be under no obligation to accept every (or any) suggestion. The second request was fine by me if the publisher supported it. The third...

I've written professionally about real people since 2001 but had never encountered this issue before. By the time I wrote about them, most were no longer with us in body, with one exception: Rosa Parks. However, enough books have been written about her that she probably no longer paid attention to any new ones coming out (or at least mine!).

B said that if my book profiled four people (B knew that it was a collection but did not know how many stories exactly), then each of them could get 5% of the profits, leaving me 80%. B wanted A to also benefit if Hollywood came hollering. B did not want me to take advantage of A. I fully understand that. I have written a book about Bill Finger, for heaven's sake.

But with a word of support from my editor and agent, I wrote B to explain the following as delicately but clearly as possible:

• writers need not pay public figures (as A is) to write about them, as per the First Amendment; if biographers and journalists had to pay the people they interview or profile, newspapers would be even slimmer than they already are and biography sections of bookstores would be practically nonexistent
  
• writers do not get 80% of a book's profits—not by a long shot (publisher, agent, bookseller get some, too—if there is any profit)
• I contacted A to be sure I was telling A's story accurately; I assumed a side effect of this would be that A would appreciate the open line of communication and would feel I wanted to do right by A

B then (politely) responded that their request for payment was non-negotiable and repeated her concerns about profit and Hollywood. I elaborated on the following:

• how writers typically get paid (advance against royalty, with no guarantee that they will ever sell enough copies to earn a royalty)
• how unlikely it is that Hollywood would look to a book like this (compilation nonfiction for a young audience) in search of material
• that if a producer did approach me with interest in A's story, I would have to come to A before doing anything else—as I understand it, I would actually need to acquire A's life rights
  

I emphasized to B that A's inspirational story would have a powerful effect on young people, hoping that would discourage B from demanding (morally or legally) that I remove A's story from the book. I also told B that my book does not preclude anyone else from writing on A. In fact, I encouraged B to seek out an official biographer for A, if that was of interest. I think A's story could make a lovely picture book. I just don't feel I'm the guy for it.

When one does great things, as A has, others will naturally want to write about it. I'm grateful that we live in a society that allows this to happen without impediment.

My last response to B was more than two months ago and I haven't heard back. I think A and B now see.

Houston, we have a program

Board game created by student at Walker Elementary in Katy, TX,
based on Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman; see more below

From 3/29-4/1/09, I was in Texas—my first time there. I did author programs at five wonderful schools, culminating with the one that initiated the trip, Beth Yeshurun. Several other authors and author/illustrators were also guest speakers at that school's daylong Young Authors Celebration.

My warm welcome at Poe Elementary in Houston

Walker Elementary, Katy, TX; this and next two photos
courtesy of James Broadhead

Large Boys of Steel welcome cards made by students at Walker Elementary,
plus books to sign

More board games students created based on Boys of Steel

My three favorite signs of the trip, all spotted while I was driving and none that you'd likely see in the Northeast:

"In Need of BBQ Lovers" (bumper sticker)
"Honey Bee Removal" (handwritten sign stuck in dirt by side of road)
"Truck Accident Lawyer" (billboard)

What I love about that last one is the specialization. Car accident? This is not your guy, apparently.

I probably would have noticed more gems but my GPS had trouble with Houston's loop—the road that laps around the highways. Or rather, I had trouble with my GPS's interpretation of the loop. See, seems the loop has different names in different places, and most of those places (at least the ones I drove on) didn't have clear signs.

And speaking of barbecue, I received welcome letters from the students at Walker, and this was my favorite comment from them (sounds like a high compliment coming from a Texan):

"I like the Boys of Steel book better than my mom's steak and BBQ."

Burr Elementary

On 3/23/09, I had the pleasure of speaking at Burr Elementary in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Here's an article about it. Some details are a wee bit off (i.e. I write articles, not draw cartoons, for Nickelodeon; an editor, not a publisher, helps me improve my work; I began drawing earlier than age 8, like most kids; etc.), but certainly nothing that will cause anyone any heartache.

Recent school visits

This charming display was in the library at Ox Ridge Elementary in Darien, Connecticut:

Springdale Elementary in Stamford, Connecticut, kindly rescheduled a snow day for later the same week, generously ordered lots of books for the students, and offered me a choice of ten colors of Sharpie to sign them (for the first time in memory, I went with blue instead of black):

You won't get these hard-hitting stories anywhere else online.

Six Flags, more than six books

Last year, I pitched Six Flags several in-park promotions involving Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman. I also asked if they'd carry the book in their stores. (Some Six Flags locations feature Superman-themed rides.)

They kindly considered my promotional ideas but ultimately said no. They were also willing to consider the book, but I believe it was coming out too late in the summer (late July) for them.

This year, however, they are taking a chance on the book. I don't think I can reveal how many they committed to, but I can say it is more than six.

I realize people don't have a book-buying mindset when they go to an amusement park, but the Superman synergy was too tempting to dismiss.

And hey, even weaker connections exist. Whole Foods was selling DVDs of Shrek 2.

New York Public Library's "100 Books for Reading and Sharing 2008"

Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman made the New York Public Library's list of "100 Books for Reading and Sharing 2008" (non-fiction category). Congrats to the other authors, distinguished company indeed.

My editor told me this in October but I've been waiting until the list went online to mention it here. That didn't happen until sometime in the last couple of weeks.

Here are lists from past years.