I appear to have taken an accidental blogging hiatus. Whoops! That was certainly never my intention. However it has much to do with my post today, and my incredibly busy summer. Last time I blogged, I’d just finished my internships in London, which provided copious amounts of interesting things to write about. I got back home and had a week long break, then started working on writing up my Major Project. A whole summer to plan and write and research marketing LGBTQ* inclusive YA, how wonderful.

And then I accidentally got a job. *cue screeching disc scratch*

A bulletin went up via the Brookes publishing MA website. Oxford University Press were looking for an intern in the children's trade marketing and publicity department. Having just finished a month LOVING publicity at Headline, and knowing full well that children's/YA was my area of interest, this opportunity was a dream come true. I weighed up the options (Sally’s email reminded us that getting full time employment was not grounds for an extension on our project deadlines) and decided that the job was too great to pass up.

I went in for the interview with Hattie Bayly and Charlotte Armstrong and soon learned that the internship was in fact a short contract job. Oh again!!! 

There had been a crossed wire and a full time grown up actual real job was not what I was expecting from the advertisement, but this was so much better. Luckily everything went well at the interview, and I was asked to join the OUP Children’s Trade team. Myself and fellow Brookes alumna, Alesha Bonser, stepped into the very capable shoes of Publicity Executive Jennie Younger. Armed with Jennie’s two folders of notes about how to run the office, we were off - planning events, sending out Winnie the Witch costumes, writing up press releases, sending review mailings, meeting wonderful authors such as Tom Moorhouse at the launch of The River Singers, posting to the Oxford Owl page, talking to bloggers, designing marketing materials and living the dream.

And so began a summer of working full time. As well as continuing to work my ‘every other weekend’ Saturday job at The Book House...and let's not forget that major project shall we? EEP!!!

Sunday’s were generally spent sleeping and typing furiously. (Apologies to all the friends with whom I had to cancel plans!)

The project was finally handed in (after a lot of hard work and late nights) at the end of September, thanks to the help of Helena Markou, Liz Chapman, Beth Howard, Beth Cox, Zoe Marriott, James Dawson, Nina Douglas, Malinda Lo and more. Check out Erica Gillingham's brilliant introduction to UK LGBTQ YA on Malinda's diversity ya site! Now I just can’t wait to put some of my ideas into practice. Let’s hope lots more people choose to write and submit LGBTQ* inclusive fiction to receptive editors and agents (such as Non Pratt at Catnip Books) and that the UK market for diverse fiction will grow with our encouragement.

Working at OUP has definitely been a steep learning curve, stepping away from being a student to having a full time job. In the run up to my MA project deadline, I was organising OUP attendance at two festivals and accompanying authors to their events as their publicist. It’s sometimes felt like running up hill in a strong wind, but it has been an absolute blast.

I got to take my Mum's knitted sea monkey to star on stage alongside Sarah McIntyre and Philip Reeve at Cheltenham for Oliver and the Seawigs. I LOVE this snazzy illustrated book for young readers with big imaginations, and meeting Sarah and Philip was so much fun. I had the EEP Monkey song stuck in my head for days and even got to try my hand at illustrating. Check out a chance to win your own family portrait from Sarah here.

I somehow squeezed in other events along the way.  Neil Gaiman and Philip Pullman discussed favourite children’s books at the Oxford Playhouse, followed by a marathon signing where I was armed with post-its and sharpies assisting Sam Eades once again. A trip to the Nosy Crow children's publishing conference meant that I got to meet the lovely Stacey of prettybooks and I bumped into Lucy from Project UKYA at David Levithan event during Bath Festival. We were thrilled that Every Day was FINALLY published in the UK!! I even managed to fight off the post-deadline flu and see Queen of Teen, Maureen Johnson in conversation with James Dawson at Waterstones Piccadilly. (I stole her stare). A jam packed, incredible, (slightly exhausting), thrilling summer indeed.

Last Sunday was my last ever day at The Book House. Covering during Thame Arts and Literature Festival, I said goodbye to the shop that I've worked at since I was seventeen. Eight years is a long time, and the shop has very much shaped who I am and who I will be. I was delighted to see how much support there was for the Books Are My Bag campaign - for which we decked out Fat Puffin in orange balloons and a fetching t-shirt. Now I plan to use my free Saturdays browsing their shelves and maybe I'll have enough time to actually dip into some of the wonderful and exciting books to be found on them. Huge thanks to Luise and Brian for allowing me to learn from their expertise for so many enjoyable years. 

But there are book reviews I need to write and a MOUNTAIN of books I want to read, and with some upcoming exciting projects, I'm determined now to get back into maintaining this blog with my adventures working in publishing... 

Charlieinabook is back!

Feel free to ask any questions below about what the first few months in a new job has been like, I'd love to know what might intrigue you about the experience, especially if you want to get into publishing yourself. 

After spending a week sightseeing in Italy, the sun shone more for London Book Fair than Bologna.The venue at Earl’s Court was buzzing with digital news, publishing plans and author events. Kobo adverts spread across the building in banners and the HarperCollins, Bonnier, Penguin and Random House stands prominently displayed their new titles. Whilst Bologna felt more personal, thousands of stands pressed close together in halls filled with friends and professionals discussing business for 2013-14.

Volunteering on Tuesday provided the perfect opportunity to sit in on a series of talks and learn about the current publishing climate. My duties for the day ranged from answering queries from the attendants, providing water for the speakers and greeting them to the room, and acting as microphone runner during Q&A sessions. 

I was situated in the Old Press Office with the Children's seminars which means I have a lot of exciting things to blog about! 

The first talk I was asked to help out with was the Booktrust Equal Measures panel, discussing inclusion and diversity in books for Children and Young Adults. Having attended the LGBT YA talk in February and then been lucky enough to have Beth Cox from Inclusive Minds come to talk to the Children’s Publishing class at Brookes, I was particularly excited to listen to what the panel had to say. The talk was introduced by Alexandra Strick who demonstrated the brilliant talking pen poster for Inclusive Minds. This gave voice to children’s experiences of seeing themselves represented in fiction and books. “Why are children like me always the sidekick and never the main character?”

The incredible Verna Wilkins delivered her key note speech, and gave the audience a short history of Tamarind Books, the publishing house she established to give black children like her son images of themselves in stories. Her message was that if you want to change something, you can, just be proactive and prepare to fight for your voice to be heard. Good teachers recognise that education is a widening of experiences so Tamarind books sold well in schools. And in response to booksellers saying that their customers didn’t look like her characters, Verna’s son recognised that her response was going to be “You got a lot of Gruffalos around here?” and promptly distracted her. Beth pointed out that the best kind of inclusion is incidental, not making a statement for the sake of “issues” or ticking off a box, but simply representing the world as it is. All children need to see diversity in books to provide a true representation of the world and learn to be open minded. Fen Coles from Letterbox Library listed some gaps in the current publishing landscape for inclusion: books representing transgender characters, diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, children with mental health issues and disabilities, and more. She posed the challenge of writing material that excluded use of gender pronouns full stop and simply explored children living their lives and pursuing their interests as individuals. She also warned against the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes for example villains portrayed as scarred. 

PHD student Erica Gillingham researches LGBT* inclusive books and says that yes books are out there, despite the lack of awareness for mainstream business. She pointed out that when it comes to love and romance for LGBT* characters, the US is leaps and bounds ahead of the UK (as was discussed during the LGBT* YA panel in February) and that even then the majority of characters were cis!male white teens in America. The B and the T in the umbrella need a lot more exploration. She recommended Malinda Lo’s science fiction YA novel Adaptation for an excellent representation of a bisexuality, but could only name four trans* books for the young adult market. I've just finished reading LR Lam's YA novel Pantomime which features an intersex character and fluid sexuality, with a futuristic fantasy setting and scenes of circus life.

The key advice for the industry was “Be brave, little things make a difference, avoid negative stereotypes, think about language and be inclusive.”

The ‘New Demands On, and Support For, Writers’ panel chaired by author Justin Somper, featured many of the buzz words of LBF13. Author Sarah McIntyre (jabberwocks) championed blogging as a means of networking by building an author brand. She also discussed supportive initiatives such as SCWBI and Society of Authors to hone skills. Curtis Brown Literary Agent Stephanie Thwaites and Bookbrunch journalist Liz Thompson discussed the merits and pitfalls of writing courses. Although much of the audience seemed to appreciate the feeling of companionship and the advice offered, Liz warned that research is vital to finding suitable courses that provide reasonable advice. Sarah McIntyre suggested a compromise, requesting chunkable courses that focus on improving key areas such as social media writing and management. This would help publishers and authors manage the demands on writers to become brand names, generating their own PR and participating on the festival circuit. Another suggestion came from the audience who suggested booksellers are often happy to run events with authors not present if they are later contactable for feedback or competition judges for individuals.

In the panel discussing “What’s Poetry’s Problem?” the speakers suggested that digital routes such as YouTube and twitter provided an excellent route for engaging young readers in poetry as spoken performance. They noted that children love poetry and rhyme (The Gruffalo is in rhyme after all) and that it is parents and teachers who are uncertain and lack confidence in teaching the material, perhaps because Key Stage 3 poetry encourages writing and reading, whereas GCSE poetry becomes heavily analytical. Penguin have launched a Poetry by Heart app which gives an audio visual experience. This was also referred to during the digistories panel about enhanced books. PenguinUSA’s poetry app has received much fever after its recent release, making learning interactive. However drawbacks include the trouble with free apps with monetized stages embedded within, and the controversies surrounding hidden costs after point of purchase. The panel agreed that there is indeed a future in enhanced fiction, but the work at the moment is a constantly evolving process with kinks still to be worked out on a trial and error basis. Fellow OICPS student, Judith Paskin, has been researching the books/ebooks/apps popularity among children in the Oxfordshire area. Her research shows that older children are more jaded about the gadgets and need more enticing to consider them stories. But that they are more likely to choose their own books with the anonymity of online buying (parents credit card access aside!) The most important thing for publishers to do is ensure that interactivity is right, that digital isn't just a distraction from the flow of reading. A sentiment shared by the publishers on the panel.

Digital received a huge buzz throughout the fair, from the opening conference talk with Neil Gaiman asking publishers to take risks and think big and fail better, to smaller projects such as the Random House initiative sourcing teen authors in their Movellas competition. The final talk in the Old Press Office discussed the future of enhanced fiction. Sarah Benton demonstrated the utility of Sally Gardner’s Maggot Moon iBook which provides video and sound insight into the mind of a dyslexic reader as well as factual research surrounding the narrative. Hot Key Books have also been involved in an on-going online writing project Story Adventure for young children, in which they collaborate with author Fleur Hitchcock to write the sequel to her fiction book Shrunk!. Gaming developers suggested the epic world building around fantasy novels provided the most exciting opportunity for the end users, authors and gamers alike. The most important factor to separate gaming from publishing books was the involvement of authors and a clear narrative. Publishers are experts in story and need to bring those skills to the table when collaborating with the technical departments.

In all the experience of volunteering at London Book Fair was extremely beneficial. I met many industry insiders, was able to discuss areas of interest, research New Product Development by observing companies operate. Most of all it was fun and rewarding experience. Maybe next year I will get to attend as a professional publisher, rather than bookseller and student!

I shall be writing a follow up blog in the next few days on the two New Adult panels I attended, with author Abbi Glines, Liz Bankes and Tanya Byrne, so keep an eye out for "New Adult and YA and Steamies, oh my!" and in the meantime here's a sneak peek featured on the Oxford Brookes Publishing site.

‘While the US has seen an explosion of LGBT books for teens, there are still relatively few in the UK. This panel discussion from Booktrust asks why this is, and does it matter?’ Free Word Lecture Theatre 

“Y'all should come to that free event. @hayleywrites and I will be discussing why LGBT characters are underrepresented in YA fiction.#YAlit” - James Dawson.

Having spotted an exciting looking retweet announcing the event on my feed two weeks ago from Children’s Book Circle, I ventured out on my own to London on Thursday evening for an evening discussing inclusion and representation in Young Adult literature.

Chaired by Booktrust’s Alex Strick, (@stricolo) who works to make children’s literature accurately reflect diverse society, the event was devised to promote and prompt discussion into an obvious gap in the UK market.

As they worked to compile a list of diversity books for their website, Booktrust were surprised to realise just how few books there are out there that feature lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans* characters. They asked themselves, how can we change this? Nikki Marsh suggested taking a risk and organising an evening of discussion to get the ball rolling. So Nikki, Katherine and Alex assembled an expert panel.

James Dawson is the author of Hollow Pike, a dark adventure which follows a coven of friends, Liz (who identifies straight), Kitty and Delilah (a lesbian couple) and questioning Jack. Written partly as a response to the rise in the supernatural fiction and also from the feeling that he’d never read a book that reflected he and his friends growing up in West Yorkshire. When it came to crafting the friendship group of core characters, Dawson says ‘it never occurred to me not to include queer characters in there.’ (Queer is the term he uses as the children are still discovering themselves and aren’t assigning themselves labels). His characters are driven by their differences, but their difference is that they are witches, not whom they love. They likewise struggle with deadlines, parents and ‘universal experiences.’

In his next novel Cruel Summer, his gay protagonist is an evil teen who (spoiler alert) discovers a body in his swimming pool...because, as Dawson says: ‘Just because you’re gay, doesn’t mean you’re a special snowflake.’

Author Hayley Long wrote 2012 Costa Award shortlisted What’s Up With Jody Barton. She describes her book as ‘sneaky’, and admits that she never set out to write a gay character, Jody ‘found her’ and he crept up as a reaction against writing the same old. She likes to challenge herself as a reader and a writer, and she’d never been a gay teen boy. When asking herself whether or not she could do it, she decided to ‘give it a go, what does it matter?’ With its hot pink jacket and lack of identifiable pronouns on the dust jacket and far into the narrative, Long hoped that her book would encourage her established readership of young teen girls ‘to put on a pair of shoes they weren’t expecting.’ It is essentially a story about an unrequited crush, an experience to which we all can relate.

Catherine Hennigan is a 3rd Year Social and Political Sciences student and Lesbian Convenor at the University of York, working to promote diversity and equality in the workplace with the stonewall young talent program. She discussed her experiences at school, seeking out characters she could identify with at the library and often coming up empty. The titles available often were written by American authors, about circumstances that were unfamiliar, and often showed caricatures rather than characters. She also explained the sense of feeling that she didn’t want to out herself and be seen with ‘the gay book.’ As readers, queer identifying people should be granted the same anonymity of discovery as heterosexual readers, and with the current lack of titles available the ‘rainbow flag’ LGBT books stand out as something somehow other.

Hot Key Books representative, editor Emily Thomas, explains that recently the manuscripts being submitted can have the problem of becoming issue led rather than story focused. The characters identity must be better woven into plot led, well-structured and beautifully written books. Furthermore there is a certain amount of sensitivity that must be taken with portraying people in stories rather than an umbrella of identity. Hot Key Books most recent success with Sally Gardner’s Maggot Moon which touches briefly on a male/male kiss is ‘ultimately about love’ and friendship, yet the plot remains the focus of the story and the protagonists are well rounded individuals. The story is also about dyslexia, dystopia and drive.

Marketing LGBT books is tricky, juggling at once how to highlight the inclusion of characters to those who are purposefully seeking them out and resisting excluding readers from feeling the book is ‘for them.’ The internet is a powerful tool in helping LGBT identifying readers discover books that reflect their wants, with online book groups and lists on sites such as amazon, goodreads and and Booktrust hopes to continue the discussion and create an expanding list of available titles in the UK. Hayley Long explains that she didn't want her readers to pass on by her book before deciding to read it by clearly labelling it as a gay book, and that by not including the identifiers on the book blurb, readers follow Jody on his journey without prejudice.

There is a demand for more books featuring lesbian and gay characters, as people should see themselves reflected in literature they consume. As Cat Hennigan says ‘everybody should be reading these books’ so as to normalise society in the way it is consumed by the public. Dawson agrees that although LGBT readers may be a minority, heterosexual members of society are still ‘living with us’ and therefore the books aren’t just ‘special books for special people’ but a realistic representation of the reality of the world we live in and share. As society becomes more open to equality, political debate surrounding marriage equality takes significant strides forward, and media such as television and film introduce LGBT characters, it is strange that the publishing industry is falling behind.

As I work on my Major Project looking into strategies for marketing LGBT YA lit during 2013, this event was incredibly insightful and useful (and funny!) 

I hope to see more events such as this from Booktrust and others in the future.  

Find out more information at the Free Word page 

Keep an eye out for the Podcast read Katherine Woodfine's blog about the event here

Free Word is an international centre for literature, literacy and free expression. It aims to push boundaries to promote, protect and democratise the power of the written and spoken word for creative and free expression.