Remember that over-achieving kid in your high school class who was on the varsity basketball team, President of the Student Body, AND played a mean guitar solo in the talent show? That’s J.E. Fishman…only in the publishing world. He’s been an accomplished editor at Doubleday, owned his own literary agency, and is a published non-fiction author. Did we mention he has a few novels and a screenplay in the pipeline?

But the best thing about J.E. is that he’s willing to share his experiences to help aspiring writers out there learn the lessons he has accumulated over his many years in the business. WordHustler sat down with J.E. to discuss how fast the industry moves, how much moxie it takes to survive, and why no one owes you a read. Hint: make sure you grab your reader from the start!

Read on to learn from J.E.’s heartaches, triumphs, and vision. You won’t be sorry!

WordHustler: You’ve been involved in pretty much every aspect of the publishing industry, from editor to agent to author. How long have you been writing?

J.E. Fishman: Like anyone who aspires to be published, in some sense I’ve been writing all my life.  I wrote stories as a kid.  Wherever I go - walking down the street, driving in the car - I see stories.  Recently, I was getting rid of an old office computer and had to laboriously wipe the hard drive clean one file at a time.  It was full of reading notes, book ideas - most important, story ideas.

WH: When you were an editor at Doubleday, which types of books/authors did you work with?

JEF: The books ran the gamut of non-fiction, from the equestrian library to true crime, business, sports, narrative non-fiction.  When I left Doubleday, I had a lot of credibility with journalists, so I ended up specializing in narrative non-fiction, though I agented the occasional novel.

WH: What is the main difference between being an editor now and when you were one?

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Gather round, boys and girls, and prepared to be transported to a magical world of…publishing success. That’s right. Ann Whitford Paul is the proud author of 19 children’s books and a brand-new, uber-helpful tome: “Writing Picture Books: A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication.”

WordHustler was lucky enough to be able to sit down with Ann to ask about her writing experiences, being represented, and getting published…many, many times. Stay tuned at the end of the interview for a special trivia question about children’s books- the winner receives a free copy of Ann’s “Writing Picture Books” (and will be that much closer to children’s book success themselves!).

So here we go! Once upon a time…

WordHustler: How did you get into writing? I know you studied Sociology, then decided to pursue children’s book writing after having your own children. How did you actually go about doing it (getting represented, getting published, etc)?

Ann Whitford Paul: Reading books to my children inspired me to try writing books that other grown-ups and children could share.  I thought since the books were short, they would be easy too.  Ha!  Their briefness is exactly what makes them so difficult.  I wrote for five years before I sold my first book (published in 1986 and long out of print).  I did not work with an agent until after I’d sold my second book.  Since then I’ve had several different agents and am now representing myself.

WH: What were some of your favorite books as a child? What were some of your children’s favorite books?

AWP: My favorite books as a child were THE STORY OF FERDINAND and THE SECRET GARDEN, both of which I still enjoy and my children did too.  Their favorite books were CURIOUS GEORGE and they loved Russell Hoban’s FRANCES books, too.

WH: Do you feel like there is a big difference between children’s books today and the books you read to your children?

AWP: There’s a huge difference between the books today and the books my kids loved.  First of all, books are much bigger in size and brighter.  Publishers understand that glitzy covers entice customers in bookstores to pick up a book.  Also I think books are much louder and filled with lots and lots of action.  This is a shame.  Children in this noisy and fast-paced world need slower quieter books more than ever.

WH: Besides yourself, of course, who are some of your favorite children’s book writers out there?

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A Southern Writer Never Kisses and Tells: An Interview with Mindy Friddle

Somewhere in a plant-choked garden in South Carolina, journalist-turned-novelist Mindy Friddle is planting some succulents in an old, broken-down cowboy boot. She’s also thinking about characters and scenes for her next novel, giving them space to roam around in her head. Mindy Friddle is the real deal, folks: a bona fide Southern lady and a talented writer to boot (pun completely intended).

WordHustler sat down with Mindy to get a feel for her writing experiences, her personal writing style, and why you have to talk to everyone about your project (answer: because it may just land you your dream agent).

Read on to explore the magical world of Mindy Friddle’s fertile mind!

WordHustler: How did you get your first big break? I know you have a journalism background- what was the first thing you ever published?

Mindy Friddle: I began writing for my college newspaper, and I found I really took to writing features as opposed to hard news.  As a senior in college, I also wrote a poem and had it published in the college literary magazine. I loved the process of writing that poem– figuring out the ideal word, concentrating on imagery. When I graduated, with a very marketable degree in philosophy (ha) I took a job as a newspaper reporter for a tiny weekly newspaper. I covered everything–town council, school board, and business, but still gravitated toward writing features and columns.

A couple of years later, I was in graduate school working on a Master’s and getting certified to teach English, and I took a class with James Dickey and a prose workshop. From then on, it was a matter of mustering the courage to write fiction. I yearned to do it, even in the face of rejection. I wrote some stories, had them turned down, wrote some more, and finally, when I started with an image of a decaying homestead for my first novel, The Garden Angel, I was on fire.

I worked on the draft, revised, wrote some more for several years. The story had a momentum of its own. I love when that happens! My first big break– well I was blessed to have several: the first chapter of The Garden Angel won an award in my state, and was published in the Charleston newspaper. That was a clipping…my first. Enough to send in a query to an agent, which I later did. A second break– going to Breadloaf Writers Conference, where I met Julianna Baggott, whose first novel Girl Talk, was coming out, and who struck me as an immensely talented writer and generous person. She’s a friend now, and when I asked her–a stranger really, then–if she was pleased with her agent, she had glowing things to say about the agency, and encouraged me to contact them, and to mention that she sent me. To make a long story short, I queried the agency, sent in my lone “clipping” and the first three chapters. They agreed to work with me.

WH: I know you are an accomplished book reviewer as well as author. What kinds of books are your favorite to review? More so, what type of books are your favorite to read?

MF: I love reviewing books I’ve enjoyed. In fact, I won’t review books that I didn’t like or didn’t connect with for whatever reason. It’s subjective–taste– and life’s too short not to praise books and share them. I’m an eclectic reader and often recommend books on my blog, Novel Thoughts (http://mindyfriddle.blogspot.com/). Some of my all time favorite novels–this is a very partial list: Ironweed by William Kennedy, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, every novel written by Ann Tyler, The White Hotel by DM Thomas, The Hours by Michael Cunningham, The World According to Garp by John Irving, Norwood by Charles Portis, Veronica by Mary Gaitskill, Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, Amy and Isabel by Elizabeth Strout, Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo…and lots of Southern faves: Jill McCorkle, Lee Smith, Allan Garganus, Josephine Humphreys, Carson McCullers, Kaye Gibbons, Eudora Welty, Michael Lee West–Crazy Ladies, love it– Fannie Flagg. On and on.

WH: Now for the part everyone wants to hear about: how did you land an agent? Was your first book, The Garden Angel, finished at the time? How many agents did you approach before landing one?

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