Viva Scriva guest post: Are we there yet? How to know when your manuscript’s ready to submit, to whom, and why!

Posted on May 6, 2013 by

Hello friends,

This last week, we had the pleasure of writing a guest post on the Viva Scriva blog.

Viva Scriva is a Portland, Oregon-based critique group whose members are “…writers of picture books, middle grade, YA, textbooks, graphic novels, fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, folklore, and nonfiction.” They are also “…mothers, artists, geneticists, lawyers, ski instructors, magazine editors, teachers, students, librarians, linguists, and book lovers.” Amassed together, they speak “French, Romanian, Spanish, German, and a smidgen of Portuguese, Dutch, Swahili, and Ancient Greek, and have published over 33 books and have hundreds articles in many well-known magazines.” Phew!

In our guest post, we decided to tackle a common question that pops up in writers groups everywhere: how polished should your manuscript be before you submit, and why is it important, as a writer, to ask yourself that question?

Read the post here, and find out more about the lovely ladies of Viva Scriva here.

We hope that everyone has had a chance to enjoy the spring weather we’ve been getting lately. Sarah’s in Hawaii for the week, and I’m spending as much time outside as humanly possible, working some much-needed sunshine into my vitamin-D-deprived skin!

Cheers,

Sylvia

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We’re going to Write to Publish: Are you?

Posted on February 22, 2013 by

Happy Friday, folks!

I know that this is a bit late, notice-wise, but I wanted to pop in and let you know that I will be tabling as a vendor at this year’s Write to Publish conference!

W2P

The all-day conference is hosted by Sarah’s and my alma mater, Ooligan Press at Portland State University, and in the past has played host to such literary luminaries as Chuck Palahniuk and Ursula Le Guin. This year, the Author Stage will feature Portland writer Lidia Yuknavitch (The Chronology of Water) among many others.

Each year, Write to Publish aims to demystify the publishing industry from the ground up. The theme for 2013 is “Write What You Know,” highlighting all things nonfiction on both the Author Stage and in the many workshops and panels held throughout the day.

I’ll be set up in the vendor room from 9am through 5pm and would love to chat, so please do stop by and say hi!

Cheers and hope to see you this Saturday,

Sylvia

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Happy 2013 everyone!

Posted on January 21, 2013 by

Hi friends,

Well, I don’t know about you all, but I’m certainly having a rough time coming to terms with the fact that it’s already the fourth week of January!

New Year’s Eve 2012 proved memorable for both of us here at Ex Libris, with me celebrating in the San Francisco Bay Area with friends and family and Sarah exploring what the Denver scene has to offer for her first New Year’s celebration as a Colorado girl.

2013 has started off well for both myself and Sarah, too, with a few fun new projects in the works and some exciting plans for the rest of the year.

Speaking of plans for 2013, I thought I’d kick us off with a little rundown of some of the excellent events, conferences, expos, etc. coming up in the first half of the year across the country. My personal goal is to make it to at least one of these this year…what about you?

And that’s just in the first six months of 2013! There are so many more opportunities to cultivate your craft, meet new people in your industry, and get your work out into the world coming up post-July, but for now, I think we’ve got plenty to look forward to in the next few months.

Take care everyone, and again, Happy New Year!

Cheers,

Sylvia

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Welcome, Loose Leaf Literary Agency!

Posted on October 29, 2012 by

Greetings and happy autumn to everyone.

Things have been a bit on the busy side for the two of us lately, and we’re sorry we haven’t been around that much to fill you in on what’s been happening with us here at Ex Libris as well as on what’s brewing in the publishing community at large. Speaking of the latter, we’ve resurfaced from our sea of reference tomes, coffee cups, and red chicken-scratch in the margins to tell you about an exciting development: the opening of Portland, Oregon’s newest full-service literary agency!

Loose Leaf Literary Agency is headed up by publishing professionals Casey Woodworth and Kristen Svenson. The agency launched officially just a few weekends ago at this year’s Wordstock Festival. Already generating a lot of curious and enthusiastic talk in the Portland literary world, these ladies have big plans and even bigger stores of expertise in the fields of editorial, rights and contract negotiation, publicity, and more to share with their clientele.

We are so excited to see Loose Leaf breaking out onto both the local and national/international publishing stages, and can’t wait to see where the future takes Loose Leaf and their authors.

Welcome, ladies!

Loose Leaf Literary Agency is currently accepting fiction, nonfiction, and poetry submissions. Contact Loose Leaf Literary Agency at their website here, and like them on Facebook here.

Best,

S&S

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News news news!

Posted on August 5, 2012 by

Hello friends,

We’re sorry it’s been so long since we’ve posted. Things have been quite busy ’round these parts, and we’d love to fill you in on what’s been going on over the past few months and also on what’s coming up next.

First, we are happy to announce that, starting in late September, Sylvia will be going full-time with Ex Libris Editing. For the past six months, she has been splitting her busy schedule between Ex Libris and her other position as a Student Success Coach. Starting this fall, she will be devoting herself 100 percent to the cultivation of Ex Libris Editing’s current ventures and to the pursuit of vibrant new client relationships alongside Co-Owner Sarah Heilman.

Speaking of Sarah, she up and left! Portland, that is. Sarah has relocated to beautiful Denver, Colorado, and is busy maintaining strong relationships with her current clients while simultaneously exploring the possibilities of our ever-expanding market (in between hiking, running, and soaking up all that gorgeous mountain air). This is an exciting change for us both, and we’re looking forward to the many opportunities that the future holds.

Lastly, we’ve got some awesome projects in the pipes at present, and are actively seeking new projects for fall. So spread the word, tell your friends, and give us a shout!

Happy summer and best wishes,

S+S

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Author Philip Pullman calls time on the present tense, the first person

Posted on February 24, 2012 by

“If every sound you emit is a scream, a scream has no expressive value. What I dislike about the present-tense narrative is its limited range of expressiveness.”

So said His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman in a 2010 Guardian article in which the oftentimes controversial and outspoken author argues that, because of this “limited range of expressiveness”, writers who choose to construct first-person, present-tense narratives are depriving their readers of a broader literary experience. Going so far as to call present-tense narration a “silly affectation”, Pullman argues that present-tense narratives these days are akin to the hand-held camera technique used in many action films — dizzying, claustrophobic, and limiting. Additionally, this “abdication of narrative responsibility” is posited by Guardian columnist Richard Lea to be inexorably linked to living in the age of social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, where life is reduced to “a series of unconnected moments” expressed through first-person narratives. Present-tense narration is undeniably catching, especially in young adult literature (think The Hunger Games, Divergent, Twilight, etc.) and seems to only be gaining in popularity each year. But should we go so far as to caution against it entirely?

Good points, all, in my opinion. However, I don’t entirely agree with Mr. Pullman, even as someone who is admittedly a reluctant convert to present-tense storytelling. If we, according to Pullman, limit ourselves both as writers and as readers by immersing ourselves in first-person, present-tense narration, wouldn’t it also be an “abdication of narrative responsibility” to reject said narrative style outright as well? The big, sprawling, nigh-undefinable mess that we call “good literature” is all about balance, and if one rejects one type of narrative mode outright, it destabilizes and cheapens the whole enterprise. In short — as both a writer and as an editor — I feel it’s an abdication of narrative responsibility to deny one’s self the possibilities of first-person, present-tense narrative, or of any narrative mode, simply because of the mechanics of its narrative constraints. If executed with skill and care, present tense can be a writer’s best friend, especially if one puts one’s trust in the reader to make leaps and draw conclusions and make the story his or her own. There is a lot to be said for unreliable narrators, and I think that writing in present tense — especially first-person present — allows for those possibilities to unfold in uniquely challenging and exciting ways.

What do you guys think? Discussion party in the comments, go!

– Sylvia

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Blue Thread, Ooligan Press, and the importance of reading local

Posted on January 23, 2012 by

So, back in the fall of 2009, Sarah and I were both brand new graduate students with the Masters of Writing and Book Publishing program at Portland State University. We met in our intro to publishing course, but really started spending time together and working with each other when we joined the Acquisitions department at Ooligan Press, the student-run, not-for-profit trade press associated with our program.

That fall, author Ruth Tenzer Feldman submitted her young adult historical fiction/fantasy novel, Blue Thread, to Ooligan Press. The submission marked the beginning of a wonderful partnership between Ruth and those of us who had the privilege to work on the book through Ooligan, culminating in the publication of one of the most inventive, heartfelt, intelligent, and engrossing pieces of young adult literature I’ve ever come across. Sarah and I worked with Ruth on the developmental editing of the novel, and were integral to the pitch and the eventual acceptance of Blue Thread to the Ooligan Press catalogue. It was an incredibly enriching experience for both of us, and we’re so excited that the book is finally here! Blue Thread hits stores this February, and is available for preorder here.

In the mean time, take a look at this interview that Ruth conducted with me on the acquisitions process and Blue Thread’s editorial journey!

Thanks for reading and make sure to take the time to support your local publishing scene. Extraordinary things are going on all the time in your literary community — all you need to do is reach out!

Sylvia

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