by Margaret on January 3, 2011
While I was home for the holidays, I was the speaker at the Rotary Club of Decatur Daybreak. It was a family affair: my mother, a past president of the club, introduced me; my father, who belongs to the other Rotary club in town, led the singing; and my aunt, who will be president of the club the year after next. My program was described to members thusly: “Come Hear Margaret Maloney describe the book publishing business! It will be a grand time for the Daybreak Club to see Margaret and get up-to-date on her life in the big city!”
Nothing like a hometown crowd, huh? It was indeed a grand time. I spoke for about 40 minutes (much longer than I was supposed to, really) and described the book publishing process, accompanied by this slideshow, which I doodled up during parts of meetings that didn’t pertain to me or my books. I didn’t record the presentation (I will next time!) but the slides give the gist of it.
by Margaret on June 21, 2010
Most people associate the doldrums with winter, but I find that mine tend to set in with the onset of summer. The period between the first of May and the twenty first of June is an especially fallow one for me. I attribute it to the fact that I haven’t yet shaken off the tyranny of seventeen years (more or less) of an academic schedule: once May hits, I feel as though I ought to be approaching a long, unbridled stretch of travel, lazing about, and unimpeded pleasure reading. Now, of course, when that break inevitably doesn’t come, I become unproductive and moody.
Eventually, though, the fog lifts, and today it has for me. This morning I received fabulous, fabulous covers, endpapers, etc. for my author Seymour Chwast’s adaptation of The Canterbury Tales (which is still more than a year from publication) and I’ve regained my usual excitement for the work of editing. They depict the pilgrims of the Tales in a delightful and ingenious way, and I’ve taped them up along the wall in my office (which happens to be in a hallway) and I’m just THRILLED by how fantastic they are. I want to share them with the world!
I can’t do that, yet, however. But what I can do is let the world know that I’ll be speaking about editing The Canterbury Tales (among other graphic novels) at the National Conference of the American Library Association in Washington, D.C., next week. If Seymour lets me, I may show a sneak peek of Canterbury there. Here are the details:
POP TOP STAGE
2:30 – 3:30: Graphic Novel Editors: The Masters of Design.
The editorial processes for the graphic novel format can be fairly similar to that of prose and yet it can also be so completely different. These editors represent a “new school” of opportunity for the world of editors. The art of editing a book of art presents an entirely new set of rules and these editors are at the forefront of the industry. How do they choose the books to work on? How does the relationship with the creator affect the end product? This panel will provide an inside look to the elements involved.
David Saylor, Scholastic; Betsy Mitchell, Del Rey; Maggie Lerhman, Abrams; Margaret Maloney, Bloomsbury USA and Glenn Kardy, Manga University
Moderator: Eva Volin, Alameda Free Library, Alameda, California.
I'm an associate editor at Bloomsbury USA. I edit books for two imprints,