Daily affirmations of a word mercenary
Columbia Publishing Course Category
Summer of 2001, at the recommendation of some guy I met at Burning Man, I attended the Columbia Publishing Course, formerly known as the Radcliffe Publishing Course. The nation’s preeminant book and magazine publishing program, CPC is part of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.
Now, before you go getting all excited, lemme say this: CPC didn’t help me find a job. Not even one interview. The economy was pretty bad summer of 2001, and that was BEFORE 9/11. That said, I had some interesting experiences, met some amazing people, and learned a lot about what I wanted to do with my career … which is be a writer, not a magazine editor.
I put this category together because I noticed a lot of people coming to my site from Google searches for the course. I assume most of these searchers are students considering application to CPC. Below, you can read about my experience. To read it in chronological order, you’ll need to start at the bottom.
Keep in mind that I was not a traditional CPC student (several years out of college, already working for an alternative publication, and with blue dreadlocks). My experience was not necessarily the typical one. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.
CPC application tips
11
Jul
2006
In: Columbia Publishing Course
Even five years after the fact, I still get emails from students who are considering CPC. Lots of these folks are looking for tips on the application process. I realize that my CPC archive is pretty spotty on the whole application process and my advice about it, so here’s a little mini-FAQ based on my own personal experience.
THIS IS IMPORTANT:
Remember gang, other than being an alum, I’m in no way affiliated with CPC. This advice is offered only as my personal perspective and your mileage may vary.
How important is my GPA/school?
I don’t know much about the GPAs of my fellow students. Many of them were ivy league graduates … but I certainly wasn’t, so that’s not necessarily important. I made it into CPC in 2001 as a graduate of a state school (University of Washington) with a 3.3 GPA.
What about the application essay?
I think that more important than your GPA is making yourself stand out from the other applicants. My impression is that the majority of applicants are recently graduated English majors who’ve worked for school publications and have little other formal publishing experience. If that sounds like you, focus on what you can do to make yourself stand out from that crowd. If that’s not you, then make your unique background clear!
Whatever you do, DON’T write your essay about how you’ve always loved reading books and want to bring that joy to others bla bla bla. My impression is that a huge number of application essays say the same thing: “I’ve always been a big reader and loved books…I can’t wait to be a part of the process of bringing great literature to others!”
Like any other kind of writing, keep your audience in mind. The people reading your essays are publishing industry folks who will be reading hundreds of pages of people saying how much they love books, bla bla bla. That’s pretty much a given. You love books! Of course you love books! Now, what ELSE makes you a candidate for the course? If you can keep that in mind and look for ways in which your interests in publishing can be expressed differently, I think you’ll probably stand a better chance of acceptance.
If you’re interested in reading my application essay/personal statement, here you go.
This weekend I dragged my poor friend Dawn to see The Devil Wears Prada, which was sort of cruel of me. Dawn is a nurse who sees maybe two movies a year and is totally uninterested in media, pop culture, publishing gossip, etc. But I had to go see this film, and Dawn was my semi-willing accomplice, so off we went.
Here is why I had to see this movie:
1. Meryl Streep doing comedy is awesome and amazing.
2. I like to think about clothing and costuming and fashion. Granted, I like to think about West Coast freak/street fashion, and most New York couture makes me want to choke someone with a $350 scarf, but I still appreciate a pretty outfit. Watching this movie made me realize that part of what I appreciate about fashion is value and customization. If I had $1800 to spend on a dress, I certainly wouldn’t spend it on a Gucci gown that all the other rich girls in town were buying. I would have that shit custom designed and tailored for me.
3. This flick perfectly illustrates why I didn’t stay in New York. The hierarchical editorial structure where it’s pretty much expected that you’re going to be a coffee-fetcher for two years? The rent you can’t afford? The glamorous jobs that a million people would kill for that actually involve insulting grunt work while you wait to climb the totem pole? That’s not a movie, people. That’s the reality of New York publishing. I am so so glad I have friends who have greater fortitude than I do for such things … it’s an amazing world to be a part of, but one I lacked the strength to deal with full time. The Devil Wears Prada and its wink-wink depiction of the Condé Nast cafeteria totally affirmed that I made the right decision. I am meant to be on the outside of the machine feeding it words and my soul to sell — not the lubrication that keeps the wheels turning. Thank you formulaic chick flick for reminding me of this.
That said, the movie itself isn’t all that great. It’s a standard cautionary tale (naive girl goes in, gets a makeover, is successful/corrupted, alienates friends, realizes she’s become an asshole, makes changes), but if you’re a media-whore Meryl Streep fashionista (in other words, just like me!) you might enjoy it.
CPC Follow-Up
8
Oct
2004
In: Columbia Publishing Course
This morning I woke up to find an email from a 2004 graduate of the Columbia Publishing Course in my inbox. My heart goes out to this young woman. She’s in the process of learning that CPC isn’t able to apply its “90% Job Placement” rate to everyone, and that intoning “ineedajobineedajob” in your head for several months can start to take its toll.
I emailed her back right away, and my biggest advice to her (which I’ll share here in the hopes that perhaps it will help other disgruntled CPC students past, present, and future) was to keep in touch with her classmates.
CPC may be touted for its hot connections in the industry and for its job placement rates (which some might debate as a little misleading), but the true value of the course in my experience was the people that I met. L.H. (the director the course) may not find quite as many jobs as quickly as CPC’s literature claims, but she’s got great taste in candidate selection.
The Friday night of my wedding weekend, the couple dozen of us who were there early gathered around a campfire and my mother insisted we do “circle time.” She wanted each person to do that ice breaking exercise where they step forward and introduce themselves while doing a silly motion, and then everyone has to repeat both their name and the motion. I.e. “Hi, my name is ARIEL! [flaps arms around like a chicken having a seizure]” Then everyone says, “Hi, ARIEL,” while imitating my chicken seizure routine. I nixed this idea (please appreciate the fact that I managed not to say, “PLEASE, mom, YOU’RE EMBARRASSING ME.”), but we did all go around and introduce ourselves and say where we were from. Many folks also included their relationship to Dre and me.
As we went around the circle, it became apparent that perhaps sizable chunk of the gathered crowd was made up of CPC classmates and guests. “Hi, I’m Ashley, and I met Ariel at CPC.” “My name is Terra, and I’m from New York, and I went to Columbia with Ariel.” “Hey, I’m Amanda, and I was at CPC, too.” “My name is Kevin, I’m from New York City, and I was also a CPC classmate of Ariel’s.”
Afterwards, my mother noted to me how remarkable it was that a two month course (that I was admittedly overwhelmingly bitter about when it finished)resulted in so many people who, three years after the fact, were willing to travel across the country to share our wedding with us. I was reminded of all the classmates who weren’t there who I’m still in touch with, as well… Lina, my editor at Figure. Liz, my proto-lit agent at SKA. Amy, my favorite bitter donut advice columnist. Nikki, finishing up her third year of law school. When Andreas and I were in Madrid, we stayed with Javier, my CPC classmate Ashley’s former roommate. We wouldn’t have had our amazing five days of drinking and smoking with him if it weren’t for CPC.
Even though I found the course to be frustrating in terms of immediate results (or complete lack there of), the long term results have been remarkable. Three years after finishing CPC, many of my classmates who stayed in New York and suffered through assistant salaries are starting to move up the ladder and become Very Important People. I may have bailed out on the New York Dream, but I have lasting friendships with folks who stayed. And I have CPC to thank for that.
So, young CPC grasshoppers, soldier through your frustration and disappointment. Take solace in each other. Granted, $6k to make friends isn’t what I’m used to paying, but in the long run, I think it’ll pay off, as long as each student makes a commitment to rely on one-another instead of the higher-ups. Fellow CPC-grads, do you have any advice? Leave it in the comments.
So, it’s summer, which means that the kids are back at it at The Columbia Publishing Course. When I retured from Phoenix Fest, I had several emails from a couple CPC students who are in the throws of CPC’s book workshop, wherein students create faux publishing houses and crank out book proposals. Remember when I did that in 2001? The weird thing is, my faux book idea was almost picked up, so while the whole process is very faux, there’s some possibilities lurking around the edges.
Anyway, it appears that I’ve been recommended to one of the faux publishing houses as an author for one of their faux books, and they were even so kind as to write a faux pitch for the faux book I could write for the faux publishing house! In some ways, this faux pitch is better than the real one I’m working on. Take a look…
Columbia Publishing Course
Editorial Description Sheet
Publishing House: BoldFace Books
Title: The Bride Wore a Hula Hoop
Subtitle/Sell Line: Reflections on Life, Love, and Modern American Culture
Author: Ariel Meadow Stallings
Hook: A countercultural goddess explores marriage and personal identity in this fresh, humorous memoir.
Description: Ariel Meadow Stallings would be the average twenty-something woman planning her upcoming nuptials: picking up a marriage license, choosing rings with her fiancé, arranging a reception…if the average twenty-something woman was determined to wear a bustier and lime-green skirt for her wedding gown, that is.
A self-described “word mercenary†who is fascinated by pop culture even as she gravitates towards the underground, Stallings examines the lead-up to her wedding and, in turn, what it means to be young in America today. With her trademark zesty and tart sense of humor, she scrutinizes the struggles faced by many young women. Stallings is hard at work forging her own individual future while trying to balance the demands of the present: “Unable (or unwilling) to escape my parents’ worldview, I approach each community with both idealism and cynicism, ultimately finding pieces of myself and my family hidden throughout the contemporary Left Coast landscape.†From the vegan cookbooks on her Amazon.com wedding registry to questioning what is means to be a “bride,†Stallings deftly combines valuable thoughts for relevant issues for young women with a sharp eye for the humorous details in this crazy countercultural life.
Smart, funny, and sexy, tapped into the immediacy of our culture but wrestling with the past, Stallings offers a fresh view of modern life in America. Part wedding diary, part cultural memoir, The Bride Wore a Hula Hoop will have you laughing and groaning at the same time, but is irresistible either way.
Author bio: Ariel Meadow Stallings is an award-winning copywriter for The Seattle Times, a columnist for Hatch Magazine, and a freelance writer. Stallings is also the co-founder and editor of hooping.org, a website devoted to the sport of hula-hooping, and runs her popular blog, electrolicious.com. She lives in Seattle, WA with her husband.
Format: Paperback
Retail Price: 13.95
Trim size: 5 x 8 Illustrations: None
Pages: 256 pp.
Other Special Features: None
Category: Memoir/General Interest
Royalty Advance: $10,000 [ha! that'd be nice]
First Print Run: 5000
Royalty Rates: Standard paperback (7.5%)
I am finishing up my book proposal today. You would think that all my years as a copywriter would have prepared me well for selling my ideas, but I’m still finding it a major challege to write about myself in third person. Unable (or unwilling) to escape her parents’ worldview, Ariel approaches each community with both idealism and cynicism, ultimately finding pieces of herself and her family hidden through-out the contemporary Left Coast landscape.
Writing a book proposal is akin to composing a personals ad for my brain. Ariel has ideas she’d like to share about culture and our search for community. ISO editor who isn’t afraid to dish out the constructive criticism and preferrably has good hair and dry sense of humor. If you are Geoff Kloske or just wish you were, please call! Also: bonus points for familiarity with weirdos. Ariel also likes her kung-fu Elvis action figure and walking on the beach.
I’m reminded though of this quote from Super Hero Blessings, sent to me by Paisley:
All of this waiting to feel ready, inspired, strong enough, smart enough. Maybe the writing of the book is in the end what will make us feel ready to write the book, and the blessing of others will make us feel blessed ourselves.
Oh wait. Did I ever actually mention that I’ve got an opportunity that’s encouraging me to move ahead with the first steps of writing a book? All very tentative, but the baby steps are being taken thanks to an old CPC classmate. Perhaps Columbia Publishing Course will pay off some day.
The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley
5
Oct
2003
In: Columbia Publishing Course, Product Placement
There are probably very few of you who remember me gushing about Arthur Levine after he spoke to my class at Columbia Publishing Course. (Quick reminder: Arthur Levine is the American editor of J.K. Rowling.) In my post, I recounted his wit and humor, and admitted that after he spoke, I “sulked back to my dorm room to write him gushy thank you letter on my bunny stationary.”
Six weeks ago, I received an email from Cheryl Klein, Arthur Levin’s assistant. She noted that she’d read my blog off and on “ever since you sent a very kind [read as: embarrassingly over-the-top] card to Arthur after his speech at the Columbia Publishing Course.” She was writing to let me know that they’d just published a new young adult fiction book, and could she send me a copy?
Ever one to oblige someone sending me a freebie, I emailed her my mailing address, and a couple weeks ago I got my very own copy of The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley: (Who Planned to Live an Unusual Life).
The first novel from Martine Murray, an Australian writer, illustrator, and acrobat, The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley follows around a 12-year-old Aussie tomboy with red hair and a great personality. Cedar is one of those gregarious almost-teenage girls we all wish we could have been, one who observes the world with a keen eye and open heart, and has her head squarely on her shoulders. She lives with her widowed hippy mother in a suburb filled with the sort of real people infrequently found in typical YA fiction…there’s her friend Caramella, the daughter of Italian immigrants; Ricci, the older Yugoslavian with the little dog a fondness for Valium; and an assortment of wealthy and not-so-wealthy kids. Cedar’s older brother is also part of the story, even though he’s run away and communicates only via cryptic, poetic postcards.
The plot isn’t an especially challenging one, but the characters and writing make it shine. Naturally, there must be a boy involved somewhere, but in this book it’s not the handsome rich boy (that character is a bullying antagonist), but a tall kid named Kite, the son of circus performers. He and Cedar start practicing acrobatics together, and ultimately build a performance that involves Caramella as well as Oscar, an intelligent disabled friend of Kite’s.
Cedar’s voice is genuine and fantastic through-out the book, and I loved the slices of life that Murray expertly captures through Cedar’s eyes. “Through the window you can see the dusty beams of light reaching down toward you, reaching all the way from heaven or the sun or from an angel’s own eyes or whatever it is that watches from up there. I lie in that sunny patch and it makes me go quiet and small and as still as the dried up bugs on the windowsill.” Murray’s doodley illustrations add nice accents to the book as well, illustrating some of the acrobatics that would have otherwise been impossible to visualize, and giving the book an almost journal-like quality.
I appreciated that the author portrayed untraditional characters with the everyday casual perspective of a young woman accustomed to them. For example, Cedar has a pair of neighbors who Ricci simply calls, “the boys.” These two men have just adopted a baby together, and while less subtle authors would have turned these obviously gay characters into a lesson about untraditional families, Murray lets Cedar’s comfort and familiarity with her neighbors and their new baby speak for itself. “The boys” are just two more characters on Cedar’s street…friends Cedar can turn to when she’s worried she may have broken a rib.
At times, the political correct tone of the book had hints of contrivance, but never overwhelmingly so. Regardless, I’d take a book with a slightly labored espousal of tolerance and respect over “babysitter’s club”-style drivel any day. Cedar learns how she can make a difference in the world the same day as she learns how being a mover and a shaker can have heavy costs. That’s a complex moral. The book is a nicely balanced perspective on activism and the strengths of character, and I was more than willing to overlook a few fleeting moments where the author’s good intentions got a little heavy-handed.
Pre-teen girls will love The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley. Cedar offers the inspiration that precocious, active, self-aware young women desperately needed in this era of mary-kateandashley, and Lizzie McGuire.
CPC application tips
11 Jul 2006 In: Columbia Publishing CourseEven five years after the fact, I still get emails from students who are considering CPC. Lots of these folks are looking for tips on the application process. I realize that my CPC archive is pretty spotty on the whole application process and my advice about it, so here’s a little mini-FAQ based on my own personal experience.
THIS IS IMPORTANT:
Remember gang, other than being an alum, I’m in no way affiliated with CPC. This advice is offered only as my personal perspective and your mileage may vary.
How important is my GPA/school?
I don’t know much about the GPAs of my fellow students. Many of them were ivy league graduates … but I certainly wasn’t, so that’s not necessarily important. I made it into CPC in 2001 as a graduate of a state school (University of Washington) with a 3.3 GPA.
What about the application essay?
I think that more important than your GPA is making yourself stand out from the other applicants. My impression is that the majority of applicants are recently graduated English majors who’ve worked for school publications and have little other formal publishing experience. If that sounds like you, focus on what you can do to make yourself stand out from that crowd. If that’s not you, then make your unique background clear!
Whatever you do, DON’T write your essay about how you’ve always loved reading books and want to bring that joy to others bla bla bla. My impression is that a huge number of application essays say the same thing: “I’ve always been a big reader and loved books…I can’t wait to be a part of the process of bringing great literature to others!”
Like any other kind of writing, keep your audience in mind. The people reading your essays are publishing industry folks who will be reading hundreds of pages of people saying how much they love books, bla bla bla. That’s pretty much a given. You love books! Of course you love books! Now, what ELSE makes you a candidate for the course? If you can keep that in mind and look for ways in which your interests in publishing can be expressed differently, I think you’ll probably stand a better chance of acceptance.
If you’re interested in reading my application essay/personal statement, here you go.
This weekend I dragged my poor friend Dawn to see The Devil Wears Prada, which was sort of cruel of me. Dawn is a nurse who sees maybe two movies a year and is totally uninterested in media, pop culture, publishing gossip, etc. But I had to go see this film, and Dawn was my semi-willing accomplice, so off we went.
Here is why I had to see this movie:
1. Meryl Streep doing comedy is awesome and amazing.
2. I like to think about clothing and costuming and fashion. Granted, I like to think about West Coast freak/street fashion, and most New York couture makes me want to choke someone with a $350 scarf, but I still appreciate a pretty outfit. Watching this movie made me realize that part of what I appreciate about fashion is value and customization. If I had $1800 to spend on a dress, I certainly wouldn’t spend it on a Gucci gown that all the other rich girls in town were buying. I would have that shit custom designed and tailored for me.
3. This flick perfectly illustrates why I didn’t stay in New York. The hierarchical editorial structure where it’s pretty much expected that you’re going to be a coffee-fetcher for two years? The rent you can’t afford? The glamorous jobs that a million people would kill for that actually involve insulting grunt work while you wait to climb the totem pole? That’s not a movie, people. That’s the reality of New York publishing. I am so so glad I have friends who have greater fortitude than I do for such things … it’s an amazing world to be a part of, but one I lacked the strength to deal with full time. The Devil Wears Prada and its wink-wink depiction of the Condé Nast cafeteria totally affirmed that I made the right decision. I am meant to be on the outside of the machine feeding it words and my soul to sell — not the lubrication that keeps the wheels turning. Thank you formulaic chick flick for reminding me of this.
That said, the movie itself isn’t all that great. It’s a standard cautionary tale (naive girl goes in, gets a makeover, is successful/corrupted, alienates friends, realizes she’s become an asshole, makes changes), but if you’re a media-whore Meryl Streep fashionista (in other words, just like me!) you might enjoy it.
CPC Follow-Up
8 Oct 2004 In: Columbia Publishing CourseThis morning I woke up to find an email from a 2004 graduate of the Columbia Publishing Course in my inbox. My heart goes out to this young woman. She’s in the process of learning that CPC isn’t able to apply its “90% Job Placement” rate to everyone, and that intoning “ineedajobineedajob” in your head for several months can start to take its toll.
I emailed her back right away, and my biggest advice to her (which I’ll share here in the hopes that perhaps it will help other disgruntled CPC students past, present, and future) was to keep in touch with her classmates.
CPC may be touted for its hot connections in the industry and for its job placement rates (which some might debate as a little misleading), but the true value of the course in my experience was the people that I met. L.H. (the director the course) may not find quite as many jobs as quickly as CPC’s literature claims, but she’s got great taste in candidate selection.
The Friday night of my wedding weekend, the couple dozen of us who were there early gathered around a campfire and my mother insisted we do “circle time.” She wanted each person to do that ice breaking exercise where they step forward and introduce themselves while doing a silly motion, and then everyone has to repeat both their name and the motion. I.e. “Hi, my name is ARIEL! [flaps arms around like a chicken having a seizure]” Then everyone says, “Hi, ARIEL,” while imitating my chicken seizure routine. I nixed this idea (please appreciate the fact that I managed not to say, “PLEASE, mom, YOU’RE EMBARRASSING ME.”), but we did all go around and introduce ourselves and say where we were from. Many folks also included their relationship to Dre and me.
As we went around the circle, it became apparent that perhaps sizable chunk of the gathered crowd was made up of CPC classmates and guests. “Hi, I’m Ashley, and I met Ariel at CPC.” “My name is Terra, and I’m from New York, and I went to Columbia with Ariel.” “Hey, I’m Amanda, and I was at CPC, too.” “My name is Kevin, I’m from New York City, and I was also a CPC classmate of Ariel’s.”
Afterwards, my mother noted to me how remarkable it was that a two month course (that I was admittedly overwhelmingly bitter about when it finished)resulted in so many people who, three years after the fact, were willing to travel across the country to share our wedding with us. I was reminded of all the classmates who weren’t there who I’m still in touch with, as well… Lina, my editor at Figure. Liz, my proto-lit agent at SKA. Amy, my favorite bitter donut advice columnist. Nikki, finishing up her third year of law school. When Andreas and I were in Madrid, we stayed with Javier, my CPC classmate Ashley’s former roommate. We wouldn’t have had our amazing five days of drinking and smoking with him if it weren’t for CPC.
Even though I found the course to be frustrating in terms of immediate results (or complete lack there of), the long term results have been remarkable. Three years after finishing CPC, many of my classmates who stayed in New York and suffered through assistant salaries are starting to move up the ladder and become Very Important People. I may have bailed out on the New York Dream, but I have lasting friendships with folks who stayed. And I have CPC to thank for that.
So, young CPC grasshoppers, soldier through your frustration and disappointment. Take solace in each other. Granted, $6k to make friends isn’t what I’m used to paying, but in the long run, I think it’ll pay off, as long as each student makes a commitment to rely on one-another instead of the higher-ups. Fellow CPC-grads, do you have any advice? Leave it in the comments.
So, it’s summer, which means that the kids are back at it at The Columbia Publishing Course. When I retured from Phoenix Fest, I had several emails from a couple CPC students who are in the throws of CPC’s book workshop, wherein students create faux publishing houses and crank out book proposals. Remember when I did that in 2001? The weird thing is, my faux book idea was almost picked up, so while the whole process is very faux, there’s some possibilities lurking around the edges.
Anyway, it appears that I’ve been recommended to one of the faux publishing houses as an author for one of their faux books, and they were even so kind as to write a faux pitch for the faux book I could write for the faux publishing house! In some ways, this faux pitch is better than the real one I’m working on. Take a look…
Columbia Publishing Course
Editorial Description Sheet
Publishing House: BoldFace Books
Title: The Bride Wore a Hula Hoop
Subtitle/Sell Line: Reflections on Life, Love, and Modern American Culture
Author: Ariel Meadow Stallings
Hook: A countercultural goddess explores marriage and personal identity in this fresh, humorous memoir.
Description: Ariel Meadow Stallings would be the average twenty-something woman planning her upcoming nuptials: picking up a marriage license, choosing rings with her fiancé, arranging a reception…if the average twenty-something woman was determined to wear a bustier and lime-green skirt for her wedding gown, that is.
A self-described “word mercenary†who is fascinated by pop culture even as she gravitates towards the underground, Stallings examines the lead-up to her wedding and, in turn, what it means to be young in America today. With her trademark zesty and tart sense of humor, she scrutinizes the struggles faced by many young women. Stallings is hard at work forging her own individual future while trying to balance the demands of the present: “Unable (or unwilling) to escape my parents’ worldview, I approach each community with both idealism and cynicism, ultimately finding pieces of myself and my family hidden throughout the contemporary Left Coast landscape.†From the vegan cookbooks on her Amazon.com wedding registry to questioning what is means to be a “bride,†Stallings deftly combines valuable thoughts for relevant issues for young women with a sharp eye for the humorous details in this crazy countercultural life.
Smart, funny, and sexy, tapped into the immediacy of our culture but wrestling with the past, Stallings offers a fresh view of modern life in America. Part wedding diary, part cultural memoir, The Bride Wore a Hula Hoop will have you laughing and groaning at the same time, but is irresistible either way.
Author bio: Ariel Meadow Stallings is an award-winning copywriter for The Seattle Times, a columnist for Hatch Magazine, and a freelance writer. Stallings is also the co-founder and editor of hooping.org, a website devoted to the sport of hula-hooping, and runs her popular blog, electrolicious.com. She lives in Seattle, WA with her husband.
Format: Paperback
Retail Price: 13.95
Trim size: 5 x 8 Illustrations: None
Pages: 256 pp.
Other Special Features: None
Category: Memoir/General Interest
Royalty Advance: $10,000 [ha! that'd be nice]
First Print Run: 5000
Royalty Rates: Standard paperback (7.5%)
I am finishing up my book proposal today. You would think that all my years as a copywriter would have prepared me well for selling my ideas, but I’m still finding it a major challege to write about myself in third person. Unable (or unwilling) to escape her parents’ worldview, Ariel approaches each community with both idealism and cynicism, ultimately finding pieces of herself and her family hidden through-out the contemporary Left Coast landscape.
Writing a book proposal is akin to composing a personals ad for my brain. Ariel has ideas she’d like to share about culture and our search for community. ISO editor who isn’t afraid to dish out the constructive criticism and preferrably has good hair and dry sense of humor. If you are Geoff Kloske or just wish you were, please call! Also: bonus points for familiarity with weirdos. Ariel also likes her kung-fu Elvis action figure and walking on the beach.
I’m reminded though of this quote from Super Hero Blessings, sent to me by Paisley:
All of this waiting to feel ready, inspired, strong enough, smart enough. Maybe the writing of the book is in the end what will make us feel ready to write the book, and the blessing of others will make us feel blessed ourselves.
Oh wait. Did I ever actually mention that I’ve got an opportunity that’s encouraging me to move ahead with the first steps of writing a book? All very tentative, but the baby steps are being taken thanks to an old CPC classmate. Perhaps Columbia Publishing Course will pay off some day.
The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley
5 Oct 2003 In: Columbia Publishing Course, Product PlacementThere are probably very few of you who remember me gushing about Arthur Levine after he spoke to my class at Columbia Publishing Course. (Quick reminder: Arthur Levine is the American editor of J.K. Rowling.) In my post, I recounted his wit and humor, and admitted that after he spoke, I “sulked back to my dorm room to write him gushy thank you letter on my bunny stationary.”
Six weeks ago, I received an email from Cheryl Klein, Arthur Levin’s assistant. She noted that she’d read my blog off and on “ever since you sent a very kind [read as: embarrassingly over-the-top] card to Arthur after his speech at the Columbia Publishing Course.” She was writing to let me know that they’d just published a new young adult fiction book, and could she send me a copy?
Ever one to oblige someone sending me a freebie, I emailed her my mailing address, and a couple weeks ago I got my very own copy of The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley: (Who Planned to Live an Unusual Life).
The first novel from Martine Murray, an Australian writer, illustrator, and acrobat, The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley follows around a 12-year-old Aussie tomboy with red hair and a great personality. Cedar is one of those gregarious almost-teenage girls we all wish we could have been, one who observes the world with a keen eye and open heart, and has her head squarely on her shoulders. She lives with her widowed hippy mother in a suburb filled with the sort of real people infrequently found in typical YA fiction…there’s her friend Caramella, the daughter of Italian immigrants; Ricci, the older Yugoslavian with the little dog a fondness for Valium; and an assortment of wealthy and not-so-wealthy kids. Cedar’s older brother is also part of the story, even though he’s run away and communicates only via cryptic, poetic postcards.
The plot isn’t an especially challenging one, but the characters and writing make it shine. Naturally, there must be a boy involved somewhere, but in this book it’s not the handsome rich boy (that character is a bullying antagonist), but a tall kid named Kite, the son of circus performers. He and Cedar start practicing acrobatics together, and ultimately build a performance that involves Caramella as well as Oscar, an intelligent disabled friend of Kite’s.
Cedar’s voice is genuine and fantastic through-out the book, and I loved the slices of life that Murray expertly captures through Cedar’s eyes. “Through the window you can see the dusty beams of light reaching down toward you, reaching all the way from heaven or the sun or from an angel’s own eyes or whatever it is that watches from up there. I lie in that sunny patch and it makes me go quiet and small and as still as the dried up bugs on the windowsill.” Murray’s doodley illustrations add nice accents to the book as well, illustrating some of the acrobatics that would have otherwise been impossible to visualize, and giving the book an almost journal-like quality.
I appreciated that the author portrayed untraditional characters with the everyday casual perspective of a young woman accustomed to them. For example, Cedar has a pair of neighbors who Ricci simply calls, “the boys.” These two men have just adopted a baby together, and while less subtle authors would have turned these obviously gay characters into a lesson about untraditional families, Murray lets Cedar’s comfort and familiarity with her neighbors and their new baby speak for itself. “The boys” are just two more characters on Cedar’s street…friends Cedar can turn to when she’s worried she may have broken a rib.
At times, the political correct tone of the book had hints of contrivance, but never overwhelmingly so. Regardless, I’d take a book with a slightly labored espousal of tolerance and respect over “babysitter’s club”-style drivel any day. Cedar learns how she can make a difference in the world the same day as she learns how being a mover and a shaker can have heavy costs. That’s a complex moral. The book is a nicely balanced perspective on activism and the strengths of character, and I was more than willing to overlook a few fleeting moments where the author’s good intentions got a little heavy-handed.
Pre-teen girls will love The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley. Cedar offers the inspiration that precocious, active, self-aware young women desperately needed in this era of mary-kateandashley, and Lizzie McGuire.
Hey there. I'm Ariel Meadow Stallings, a native Seattleite who's written my way up and down the Left Coast. Electrolicious is where I post daily randomata, but I also write for a living. My first book, Offbeat Bride, was published last year.
You're reading a page from the archives. Check the homepage for current content.
