Would You Read It Wednesday #70 - Astrid Climbs Her Family Tree (PB) AND 2 Straight From The Editors

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!!!

Here are my wishes for you:  that your year is filled with health, happiness, creativity, fun, and fulfillment in every aspect of your life!  Here's to an amazing 2013!!! :)

I hope everyone's holidays were wonderful, relaxing, restorative, and full of family togetherness.

Mine were practically perfect in every way.  The only bad part is when everyone has to leave and return to normal life.  My sister and her family go back to Georgia, my kids go back to school, my husband goes back to work, and the dogs and I are left in peace and quiet with free run of the house... well wait a minute... I guess that part doesn't sound so bad :)

The highlights of vacation aside from Christmas itself were spending time with all the family, ice skating, sledding (yes we got snow! :), rousing games of Taboo (totally fun  - if you haven't played I highly recommend it! :)), and Charades (where we ended up literally rolling on the floor howling with laughter until we couldn't breathe!), snowy winter walks with the dogs, cozy evenings by the fire... golly gee it was lovely!  There was one small incident involving a horse, a snowbank, and a fast-moving sanitation truck which resulted in my husband insisting I go to the ER for an X-ray (no it was not broken - I was totally right on that score!) and my kids referring to my hand for the rest of the vacation as "the claw" but all's well that ends well, as Ma used to say in Little House On The Prairie :)  Still, if you notice that my typing is even worse than usual that's why and you can blame it on the claw :)

We are not even going to discuss college applications.  Nope.  Zzzppp.  My lips are sealed.  Enough said.  Except I may have actually aged 10 years in the last three days.  But not another word.  Except why???  Why??? do they insist on leaving things of such importance to the absolute last minute???  I think it's just to watch our hair turn gray.  But seriously, as you can see, I am not discussing it! :)

I must admit that, although I missed you all terribly, it was horrifyingly easy to not blog for a week!  I'm going to have to gather up my self-discipline and get back to it.  I can promise you that there will be some serious whip-cracking from the person in charge around here until order is restored!  And no fruit cup :)  (Bonus points to anyone who knows which movie "no fruit cup" is from :))

So anyway, due to the holidays and everyone's busy schedules, we got a little behind on our Straight From The Editors, so today I've got Carrie's from October as well as Larissa's from November.

Carrie's pitch was as follows:


Scooter Annie (PB ages 4-8)
Annie loves swooping and gliding on her new scooter. Nothing can stop her…except the hill at the end of her street. Now, if Annie wants to ride in the neighborhood parade, she must find a way to tackle that big hill – without getting hurt in a big way.


Erin's comments are:

This is cute. I like Annie’s swooping and gliding but the ending is a bit of a downer. An editor would be more inclined to request it or take notice of it if were more positive. Perhaps something like –she must find a way to tackle that big hill  -- and prove what a big girl she is or – and glide at the head of the parade . . .

Something that gives a reader the idea that yes, she’s afraid of the hill, but she can/will conquer it :).

Larissa's pitch was as follows:


Dim Sum Dog - PB - ages 4-8
With business dwindling, Chang and his family fear they will have to close their dim sum stand. But with the help of a special dim sum-loving dog who entertains customers, they may save the stand after all.


Erin's comments are:

This has potential but I think to better grab an editor’s eye you should make more clear whether the dog is theirs, or is he  a stray, and if he is, does he join their family as well as help their business out? Something that grabs their hearts right from the get-go. Perhaps something like this:

Dim Sum Dog - PB - ages 4-8With business dwindling, Chang and his family fear they will have to close their dim sum stand. But with the help of a special dim sum-loving stray dog who entertains customers, they may save the stand after all and make an addition to their family . . . .

As always, I find her thoughts so helpful and educational!

And now it's time for our very first Would You Read It of the New Year!!!  Are you ready?  Here we go :)

Today's pitch comes to us from Sidney, whom you may remember from her early reader pitch back in October for Phantom And The Boneyard.  Sidney is a former newspaper reporter and editor.  She now works for a university and writes freelance.  She is a wife and the mother of a toddler, and is enjoying dipping her toe into the great ocean of fiction!

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: Astrid Climbs Her Family Tree
Age/Genre: PB (ages 4-8)
The Pitch: Astrid is bored silly one Saturday. Then she discovers family photo albums. But she can’t figure out how she is related to all these people. Join Astrid as she learns how to draw a family tree, create a gravestone rubbing, build an Aztec pyramid and chase her boredom away. 

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Sidney improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)

Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  There are openings in February, so you have time to polish :) for a chance for it to be read by editor Erin Molta!

Sidney is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!  And I am looking forward to regaining full use of the claw :)

Have a great day, everyone!  And here's to a New Year filled with our best writing ever! :)

P.S.  Oh, and YIKES!  I almost forgot to mention that I am guest posting on Donna Martin's blog today to kick off her new Writerly Wisdom series (although whether I have any wisdom to share is debatable :)) so please hop over and visit if you care to - I'm sure she'd appreciate it.  And also, I am a Guest Expert (her words not mine :)) at Patricia Morrison's virtual conference Take Your Talent To The Bank which will take place next week from January 8th-11th.  (My part is on the 11th, and I will share more info on FB, twitter and here.)