16 March 2012

Gordon Reece's Meeces, we love them to pieces


The cover design process is long and involved. And, as the good people at the Wheeler Centre recently noted, readers do like to engage in the time-honoured sport of judging books by their covers.

There are so many questions that have to be answered in a cover-design brief.
  • What is the book about?
  • What is the genre?
  • Who is the market for this book?
  • What is the tenor of the book?
  • What do the characters look like?
  • What competing books are already out there?
  • Does it need to stand out, or blend in?
These questions are the same no matter where you are in the world. If you are making books, you are asking these questions.

Which is why it's so fascinating to see that there are so many different answers...

Next month we are publishing a B-format edition of Gordon Reece's fabulous thriller Mice.

It looks like this: 

 

When we first published Mice in 2010 it looked like this:


These are both fabulous covers, and you can see the relationship between them, even though they are so different - somehow you can *feel* the book in both these covers.

And in some weird way, we think we can feel the same link between all these VASTLY different covers from around the world. It's kind of cool to think that designers and editors all over the globe, speaking many different languages, are responding to the essence of Gordon's book.

Germany
 

Czech Republic (Adult edition)
 
 
Czech Republic (YA edition)
 

UK (Original edition)
 
 
UK (new YA edition)
 

UK (new adult edition)
 

France


Spain
 

Norway


USA
 

Brazil 
(It's hard to show in a photo but OMG DIE-CUT MOUSEHOLE!)
 

Poland

The Netherlands

Italy





Which one tempts you?

PSST There is also a Chinese and a Hungarian edition, but our google skills are failing us. If anyone finds a cover for either, please send us a link.

08 March 2012

Getting Published as a Writer for Children

Have you written a book for children?
Are you writing a book for children?
Will you write a book for children?*

If so, do you have a plan for what to do after you type that final word?**
Do you need an agent?
What do you put in your cover letter?
Dear god, what is a cover letter?
Who do you send it to?
What do publishers want?***

If you are asking yourself these questions, then the Faber Academy Getting Published as a Writer for Children course is for YOU.

Alternative titles**** for this course could include:
- Hanging with Four of the Most Awesome Women in Publishing
- Getting the Lowdown from the High-ups
- Absorbing the Wisdom from Their Mighty Brains*****

As we have mentioned, the course is being convened by the Amazing Rosalind.

But now we're very excited to see that Rosalind is being joined by an all-star cast. Seriously these are some of our favourite people ever, world without end, amen.

May we present:

The indefatigable, the irrepressible, the inspirational Elizabeth Honey.
Liz is a brilliant writer and a wonderful illustrator. Her Stella Street books are classics: funny and warm and full of mischief, just like Liz herself. She has a wealth of experience and tells a cracking story. Also, her most recent book, Ten Blue Wrens, contains pavlovas, so you know she's all right.

The charming, the clever, the coruscating Lili Wilkinson. You may know her from her work at the Centre for Youth Literature, or from her blog or from her MARVELLOUS BOOKS, of which there is a new one out next month. Love-shy - BRING IT ON. Lili's books have been published around the world and she is wise in the matters to hand.

And finally the very knowledgeable, very fabulous, very best Erica Wagner. She is also our very own, so we expect her back at the end of your course. Under no circumstances may you take her home with you, because we rely on her utterly - for her vision, her passion, her experience, and her incredible ability to see and nurture potential.  We know first hand what an amazing team Erica and Rosalind make - they have taught many of us in the House of Onion just about everything we know about editing and publishing.

Get thee to the Faber Academy




* If you can conjugate verbs half as well as we can, I'm sure your book's a winner.
** Here are some good final words we came up with, you should feel free to borrow: 'exploded', 'dead', 'celebration', 'pash', 'perfect', 'butt-head'. Here are some you should avoid: 'dream', 'limp', 'squib', 'conclusion', 'end'. You're welcome.  
*** Apart from cake.
**** Why yes, coming up with a title for your book will be covered in this course.
***** Oh no, wait, that's the Writing for Zombies course being offered next month.

29 February 2012

This just in from the front line...


 EMERGENCY TELEGRAM STOP

Cake wars escalation STOP

Skirmishes reported on the northern front STOP

Herewith evidence from the Mothership STOP





Heavy artillery sighted STOP 


Cake-makers - to your battle stations! STOP

------------------------------


URGENT RETRACTION OF PREVIOUS MESSAGE STOP 

Mothership communique misinterpreted STOP

All forces retreat STOP

Suspect rainbow cake is covert message STOP**

 





* War - what is it good for? Yes! We should give peace a chance. Stay tuned for cake love-in. And look at the amazing rainbow cake made by KW ! Look at it! It is spectacular! That is some serious cake-making right there. LOOK at all those amazing layers! Definitely a peace cake.

23 February 2012

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE!

Friday. (That's tomorrow!)

8.30 p.m.

On the ABC.

Phryne. PHRYNE FISHER. PHRYNE FISHER ON YOUR TV. Friday night. 8.30 pm. ABC.

We haven't been this excited since... well... since... some previous super-high level of excitement.

If you haven't read any of Kerry Greenwood's wonderful mysteries DO SO NOW. Really, they are undiluted joy.

You can buy the editions adorned with Beth Norling's beautiful illustrations.


Or you can buy the new tie-in editions adorned with the gorgeous Essie Davis.
 

Or you can buy them straight to your device for reading RIGHT NOW. Or you can borrow them from the library, or steal them from a friend or WHATEVER. Just read them.

Here are a few key words that we feel paint something of a picture of why this is so important.

1928. Melbourne. Fashion. Cocktails.
Beautiful young men.
Murder. Blackmail. Revenge.
Theatre.  Ateliers. Orgies.
Circuses. Rescues. Dalliances.
Joy. Joy. Joy.

But best of all is Phryne herself.
Phryne is smart and brave and compassionate.
She takes absolutely no nonsense from anyone, but is not above taking a prisoner or two when absolutely necessary.
She is deadly beautiful and deadly with a pistol.
She has an eye for fine art and an art for finding delicious young men.
Unlike Macbeth, she does not need a witch's injunction to be bloody, bold and resolute, nor to scorn the power of man.
It comes naturally. For she is the Honorable Phryne Fisher.
Watch. Your. Step.

We've been all very excited since the TV show was announced. But to be honest, we've also been a little trepidatious. I mean, that's only natural, right?

We love Phryne. We've loved her for many, many years. What if TV Phryne isn't like our Phryne? What if Lin Chung isn't handsome enough? What if it all looks wrong? What if they don't GET IT?

Well, thanks to the special advance screening of the first two episodes that some Onions were lucky enough to attend, we say, BE AT PEACE.

The TV series is GORGEOUS. Phryne is very Phryne. Dot is a lovely Dot. Detective Inspector Jack Robinson is... well, to be honest, he's rather better looking than we had imagined, so there are no complaints there. Melbourne is Melbourne. 1928 is gloriously, fashionably 1928. They totally get it. Hooray hooray hooray!*

But perhaps the most comforting endorsement comes from the woman who brought Phryne to life. Or, more accurately, the woman who bumped into Phryne one day on a tram and has been furiously trying to keep up with her ever since. What does Kerry Greenwood think of the TV series? She loves it.

So paint your parlour walls sea-green, lay in some gin, and make a date with Miss Fisher on Friday night.

Nobody, in all the long history of her amorous affairs, has EVER regretted a date with Phryne.

 
* Lin Chung doesn't appear in the first two episodes, so we reserve judgement on that score - but all signs point to handsome.


17 February 2012

That word you keep using


'How thankful little Phil will be when all this examinating is over.'
'Examinating? I never heard such a word.'
'Well, haven't I as good a right to make a word as any one else?' demanded Phil.
'Words aren't made - they grow,' said Anne.
  -- Anne of the Island, LM Montgomery
Mark Forsyth is a man who knows a lot about how words grow. And a lot of what he knows is delightfully unexpected. His fabulous Inky Fool blog is full of musings about how one word is related to another word is related to another word is related to your cousin by marriage. Seriously, the connections between words are as convoluted and interesting as your family tree, only you don't have to invite any of them round for Christmas lunch.

We are deeply indebted to Mr Forsyth, as he has given us a name for a condition that is a perennial problem in the House of Onion. You know how when you repeat a word too often, or think about it too much, the word dissolves entirely into its component parts and you can't make it mean anything anymore? Well Mr Forsyth knows, and he calls it a lapse of meaning. From his list of other terms we quite like cortical inhibition, mostly because we can imagine a stricken editor reclining on a psychiatrist's couch, talking gibberish, while the psychiatrist writes cortical inhibition on her notepad and underlines it three times.

So, you can imagine how excited we were to learn that Mark Forsyth's wordy goodness now exists in book form! Hurrah for The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language. Hurrah!

Here in the House of Onion we are viewing this as an important Tool of Trade. It will stand with us, shoulder to shoulder with our Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable and the Macquarie Dictionary, in our ongoing wrestle with the Inigo Dilemma.

And, in very pleasing news: there will be laughing, for Mark Forsyth is funny (and being funny about etymology is not easy). He is also, it seems, something of a dish.* So in that spirit, we share this video even though it is not Christmas.**






* The Macquarie is silent on the etymology of 'dish' used in this manner. Does it just allude to a person looking good enough to eat? When did it come into vogue? Would you ever use it about someone who wasn't British?
** It is, however, Friday and a cocktail would not go astray.

06 February 2012

Bring it on!

Karen Healey is partway through a magnificent series of blog posts on Teen Movies with Serious Messages. Go at once and read them. She has already covered several Onion favourites including Bring it On, Clueless, Empire Records, Saved...

Oh, world, never stop making teen movies.

This got us thinking about how the teen movie and the YA novel are really partners in awesome.
So here is a list of YA novels we would love to see on the big screen: 

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
Art, love, insecurity, family, friendship, sekrit attraction, confusion, kissing. Graffiti Moon would fit PERFECTLY into the long tradition of teen films that take place over one glorious/terrible/wonderful night. This is a NO BRAINER, Hollywood, get on it. 

Pink by Lili Wilkinson
Being yourself, trying out different selves, starting a new school, STAGE CREW, love and friendship, sex and sexuality, fitting in, changing your mind, playing around, oh and STAGE CREW. Why is this not a film already? 

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist  by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. 
Oh wait! They already made that one.  Now they should make Dash and Lily's Book of Dares. A Christmas movie! With muppet making! 

Winter of Grace by Kate Constable
Searching for answers, testing friendships, finding your own path, exploring faith, meeting a boy and then MEETING HIS BROTHER. 

A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper
Okay, so this one's going to be super-expensive to film, what with it being set in 1936 in a fictional country which is basically a decaying castle, on a rock, in the middle of the English Channel. And okay, it might not fit into the classic Teen Movie mould.  But HOW GOOD WOULD IT BE?

Step Up and Dance by Thalia Kalkipsakis
A CHEERLEADING DANCE MOVIE. Also, SECRET CRUSH and MISTAKEN IDENTITIES and FOLLOWING YOUR DREAMS. And with that, ladies and gentleman of the jury, we rest our case.


But wait, while we're on the topic... did you see the second trailer for the Hunger Games movie? We might have shed a little tear...

01 February 2012

Selkies in the storm-tossed seas


Friends, readers, book lovers - lend us your eyes.

We like announcements. And some time ago we made an announcement about Margo Lanagan. So, delighted we were to see that Adelaide Writer's Week has made an announcement about Margo too:
It is a great honour to dedicate Adelaide Writers’ Week 2012 to Margo Lanagan, a writer of extraordinary intellect and imagination.
 Hurrah!

And look! Look how clever and articulate and utterly winning Margo is as she talks about her brilliant new novel Sea Hearts.



This has been the Alien Onions .... with, let's face it, a bit of a crush now, actually.

25 January 2012

Wednesday Stuff and Items

It has come to our attention that we are woefully behind on the cake front.

So here are some we prepared earlier, accompanied by interpretive links to stuff and items of interest.


1) Hedgehog slice disguised as a CHRISTMAS PUDDING!*


Much as Kate Winslet is going to be disguised as the main character in the upcoming film version of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society to be directed by Kenneth Branagh. THIS IS VERY EXCITING.


2) A cheesecake for our Fearless Leader

Before and after:




In the interests of transparency, we confess that some persons in the House, and some persons allied with some persons in the House, have actually follwed the instructions in this book and felted their cat's hair.  We don't know whether to be impressed or alarmed.


3)  Walnut & Cinnamon Bundt cake 



Observe that exquisite form, and that delicate distribution of icing sugar. Look at that pretty plate. The only thing on the internet that is hipper than this cake is this photo essay, which matches women's fashion photos by The Sartoralist with Haruki Murakami covers.


4) Vanilla Panacotta with berries


Mostly... Maybe often...?  Okay more like sometimes, operations around here are as smooth as this creamy dessert. Edits slide off to the author; covers slip through the approval process; books soft-shoe out the door to the printer. At other times, operations around here more closely resemble this...



* SB made this beautiful thing for our staff Christmas party. Super clever.

24 January 2012

A Confusion of Printzes*


The American Library Association has announced the winners and honor** books for their 2012 Literary Awards  - oh only the most prestigious youth literature awards in all the US of A.
Huge huge congratulations to and deafening cheers for...


Bloodflower by Christine Hinwood  
(published as The Returning in the US)


Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey 

The Printz is awarded for excellence in literature written for young adults.

and 

Stonewall Book Award - Mike Morgan & Larry Romans 
Childrens & Young Adult Literature Award
Honor Book:   
Pink by Lili Wilkinson!

The Stonewall is awarded annually to English-language children's and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience.

 
Very very well done, Lili, Craig and Christine!
Stamps, hollers, woops!


*See what we did there?  Genius, I tell you. Geeenius.
** Those American Librarians. We love them. We do. But boy, we wish they spelled honour the same way we spell it.

19 January 2012

Attention Aspiring Authors


We may have mentioned before that we like making books. A LOT. Working with clever publishers, authors and illustrators is our FAVOURITE. THING. IN. THE. WORLD. And if you are a writer of books for children - you too can enjoy our FAVOURITE. THING. IN. THE. WORLD. Hurrah!

The Faber Academy at Allen & Unwin is offering not one, but two - YES! TWO! - Writing for Children courses in Melbourne.

One-day course
Getting Published as a Writer for Children
Rosalind Price
Saturday 31 March 2012
For many years, Rosalind Price was our fearless leader in the House of Onion. Every day, it was a tremendous privilege to learn from her, to discover her way of seeing the world, to have her assured guidance, to hear her considered and insightful observations and her joyful, passionate and irreverent approach to publishing.

We cannot recommend her highly enough.
We cannot even get close.

This one-day course offers new writers for children an amazing opportunity. You too can learn from Rosalind. And Rosalind knows all about this SECRET PUBLISHING BUSINESS. She knows it! And if you do this course - she will SHARE THOSE SECRETS WITH YOU!
Book here.

Three-month course
Writing for Children
Sally Rippin
and guests Andy Griffiths & Martine Murray
Course begins on 7 February 2012

People! Do you need any more encouragement? Sally Rippin. Andy Griffiths. Martine Murray.
FOR THREE MONTHS!

Sally Rippin is the incredibly lovely and wonderfully talented author and illustrator of these brilliant books for children.
AND she can help you craft a compelling story, write memorable characters, develop authentic dialogue and create an evocative setting. AND she'll help you with themes and language suited to various age groups. AND, like Rosalind, Sally will tell you secrets - YES! SECRETS! - about what publishers are looking for and how to convince them that your books are worth publishing.

The course will include these very important items:
Beginnings!
Middles!
Ends!
Brainstorming!
Characters!
Martine Murray!
Voice!
Sense of Place!
Genre!
Andy Griffiths!
Series!
Short stories!

Drafting and re-drafting. (We'll use our inside voices for this one, just in case we scare anyone off with the idea of drafting and re-drafting and re-drafting and re-draft... oops, we got carried away.)
Secret Publishing Business!

FOURTEEN SESSIONS!
Book Here.
Quick! Sticks!

We got a little shouty there. Forgive us. You might not be paying proper attention and we wanted to make sure you heard us. We don't want you to miss out. DON'T MISS OUT!

BETTER YET - GO HAVE DRINKS!
At Moat, below the Wheeler Centre.
6-9pm. Feb 8

Talk to the people! Ask questions! Imbibe the atmposhere (and the drinks)!

13 January 2012

Ask a Silly Question - 2012 edition


It's the time of year when we sit down to examine the service we provide here at Alien Onion. We ask ourselves important questions. We give ourselves a Performance Review, if you will...

What are our Business Objectives?
To talk about cake and to talk about books.

Are we meeting our Key Performance Indicators?
Have we talked about cake? TICK. Have we talked about books? TICK. Okay, we're good.

Have we birthdayed any new initiatives or sunsetted any poorly performing ones?
Okay, we have no idea what this means. But for birthdays we usually have cake, so we're calling this a pass.
 
Are our clients getting what they expect from our service?

Well, here we may have fallen down. Because, once again, people have come to Alien Onion searching for something we didn't provide. We'd like to take this opportunity to make that right.


What is the address for YA?
We know it's not 1313 Mockingbird Lane.
It's not 221B Baker Street, London.
Nor is it 221 The Esplanade, St Kilda.
It's probably not Number 1, One End Street.
And we don't think it's The Hundred Aker wood, under the name of Sanders,
or Green Gables, Avonlea, P.E.I., Canada.

It might be somewhere in Forks, Washington.
Or c/- The Hopewell Hotel, New York, NY.

Any mail to District 12, Panem would probably be intercepted, so I wouldn't bother with that.

Did you try 4 Privet Drive, Little Wingeing, Surrey or 12 Grimmauld Place, London?

Or maybe the White Pages?


What is an onion covering called?
A hat? A blanket?


What is the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2011 for?
It is for Shaun Tan, y'all. It is for Shaun Tan!


What type of guinea pig is the nicest?
We like this one:


















 He's from Beatrix Potter's Appley Dapply's Nursery Rhymes.

But you might prefer, say, a guinea pig in a dinosaur costume?













Photo via


"Zombie biscuit barrel"
Did you find one? It sounds awesome! Does it say braiiiiinnnns whenever you open the lid?


"Woman's Day articles on Cameron Daddo"
Actually, this is not covered in our Core Business Objectives. So we won't be providing, like, a list of these or anything. But here, this might be worth your while.


What to use instead of cardamom?
You could try cardamon. Many people prefer cardamon.*


The most effective technique Barry Jonsberg has use to engage his audience?
The greatest trick Barry Jonsberg ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. Oh, wait, no, that might have been the Devil.
Perhaps he used the Force? No, wait, that might have been Luke Skywalker.
Was it that he was a shy, clumsy boy who became a handsome young wizard who courageously destroyed the final Horcrux and saved the world? No, perhaps we're thinking of Neville Longbottom.
Okay, so in the spirit of trying to satisfy our clients we concede that the most effective technique Barry Jonsberg has used to engage his audience was ... to write a slew of brilliant books.  There. See. We can be helpful.


How to spell marshionnn
You know, you're even colder than the last time you asked.


Does snakes like onion farm?
Lots of open space? Nice rustley onion tops to hide in? Sounds ideal. Why wouldn't snakes like onion farm?


What is the book Singing My Sister Down about?
Okay - so it's about these twin sisters who live in small-town America. Renee and Esme both dream of being pop stars, but when Esme fluffs her audition for SensationMaker USA and only Renee is chosen for the nation-wide singing competition, trouble ensues. Esme vows to do whatever it takes to bring her sister down. When she meets a handsome young warlock, Gerald, who promises to give her the voice of an angel, Esme doesn't hesitate - and soon her debut single is battling with Renee's to be top of the charts. But then Esme discovers the real-life angel, robbed of her voice and languishing in the dungeon of Gerald's semi-detached, and she has to start examining what she has sacrificed for fame. Esme realises she will need her sister's help if she is to restore the angel's voice and bring down the wicked Gerald. Renee is at first resistant - but eventually the sisters realise the most important thing they have is each other. Together they are an unstoppable force for good, and who knows, maybe a duet is just what the market is ready for?

We hope that's all the info you'll need to ace your lit essay on 'Singing My Sister Down'.



----------
So that about wraps up this Alien Onion Performance Review. We will endeavour to meet all your needs in the coming year.**









*Fisticuffs ensue in the House of Onion because of reasons.
** Although keeping this promise is not one of our KPIs.

11 January 2012

Happy New Year!

We have been...

eating ham,
watching the cricket,
marvelling at how there is no one on the tram*,
reading, reading, reading,
hiding from 35-degree heat,
sheltering from massive hailstones**,
and gearing up for a year of very exciting things.


What things, you ask?***
Well, here are just a few key things you can expect more about in 2012.

1) Forget the NBN ****. 2012 is the year of the NGN: a New Garth Nix!  Can you believe it? Can you bear to wait until April? Here are some key facts you need to know:
  • There are ten million princes in the galaxy, but only ONE can become emperor.
  • Our edition will have a special never-before-published, exclusive-as-all-get-out, awesome-beyond-the-bounds-of-the-known-universe Garth Nix short story.
  • Yeah you read that right.
  • The NGN is called A Confusion of Princes.
  • We will have more to say on This Subject.

2) Lili Wilkinson is bringing it in 2012.
What is she bringing? Well, apart from the home-made tonic water and the honey-and-ginger infused whisky, she is bringing A NEW BOOK IN APRIL. It's called Love-Shy. And here is everything you need to know: girl meets boy meets East Glendale Secondary College Gazette.

3)
October will see the third and final volume in the Keepers series by Lian Tanner. Path of Beasts. It is, quite simply, a triumphant conclusion. If the series had to end (and quite frankly I would have been happy reading about Goldie and Toadspit until the crack of doom), then it had to end like this. More on this by-and-by - maybe even a sneak preview of an illustration or two QUITE SOON.

4) Two Words: Margo. Lanagan.
Two more words: Sea. Hearts.
Two further words: Read. It.
Two more further words: No. Really.


And that, friends, is all just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much goodness in the House this year. It's bursting out the doors; it is streaming out the windows; it will flow through this blog at least semi-regularly, because we just can't contain it.

BRING ON 2012!



***SPOILER ALERT***

Also, we will eat cake in 2012.

In fact, the cake eating has already begun. And how!











* Because everyone else is still on holiday. *sob*
** Oh Melbourne, don't ever change.
*** Those of you who aren't at the beach do, anyway.
**** What's that, you already have forgotten it? Sshhhh, we're trying to make a joke.