A Young Adult Writer in New York

Young adult novels rock, so when the opportunity arose to visit the Simon Pulse offices (aka Center of YA awesomeness) in NYC, this major fan girl had to go. We're over a year out until the release of THE DARK LIGHT, but a year's nothing in publishing and I was in edits and it is NYC... No other excuses needed.

A first visit to your publisher is still a nerve wracking experience. What if you fall on your face? Or can't remember your name? Or fail to convince these experienced editors that you are a real writer and not some blathering impostor who stumbled in off the street? About that last point... Turns out they were needless worries. Those big scary publishing houses are not as scary as I thought. Here's why...

1. Publishers, editors, editorial assistants... are REAL people. And they're the nicest, funniest, most welcoming people you could ever meet.
2. Publishing houses are filled with books! Okay, that one's pretty obvious. But true. Think Charlie and the Book-Making Factory.
3. Publishing houses have things like recording studios where they sit you in a chair and shine lights at you and make you talk into a huge camera about where you come from and where you get your ideas and if you get it wrong there's a cold hose and... It's true!
4. Publishing houses are filled with sweet, edible treats. Heard about those scary acquisition meetings and stuff? They're run on sugar.
5. People who work in publishing houses talk in the bathrooms about meetings and marketing and important things like that. Writers visiting publishing houses hide in bathrooms and pretend not to listen (totally eavesdrop).

Needless to say, my visit to the Pulse offices was amazing, and I can't thank the team enough--especially my fantastic editor, Annette Pollert, for making me feel so welcome (and for the wonderful cookies and books!) It's a well worn cliche, but true: The journey from sparking an idea for a story to publication is not for the faint hearted. But it is totally worth it. And I plan to scream that all the louder after my experience at Simon & Schuster. In the years I've been writing, I've met so many amazing writers, so many people who'd love to be writers, and many, many more who plan to write a novel but have yet to get started. Get on it. Stick at it. Stay with it. Because if I can reach the day where I can talk about the inside of a NYC publisher, then so can you.