Cuentecitos

Last year at Book Expo America, I had the great pleasure of meeting the very gracious Adriana Dominguez, Executive Editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books and Rayo. In the months after that meeting, we’ve corresponded many times about Latino children’s literature and I’ve been impressed both by her warmth and expertise.

Adriana Dominguez is an Executive Editor in the children’s book division of HarperCollins. Before joining Harper, she was Criticas magazine’s Children’s Review Editor. She has many years of publishing experience in the children’s market, is considered an expert in her field and has worked for most major publishers, such as Scholastic, Harcourt, McGraw-Hill, and Santillana U.S.A, among others, on either a full-time or freelance basis.

She has worked with many noted Latino authors, such as Lulu Delacre of Rafi and Rosi fame and the writing team of Alma Flor Ada and Isabel F. Campoy. She is generous with her time and is keenly interested in getting Latino authors and illustrators published.

A while ago, I broached the idea of having Adriana contribute to Cuentecitos and I’m so excited to say that she agreed and will start contributing her insight and knowledge in the next few weeks. She was also very generous in allowing me to interview her as an introduction.

First of all let me say how honored I am to have you as a contributor to Cuentecitos. Your contributions to the Latino community and to Children’s literature are very much appreciated and I am so very glad to have you here. Welcome!

Q: What first drew you to Children’s Literature???

A: First, I want to thank you for that warm reception. I am very happy to contribute to your very important blog; I want to see more Latinos get published, and I think that forums such as this one, where Latino authors can support each other and learn from one another, are a great place to start working toward that goal.

Now, to answer your question, I am fortunate enough to come from a household of avid readers. When I was a child, my mother would always have a book by her bedside table; she read to me at night and sang me songs before I went to sleep, this awoke my imagination, and so I too fell in love with books. Their ability to transport me to other places and realities still fills me with joy; “bookjoy” as the wonderful author Pat Mora would put it.

Once I got to college, I chose to study literature so that I could continue to fill my life with the joy that books bring. My first publishing job was as a Spanish language editor at Scholastic, and it was there that I realized the importance of the work I was doing; how it impacted kids just like me, who had come to this country not speaking the English language, and who desperately wanted to belong, but to also find something familiar throughout the process of adapting to a new culture. I hope that the books I help create provide that familiarity to Latino kids, that sense of belonging, and encourages them to be proud of their heritage, and of being bilingual, and bicultural. I also hope that it encourages them to embark on a life-long journey of learning.

?Q: Adriana, I recently read in Criticas Magazine that by 2025, one in four children in the United States will be Hispanic, that in 2005 more than half of the Spanish-language and bilingual materials for these children are still imported from Latin America and Spain. What is the US publishing industry in general and HarperCollins doing to catch up with the international market and get some of those reported billions of dollars that are currently being spent by the Latino market in imported children’s picture and coloring books? I believe the Criticas article stated that it was in the neighborhood of 34 million books that were shipped to the US in 2002. That’s a lot of books! ??

A: That is a lot of books indeed! And those books fill a very real, and as you pointed out, growing, demand. What I am attempting to do at HarperCollins Children’s Books through Rayo, is to provide books that are not just in Spanish, or bilingual in format, but that speak to the US Latino experience specifically. The books being imported from other countries are often high quality books, but they are not geared toward the US Latino specifically. I do think that there is room for all of us in this industry, the imported and the national books; the industry exists because there are readers who want all kinds of books. By hiring experienced Latino editors such as myself, who are familiar with the culture and can guarantee the quality of a translation, US publishers are committing to this very important market, and acknowledging the need for these books. ?

Q: What makes Harper Rayo a good place for Latino writers and illustrators to sign on with???

A: As I stated in my last response, I am interested in expanding the US Latino market specifically. I am an immigrant and a Latina; I can identify with the needs and wants of the market, and with the messages that authors and illustrators are trying to convey through their work. Rayo also has the distinctive advantage of being part of a major publisher, and our authors and illustrators are able to receive all of the benefits and support that were previously reserved for mainstream authors, because Latino authors are quickly becoming mainstream authors in their own right.

Q: What do you look for in a submission? What has been overdone???

A:?? I look for originality, enthusiasm, and an awareness of the market. An author who has done his or her homework, is a great self-promoter, and of course, a good writer, is a diamond in the rough. Books that aim to only “teach” have been overdone; we are now at the next stage of our development; we have to stop telling folks who we are, and what we are like (being descriptive), and begin to tell our stories, funny stories, interesting stories; the stories we have inside that we want to share with the world, the stories that make us unique as authors and as Latinos. Let’s create the next New York Times Bestseller, or Caldecott winner! I know we can do it. We must aim high now that the mainstream finally knows who we are!

Q: I know you are currently seeking submissions, what exactly are you looking for in a manuscript? ??

A:?? I am looking for anything that meets the criteria outlined above. The Spanish material I publish is mostly made up of translations of Harper’s top titles. I feel truly fortunate to have had the opportunity to work on the forthcoming Spanish edition of the New York Times Bestseller FANCY NANCY, for instance.

For original works, I look mostly for bilingual and English language material, as I believe that is where the market is headed. Bilingual books are wonderful because kids and their parents can read them together, no matter which is the dominant language in the household. These books are becoming increasing popular among English speaking parents who want their children to learn Spanish too! I publish books for children of all ages, from newborns to teens. I’d love to find a brilliant original teen or tween novel. We have too few of those.

Q: What do you think needs to be done in increasing the Latino community’s awareness of what is out there for their children? ??

A:?? Rayo is very involved with El día de los niños/El día de los libros; Children’s Day/Book Day, founded by Pat Mora, and now housed at the American Library Association’s Association of Library Service for Children (ASLC). El día de los niños is celebrated at libraries throughout the country on April 30th, and serves as a starting point for reading all year long. I am proud to be working with ALSC to promote this wonderful celebration. I’d like to see it extend beyond the library; I’d like to see bookstores celebrate on April 30th too, and I’d like to see TV ads that encourage kids to visit their local bookstores and libraries on that day, and every day of the year. How wonderful would it be if the entire country knew that there is a day to celebrate children and books!

Q: Where can writers and illustrators send their submissions? ??
Adriana Dominguez
Executive Editor
c/o HarperCollins Children’s Books
1350 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10019

And don’t forget to send a SASE along with your submission, especially if you’d like your material to be returned to you. That is the #1 rule for sending submissions that every author should know!

Q: What recent Latino authors or illustrators has Harper Rayo published???

A: We have worked with a number of exciting Latino authors, ranging from celebrities, such as Gloria Estefan, Alex Rodriguez, Cheech Marin, and Univision Radio’s Dra. Isabel, to established authors, such as Alma Flor Ada, and Pat Mora. I am also currently working with award-winning author Monica Brown on a number of exciting titles. Some of our illustrators include Orlando Ramirez, who did a fabulous job on Cheech Marin’s books, and we have upcoming books illustrated by Rudy Gutiérrez and award-winner Rafael López, to name a few.

Q: What advice can you give to the aspiring Latino writer or illustrator? What steps can they take towards getting published or even just finding an agent?

A: Go to your local bookstore or library. You cannot write if you don’t read first. Read, read, and then read some more. Learn what you like, and what you don’t like. Learn about the books that are out there, all of the books that are out there, not just the Latino books. Look at the New York Times Bestseller’s list; that will tell you what the trade publishers are looking for, because trade publishers want books that will potentially reach that level of success. Purchase books on the market, or ask your local librarian to help you find marketplace guides and agent guides.

More and more agents are now seeking work by Latino authors, so reach out to them. But find out what they are looking for as well. You wouldn’t send an editor or an agent interested in science fiction a cookbook, would you? Do your homework. I cannot stress that enough. But before you begin to try to get your work published, or represented by an agent, do the really hard work; polish your material, learn as much as you can by joining writer’s groups and networks. If you don’t have a local critique group, create one, feedback is essential to the process of writing. Write, write all the time, and when you are tired, write some more. Writing is a job like any other. If you do it as a hobby, you won’t be doing enough. The book business is a business. You have to put in the hard work before you can reap the rewards. And don’t lose hope; if you know that you’ve written something great, and your critique group agrees, and so does the amazing agent you found, you are onto something! Keep knocking on doors. Eventually, someone will answer your call. It won’t happen overnight, but it can happen.

Illustrators should have samples of their work. How they present those samples is really up to them, and to their budget. Some create postcards, others invest a bit more. But it is important that you exhibit your work in the best way possible. Have a website, send samples to art directors and to agents (find out if the accept unsolicited material first), and be as original as you possibly can. It is the distinctive quality of your art that makes it special and attractive to a designer and/or editor. For illustrators, the same advice given to authors applies, learn about children’s books, about how they are made, and read them, see how the really great illustrators interpret an author’s words visually, what sets them apart. And I can never say this enough: Know the market.

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