Authors Jodi Picoult and daughter on LI
Jodi Picoult and her daughter, Samantha Van Leer will sign and discuss their new teen book "Betwwen the Lines'" (Atria Books) Credit: Adam Bouska
Samantha Van Leer was daydreaming in her eighth-grade French class when she concocted a story line she thought would make a great young adult book.
What if the characters in a fairy tale had lives that went on when the book was closed? What if the prince longed to get into the real world? And what if a 15-year-old high school girl reading the book fell in love with him and decided to help him?
Van Leer phoned her mom -- who happens to be Jodi Picoult, bestselling author of 19 novels that have sold millions of copies combined. "She surprised me by saying: 'That's great. Let's write it together,'" Samantha Van Leer says.
Newsday talked to Picoult, 46, and Van Leer, now a 16-year-old high school senior, as they launched a book tour for "Between the Lines" in California this week. They will be on Long Island -- where Picoult grew up -- on Sunday.
"The thing that made it different were the moments of humor. I love the character Socks. I think he's hilarious. To have this mighty steed who is worried that his butt might look big in a saddle, I think that's really funny. I don't usually get the chance to be funny in a lot of my adult fiction because I write a lot of very heavy emotional content."
"My older son [Kyle, 20] is reminding me on a daily basis that he is the one who does not have a book with me. He is a rising senior at Yale. Jake is a rising sophomore at Yale."
Writing a fiction book as a parent-child team can be fun, whether or not you end up published, says Emily Bestler, editor in chief of Emily Bestler Books, publisher of "Between the Lines." But, of course, seeing your names on the binding is the ultimate goal. "It's actually very doable," Bestler says. Here is her advice:
* Write the book first; it should be finished before you solicit an agent. "No agent wants to hear, 'Hi, we want to write a good book, sign us up.' "
* Make sure your child is motivated, and the writing is pleasurable, not punishing.
"It's hard work to write a book."
* Don't send a manuscript to a book publisher unsolicited.
"They don't really get read or considered properly." Get an agent to pitch it for you.
* Find agents in a book called "The Literary Marketplace." "That lists every agent in the United States and what kind of books they like to represent." It explains whether the agent wants a query letter or a letter and several chapters.
* Be persistent. "So much about getting published is not giving up." The first six agents might reject you. Go to the bookstore and look at books that are similar to yours, and read the acknowledgments. The author will likely thank the agent, and you can target that one.
* Consider the self-publishing option. "It's an excellent route these days. It's really quite simple." Bestler suggests companies such as Lulu or Amazon or iUniverse. Agents are constantly trolling those waters, looking to pick up self-published books that are doing well. "With the pull and clout of an organization behind you, it's easier to get distributed. They have a marketing budget that's not coming out of your bank account."
