I’ve been thinking about covers for novels a lot lately because I’ve got a couple of books that present a challenge for cover design. I don’t design covers, but it is part of my job to help the cover designers find the right direction. I’ve had a fairly consistent procedure for kick starting cover ideas […]Read more "A Pause Before the Plunge"

Before I started working for Lerner, I never gave much thought to the nonfiction picture book genre. I think I took it for granted that picture books had to be quirky or funny or warm-fuzzy-inducing. Now, I certainly don’t say this to belittle those characteristics, because they apply to many of my very favorite picture […]Read more "Surprises"

(posted on behalf of Greg Hunter, assistant editor) I vividly remember my first comic book, as most comic nerds probably do. It was Spectacular Spider-Man #197, and I was in second grade. The issue isn’t very good in hindsight, but it didn’t matter—I was hooked on the color, the characters, the whole new way of […]Read more "GU Comics Day: Twisting a Journey—Assistant Editing"

I love fashion, always have. My favorite fashion blog these days is On the Runway by New York Times fashion columnist Cathy Horyn. Shortly after the inauguration of President Obama this year, Horyn posted a great series about First Lady Michelle Obama and her impact on the fashion world. Unlike a lot of fashion blogs, […]Read more "Fashion Calls"

I heard a recent radio interview with novelist E.L. Doctorow . He said, “[First lines] are the acorns from which the oak grows.” While he was talking about novels, I couldn’t help applying his statement to some of our recent nonfiction titles. “I bet fifty dollars no one can ride in a horseless buggy across […]Read more "Nonfiction Monday: First Lines and First Impressions"

[I asked Jeff Savage, the author of many of our Amazing Athletes titles, to be this week’s Lerner guest blogger. Be gentle with him! It’s his first blog ever. He lives in California, not far from where I grew up.] My father came for a visit last weekend. As he was watching TV, our telephone […]Read more "Channeling Dad"

(posted on behalf of Julie Harman, production editor, occasional Scrambler) One of the most unusual roles in the Graphic Universe imprint is that of The Scrambler. In GU’s Twisted Journeys series, the reader decides his or her path through the journey and reaches a different ending each time. Twisted Journeys authors write each storyline in […]Read more "GU Comics Day: Twisting a Journey—A Day in the Life of a Scrambler"

[Here is the continuation of Jean’s blog posting on the back story of TFCB. I’ve added a photo of her (left) with our director of rights and special sales, Maria Kjoller, at LPG’s 50th anniversary gala. Thanks, Jean!]Jeanne Vestal retired in 1998. Meanwhile, Holt had made the decision to sell the by now well-established imprint, […]Read more "TFCB’s Beginnings—Part II from Jean Reynolds"

This weekend I spent some time at the Minnesota Weavers Guild demonstration area at the Minnesota State Fair. One person wove on a floor loom, another wove on an inkle loom, a third person spun wool into yarn with a spinning wheel, and I crocheted and knit. All of us talked with people passing by […]Read more "Kids and Real Stuff"