Interview with Talia Benamy | Writing for Children 189

INTERVIEW WITH TALIA BENAMY Talia Benamy is an associate editor at Philomel Books (an imprint of Penguin Young Readers), where she focuses on everything from picture books to middle grade and young adult novels. She has worked on books by Chelsea Clinton, Sonia Sotomayor, Temple Grandin, Jane Yolen, Abigail Harrison, Lisa Graff, Ruta Sepetys, Dev Petty, Sarah Brannen, and Terry Border. She sees books as having the amazing power to shape kids’ worldviews, and looks for manuscripts that have the potential to do just that. We talk about: • What exactly does an associate editor do? • How does the process of using a reader help you go through the slush pile? • How do you determine if a piece of writing is good? • What are common mistakes you see in submissions? • What makes you reject a manuscript almost immediately?   Get a one-on-one mentor to help you write publishable work that agents and publishers are looking for! Get started here!