Editor's Day Part 5 -- Kate Angelella

Kate Angelella is an assistant editor at Aladdin/Simon & Schuster. She specializes in middle grade and tween fiction, although she has also done YA. She is a heavy line editor and likes to be hands-on.

Ms. Angelella's talk focused on the elusive "voice." A great voice is one that she will want to read aloud and share. It has to hold up in order to engage her, so it will be a worthy investment of her time.

Essentially, the author's goal with voice is to enchant and enthrall the reader. The voice should create imagery so vivid, and without drawing attention to itself, that the reader forgets she is reading. To do this, the author must be careful with her language, word choice, and dialogue (and beware of too direct dialogue).

Then Ms. Angelella gave us her e-mail and said we can submit our full manuscript!

And that's all the speakers from Editor's Day!


Now it's time for my personal anecdote. During lunch, I was not seated with one of the editors, so the conversation flowed. We talked about our books and our successes, and I mentioned I had a few agents interested in my manuscript. Then, a man at the head of the table said I should talk to his wife, Kate. Sometimes I can be incredibly thick, so I said, "Kate who?" It turned out he was Ms. Angelella's husband, and he introduced me personally to her. At the end of our conversation, Ms. Angelella gave me her business card and told me to submit to her.

Moral of the story: You never know who you're talking to at these conferences, so always be your bright, smiley self!