by Judy Faulkner

Registration for this year’s SCBWI-LA Working Writers Retreat closes in four days, and the event is only a few weeks away. Retreat faculty member Adam Blackman is Acquisitions Editor for picture books at the Cardinal Rule Press and a freelance editorial consultant on books for all ages. In this interview, he gives Kite Tales a taste of what he brings to a retreat conversation and what he hopes attendees will bring with them and be able to take away. In conversation, Adam listens closely, smiles easily, and laughs often. He also notes, “You can put in brackets, ‘gestured with hands,’ because I speak with my hands so much. It’ll be an art note.” Hooray, an editor with no fear of art notes! This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. – JF

Judy Faulkner: Adam, welcome to Kite Tales.

Adam Blackman: Thank you for inviting me. It’s great to be here.

JF: Your bio shows that you’ve worn many different hats in the book world (and world-at-large), leading up to your current editorial role. You’ve been a bookstore manager and nonprofit director, earned an MFA in Fiction from Sarah Lawrence College, and have written for both adults and children. Has that history given you a superpower as an editor? If so, what is that superpower?

AB: I would say empathy. Having written, I understand what it’s like to be in the position of a writer, getting work critiqued, and submitting. I was also, at one point, a reader for a literary magazine. Having had that perspective, I understand the business better: “You have to make that decision from this many submissions? Oh, that’s why it’s impersonal.” But, through that, I also realized how impactful receiving a more personalized response can be, how we can encourage a good writer despite the pass.

Then, as someone who’s been a parent exhaustedly reading a book to their kid at night, I empathize with that part of things—the parent who wants to spark their child’s imagination. And, of course, there are the educators and librarians and booksellers. Everyone has a specific role and challenge within this enterprise of making books and getting them read. As an editor, mine is being mindful of every one of these touchpoints in the process, as well as responding as an individual reader to what I see.

JF: So, today you apply your power of empathy at Cardinal Rule Press. Tell us your role and what you love about them.

AB: I’ve been at Cardinal Rule Press for five years and I’m Acquisitions Editor. What do I love? … As you mentioned, I have a long background working with nonprofits, which are often described as being “mission driven.” And while you could say that most independent presses are essentially a nonprofit because of the finances of it, Cardinal Rule Press really feels very mission driven. Not in a reductive way, but in a way that gives it focus.

We were founded by a classroom teacher who didn’t feel she could find books that represented all the students in her class and wanted to ensure that those books were available. So, she started by writing and publishing her own work and then created the press, the scaffolding to uplift other authors and other stories. The idea is that we want to reach kids, specifically with realistic fiction portrayals. To directly inspire kids—help them feel seen and heard, and, through this acknowledgement and recognition, help them have a sense of how to deal with the types of situations that come about in the world. I think that niche has given a helpful focus for acquisitions, and for those who are submitting.

I also love that the work is collaborative. I can bring my own ideas to the table. Maria, the publisher, and I discuss what kinds of books we should try to find, and some of the items on the resulting wish lists are mine and some are hers. Then, once we have the milieu or subject matter we feel is interesting, we go out to find stories that don’t just check a box but that jump off the page.

JF: A great goal. Then I guess our next question would be: What do you look for in a project?

Because of our mission, I do think Cardinal Rule Press gets a lot of on-the-nose or heavy-handed stories. The idea of “realistic fiction for socially responsible children” tends to invite that! While we do avoid the didactic story, there’s definitely a place in our catalog for stories like Camouflage Mom—which has a more somber, lyrical feel—as well as for those like Three Pockets Full—which couldn’t pick a heavier topic (a father’s death and a mother’s remarriage) but treats it in a book that’s fun and vibrant, cover to cover.

So, when I try to describe one part of my aesthetic for folks, it’s “heavy topics told with levity.” I don’t want that to be like, well, you have to do it that way or else. Just a good story, well told, can connect. But that mix is definitely a sweet spot for me.

JF: What’s a recent Cardinal Rule Press release that you edited, and what drew you to it?

AB: There are two books I would mention that are among this year’s releases for us. Like That Eleanor is fiction but has an historical element because it’s about a girl named after Eleanor Roosevelt. Her dads teach her about Eleanor Roosevelt’s activism in a way that helps her to know how to deal with an injustice toward a nonbinary kid in her class. Just Ducky comes out next Wednesday and was my first author-illustrator book. It’s a fun and sweet story about a girl who is duck-obsessed and does not want to make room to hear anything else around her. This pushes other people away at her summer camp, until she learns to listen and apply her “duckness” in a way that actually invites people in to make friends. 

I’m excited about both these stories, including that they are SCBWI stories as well. I’d met the author of Eleanor, Lee Wind, at the New York conference, and, having liked his earlier book, invited him to send a submission. And Ducky author-illustrator Berrie Torgan-Randall has been an Illustration Coordinator for our local SCBWI Pennsylvania region.

JF: That (almost too-neatly, but delightfully) brings us to conferences and retreats. What are you most looking forward to about the upcoming Working Writers Retreat? 

AB: Being in person. I really, really enjoy talking with and working with other creative folks, as a general statement. As a writer, in my writing groups, I love when we’re talking about ideas, brainstorming together. It’s one of my favorite things to do. Listening to people’s pitches in person and being able to respond, to ask them questions and see their body language—it’s really valuable being with a whole person and not just a thumbnail or a talking head on a screen. Being in person lets you address things. You can see, oh, they didn’t like that comment, that’s okay, we can go through that. Certainly, there’s a greater possibility for serendipity. It’s the person you’re standing next to in line. With the in-person events, you have the opportunity for casual interaction, different levels of interactions. Plus there’s the getting past social anxiety, which is always valuable to do. 

JF: For our readers coming to the retreat (and for all our readers, all the time) what items do you recommend folks pack in a literal or metaphoric author’s suitcase?

AB: I’m gonna go with the literal. Pen and paper. I say that because I think wherever we are in the process of writing, the pen and the paper can be the way to write our way through. The physical act of handwriting can free us up, unloose creative ideas, and take us in new directions. Writing by hand allows us to brainstorm, allows us to list, allows us to rearrange physically on the page, sketch. All of those things can be done on a computer, but there is something uniquely moving about the act of handwriting. So I would encourage that. A physical pen. 

I think the metaphorical aspect maybe would be to come to the moment with an open mind. Because we have to be open to receive feedback. We have to be open to hearing frustrating news about the industry or the macro climate of books and their life, without closing it out. Being able to receive is a great way to approach any kind of retreat or conference.

You know, at a really big conference you can get lost sometimes, and having action steps and plans are great little blueprints. These can be helpful for a smaller retreat as well. Then the openness would be, well, maybe something at the conference gives you an idea for this other thing that you were not planning on working on that weekend. But maybe you decide to strike where the iron is hot, to go with that piece for the moment and then return to the other one. That’s a way these events can unfold so that you can get the most out of them.

JF: Funny enough, I did that very pivot at this retreat two years ago, and it remains one of my favorite kidlit experiences to date.

AB: I’m so glad what I said resonated for you.

JF: Thanks, Adam. I’m sure our readers also appreciate these insights—and are looking forward to meeting you at the retreat.

AB: I look forward to seeing everyone there. 

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Adam Blackman is Acquisitions Editor for picture books for Cardinal Rule Press. A former bookstore manager and nonprofit director, Adam earned his MFA in Fiction from Sarah Lawrence College and has written for both adults and children. He also works with writers on a freelance basis to shape and shine their stories. An active member of Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) and regular presenter at writing conferences, Adam lives in a hutch in Brooklyn, NY, with his tween son and seriously adolescent bunny. Visit Adam at his website to learn more. 

Photos and cover images courtesy of Adam Blackman and Cardinal Rule Press