Not Just Kids Stuff
July 1999Not Just Kids' Stuff
Q&A Linda Palladino
by Rose Blessing
Now vice president of production, juvenile books, William Morrow & Company, Linda Palladino has been working in her field for 22 years and still finds it exciting. "The day you think you know everything in book production, you might as well retire," she says.
What keeps life interesting for Linda Palladino? Many things, she explains: the fast pace of technological change, the many wonderful people she has had a chance to meet, including the authors, editors and illustrators of the books she works on as well as members of book production industry organizations and the unending challenges intrinsic to the task of producing children's books.
Palladino acquired her production knowledge through 10 years at Scholastic, where she entered the book production industry as a production assistant in the elementary/high-school division and ended up running the book club/trade division's production department; three years at Warner Books, where she set up the juvenile production department; and time spent at William Morrow & Company, which she joined in May of 1991. William Morrow is comprised of a juvenile division and an adult trade division.
The day after attending the May Bookbinders' Guild of New York meeting on literacy, which was also two weeks before her upcoming wedding and while she was planning press schedules for the spring 2000 books, Palladino generously found a few minutes for us, too, to share observations about her career and the industry in general.
NOTE: In mid-June, just as this issue of BookTech the Magazine went to press, news broke that the News Corporation's HarperCollins had agreed to buy The Hearst Book Group from The Hearst Corporation. The Hearst Book Group includes William Morrow & Company and Avon Books. The closing of the sale was expected at the end of June.
Q&A Linda Palladino
Q: What is special about producing children's books?
A: Any book is a collaboration, but especially a children's book. Four-color children's books are expensive to produce. We have very high quality standards. My art directors are very demanding, and the editors are, too -- which is their job. My job is to give them what they want and need but also to keep an eye on the bottom line. So many times they will come to me in advance with specifications for a new project or samples of art that they feel could be difficult to reproduce. We then brainstorm over how to produce it economically.
Companies Mentioned:
 |
|
|
|||
|
|
