Allyn Johnston started her publishing career as a marketing assistant at Clarion Books in 1985. She later worked as an editorial assistant at Harcourt, an editor at Putnam, and—back at Harcourt in San Diego—an editor, senior editor, executive editor, and now editorial director. Among the authors and illustrators she works with are Debra Frasier, Mem Fox, Cynthia Rylant, Lois Ehlert, Douglas Florian, Avi, Theodore Taylor, Mary Lyn Ray, Jane Dyer, Marla Frazee, and Keith Baker.

Anna Olswanger: What is your day like as an editor?

Allyn Johnston: My day officially starts at 8:30 and goes to 5:00, but I'm fortunate in that I've been at Harcourt long enough that to some extent, I can shape my day. I don't have to sit at my desk with my feet in place every minute; I often work at a little coffee shop in the mornings before coming in to the office. But usually I have to be here, and it can be a juggle. I present books at sales conferences, talk to the marketing people, write catalog copy. And as an editorial director, I'm not only doing my books, I'm responsible for overseeing what other editors do, too. So it's hard to get the calm time to think and do the editorial work that brought me into the field to begin with. That intimate thinking time is the hardest to keep sacred.

Olswanger: What makes you want to sign up a book?

Johnston: I think about whether the book is going to matter, if people are going to read it and have an emotional reaction. Did it make them laugh or cry? Did it make them feel nervous, tense, or excited? The books that cause readers to have an emotional reaction are the hardest books to write, and they are the rarest, but they are the ones that last.

Olswanger: Are there advantages to working at a publishing house outside New York?

Johnston: It opens up my mind, but I'm from California so I admit to being biased. I find I'm able to relax more into the work here, instead of worrying about what people in other houses are doing. And because Harcourt is where it is, I can't just go down the street if I've had a bad day and look for a job elsewhere. I've made a commitment to being here, and I make it work.

Olswanger: What are the current economic pressures on children's book publishing?

Johnston: At Harcourt it used to be just the editor and publisher talking about whether we should sign up a book, but in recent years we have started having acquisition meetings where everybody is involved. It helps us to be more educated before we make hard and fast decisions. Something obvious to a sales or marketing person might not have crossed the mind of the author or editor. But if an editor stands up for a project that others aren't quite getting, we're willing to back it. We still follow editorial passion. We're also better now about smaller print runs, which means we don't have huge inventories of books sitting in the warehouse. There is nothing worse than being the editor of a book that gets remaindered, so when you're signing up a book, first of all you think, "What's it going to be like to present this at a sales conference?" And then you think, "Will it have legs and sell, or will we be talking about remaindering it in the next two years?"

Olswanger: What should new writers know about the craft of writing?

Johnston: I wish new writers would educate themselves about what books are already out there, and what makes them have staying power. I'm always speaking at writing conferences and telling people to read books. I'm shocked at how few people do.

Olswanger: What do you find surprises new writers about publishing?

Johnston: New writers are surprised at how long it takes to find an illustrator for a picture book, how long it takes for the art to come in, and how long it takes to manufacture the book. Some writers and illustrators are overwhelmed when they realize how many books they are competing against. I've talked to people who have just had a book published, and three months later they feel let down because the world didn't stop when their book came out.

Olswanger: What do you wish established writers knew about publishing?

Johnston: A lot of established writers aren't interested in doing anything to promote their books, but I wish they understood how tough it is to get books out in the world. Everything is celebrity-driven these days. Also, a lot of writers don't seem to know that their editor is trying to do well by them. Sometimes their first thought is, 'She's not paying attention,' instead of thinking about all the other demands on an editor's time.

Olswanger: What should authors do in the way of promotion?

Johnston: Sometimes a book doesn't warrant a ton of promotion. Maybe it's a quiet first book. And if it's, say, a straight bedtime story without an educational hook, we can't do a teachers' guide, the way we can for a concept book. But we love it when people want to go out and speak to schools, and we have a person in the office who helps arrange author appearances. We are kind of tense when authors go off on their own and promote their book without connecting with the house, though. They will set up appearances and fail to have the books ordered, or the materials they print up to give away aren't professional. That doesn't represent everybody well, so we want to be involved.

Olswanger: How important are teachers to a book's success?

Johnston: The retail market is crowded and libraries seem to have less money for books, but teachers—who are passionate about them—spend their own money. They want to know about different books, and they want suggestions about how to use them, so we have been consciously trying to connect with teachers directly through the internet and through making our authors available to them.

Olswanger: How did becoming a mother change you as an editor?

Johnston: As an editor, I have always been drawn to books similar to the ones that spoke to me as a child. I was never off doing esoteric or academic children's books, but I have welcomed the experience of having my son to read to, and every day seeing what works, what doesn't. It's like a little in-house laboratory. Long picture book texts don't fly with him (or with the parent reading to him!), and the really trashy mass market books don't hold his attention. But sometimes he likes books that I've not responded to, and I've learned from having to stick with reading them. One thing I used to go around saying all the time was, "I don't want to see rhyming books." For the most part, when people write in rhyme, they succumb to it and let the rhyme control the story. But since I've had my son, I realize that you can engage a child with good rhyme, so I'm more open to it.

Olswanger: Did you always want to be an editor?

Johnston: I thought about librarianship, and I thought about writing, but the moment I discovered there was such a thing as an editor, I realized I had been coming to it my whole life.

Olswanger: What do you want to leave as your legacy to children's book publishing?

Johnston: I want to publish books that go into the heart of a family and into the most private moments between parents and their children. I was one of those shy kids at the edges of things, and books were a place for me to get an emotional connection with a wider world. I could experience all these other lives, just from reading. I like to imagine the books I've worked on as being present in the lives of children the way books were for me.

Text copyright © 2000 and 2001 Anna Olswanger and Allyn Johnston. Visit Harold Underdown's The Purple Crayon for other interviews by Anna Olswanger.