Where Literary Legends Are Born
  • Find That Book Around NYC!: Sinclair Lewis’s It Can’t Happen Here

    February 17, 2017
    Inspired by Emma Watson hiding copies of Maya Angelou’s book Mom & Me & Mom in the New York City subway and the London Underground as part of Books on the Underground’s project to bring new and used books to travelers initiative, the interns of McIntosh & Otis visited some of NYC’s iconic landmarks to place copies of READ MORE

    Tips for World Building in Fiction

    August 29, 2016
    Books have the power to transport readers to a completely different world, and this is doubly true for fantasy and science fiction. Those genres continue to be extremely popular in kidlit, but in a crowded market, it can be hard for authors to make their otherworldly realms stand out. Here are some tips for building READ MORE

    In Defense of the Good Girl

    June 7, 2016
    BY AIMEE LIM Unlikable girls are having a pop cultural moment. Long relegated to the sidelines as one-dimensional vamps, bitches, and romantic rivals, women who are messy, difficult, selfish, or even out-and-out bad now rule. Consider Amy Dunne from Gone READ MORE

    The Art of #TwitterPitching

    March 24, 2016
    Whether it’s #MSWL, #PitMad or #DVpit, Twitter pitching is all the rage and a great way to catch an agent’s attention.  I recently did a workshop focused entirely on how to pitch for twitter and blog contests and I liked READ MORE

    Intern Words of Wisdom

    May 14, 2015
    With summer fast approaching, we know that many aspiring publishing folks will be on the hunt for internships. And, with our fantastic spring interns leaving us this week (sob!), we thought it would be a good time for them to share their wisdom about what they’ve learned during their time at M&O and advice they READ MORE

    Children’s Book Week!

    May 7, 2015
    May 4-10 is Children's Book Week!  Here at M&O, we went around the office and each picked one of our favorite children's books.  All of these are special to us and proved influential during our childhoods.  Read on to find READ MORE

    Debate: Do Characters Need to Be Likable?

    April 30, 2015
    This week on the blog, we are having a good old-fashioned debate. It is a good thing to have a debate or a discussion on various topics since it gives us more perspective on how things work in reality. There are quite a lot of debate topics for teens and adults that could open your READ MORE

    Tips for First Time Conference-Goers: Children’s Writers Edition

    April 23, 2015
    I recently got back from attending the SCBWI Western Washington Annual conference in Redmond, Washington and am on my way to another SCBWI conference in Sacramento next week. That said, conferences have been on my mind and I thought it could be a fun topic to go into for my blog post this week. So, READ MORE