1. SCBWI: How would you describe the publishing program for the older end of Hodder Children's Books?
Beverley Birch: We're looking for writing that stands out from the crowd, be it at the more mass-market end or the literary end, or somewhere in between. Silver, for example, is a list that is all about flight into other worlds — landscapes of mind or spirit, an alternative time or place, or the territories where the extraordinary and the supernatural interweaves with real life. The writers here create richly-imagined landscapes peopled by characters who live and breathe on the page. They're fast-paced tales, often mysterious and unexpected, that suck the reader straight in, but also embrace and explore themes that continue to captivate young readers, when sifted and shaped by the enduring power of a first-class, suspenseful story: friendship, loyalty, betrayal, guilt, the place our pasts and the forces of nature play in shaping what we are: identity, power, obsession, responsibility for what we do, what we are, what we become. There's a wide range of traditions within the list — fantasy, science fiction, tales that draw on myth and legend, supernatural, animal fantasies.

Our literary list, Signature combines richness of story and language with depth and substance. Here we're looking not just for mastery of plotting and structure but also depth of insight — the inner workings of character and motivation as alive as the outer. Vigorous, individual voices with something compelling to say. Novels that linger in the mind — stretching and challenging, broadening horizons. Books that enliven the range and use of language and deepen perceptions. Here style and substance need to work with originality and precision.

2. SCBWI: What features grab your attention in a teen novel?
BB: Writing that makes me feel "Oh! I wonder where this is going." The ability to provoke curiosity or instant interest in the character, setting or situation — a sense of freshness — that I haven't seen this before. It may be the writer's voice, or the setting, or the angle of attack — but something. A novel needs to grab attention from the opening page, because if a writer doesn’t succeed in getting this right, there is a good chance they won't hold attention either — really it betrays a lack of tactical understanding. But there are often first-class opening pages or chapters, which do not sustain the impact beyond that. Sustaining interest is as important as grabbing it in the first place. I think too many writers new to children's books don’t realise how much work there is in getting a children's book right, engrossing from first to last. Children are devastating critics. If they become bored, most of them simply stop reading.

3. SCBWI: Are you aware of any trends in children's publishing at the moment? How do you feel about them?
BB: It’s a sad fact that, increasingly, each title has to earn its own keep — or it won't get warehouse or shelf space. If a book doesn't sell, it has a knock-on effect on booksellers taking on the next book. But the reasons why a book has not made a mark may have nothing whatsoever to do with its qualities or its inherent saleability — i.e. not the author's fault at all, but a publishing problem arising from mistiming of publication, lack of marketing and publicity, or a poor jacket. The tendency for each book to have to earn its space is very detrimental to nurturing new talent: in the past a writer could grow from the first book, with all books remaining in print, establishing a visible body of work on the bookshop or library shelf. Now even the best writers are constantly having their earlier books going out-of-print or remaindered.

I think the tendency for marketing and publicity to concentrate on the authors who are good at events and public appearances is also a pity: many writers are shy and there is a terrible risk of overlooking the books and the authors who are simply quieter — whose impact is in their written words, which, after all, is what publishing is supposed to be about.

There is a current taste for "big books" — how long this will last is difficult to say, but it is proving that young readers can and will respond to a chunky read — whether it's Philip Pullman's Northern Lights, Adele Geras' Troy, or J.K. Rowling's more recent Harry Potter stories. There are a lot of young readers eager to plunge into and keep going with a story that has caught them, however long it is. There was a time when it was gloomily predicted that such reading enthusiasm in children was at an end.

4. SCBWI: What say does the sales/marketing department have in the look or type of the book you produce?
BB:A substantial say in how a book looks, but not at the expense of authors' views. The decision to publish a book is taken at a meeting where sales and marketing play a very significant part, and the editor has to convince everyone there of the viability of the book. Editors do not always succeed in leaping this hurdle, but their judgement and conviction is still the prime mover in the process.

5. SCBWI: What do you see as some of the common mistakes authors could AVOID making when submitting?
BB: Not giving editors time to consider the work before they start nagging. Most editors have an enormous submission pile, and new submissions from authors already on our list have to take precedence. It is not possible for me to consider something properly inside six weeks from receipt: submissions have to take their place in a queue, and the rate of submission never slackens.

Assuming that a description of a plot surrounded by glowing adjectives is enough for an editor to make a judgement. Plots are two a penny. It's in the handling, the originality of author's voice, that's where the difference lies — and that’s what we need to be shown.

Beverley Birch will be speaking at the European conference, "May the Myth be your Muse" on the Greek island of Hydra. For further information please contact Carolyn Moschopoulos at carolyn_jmm@hotmail.com