Thank You!

During this festive time of year, which I love, I do tend to get a little depressed being separated from my family and my closest friends. I, however, take solace in knowing that my work may bring joy to others and their families this season, and maybe, just maybe become part of their holiday traditions. I would like to think that my children’s books are under a few trees this year.

With that said, I would like to thank all of you that have supported my work over the years and wish you and your families the most wonderful and joyous Happy Holidays and to wish you all, all the best for the upcoming New Year. 

Good luck and keep writing.

Morgan

 From me to you Merry Christmas!!!

Disappointment; get use to it.

Recently some of you may have read that I had petitioned some bookstores to carry my books in their brick and mortar stores. Well I got an answer back from one of the largest booksellers in the world and basically their answer was no. What I was told was that since they already carried my books on their on-line stores and because they already stock some one million titles in their brick and mortar stores they did not feel that at this time they could add my books to their on shelf inventory.

I am perfectly OK with that response. The fact that I received a response in the form of a letter I see as a success. So many publishers and agents do not even afford that courtesy now a day.

A big part of trying to become an author is learning to deal with disappointment. I would guess that only about ten percent (or less) of my queries even get a response, but it is important to keep trying especially if you believe in your work. There are so many factors that go in to selecting projects, it can rang from timing to subject matter to marketability to talent or even what is happening in the pop culture and you may never know what some one is looking for at any given time. If you did know that it would increase your chances a hundred fold. But because most of us do not have a crystal ball we just have to keep trying. The important thing is to keep trying. There are things that you can do to increase your chances such as getting as much feed back as you can from friends, family, and even strangers. Have your work as finished as it can be. Use professional editors. Above all believe in yourself and your work and don’t let your disappointments get the best of you, because there will be disappointment but they will make the successes that much sweeter.

Good luck and keep writing.

Just a bit of a rant.

From my childhood on till today The Little Golden Book series has always stood for quality and innocents in children’s picture books. In fact I have recently started collecting old Golden Books, when I find them at antique shows, for their wonderful vintage illustrations and nostalgic sentiment. Yesterday I was looking at some new children’s books at a local store. Ever since my books were published I like to periodically check out the new competition as it is released and to my total surprise I saw a new Little Golden Book about, of all things, the Iron Man. Now I ask you  . . . The Iron Man? Really? What are they thinking? Comic books have their place and even though I have never been a reader of them I respect the talent it takes to create them, and like baseball cards they are a huge part of American culture but lets leave those characters as that. The Little Golden Books and Marvel Comics are not a good partnership. I know this is just my opinion but I don’t think that a toddler needs to be exposed to the story of Tony Stark as the Iron Man or indeed any super hero. Let a child be a child first.

End rant.

It's in the mail.

Many years ago, before I ever thought of becoming an author, I was celebrating Thanksgiving with my friend Jan and her family. Jan’s father was a successful published author and he told me that his secret to getting published was to always have something in the mail. He said that it was the only way to make a living at it. What he meant was that you need to keep trying. If one person rejects your manuscript, send it to three others; that is if you believe in your work. That is important so I will say it again, you must believe in your work! With my first book, The Deep Black Pond, I went through dozens of rejection letters before I got a yes. As of today I am shopping around two new manuscripts, as well as promoting my two published books. And even though snail mail is mostly replaced with e-mail the advice I was given still holds true today, you must always have something in the mail.

This week I have been petitioning bookstores to carry my books. That’s right you have to ask a bookstore to carry your work. Even though my books are on many of the bookstores web sights and my books are available through those avenues to get into the brick and mortar stores I have to ask to be considered. Like submitting work to publishers and agents each bookstore has its own criteria for how to send the request so it is important to research each and every store you wish to petition.

Once you have every thing in the mail the waiting begins. Some publishers and agents still accept SASE but others simply tell you that if you have not heard from them in six weeks to four months they are more than likely not interested. That is the only part of this process that I do not like. I feel that if you have gone to the trouble and expense of submitting to them the least they could do is bang out a note that says NO THANKS, but that’s just my opinion. So in addition to all the other skill sets you must master to become an author patients is an important one but when you finally get that acceptance letter it makes it all worthwhile.

Keep writing and good luck.

Finding the perfect publisher.

Trying to find a publisher for your work, that meets your needs, can be a full time job in it self. Every publisher has its own set of criteria for submitting a manuscript and many will not accept unsolicited works. So it is important to review any potential publisher's requirements before you send anything out. This also leaves you with two choices. One, find an agent to represent you or two, try to find a publisher that will accept unsolicited manuscripts. Neither choice is easy. I have found that my best resource throughout this process has been Google. There are many, many publishers out there to pick from and that is the beauty of a free market, but it also can make things very confusing.

After you find a publisher that you think will be a good fit for your book it is important to check them out further. Again, Google is a great resource for this. When you type in the name of any publisher it will spit back all sorts of information such as other authors reviews on how it is to work with that publisher and business practices that that publisher may engage in. Author be wear is also a good site to check out information on potential publishers. Get all the information you can and if you still make a mistake just remember, as I said, it is a free market and you can always switch publishers for your next book if you have not signed a multi book deal, but that is highly unlikely if this is your first book.

I cannot stress enough how Important it is to research and get all the information you can before signing any contract. It would also be a good idea to have a third party review any contract you are offered before signing it. I know that if a publisher offers to produce your book that feeling of excitement and elation can override your business sense, but stop, take a breath and reground yourself. Most important be smart, take off your artist’s hat and get fitted for a business one. 

Never stop learning and good luck.

inspiration!

Inspiration can come from any where or any thing I always say you just have to be open and observant to your surroundings. But this past week I was struck with inspiration and I did not know from where it came, but came it did, and I was obsessed with writing a poem. Something that I have rarely attempted.

I recently finished up one project and was moving on to try and wrap up a second when, well the best way I can describe it is, a muse sat down on my shoulder, and wouldn't leave, then said, "Do this instead." Well I started writing a poem for one of my holiday books and I could not stop until it was finished. Fully edited as well! I am so excited about it! More than I have been about any project in a long time. I think it is some of my best work to date. I finished the photo illustrations for this book several months back and now have the words to join them, and it is a perfect union. I have made the final selections of photos for this project as well. Now I start to try and find a publisher that this book will be perfect for, but more about that in my next blog.

I simply wanted to share my excitement about this holiday book with you, and hope aloud that that muse visits me again. It was a truly unique experience. I have heard of the actors high, and experienced it once many years ago when I was still doing theater. The actors high is when the character that an actor is playing takes over the performance and does it effortlessly. But I am not sure if there is such a thing as a writers high? If there is I may have experienced it this past week. I look forward to sharing this new children's book with you all very soon.

Good luck and keep writing.

Writing Children's Books: Getting it right!

Writing Children's Books: Getting it right!: After wrapping up my collaboration with my friend Coni I turned my attention back to my own project. That being a series of ...

Getting it right!

After wrapping up my collaboration with my friend Coni I turned my attention back to my own project. That being a series of holiday children's books, starting with my favorite holiday, Halloween. Last week I finished my third book and have now started the editing process.

Don't ever ignore this important part of book writing. With my first book, The Deep Black Pond, I thought that the book was in good shape when I started to send it out several years ago, but I then received rejection letter after rejection letter. They were always polite but never really provided any feed back, then one day a wonderful women in Chicago told me through an e-mail that my work needed quite a bit of editing and when I had done that I should resubmit my work. I went back to my manuscript and reworked it for several days, and then I sought the help of a professional editing firm. After that I worked with it some more. When I felt it was ready I started to send out submissions again. This time I received two offers to publish with in as many weeks. And even after all of that and the added publisher's editing of the book, it was still released with one word misspelled in it.

Most publishers like to do as little work on your book as they can. So it is so important to have it in the best possible shape it can be before you submit. Editing is also very subjective. You could send your work to seven different editors and get back seven different manuscripts. You then have to be true to yourself and pick which changes you want to keep and which to discard. When submitting it is also important to get the submission guide lines from each publisher that you want to send to. Not all publishers have the same guidelines and their can be dramatic differences. One of the most common in our new age is some publishers will only accept e-scripts while others prefer had copies.

For right now I must get back to my editing. And this weekend I was struck with inspiration from my muse and I have been writing for several days straight. I think I might be able to finish my Christmas book soon as well. Then I must edit that.

Good luck and keep writing! 

COLLABORATIONS

I have been working on a collaboration with an old friend over the past few months, and as of today I think we have put it to bed. Now the search for a publisher begins.

I have to admit that the collaborative process has been very enjoyable. I was apprehensive going into it because my illustrative work and my writing has always been a very personal and privet process until I am ready to throw it out there for everyone to see. In my display and visual work I collaborate and compromise everyday and because of that most of the projects come out better, two heads and all. But with my children's books I have always felt very protective and wanted the story to have one point of view.

Well my eyes have been opened! The children's book that we will be putting out is so much better than if just one of us had worked on it alone. Each person involved had something to add, be it creative, critical, or academic and it was all good! So the next time someone suggests a collaboration I will be only to happy to accept.

I have always known that I have the ability to learn until the day I die, but at forty something I am amazed to discover how much there is left out there for me to learn and surprised to find out that I want to learn it. Life's cool.

What does the future hold?

Yesterday I went to an antique mall with a friend to search for items that I could use in my next photographic project. After some time and several passes through the store I had to resign myself to leaving empty handed. On the way back to the car we saw a sign outside of the local library for a book sale, so with money still to spend and time on our hands we decided to go and see what they had for sale.

Once inside I made a bee line for the children's book section. Ever since I have been published I spend a lot more time looking at other authors work and especially their illustrations. I managed to find several books that I had never heard of and some wonderful illustrations that I had never seen. This got me thinking about the future of books in general. With the Kindle, the e-reader, and all those books being created as e-books only now a days will there be able to be such a thing as a book sale in the future? And those books that are created as only e-books will they be lost to cyber space over time? What about a book signing? How will you sign a Kindle? My publisher has even recently sent me information on how to do a virtual book tour. I might be being old fashioned but this technology seems to be taking the human element out of the equation.

I, like many others, love curling up in the couch on a rainy afternoon, like today, with a good book and I personally like the feel of turning the pages and even the smell of a hard cover book and the way it feels in my hands but I suppose that the future generations will have to make that decision for them selves. Whether they want to hold a book or an electronic device in their hands. Whether they want to go to a book store or down load their reading choices.

Not to sound like a hypocrite but both of my books are available as e-books as well as hard copies but that is just part of doing business in the book world today you must have your work available to all channels. I would like to think that like in Fahrenheit 451 there will always be some people that will value a cherish books the same way that I do and some day if books become rare and collectible things I am proud to know that there are copies of my books some where out there in the world today.

What do you think the future of the hard copy book is? I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Write what you love!

I have taken a brake from writing this blog for a while because I have been working on a collaboration with the talented playwright, Coni Koepfinger. The new book will be the retelling of Jack and the Bean Stalk and I have enjoyed doing the work immensely. This has had me thinking about the old adage "write what you know", but more important than that I think you need to write what you love.

Writing is work and like with all work you have to make the time to do it. In my case I have to sometimes force myself to make the time. This would be even harder if I did not like what I was doing. This also applies to what ever kind of work you are doing. If you do not enjoy it it makes it that much harder to get the work done. There will always be aspects of the job that are not my favorite things to do but still they need to be done. That is why it is called work and not fun happy time.

My second book, The Gray Garden; Aunt Nancy's Garden, was set in a place out of my childhood. That being the gardens of a building, a home really, named Adel. Some of you may have read that this house burned to the ground a few days before Thanksgiving this past year. Well my cousin has recently compiled a book about the house on the hill named Adel, and I am sure this was a labor of love for her putting this book together because she did not have to do it, she wanted to do it.  For most artists I feel that is why we do what we do; because we love it.

In the perfect world I wish we could all do what we loved the best all of the time but since that is not going to happen we just need to enjoy what we have to do and if I can continue to enjoy my projects in the future as much as I have since I started this adventure two years ago, almost to the date, I will be a happy camper.

Be the artist!

I was reading a blog this week that made me a little disheartened. Then it made me angry! The blogger, who will remain nameless, was giving advice on how to come up with a plan to write a book that will be profitable. She recommended following all the steps that you would do when setting up a small business such as looking at competition, setting up focus groups, and analyzing the market. Now that is fine if all you want to do is write a formula book, and while I agree that you need to be smart about the business side of things I am also forced to ask, "What about the artist!"

I would love to make a million from my book sales but I would much rather put out a project that I believe in and that is a part of myself and really try to say something with my work rather than rehashing another persons work just because they were successful with it. Look at Hollywood. They keep remaking the same movies over and over. Then they rely one the film making all it's money back on it's opening weekend, after weeks of hype. Because, in my opinion, they know that after the film opens and word gets out most of these films will tank at the box office, and all because they were made with a formula and by committee.

Don't get me wrong I am all for making money and making a living at want you want to do, but when making money is the only focus art is lost. Art comes from the heart and a passion to create something that will touch and affect others and when you try to make something that everyone will like, no one really loves it. So to the unnamed blogger you can keep your focus groups and I will keep putting out work that I believe in.

3:00 am

Early this morning, at 3:00 am, I finished my last photo shoot for my current project that is a holiday children's story and I have had so much fun creating the new characters and sets to be photographed over the past year. I struck the last set this morning after getting some sleep. Now comes the hard part for me. Beginning the editing process and finishing the writing of the story. I have never categorized myself as a writer. Instead I call myself an artist who likes to tell stories. So the writing process is sometimes difficult for me.

I allowed myself to take some time off over the holidays but now that the holidays are all over it is time to get back to work! It is so easy not to write and say I will start tomorrow, but all that does is prolong the process. I have always found that I do my best work at night after the sun has gone down and distractions are at a minimum. So while we are still in day light savings time I need to push through this project. I have heard of all the tricks to help with writing, such as having a clean space set up a dedicated as a writing space or setting aside time out of each day just for the purpose of writing, but none of these things work for me. It might make it easier but it does not motivate me to do more writing.

The only thing that can make me write is me! I will find myself thinking about a section of the story all day until I have worked it out in my head then I need to commit it to paper before I lose it. That's right I still write out all my stories in long hand on paper before I put it into my computer! Just like the process that I use to do all my photo illustrations I starts out with old world techniques and then I bring the work into the 21st century with all the technology at my disposal for a final polishing. During the creative process this makes it all that much more real for me and I hope that comes through to you, my audience. I like the feel of a pen and paper, it seems more personal, like I am writing someone a letter. With all that said, I am still the only one that can make me do the work and many days that is exactly what it is, WORK. I enjoy many aspects of the work but with all work some of it can be laborious.

So it is time for me to get back to work because I have several projects in the pipeline right now and I want to be able to get my next book out to all of you so that you can enjoy it as much as I have so far.

P.S. I would also like to thank Tara for sharing with me how her child asks her ( she said bugs her ) every night to tell him all about Cuddles again and again. ( Cuddles is one of the creatures that lives in The Deep Black Pond. ) Thanks for the Photo too.

One reader at a time.

This week I was thrilled to find out that my book, The Gray Garden; Aunt Nancy's Garden, is being used as a teaching tool by one of my readers, Olga. 

Olga told me that her son is having trouble with his cognitive skills, and so she is having him read one page of my book every night and then she quizzes him on what he has just read. Also when there is a word that he does not know she asks him what he thinks it means by reading the rest of the sentence or page. In every case he is able to figure out the words meaning, and this is helping him with his other school work.

In early drafts of the book it had been suggested to me that I might be using too sophisticated of a vocabulary for the age range of the books target audience (8 to 12), but I have always believed that you should not talk down to kids. Children are naturally inquisitive and when presented with something that they do not know they ask questions. I feel this is a quality that should be exploited because it encourages the learning process and opens that dialogue between student and teacher. After hearing the story from Olga about her son I am so happy that I did not dumb down the language in my book. 

Thank you so much for your story and feed back Olga! It made my week!  

Finish and move on.

I saw an article this week that explained how with the new e-book technology an author could conceivably never finish working on his/her book. With the ability to easily make countless revisions to one work should you? To answer that I think you only have to look at the iconic films of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg and the huge public backlash that the directors received when they chose to alter their original works.

Can you imagine if the opening lines to Moby Dick or A Christmas Carol were lost to the delete button because the author had a change of heart or received a suggestion from a critic that they liked. Or if Leonardo decided that the Mona Lisa would look better with a more dramatic smile. Now I know these are extreme examples but I believe that all works of art, be that film, books, paintings, or even theater, are the encapsulation of a period of time in which they are created. Only the artist knows what influenced them during the creation of any particular work but I believe that those influences come through to the audience in the end and that is why some works resonate with some people more than others.

I don't think that I know an artist out there who would not like to change something about the work that they have done but if they continue to change and alter their work after they have put it out there for the public to see it will begin to become muddied. In strengthening one section, another could become weaker and so on and so forth. I also don't think it is fair to the public to change something once you have given it to them. Because once an artist unveils, releases, or debuts anything it is a gift to the world. Whether the world chooses to see that way or not that is what it is, a gift.

If we as artist are able to say, "Finished!" about one of our works and feel that it is time to place it into the public consciousness, then it is also time to move on to the next project. Take the feed back, criticism, and praise, apply that to your future projects and learn from it. Never stop learning or growing as an artist, but how can you do that if you are always looking back? So I say it does not matter if the technology exists or not. Finish your work. Put it out there. Learn from it. Then move on.

Why I write.

I would like to start the new year off right by writing! Since my children's books were published last year I have been on an amazing adventure. One that I started to believe I may never have had. Now with my minor success I am more determined than ever to make a bigger splash in the world of children's books.

Over the past several months my book, The Deep Black Pond, has been reviewed and blogged about by numerous people. Some good and some not so good, and I realized that the one voice missing out there  was my own. I would therefore like to remedy that by explaining why I am writing children's books and offer a philosophy behind my individual style.

When I was a kid, many moons ago, I use to love books but I hated to read. Now I realize that that is a strange thing to say but it was the truth. I was considered to have a learning disability because I disliked reading so much that I just would not do it. Now my brother was an avid reader and being the younger brother I always seemed to be in toe. So, on Saturday afternoons I would find myself being taken to the Reading Public Library because that is where my brother wanted to go and my parents thought that it would help me with my reading. During these visits I discovered that many books, beside being filled with words, had pictures in them; weird, wonderful, and colorful pictures! These pictures and photographs fed my vivid imagination and allowed me to wonder far from my seemingly dull life and dream wild and wonderful dreams for my future. Visiting places I would love to go and exploring the possibilities of what I wanted to do with my life. In fact Leonardo DA Vinci became one of my most powerful and influential childhood hero's because of the art book section I discovered in the library! Being able to hold these books and examining them in every way became an important pastime, and low and behold when I found a picture that fascinated me enough too want to know more about it I would find myself reading! Well in a nut shell that is the influence I have used when designing my children's books.

The photo illustrations I create to accompany my stories do not, in themselves, tell the story. Instead they support the story and inspire a child too want to know more about what is going on in the pictures. Thus, giving them the desire and opportunity too want to read the story, and in some cases create their own stories to accompany the photographs. So my goal in all of this is to produce books that will fascinate and fuel kids imaginations no matter what their age.

I value peoples feed back and opinions so I encourage you to contact me and share your thoughts and feelings about this blog.

Happy New Year!
Morgan