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.