Once you have a book contract in your hand, you can sigh a breath of relief, break down and cry happy tears, or jump for joy. It may feel as if you’re at the end of a very long journey, but, in truth, it’s just the beginning. A turn along the path. Some of you have made that turn and have a book contract. Some of you are still writing toward that goal. Take heart. I believe you will reach it if you study, read, write, and learn the business side as well as the art side of writing stories. I know how you who are waiting feel. As some of you may recall, I had a 7 year drought in which not one book contract came my way. Before my first book came out in 1995, I worked ten years toward my goal. (That’s actually a “breaking into the business” average for many writers.) Luckily, I now have 6 contracts. Beginnings. What happens then? I'd like to share what some of my beginnings have been lately, because if you’re not there already, I trust you will be. After you sign your contract, patience is as important as ever. You will wait for your agent (or yourself) to negotiate the contract, then you will wait for the first half of your advance (unless you've negotiated the full advance...a magical feat), then you will wait for your editor to find the perfect illustrator (Once in awhile your editor may ask for your thoughts about an illustrator. Most will not.), then you will wait for the rough sketches and notes from your editor about the text. Yes, there may be changes to that perfect text. Your editor may have asked for changes before she/he accepted your manuscript or your manuscript may be so near perfection that the request for little changes comes later. Here’s a quick look at one book’s timeline. Lost. Found. arrived on my editor’s desk March 29th, 2013, the day he flew back from the Bologna Book Fair. He made the offer on April 4th after my editor emailed him that several other editors had expressed interest. My agent negotiated for some time and the revised contract was received in August. (You don’t get a check until after the contract is signed, sometimes several months after the contract is signed. Patience. ) I don’t recall when the brilliant illustrator Matthew Cordell agreed to bring my characters to life, but he started sharing images on Facebook in June 2014. Matthew loves to share! The proofs were ready in February 2015. It’s a nice serendipity that Lost. Found. made its debut at the 2015 Bologna Book Fair, two years after my editor made his offer. The cover was proudly displayed and Chinese rights sold. The publication of Lost. Found. was moved up three months; things have moved quickly. Two and a half years. Often, things move much more slowly. The past few months I’ve been interacting with all four of my editors. I’ll share a bit of what’s been happening, as you may be at your beginning...or may be soon. Lost. Found. is the first book of the six, coming out November 3rd, 2015. Not that far off! I’m in the process of filling out a 5 page Author Questionnaire, with questions ranging from “Do you have any contacts in the national media?” to “What is your favorite kind of chocolate?” Next week I’ll connect with the Roaring Brook Press publicist, who my editor tells me is Super Woman. Most importantly, I must figure out what I can do to help spread the word. The second book is coming out in the fall of 2016. Last week I studied my amazing illustrator’s rough sketches and the notes from my editor. And I let go of my most adored secondary character, mostly due to my illustrator’s needs. It’s okay, really. Indeed, these difficult changes sometimes turn out to be blessings in disguise. Always remember that letting go is part of the journey. For the picture book coming out in February 2017, I’ve also been looking at sketches and reworking the text to complement some of the illustrations and to fit a United Kingdom edition (It was written for an American audience, but bought by a UK publisher.) Some changes are “Mummy” instead of “Mommy,” “Blossom” for “Blossoms,” and a few animal/nature changes to fit the British Isles. Also in February 2017, two board books will make their appearance, my first board books. The final changes for those books happened about two months ago. The changes included a new editor due to a family situation with my original editor. Remember the mantra: Learn to let go. I thought I had my animals for Bath Time and Nap Time completely done. But no. I spent hundreds of hours researching to verify how baby animals slept and napped and I changed some animals as I researched, making the books more fun and kid-friendly along the way...and letting go. There you have it. Just a peak at one author’s beginnings. May you be there soon! An award-winning picture book author, Marsha's Writing Wonderful Character-Driven Picture Books course has helped many published and aspiring writers to write stronger characters. Check it out here: http://www.childrensbookacademy.com/writing-character-driven-stories.html or visit Marsha at www.marshadianearnold.com.
2 Comments
Maria Oka
5/14/2015 02:47:49 am
Congratulations Marsha! Can't wait to collect your 6 upcoming books! And wonderful post giving great insight into the business side of writing.
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