Around the Web: Best Posts on Writing I've Discovered This Week

I subscribe to and follow several authors, blogs, and writing sources throughout the week.

Each Friday, I include links to FIVE sources to improve your writing that I found useful.

Here are my offerings for this week.

Hope they inspire you to start writing

and continue writing!  

Definitely had to include this link as it's fun to listen to and watch. Plus, it may give you inspiration for a plotline in your mystery, suspense, or thriller stories. https://killzoneblog.com/2022/04/true-crime-thursday-deepfakes.html

This post is about tips for hooking your romance readers, but most of the ideas carry over to other forms of writing as well. Check it out. https://writershelpingwriters.net/2022/04/you-wrote-a-killer-love-storybut-did-you-romance-the-reader/

All stories need a little humor. However, the way it's inserted into your plot depends a lot on your genre. And most important get feedback from others to make sure it is funny to more than yourself! https://writersrelief.com/2022/04/28/writing-with-humor-flex-your-funny-bone-writers-relief/

The first week in May is Children's Book Week. One of the author/illustrators honored is Floyd Cooper. The link includes lots of locations where there will be readings of his work and info on his illustratons and stories. Take a look!  https://everychildareader.net/cbw/floyd-cooper-day-2022/

If you write non-fiction, here's an upcoming conference you might want to attend. It's next week! 

https://nonfictionwritersconference.com/?affiliate=bibliocrunch

The Work of Writing and Illustrating: Author Interview with Jan Lis

You’ve won awards for your art and your work has been exhibited in many shows. What made you decide to leave that work to write and illustrate a children’s book?
My writing for children started one fall. When the days started getting dark early, the time before dinner was a low spot for me. So, I decided to take that time and turn it into something positive. 

I wrote a children’s Christmas story every year at that time. Before long I realized I was enjoying writing and illustrating my stories more than just painting. And I felt the stories had more to give. That said, I have not given up on my artwork.

Which comes first for you -- the idea for the illustrations or the storyline?
Interestingly, sometimes the idea for the story is first, and sometimes the illustrations are first. In Tyrone The Terrible, I wrote the story and then added the drawings. In Rags Joins the Circus, I wanted to be free to capture any part of the circus I was drawn to, so I painted the illustrations first. I had a storyline in my head, but I wanted the artwork to direct the story.

How many rewrites do you do on the storyline?
I do tons of rewrites, for each story. Even Kid Lit has to have the right feel to it. For Tyrone, I did all my edits and thought I had a pretty tight story. Imagine my surprise when the publisher’s editor got a look at it! 

Do your illustrations get multiple “reworks” as well?
My illustrations are a different matter. They do not get do-overs. I develop each aspect of an illustration separately and then assembly them like a montage.

I was surprised to see that you have blurbs of several of your unpublished kids' stories on your website. Has that helped in getting other books published?
My unpublished stories have helped in the respect that I have gone on to self-publish some of my manuscripts on Amazon through Kindle Direct Publishing. KDP is a great and easy way to get introduced to the world of publishing. I followed this up by learning a few marketing skills.

Prior to writing your picture books, you wrote for newspapers. How did that help or hinder the writing of your picture books?
Writing stories for newspapers has been both a good thing and a not so good thing for me. The plus side is that I am able to condense the story action into a few words. The minus is that my stories tend to be too condensed, and I have to work at extending the storyline.

You are represented by the Hartline Agency. How did that come about?
I am represented by a wonderful agent at Hartline. I went online and read through many agent bios until I found the one who seemed to be a perfect fit for me. You don’t even want to query an agent who doesn’t represent children’s books if that is what you write. Then, and this is the most important thing I have found in promoting yourself, I went to a conference where he was, and set up an interview with him.

How much time daily do you have for writing or for artwork?
I think writers have the easiest part. Illustrators get to do the hardest. That is the way it works out for me anyway. I always have many story ideas, and writing them down is easy. Editing takes a bit more time. But the most complex and time heavy is putting together and painting the illustration. That said, it is the part I most enjoy.

What has surprised or frustrated you the most in publishing books?
What I have found the most surprising in the industry is how helpful everyone is. Tyrone being my first non-self-published book, I am amazed at the willingness of everyone to help me get started. To answer my stupid questions, and have patience with my getting it all wrong.

What is the best advice you’ve been given about writing or that you’ve learned that you would like to pass along?
Looking back on my desire to pursue writing, there is one thing that has made all the difference  -- attending Writer’s Conferences. Conferences are where you meet people and make the contacts that are so necessary in getting your book published. You learn to hone your craft in the workshops and meet exciting people working in your genre.

Any other thoughts you’d like to add about writing and illustrating?
As a final thought, though for me it is a first thought - do what you love. Write what you know. For years, I wrote my stories, and they got put in the drawer. It seemed like my writing was going nowhere. But I kept at it, and it has worked out. You will make it.

Is there a new book coming out you’d like to promote?
As a matter of fact, there is a new book to shout about. It is a Picture Book titled, I Hate Oatmeal. The book will be released in November. It is Mom’s comic answer to a picky eater.

That’s all for today’s interview. If you’d like to see more of Jan’s writing and illustrations, here are some links to get you started.

Website: https://jan-lis.com/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jan-Lis/e/B079DGP498/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14131287.Jan_Lis
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lisscribbles/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-lis-9516ba137/

Writing and Illustrating: An Interview with Kelly Pulley

You started off illustrating children's books for other authors. What made you decide to illustrate and write your own books?

I’d been illustrating the Beginner’s Bible books for quite a few years. We had published a lot of books in the series, but I’d never seen one written in rhyme. I had no writing experience at all, but I thought, how hard could it be? 

Well, it was hard. That first story was Food for a Fish, which was published by David C. Cook in 2012, first as one of 4 books in a series and then in the Magnificent Tales Treasury of Bible Stories.

How did you go about finding a publisher?

I sent book proposals directly to contacts I had made through illustrating, thereby bypassing the slush pile.  In other words, I cheated. Finding an agent was much more difficult.

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

I would say the hardest thing for me is everything. I wish I could have a great story all planned out in my head before I sit down at my computer. But I usually have just a simple idea when I start. Then it’s a matter of writing, rewriting and more rewriting. When I feel it’s finished it sometimes doesn’t resemble what I started with. If it weren’t hard it wouldn’t be much fun or rewarding.

What does your editor remind you to do most often?

I’m not sure if there is one thing I hear more frequently than anything else, but the thing that comes to mind is to add more layers to my stories or add an extra twist. I think I’ve been scolded for doing about anything and everything that is possible to do wrong during the writing process. My punctuation is atrocious. Actually, I’m quite adept at making errors.

What’s the best encouragement you’ve had in your writing?

That’s easy, my wife. She believes in what I’m doing and she’s my biggest fan. There’s no way I would still be at this if it weren’t for her ceaseless support and encouragement.

We have all experienced rejection. How have you learned to write past it?

I’ve received a ton of rejection letters. The form letters are the worst, because you don’t get any feedback, so you have no idea why the story was rejected. I’ve found that if I’ve been pitching a story for a year or so and I haven’t found a publisher, it’s best to put the story aside. I can always return to it later and rework it, or just write it off as a learning experience.

What has surprised you the most in writing/publishing?
That a publisher would like my stories enough to publish them!

What frustrated you the most? 

That a publisher wouldn’t like my stories enough to publish them! 

What do you know now about writing that you wished you had known sooner?

How long the whole process takes. Spending months (or longer) writing and rewriting a story, then more months (or longer) searching for an agent or publisher. And when you finally find a publisher it still takes up to a couple years before your book hits the shelves. 

What is some of the best writing advice that you’ve received or could give?

With picture books every word is important. If it’s not essential to the story, it needs to go.   

Are there any other points about writing that you would like to add?

Don’t wait to start writing until you have the perfect story in your head. Just write. Let the story develop as you write. Few of my stories–other than my Bible stories–end up anything like I originally had in mind.   

What is the next book that will be coming out? Can you give me a short

synopsis?

I have several stories that I’m very excited about that I haven’t yet begun pitching to publishers.  One is about a rhinoceros and mouse that plan to have tea at the mouse’s house. The rhinoceros finds neither the house nor the story acceptable and takes matters into his own hands.

I also have a Christian series that is ready to pitch that is meant to show kids how to use the Bible to answer questions about fear, forgiveness patience, helping your neighbor, etc.

That’s it for today’s interview. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly’s books, here are some links to get you started.

https://www.facebook.com/kellypulleyauthor/

http://www.kellypulley.com

https://twitter.com/Kellpulley

The Artwork of Stories: An Interview with Traci Van Wagoner

How did you get involved with doing the illustrations for this book?

I worked with Pelican Publishing on a book before this, The Mermaid’s Gift written by Claudia Cangilla McAdam, and when I finished that book and sent in the final art, the Art Director liked my art so much he immediately offered me another project. He sent the manuscript for Cody and Grandpa’s Christmas Tradition written by Gary Metivier, and I was hooked. Grandpa reminded me of my Dad, and I love Christmas and traditions of the season, so this was a very appealing story for me to illustrate.

How much input does the author have in suggesting ideas for illustrations?

The author had very little input into the illustrations. Gary Metivier’s only suggestion was to have the middle part, which is a flashback, somehow differentiated from the rest of the story. I did this with an overall army green monochromatic coloring for these spreads with text bars on the side instead of having the text incorporated into the illustrations.

How often do you rework the illustrations for the author or publisher?

I’ve not had a lot of back and forth on illustrations with my books. With this one, I had more revisions in the beginning while establishing the characters to make sure everyone was happy with Grandpa and Cody. There were minor revisions to the sketches, and a few revisions to the finals, mostly making sure I had enough room for type and lightening some areas to make sure the text stood out.

Do you have a favorite book that you've illustrated?

That’s a tough question. Not really. Each book is my favorite as I’m illustrating it. And almost every book is not good enough by the time I done with it. I always feel like I could do better by the end of every project. That’s part of learning and growing and developing. If I didn’t feel that way, then I’d probably be stagnant. Daddy Did I Ever Say, I Love You Love You Every Day written by Daryl Cobb holds a special place in my heart since it was the first book I illustrated for publication.

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?

I have enjoyed a few special traditions throughout my lifetime. My all-time favorite, a staple of my childhood, is the crepe paper ball. I came from a big family (eight kids) and on Christmas Eve, we would leave the house so Dad could do his thing. He would hide one gift for each of us around the house; write up silly rhymes with clues on where to find them. He had notes calling on each of us to perform — sing, recite a poem, tell a Christmas story, read the Christmas story from the Bible, etc. Then he would wrap a paper-mâché  ball with crepe paper, tucking in all the notes as he rolled it up.

That night we would sit in a big circle in front of the Christmas tree and unroll the ball between us. If a note landed in front of you, you got to read it and someone either performed or got to search for and open a present, which was usually pajamas. When we got to the end, we found the paper-mâché ball was filled candy, tiny gifts, and toys. Then we would all drink eggnog mixed with 7-up in our own Santa mugs with our names on them.

Now with my husband, our tradition is to wrap all our gifts in brown paper, and I decorate them with color pencils with a Christmasy theme for the year. It started out as simple brown paper packages tied up with string and evolved into creating art on each package.

What’s next?

I’m currently illustrating another book for Pelican Publishing, Ruth Asawa: A Sculpting Life written by Joan Schoettler. I’m working on setting up a book launch for that at David Zwirner gallery in NY who are the executors of her estate.

I will be working on another graphic novel for The Nelson Beats the Odds Series with Ronnie Sidney II by the end of the year. I have a picture book I wrote and will illustrate in serious consideration with Pelican. I have two other picture book projects in final dummy book stage and a middle-grade fantasy novel out on submission with agents. There are a bunch more projects in the works including new games with my design company, Imagine That! Design, but I’ll leave it at that.

Any special awards or achievements you’d like to mention?

The biggest achievement I can think of is having been able to be my own boss for over 20 years now, illustrating, writing and designing books and games for kids that hopefully bring smiles, enlighten, embolden, and encourage them to use their imaginations and have fun.

What’s the best tip you’ve learned about illustrating that you’d like to share?

Give yourself permission to draw pure crap at first. Not all of my sketches are pretty to look at, in fact most of them are not. At the beginning of every project, I have to doodle for several pages before I find my drawing hand again.  Going hand in hand with that is to stop worrying that it won’t be perfect or that you don’t know what you’re doing and just get it done, and you do that by drawing every day, good or bad.

This Chuck Jones quote says it perfectly: “Every artist has thousands of bad drawings in them and the only way to get rid of them is to draw them out.” 

What do you know now about writing and publishing you wish you had learned sooner?

I wished I’d realized much sooner in life that I could be an illustrator and a writer. Books seemed to be this magical thing written by anyone but a normal everyday person like me who was no one special, just me. While considering what to be when I grew up, it didn’t cross my mind that I could write a picture book or a novel, and that I could illustrate these wonderful picture books that are so much fun for kids, like my childhood favorite The House on 88th Street by Bernard Waber. I mean how magical and cool is it that a crocodile could live in a fancy brownstone in NY?

Any last words or tips?

If your passion is illustrating children’s books, dive in and don’t give up, but know that it is a hard road with a lot of rejection along the way. So go easy on yourself and always try to have fun. If you’re not having fun, then what’s the point of doing it? Live. Laugh. Learn.

That’s all for today’s interview. Thank you Traci, for sharing your story on the illustrating side of the book. If you’d like to learn more about Traci’s illustrating or maybe hire her for your next book, here are some links to get in touch.

Website: www.tracivanwagoner.com

Celebrate the Little Things blog: https://tracivanwagoner.blogspot.com/

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TraciVanWagonerIllustrator/

Get art prints and cards in my online stores:

Zazzle: https://www.zazzle.com/tvwcreations?rf=238593024759418960

RedBubble: https://www.redbubble.com/people/TraciVanWagoner?asc=u

Bringing Comics to Life: Interview with Writer and Illustrator John Green

My interview today is with John Green, who is a very creative guy. He was the comics consultant for Disney Adventures magazine, and has written, illustrated, or otherwise worked on comics for Nickelodeon, Dreamworks, Scholastic, DC Comics, and First Second Books. When not drawing comics John creates artwork for video games, such as Emerald City Confidential, Puzzle Bots, and Nearly Departed.

As kids, we’ve all read comics or watched cartoons, but you took it to the next step. You’ve actually written or illustrated a series of comic and graphic novels. How did you get started with comic books?

I first started working for Disney shortly after graduating from art school. I worked for Disney Adventures Magazine, which was a digest-sized magazine for kids that you used to be able to find at supermarket checkout counters. It covered movies, music, and pop culture, and in the back were comics. Most were based on Disney or Pixar properties like Kim Possible or Toy Story, but a few were creator-owned. I started as the comics assistant, handling lettering and production, but eventually I started writing and doing art for a number of the comics. 

When Disney Adventures Magazine ended, I still kept in touch with many former coworkers. They contacted me when the Phineas and Ferb magazine was being launched to see if I was interested in drawing some of the comics. And so I did! I've lost count of how many I actually drew, but it was a lot. I also adapted some of the episodes of the cartoon into comics format (basically I took the script of an episode and all the animation frames from an episode and distilled them down into a story that worked as a comic book.) So in those instances I had to do some re-writing of the stories, but I didn't write them from scratch. I did some art for a couple of Phineas and Ferb picture books as well.

   

When did you actually first start creating comics?

I started writing my own comics way back when I was about 10 years old. My first introduction to comics was specifically through newspaper comic strips. Garfield was a big influence at the time and I learned a lot about cartooning early on just by copying Jim Davis' strip. I started making my own newspaper strips with my own characters, but eventually I discovered comic *books* by way of my brother. Things like Spider-Man, X-Men, and so on. 

From that point on all I really wanted to do was make comic books, so I took my characters I made in the newspaper comic mold and put them into comic book-format stories. I'd photocopy them on my grandparents' copier, staple them, and sell them to other kids at school for a dollar or so. I did that just about up until 9th grade, when I started making more "serious" art. Painting, illustration, less cartooning. 

But you didn't stay with the "serious art." What changed your mind?

I went to School of Visual Arts in Manhattan for graphic design and while I was there I met some students who reignited my interest in comics. I was drawn (pun intended) back into that world. We started making comics together, and even self-published them (as in actually got them distributed to comic shops across the country.) 

We'd attend as many comic conventions as we could, exhibiting and selling our comics. I've attended San Diego Comic-Con (aka Comic-Con International) and New York Comic Con (the shows are not put on my the same companies, so when someone just says "comic con" I'm not sure which one they mean. They are not the West Coast/East Coast version of the same show.) My most favorite comic conventions though are the smaller ones, like Small Press Expo (aka SPX, in Bethesda, Maryland), the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (aka TCAF), and MICE (the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo.) 

How did you go from making your own comics to working for Disney and the others?

As for the submission process, I sort of went in through the backdoor. I've been working within the industry for a long time, so I know people and have a lot of friends. When I heard a specific editor was looking for a certain type of book, I basically said "I have an idea!" and ran it past them. They said "I like it! Show me more when you have it!" Then I did just that (though it took me another year or two to finally put together the pitch.) 

Once you have the attention of an editor, you don't *have* to go through an agent unless they tell you otherwise. Perhaps I would have if the pitch was turned down, but I submitted it, they made an offer, and that was that! By comparison, my follow-up book took many more tries until the pitch was accepted.

I see you’ve also co-authored a number of books. How does that work? How do you divide up the story?

I've illustrated and co-created the series Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden and Teen Boat! with Dave Roman (one of the aforementioned students I met while at SVA.) While it's easy to say that for both those series Dave was the writer and I was the artist, it's not really that cut and dry. For Jax, Dave would, for the most part, hand me a script and then I'd go draw it. But usually we would hash out some parts of the story before Dave finished that script part. He'd tell me big picture ideas, or options of different directions the story could go, and I'd give feedback. 

Sometimes I'd say "it would be cool if this happened in the story, because I'd like to draw a sequence like it." Sometimes I'd come up with snippets of dialogue or little story beats, and most of the time Dave would provide his own sketches for things he was picturing in his mind (creatures, environments, and the like.) Some parts of the story Dave would draw himself, because we have different styles, and the different art styles helped with the mood of specific parts of the narrative. 

Our process on Teen Boat! was a little different, especially on the first book. The book started as mini-comics, which were just black-and-white 8-page comics photocopied and stapled together. We didn't plan much of the stories as a whole in advance, just mostly made them up in little chunks as we went along. Usually one of us would say to the other "hey, we have a convention to go to next month, let's see if we can whip up a new Teen Boat! comic for it." And then we'd just come up with funny jokes and boat puns that could have a story created around them, or we'd say "let's do a version of The Breakfast Club or License to Drive." 

There's a part in the first volume of Teen Boat! that takes place in Venice, and that came about mostly because I told Dave "Hey, if I can make a comic out of my trip to Venice, I can write it off as a business expense." For the second volume, Teen Boat! and the Race for Boatlantis, we didn't fly by the seat of our pants as much. The whole book was written before I started drawing any of it, so in comparison to the first book it feels like one big story instead of tiny episodes. Dave and I still got together to hash out the story ideas. I even did concept sketches of locations and characters that helped Dave formulate some scenes and story bits. Generally, our process is much more collaborative than people realize when they think of Dave just being the writer and me just being the artist.

What has frustrated you the most in putting together your stories? 

I guess the most frustrating part is just that they're time-consuming. Like, I can see the finished page in my head right away, but it can take days to execute a page to the point that it actually exists. 

What has pleasantly surprised you in the process? What do you know now about writing and publishing you wish you had learned sooner?

As for pleasant surprises, I'm going to say librarians. And that's part of something I wish I'd learned sooner. In the world of mainstream comic books, librarians hadn't really been a part of the process. If you were making a monthly or bi-monthly comic, your outlet was basically to have it distributed to comic shops, and that's it. Librarians or teachers never really factored in. Even if you planned to collect your series into a trade paperback, your expectation was that it would just get sold in a comic shop. Now comics and graphic novels have exploded into the book market, and librarians are some of the best advocates for getting new readers interested in things. If I could, I go back and tell myself to focus less on the comics industry as an outlet for my work and more on the BOOK industry.   

What’s the best writing tip you’ve learned or been given that you’d like to share about writing comics and graphic novels?

I would say the best advice I'd have for a writer of comics, especially if they don't plan on being an illustrator, is to learn how to think visually. Comics are quite different than picture books, and they're totally different than prose books. You don't have to be an artist to write a comic, but you have to know why your story is best told as a comic versus any other format. If you can't think of your story existing as visuals, what makes you want to tell it as a comic? Comics are a merger of text and images that are inseparable, and keeping that in mind during the writing process will only make the work stronger in the end.     

What other works do you have in the process?

My next book will have kittens!

Any last words or tips?

Put your work out there. Be nice to people. :)  

That's all for today's interview. As you can see my John's history, you're never too young to start promoting your creative ideas. Take a risk in small steps and see where it can take you. If you'd like to learn more about John and his comics, here's some options. 

My site: www.johngreenart.com

Teen Boat: www.teenboatcomics.com

First Second Books: www.firstsecondbooks.com

Putting the Pictures in Picture Books: Author Interview with Joan Holub

I am in awe at the number of books you have written. You move from pre-school board books

with only a couple hundred words to middle grade books of 200 + pages. However, you started as an illustrator with Scholastic. Did you continue working as an illustrator until your books started selling?
Scholastic was a great place to work. I did freelance book design for a while after leaving, then moved into illustration full time. I author-illustrated some books (Boo Who? A Spooky Lift the Flap Book) and illustrated books by other authors (Breakout at the Bug Lab), and along the way I discovered I really enjoyed writing more than anything!

In 1996 with the help of your agent you sold 3 of your books to publishers in 3 months. Was it smooth sailing after that or was that just a fortuitous start? 
My art rep kept me busy with illustration, almost from the start. She didn’t encourage my writing, so I wound up doing that on my own and later found a wonderful literary rep (Eden Street) through my Goddess Girls co-author, Suzanne Williams, who was already working with Eden Street. That was the first project I was involved my current rep shopped and sold.

Two of your series are Goddess Girls (middle grade) and Heroes in Training (chapter books)

Have you always been a fan of Greek mythology?

Ever since my own fourth through sixth grade studies on Greek and Roman mythology, I’ve been hooked. I studied mythology in college as well. Goddess Girls is set at Mount Olympus Academy where Zeus is the principal and Mr. Cyclops is the Hero-ology teacher. Each book is based on an actual myth and features a main middle-school age goddess, demi-goddess, or mortal girl from mythology.

What do you expect your readers to take away from your books?

Our goddess girls are strong characters that have adventures, problems, and friendship drama, but always work through them with humor and the help of friends.

Do you write books and then submit them to publishers? Or do you query or pitch an idea to see if there is an interest?
I write the entire manuscript (or create a dummy) to submit for picture books, early readers, and board books. For chapter books and middle grade, I write a series proposal and three to five chapters of the first book.

How do you keep the writing fresh and contemporary after so many books?
It’s not a struggle. I always have something to say and have a stack of ideas on my idea shelf. I’m not the kind of author who keeps a neat notebook or journal of ideas. My stack consists of napkins, notes scribbled on torn pieces of paper or on junk mail.

When you write the factoid books like the ones for Babe Ruth and the

Statue of Liberty, how do you go about doing research and narrow 

down the points you want to make?

I collect every viable book I can find on the subject, seek out ‘official’ websites, and try to visit a museum about the subject if possible. Then it’s a matter of sifting through and thinking about what’s most interesting and important about a subject. It’s kind of like a sculptor taking a block of marble and cutting away till she’s left with a final piece of art that fulfills her vision.

Since you have a background in illustrating, how do you handle someone else illustrating your picture books?
I often make a dummy for a picture book or board book and share it with the editor. They sometimes share it in turn with the illustrator, but sometimes not. The artist does their thing and I don’t interfere. Because I was an illustrator, I know that it only makes a project harder if someone else is trying to tell you how to do it.

Can you explain what you mean when you talk about rhythm in a story? What is the key to writing a successful board book or pre-school story?Every time I write a picture book or board book, I first re-educate myself by reading new books in the stores and old favorites. I have made charts of books I love and books that have sold super-well to figure out their pacing (rhythm) and structure and what makes them tick. 

The key to writing a young book is to think about what real, young kids of today will enjoy and find the place where that story intersects with your own burning passionate interests. That way you’ll love writing it and kids will love reading it!

With all the books you’ve written, do you have a favorite book? Is there a story you’ve written that you really believe in but has not yet been published?

Like any author, I love all my babies. Maybe especially the Goddess Girls (Glen Hanson, cover artist) and Heroes in Training (Craig Phillips, cover artist) books, and my picture book Mighty Dads and Little Red Writing. 

Mighty Dads (illustrated by James Dean of Pete the Cat fame) was my first New York Times bestseller and LRW (illustrated by Caldecott Honoree Melissa Sweet) made numerous best book of the year lists and received three starred reviews. Like most authors, I have tons of ideas I believe in that have not yet been published—because I haven’t written them yet!

What books do you have coming out for 2016? What are your goals for 2016?
I had two new book releases in January. My new board book is This Little President: A Presidential Primer, for little leaders-in-training illustrated by Daniel Roode. I kept it simple and upbeat to hold the interest of toddlers, and with the presidential race particularly exciting this election year, the timing has been great. My groovy new chapter book for ages 7 and up is What Was Woodstock? There’ll be three Goddess Girls books out this year—the next one will be Echo the Copycat in April.

What do you wish you knew sooner about publishing?
That there’s no trick to it. Editors are real people who just want to publish good books. So all we have to do as authors is write them.

Do you think you would ever consider 

self-publishing since you have an 

established name and brand?
I think it would be fun, but I don’t have time right now, and my agent and editors are all pretty awesome.

Are there any other points about writing that you would like to add?
Just a heartfelt THANK YOU to you for having me on your blog, Chris!

It's been a pleasure chatting with you and learning all about your books. If you would like to learn more about Joan's current and upcoming books, here's some links to get you started.

http://www.joanholub.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Joan-Holub/e/B000APVEX2

The Long Process of Traditional Publishing: Author Interview with Bonnie Ferrante

Bonnie Ferrante is a multi-talented writer. She’d had three romance novels published and this year is unveiling a YA historical paranormal novel called Switch. But that’s not the end of her writing styles. She is also self-publishing her picture books which she has illustrated.
 

When  did you write your first book?

To be perfectly honest, I wrote my first book a long, long time ago. I sent it out to fantasy and science fiction publishers. Many, many publishers. It was rejected. Justifiably so, I think now. I had read several books on novel writing, attended a few workshops, belonged to a short story writing critique group, and had gone for a week long course at the University in Kingston. But, really, my work was not publishable standard. I just hadn't put in the 10,000 hours needed to develop a skill.

When did your writing start selling?

I continued to write small things over the years and had several short stories published. I was a newspaper columnist for three and a half years. When I stopped teaching, I decided to focus completely on my writing. I started taking in person and online workshops and classes. I steadily wrote and I read about writing. I saw a call for submissions from Noble Romance Publishing for a new young adult line of books. I dug out my old manuscript and ripped it apart. I submitted it, and it was accepted. Part of my original problem, I think, was that I was submitting it to the wrong type of publishers. It was too heavy on romance.

Who encouraged you?

No one encouraged me to keep trying. I think I've just inherited my family's trait of stubbornness. I wanted to be a writer my whole life but never felt confident enough to give it 100%. I always felt that I had to have a "real" job with security and a decent paycheck. Teaching took every bit of my energy and creative juice.

Have other novels been started and stopped along the way?

Yes, but I don't get very far into them. I have enough ideas that I'm not going to waste time on something that doesn't fuel my creative energy. The ones I have abandoned were still at the concept/outline stages. I may even get back to them someday.

What made you switch from romance to YA writing?

I discovered that YA was my voice. I just kept slipping naturally into that tone and perspective. Maybe I still have a teenage brain. I think I'm actually a perpetual new adult. I don't read romance books so it really isn't a genre I could become an expert in.

How hard was it to find a home for this historical paranormal story?

It's funny that you used the word switch, because that is the title of my historical paranormal novel. It has the strangest back story of all my books. I wrote it as a children's short story for magazine. It was rejected. I tweaked it a little and begin submitting it as a picture book, similar in style to "Tatterhood" by Robin Muller, which I love. I sent it to Tradewind Books, a small Canadian company, and the publisher telephoned me! He loved my voice and style and told me to change it into a young adult novel and he would look at it. He was interested in working with me!

 

How did you go about re-working it into a YA novel?

Working about six hours a day, it took me four months to prepare the outline. I had to do a lot of research because, although, I knew enough about Elizabethan times to write a short story, I did not know enough to write a book. I submitted it and begin writing the novel. I didn't hear anything back. After two months, the publisher called and said he had not received it. So I sent it again along with my completed first chapter.

What happened next? Did he like it

Three months after that, an editor contacted me. She had been given the manuscript by the publisher and was unable to open the file. A month later, she wrote back telling me what a wonderful writer I was and how much she loved the book, but unfortunately they weren't going to publish it because they felt it was a little too unusual for their market. She suggested I send it to another publisher. She also said she'd like to take a look at it when it was complete.I finished writing the novel, which took another year. I sent it to her only to learn she had moved to another publishing company. She sent it to Tradewind Books, thinking he had proprietorship I guess. He didn't remember having any contact with me before and expressed interest in publishing the book.

 

Since then, I have been working with a different part-time editor for three years on the novel. It takes several months to get my edits back. We planned to have it published in 2014, but I'm not sure if that will happen.. It has undergone two dramatic major plot rewrites and is barely recognizable from my first draft. We are on the final edits. In May, it will be four years since I sent the original short story. The lesson in all of this is, you must develop patience if you're going to go the traditional publishing route.

I’ve often seen notices for applying for writing grants, but haven’t applied. You've been successful. What does it take to win a grant?

No one was more surprised than I was, when I won the first and second grants I applied for. Since then I've applied for three more and been unsuccessful. Thoroughly research the types of grants and be sure you are applying for the correct one. Polish your submission to perfection, and that includes the grant application as well.

 

If you're planning on submitting for a grant in the future, it's a good idea to read the application well ahead of time so that you can start building up your portfolio. After that it's based on luck: how many people apply, how good their work is, tastes of the panel of judges, if there are similar applications, how much money is available, etc.

 

How did you use those grants?

My grants were used to provide me with time to write.

You’ve now moved into self-publishing.  Will you still try the traditional route?

I may still submit traditionally. The problem is time. I'm not a young woman anymore and I've recently developed Parkinson's disease so I can't take five years to get every novel published. I would still recommend traditional publishing for beginning writers. Working with an editor is an incredibly valuable learning experience. No matter how many classes or how many books you read, you'll never get the same personal attention to your work.

What do you think is the most common misconception about self-publishing?

The most common misconception is that you can a write decent book in a couple of months and then put it on the market. It's frustrating to see how the market is flooded with so-called writers who have not polished their craft to a professional level. I was horrified to see that someone had written the first draft of a novel in November for NaNoWriMo and actually published two weeks later. There is no way that book could be ready. The picture book market is even worse because it takes less time to complete a first draft.

You are currently doing picture books. I’ve heard non-writers say picture books should be easy to write. How would you respond to that?

I'd respond with a giant bull shit. I've had just about every kind of writing you can think of professionally published: magazine articles, newspaper columns, short stories, novels, even poetry. Picture books are as hard as anything else. If you are doing your own illustrations, I'd say even harder than most. It's that attitude that floods Amazon with amateur books that would've made lovely family keepsakes but are not good enough to be sold. BTW, I'm still writing young adult novels as well. I have three in the works.

What type of publicity do you do to promote your book? How does social media play into your promotions?

I have zero budget for publicity, so I do it all myself. I spent three or four hours a day on social media, press releases, interviews, requests for reviews, etc. It takes a tremendous amount of time and energy away from writing, but it's necessary. How else will anyone know my work exists?

What do you know now about writing/publishing you wished you had known sooner?

I wish I'd known how much online advice was available. I could've followed the advice of experienced individuals instead of finding out things alone, the hard way.

What is the best advice about writing you’ve learned that you would like to pass along?

Put your work in a drawer and don't look at it until it has become completely unfamiliar to you. When you reread it, you will realize things you never did before.

Thanks for your insight, Bonnie. Once again we're reminded that writing doesn't come as an overnight success. It takes years of hard work.

 

If you'd like to get a glimpse of all of Bonnie's writing styles, here's some of your options. With the links below you can see she is active with social media.

Website            Amazon         Linkedin         Goodreads          twitter - @BonnieFerrante

 

Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/bferrante0365/boards/

Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/user/Bonnie0904