I’ve been up since 7:30 working on my next book and it’s almost there.
A few tweaks here and there and I will be deciding on which printers to use and my self-publishing options. It’s very exciting and I can’t wait to release it. It’s a lot of hard work but I love it. When you’re doing something you love then you want to work for hours and hours on it. Once again, I’m having to be patient, which is not my strong suit. It’s all part of the process, I guess.
Whilst my first book is ‘out there’, I have been busy with a new idea. As I mentioned before, I want my first book to be published traditionally, however I am open to the idea of self-publishing my second book series as I want it available to buy soon. I’ve made excellent progress with this one and it is almost there. I can’t wait to get it out into the big, wide world.
So it’s been a while since I spoke about my first book and that’s because… not a lot has happened. It’s out there on publisher’s desks and in the inboxes of various literary agents. This one is my flagship book, which I ideally want to get published traditionally. I’ve made various adaptations to it and I have listened to and taken on board some frank, constructive criticism. It’s getting better and better each time someone in the know gives me feedback on it. Similarly, each time I submit my book my covering letter, synopsis and personal statement is getting better and better. Each ‘no’ represents an opportunity to improve (cheesy, I know).
So far this week, I’ve been working on my latest children’s book (all will be revealed soon) and I’ve designed and started to colour a scene about deforestation.
Whilst my current book projects are ongoing and out there, I thought I’d do a picture about something that is concerning me: climate change.
I don’t mean to be preachy but is anyone else bothered by this? The stifling heat, brown grass, melting icebergs, rising sea temperatures, heat related fatalities, wild fires and extreme weather swings are concerning me more and more. The problem I believe is that not enough people think about it. Everyone needs to try to make a difference for this planet’s future; it is becoming more and more inhospitable and I’m not just thinking about humans…
After a full week, I got into work on Friday to see there was a visitor coming in to school to work with the children. After seeing his name, bells started to ring as I realised he was the children’s author: Richard O’Neill. As soon as an opportunity arose, I introduced myself and asked if I could pick his brains about the world of children’s books. He was extremely helpful and gave me some excellent advice. He even asked to see my book and went through it with me during the lunch break. It was amazing to get feedback from a successful storyteller and I was particularly pleased when he said he liked it.
So, the journey continues as I’ve now had more input, which I will heed as I go back and edit my book once more. I’m on a long road but it is a very interesting one as I continue on the cycle of sharing my book, getting feedback and then editing it.
Well, it has been an interesting couple of weeks… A few blogs ago I was talking about the importance of networking and there has been some movement on that front. Now people know about my book, word is starting to get around. I’ve been in contact with someone within the world of children’s literature, who has been doing some great work forwarding my book/ideas to the right people. On the back of this, I’ve had some very useful feedback on my book from people with excellent knowledge and experience, which has led to some new publishers interested in me sending them a proposal of my work. I’m not arrogant enough to think my first draft of a children’s book will be perfect so I’m willing to take on board feedback and make changes to my story, design and style, if necessary. Let’s be honest, this is my first attempt and there are people out there with great knowledge and experience in this area.
This is going to be a long road but I’m really happy that there is a buzz developing and people are discussing my work.
As a teacher, I have read countless children’s books over the years. Some are fantastic but some are quite baffling… There have been many occasions where I have read a book to a class and felt underwhelmed because nothing actually happened in the story. There was no tension, no action, no drama and no excitement; sometimes there wasn’t even a moral undertone that children can learn from. More often than not the artwork was amazing but sometimes it really wasn’t. However, the most incredible thing when I read a book like this is when I see a golden badge on the front stating ‘eight million copies sold’… really? How?!
This got me thinking – I can do this! I know I have the artistic ability and I’m certain I can create stories which will excite, entertain and grip children. I already had some ideas and it was a matter of choosing the right flagship idea to go with first. My first story has tension, action, excitement, an educational element and a cliffhanger. Although I’m open to editing it on the advice of more experienced practitioners, I’m pleased with it and truly believe children will enjoy it and want to read the next one in the series…
When I was trolling through dozens of publishers I learnt that unless you’ve already had a book published some publishers/literary agents won’t even look at your work… Okay, so how do I get my FIRST book published if I already have to have one published for them to look at me?
This scenario reminded me of other situations I have come across, such as premier league football tickets. A lot of top clubs will only sell tickets to people who have been before, but surely everyone must have a first time of going… Also, this reminded me of some employment opportunities, where employers want someone with experience. How do you get experience without being given an initial opportunity?
Thankfully, there are some publishers who will accept manuscripts from first time authors and these are the ones that I need to approach.
Now I’m in this stage of hiatus, waiting to hear from publishers, I wanted to do something productive that may help me along the way. At first, it was a big secret that I had written/illustrated a book and I’m not sure why. Perhaps I wanted to surprise people, perhaps I was worried about not finishing it or perhaps I was afraid of failure. In the end, the few people who did know about my book encouraged me to tell people and get the word out.
The best quote from one my friends was, “You’re writing a secret book… that’s going to sell well!” This got me thinking; I’m not going to get anywhere if I don’t get myself out there. Ever heard of the theory of six degrees of separation? You know, that you are linked by a series of seven or fewer acquaintances to anyone in the world… So, here I am spreading the word and asking people who know me to spread the word as all it takes is for the one right person to see it.
Oh, and as for failure, well Mr Churchill said it all, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts…”
I guess it’s true of any opportunity/goal; it takes good timing, a bit of luck and a lot of persistence.
