Hey, Hey, Hay! Welcome to Tuesday Debuts!
In this new series, we’re going to get all the juicy details from first-time picture book authors about how they went from pre-published to published. I hope it will be interesting, informative, and inspirational for all of us – published and yet-to-be-published alike. It’s always fun to hear the story behind the story, and there is always so much we can learn from each other! I hope you’ll get a sense of the hands-on publishing process and that the information shared here might help you in your own journey by giving you tips or even giving you inspiration from another author’s process to spark new work of your own!
So! Without further ado…
Introducing Christy’s first picture book:
Hey, Hey, Hay! (A Tale of Bales and the Machines That Make Them)
By Christy Mihaly, illustrated by Joe Cepeda
Holiday House, August 14, 2018
Informational picture book
4-8 years
In this joyful rhyming story, a farm girl brings the reader along as she and her mother make hay. She introduces each of the machines they use to cut, dry, and bale the grass, as they “store summer in a bale.”
And now, introducing Christy!
Chirsty Mihaly, debut picture book author, canoeing (which may or may not have anything to do with either haying or writing but is still beautiful and fun 🙂 )
SLH: Welcome, Christy! Thank you so much for joining us today, and for being the guinea pig for this new series – so brave of you! There will be extra chocolate in your Christmas stocking 🙂 Let’s start from the beginning. Where did the idea for this book come from?
CM: The idea for this book showed up right under my nose, in the summer of 2014. I was working on a couple of picture book biographies (which are still unpublished) when my family moved to a new home surrounded by hayfields. The process of turning grass into hay was beautiful and fascinating. The scent of new-mown grass filled the air and the rhythm of the machines (mower, tedder, baler, hay!) got into my head. Then these lines started running around in my mind: “Listen and I’ll tell the tale of storing summer in a bale.”
Haying in action! The inspiration for this book!
SLH: How long did it take you to write this book?
CM: I wrote the first draft—which was basically a poem—over several weeks of on-and-off writing. It was short, sweet, and rhyming. But it wasn’t very good. Revising and polishing (with some sitting and stewing) took about seven months more.
SLH: Did you go through many revisions?
CM: Yes. I began with a poem called “Haying Time.” At first it didn’t occur to me that this could constitute a book. Then, when I realized that haymaking had picture book potential, I put on my nonfiction-writer hat. I could not find another book for kids about how hay is made. I researched all about hay and hayfields and haying technology and the history of hay. I wrote a manuscript with layered text and all kinds of sidebars (Monet painted famous pictures of haystacks! In the old days, people used scythes!) and footnotes. Eventually my critique partners convinced me to simplify (thank goodness) back down to a straightforward rhyming story.
I made many changes in the words of the text. How’s this for a sample stanza of the original poem: “The baler forms it into bales/While I keep watch, in case it fails.”
Um?
There’s one revision I’m particularly happy that I made: in the original version, the child narrator helped Dad with the haying; I changed it to helping Mom. Because many farmers are women.
interior spread showing Farmer Mom 🙂
SLH: When did you know your manuscript was ready for submission?
CM: I had been submitting other manuscripts, so I should have known, but I was so excited to send this one out that I made the mistake of submitting it too soon. And it was rejected.
After that, I took a break from it. Then I signed up for an online writing course and brought the HAY manuscript to the class for a critique. My classmates and instructor confirmed that it had potential, and they suggested ways to make it snappier. After about 5 months of revisions, I knew it was really ready to submit.
SLH: When and how did you submit?
CM: I give credit to my writing buddies for what finally happened with HAY. At the urging of several critique partners, I applied to the Falling Leaves writing conference, which was new to me. For the editor’s one-on-one critique, I submitted a different nonfiction manuscript, which I’d been working on forever. I was accepted to the conference, and my assigned editor loved that manuscript (though it’s unpublished still). She didn’t like HAY at all—she doesn’t do rhyming books.
But! Another editor at Falling Leaves that year was Grace Maccarone, executive editor at Holiday House. I was impressed with her; she seemed calm and wise and funny. Based on what she said she was seeking (and that she liked rhyme), I thought HAY might be a good fit for her. However, (see #4 above), I needed to revise first.
I reviewed other Holiday House books and saw that many were related to farming and food. That seemed like a good sign. So about four months after meeting Grace, I emailed my revised manuscript, now called “Mower, Tedder, Baler—Hay!” to her. I mentioned that we’d met at Falling Leaves, I cited other farm-related books from Holiday House, and I crossed my fingers.
SLH: When did you get “the call”? (Best moment ever! 🙂 )
CM: So … I have learned that this part is unusual (though remember HAY had been through prior rejections and revisions). I emailed the manuscript to Grace on a Friday. The following Monday, she emailed back. She said she thought HAY was “adorable” and that she’d share it with her colleagues at their next editorial meeting! [We interrupt this program to say how awesome is THAT?! We all dream of a response like that, and speaking for myself, I’ve never gotten a positive reply in 3 days! WOW! 🙂 ]
Of course, I didn’t know when that was going to be, and I was too nervous to ask, so I just waited. And waited. And waited. Two weeks later, Grace emailed again with an offer to publish the book.
Christy’s dog, wildly excited about the book sale, pointing out a round bale in the field
SLH: How did you celebrate signing your contract? (If you care to share 🙂 )
CM: I believe it was a quiet celebration at home. I may have been in shock.
SLH: Was the contract what you expected in terms of advance, royalty percentage, publication timeline, author copies etc.?
CM: I had no idea what to expect. I remember mostly the excitement of an offer. One thing that sticks in my mind is that it took much longer than I’d anticipated to receive the contract. The document didn’t arrive until several months after the offer (and negotiation), which I hadn’t realized was normal.
I didn’t have an agent, so I found a knowledgeable lawyer (referred by another writer I met at Falling Leaves) to help review the offer and contract—I think the cost was about $250 and it was well worth it. It was reassuring to have an experienced person evaluate the offer. She said the basics (advance, royalties, etc.) were good, and we just negotiated to improve little things like getting more author copies of the book.
Aside from SLH: for the curious, I usually get 10-20 author copies of my books, and 5% is a pretty standard royalty percentage for authors (may be different for illustrators or author/illustrators) on hard covers from traditional trade publishers although there is variation on both those things.
SLH: Tell us about the editorial process?
CM: I generally enjoy working with editors. With HAY, it was great. It was clear that Grace cared about the book as much as I did.
One editorial discussion we had was about switchel, the traditional haymakers’ drink. In the initial offer, Grace indicated that her colleagues had an issue with my use of the term switchel. They thought it was too obscure – kids wouldn’t know it. (Of course they wouldn’t! That was the point.) I argued that kids would enjoy learning this fun new word.
Eventually, in the final edits, switchel stayed. It helped that there’s a company in Brooklyn, NY, that makes and bottles switchel. We included “switchel” as a term in the book’s glossary of haymaking terms, and also added a recipe so families could make their own switchel. Win-win!
SLH: Tell us about your experience of the illustration process?
CM: About six months after we signed the contract, I went to the SCBWI conference in New York, and Grace invited me to meet her in her office on Madison Avenue. (Squeee!) She took me to lunch, where she told me she’d signed Joe Cepeda to illustrate HAY. I was excited because I knew his work – he is very well established, a great artist, and in fact had illustrated a friend’s picture book years before.
After that, there was more than a year of waiting for Joe to complete the art. When she received his illustrations, Grace worked on the layout of the book. She sent me a pdf of the first pass: scans of Joe’s paintings, with the text laid out page by page, and post-its and mark-ups with questions and notes. Woo! It was a thrill to see that. I loved the vision that Joe brought to the book. He took this little Vermont story and made it universal, painting a beautiful farm that could be in the Midwest or the west as easily as in the east. I’m especially thrilled that he portrayed my first-person narrator as a girl.
Grace’s office with HAY underway
With the layout, Grace sent a mark-up of my text, with suggested revisions. After that, we had several phone conversations to go over questions. We adjusted a few lines to make the words consistent with the illustrations. Because it’s a rhyming book, those small revisions can be tricky. I provided Grace with alternatives for substitute couplets that might work, and she selected her favorite.
Then, Grace and the designers adjusted the page breaks, the end papers, the design and location of the glossary and the recipe, the dedication – all those little things that are so important in the book’s look and feel. Grace sent me updated pdf’s showing these steps. We made sure the illustrations accurately portrayed the haying process. Finally it was out of my hands and I could (try to) relax in the knowledge that our book was going to be gorgeous.
SLH: Did you get to see advance reviews from Kirkus, SLJ, etc? What was that like?
CM: Yes! Grace (and the publicity folks at Holiday House, who are also lovely) forwarded me advance copies of the Kirkus and SLJ reviews. I was really nervous about reviews, and very relieved when the reviewers “got” my book and wrote about it positively. Whew.
SLH: How long did it take from offer to having the first copy in your hand?
CM: Two years and 10 months.
Aside from SLH: I’ve had picture books come together in as short as just over a year to as long as one that’s been in process for 6 years and isn’t out yet, but I think 2 – 2.5 years is pretty average… in so far as anything in this business is average 🙂
SLH: If your book has been out for at least one statement cycle, has it earned out yet?
CM: Oh, now you are making me nervous.
SLH: That was a trick question for you because your book just came out today! I just wanted to see if you were paying attention 🙂 Get back to us in 6-12 months 🙂
SLH: Describe any marketing/promotion you did for this book.
CM: As a committed introvert, I find all of this outside my comfort zone. But because this is my first trade book I resolved to learn what I needed to learn, and do what I needed to do, to promote it. I joined the “Epic Eighteen” gang, a group of debut picture book writers and illustrators whose first books are scheduled for 2018 release (many thanks to Hannah Holt and friends). This has been an incredibly helpful source of information-sharing and support through a shared Facebook page, a mutual blog, and some in-person meetings.
Leading up to the book’s release, I sent many emails to the very helpful publicity folks at Holiday House. They answered my clueless questions and explained how this stressful process works. They sent out hundreds of advance copies to reviewers, and submitted my book to book festivals, etc. They also explained that the writer is generally responsible for the rest of the promotional tasks.
I set up a pre-order campaign with my local indie bookstore, Bear Pond Books. Folks who place advance orders online from Bear Pond receive a discount and special gift, and once the book is out I sign the books, with a personalization if requested, and Bear Pond ships them out.
I also ordered postcards, bookmarks, and bookplates (to personalize books for people that buy their own elsewhere) using art from the book. (The author pays for these.) Preparing for readings at bookstores and libraries, I developed book-specific crafts and hay-related activities to engage the kids. To practice reading my book to kids, I read an advance copy to a local first grade class (and got some helpful feedback). And I read it to my 2-year-old grandson, who is too young for the book but who loved the tractor pictures and thereafter greeted me by saying “Nana! Book! Hey, Hey, Hay!!!”
Future hay-er, Christy’s grandson 🙂
I arranged with some fabulous kidlit bloggers to do interviews and posts for a blog around the release. And I scheduled a bunch of HAY events: a reading and hay activities at a farm, library story times, bookstore readings, an appearance at university book festival, another at an arts festival in a small town . . . and we’ll see how all that goes!
reading to first-graders
Things I didn’t do (because you can’t do everything): a book trailer, stickers, and tattoos. Oh, and a huge launch party. I decided a small celebration is more my speed.
SLH: How long was it between the time you started writing seriously and the time you sold your first picture book?
CM: Short answer: almost four years.
More info: I started putting serious energy into writing for kids in the fall of 2011. I focused on magazine submissions, and was thrilled to see my first story published in an (unpaid) online magazine in 2012. As I learned more about the magazine market, I sent out queries and more submissions and started selling articles.
And it turned out that HAY was not my first published book, although it is my first trade book. In 2015 I began writing books for the educational market on a work-for-hire basis, and I’ve now published 7 in that market.
SLH: Anything else you’d like to share about your book’s journey from inspiration to publication?
CM: I think of myself as a nonfiction writer, so it’s ironic that HAY, a book featuring a fictional narrator, is my first published picture book. It’s informational of course (back matter!), but fiction. I’m glad that when this unexpected idea came wafting over the hayfields to find me, even though was so unlike the historical stories I thought I was meant to tell, I ran with it.
SLH: Christy, thank you so much for kicking off our new series so fabulously! I know I speak for all of us when I wish you the very best with your book! For those who would like to support Christy, please shop for her book at your favorite bookseller, make sure your local library has a copy (you can request they get one if they don’t already have it), read her book and post reviews on GoodReads and any online bookstore you frequent, or share a nice review on your blog or FB page, donate a copy to your child’s school library, consider as a gift to a young reader in your life, stand on a street corner and wave flyers, or anything else you can think of! 🙂
If you’d like to know more about Christy or be in touch with her online, you can find her here:
Website: www.christymihaly.com.
Twitter: @CMwriter4kids
Instagram: @Christy Mihaly
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/christymihaly/
Blogging at GROG: https://groggorg.blogspot.com/
Thanks again to Christy for participating, and to all of you for reading! If you have any questions for Christy, please use the comment section below!
P.S. We started Tuesday Debuts today even though many of us (myself included) are technically on Summer Blogcation because today is the day of Christy’s book release. The series will continue with regularity in September. We’re just whetting your appetite 🙂
Susanna Leonard Hill 
Great interview, Christy & Susanna! Congrats, Christy!
Thank you Tina, and Happy Book Birthday to you and “Rice from Heaven!”
So glad you enjoyed it, Tina!
I’d like to know: 1. Do you, Christy, think one needs to publish magazine articles or NF PB before being able to publish fiction in the PB world? 2. Who is the lawyer you hired? (I’d like to store this name for future reference because someday I hope to need her!) 3. What writing workshops would you recommend for someone who wants to publish PBs (fiction; some lyrical in nature) – The Falling Leaves Workshop, and…? Thank you! Sarah Ps – CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Hello, Sarah! No you absolutely don’t need to start with nonfiction. If fiction is what you most love to write, concentrate on that — that’s what lots of writers do. If you think you might like writing for magazines, they take fiction also — read some magazines and think about whether your writing would be a good fit for them … As to workshops, I would highly recommend PB workshops at Highlights Foundation — check out their website and listings of upcoming workshops. And the lawyer I worked with isn’t doing it any more from what I hear — but when the time comes for you, there will be lots of people who can recommend lawyers in the publishing field.
Thanks for reading, Sarah!
Love this new series! So informative for both unpublished and published writers. And congratulations, Christy on your fabulous debut! I, for one, can’t wait to get a copy of your book, as we used to put up hay on our farm (though we never drank switchel 😉) Wishing you much success!
Hi Iza, Thanks so much for your kind message. I’ve been having such fun sharing about the haymaking process with people who didn’t grow up haying! Yes, switchel seems to be a northeastern specialty — it has maple syrup in it, after all … but there are regional variations and in Seattle I just had an “energy drink” made from the same ingredients (without the maple). I appreciate your support and hope you love the book.
Glad you like the series, Iza! Christy got it off to a great start! And I’m with you – I love haymaking!
I could not love this interview more! So excited for you, Chris, and wow – great info and questions, Susanna! HAY is on its way! I think you did a great job on your marketing, BTW. Does Holiday House take unagented writes’ subs only if the writer has been to a conference w/an editor. I’m interested.
Kathy, Thank you for the book love and for sharing! Susanna asked some great questions, didn’t she? I believe Holiday House is open — happy to chat if you want …
So glad you enjoyed it, Kathy! And great question – I’m sure others will be interested in that too!
Congratulations Christy & Susanna on the debut debut – seems fitting that the debut title is Hey, Hey, Hay! I always love learning book journeys & I especially enjoyed the practical questions you posed, Susanna. Happy Book Birthday!
Thanks so much, Patricia! I agree Susanna asked some wonderful questions — it’s a great idea for a series and I hope people find it helpful.
I’m glad you enjoyed the debut, Patricia! I always love hearing about book journeys too. And I think there are so many practical things that new writers have no way of knowing, so it’s great we can all pool our knowledge!
Wow – I thought I knew a lot about Christy and HEY, HEY, HAY! from our Epic18 debut PB connections, but I learned SO much more in this fantastic interview! I also fall into the sidebar super-stuffer category. Who wouldn’t want to know about scythes and Monet? Tell me more! But I will adopt some restraint. 😉 Happy Book Birthday! Great series launcher Susanna.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Cathy! Chris did a great job, didn’t she? And I’m with you guys too – I love all those additional fun facts and details and little nuggets of knowledge 🙂
Thanks Cathy! It’s nice to know we’re sisters in sidebars! And thanks for reading my answers to Susanna’s insightful questions.
Such a great interview and your book sounds fabulous, Christy. Requesting a copy in my library now…
Love this new series, Susanna. There’s so much information out there about how to write a book, get an agent, etc but not so much about what happens after you sell a book. It’s been a fascinating process for me so far and it’s great to read someone else’s experience too. Sign me up for an interview in Fall 2019 😉 xo
I’m so glad you like it, Christine! And I will be thrilled to have you in Fall 2019! Keep me posted! 🙂
Thank you, Christine, and thanks for requesting my book at your library. I’m happy to hear that Susanna’s new series is finding some fans.
What a great interview! Congratulations Christy. I look forward to reading this new PB and seeing more of this new series in the fall, Susanna.
Glad you found the interview interesting, Elizabeth! I too am looking forward to the upcoming ones – I think we’re all going to learn a lot!
Thanks so much and thank you for reading Susanna’s great blog!
Love the new feature. The interview was interesting and of course, the book looks really great.
So glad you like it, Laura! And I agree – the book looks amazing! I can’t wait to read it!
Great interview, Susanna! You rock with all the wonderful things you do for the kidlit community. Thank you! AND Christy…I can’t wait to get my hands on your book. Brings back memories of helping out on relatives’ farms when I was a kid. Congratulations on your debut!
So glad you enjoyed it, Donna! I agree – the book takes me back to many, many summers filling up haylofts above the barns!
Great interview! and I love the idea of Tuesday Debuts… thanks for sharing Hey, Hey, Hay! It’s a fun book.
You’re in Chris’s critique group, right Sue? So you saw the book on its whole journey!
Terrific interview, Christy and Susanna! Congrats, Christy! I look forward to reading your book!
Thanks so much! And thanks for reading!
Glad you enjoyed it, Charlotte! I’m looking forward to reading Chris’s book, too! I don’t have my copy yet!
Great job! So fun! I watch The Pioneer Woman on Food Network. They make hay all the time on her ranch, but I don’t know how it all works. #citygirlproblems I will definitely look for this book ASAP. Then I still may not know about cooking, but I will know about hay like crazy!
That’s so funny! I’m looking forward to sharing some fun facts of haymaking with kids (and their adults) — and I’m glad to hear from someone who wants to know all about it.
My daughter loves the Pioneer Woman! I haven’t watched her much, but I’ve read her PBs about Charlie the Ranch Dog! 🙂 You go learn to make hay, Genevieve, and then neither one of us will know how to cook 🙂
Great way to start off the series. It looks like a really fun book.
Thanks!
There’s wide open fields. And a tractor. And other farm machinery. What’s not to like? Glad you enjoyed it, Greg!
Oh – this was a great interview. As a debut (Fall, 2019) I found this so interesting and informative. Thank you Susanna and Christy.
So glad you liked it, Mary! Give me a holler when your book is coming out so you can join the series!
Mary, I’m glad you found it informative. And good luck as you prepare for your debut — it’s quite a road! Thanks for your comment.
Susanna, this is a fantastic idea. It’s going to be super informative and interesting. Look forward to September, but appreciate this early launch!
Christy, congratulations on your book. Thanks for sharing your journey and how this book developed. You’re off to an amazing start with it. Can’t wait to read it. Suddenly curious to know more about baling hay:) Best wishes to you!
Marty, thanks so much!
I’m so glad you like the idea, Marty! I think it’s going to be great too. Chris certainly got it off to a wonderful start! And she’s got us all ready to go out in the hayfield 🙂
What a fabulous interview! I’m going to love hearing about all the journeys!
Thanks, Sherry — Susanna really got the ball rolling with her questions! I think she hit on many of the aspects of picture book publishing that people wonder about. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series myself!
You’re going to BE one 🙂
What a wonderful interview! I only subscribe to two blogs and SO look forward to reading them…it feels like having a coffee chat with girlfriends! Thank you for all you do, Susanna!
Hey Hey Hay looks like a like a book kids will be fascinated by (and me,too!) Has me nostalgic for some country air and smell of hay…good memories! Congratulations!!
Thanks so much! And I agree that Susanna’s blog is one of the very best — hope you enjoy this series, too.
Wow! I am so honored that mine is one of your two choices! That makes my day 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed the interview, and we can have coffee and a chat anytime 🙂
Now I’m super excited about Tuesdays. This was a fantastic interview. You hit all the questions a prepublished author like me wants to here about. Congratulations, Christy. I can’t wait to see your book.
David, Thank you very much! Didn’t Susanna do a brilliant job with her questions? I hope you’ll enjoy the book, and the rest of the series!
So glad you liked it, David! Let me know if there’s anything you’re interested in learning about that we didn’t cover. There are lots more interviews upcoming and we can be sure to get the info!
Love this new feature and the story about how Hey Hey Hay came to be:)
Thanks, Lauri! I loved helping Susanna launch her new series and hope it’s helpful.
Glad you like the feature, Lauri. And I always love to hear how books come about – so many interesting stories behind the stories!
Reading Tuesday’s Debut on Wednesday and loving it. I really enjoyed reading about the genesis of Hey Hey Hay! My uncle is a retired NYPD police captain, and used to have a farm in upstate NY; hay was one of his crops. I used to climb the hay bales in the barn up to the rafters. This story has reminded me of those childhood memories. Congratulations Christy!
What lovely memories, Jean! I spent a lot of time in haylofts too, and every year at the start of summer we’d completely clear out the lofts and sweep them down, have a square dance, and then fill them up again with fresh summer hay for the coming winter. Found a lot of kittens… 🙂
Thanks so much, Jean! I love hearing all these stories that people are remembering — finding the kittens, I wish I’d thought of that! Yes, the place where we live (in Vermont) also used to belong to a retired NYPD guy, Jean. So many new PB ideas coming out here!!
Susanna how much fun it must have been finding those kittens, and square dancing! Barns are the best!
Christy how ironic that your place is also from a retired NYPD guy. Great stories to come no doubt! Congrats again on your book!
What a great new series. I enjoyed reading the story of the book’s birth, and I’ll have to look for the book now. Well done interviewer and interviewee.
Thanks so much, Brenda! It was fun to “chat” with Susanna (and all of her fans here).
What an interesting article and to know how a book starts and all the twists and turns before the body has a printing and birthday and is ready for purchase. And the author’s journey and promotional ideas really opened my eyes. This is not a quick process after signing. Wow.
Everyone has such unique ‘path to publication’ stories. Thank you for sharing yours!