Greetings, Friends!

It’s Tuesday Debut time again, and today we’re getting to celebrate our debutess on her book birthday!

🎉🎉🎉 Happy Book Birthday to Jana and VOTE FOR TURTLE! 🎉🎉🎉

On this birthday, one of you is going to be the lucky gift-recipient, because Jana is kindly offering a copy of her brand new, hot-off-the-presses book to one randomly selected commenter on today’s post! Just leave a comment below between now and Monday June 12 at 3PM Eastern to qualify! (US residents only, please.)

Also, I’m delighted to announce the winner of last week’s giveaway, A VERY SILLY READING BOOK MEOW: Adults No Longer In Charge of Reading by Alan Smith. And the winner is. . . Danielle Hammelef!

Congratulations, Danielle! Please email me so I can organize getting you your book! 😊

One last thing: don’t miss the writing fun and games ongoing over at the Mix ‘n’ Match Mini Writing Challenge! You can still join in – for one week or all of them – whatever you like! And if you don’t want to write, you can just enjoy reading all the fabulous stories the creative and talented participants have posted so far!

Now! Are you ready to learn something interesting? Wait til you see what this book is about! 😊

Vote For Turtle
written by Jana Locke
illustrated by Summer Morrison
Orange Hat Publishing, June 6, 2023
Informational Fiction for kids ages 6-10

When turtle-loving Ella learns about state symbols, she knows right away that one is missing. “We need a state reptile!” she announces to her class. Ella and her class journey through the civic process of creating a new state law, learning a whole lot about turtles along the way. Based on true stories of elementary students initiating state symbols, “Vote for Turtle” shows how kids can engage in democracy and make a difference.

SUSANNA: Where did the idea for this book come from?

JANA: Did you know that kids are responsible for initiating multiple state symbols? My picture book, Vote For Turtle, is based on true stories of kids participating in the legislative process to create a state reptile. The idea for this book came from several threads of inspiration that took me a pretty long time to figure out how to tie together. I was working at the Colorado Capitol in 2008 when a group of kids successfully lobbied to create a state reptile, and I was really impressed by how they engaged in the process and made their case. Several years later, I read an article about the history of state symbols in Colorado and learned that schoolkids actually voted on the state’s official flower way back in 1891. These two things floated around in my head, and I started doing more research and discovered stories in numerous states about kids creating state symbols. I knew I wanted to share in a story format how kids across states and throughout centuries (it turns out!) have been able to really directly engage in making laws. I wrote lots and lots of drafts trying to strike the balance between the story being informative yet succinct enough to be a picture book, and I had helpful input from various critique groups along the way. 

SUSANNA: How long did it take you to write this book?

JANA: Once I started writing, it took me about two years to get the story in its current form. But from the first spark of an idea to now – well, that took about fifteen years 😊 

SUSANNA: Did you go through many revisions?

JANA: I went through a lot of revisions, and I wrote multiple drafts trying to find my way into this story. I tried it as a chapter book, I tried it as a really, really short picture book, I tried it from a couple of different points of view. I knew what information I wanted the book to convey, but I had to work on the heart of the story and the development of the main character so that the book wasn’t just a series of events. I workshopped the story as part of a course I took in late 2021 and that process landed me with the draft that I finally started really intentionally submitting in early 2022. 

SUSANNA: When did you know your manuscript was ready for submission?

JANA: I felt like the manuscript was ready for submission when the story truly resonated with me. The critique process is so important for writers, but one lesson I learned during the critique process was how to sort through the feedback to pick and choose what to incorporate. Some of the feedback I got took me in a revising direction that didn’t feel true to the story, so I had to back up and get the story realigned with where I wanted it to go. On the other hand, some feedback was key: for example, in one version of the story, I had a frog as a contender for the state reptile until one critiquer kindly pointed out that frogs aren’t reptiles (hand on forehead moment). 

SUSANNA: When and how did you submit?

JANA: Prior to early 2022, I had been submitting previous versions to small publishing houses with nice responses but no takers. With my revised version, I aimed at even smaller presses, and ended up with two offers of publication. The one that I chose, Orange Hat Publishing, is one I learned about right here on this blog! 

SUSANNA: Yay! Great to know you learned something helpful here! 😊 How long after you found out about your book going to acquisitions (if you did) or after you submitted were you told it was a “yes”?

JANA: I got a request for a “revise and resubmit” from Orange Hat pretty quickly after submitting, and I spent about a month on that process before sending in an updated version that finally got a YES! 

SUSANNA: When did you get the call (which these days is more likely to be “the email”)?  

JANA: Orange Hat sent me a hybrid publishing offer within about two weeks of submitting the R and R, and then we had a phone call to discuss the vision for the book and the publishing process. 

(SUSANNA: For those who might be curious, this is the information about hybrid publishing from Orange Hat’s website: “With a hybrid contract, the author assumes some of the costs of developing their manuscript into a book. Namely, these costs include illustration and cover design, editing, interior formatting, and various other publishing expenses bundled into the contract. The author may benefit from direct sales of their book, as well as royalties from third-party vendors.”)

SUSANNA: How long was it between getting your offer and getting your contract to sign?

JANA: I think it was a couple of weeks, and in between was the phone call about how hybrid publishing works. I did a lot of research about that process and the pros and cons so that I understood the contract better. 

SUSANNA: How did you celebrate signing your contract?

JANA: I had a lot of life happening around me at the time I got the contract, so it didn’t really sink in until we were doing edits and working with the illustrator that this was really happening!

SUSANNA: Can you tell us a little about the editorial process?

JANA: The editorial process was incredibly enriching. Several editors reviewed it and offered suggestions to polish the manuscript and make it shine. It felt so collaborative and supportive and that we were all working with the same vision for the story. 

SUSANNA: What was your experience of the illustration process like?

JANA: I was nervous about the illustration process because, I think like every writer, I had a vision in my head about what the story should look like but I also wanted to leave room for the illustrator to enhance the story. I didn’t have any illustration notes for that reason, which felt a little bit like taking my hands off the wheel. The illustrator took the story to a level beyond what I imagined. As I mentioned earlier, one of the tough parts of writing this book was adding an emotional component to an educational story. The illustrator got what I was wanting to convey right away, and added a lot of heart to the story arc with her pictures. 

text copyright Jana Locke 2023, illustration copyright Summer Morrison 2023, Orange Hat Publishing

SUSANNA: Did you get to see illustrations along the way?

JANA: Yes! I got to see sketches along the way, first a conceptual character sketch and then some pencil sketches of a few different scenes. It blew my mind every time I saw them because it seemed like the illustrator had captured the pictures in my head. In previous versions of the story, I had a few illustration notes that I ended up taking out. I’m glad I did, because in doing so, the illustrator was able to read the text and add to it both in the ways that I had intended with my removed illustration notes and also in ways that I hadn’t thought of. 

text copyright Jana Locke 2023, illustration copyright Summer Morrison 2023, Orange Hat Publishing

advance cover copy

SUSANNA: How long did it take from offer to having the first copy in your hand?

JANA: It took about 10 months from offer to holding the book.

SUSANNA: What kind of marketing and promotion has your publisher done for this book?

JANA: Since I have a hybrid publishing arrangement, a lot of the marketing and promotion falls to me. I’ve been sharing updates about the publishing process on social media, and have contacted a few local media outlets about the book’s release, plus a few blog stops like this.  I’m planning a book launch party in Denver in late June and am trying to get my book into local bookstores and also trying to navigate the national museum/educational market. Promotion is a process that I am very much learning about as I go! 

SUSANNA: I think that is the case for a lot of us! How long was it between the time you started writing seriously and the time you sold your first picture book?

JANA: I started writing what I consider seriously (going to conferences, joining groups, taking classes) in about 2015, so it was about seven years. 

SUSANNA: What is the most important/helpful thing you learned on your way to publication?

JANA: Be open to how your story presents itself in the world. Through my writing journey, I have become much less attached to early drafts and early ideas. Staying flexible and open allows for evolution not just in the words, but in the way the book comes to be. I didn’t necessarily set out to hybrid publish but, for this book, it was absolutely a positive experience. Thanks for allowing me to share! 

SUSANNA: Thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your experience, Jana! We so appreciate the chance to learn from you! Here’s wishing you all the best with this and future titles!

Author Jana Locke

Website: janalocke.com
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/jana.locke.75

Readers, if you have questions for Jana, please post them in the comments below and if she has time I’m sure she’ll respond!

You may purchase Jana’s book at:
(all links below are book-specific)

Indiebound
Amazon
Barnes&Noble

We can help our debut authors successfully launch their careers by:

– purchasing their books

– recommending their books to friends and family

– recommending their books to our children’s teachers and librarians

– recommending their books to our local libraries and bookstores

– suggesting them as visiting authors at our children’s schools and our local libraries

– sharing their books on social media

– reviewing their books on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and other sites where people go to learn about books.

Thank you all for stopping by to read today!  Have a lovely, inspiration-filled Tuesday!  Maybe today is the day you’ll write your debut picture book 😊

Missed any previous Tuesday Debuts?  Check them out HERE!