Welcome to Tuesday Debut, my friends!
I’m so delighted to be introducing you to today’s debut-ess, the lovely and talented Jilanne Hoffman!
I apologize for missing last week – to you and to Laura who was supposed to be featured. We had a death in the family and I am behind in work. I am going to post her debut in a couple days on Thursday. Please come back to read her post then!
Title: A RIVER OF DUST: THE LIFE-GIVING LINK BETWEEN NORTH AFRICA AND THE AMAZON
Author: Jilanne Hoffmann
Illustrator: Eugenia Mello
Publishing House: Chronicle Books
Date of Publication: July 25, 2023
Nonfiction
Age range: Elementary school
Synopsis: Dust tells the story of its journey as it soars above the broad landscapes of North Africa, spills over the Atlantic, and settles in the Amazon rainforest. Its tiny particles deliver precious cargo that is key to the health of the Amazon, the Atlantic, and our planet. The story is a lyrical ode to the vital roles that even the smallest among us can play, and as a story of separation and reconnection, it is STEM with a beating heart.
SUSANNA: Welcome, Jilanne! Thank you so much for joining us today! We’re so excited to hear all about how this book came to be! Where did the idea for this book come from?
JILANNE: In 2015, I received an email from NASA about how their satellites were measuring the North African dust that was making this journey across the Atlantic. And I recalled how I first learned about the dust on the nightly news when I was a kid. I wanted to know more then, but there was little information available, at least for kids. So when I received this email, I took it as a sign from the universe that I needed to share what’s known today. I want to feed those curious minds!
SUSANNA: How long did it take you to write this book?
JILANNE: Ha! I took an early draft to the 2015 Highlights Summer Camp, where Kathy Erskine read it and asked me about my writing background. It was a very kind way of saying that it didn’t exactly appeal to kids. So then I rewrote it from the perspective of a boy in North Africa—after several months of research on the Imuhar culture. I then sent it to an anthropologist who read it for accuracy. Although she gave it her stamp of approval, it still didn’t feel right. Fast forward to 2018, where I attended a small retreat headed up by Miranda and Baptiste Paul. Miranda asked me why I couldn’t write it from the perspective of dust. Dust? Hmmmm. I thought about that for a year, before I was ready to give it a try. And when I did, I wrote the story in a week. I knew it was the right approach, because it brought out the heart in the story.
SUSANNA: Did you go through many revisions?
JILANNE: The MS went through three major revisions (and many small revisions of each major revision) as described above. I tend to wordsmith a LOT to achieve the lyricism I want. I think that year of waiting to write from the perspective of dust helped me find the right voice. I also used Brian Karas’s book, ATLANTIC, as a mentor text.
Jilanne’s office 😊
SUSANNA: When did you know your manuscript was ready for submission?
JILANNE: I had reached out to Bethany Hegedus at the Writing Barn right before the pandemic, to ask if she’d take me on as a mentee. We worked together in early 2020 just as the pandemic was starting. I knew the MS was close, and after suggesting a few tweaks, Bethany told me that A RIVER OF DUST was ready to go.
SUSANNA: When and how did you submit?
JILANNE: The final version that Bethany had critiqued went to three agents with a referral from Bethany. I had seen an ASK AN AGENT webinar at the Writing Barn that had featured Lori Steel, among others at her agency, and felt like my writing and her interests aligned. So one of those three referrals from Bethany was to Lori. I also had an offer on a different MS waiting in the wings, so when I clicked with Lori during “the call,” I withdrew my queries to the other two agents, and we got to work immediately. That original offer ended up falling through after months of negotiations, but DUST took a completely different track.
SUSANNA: 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”?
JILANNE: In May of 2020, Lori submitted A RIVER OF DUST to twelve editors, and texted me at 7pm the day we’d gone out on sub, asking me to check the Google submission doc she’d shared. I hadn’t looked at it, because I was expecting the process to take months. Well, every editor had responded, either saying they were interested, or with a lovely pass. The book ended up going to auction within two weeks, and sold in early June.
SUSANNA: When did you get “the call”, which these days is more likely to be “the email”? (Best moment ever! 😊)
JILANNE: Well, there were several emails from editors who were making offers. Lori set up conversations with each one, so we could talk about their vision for the MS and whether it matched mine. I was really attracted to Chronicle’s vision, because they’d said the story was written like a love letter, something I ended up leaning into even more later on. Once I spoke with each of the editors, Lori made a spreadsheet of the pros and cons of each, to help me with my decision. The process took about two weeks. Note to self: while it might feel thrilling for this to happen for the first book you submit with an agent, it sets highly unrealistic expectations for all subsequent submissions.
SUSANNA: How long was it between getting your offer and getting your contract to sign?
JILANNE: I accepted the offer containing the major deal points in early June from Chronicle, and then the rest of the contract negotiations related to different rights, award bonuses, etc. took another couple of months. I think I signed my contract in early September.
SUSANNA: How did you celebrate signing your contract? (If you care to share ☺)
JILANNE: I shared a bottle of bubbly and some chocolate with my husband. Our son passed on the bubbly and ate most of the chocolate, LOL. Our dog, Wrigley, got an extra jerky snack before bedtime.
Wrigley shows his excellent taste in literature!
SUSANNA: Was the contract what you expected in terms of advance, royalty percentage, publication timeline, author copies etc.?
JILANNE: One of the big houses came in with the lowest advance, so the book would earn out earlier. One of the mid-size houses came in with a significantly larger advance BUT with less advantageous royalty percentages that would have taken far longer for the book to earn out. Chronicle’s offer fell in the middle of the spectrum. Plus, I loved their production values AND their description of the narrative as a love letter. And while I really liked all of the editors I’d spoken with, I felt that Chronicle’s vision most closely adhered to my own. Plus, they also emphasized that I would be involved in selecting an illustrator. So I took those things into consideration when making my decision. The initial pub date was set for April 2023, but slipped to July.
SUSANNA: Can you tell us a little about the editorial process?
JILANNE: I love working with Ariel Richardson! She is the nicest person and a dream editor! She didn’t give me any line edits at the beginning, but asked if there was a way to make the ending feel more satisfying. She didn’t make a specific suggestion, and left it up to me to figure out. I came to realize that if I leaned into the plate tectonics aspect more, allowing dust to not only reflect on the initial separation of continents but also end with looking forward to the continents reuniting, it would bring the story full circle. It would also reassure kids that they, too, could be reunited with loved ones they might be missing right now. The line edits I made after that were minor. Most tweaks came after the fact checking and sensitivity reader part of the process, and were mostly to the back matter (and title) to reflect the changing state of the science behind the book.
SUSANNA: What was your experience of the illustration process like?
JILANNE: I loved that Ariel asked me for feedback on different illustrators, and also asked me to suggest any illustrators whose work I thought would work well with the narrative. It took a couple of months to iron out, but I’m so glad that Eugenia said “yes”! I did not include any art notes in the original MS. But since it was nonfiction (aside from the voice of dust), I was asked to provide feedback on accuracy throughout the process. I so appreciate that fact checkers also dug into nitty gritty details, like whether animals, vegetation, clothing, and homes depicted on different spreads were correct for each geographic location. And although I was asked to provide feedback, all of my comments went through the editor. I didn’t actually talk to Eugenia until the book was finished, and we started to discuss marketing swag.
text copyright Jilanne Hoffman 2023, illustration copyright Eugenia Mello 2023, Chronicle Books
SUSANNA: Did you get to see advance reviews from Kirkus, SLJ, etc? What was that like?
JILANNE: I found out that DUST was a JLG Gold Selection late in 2022. I am super excited, because those additional guaranteed sales go toward earning out my advance. Yay! The reviews by Kirkus and The Horn Book, while complimentary, calling the language poetic and the illustrations gorgeous, feel strangely like book reports. I looked at other reviews of new nonfiction books that are also lyrically “sparse,” and the reviews do tend to read like that, so I guess it’s not unusual. I was also surprised that they didn’t mention the back matter, which adds a robust layer of complexity and curriculum tie-ins for educators and older elementary students. But a recent review from The Center for Children’s Books, complimenting the voice, illustrations, and information presented made me glow.
SUSANNA: How long did it take from offer to having the first copy in your hand?
JILANNE: I just got my first copy a couple of weeks ago, and it is gorgeous! Eugenia’s illustrations are amazing! And the gold foil in the title makes the cover pop! I nearly cried. Well, maybe I did cry, LOL. The only reason I know the initial print run quantity is because I needed to purchase a photo for the back matter (that we ended up not using), and the copyright owner wanted to know the print run size. The initial run is 10,000 copies for the trade market, along with the additional copies for JLG Gold. My editor explained that Chronicle prefers to print fewer per run and print more frequently. I think that helps them avoid ending up with a lot of books sitting in the warehouse collecting dust, heh heh. I also recently found out that they’ve sold Chinese language rights, so that will also go toward my advance. Yay!
SUSANNA: What kind of marketing and promotion has your publisher done for this book?
JILANNE: Chronicle has a School & Library marketing manager, along with a children’s book publicist. So they send out books to influencers, reviewers, JLG, ALA, among others. For example, I know that Mr. Schu received a copy of my book (and gave it 5 stars on Goodreads!! Thank you, Mr. Schu!), and will be featuring DUST on his blog. They also submit books for appropriate awards and notable lists. Plus they will take it to ALA and other similar conferences.
SUSANNA: Describe any marketing/promotion you did for this book.
JILANNE: Oh. My. Word. This is a touchy subject in our household. I will most likely never spend as much time marketing a book as I am for this debut. I’ve got a spreadsheet filled with blog names, podcasters, book chats, a two-minute spot on a local NPR station (also the station’s New Arrivals podcast), environmental tie-in days for tweeting and instagramming, etc. I’m doing a 12×12 Book Chat (August), and am doing StoryTime Sprint (July 25) where I will read DUST to viewers who, if they review the book, will be entered into a contest to win a copy of the book or a virtual school visit.
I’m part of three book “support” groups, PBSpree, StoryJammer, and STEAMTeam. I’m writing answers to interview questions for blogs (thank you!!!), and I don’t like to be repetitive, so I’m personalizing all of them. I’m organizing swag (bookmarks, prints, and NASA satellite magnets) to give away with pre-orders through my local indie bookstore. I’ve scheduled an online book launch (I’m super excited!!), and am busy trying to figure out what we’re going to be doing during that launch hour in addition to reading the book, describing its path to publication, and answering questions. I did World Read Aloud Day in February, after getting approval to read a pdf of the book to kids. I’m employing my son to make social media graphics. I’ll be presenting at Kidquake in San Francisco in October. I could go on and on and on and….but I’m starting to freak out just writing all of this down.
SUSANNA: How long was it between the time you started writing seriously and the time you sold your first picture book?
JILANNE: I joined SCBWI and started writing kidlit seriously at the end of 2012. I joined 12×12 in January 2014, and have been a member ever since. I sold my first picture book in 2020.
SUSANNA: What is the most important/helpful thing you learned on your way to publication? (Or what is your most helpful piece of advice for up and coming writers?)
JILANNE: When you start to despair, focus on something else to take your mind off the interminable process. “Something else” can be a new manuscript idea or it can be something completely different. But it should feed your heart or make you feel creative in a different way. Oh, and it’s important to remember that the whole marketing thing is really about getting your books into the hands of kids who will be inspired, or who will laugh, or feel seen, or who will learn to enjoy reading and finding out answers to their questions. It’s not about publishers, editors, sales & marketing. It’s about the kids. Period.
SUSANNA: Anything else you’d like to share about your book’s journey from inspiration to publication?
JILANNE: To those who’ve made it this far through this interview, I thank you all for reading! Good luck to everyone in their writing journeys! Everyone’s path is different. Enjoy those times when the stars align, and you feel lucky to be in the right place at the right time. But it will have been the prep work you’ve already done that helps you take advantage of those moments. Cheers!
Readers can register for the free A RIVER OF DUST online launch party through The Writing Barn on Saturday, July 29, at 10-11am PT/1-2pm ET. Jilanne will be giving away door prizes, including NASA satellite magnets, a print from the book, and a 20-minute online school visit or AMA session.
SUSANNA: Thank you so much for taking the time to share your writing journey with us today, Jilanne! We so appreciate getting to benefit from your expertise, and wish you all the best of luck with this and future titles!
Author Jilanne Hoffman
Website: https://jilannehoffmann.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jill_SF
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jilanne2694/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jilanne.hoffmann.96
Readers, if you have questions for Jilanne, please post them in the comments below and if she has time I’m sure she’ll respond!
You may purchase Jilanne’s book at:
(all links below are book-specific)
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!
Susanna Leonard Hill 
Great interview! Can’t wait to hear you read your story on Storytime Sprint soon!
Thank you! I’m looking forward to sharing A RIVER OF DUST with everyone at StoryTime Sprint!
OMG! 8 years to create this gem! I bought the e-book as a mentor text. Amazon.it Congratulations! You’ve answered so many questions I had in this interview. Happy marketing.
Yay! And thank you so much!! Yes, it feels a little insane, but I know many others who’ve had books take even longer. Melissa Stewart describes (on her blog) the lengthy process No Monkeys, No Chocolate went through before publishing. I think it was something like 10 years! I hope that DUST helps you with the manuscript you’re working on. Good luck!
Thanks, Jilanne. I’m revising.
This is a FABULOUS interview! So much sharing! I am tucking this away to re-read. Thank you, Susanna and Jilanne!!
Thank you for reading, Elizabeth! I hope it was helpful!
Wonderful interview! It was interesting to read the process you went through in getting your.book published. I love how your inspiration came from one email from NASA, and turned into this beautiful picture book! I teach STEM K-4, and can’t wait to read this book and get it for my classroom. Congratulations!
Yay! And thank you!!! I’ve got tons of educator resources on my website, too. And I’ll be doing giveaways that include virtual classroom visits, one of them being the StoryTime Sprint that’s coming up on Tuesday, July 25. It’s quick, lasting only 30 minutes. You can register here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSehMjliKXEHLMHp6qSKzSC9w86RgjGh8tnRVsbiR-QOwA-QCA/viewform. But I’ll have more on Twitter and Instagram, and at my book launch. So stay tuned! Would love to chat with your students!
How appropriate this book comes at a time that the Southern part of the US is expecting the arrival of a giant dust storm coming from your books’ regions. A once-in-a-lifetime event they say. This seems like your 8-year journey needed to be finished right about now. There was a reason for this. Market the book as much as you can. Thank you for sharing.
Yes!!!! And when this book was first acquired, a huge river of dust covered the U.S., too. Scientists called it Godzilla. The folks at Chronicle were so excited because it felt so relevant to people living in the U.S. , too! And it becomes even more relevant as we learn more about how dust affects the weather. I’m sending a copy of the book to both experts who reviewed portions of my back matter. One of them I think of as The Grandfather of Dust, since he’s been studying the dust since the 1960s. Thank you for reading and commenting!
I’m excited to see this, Jillian!
Thank you, David. I hope you like it!
Great interview. Congrats ! I was thinking this must be extra special for both of you because you’ve participated in so many contests over the years! Thank you for sharing all the work and retreats that went into the creation.
Thank you, Laurie! I feel like I cut my teeth on writing for kids through Susanna’s contests, LOL. Plus, I took Susanna’s Making Picture Book Magic course! Thank you for reading and commenting! I hope your own writing is going well!
Love hearing about your journey, Jilanne! It gives me hope. I can’t wait for my copy of A River of Dust to arrive.
Thank you, Rose! Writing books is all about hope, isn’t it? If we didn’t have hope, we wouldn’t do this ourselves. And if we didn’t have hope for future generations, we wouldn’t bother, either. So let’s give three cheers to HOPE!!! May it see us through whatever lies ahead!
Every librarian and teacher will grab this book! It’s amazing!
Congratulations! Your journey was spot on and here’s to a successful marketing campaign!
Thank you so much! I hope DUST gets read by many. And I hope it inspires kids to ask more questions, find more answers, and take the STEM path. We need those future scientists, and feeding kids’ curiosity about the world is a start! Thank you again for reading and commenting!
We do!
And you are very welcome.
GREAT interview, Susanna and Jilanne! This book’s journey is fascinating, from inspiration to discovering the right way to tell the story to finding its forever home. I can’t wait to read A RIVER OF DUST (and that back matter)! Congratulations!!
Thank you, Judy! It seems each book takes its own path, so I love hearing about how others (and describing how my own) manuscripts made it to the bookshelf. I hope you enjoy the back matter. I have a very LARGE stack of research papers that I used to write it! My editor didn’t want to put in my bibliography, but maybe I should list my sources on my website, LOL. Thanks again!
🥳 Huge congratulations, Jilanne! Your book journey is fascinating and I wish you the absolute best during your busy, busy debut whirlwind tour. No dust will settle on you 😉
LOL, thanks Pam! It’s crazy how these books end up being created. A true 8th wonder of the world.
Your book activity sounds dazzling. I’m thinking power naps are going to be needed😉
Jilanne – Congratulations! Can’t wait to get a copy and will make sure I am signed up for the Writing Barn launch event!
Thank you, Cathy! And thank you for signing up for the launch party! Looking forward to “seeing” you in person. I can’t wait to hear Eugenia talk about how she illustrated the book. We haven’t even talked about that, so it will be new to me, too!
An interesting topic told from an intriguing point of view! Congratulations! Looking forward to reading it.
Thanks, Karen! The POV really broke the story open for me. It’s interesting to think about, but in retrospect, it makes perfect sense. Funny that it took me so long to be lured in by the idea.
Such a great book and an equally wonderful interview! Congrats, Jilanne and Eugenia!
Thank you, Ellen, my fellow PBSpree group member! I appreciate you and your support!
Jilanne, YOU are an inspiration for “keep believing in ourselves,” for we all want to be storytellers whose books end up in the sticky hands of children. Thank you for your honest, encouraging discussion about your writing journey. When discouragement tries to play head-games with me, I’ll remember “Jilanne’s Journey.” Bravo for your debut book! The subject and lyrical text are delightfully intriguing. I’ll make sure that our local county library displays a copy of A RIVER OF DUST on its “New PB’s” shelf. Sending you energy for your upcoming marketing campaign and insight for the endless stories ahead of you…
Thank you for your kind response, Marsha! Yes, never stop believing! One of my many reasons for staying the course was my son. I wanted him to see how you need to persist if you love what you do. If I had stopped, I would never have had this book to share with the kids. And I would have lived with that huge regret. Thank you so so soooo much for making sure it’s at your library! That’s HUGE for authors. Library circulation means that more kids/families/teachers get to read and use the book whenever they want to! And thanks for sending energy and insight. I need both! ❤️ Cheers!
Yay, Jilane! This was a wonderful interview to read. I’m really excited for you as Launch Day approaches! Wish I could participate in the virtual — will be backpacking the eastern Sierras that week. But I know it will go well and will look forward to watching this lovely book take off! Congrats!
Thanks, Patricia! Enjoy your time in the Sierras! Such a beautiful place! And know that the dust of the Gobi helps feed the trees of the Sierras!
Thank you for sharing your journey. I always find it interesting to find out how a book came about and Susannah askes all the right questions. Congrats!
Thank you, Nadia! Books take such varying paths, don’t they? And Susanna asks great questions. Thanks for stopping by and saying hi!
Jilanne, wonderful interview with Susanna! You are such an inspiration. I can’t wait to read your book. Dust telling the story is brilliant! I will share this story with our STEAM teacher. Congratulations! 🙂
Thank you so very much!!! And please let them know that there are a ton of educator resources on my website!
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this interview. Jilanne, congrats to you! Susanna, I am sorry for your family’s recent loss.
Thank you so much, Tomi! I appreciate it!
Yay, Jilanne! I’ve been waiting for this book to come out. Love the title, love the subject, love your interview with Susanna. Your whirlwind promotion schedule puts the energizer bunny to shame! Sending good wishes and congrats!
Thank you so much, Marty! I hope you enjoy the book! Yes, the frenzy is real, LOL. I’m looking forward to going back into my writing cave in the fall, although I’ll probably be scheduling school visits. But I’ve got so much writing to do! 😁
I love this interview, Jilanne! (and your office is so lovely and clean!) I’m looking forward to reading this fabulous book!
Thank you so much, Wendy! I had to laugh when you mentioned the cleanliness of my office. I cleaned it before I took that photo. And it’s been several months since then, so I have to clean it again this weekend. I’m a piler, and a couple of my paper/book mountains are threatening to landslide me while I’m doing Zoom calls, LOL. Cheers!
I love your gorgeous book, Jilanne, and am so excited for it to be in the world. Congratulations! ❤
Thank you so much, Jolene! ❤️ Me, too!!!
So thrilled for you, Jilanne! I know the journey you took to get to this debut and it so worth it. Chronicle & Ariel Richardson, plus your story and illustrations by Eugenia Mello = a dream team. Congrats!
Thank you, Kathy! You’ve been with me on this journey for so long. I feel fortunate to have you as a friend.
Wahoo! I’m so happy for you and your gorgeous book and for your inspirational journey! Congratulations!
Thank you so much, Shaunda! It’s party time!
Congratulations, Jilanne! Can’t wait until my copy arrives (reading this reminded me to preorder it from Folio Books).
Thank you, Patricia! I am very grateful for your preorder! (And so is Folio!)
Congrats Jilanne! I can totally relate to the time it takes to get to your debut book. You hit the jackpot by really putting in the time and effort. Your book is beautiful!
Thank you so much, Deborah! Eugenia’s art is amazing! And all that work was worth it!
Nice interview! I look forward to read DUST!
What a great interview. I’m so looking forward to reading your book, Jilanne! It sounds beautiful!