Hello, again, everyone!

I hope you’re all looking forward to the second Tuesday Debut this week!

Apologies again for getting off schedule!

I realized I should also take this opportunity to mention that I will catch up on the giveaways from previous posts that I did the drawings for but haven’t announced, and also on the Mix ‘n’ Match finale and prizes. I haven’t forgotten. So sorry for the delay!

But for now, let’s welcome today’s debutess, Laura Wippell, as she shares her journey to publication with FEELING HOPEFUL! She is also very kindly offering a Picture Book Manuscript Critique as a Giveaway, so if you leave a comment on today’s post by Thursday July 27th at 9PM Eastern you could be the randomly selected lucky winner of said critique!

Feeling Hopeful by Laura Wippell
Illustrated by Stella Mongodi
Publisher: Ethicool Books
Fiction PB
Published in Australia 11th of April 2023, available for preorder worldwide

Themes: Hope, Fear, The Importance of Reading, Friendship

Synopsis: Far above the world, Hope the dragon somersaults through the sky, protecting those below.  But he encounters a formidable opponent in Fear.  Fear proves no match for Hope, until he meets a curious character, The Reader.  And it’s inside The Reader’s vast library that Hope finds what he’s looking for, plus much more…

Feeling Hopeful is a picture book, marketed at 0 – 6 year olds, but I have used it in school visits for children up to 11 years old.  As it explores the concepts of hope and fear, it can be unpacked with various age groups.

SUSANNA: Welcome, Laura! Thank you so much for joining us today. We’re very much looking forward to hearing about how FEELING HOPEFUL came to be. Where did the idea for this book come from?

LAURA: This book came about from the 2022 ‘Bee Ethicool’ competition, where Ethicool released the illustration below by the incredibly talented illustrator, Stella Mongodi, along with the theme education equality and the importance of reading.  For the competition I had to create a story that was based around the illustration and theme.   

I started brainstorming possible story ideas but none were very original.  While looking at the picture I kept coming back to the crying dragon.  I thought it was fascinating as dragons are usually portrayed as brave or scary fire-breathing monsters, but here was one that was openly showing its feelings.  I knew I wanted to base my story around that, but I just couldn’t come up with anything for the first couple of weeks – it was so frustrating!  The more I tried to force it, the worse the ideas got.  The universe was trying to tell me something – I needed a change of perspective. 

Time was running out to submit for the competition, and during that period I went to visit some friends at the beach for the weekend.  Funnily enough while we were listening to a Tears for Fears album and looking at the incredible view

my mind started wandering… Tears for Fears… What about Tears OF fears?  What would it be like if we could cry out all of the fears inside of us?  Was the dragon in the illustration releasing his fears through his tears?  BAM – LIGHTBULB MOMENT!  I began frantically writing …

I’m grateful for these prompts from Ethicool as this is a story I had no idea was inside of me.  It seems like it was bubbling away in my subconscious as I have experienced a lot of fear of the unknown over the last few years while living abroad during a pandemic.  (I’m from Australia but have been living in Chile for almost a decade with my husband and writing buddy – our cheeky cat, Greta). 

The very helpful Greta 🙂

For any of those in doubt when coming up with a story idea –  writing prompts are the best!  I’ve been pleasantly surprised at what I’ve been able to create for your writing competitions Susanna, so thank you so much for helping us release these hidden stories that we are all carrying around inside of us.

SUSANNA: I am delighted and thrilled if you’ve found the writing contests and prompts helpful, Laura! How long did it take you to write this book?

After the lightbulb moment and frantic writing, I had a draft down after a few days. 

I had less than 2 weeks to submit… The competition stated we were allowed to get feedback or have a manuscript assessment, so I did just that and got some fantastic tips on structure and character development. 

More frantic editing, rewriting, polishing and burning the midnight oil, and around 6 days later I submitted.  I think it was one of those lovely times where a deadline helped me to just write and not doubt myself as much as I usually would.  I also think I was able to get the story down fairly quickly as I had spent so much time beforehand trying to flesh out an idea that I was really happy with.

That is something I learnt from this experience and participating in the amazing Storystorm event by Tara Lazar – we often expect lightbulb moments where story ideas just pop into our head.  Sometimes those do happen, but I’ve discovered the joy of fleshing out a story idea – often the very best ones will make you work really hard for them!  We talk a lot about how long it takes to write a book, but do we also appreciate how long it takes to formulate a fantastic idea?

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

I didn’t!  But the contest deadline was looming, and I was SO MUCH happier with my final version compared to my first.  I had to just close my eyes and hit submit!

SUSANNA: When and how did you submit?

For this contest we had to email our submission by a certain date.  I do not have an agent but have finally plucked up the courage to start searching more seriously and look at querying.  Beforehand I felt I wasn’t ready to query agents as I wanted to focus on improving my writing and creating a body of polished manuscripts before anything else. 

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”?

About two weeks after submitting, I received an email saying that from over five thousand entries, my story had been shortlisted in the top three! 

Then came the interesting part – the publisher was going to publish a small extract of our stories on their website and voting would be handed over to the public.  The story with the most votes would be crowned as the winner!   Voting lasted for 11 days so I had to do as much campaigning as possible during that time to get the word out.

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

A few days after the voting closed, I received an email saying Feeling Hopeful had received the most votes and I was the winner! My story was going to be turned into a picture book!  It was an absolute whirlwind and obviously a lot shorter compared to the traditional querying process.

You can read more about the competition timeline here.

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

Again, it was quite quick – around two weeks.  I signed my contract at my mother-in-law’s house in southern Chile, on a cold, sunny morning.  My mum took this photo.

SUSANNA: How did you celebrate signing your contract?  (If you care to share ☺)

I went out to dinner with my husband, had a few celebratory coffee dates with friends, and in a brilliant twist of fate my mother was visiting Chile, so I could share this lovely moment with her too. 

There was excitement from friends and family around the world who had taken the time to vote – I felt so much love and genuine happiness from them.  This experience reinforced how many beautiful people I have in my life, and I feel so grateful for their support.

SUSANNA: Was the contract what you expected in terms of advance, royalty percentage, publication timeline, author copies etc.?

Yes – what I was expecting for my first book.

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

There were no significant changes – mainly small line edits.  I am happy that the heart and soul of the story remained the same.

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

Stella has much more experience than I do in the publishing world and I was thrilled to be paired with someone who does such magical, whimsical illustrations for my first book.  There was one spread she wanted to make fairly major changes on, but we were able to collaborate and come to a final agreement that I’m really happy with. For everything else, I let her work her magic.  Her illustrations weren’t what I had envisioned – they were even better!

I had just a couple of illustration notes, which were only there to help clarify very conceptual aspects of my story – e.g. ‘Hope is a dragon.’ 

It can be difficult when you have an idea in your head about illustrations and want to communicate that, but I try to channel ‘Frozen’ now when working on illustration notes in manuscripts – LET IT GOOOOOO!

Every time I’ve heard editors speak at events, they’ve all said that a lot of our illustration notes are not necessary and can restrict illustrators.   As authors we need to understand that in the traditional publishing industry, a picture book is the product of a whole team of creators or ‘builders’ – as authors we just construct the foundations and hand over a basic floor plan – if you like that building analogy.   It’s so important to give our illustrators enough room to groove and sprinkle their magic.  I know for many of us that’s easier said than done, but it’s a learning process. 

At the end of the day, isn’t it wonderful to see how different people perceive your story?  That’s one of my favourite things about picture books – as multimodal texts they can be interpreted in so many different ways.   

text copyright Laura Wippell 2023, illustration copyright Stella Mongodi 2023, Ethicool Books

SUSANNA: Did you get to see advance reviews from Kirkus, SLJ, etc? What was that like?

When I read reviews I still have trouble grasping they are for my book!  I’m not sure when all of this will feel ‘real’.

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

A bit over a year.  From what I understand, the publication process can be shorter in Australia than in North America – after the offer it’s not uncommon to have your picture book published the following year in Australia, but it’s also very common to wait years for it!  It all varies and depends on the timing and publisher.  Patience is key. 

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

They shared quite a lot on their social media channels and sent out some advance reader copies for reviews.  Their ‘Bee Ethicool’ competition was great for promotion as there were thousands of entries from all around the world. 

SUSANNA: Describe any marketing/promotion you did for this book.

I launched my website around the same time my book was released in Australia.  My website was also a labour of love as I spent 7 months building it and collaborating with my dear friend and illustrator, Samantha Puttick on the illustrations.  I’m absolutely in love with them – here is an example of one she did for my ‘about me’ page that shows me and my interests.

On my website you can find a teaching resource I created to accompany Feeling Hopeful (I have a background in Education).  Aside from that I’ve been on the radio and featured in a few blogs.  I’ve also done giveaways, school visits and am doing a library tour in Australia soon. 

It’s been a scary but fantastic learning process!  Since I have a background in Education my marketing has leaned more towards that area.  I personally don’t think there’s one right way to market your book, it depends on your personality, your publisher and other variables like the amount of time you have.

SUSANNA: How long was it between the time you started writing seriously and the time you sold your first picture book?

Around 18 months.  Again, thanks to the competition my first book was out of the norm and a complete whirlwind.  I’m working hard at getting a second one published and expect it to take much longer, with many rejections along the way. 

Critique groups help enormously in terms of having a support system and also staying accountable – you have to keep writing, revising and polishing to have something to show your critique partners.  For all aspiring writers out there – join a critique group!  They are so important for your writing and emotional well-being. 

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?)

Don’t put all your eggs in the one basket – for your own sanity it is important to always be working on new projects, as there is so much waiting along the path to publication.  It’s not easy to be patient, so channel that pent up energy into new projects instead.

I recently went to a writing boot camp where an editor said that our end goal should be writing over publication.  If we are focusing on publication more than the joy of writing, then that’s a bit sad, isn’t it?  This is something I try to come back to if I’ve had a rejection or a difficult day – remembering to enjoy the ride rather than obsessing about the possible final destination. 

SUSANNA: That is excellent advice, and something I always try to hold in mind, too. Anything else you’d like to share about your book’s journey from inspiration to publication?

Just a huge thank you Susanna, I really appreciate your support and everything you do for the writing community.

SUSANNA: It is truly my pleasure, Laura! Thank YOU so much for taking the time to participate in this series and paying it forward to other writers! We wish you all the best with this and future titles!

Readers, if you have questions for Laura, please post them in the comments below and if she has time I’m sure she’ll respond! And don’t forget, if you leave a comment on today’s post by Thursday July 27th at 9PM Eastern you could be the randomly selected lucky winner of a Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Laura!

Author Laura Wippell with her naughty writing buddy, Greta 🙂
Favourite writing snack – tea and chocolate!  I love Chilean alfajores.  Total sweet tooth!

Website: https://www.laurawippell.com/
Instagram: @laura.wippell
Twitter: @LauraWippell
Facebook: Laura Wippell – children’s author

You may purchase Laura’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!