Guess what?

It’s time for Tuesday Debut!

And today’s debutess has a gorgeous book that’s just perfect for this time of year – summer, and almost back to school!

Before we meet her, I’d like to quickly announce that the winner of last week’s giveaway, winner’s choice of either a picture book manuscript and query letter critique by author Kari Ann Gonzalez OR a copy of her book, HOW TO HATCH A READER, and stuffed animal prize pack, is Leana Lee!!!

Congratulations, lucky Leana! Please email me so you can collect your prize!

Also, this week you have a chance to win a copy of today’s debut, HOW ARE YOU VERITY?, if you leave a comment below by Monday August 28th at 9PM Eastern!

And now, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Meghan Wilson Duff, debut author of HOW ARE YOU, VERITY?

HOW ARE YOU, VERITY?

Written by Meghan Wilson Duff
illustrated by Taylor Barron
published by Magination Press
August 22, 2023
Fiction with SEL components for 4-8 year-olds

Verity, a neurodivergent kid, is bubbling with excitement about an upcoming school field trip to the aquarium. When neighbors ask, “How are you?”  Verity shares their excitement and facts about sea animals. Their older brother John suggests that people who ask might not be expecting to learn all about sea animals.  Verity plans an experiment to find out if their brother is right. But when their trip to the aquarium is canceled, Verity is heartbroken. When their brother asks “How are you, Verity?” what’s the right answer?

SUSANNA: Welcome, Meghan! We’re so thrilled to have you here today! I know everyone is looking forward to hearing what you have to share.

MEGHAN: I love this blog. I’ve received so much support from other authors and illustrators and people in the business, and it’s been vital.

Glad to share information for others’ benefit, whether what I share is helpful advice or just validating other people’s experience. This has all been about relationships and building community. And for me, those things usually take time and involve pushing myself to do things that I’m not especially comfortable with. The pandemic made it easier in some ways. We were all a bit desperate for connection and held at a distance so we spent a lot of time on Zoom, which made it easier to connect with more people. I went to my first in-person event in April. It was NESCBWI’s annual conference. It was overwhelming and really wonderful  to meet Katie Mazieka and Federico Erebia in person. We met online when I asked if any other authors or illustrators were interested in forming a neurodiversity in kidlit panel. We met each week for months, getting to know each other while we developed the panel for the conference.

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

MEGHAN: This book came from experiences in my life, but the more proximal spark was a conversation with a friend who completely understands why “How are you?” is a weird question the way it is used in the US. Is the person just saying hello in passing? (probably.) Is the person wanting to catch up? Do they need to talk and are trying to start a conversation? Am I a mess and they are offering help? Are they in a hurry and just being polite? I got accused of overthinking things a lot growing up, by the time I realized there were a whole bunch of other people doing the same thing, struggling with the same stuff, it was a relief. I wish it had happened earlier.

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

MEGHAN: How Are You, Verity? came very fast. I submitted three months after I wrote the first draft. It was my 7th story.

SUSANNA: Did you go through many revisions?

MEGHAN: I went through a couple of significant rounds, but less than other manuscripts. When I didn’t alert the readers (in peer critique/agent critiques, etc.) to the main character being neurodivergent and Autistic/AuDHD/ADHD coded, they often didn’t really get the story. Autistic beta readers gave me important feedback. Some of this feedback changed the story and all of it helped me feel more confident about sticking to what I had written rather than trying to change it for audiences that were less familiar with autistic perspective and experience.

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

MEGHAN: I’m a bull-in-a-china-shop about this. [I’m not necessarily advising this strategy.]  Fresh from a paid crit from an agent who didn’t quite understand the story, I subbed it to an editor at Magination Press after a SCBWI Big Feelings event. I figured maybe they would understand the neurodiversity angle, but also worried that I might get pressure to make it more treatment focused. That didn’t happen. By the way, my toe might have been a bit further in the door at Magination press because I am a clinical psychologist.

SUSANNA: When and how did you submit?

MEGHAN: For some reason, I have been more focused on direct submissions to smaller presses and taking advantage of online workshops and presentations that included the opportunity to submit to the editor that presented. An author friend said to me, “I’ve never seen someone so excited about rejections.” I’ve listened to other authors and author illustrators talking impressively high numbers of passes on manuscripts. Bring it on. Can’t get to the yes by not subbing.

When passes come with some feedback, that’s really helpful. I’m at a stage of life and in a situation where I can pay for critiques from industry people (like an added paid crit with an SCBWI event or an agent or editor lead workshop) or more experienced authors to try to get that information. And yet agents and editors will remind you that some of this is subjective (about it clicking with that person) and about timing (A glut of books about that topic? Do they have something too close to it on their list already?).

I’m helping with the Queer Kidlit Mentorships reboot for 2024 because mentorship programs are usually free  and therefore more accessible. Teresa Robeson was my mentor for that program. If you’re an LGBTQIA+ kidlit creator who is prepublished and doesn’t have an agent, consider applying for next year’s mentorship. I might be a Queer Kidlit mentor in 2024, stay tuned.

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”?

MEGHAN: A lot of publishing seems to be hurry-up-and-wait. It took a few months to hear back from the editor that they would like to consider the manuscript. (Yea!) I didn’t really understand what that meant. It took a few months for them to get through an acquisitions team meeting and then move on to the marketing team meeting and then decide to make an offer. [There might have been 4-6 weeks between meetings.] Somewhere in the middle, I received a “moving forward. Meeting with marketing soon!” email. Luckily, I’m busy and easily distracted.

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

MEGHAN: I’m so thankful it was an email. Not a big fan of phone calls. It was a bit surreal.

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

MEGHAN: I may have blocked this part out. I didn’t have an agent, so I was grateful to whoever mentioned that the Authors Guild has a contract review. [Might have been Teresa Robeson!] That was important because I didn’t know the industry standard or even understand most of the contract.

SUSANNA: How did you celebrate signing your contract?

MEGHAN: I’m not sure contract signing was as big a deal as the shock of seeing that first email where someone was interested in it. By the way, nearly a year later another press reached out to express interest and ask if it was still available.

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

MEGHAN: Through Authors Guild contract review, I received pretty thorough legal feedback on the contract in two weeks and then submitted another round. The publisher agreed to some of my requests and not others, but I still felt much better having had experienced eyes on the contract and having gotten an explanation for what those parts of the contract were about. I think the contract negotiation might have lasted about 2 months because of the review, making revisions and waiting for the publisher’s folks to respond to my requests. I think we did two full rounds.

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

MEGHAN: I worked with Sarah Fell. She was wonderful. We met once on zoom early on, which I found helpful. I really want to say I like deadlines and clarity. I thrive on information. After that most of our exchanges were via email, which worked well. I had to relearn MS Word track-changes. I hadn’t used that in years, though I use google docs regularly for work. Every time she turned something around or asked me a question, I would either answer within a day or two or tell her when I anticipated completing it.

One thing I appreciated was Sarah encouraged me to let Verity infodump** about their favorite sea animals, which is totally in character. I was holding back for word count and generally readability because of what I understood to be publishing norms. I love that Verity got to share so much about sea life. If we get another book, Verity has plenty more to share.

** Part of autistic culture and considered a good thing. A connect-y, comfortable, social thing.

An image of the sea that inspires Meghan. . .and Verity 😊

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

MEGHAN: Honestly, this was my favorite part. I didn’t think about it until it was happening. First, I’m pretty aphantasic, which means I don’t relate to “seeing” things in my head or being able to hold images in my “mind’s eye.” So, when I read books and when I write them, I don’t have a sense of what characters look like, which doesn’t bother me, but it made seeing Taylor Barron’s character sketches really exciting and very interesting. In the earliest character sketches, I didn’t realize that I hadn’t specified that the neighbor Finn was a child around Verity’s age, so he went from being a big tall man with a baseball hat to a child with leg braces in a round of initial character sketch revisions. Bonus disability rep! And I wanted Verity to be connecting with both adult and other kids.

I keep on trying to find the right family metaphor for picture books… It sounds like a bit of an atypical arrangement, a big queer extended family. The editor is the connector of the writer and the illustrator, passing information back and forth – but somehow you’re all having this book baby with a bunch of other family members (book design, marketing, etc.) assisting. Everything was filtered through Sarah Fell, who had the decision-making role as editor. And then eventually when the book was off to the printer, I wrote to Taylor directly and told her how excited I was. But in the end, even if the story is originally mine, the book is ours.

My thoughts on art notes: Use them when you need them. When a visual detail or the action taking place is necessary for the agent or editor to understand the story. They can remove the art notes later, but the manuscript has to make it through the gatekeepers.

I think I’ll continue loving the part of the process where you see someone else bring to life your story and also make it their own. It’s awesome.

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

MEGHAN: Eighteen months from acquisition to publication was the projected goal. I think we stayed on that timeline despite the pandemic. I received my author’s copies at the end of March (for an August release).

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

MEGHAN: Marketing, which involves several different people doing different things, has a very different communication style than editorial and book design. I don’t know what it is like to be in marketing, but oftentimes I would find things by googling them rather than anyone telling me about them. I just think of it as a different culture. I was worried about messing things up by not contacting them and eventually I just went out and did things on my own. Constitutionally, I’m more of an ask-permission-rather-than-forgiveness sort of person, especially when I’m new or working with new people.

If they ask you about where you would like to see your book (out in the world), have an answer. My answer for How Are You, Verity? was in the gift shop at the New England Aquarium (since Verity is excited about a trip to an aquarium and loves sea life).. And then when they said “ we’ll contact them.” I may have then suggested more aquariums.

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

MEGHAN: As I write this, I’m in the middle of figuring all this out. I just know the amount of things you COULD do is exhausting. I’m in a 2023 Debuts slack group, which has been helpful if not sometimes overwhelming. There are hundreds of us and many are not in the kidlit world. But I’m definitely read arcs and boosted some excellent scifi books in addition to the picture books and middle grade books..

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

MEGHAN: If you ignore the decade and half that I compulsively read craft books (all genres, including screenwriting) with no intention of actually writing… just the last three or four years. I got involved with the National Writing Project by taking the Maine Writing Project courses when I was starting to teach composition. National Writing Project is the type of teacher professional development that is self-selecting, so the people there are all on fire, excited to write, geek out about teaching, and learn together. Teachers are definitely one of my crews, and if you teach, I would highly recommend getting involved. The National Writing Project has an  online community and there are local groups too.

After MWP, things changed in my life and I really needed a creative outlet that wasn’t related to my job. I decided I wanted to learn more about writing for kids and joined SCBWI. On the forums, I asked who was looking for a picture book crit group and we assembled. The four of us have met online once a month for over two and half years. And this year we added in another meeting per month where we do some craft analysis or pour over mentor texts together. We may not know a lot about each other’s lives outside of writing, but I feel pretty close to them and always look forward to our meetings.

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?)

MEGHAN: Writing is not, in fact, solitary. Don’t let it be. 

I asked Ame Dyckman how many picture books she was working on and how she knew which one to focus on. It was helpful to her process and numbers.

I have:

• 5-6 solid polished pieces
• A few that are almost there
• A bunch that are somewhere between 1st and 3rd drafts
• Quite a few partially written ms (sometimes I go back!)
• Random ideas, phrases, and thoughts in multiple notebooks, an actual box in my closet, and a nicely organized list in google docs (60-70?)

Yes, this is a major challenge to my organizational skills.

When it is too much, my commitment is to one new story each month and revising at least one older story. Now I’m trying to wrap my head around pre launch and post launch activities, and continuing to query and/or submit. It’s easy to get overwhelmed.

SUSANNA: Anything else you’d like to share about your book’s journey from inspiration to publication?

MEGHAN: Some advice I wish I could have known earlier:

• Build your website. (I had a really hard time with this.)
• Make sure your short term goals are clear because it is easy to get overwhelmed, especially if you have multiple projects, a full time job, and family.
• Reviews, preorders, library requests, posting about books you love – these are all very important to creators. (I didn’t realize this until I was on this side of the equation, and I had a NetGalley and Edelweiss account for previewing books for my classes.)

Author Meghan Wilson Duff

Website: www.meghanwilsonduff.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/29734774.Meghan_Wilson_Duff

Taylor Barron, Illustrator Website: https://www.taylorbarron.com/childrens-books

SUSANNA: Meghan, thank you so much for being here tody to share your writing and publication journey with us. It is such an opportunity for us to get to learn from your experience! I know I speak for everyone when I wish you all the best with this and future titles!

Readers, if you have questions for Meghan, please post them in the comments below and if she has time I’m sure she’ll respond! And remember, you comment below by Monday August 28th at 9PM Eastern puts you in the running to win a copy of Meghan’s book!

You may purchase Meghan’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!