Hello, Everyone!

Can you believe it?

Labor Day has come and gone, and even though summer isn’t officially over for another couple of weeks, it feels like fall with school starting.

Although New Year’s Day is technically January 1st, the beginning of school in September always has a very “new year’s” feel to me. I’m looking forward to all the new writers we’ll meet, all the fabulous picture books we’ll share, and writing contest season not too far ahead on this blog.

We get to start today with a giveaway winner announcement – always fun! On our last Tuesday Debut, Meghan Wilson Duff kindly offered a copy of her book, HOW ARE YOU, VERITY? to one lucky winner, and that winner is. . . Susan Schipper!

Congratulations, Susan! I’m sure you’ll enjoy this wonderful book! If you could please email me, I will organize getting it to you!

Now, let’s dive right into today’s Tuesday Debut: PAISLEY’S BIG BIRTHDAY by debut author Heather Pierce Stigall!

PAISLEY’S BIG BIRTHDAY
Written by Heather Pierce Stigall
Illustrated by Natallia Bushuyeva
Published by Clavis Books / August 2023
Fiction, Ages 4-8

Paisley’s birthday is today, right? Then why doesn’t she feel any older? She still has trouble reading, still has trouble jumping in the Hopstacle Course, and is still in Bunnygarten. When will she finally be big? A sweet story about having patience as we grow. For everyone ages 4 years and up.

SUSANNA: Welcome, Heather! Thank you so much for coming to talk with us today. We are all so excited to hear about your journey to publication with PAISLEY’S BIG BIRTHDAY! Where did the idea for this book come from?

HEATHER: Thank you for having me, Susanna! The origins of PAISLEY’S BIG BIRTHDAY began nine years ago when I picked up my youngest child from preschool on his birthday. He climbed into his car seat, wearing a glittery birthday crown and a slight frown. The conversation began something like this:

Birthday Boy:             “When is my birthday?”

Me:                              “Today!

Birthday Boy:             (shakes his head) “No. When is my real birthday?”

Me:                              “Today is your real birthday!”

Birthday Boy:             “It doesn’t feel like it.”

My mind began to spin. Why didn’t he feel like it was his birthday? Did something happen or not happen at school? What would it take for him to feel like it was his “real” birthday? A few questions later, I realized that he believed that on his birthday he would instantly “feel” older; he would magically be able to do things he wasn’t able to do the day before. But I kept the conversation going during the ride home, through lunch, and for some time after that. I asked lots of questions and listened as he shared evidence for why it was most definitely not his birthday. I was enamored with his reasoning and determination, while underneath it all I felt his disappointment that this day, one that was supposed to be special, didn’t meet his expectations. Not long after, I wrote a draft of a story about a bunny who hops out of bed the morning of her birthday, expecting to be all things “big bunny.”

Heather’s inspiration for this book – her 5 year old son 😊

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

HEATHER: Writing the first draft of this story probably didn’t take more than a few hours, but it was in rough shape!

SUSANNA: Did you go through many revisions?

HEATHER: After writing the first draft, it sat in the virtual drawer for a few months while I worked on other things. I find letting a story sit for a while helps me to look at it with fresher eyes. Then I revised it several times over the course of about nine months. It was first picture book I had written that I felt was “polished” and had the stamp of approval from my critique group. But, as anyone in the picture book writing world who wants to be agented knows, I needed to write and revise and polish more stories. So, it sat in a virtual drawer, for years this time. When I ultimately decided to submit it to Clavis Books, I did one more small revision before sending it out.

Heather’s writing buddy 😊

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

HEATHER: As I mentioned, when my critique partners agreed that it was polished enough to send out, I kept Paisley in a virtual drawer while I worked on other stories. It waited for the day I had other submission-ready manuscripts in my arsenal in case an agent asked to see more work.

SUSANNA: When and how did you submit?

HEATHER: After I had three or four submission-ready picture book manuscripts, I began querying agents and occasionally publishing houses if I had some sort of conference connection. By 2021, I hadn’t had any luck signing with an agent, so I made it my goal to not only query agents but also small presses that allowed un-agented submissions. One of those presses was Clavis Books, a well-established, reputable company that publishes authors and illustrators from around the world. During the pandemic, Clavis posted several read aloud videos, so I got a feel for their tastes and wondered if a story I had written several years prior might be a good fit for their list. I pulled PAISLEY’S BIG BIRTHDAY out of the virtual drawer, made a few small changes, and submitted it to them in February 2021.

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”?

HEATHER: A month after submitting to Clavis, I received an email from the CEO. I scanned it quickly and read, “It is a nice and sweet story, very close to children and told from their perspective.” I expected the rest to read the typical, “but, unfortunately, it isn’t a fit for our list.” But it didn’t say that. Instead, it said, “So, we would like to consider publication.” After so many rejections, I could hardly believe what I was reading!

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

HEATHER: In the same email I received from the CEO, he asked to set up a Zoom meeting to discuss the company’s publishing procedures. A week later in that meeting, I received and accepted an official verbal offer of publication.

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

HEATHER: It was very quick! My contract arrived about a week after our Zoom call.

SUSANNA: How did you celebrate signing your contract?

HEATHER: Because the world was still not quite operating at pre-pandemic status when my offer and contract arrived, my immediate celebration was essentially jumping up and down and telling family members and critique partners. I had hoped to do two things when I got my first “yes” which I postponed until it was safe to do so. One was to spend the money in my “rejection jar” on a massage (I put a dollar in a jar for every rejection I receive, and when I get a “yes” I spend it on something for myself). The other was to treat my critique partners to lunch and cheesecake, thanks to a Cheesecake Factory gift card my husband gave me. We now call our critique group WWFC or “Will Write for Cheesecake.”

SUSANNA: I love the idea of a rejection jar and treating yourself when you get a yes! And what’s not to love about cheesecake, too 😊 Was the contract what you expected in terms of advance, royalty percentage, publication timeline, author copies etc.?

HEATHER: After receiving the email from Clavis, I asked through a private Facebook group if anyone had experience being published by them. An author contacted me and shared some insight into what I might expect. So, when I had the Zoom call and received the contract, I was prepared to learn that Clavis does not offer advances to their authors. The contract offered fairly typical royalties with an escalation clause: 4.5% royalties on the first 3,000 copies sold, 8.5% on the next 3,000, and 10% after that. Because I didn’t have an agent at the time of selling this book, my husband (who is an attorney) compared Clavis’ contract to the example that SCBWI provides on their website as a guide. He helped me negotiate a few changes in the contract’s language and the number of author copies (they offered only two copies, but I negotiated for 10).

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

HEATHER: Clavis’ standard is to publish their books in Dutch first, and then in English several months later. The editor for the Dutch version didn’t ask me for any revisions. She translated my text into Dutch and then shared the Dutch text along with the literal translation into English. Some sentences needed to be changed a bit to work better in Dutch (some of the wordplay did not translate well, for example), and they asked to change the main character’s name to Pien because that would be a more recognizable name to the Dutch and Belgian audience. The editor for the English version asked me to change one piece of punctuation and we worked on some text for the jacket flap, but that was it.

SUSANNA: What was your experience of the illustration process like? (and I have to say I think this art is darling!)

HEATHER: Clavis always produces beautifully illustrated picture books, so I knew I would be in good hands, but I really hit the jackpot when they chose Natallia Bushuyeva as illustrator! I think her sweet art style is the perfect fit for PAISLEY. Unlike most U.S. publishers, Clavis makes it a practice to connect author and illustrator so they may collaborate if they wish. But I have no business telling an illustrator what to do, so I put my full trust in Natallia, and I think that worked out beautifully.

Back Cover Art – copyright Natallia Bushuyeva 2023 – Clavis Publishing

Interior Spread – copyright Natallia Bushuyeva 2023 – Clavis Publishing

I only included two art notes in the manuscript which were to suggest action that might not be understood in the text. The publisher shared illustrations with me at several points along the way: interior sketches, first color illustrations, proposed Dutch cover, final cover, full interior, and later the English cover and full interior. Natallia had some suggestions for tweaking the art before approving it to go to print, and I asked them to move some text to another page. Clavis agreed to all our requests. It was a very collaborative process.

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

HEATHER: I haven’t seen any advance reviews yet.

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

HEATHER: I received the offer from Clavis in March 2021, received the Dutch language copy in November 2022, and received the English language copy in June 2023 (so 20 months and 27 months—about two years). They did a print run of 1100 copies of the Dutch edition and 1600 copies of the English edition, so small numbers compared to big companies. I’ve been informed that the publisher sold the rights for the book to be published in Romanian, Russian, and Simplified Chinese. Not bad for a little bunny who dreamed big things for herself!

SUSANNA: That’s amazing! What kind of marketing and promotion has your publisher done for this book?

HEATHER: Because Clavis is a small European-based company, I’m not sure the extent of their marketing plan or what is typical there. I know they have included PAISLEY in their distribution catalogue and that Clavis has a regular presence at well-known book fairs such as Bologna. My husband played a small part in helping to promote the book in Belgium. As a Christmas gift, he surprised me with a spring trip to Belgium and The Netherlands to see my book “in the wild.” Prior to Christmas, he emailed Clavis to see if they could arrange a tour of the publishing house and possibly a bookstore event while we were there. In addition to a tour, Clavis arranged to have a local kindergarten class visit, and they hosted a reading (I don’t speak Dutch, so the teacher read in Dutch, and I was the guest of honor) and party complete with snacks and craft. They also arranged for a bookstore to host a reading (the bookstore manager and I took turns reading spreads in Dutch and English), craft, snack, and book signing. They took and posted photos on their social media accounts.

SUSANNA: That sounds incredible! Kudos to your husband for thinking up such a terrific Christmas gift! Describe any marketing/promotion you did for this book.

HEATHER: Besides the surprise visit and events in Belgium and The Netherlands, things I have done so far to help market/promote the book have included: Joining a book promotion group (Picture Book Pals), redesigning and updating my website (with help from my artist and tech-savvy son), creating a newsletter, posting on social media, contacting kid lit bloggers like you (thank you, Susanna!), asking organizations to which I belong (12×12, the Eastern PA chapter of SCBWI) to share good news on their blogs/social media accounts, contacting my local indie bookstore to arrange for a book launch party, contacting my local Barnes & Noble and my local library to do story time/book signing events, participating in a debut author panel webinar through Eastern PA SCBWI, and creating bookmarks and stickers. My aunt, who has a business making stuffed toys, is making me stuffed animals in the likeness of the two main characters in the book. I have a few other things planned for the near future, including having my daughter (an elementary school teacher) make and educator guide for the book, attending an educator conference and possible book festival, and hopefully arranging for some school visits.

SUSANNA: That is very cool. I’ve always wanted stuffed animals of my book characters! 😊 How long was it between the time you started writing seriously and the time you sold your first picture book?

HEATHER: I was a “closeted” writer for quite some time before I finally joined SCBWI in 2012.
But I really started to take writing seriously in 2013 when I attended my first conference and, not long after, joined a critique group. So, about eight years until I got my first contract.

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?)

HEATHER: Focus on the things you can control (learn your craft, write, revise, read in your genre, join a critique group, research, submit, etc.), find your community (writing partners, a support system, cheerleaders), and persevere! The only guarantee to not being published is giving up, so keep at it!

SUSANNA: If your book has been out for at least one statement cycle, has it earned out yet?

HEATHER: Because I was not offered an advance, if I sell one book, I’ll have technically “earned out.” I know at least my mom has ordered a few copies, so yes!

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

HEATHER: Thank you so much for having me on your blog, Susanna! I really appreciate all you do to support fellow children’s authors and illustrators.

SUSANNA: Thank you so much for taking the time to participate in this series and paying it forward to other writers, Heather! We so appreciate the opportunity to learn from your experience! Wishing you all the best of luck with this and future titles!

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

Author Heather Stigall.

Heather Stigall uses her experience with children and her degrees in Child Development, Psychology-based Human Relations, and Social Work to create stories that speak to kids. She is the Critique Group/Meet & Greet Coordinator for the Eastern PA SCBWI Chapter, a member of the 12×12 Picture Book Challenge, and a parent to five children and one pup. When she’s not writing, you can find Heather hanging out with her kids (hopefully at the beach), reading, eating chocolate, baking, or creating all sorts of treasures. Her debut picture book, PAISLEY’S BIG BIRTHDAY (Clavis Publishing) will be released in August 2023 and is/will be published in four additional languages. Her second picture book, GILBERT AND THE GHOST, (Beaming Books) is due out fall 2026. You can connect with Heather through her website, HeatherPierceStigall.com, and her social media links at https://linktr.ee/HeatherStigall.

Website: https://www.heatherpiercestigall.com
Newsletter Sign Up: https://heatherpiercestigall.us21.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=80746a45e7c03dd6ef96937d7&id=a6a7fdbf33
Twitter: https://twitter.com/heather_stigall
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherpstigall
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heather_stigall7/
Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/30022542.Heather_Pierce_Stigall?from_search=true&from_srp=true 

You may purchase Heather’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!