Welcome to Tuesday Debut!

Have you noticed what day it is?

October 17th!

And do you know what that means?

You still have 12 days – nearly 2 weeks! – to write you entry for the 13th Annual Pretty Much World Famous Halloweensie Writing Contest! Actually, since the contest is open for 3 days, you really have a full 2 weeks to write. So even if you don’t have an idea yet, you have time! Hope on over HERE and check out the guidelines, and the fantastic prize list (which I am still adding details to), and get inspired to write a story that might end up being your own debut picture book! It has happened many times!

Today we have a stunning nonfiction book from debut author Leslie Barnard Booth! Take a look at the beauty that can be inspired by nonfiction while we hear about Leslie’s journey to publication!

Title: A Stone Is a Story
Author: Leslie Barnard Booth
Illustrator: Marc Martin
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry Books
Date of Publication: October 3, 2023
Nonfiction, ages 4-8

Follow a stone’s journey through time as it faces ice, water, wind, and scorching heat in this beautiful nonfiction picture book that is Seeds Move! meets A Stone Sat Still.

SUSANNA: Welcome, Leslie! Thank you so much for joining us today! We are so eager to hear about how this book came to be? Where did the idea come from?

LESLIE: I had recently read the lovely nonfiction picture book Water Is Water by Miranda Paul, illustrated by Jason Chin, when my daughter asked: “Where do rocks come from?” I thought, there’s this incredible lyrical book about the water cycle—why not write a book about the rock cycle! And the more I researched rocks, the more I realized that there was a real emotional spark for me there—meaning, when I thought about rocks and all they’d been through, I felt not just fascinated, but moved. After that, the first draft came together quickly.

Leslie playing with rocks

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

 LESLIE: It’s hard to answer this because all the failed projects leading up to this project helped me write it successfully. In that sense, this project has been in the works as long as I’ve been writing, which is to say almost my whole life! But if we start the clock at the moment I actually began this particular project, I think the first draft took a matter of weeks, during which I was writing most weekdays for about 3 hours a day. That doesn’t include the initial research phase, which took a few weeks as well. Once I had the idea, and I’d done the research, the writing really flowed. That’s not always the case for me—not at all—but in this instance the overall shape of the story was there from the start. Revisions happened on and off over the next couple of years and took a lot longer overall than writing that first draft.

Leslie at a lava flow

SUSANNA: Did you go through many revisions?

LESLIE: The backmatter is the part I revised the most. I wanted it to be both accessible and 100% accurate, which can be a lot more difficult than it seems! It took a lot of time to decide what to leave in, what to leave out, and how to make it all flow well while covering all the concepts we wanted to cover.

To revise the main text, to really make it sing, I spent a lot of time reading the manuscript aloud to myself. It didn’t take long before I had it memorized. In fact, I think my daughters probably had it memorized for a while too, just from being around me and hearing me recite it so often.

Leslie with a volcano

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

LESLIE: I’d never been to an SCBWI event where the faculty read my work and said, “This is ready.” But that’s what happened with this manuscript. I went to an SCBWI-Oregon event called The Great Critique, where a published author reads your work on the spot and gives you feedback. When it was my turn, author Sarah Jane Marsh said, “It’s time to submit this.” And I’m so glad she did, because I almost didn’t even bring it to the critique that day. I was working on a lot of different projects at the time, and I didn’t really know which was the most promising. I often wonder what would have happened if I’d brought something else. Would I have eventually abandoned A Stone Is a Story? At that point, I really didn’t know how to judge my own work or assess its marketability, so hearing her say that made all the difference.

SUSANNA: When and how did you submit?

LESLIE: Shortly before that experience at The Great Critique, I had gotten an agent through an SCBWI webinar. As part of the webinar, the agent was offering critiques, and in their response to my critique, they said they’d love to see my manuscript in their inbox. We went out with that manuscript and didn’t get any takers. But when Sarah Jane Marsh said A Stone Is a Story was ready, I submitted it to my agent, and we sent it out.

 

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

LESLIE: I got the email from my agent and just couldn’t believe it. Multiple houses were interested! I think it happened fairly quickly after we subbed—a matter of months. We ended up selling A Stone Is a Story at auction in a two-book deal.

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

LESLIE: I remember it feeling like an excruciatingly long time. It was several months, I think. That whole time, I worried that it wasn’t real, or that it would all fall through somehow. This was all happening in 2020, such a strange and surreal time, so I did feel like there was a chance it might not pan out. But it did! It was such a relief to sign that contract!

SUSANNA: How did you celebrate signing your contract? 

LESLIE: I don’t remember. Probably just by screaming for joy and dancing in the kitchen with my family.

Leslie rock climbing

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

LESLIE: My editor is great and we worked together really well. The main changes were to the backmatter (which was initially far too long!), and her suggestions all made sense to me. But I have to admit I was terrified to talk to my editor at first, and I wish I hadn’t been so intimated. I think if I could go back, I would take a deep breath and try to be more open and at ease with my editor from the beginning. I remember after she sent her notes she offered to talk about them over the phone, and I said that I was fine, I didn’t need to talk. I thought I was being the good student who doesn’t need help! But looking back on it, I think that a phone call would have been a great opportunity for us to discuss the book and our visions for it in more detail. We got to that eventually, of course, but now I always take editors up on opportunities for a phone call and I’m not afraid to ask for a phone call when I need one.

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

LESLIE: I got to see sketches early on, and I always felt like my thoughts on the art were taken seriously and valued. A Stone Is a Story is nonfiction, so as the author I had a role to play in sharing my research and checking the science. I couldn’t be happier with everything Marc brought to this book. The final art—and the way it syncs with the text and elevates it—really astounds me.

text copyright Leslie Barnard Booth 2023, illustration copyright Marc Martin 2023, S&S/Margaret K. McElderry Books

text copyright Leslie Barnard Booth 2023, illustration copyright Marc Martin 2023, S&S/Margaret K. McElderry Books

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

LESLIE: I got the offer in summer of 2020, and the book releases October 3, 2023. So over three years!

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

LESLIE: Honestly, I still feel like I’m in the midst of learning how this piece works! I know they will submit it for awards and trade reviews, and will pitch national media outlets.

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

LESLIE: I’m planning bookstore events and school visits. I’ve arranged a blog tour, and I’m part of the promo groups STEAM Team, Green PB, and PB Parade. As a former elementary and preschool teacher, I also put a lot of time into creating teaching resources for this book. I’ve created lesson plans, activities, art projects, discussion guides, and more. It’s all geared toward teachers, parents, homeschoolers, and librarians. A friend made some really great geology coloring sheets for me too. These are available to anyone who subscribes to my newsletter.

SUSANNA: Wow! That all sounds amazing! How long was it between the time you started writing seriously and the time you sold your first picture book?

LESLIE: I’ve been writing all my life, but it took me a long time to develop a strong writing practice. I got an MFA in creative writing from the University of Oregon in 2010. During my time in that program, I learned how to write regularly instead of sporadically. Writing became a habit for me, something that was part of my weekly routine. So I would say I started writing seriously in 2007 or 2008. Which means it took 12-13 years.

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?)

LESLIE: Before I started writing picture books, I wrote a few YA novels. I spent years working on the second one and got nearly to the end. Then I started attending SCBWI events. After a few critiques, I realized my novel wasn’t marketable. And that to make it marketable, I’d basically have to start over.

So I put my novel away. But those 486 pages that I’d honed over the years and revised countless times weren’t wasted.

None of your writing is wasted! Writing is how we learn how to write. Failed projects are unavoidable—and essential. Without my practice novels, I wouldn’t have gained the writing skills that have allowed me to find success writing picture books. Every project that doesn’t work out is a learning experience and a stepping stone to future successes.

Which is to say, if you love it, stick with it.

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

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

Author Leslie Barnard Booth

Website: www.lesliebarnardbooth.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/lesliebarnardbooth.books/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LBB_books
Facebook: www.facebook.com/leslie.barnardbooth/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@lesliebarnardbooth
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/lesliebarnardbooth/

You may purchase Leslie’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!