Do you know what time it is?

It’s time for that fabulously popular weekly highlight we like to call Tuesday Debut!

Grab your donut chia seed pepita flax bar . . . (okay, who are we kidding? 😊 we’re going with the donut!) and a nice hot beverage, and get ready to hear about our newest debut, Ronni Diamondstein, and her fascinating book about Jackie Kennedy, JACKIE AND THE BOOKS SHE LOVED!

Title: Jackie and the Books She Loved
Author: Ronni Diamondstein
Illustrator: Bats Langley
Publishing House: Sky Pony Press
Date of Publication: November 7, 2023
Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction
age range of your book: 4-8 years old

SUSANNA: Welcome, Ronni! Thank you so much for joining us today! Where did the idea for this book come from?

RONNI: First, I’d like to thank you Susanna for this opportunity to talk you on your blog.
SUSANNA: My pleasure, Ronni! We are grateful for the chance to learn from your experience!

RONNI: Jackie and the Books She Loved was a journey. I was eight years old when John F. Kennedy was inaugurated. I remember Jackie, especially how she led the country in mourning her husband. I was always interested in her style and admired her for becoming a book editor. After she passed away, I had an idea for a novel about her and started researching her and interviewing people who knew her. When I was talking to Margot Datz, the illustrator of Carly Simon’s children’s books that Jackie edited, she suggested that I write a children’s book. I have an extensive library of books about Jackie and the Kennedys. I first wrote a long chapter book that got no traction and then about five years ago I thought a book about how reading and writing were a thread through her life would make a great picture book biography. I knew that picture books bios were a great genre and began to work on this book. 

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

RONNI: As I mentioned before about five years ago I got this idea for the picture book bio format but if you consider that I wanted to write about Jackie in 1994 then it’s nearly 30 years!

SUSANNA: Did you go through many revisions?

RONNI: Yes, there were many ways to frame this story. I took an SCBWI workshop and the editor thought I should break it up differently to Jackie the Reader, Jackie the Writer, and Jackie the Editor but that didn’t flow very well so I went back to a narrative. It was edited down quite a bit and a lot of things that were cut became part of the author’s note in the backmatter.

Maggie Mae Pup Reporter Ronni’s beloved toy poodle writing buddy 😊

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

RONNI: That’s a good question. After I’d edited it down as much as I could.  Then I read it aloud several times. And then I just had to let it go and submit it.

SUSANNA: When and how did you submit?

RONNI: I have an agent who submitted it for me.

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”?

RONNI: The publisher expressed interest shortly after they received the submission. That was in April. There was a back and forth about the advance and then August 1^st they said yes. And we said yes.

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

RONNI: I received an email from my agent. I don’t remember how I celebrated. I always buy myself flowers every week so that week I may have splurged a bit more!

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

RONNI: Two weeks

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

RONNI: I was fine with the contract and the advance.

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

RONNI: I worked very well with my editor Nicole Frail. We were always on the same page, and I felt respected by her. I am a retired school library media specialist and I looked at this book not only as my book, but I looked at it with the lens of someone who would purchase it.  We had to make some cuts in the narrative adding material to the authors note. We created a timeline and the select list of books that Jackie edited.

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

RONNI: I was very lucky to be involved in the illustration process from a say in the choice of the illustrator, Bats Langley to collaborating with him on the art. I gave illustration notes to my editor, but since I have quite an extensive collection of books about Jackie and the Kennedys with great photographs I was very much involved with the illustrations.

text copyright Ronni Diamondstein 2023, illustration copyright Bats Langley 2023, Sky Pony Press

I shared many photographs with Bats. For example, the horse statue on the cover is just like the statue she had on her piano in her New York apartment. It was a marvelous collaboration! One day he asked Jackie’s favorite birthday cake was. Of course, I had a book called Cooking with Madam in my collection so I could send him pictures of Jackie’s birthday cake that you’ll find in our book!

text copyright Ronni Diamondstein 2023, illustration copyright Bats Langley 2023, Sky Pony Press

And I even had a say in the endpaper design! I love quotes and had many of Jackie’s quotes about books that I wanted included in the book that couldn’t fit in the narrative so I suggested we use them on the endpapers. And I also knew her personal stationery was powder blue, so that was the color we chose for the endpapers.

text copyright Ronni Diamondstein 2023, illustration copyright Bats Langley 2023, Sky Pony Press

SUSANNA: Did you get to see advance reviews from Kirkus, SLJ, etc? What was that like?
RONNI: No

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

RONNI: I got the offer in August 2022 and had early release copies in September 2023 for the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival.

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

RONNI: The publisher has sent out the book to reviewers and Instagrammers and handles national press.

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

RONNI: I did a huge amount of marketing and promotion from an extensive blog tour to appearances on local television and in local press. I had an online launch, an online event with Books of Wonder, the famous children’s book store in NYC and did a virtual Legacy Lecture for the First Ladies Library and Museum in Canton, Ohio.  I sold out nearly 100 books at the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival. A big book signing celebration is planned in my town on Saturday, November 25 which is small business Saturday.  Plus, I post constantly on all the social media platforms, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Post, Threads and Bluesky.

For swag, I had bookmarks, pencils and stickers made and my website has downloadable activities that kids can do on their own and there are activities for Writers’ and Readers’ Workshop for teachers.

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

RONNI: 40 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?)

RONNI: Read, Read, Read. I was lucky that I was a school librarian, so it was my job to read a lot.

Write, Write, Write. Take workshops and join organizations like SCBWI and 12X12 Picture Book Challenge.

But most of all be patient and don’t give up.

There’s a great quote about writing from Jane Yolen: “Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.”

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

RONNI: Jackie and the Books She Loved was a labor of love!

SUSANNA: Thank you so much for taking the time to participate in this series and paying it forward to other writers, Ronni! We so appreciate the opportunity to benefit from your hard-earned wisdom, and wish you all the best with this and future titles! Readers, if you have questions for Ronni please post them in the comment section and if she has time, I’m sure she’ll respond!

Author Ronni Diamondstein

Website: https://ronnidiamondstein.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaggieMae10514
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maggiemaepupreporter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ronni.diamondstein
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ronnidiamondstein.bsky.social
Illustrator @studiobatslangley  
Publisher @skyhorsepub

You may purchase Ronni’s book at:
(all links below are book-specific)

Personalized signed copies: Scattered Books Chappaqua, NY

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!