Welcome to the first Tuesday Debut of 2024, Everyone!

I hope you all had wonderful, amazing holidays and that the new year is off to a great start!

Are we all doing Tara Lazar’s Storystorm? If you don’t know about it, check it out at your earliest convenience.

Here in my little corner of the blogosphere we are starting off with a bang!

Our debut-ess today is Kris Tarantino with her delightful book, BE MY VALENSLIME, and her publisher is kindly offering not 1, not 2, but 3 (that’s THREE!) giveaway copies of the book!

I, alas, can not enter my own giveaway 😊 but any of you who comment on today’s post by Monday January 15th at 3PM Eastern will be automatically entered into the random drawing and could be lucky winners next week!

So let’s dive right in, shall we? 😊

Title: Be My ValenSLIME
Author: Kris Taratino
Illustrator: Cori Doerrfeld
Water Brook/Random House, December 19, 2023
Fiction, ages 3-7

Snoodle is an unusual monster. She loves candy hearts, fun parties, fuzzy kittens, fancy hats, sparkly stickers, and . . . Valentines! There’s just one problem: Monsters DON’T DO Valentine’s Day! And when Snoodle tries to throw a Valentine’s Day party for her monster friends, nothing goes right. Every attempt to show them what love looks like turns into monster mayhem! With each disaster, Snoodle tries to be patient and kind, and to not be rude or get easily angered. But if the party isn’t perfect, how can Snoodle convince the other monsters to be her Valenslime?

SUSANNA: Welcome, Kris! Thank you so very much for joining us today! We can’t wait to hear all about your publication journey. Where did the idea for this book come from?

KRIS: The idea for Be My ValenSLIME came together after years of experiencing people who repeatedly demonstrated a lack or void of love and kindness. I found myself saying, This doesn’t feel like love. What’s love anyway? Then the idea of exploring What’s love anyway kept rolling around in my head. And I thought what better way to get down to the kid-level on the topic of ‘love’ than with the opposite kind of character—a mash-up of monsters (typically viewed as a nasty unloving group). But they all couldn’t be monster-y. Then Snoodle burst on the page, along with the fun title, and the rest was history.

text copyright Kris Tarantino 2023, illustration copyright Cori Doerrfeld 2023, Water Brook/Random House

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

KRIS: Four months.

I knew I hit on something—the hooky title, love, slime, valentines, Snoodle who loves everything, and her grumpy monster friends.

SUSANNA: Did you go through many revisions?

KRIS: Yes, many revisions before I showed my original agent. But by the time she saw it, she had already decided to get out of picture book representation, and we parted amicably. Then more tweaks before sending the story into the query trenches. And even more revision after I signed with my second agent.

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

KRIS: A feeling—I knew it was ready. But also, when my critique partners let me know.

SUSANNA: When and how did you submit?

KRIS: I was in-between agents, so I submitted into the query trenches. Two agents liked the story and requested to see more work, but ultimately passed.

While all this was going on, I attended a virtual writer’s conference (during Covid). I had a One-on-One with an editor and chose to spend my time pitching her as many of my stories as time allowed. I wanted to gauge her interest on each story because we all know that writers are only allowed to send one manuscript to a faculty member post-conference. It turns out she was looking for holiday books and lit up when I pitched Be My ValenSLIME. Did I know that when I started writing the manuscript? No. It shows that you don’t know what’s churning around within a publishing house. Just do the work. Put it out there. Go to conferences, attend webinars, and try to connect. It will happen.

text copyright Kris Tarantino 2023, illustration copyright Cori Doerrfeld 2023, Water Brook/Random House
(love may be patient, but as a writer, patience can be hard! 😊)

Back to the story—the editor asked me to send her By My ValenSLIME post-conference (which I did). And then said they only work with agented authors. Gulp. I told her I was working on that part.

Post-conference, I signed with my agent. Hooray! As this was happening, the editor got back to me and said there was internal interest and would I be willing to revise and resend? I replied yes, and told her I just signed with an agent!

SUSANNA: How long after you found out about your book was going to acquisitions (if you did) or after you submitted were you told it was a “yes”?

KRIS: About 3 months.

First, my agent and I went through two months of revisions. After the R&R was sent, the editor got back to us quickly. The acquisitions group was interested, but no offer, yet. They wanted to see more storylines developed with Snoodle and the monsters. There was talk of making this into a picture book series, maybe, no promises. Did I hear that right? A possible series?!

I had to think of 6-8 additional story summaries. I’d never done this before, but I was determined to try. After another 4 weeks, the series ideas were done and sent. Shortly after that we received a formal offer! Even though the offer ended up being for one book (and not a series) the acquisitions team still thought a series was a future possibility.

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?

KRIS: I couldn’t stop smiling! I celebrated with a glass of wine and dinner with my family.

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

KRIS: The contract process was quick, about two months. My agent was also quick. She had thoughts and suggested revisions within a week.   

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

KRIS: I’m happy with the advance and royalty rates. My agent negotiated for extra author copies and some other contractual things. The advance is paid out in several chunks, which is pretty standard – one upon signing, and the others during the development and publishing phases.

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

KRIS: At the editorial kick-off meeting with my editor, I learned there were more internally discussions about the monsters. The original story that sold had Snoodle (the main character) and groups of other non-specific monsters. My editor asked that I develop a few of the monsters and give them personalities and character traits. Enter in—Iggy, Zee-Zee, and Fleck. There were other changes to the story as well. Overall, we went through three rounds of revisions over two months. My editor’s vision ultimately made the story much stronger!

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

KRIS: Once the manuscript was ready for art, my editor asked me to put together a list of illustrators who I thought would be a perfect fit for the story. I was shocked. Afterall, it’s well-known in the industry that the author doesn’t pick the illustrator, the art director and editor do. I was honored and delighted they asked for my input, even if they decided to pick someone else. So, I poured over all my favorite picture books and put together a list of illustrators, including why I liked their style, and how it could best fit Snoodle and her monster friends.

And here’s the cool part. My editor put together a list too. And Cori Doerrfeld was on both of our lists! How amazing is that? I love it. And, it turns out that one of Cori’s favorite things to draw is… you guessed it—monsters!

Cori created the perfect monsters! I couldn’t be happier. As soon as I saw the rough sketches I shouted, “Yes! These are awesome!” Snoodle was adorable. And the other monsters were each distinctly different, so kids could easily remember them.

text copyright Kris Tarantino 2023, illustration copyright Cori Doerrfeld 2023, Water Brook/Random House

text copyright Kris Tarantino 2023, illustration copyright Cori Doerrfeld 2023, Water Brook/Random House

During the illustration process I was encouraged to comment on the art, and I always felt like WaterBrook tried to incorporate my thoughts and suggestions (which were very few – Cori did an amazing job).

SUSANNA: Cori’s art really does seem perfect for your story! Did you get to see advance reviews from Kirkus, SLJ, etc.? What was that like?

KRIS: Be My ValenSLIME received a starred review from School Library Journal! I was beyond thrilled and happy! After years of hard work, it was awesome to be recognized with such a high honor. And then to celebrate our starred review, WaterBrook created two special social posts. In addition, we received praise from Publishers Weekly.

SUSANNA: Congratulations! What a way to debut! What kind of marketing and promotion has your publisher done for this book?

KRIS: I have an awesome marketing and P.R. team at WaterBrook/Random House. Their plans include advertising, social media platforms, library marketing, a pre-pub campaign, valentine’s campaign, influencer and outreach, and various publicity planned. They also created a ‘Sneak Peek’ of the first six story spreads, which are on my website–www.kristarantino.com. They are also working on a slime recipe, and character cards for our websites, and Cori is creating coloring book art.

One special P.R. event will be held through the Writing Barn in Austin, TX. Cori and I are doing a FREE Zoom Book Birthday Interview on January 28^th from 2pm-3pm CT, moderated by Owner & Founder, Bethany Hegedus. Class Link: https://thewritingbarn.com/class/free-book-launch-for-be-my-valenslime-by-kris-tarantino-and-cori-doerrfeld/ 

I’ll read the story and talk about the writing process. Cori will talk about character creation and her illustration process, and anything else Bethany asks us. There will also be Q&A and a book giveaway.

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

KRIS: I contacted several high-level author bloggers (like you, Susanna 😊) for interviews, which include a book giveaway. In addition, I joined a picture book launch group – The BusyPB’s. I also contacted author friends and asked them to post reviews on Goodreads, B&N, and Amazon. I put together an Influencer list for my publisher. And I booked author visits at schools. 

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

KRIS: In 2016 I became serious about writing and poured myself into learning craft. I attended classes at the Writing Barn, watched webinars, participated in12x12, attended SCBWI conferences, got critiques, found critique partners, and worked with two different writing mentors over four 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?)

KRIS: Perseverance is #1. In addition, learn your craft. Draft new story ideas. Love revision. Surround yourself with other kid-lit writers. Ask questions. Be open to critique feedback. Attend SCBWI conferences. Listen to kid-lit webinars. Submit your work. Embrace R&R’s. Stretch into new directions. And one more thing – be ready for a little luck!  

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

KRIS: My debut book was published 13 years after I started writing, 8 years after I became serious about writing. It will happen! 

SUSANNA: Thank you so much for joining us today, Kris! We so appreciate the opportunity to hear your story and 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 Kris, please post them in the comments below and if she has time I’m sure she’ll respond!

Author Kris Tarantino

www.kristarantino.com
www.coridoerrfeld.com

Twitter/X: kris_tarantino | CoriDoerrfeld | WaterBrookPress
LinkedIn: Kris Tarantino | Waterbrook & Multnomah
Facebook: kristarantino | coridoerrfeld | WaterBrookMultnomah
Instagram: WaterBrookMultnomahKids | WaterBrookMultnomah

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

Indiebound/Bookshop.org
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!