It’s Tuesday, June 18th!

And you know what THAT means!

It’s International Picnic Day!

And a picnic is a place where you could see a butterfly!

And today’s book is about a butterfly!

Coincidence???

Actually, yes 😊 It just happened to work out that way 😊

Today we have a debut author whose publisher released her book in Dutch before it was released in English even though she herself does not speak Dutch!

And we have a giveaway of a publisher sent, unsigned copy of The Butterfly Effect! If you’d like to be in the running to receive it, please leave a comment below by Monday June 24th at 3PM Eastern and you might be the randomly selected winner!

So, gather up whatever you want to bring on your picnic (I recommend brownies 😊) and let’s meet today’s debut-ess, Nicole Castrovinci!

Title: THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT
Author: Nicole Castrovinci
Illustrator: Madelon Koelinga
Publishing House: Clavis
Date of Publication: May 21, 2024
Fiction or Nonfiction: Fiction           
age range of your book:  5+

Butterfly bumps into Bumblebee and continues on her merry way, unaware that she has set off a chain of events that turns the once-friendly farmyard into complete chaos. What a mess! How can Farmer Farley and the animals restore the farm to the peaceful place it once was?

SUSANNA: Welcome, Nicole! Thank you so much for coming to share your journey to publication with us today! We are so excited to hear all about it! Where did the idea for this book come from?

NICOLE: The seed for the idea actually came from Dr. Ian Malcolm in the original Jurassic Park movie – he introduced me to chaos theory and the butterfly effect. The idea that our actions can have a ripple effect just stuck with me and I knew I had to write about it. I ended up with a very literal interpretation of this complex scientific theory as the foundation for my story.

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

NICOLE: I work on multiple projects at once so it’s hard to say exactly how long it took but it usually takes me 1-2 months from start to finish.

SUSANNA: Did you go through many revisions?

NICOLE: I revise constantly as I write so I don’t keep track of the number of revisions but there are always a lot before I submit it to publishers. Working with Clavis was unique in that their main office is in Belgium and their books are first released in Dutch. So, after working with the editor at Clavis to complete the edits in English, it was translated into Dutch and then the Dutch version had to be edited. Lots of Google translate!

Nicole’s work buddies Smokey and Mustachio 😊

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

NICOLE: I was sick of looking at it! All kidding aside, when I’m done with a manuscript I read it over every day and make corrections. When I don’t find anything to correct or change for 5 consecutive days, then it’s ready to be put aside for 2 weeks. After not looking at it for 2 weeks, if I read it over and I’m happy with it, it’s ready for submission. Why those time periods? Completely arbitrary, but it works for me.

SUSANNA: I love that your system is so organized! When and how did you submit?

NICOLE: I did not have an agent at the time so I submitted directly to publishers for this story. Over the 10 years that I have been querying, I have compiled a spreadsheet of about 75 publishers that accept unsolicited manuscripts, so there are a lot of them out there, it just takes a little digging. Twitter is a great resource for finding out what publishers are open to submissions.

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 (if you care to share 😊)

NICOLE: I submitted The Butterfly Effect to Clavis on 3/1/22. I received an email of interest from them on 4/26, had a Zoom meeting on 5/3 and signed the contract on 5/4. It happened very quickly and, yes, it was the best feeling ever!

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

NICOLE: Since I am new to this, I relied quite a bit on resources provided by SCBWI to guide me. Clavis’ contract was standard, as far as I could tell. I was not offered an advance, but that is not unusual for debut authors signing with independent or smaller publishers. In my research, one thing that appears to vary from publisher to publisher is their payment schedules. Some pay out monthly, some quarterly, and some yearly.

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

NICOLE: Initial edits of the manuscript were not dramatic, just some line edits. I felt the editor and I had the same vision for the story. I definitely had less of a say in the translated version because I am not familiar with Dutch. It’s not like they translate the story word for word from one language to another. Lines are changed, moved – even sound effects are expressed differently. But in the end the heart of the story remained intact.

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

NICOLE: When Clavis was selecting an illustrator they sent me samples from four different illustrators and asked for my opinion. We were in agreement that Madelon would do a great job with bringing the story to life. After Madelon finished the artwork, they were forwarded to me as spreads and I provided feedback about how the artwork and text worked together, and I did make some suggestions, some of which led to revisions.

I always include art notes in my manuscripts because there are points in the story where the artwork is doing the heavy work. For example, in The Butterfly Effect, Butterfly asks Horse to help her put the beehive back in the tree but the text doesn’t explicitly state what she is asking. So the manuscript looked like this:

She spies the hive and says to Horse,

“I need your help.” [Ill. Note: to put the hive back in the tree].

“Why yes, of course!”

textcopyright Nicole Castrovinci 2024, illustration copyright Madelon Koelinga 2024, Clavis Publishing

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

NICOLE: I did not.

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

NICOLE: I signed the contract with Clavis on May 4, 2022. The Butterfly Effect was released in Dutch (Het Begon Bij De Vlinder) in February 2023 and in English on May 21, 2024.

The initial print run for the English version was 2,000.

SUSANNA: Wow! Almost a whole year apart – that’s interesting! What kind of marketing and promotion has your publisher done for this book?

NICOLE: Clavis advertised The Butterfly Effect on their website and through their social media outlets. They created a coloring page and a book trailer.

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

NICOLE: I sent an email blast out to independent bookstores, libraries, and museums/nature centers in the NY/NJ/PA area one month prior to the books release, and again around the release date, attaching a promotional flyer. I literally did Google searches of independent bookstores and libraries then went on their websites to obtain emails. If there were no clear email addresses I called them. I have a spreadsheet with all of the info. I sent a total of 3 email reminders – one over a month before, one close to release date and one after release date.

It was time consuming but  I think it paid off – I got a range of replies –  some that they would be purchasing the book, some expressed interest in booking a story time – I booked 6 story/craft times so far at libraries, bookstores and an arboretum with a few more libraries  pending. Schools were definitely more difficult to obtain emails for because they often don’t disclose staff names on school websites. I emailed the elementary school in town and they replied that they will purchase the book for their library but they did not express an interest in having me in. I sent over a hundred emails so I would say the response rate was about 15-20 percent. 

Also, I did attach a promotional sheet to my emails so they had a visual of the book.As a result of the email blast I have scheduled a handful of speaking engagements so far.

I had my book launch party at a local arboretum, which worked well with the butterfly theme. I have promoted the book on my website and through social media and have done a handful of blog interviews with children’s book bloggers.

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

NICOLE: I started writing with the goal of getting published in 2012. I joined SCBWI, went to all the local conferences, read a ton of picture books, joined a critique group, and learned as much as I could about craft. Ten years (and hundreds of submissions) later I sold my first picture book. I definitely took the scenic route to publication, but it was a fun journey.

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?)

NICOLE: I think the most valuable thing that I have learned is that as writers we have to remember that selling picture books is a business and a very competitive business at that. Obviously a well written manuscript is first and foremost but if we don’t have that hook, our story isn’t likely to sell. So when I write a story I always have in mind what the hook is going to be, what is going to make my story stand out from others, what is going to sell books.

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

NICOLE: I think I have covered it all. Thank you!!!

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

Readers, if you have questions for Nicole, please post them in the comments below and if she has time I’m sure she’ll respond! And remember, your comment by Monday June 24th at 3PM Eastern puts you in the running to be the randomly selected winner of a copy of THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT!

Author Nicole Castrovinci – favorite salty snack: movie style popcorn, favorite sweet snack: anything dark chocolate. 😊

my website:   www.nicolecastrovinci.com
Twitter handle:  @shinypennyface
Instagram and Facebook:  @nicolecastrovinci

You may purchase Nicole’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!