Welcome to this week’s edition of Tuesday Debut, everyone!

You may notice from the post title that today’s debut-ess has visited us before, back in March of 2022 with her traditionally published book, HAVE YOU SEEN MOUSE? The reason she is visiting again today is because this time she is debuting with a self-published picture book (hence the S-P to distinguish 😊)

Before we get to hear all about her new venture, we have not one but TWO giveaway winners to announce from Pamela Courtney’s debut last week! Pamela kindly offered a signed copy of her beautiful book, A SEASON FOR FISHIN’: A Fish Fry Tradition AND a picture book manuscript critique! And the winners are. . .

Munevver Mindy Yuksel – Signed Copy of A SEASON FOR FISHIN’: A Fish Fry Tradition

Rose Cappelli – Picture Book Manuscript Critique

Congratulations, Mindy and Rose! Please email me so I can put you in touch with Pam for your prizes!

And this week we have a new giveaway on offer! Beverly is offering winner’s choice of a picture book manuscript critique, OR an illustration critique, OR a package of 6 5×7 greeting cards featuring 2 or 3 illustrations from her new book! To qualify, please leave a comment on today’s post by Monday June 2nd at 3PM Eastern and you could be the randomly selected winner!

Now, let’s get right to Beverly’s beautiful new book and hear all about how she self-published!

Title: Tinker, Where Are You?
Author: Beverly Love Warren
Illustrator: Beverly Love Warren
Publisher: Self-published, April 16, 2025, fiction
Readership age range: 4-8

SUSANNA: Where did the idea of the book come from?

BEVERLY: In 2017 I took Susanna’s class, Making Picture Book Magic. Susanna suggested mining childhood memories for story ideas—what stood out to you? I remember how distraught I was when my hamster disappeared. I turned the house upside down looking for her, but I never found her and concluded that being free outside was more appealing than living in a cage in a cold brick house. How she escaped puzzled me. This figures into the story. Hannah promised to pet-sit her friend’s lizard but he kept fleeing his tank. Not only does Hannah come to the point of not being able to find Tinker, but she is also faced with fear of her friendship ending. I took the grief of my loss and through Hannah’s tale I pushed the plot to what I thought would be a worst-case scenario—the potential loss of her best friend. In the end, Hannah’s choice strengthened their relationship. Over the course of seven years, Tinker evolved from a hamster to a turtle and landed as a lizard.

SUSANNA: How long did it take you to write this book and did you go through many revisions?

BEVERLY: Tinker’s incubation was between 2017 and early 2024. I revised multiple times during those seven years, but I also wrote other stories. I have about 20-30 hard copies of Tinker. As Tinker’s animal character changed so did the setting and secondary characters.

Beverly’s work space

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

BEVERLY: I’m in a critique group. There are six of us. Initially there were times when I thought the story was complete and shared it with my group for confirmation only to find out I was wrong. I knew it was ready when the critiques were coming back with incidental comments or no revision comments at all.

SUSANNA: At what point did you decide to self-publish rather than submit to traditional publishers? Did you try traditional first? Or did you have specific reasons for wanting to self-publish?

BEVERLY: I submitted Tinker to a few traditional publishers, but it wasn’t ready. The self-publishing track happened through my critique group. Bernice, who heads up our group, had self-published in the past. In late 2023 she suggested that we do a self-publishing project together. I had already been thinking this to myself so when she mentioned it I knew it was the right thing to do. The other gals agreed. We each chose a story that was almost finished, then helped one another polish those stories. Afterward we illustrated or own picture books, but a couple of the gals felt uncomfortable with that idea. However, to their credit they believed in their stories and persevered and now have a book! Each member of our critique group brings different strengths to the group.

SUSANNA: How did you find an illustrator?

BEVERLY: I didn’t need an illustrator, but if you want an illustrator be sure that you have a contract. I believe the going rate is between $3,000 and $6,000 for a full color picture book. The other gals in my group collaged their books. If you can’t afford an artist, try collaging your story yourself. Borrow collaged books from the library for ideas. Some are effective in their simplicity.

SUSANNA: How did you format your book for publication?

BEVERLY: I do my sketches on paper and scan them. Then they go into Procreate on my iPad. From there I fill in the color and add the text. I chose my fonts from http://www.1001fonts.com. When you choose fonts be sure that they are free for commercial use. Many fonts are free only for personal use. The pages were formatted in Procreate and then added to the desktop publishing app called Affinity. In Affinity is where you add your copyright symbol. The other gals formatted directly in Affinity. Unlike some other desktop apps, Affinity is purchased with a onetime fee.

SUSANNA: How did you select a printing service?

BEVERLY: Bernice, who has previously self-published, recommended Ingram Spark as the printing service. Ingram is a POD (print on demand) printer.

SUSANNA: How long was the process from writing through publication of your book?

BEVERLY: I worked on Tinker over seven years, but once it was finished what remained was the illustration time, hunting for the perfect fonts, buying the ISBN number, learning Affinity, and sending the book’s PDF to Ingram. Once Ingram approves the book then begins the process of the author proofing the book for color and text accuracy. This could take a few weeks or a couple of months. Generally, it takes me about 500 hours to illustrate a picture book. The total time for Tinker was about 7-8 months.

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

BEVERLY: The reason I chose this story is because I believed in its message. I wanted to challenge young readers to be faithful friends. I also hoped that the mystery contained in the story would be entertaining to children and spark problem solving ideas. Self-publishing has its rewards. Your book gets published faster and you have more control over what happens. You can go at your own pace and if you can’t make deadlines, you only have to answer to yourself. I have published traditionally and enjoy working “for” someone which doesn’t happen as a self-published author. However, working with my critique group really helped with the comradery and we were a support to one another in this process. Tinker, Where Are You? got my feet wet. Next time I anticipate the learning curve will be a lot straighter!  

SUSANNA: Thank you so much for joining us today, Beverly! I think we all learned a lot of new and interesting things about self-publishing. Your art is beautiful, and I was especially interested in knowing that it takes you about 500 hours to illustrate a picture book! Not being an illustrator myself, I really had no idea how much time it takes, although I always assumed it was a lot! Thank you for taking the time to visit with us again, and all the best of luck with this and future titles!

Readers, if you have questions for Beverly, 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 2nd at 3PM Eastern puts you in the running for the random drawing for Beverly’s giveaway of winner’s choice of a picture book manuscript critique, OR an illustration critique, OR a package of 6 5×7 greeting cards featuring 2 or 3 illustrations from her new book!

Website: http://www.beverlylovewarren.com/
www.facebook.com/BeverlyLoveWarren

You may purchase Beverly’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!