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

I hope everyone had a lovely Memorial Day weekend. It was very rainy here until Monday afternoon, but still nice. Spring rain is so green.

Today’s debut-ess has a gorgeous nonfiction book that is a prime example of how ideas can land on you out of thin air sometimes and she has a lot of great information to share, but before we get to that. . .

. . . the winner of last week’s giveaways from Inbal Alon are. . .

Jodie Houghton
who wins a copy of MADDY’S TOWERS!

and

Theresa Dabney
who wins a picture book manuscript critique!

Congratulations to you both! Please email me at your earliest convenience so I can get you set up with your prizes!

PLUS we have a new giveaway for this week! Winner’s choice between: A PB critique (up to 800 words, NO RHYME) OR A copy of Music Plants Hope OR a 30-minute AMA via Zoom from today’s debut-ess! To put yourself in the running for this fabulous prize, all you have to do is leave a comment on today’s post by Monday June 1st at 3 PM Eastern!

Now, please join me in welcoming today’s debut-ess, the lovely and talented Tonnye (rhymes with Connie) Fletcher, author of the beautiful MUSIC PLANTS HOPE!

Title: Music Plants Hope
Author: Tonnye Fletcher
Illustrator: Natalia Bruno
Publishing House: Reycraft Books
Date of Publication: 5.26.26
Fiction or Nonfiction: NF
ISBN #: 978-1478890805
age range of your book:7-12

SUSANNA: Welcome, Tonnye! Thank you so much for joining us today! We are so excited to hear about your journey to publication with this gorgeous nonfiction story. Where did the idea for this book come from?

TONNYE: The story was inspired by the concert itself. I might not have known about this event, but for Twitter. (Story ideas can come from anywhere!) An agent had posted the link to the concert, as she was interested in a PB manuscript about this concert. I thought about all the different ways you could tell this story – different angles. I wrote three distinctly different stories inspired by the concert: this one, another that was more of an expository account of the concert, and one more that followed one plant’s journey from nursery to concert to home with a healthcare worker.

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

TONNYE: I worked on all three of these from June 2020 when I first saw the clip of the concert to October 3 when I sent all three of them to the agent who had suggested the PB about the concert. (including working with various CPs and CGs to get them top notch before sending them to her.) (Not necessarily something I recommend, but she didn’t seem sure what she wanted, and my critique groups were divided about which one was strongest, so I threw caution to the wind.)

When she passed on all three, saying they lacked focus and structure, I continued to work on them. I began to work on merging the expository NF one with the journey of one plant – made him the narrator of the story, worked on a dummy for that mash-up. I didn’t really know what else to do with the lyrical one, so it didn’t change much at all over the next couple of years.

Tonnye’s work space

SUSANNA: Did you go through many revisions?

TONNYE: For this particular story (out of the three), there were quite a few revisions, but the biggest one was adding more words. I think originally it was less than 200 so the word count almost doubled. Beyond that, there were lots of wordsmithing changes – just word level edits to clarify, hone the vocabulary, make it sing more. The other big issue was how to provide the grounding without messing up the flow of the lyrical text. I tried a few things, but landed on the prologue and epilogue – not common in picture books, but it seemed to work. However, Winsome(my editor at Reycraft) wasn’t really a fan of the prologue and epilogue at the beginning of the journey, but they’re in the finished book, so I guess they determined it was the best way to accomplish the grounding for the story so you’re not just dropping readers into a story they don’t understand. The other hard piece was the title. The editor didn’t like the title “Green Magic” but it took us a long time to land on a title that everyone was happy with. I think it’s the perfect title and I’m glad everyone was on board.

Tonnye’s work buddies 😊

SUSANNA: It is a beautiful title! When did you know your manuscript was ready for submission?

TONNYE: When Winsome said she wanted to buy it! LOL No, seriously, when critique partners were just suggesting slight word changes or said it was good, and I didn’t see any way to make it better myself.

SUSANNA: When and how did you submit?

TONNYE: I put up a pitch on one of the Twitter pitch parties in February 2023. Winsome Bingham from Reycraft Books, liked the pitch and sent me a message asking for the full. I sent a full query to her a few days later, and she called me within a couple of hours. She wanted to buy the manuscript but I didn’t have an agent. So, she offered to help me. We talked about a few possibilities, but settled on Joyce Sweeney. Winsome spoke very highly of Joyce and felt like they really fight for their clients and have had a great success rate. So, the next morning Winsome spoke to Joyce and called me with instructions for submitting to Joyce. I sent a query to her. A few days later (on my BIRTHDAY!! ), I got an email from Joyce saying, “This is stunning!” They asked for more work, which I sent promptly.

Then we scheduled a call, chatted, and after due diligence, I signed with Joyce at the Seymour Agency.

SUSANNA: Pretty amazing birthday present! 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”?

TONNYE: Winsome told me on the phone that they wanted to buy the book. She is the acquisitions director for Reycraft. My mouth dropped to the floor. It was so exciting!

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 ☺)

TONNYE: I don’t really know anything else to say about this. It was pretty simple.

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

TONNYE: It seemed like it took forever, but in reality, it was September 2023. So 7 months from my phone conversation with Winsome to having the contract in my email to sign.

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

TONNYE: I honestly had no idea what to expect. I think it was pretty standard. I was surprised how adamant the publisher was about my not even SEEING the art work. Joyce did negotiate that in my contract and fought hard for me to be able to see the process (no input, but just able to see). They also negotiated some additional author copies (from 10 to 15) They (Reycraft) have English and Spanish rights, but we retained world rights. Royalties I believe were pretty standard, and the advance was a medial one I think –based on what I’ve heard about the range of advances. Reycraft is a small house, and my understanding is it’s pretty standard for what they offer. My agent tried to increase the advance, but they wouldn’t budge on that. That’s not always a bad thing in my mind, because the higher the advance, the harder it is to earn back the advance and begin earning royalties.

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

TONNYE: I was very surprised by the editorial process. I had heard all kinds of stories about editing struggles. I had one editorial meeting with Winsome. It lasted about 35 minutes, and it was mostly her telling me how beautiful the story was. She had indicated there was a couple of small changes to make in the manuscript, but by the time we actually spoke, she said she thought there was a beat missing, but she and Wiley had discussed it and thought they could rearrange page spreads and it was perfect the way it was. I don’t think that is the typical editing process, so it was very pleasant – and very surprising. It was also very humbling – and thrilling to think of people who know, love, and understand books the way they do speaking of your words and your book in such glowing terms. It was one of the surreal moments in the life of this book for sure!

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

TONNYE: I had no input in choosing the illustrator or in her process. Reycraft shared the name with Joyce, who shared it with me. I looked up her work and followed her on Instagram, but we had no communication about her work on the project, except a couple of messages that she initiated when she discovered that I was the author 😉 After a (what felt like forever) long time, (April 8, 2025) I saw sketches and a rough color mock-up of the cover. I was very surprised that her sketches did not look anything like the concert at all. It was a very different angle than what I had anticipated. I really loved what she did, though. The way Natalia interwove the plants and the instruments were amazing.

text copyright Tonnye Fletcher 2026, illustration copyright Natalia Bruno 2026, Reycraft Books

text copyright Tonnye Fletcher 2026, illustration copyright Natalia Bruno 2026, Reycraft Books

She added elements that were not in the writing, which I loved, but also confused me. June 23, 2025 I saw a colored rendering of the cover, but it was not the final, and three sample spreads. It was gorgeous, and I loved it. Once the art was finalized and I had the digital ARC and the book had gone to printing, I asked Natalia lots of questions and we have a lovely friendship. We have a lot in common, actually, and she has been so kind to answer all of my questions, and we have worked together on some pre-launch things. We chat via text very often and are very supportive of each other. It’s another great blessing and anomaly from this book! As for art notes, I only had one note at the beginning that said, “Liceu Theatre, Barcelona, Spain”

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

TONNYE: I have not seen any trade reviews as of yet (and as I write this, it is less than a week until launch). That’s been a little disappointing, honestly, but it is in the realm of things I cannot control, so I try not to stress too much about it. I’ve gotten lovely reviews from author friends, which I have highlighted on my website and on socials, so I am very blessed. I hope if trade reviews do come in, they will be positive, but as we know, this business is very subjective.

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

TONNYE:
Phone conversation with Winsome – mid-Feb. 2023
Official offer – March 29, 2023
Contract – Sept. 18, 2023
First held my book – March 15, 2026
Reycraft is a small publisher, so the first print run for Music Plants Hope is 1500.

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

TONNYE:
○ Digital ad promotions
○ National parenting and consumer media & trade advertising campaign
○ Digital influencer campaign targeting parenting and online tastemakers
○ Reycraft Books social media engagement campaign
○ Email marketing campaign targeting teachers & librarians
○ Digital ARC to booksellers, reviewers, librarians, educators, and consumers
**They are also paying to send me to ALA – 2 nights, transportation, and conference tuition, +1-2 meals

Looks like the marketing is working – that’s a lot of books being signed! 😊

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

TONNYE: Oh, my goodness! So much! I’m sure I’m forgetting something, but . . .
● I traveled to Spain and Italy to get firsthand information, photos, and video for social media campaign and for educator guide and presentations
● Pre-launch social media campaign (#BackMatterBlitz) 10 weeks of daily posts with trivia, behind-the-scenes, photos, videos, cool facts, background and more!
● Dedicated page on my website
● Pre-order postcards
● One sheet/sell sheet
● Big blog and podcast tour (total of 20+ spread out from May – November)
● Currently working on Educator Guide
● Created a coloring sheet via Canva with QR code to my dedicated MPH page on my website
● Summer book tour (including ALA, but much more!)
● Tons of conference proposals (I’ve already presented at NC Reading Conference, and have been accepted to NCTE and NCSLMA. I have other proposals in as well.
● Virtual launch celebration
● In-person local launch storytime and celebration in conjunction with the NC Museum of Natural Sciences
● Reaching out via phone, email, and in-person to libraries, schools, bookstores, plant venues and music venues within driving distance, and along the summer book tour route
● Prior to launch, I’ve already presented at a state conference (and done a signing w/50-ish books sold), done a school visit at my own school (with over 150 books sold), been a guest speaker at a local writing contest celebration, presented to a local reading council (5 books sold), been a guest author for a monthly gathering of our local SCBWI chapter, presented to a university class virtually (where the instructor has ordered 19 books!)

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

TONNYE: I started treating writing as a second career in January 2019, taking monthly weekend writing retreats, researching, watching webinars, joining SCBWI, starting a presence on social media, etc.
First (and so far, only) picture book sold March 2023, so over 4 years, over 100 rejections during that time, and 3 more years to publication.

SUSANNA: Wow! That just show that dedication pays off! 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?)

TONNYE: I think this process has helped me see the magic that can happen when you leave room for the illustrator – and I think I have a better sense of what that means now. When we write the best manuscript we can and then let the illustrator do their best work, magic really does happen. (However, let me add there are lots of factors and that is not ALWAYS the case. But I think the potential is definitely there in those circumstances.)

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

TONNYE: We, as kidlit authors, do a lot of connecting with the kidlit community, which is awesome, but we have to find ways to connect with our audience – with readers. I’m a firm believer that the relationships that I’ve built during the last 20 years with the NC Reading Association and councils around my home state are allowing me opportunities to share my book that I never would have had without them. Find ways to cultivate relationships with libraries, bookstores, nonprofit literacy groups, schools, etc.

SUSANNA: Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today, Tonnye! We so appreciate the opportunity to learn from your knowledge and experience! Wishing you the best of luck with MUSIC PLANTS HOPE and all future titles!

Readers, if you have questions for Tonnye, please post them in the comments below and if she has time I’m sure she’ll respond! And remember, your comment on today’s post puts you in the running to be the randomly selected winner of winner’s choice between: A PB critique (up to 800 words, NO RHYME) OR A copy of Music Plants Hope OR a 30-minute AMA via Zoom if you leave it by Monday June 1st at 3 PM Eastern!!!

Author Tonnye Fletcher – who says I like lots of snacks, but usually when
I’m writing I just keep a beverage nearby. When I am snacking, most frequently
it’s popcorn and chocolate with a zevia soda.

Tonnye Fletcher is an author and music educator who writes stories of hope, music, and wonder. She is the host of PBJamz — a multimedia blog spotlighting picture books with musical hooks. She is a woman of faith and a literacy advocate who loves her family dearly. They all live in NC on a small family farm, where Tonnye tries to grow herbs and other plants. Tonnye shares an old Victorian farmhouse with her husband, Shane, and their cats.

Twitter: @tonnyef
Facebook: @TWFauthor 
Instagram: @tonnyefletcher67
Bluesky: @tonnyef.bsky.social
Website: www.tonnyefletcher.com

Reycraft= @ReycraftBooks
Illustrator (instagram) = @bruna_ilustra )

You may purchase Tonnye’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!