Hey, Everyone!

Do you know what time it is?

It’s time for everybody’s favorite show – Tuesday Debut! – where we talk about who’s new in the picture book world!

And who’s new today?

Well, I’ll tell you. . . as soon as we announce the winner of Mary Zychowicz’s wonderful giveaway from last week – a signed copy of her debut picture book, LITTLE BUDDY!

Drum roll, please rat-a-tat-tat rat-a-tat-tat rat-a-tat-tat!

And the winner is. . .

laurastewartstories!!!

Congratulations, Laura! I hope you’ll enjoy your prize! Please email me at your earliest convenience so I can get your book to you!

AND, to make today even better, we have a new giveaway! Actually, TWO! Today’s debutess is offering 1) a copy of her book, A KNIGHT AND HIS TRUSTY… and 2) a Picture Book Manuscript Critique non-rhyming! All you have to do to put yourself in the running to be one of the randomly selected winners of one of these two fabulous prizes is leave a comment on today’s post by Monday October 26th at 3 PM Eastern!!!

So now, let’s get to it, shall we? It is my great pleasure to introduce you to the dazzling and dynamic Deb Buschman and her debut picture book, A KNIGHT AND HIS TRUSTY. . .! Please join me in giving her a. . . chivalrous? welcome!

Title: A Knight and His Trusty…
Author: Deb Buschman
Illustrator: Mr. Tom [Tom Uleau]
Publishing House: The Little Press
Date of Publication: October 6, 2026
ISBN: 978-1956378580
Fiction or Nonfiction: Fiction
age range of your book: 4-7

A fairy tale narrator is determined to tell a proper story. You know the kind—once upon a time, a brave knight, and a trusty steed. But before he can even finish the opening sentence, he’s interrupted. Again. And again. And again. Because a parade of unlikely animals keeps bursting into the tale, each convinced they should be the knight’s trusty steed.

SUSANNA: Welcome, Deb! We are THRILLED to have you here today to share your journey to publication with this absolutely delightful looking book (which you can be sure I will be reading to my grandkids as soon as possible!😊) Where did the idea for this book come from?

DEB: This story came from you Susanna. You had posted a writing prompt and we had to choose two characters and an emotion. I chose a prince and an alligator and I think the emotion was frustrated. I can’t remember. So my first version only had those two characters and it was not very funny. So then I decided after sending it to my critique group for input to add more animals and then the Prince turned into a Knight and the animals started multiplying. I remember writing on my front porch and my son was working on his computer inside the house and yelling to him that I needed one more animal. He yelled, “shark!” That was the animal that pulled the story together to what it is now.

SUSANNA: You must be referring to one of the prompts from one of the May Mix ‘n’ Match Mini Challenges! It makes me so happy that one of those prompts helped you on your way to a published book! How long did it take you to write this book?

DEB: I wrote this in a few months and then it went through some revisions with my critique group. It was not a huge long process like some of my other manuscripts.

SUSANNA: Did you go through many revisions?

DEB: This went through six revisions and it also got a different title. This is Not a Proper Fairy Tale. The reason I changed the title was because of a critique I got from an agent who didn’t like the original title. Because I had such a clear idea of what this story was going to be it didn’t go through as many revisions as my other manuscripts. I hear the story in my head and the characters talking to each other and I see the scenes like a movie.

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

DEB: I knew it was ready when I laughed at the parts I wanted to laugh at and when I had my critique partners say “Send it, it’s ready.” That’s how we talk to each other. I also had a critique from Brian Gehrlein the author of Book of Rules. He read it to his son and his son laughed.

SUSANNA: That is high praise indeed! When and how did you submit?

DEB: I do not have an agent. I am querying for one at the present time. I submitted this directly to The Little Press publishing when I saw they had open submission for picture books and was specifically looking for fractured fairy tales.

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”?

DEB: I submitted to them in December 2021 and in December 2022 the editor and publisher of The Little Press, Michele McAvoy sent me an email asking if I had sold the manuscript or if it was still available.

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 😊)

DEB: I was over the moon when I got the email and when I responded saying I still had the manuscript then we set up a time in January for a Zoom call. We discussed the book and I agreed to have Little Press publish it. No big celebration. I had so many family and friends congratulate me.

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

DEB: It was only a week or two from our initial Zoom meeting to me signing the contract.

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

DEB: Since I didn’t have an agent, I used the contract in the SCBWI The Essential Guide to Publishing for Children to know what I should be looking for and ask for. The Little Press is a smaller press so I was not concerned about an advance or huge royalties. We discussed timelines and author copies. I asked for more author copies than normal and Michele was great about giving those to me. I think the timeline was what was hardest for me. Having to wait until Fall 2026 was a really long time but she couldn’t do it any sooner.

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

DEB: Michele was and is an absolute dream to work with. She completely saw my vision for my book. When we discussed the fact that I had a different title now [This is Not a Proper Fairy Tale] she said that she envisioned this as more of a boy book even though all kids will love it. So she didn’t want fairy tale in the title. I was thrilled because I have four boys and I always write with them in mind. The only change that was made was after the cover was completed. Tom the illustrator had unintentionally change the first word of the title from “The” to “A”. When I caught it and talked to Michele she asked me which I preferred and we agreed on Tom’s unintentional change of “A” was the way to go.

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

DEB: I got to see sketches and art as soon as Tom started to complete them. He is brilliant and really understood the humor of the book. He included things I never even envisioned and upped the humor to another level. You can’t argue that the shark in the bag on the cover is hysterical. There are more little additions like that in many of the spreads that make you laugh. I had very few art notes for this story. When the shark is introduced my art note was [jaws coming out of moat.] The spread is probably one of my favorites and it is a POV from inside the sharks mouth looking out. Brilliant!!!!

But I am a huge supporter of art notes in humorous picture books because they help with landing a joke or giggle. Think of when the picture and words don’t match or when the reader is in on the joke and the main character is not. When I forget an art note my critique partners remind me by saying “What’s happening”.

text copyright Deb Buschman 2026, illustration copyright Mr. Tom [Tom Uleau], The Little Press

text copyright Deb Buschman 2026, illustration copyright Mr. Tom [Tom Uleau], The Little Press

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

DEB: I received the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection. I started crying my eyes out. I couldn’t believe it. I was going to have their gold seal on my book. WOW! I never could have dreamed it for my debut pb.

SUSANNA: What an honor! Congratulations!!! How long did it take from offer to having the first copy in your hand?

DEB: A long time. It’s been 5 years. Then the book took longer to print. So I had my book launch without my book. But the launch went great because I have so many supporters and Books &Company in Oconomowoc Wisconsin did a great job promoting it. There were 60 people including kids. JLG asks for 2,400 books and my publisher usually does a print run for 1,000.

SUSANNA: That is great news for you and The Little Press! What kind of marketing and promotion has your publisher done for this book?

DEB: ARC Distribution on Edelweiss, Trade announcements in Publishers Weekly and Publishers Marketplace, Amazon A+ Content, Instagram Promotion + Giveaway hosted by The Little Press, Social media promotion across all Little Press channels, Newsletter promotion to our full subscriber base- 2,000+ contacts, CBC Hot Off the Press submission, Inclusion in TLP catalogs
Submission to the top trade reviewers:

• Kirkus
• School Library Journal
• Horn Book
• Midwest Book Review

Submission to major institutional opportunities:Junior Library Guild consideration Publishers Weekly Open Calls / Children’s Preview Children’s Book Council (CBC) list calls and opportunities.

• Submission to One Children’s Book Award
  
• Marketing outreach to either Folette, Mackin, or direct postcard mailer (to be decided by publisher)
  
• State List Review, Assessment & Application for Consideration
  
• Showcase visibility at national conferences (via IPG):
  
  • ALA Annual Conference
    
  • Children’s Institute (ABA)

SUSANNA: Wow! That sounds like a lot! Describe any marketing/promotion you did for this book.

DEB: Little Press provided us with a Sell Sheet and Educational Guide. I did a little color tweaking on them and then I made a postcard with my info on it for schools and libraries and bookstores that I have been visiting. I am setting up presentations in all those venues. You are my second blog but I am going to do a couple more.

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

DEB: It was 12 years. I went to my first SCBWI conference in 2011 with my 1,800 word picture manuscript and I knew that I would be a great writer. Ha-ha! I was momentarily shocked to learn that I had a lot to learn but then I dug in and joined a critique group who taught me so much and were so incredibly patient with me. I try to return the favor as often as I can helping new writers learn the ropes.

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?)

DEB: The friends I have made through all the years of writing are people I will be friends with forever. I love to write and critique and hopefully help other writers get published. There were times I wished I was published right away but then I think of all the laughs and tears and fun I’ve had along the way. Nothing beats climbing that hill with people you love.

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

DEB: I want to say thank you to you Susanna for creating such a giving and caring writing community with your blog. You have given so much to all of us and I love reading and learning from the authors and illustrators you lift up here in your blog.

SUSANNA: Thank you for those kind words, Deb. I truly appreciate them. And I really love doing everything I do here, so it is a pleasure. 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 knowledge and experience and wish you all the best with this and future titles!

Readers, if you have questions for Deb, 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 by Monday October 26th at 3 PM Eastern puts you in the running to be one of the two randomly selected winners of one of Deb’s two amazing giveaways: 1) a copy of her book, A KNIGHT AND HIS TRUSTY… or 2) a Picture Book Manuscript Critique (non-rhyming)!!!

Author Deb Buschman

Website: www.debbuschman.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debbuschman1/
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/deborah.buschman.1

You may purchase Deb’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!