So, darlings, here we are at Wednesday and it feels like a whole week and half has already been packed into the first couple days of this week!
Just one thing after another! Not bad (well, the flat tire and the leaky toilet I could have done without…!) – but busy!
I’ve got an unexpected deadline for… well… NOW! so no chitchat today! We’re getting right down to brass tacks!
And by “brass tacks” of course I mean Something Chocolate 🙂 How do you feel about Texas Sheet Cake Cookies? Melt in your mouth chocolate-y goodness that goes perfectly with your morning (or mid-morning, or noon time, or early, mid, or late afternoon, or evening or bedtime or midnight snack) cup of coffee, tea or milk!!! 🙂
Now then, onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Maria. Maria Bostian began work with children as a Montessori teacher, but through a chance meeting found her dream job as a safety advocate with a local fire department. She’s been in the fire service for over 14 years and when she’s not in schools teaching fire and injury prevention, she hones her writing skills through participation in Julie Hedlund’s 12X12 Challenge, SCBWI Carolinas critique group sessions, and by networking with other passionate authors. She can be found shopping for an antique or inspirational find, traveling with her firefighter hubby, or with her keyboard sunning in her backyard You might even catch her bathing one of her four “purrfect” pals.
Find her on the web at
Facebook – @MJBostian
Twitter – @MariaMariaB71
Pinterest – K-Town Fire Girl
Blog – www.mariabostian.com
Here is her pitch:
Working Title: Klean Kitty Super Suds
Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 4-8)
The Pitch:
Has your precious Leo ever gotten into a stinkysituation? Did Beau Diddley ever fall victim to a pole cat hazing? Was darling Nell caught playing with something that smelled worse than three cow pastures at high Noon?
Well, no worries, friends, ‘cause I’m Andi T. Vipperman and I’m here to help. With my Klean Kitty Super Sudsand easy-to-follow directions, you’ll be bathing your delightful feline like a pro. And once again, your loyal companion’s coat will be restored to silky softness and will smell just as sweet as Granny’s kitchen.
That’s right, ladies and gents; my Klean Kitty Super Sudsmakes bath time for your purrfect pal “easy as pie” and just as delicious.
Here, let me show you!
So what do you think? Would You Read It? YES, MAYBE or NO?
If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest. If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Maria improve her pitch. Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome. (However I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful. I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks! For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on Would You Read it in the dropdown under For Writers in the bar above. There are openings in June, so you have a little time to polish your pitch before putting it up for helpful feedback and a chance to have it read and commented on by editor Erin Molta!
Maria is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch! I am looking forward to meeting that deadline so I can stop feeling panicky! 🙂
Welcome to another edge-of-your-seat episode of Tuesday Debut, especially thrilling today because it involves ZOMBIES!!!
Don’t be scared 😊
My fierce guard dogs and I will protect you 😊
This is a fun Debut because it’s a wife/husband author/illustrator team – something we haven’t seen here yet. Their book was also released simultaneously in English and Spanish – something else we haven’t seen here yet! So without further ado, let’s welcome debut author Megan Lacera and her author/illustrator husband, Jorge Lacera!!!
ZOMBIES DON’T EAT VEGGIES!
LOS ZOMBIS NO COMEN VERDURAS (Spanish edition available simultaneously)
By Megan and Jorge Lacera
Illustrated by Jorge Lacera
Lee and Low Books/Children’s Book Press
April 2, 2019
Picture book/Fiction
Age Range: 4-8
SUMMARY
Mo Romero is a zombie who loves nothing more than growing, cooking, and eating vegetables. Tomatoes? Tantalizing. Peppers? Pure perfection! The problem? Mo’s parents insist that their niño eat only zombie cuisine, like arm-panadas and finger foods. They tell Mo over and over that zombies don’t eat veggies. But Mo can’t imagine a lifetime of just eating zombie food and giving up his veggies. As he questions his own zombie identity, Mo tries his best to convince his parents to give peas a chance.
SUSANNA: Thank you so much for joining us today, Megan and Jorge! Where did the idea for this book come from?
MEGAN: We wanted to create a zombie book. We love zombie movies, classic horror films. The idea of Mo Romero’s character came to us—a zombie kid who wasn’t sure he wanted to be a zombie. He didn’t fit “the mold.” We zeroed in on his food choices (he’s not into zombie cuisine…he loves vegetables!) because it felt like such a stark contrast to the rest of his world and provided great conflict. We were also very excited to explore Latin-inspired dishes…the result is a lot of puns that keep us (and kiddos) laughing.
SUSANNA: How long did it take you to write this book?
MEGAN:From the very initial conception to the publication date…about five years. That is for a fully illustrated book.
SUSANNA: Did you go through many revisions?
MEGAN: Tons! On our own, we revised the manuscript dummy countless times. Because we are an author/illustrator duo, our process is very collaborative. We work on the text and art simultaneously, each influencing the other. Once we signed with our agent, we revised again before submission. After finalizing our publication deal with Lee and Low, we went through about ten rounds of revision. Most of these edits at this point weren’t major revisions, more about refinement.
SUSANNA: When did you know your manuscript was ready for submission?
MEGAN: When we loved it! We had put this story through so much…critiquing the heck out of it, tearing it apart and building it back up….until one day we felt it was ready to fly.
SUSANNA: When and how did you submit?
MEGAN: We are represented by John Cusick at Folio Jr. Interesting twist…we originally signed with his wife, Molly at Folio. A few months into the partnership, Molly moved away from agenting into book scouting and we transitioned to working with John. He handles the submission-to-editors process, negotiates the deals, and much more. He’s excellent.
SUSANNA: When did you get “the call”? (Best moment ever! 😊)
MEGAN: From the time we went on submission, to the time we received the offer from Lee and Low, it was about several months. Our agent let us know that there was interest from a few editors, and that those editors would be bringing the project to their acquisition meetings. Oh, to be a fly on the wall at one of those meetings! (SUSANNA: yeah, seriously!)
We received the “call” over email—because the offer letter from our now editor (Jessica Echeverria) was forwarded to us. It was perfect; Jessica understood our vision and intentions for the book so clearly. She connected with the characters from the beginning. And she/Lee and Low offered us a two book-deal which was something we didn’t ask for, but definitely wanted.
SUSANNA: How did you celebrate signing your contract?
MEGAN: We went out to dinner with our son! We share a lot of we do with him (in age-appropriate ways, of course) and he was excited to celebrate “the big deal.”
SUSANNA: Was the contract what you expected in terms of advance, royalty percentage, publication timeline, author copies etc.?
MEGAN: As the author and illustrator, we were happy with the contract terms as this is our debut book. The second book being included was great, because it means that we have the chance to build on all we’ve learned with the Lee and Low team on book 1.
For a few more specifics, the deal is for World Rights. We maintain the copyrights to our work. We receive royalty percentages for both the author and illustrator. We are afforded 20 author copies.
Our agent is entitled to 15%, which is the industry standard.
SUSANNA: What can you tell us about the editorial process?
MEGAN: As mentioned earlier, we went through about ten rounds of revisions with our editor. Many changes were about sharpening; either maximizing the power of a page turn or ensuring a character’s personality was coming through.
The biggest change was to the climax of the story. In our book, Mo Romero is a zombie kid who loves vegetables. He’s different from other zombies, like his parents. As we revised, it became clearer that Mo has to accept his own differences, whether his parents do or not.
SUSANNA: Please tell us about your experience of the illustration process. We’re especially interested because it is different from most authors’ sue to the fact that you work as a team!
MEGAN: We get to see everything! Being an author-illustrator team means that we collaborate very closely, which is not like the typical picture book process. Our submission was a fully illustrated dummy (though not final color), and we revised from there.
Because we submitted this way, we did not include art notes. We do work very closely together to create a cohesive vision for the book.
JORGE: As an artist, my perspective on art notes is to keep them very minimal. Only if there is something truly key to understanding the story that isn’t conveyed in the text. If you have a vision for something, definitely bring it up with your editor. But in general, I think you have to trust the artist and let them bring their own brand of visual storytelling to the project.
SUSANNA: Did you get to see advance reviews from Kirkus, SLJ, etc? What was that like?
MEGAN: We received a starred review from Kirkus about two months prior to publication. It was amazing! We were stunned and probably read it about 30 times, just to make sure it was real. The reviewer really seemed to get our sense of humor which felt wonderful.
SUSANNA: How long did it take from offer to having the first copy in your hand?
MEGAN: Hm…nearly two years!
Quality control – kid tested, kid approved by Megan and Jorge’s son 🙂
SUSANNA: What kind of marketing and promotion has your publisher done for this book?
MEGAN: Lee and Low has sent ZOMBIES DON’T EAT VEGGIES! to multiple media outlets, reviewers, and promoted the book on their social media accounts. We don’t know everything they’re doing behind the scenes, though we can say that their marketing and publicity team is wonderful to work with.
SUSANNA: Describe any marketing/promotion you did for this book.
MEGAN: We made our own book trailer—including the voice-over work! Travis Jonker (Elementary school librarian, writer of THE VERY LAST CASTLE) was kind enough to premiere it on his blog. You can watch the full trailer here:
We’ve shared the trailer in many places and use it often when contacting booksellers, librarians, and media outlets. It took a lot of time and resources, but it’s been a great way to share the story. People love video!
Blog tours—yes, we’re happy to be a part of your blog today, Susanna! We’ve also appeared on several other blogs and will continue to share our story this way throughout the year.
Promotion is an on-going event. We reach out to out least one potential outlet each day…including local magazines, book influencers, pop culture-related sites and more.
We will be attending the Texas Library Association Conference the week of April 15th. We will be doing a panel with several other authors on BIG EMOTIONS IN PICTURE BOOKS. It’s going to be a lot fun—if you’ll be there, we’d love to connect!
Over the coming months, we’ll be visiting schools to share ZOMBIES and our journey as professional creators. We’ll also be doing story times at bookstores and libraries…and more events in the works!
SUSANNA: WOW! You guys are amazing with the marketing/promotion! One potential outlet every day? I need to step up my game! 😊 How long was it between the time you started writing seriously and the time you sold your first picture book?
MEGAN: We’ve been working professionally in entertainment, gaming, and toys for about 15 years. During that time, we’ve always been collaborating on various projects so it’s a bit hard to say. As far as our picture book collaboration journey, it’s been about six years from initial exploration to publication.
SUSANNA: Anything else you’d like to share about your book’s journey from inspiration to publication?
MEGAN: The journey to publication is thrilling, challenging, gratifying, frustrating, and fulfilling. It’s a roller coaster—the highs are amazing and the lows can be quite low. We’ve learned to be patient and kind with ourselves—if you’re on this bookish journey too, prepare for adventure!
SUSANNA: Thank you so much for taking the time to participate in this series and paying it forward to other writers, Megan and Jorge! We all so appreciate it and wish you the best of success with this and future books!
Readers, if you have questions for Megan and Jorge, please post them in the comments below and if they have time I’m sure they’ll respond!
You may purchase Megan and Jorge’s book at:
(all links below are book-specific)
Well folks, it’s Friday, and for me today’s Perfect Picture Book is called Me And My Sister 🙂
Not technically a book…
…but I’ll supply some pictures…
…and it is perfect even though there seems to be a great deal of tomfoolery involved 🙂
Allow me to introduce my partner in crime – the one lying on the floor – trouble if I ever saw it 🙂
Mischievous Grin and New Sidekick
Up To No Good and Definitely Up To No Good!
Miss Innocence and I’ve Got A Dastardly Plan
And even now…
I think it is clear that as a pair we are nothing but monkey business and cannot be trusted to get any work done! 🙂
She is leaving tomorrow – no visit is ever long enough 😦 – but we had a good time even though I didn’t write up a Perfect Picture Book and am now behind on my critiques. No doubt about it – a visit with my sister is well worth the grind of a weekend of catching up on work!
Tonight we will be joined by our brothers to celebrate my dad’s 90th birthday which is still 2 weeks away, but this was the only day we could all be in the same place at the same time, so you can bet there will be plenty of cake around here!
For the rest of you who are actually doing what you’re supposed to be doing… 🙂
PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!
I want to start today’s post with a little something special – just a tiny sneak peek at my new book baby. It had it’s birthday yesterday 🎈🎉🎈
This was kind of a different project for me – a work-for-hire where I turned a grown-up book into a picture book. It was a challenge to make it kid-friendly…and in rhyme! But it was fun and I think the book came out super cute!
Because the idea belonged to someone else, my name appears only on the inside title page…but I did in fact write the words 🙂
illustration copyright Sydney Hanson 2019
Sydney did an absolutely amazing job with the art! So adorable!
illustration copyright Sydney Hanson 2019
Anyway, thank you for indulging me in my little book baby celebration :). I think it would be a great Mother’s Day present for a child, or a new mom, or a not-so-new mom, or a grandmom… 🙂
(It has a companion that will be out in another month in time for Father’s Day… but I won’t force that on you now! 🙂 )
Now then! Down to actual business! First, we have Straight From The Editor for January! You will recall the winner was Dedra with her pitch for Mawbelina Ballerina (PB ages 3-8):
Mawbelina Ballerina is a young weenie dog desperate to go to dance school with her older siblings. Being the youngest of the family frustrates Mawbelina. Not long enough or tall enough to go, she pirouettes and pliés, whines and pouts until she realizes there is time for dance school later. She understands being home with her mom is special. See how she learns a lesson in patience and decides being small can be fun.
Editor Erin Molta says:
This seems like it could be cute but I’d trim it a tad and try to make it more fun, rather than preachy. Perhaps something like below with something more specific—like what does she do with her mother that’s so special, rather than staying home? Do they make dog treats or is her being small a way to help her mother when nobody else can? Something like that SHOWS an editor, rather than tells her.
Mawbelina Ballerina is a young weenie dog desperate to go to dance school with her older siblings. Being the youngest of the family frustrates Mawbelina. Not long enough or tall enough to go, she whines and pouts until she realizes staying home with her mom is special and being small can be fun.
As always, I find Erin’s comments so insightful, and I hope you do too!
Next, I think we can all agree you have earned your Something Chocolate break by listening to me ramble on about my new book! We’re edging toward Easter, and I thought these looked pretty and delicious, so have at them! 🙂
Now then, onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Mary. Mary is a picture book writer who lives in Minnesota, so she’ll be enjoying Spring around mid-July! She can be a goofball, and tends to add one or more layers of humor to her manuscripts. She’s currently in the process of training her dog to be a reading therapy animal. He’s sort of a goofball too, so he may never pass the test. But they’ll have fun trying!
Here is her pitch:
Working Title: April’s Shower
Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 3-7)
The Pitch: Flaming space rocks, smoochy frilly weddings, and pirates are things April is determined to avoid when her mom suggests taking her first shower. Armed with her wild imagination and precise plans, she takes avoidance to a whole new level. When failures and consequences escalate and she ends up covered in mud, sitting in grimy bath water isn’t an option. But this girl can push the very definition of shower to the limit.
So what do you think? Would You Read It? YES, MAYBE or NO?
If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest. If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Mary improve her pitch. Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome. (However I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful. I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks! For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on Would You Read it in the dropdown under For Writers in the bar above. There are openings in June, so you have time to polish your pitch before putting it up for helpful feedback and a chance to have it read and commented on by editor Erin Molta!
Mary is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch! I am looking forward to seeing all my siblings on Friday when we celebrate my dad’s birthday together, a couple weeks early, but when people are traveling from Georgia you gotta do it when you can do it! 🙂
I have to tell you, I love doing these posts so much! So many of the authors who are featured here are writers I have watched come along from their first early steps into the world of writing picture books to their moments of great accomplishment. I have had the opportunity to see how hard they work to improve their craft, research the agent market, polish their work to submit to agents and editors… and to see them keep trying when things didn’t go their way the first… or the fifth… or even the fifteenth time. So I am extra especially thrilled when I get to see their first books in print! 🙂
Today’s Tuesday Debut-ess is a case in point! Talented, determined, and now finally and most deservedly 🌟 published 🌟, I’m delighted to introduce you to Cathy Ballou Mealey and her wonderful picture book, When A Tree Grows!
When A Tree Grows Written by Cathy Ballou Mealey
Illustrated by Kasia Nowowiejska
Sterling Children’s Books, April 2, 2019
Fiction, ages 3-7
WHEN A TREE GROWS is a rollicking read-aloud that follows a zany chain of events triggered by a broken tree, a cranky Bear, a nut-loving Squirrel and his loyal friend Moose.
SUSANNA: First off, how cute is that moose???!!! 🙂 But getting down to serious business now 🙂 where did the idea for this book come from?
CATHY: I was hiking in the woods with my family when we heard a distant creaky Crash! Was it a tree? An animal? We froze, and after a long silence, hiked on. I started wondering: What if that crash had scared a bear or frightened a deer?
Building on that “OR” question, I framed a madcap tale with two different possible outcomes, one rather expected and one funny, unexpected outcome. Readers will find that “OR” spotlighted on the bottom corner of each recto page with a clever curled paper art effect.
SUSANNA: How long did it take you to write this book?
CATHY: My first draft took roughly 6 weeks to complete before I had a preliminary version to share with my critique group and some trusted writing friends.
Cathy’s work buddy 🙂
SUSANNA: Did you go through many revisions?
CATHY: Yes! Those first critiques helped me tighten and distill my draft into a 32 page picture book format. I wrote ideas on sticky notes, plastering them on the back of my door and re-arranging them into funnier scene sequences. I cut sentence strips from my paper draft and pasted them into a book dummy with stick-critter sketches. Trying multiple revision strategies helped me trim text and focus on story.
SUSANNA: When did you know your manuscript was ready for submission?
CATHY: When writer friends kept asking “How is that TREE book coming along? Don’t sit on that too long. Send it out!” I trusted them!
SUSANNA: When and how did you submit?
CATHY: I used Querytracker to find agents accepting picture book manuscripts. My goal was to send out three new queries each week. At the same time, I was polishing two additional manuscripts to have ready in case an agent asked to see more stories.
SUSANNA: When did you get “the call”?
CATHY: The first “call” came in May 2015 when I signed with Liza Fleissig of Liza Royce Agency. After Liza submitted TREE to publishers, we got nice feedback and a request for revision. I revised for about a month, and the new version went to acquisitions at two houses. By December TREE was putting down roots at Sterling Books for Children with editor Meredith Mundy.
SUSANNA:How did you celebrate signing your contract?
CATHY: Since it was just before Christmas, I bought a special acorn ornament to hang on our tree.
SUSANNA: Oh! So pretty! Was the contract what you expected in terms of advance, royalty percentage, publication timeline, author copies etc.?
CATHY: My agent was helpful in explaining technical contract bits that were important but unfamiliar. I also perused online resources for more information about publishing contracts. As others have mentioned, Hannah Holt’s author survey data – shared in her October 2018 Tuesday Debuts post – is current and extremely useful. I’d say my experience on the “business” side for TREE was on par with other debuts for advance, print run, author copies, etc.
SUSANNA: Tell us about the editorial process…
CATHY: The changes I had made during the R&R stage helped polish TREE to a high gloss. Specifically, the friendship angle between Moose and Squirrel deepened, and the visual humor was tweaked to a funnier level. I shared many illustration ideas both in manuscript art notes and by email with the editor and art director. See if you can find what I described as the “I Love Lucy” conveyor belt image!
SUSANNA: Tell us about your experience of the illustration process…
CATHY: I saw sketches and proofs throughout the process, which I never expected but found very exciting! I knew from the thoughtful questions art director Ryan Thomann posed that we shared a vision for how the final illustrations might look.
SUSANNA: Did you get to see advance reviews from Kirkus, SLJ, etc?
CATHY: Kirkus liked it – hooray! The review says “Laugh along as a story about a tree in the forest comes full circle, bringing three creatures along for a bumpy but fun ride.”
SUSANNA: How long did it take from offer to having the first copy in your hand?
CATHY: Three years, four months. Once the PW announcement was released in March 2017, I could officially share the news with everyone that TREE was becoming a book.
SUSANNA: If your book has been out for at least one statement cycle, has it earned out yet?
CATHY: This interview is posting on TREE’s book birthday, so it is too soon to tell.
SUSANNA: What kind of marketing and promotion has your publisher done for this book?
CATHY: Sterling sent TREE to reviewers and journals like Kirkus. They also promoted it to schools and libraries as part of National Parks Month in April with other Sterling titles.
SUSANNA: Describe any marketing/promotion you did for this book.
CATHY: Three cheers for collaborative marketing efforts with my online debut PB groups, the marvelous Epic18’s and splendid Notable19’s. Through blogs, Twitter chats, Instagram, etc we are jointly boosting our debut releases to reach more young readers. I am also grateful to Danielle Davis whose amazing blog This Picture Book Life hosted my cover reveal in November, 2018.
SUSANNA: How long was it between the time you started writing seriously and the time you sold your first picture book?
CATHY: I wrote my first picture book in 2010 for the Cheerios “Spoonful of Stories” contest. I started to attend conferences, classes and workshops and joined SCBWI and the 2012 12X12 Challenge. I felt ready to query agents in 2015. So, approximately 3-4 years of learning and writing in earnest before selling my first book.
SUSANNA: Anything else you’d like to share about your book’s journey from inspiration to publication?
CATHY: I’d like to thank YOU for giving me the opportunity to share some of TREE’s back story here. Ever since entering the very first Halloweensie contest in 2011, I’ve been truly fortunate to learn from, and connect with, like-minded kid lit writers, readers and reviewers right here through Perfect Picture Book Fridays, your seasonal contests, Would You Read It? and Oh Susanna! You have collated a treasure chest of material in your archives that are so helpful to writers. If my Tuesday Debut interview can add even a tiny tidbit to your resources, I am happy!
And you even provided photo-evidence for me that sometimes cute rodents DO stow away on vehicles bound for the city.
the stowaway mouse on Susanna’s car 🙂
SUSANNA: Cathy, it is absolutely my pleasure to provide anything I may have provided that helped you on your way, and I know your Tuesday Debut post will be more than just a “tiny tidbit” for writers who get to read it! Thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your experience so we can all benefit! I know I speak for everyone when I wish you the very best of luck with this book and the many others I’m sure will follow! 🙂
Author Cathy Ballou Mealey Please come connect and say hello! Tell me if you’ve seen a Moose in real life, or if you have ever rescued a friend from an adventure gone awry.
Cathy Ballou Mealey lives with her family north of Boston, where she delights in watching silly squirrel antics and is waiting patiently for a moose to appear. Her favorite nut is the hazelnut and her favorite cupcake is cardamom crème.
Phyllis was kind enough to remind me just now (and I use the term “kind” loosely! 🙂 ) that this is the last Perfect Picture Book Friday before April Fools Day. In her considered opinion, the featured book here today should be APRIL FOOL, PHYLLIS!
But I had already picked out this book which I really want to share, so I kindly reminded her back that the lovely Beth Stilborn already reviewed APRIL FOOL, PHYLLIS! for PPBF and anyone who wants to can go read about it there! (with the added bonus that they get to go to Beth’s! 🙂 ). Phyllis was not completely convinced this was okay, so to make her happy I put the link to Beth’s in here Five Times! 🙂
And now we will get to the book I picked!
Title: Adrian Simcox Does NOT Have A Horse
Written By: Marcy Campbell
Illustrated By: Corinna Luyken
Dial Books, August 2018, fiction
Suitable For Ages: 3-5 (publisher’s suggestion) – I think 6-7 would like it too 🙂
Opening: “Adrian Simcox sits all by himself, probably daydreaming again.”
Brief Synopsis: Adrian Simcox tells anyone who will listen that he has the best and most beautiful horse in the world. Chloe knows he is lying! His house is tiny – he has no room for a horse! His shoes have holes – he has no money for a horse! His lies make her angry. Chloe complains about Adrian to her mother, but instead of vindication, she gets marched over to Adrian’s house where her eyes and her heart are opened to something new.
Why I Like This Book: We have all had experiences where imagination helps lift us out of difficult situations or circumstances. In this poignant, tender story. Adrian doesn’t have much. He lives in a tiny, falling-down house. He has holes in his shoes, and he gets the free lunch at school. But Adrian is a dreamer and he has the most beautiful horse in the world. Chloe lives in a nice house and takes it for granted. She has what she needs, materially. But she has no imagination…and she isn’t always very nice. Adrian helps her to see that it is nicer to be kind than cruel, that understanding someone is better than judging them, and that friendship is something to be treasured. And in the end, Adrian is not the only one with a beautiful horse 🙂 The art is amazing, with the white horse with the golden mane always shown in negative space so she doesn’t necessarily catch your eye immediately, making you wonder if you really see her – a little like imagination itself! A beautiful book all around!
PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!
I hope you’re all feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed today!
I don’t know how many of you are aware of this, but on Friday March 29 – in just 2 days! – the first all-female spacewalk ever is set to take place!
How cool is that?
(And how is it possible that there hasn’t been one before?!)
I confess, I’ve been paying a little more attention than usual to news from space because I have a book coming out June 4 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, and another space-oriented book in the works for next year, and I am fascinated by how amazing all space/NASA-related endeavors are.
Of course, now that she’s heard about an all-female spacewalk, my friend and yours, Punxsutawney Phyllis, wants to try an all-female groundhog spacewalk. I’m not sure she’s going to be able to pull that off, but she says she at least wants a book in which she gets launched somewhere in a rocket!
That’s Phyllis 🙂
I guess I’ll have to put my thinking cap on!
The perfect thing for thinking is Something Chocolate, and the perfect choice for today, given Phyllis’s nutty plan, is clearly Chocolate Peanut Butter Crazy Cake!!! 🙂
If you happen not to be a peanut butter fan, it would be as easy as pie (er, I guess easy as cake? 🙂 ) to make the frosting with almond or cashew butter instead of peanut butter. Either of those would go well with chocolate cake. What doesn’t?! 🙂
Now then, onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Joyce. After decades as an educator and principal, Joyce Uglow has a passion for literacy that lives in stories about acceptance, friendship, and family. A graduate of Children’s Book Academy, she spends time honing her craft via SCBWI, the 12×12 Challenge, the Complete Picture Book Submission System, reading books for children. Find her at the keyboard, in her vineyard or flower gardens, or @jpuglow on Twitter.
Here is her pitch:
Working Title: Will Bear Come Through?
Age/Genre: Picture Book (ABCs) (ages 4-8)
The Pitch: It’s time to enter this year’s Amazing Baking Contest. But, last year Bear devoured their entry. Can the Bakersville animals pull together and bring the trophy back – without Bear? Will Bear Come Through? is a 447-word alphabet picture book complete with recipes for children 4-8 to bake with their family.
So what do you think? Would You Read It? YES, MAYBE or NO?
If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest. If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Joyce improve her pitch. Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome. (However I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful. I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks! For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on Would You Read it in the dropdown under For Writers in the bar above. There are openings in May, so you could get your pitch up pretty soon for helpful feedback and a chance to have it read and commented on by editor Erin Molta!
Joyce is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch! I am looking forward to this weekend when the local weatherfolk and Phyllis are predicting temperatures near 60 degrees!!! 🙂 If that doesn’t make you smile… have some more cake! 🙂
It’s the first Tuesday Debut of Spring, and we’re headed for alligator territory down in Florida! 🙂
Today’s debut author is an accomplished poet whose work I have long enjoyed whenever I see it online or in my writing contests. Not surprisingly, BJ Lee’s first published picture book is in rhyme.
Let’s have a look at Old Gator! 🙂
There Was an Old Gator Who Swallowed a Moth
Written By: B. J. Lee
Illustrated By: David Opie
Pelican Publishing
January 28, 2019
Fiction
Ages 2 – 8
Down in the southern swamps a hungry gator swallows a moth. Of course, he swallows a crab to get the moth! The gator predictably continues swallowing bigger and bigger creatures until the unexpected happens―all over the page!
SUSANNA: Welcome, BJ! I am so thrilled to have you here today, at last celebrating the release of your first picture book! Where did the idea for this book come from?
BJ: I had been working on several There Was an Old… parodies, when my husband and I saw a juvenile alligator riding waves in a local lake. He was completely cute and it struck me that the Gator would make a great MC. I went home and put the other parodies on the back burner.
SUSANNA: How long did it take you to write this book?
BJ: It took about a year and a half to write this book. It took a while to figure out the right animals to use that had the best rhymes. Plus, it went through my critique group a few times.
A glimpse of BJ’s work space…
SUSANNA: Did you go through many revisions?
BJ: I went through many, many revisions. Initially this book was called, There Was an Old Gator Who Swallowed a Skeeter. I really wanted it to have this title; however, I was less than pleased with the rhyme for Skeeter, which was “sweeter.” There was an old Gator who swallowed a Skeeter. What could be sweeter than a silly old Skeeter. I didn’t like this rhyme for two reasons:
It implied that the Gator ate the Skeeter. I didn’t want the connotation of eating, just swallowing.
It didn’t suggest any action. With “moth”, I had the slant rhyme “cough”, which would come in handy at the climax of the story.
SUSANNA: When did you know your manuscript was ready for submission?
BJ: I knew it was ready when I had the feeling that I always got when my college papers were ready – that feeling of I can’t work on this anymore. It’s as good as it can be and I believe I will get an “A.”This feeling that I had in college usually resulted in an “A.”
…and a glimpse of her work buddy, Bijoux 🙂
SUSANNA: When and how did you submit?
BJ: I submitted this directly to one publisher, Pelican Publishing, because I felt that it had the best chance of getting published with Pelican.
SUSANNA: When did you get “the call”? (Best moment ever! 🙂 )
BJ: I sent this manuscript to Pelican Publishing on March 3, 2016 via snail mail. Fairly quickly, I heard back from them asking me if there were any other Florida versions of the story that I knew of. After researching this, I told them that I did not know of any other Florida versions. But no acceptance came.
On July 28, 2016 I heard back from them asking me about school visits that I had done. I replied to this but still no acceptance.
They kept coming back to me with questions about my platform, why my blog was “quiet” (it was quiet because I was taking a hiatus and doing a lot of guest blogging). After each one of these questions was answered, it had to go back into the owners’ meeting for discussion. It was taking a long time. They were checking me out!
On November 1, 2016, Pelican told me that they wanted three months exclusivity. I agreed to this because I could see they were very interested, and because this book had such a regional flavor, I thought I had the best chance for getting it published with Pelican.
I status queried on February 1, 2017 and received an acceptance on April 15, 2017.
I received the acceptance by email and opened the email just as my husband was coming in the door from work. I was trying to scream out, “Gator, gator!” but the only thing coming out of my mouth was a croak. My husband rushed in because he thought something was wrong with me. There was! My debut picture book had at last been accepted. What a moment!
SUSANNA: Wow! That is very interesting. I think you’re the first author I’ve run into who has been quite so thoroughly checked out as to your school visit potential and social media presence before a manuscript acceptance. Now I’m curious as to how regular this is, and/or whether it’s specific to regional publishers!
SUSANNA: How did you celebrate signing your contract?
BJ: My husband and I went out to a local restaurant that serves alligator – Café on the Bayou – but I couldn’t bring myself to *swallow* any alligator as I am mostly vegetarian, or at least I was at the time.
SUSANNA: I think I’m glad you didn’t swallow any gator 🙂 Was the contract what you expected in terms of advance, royalty percentage, publication timeline, author copies etc.?
BJ: Yes, the contract is what I expected as a debut author. I’m not comfortable discussing my advance or royalty structure but I can tell you I received five author copies plus Pelican will send out five or more copies as giveaways.
SUSANNA: Can you tell us about a little about the editorial process?
BJ: There were no changes to the story, except punctuation. Yes, I felt that the editor had a great vision for the story.
SUSANNA: How was your experience of the illustration process?
BJ: Because Pelican had taken a year to accept this book, they offered to let me suggest an illustrator. I gave them two suggestions but neither one of them worked out because the illustrators were not available due to contractual obligations. As this process was going on, Pelican told me they thought they had found the perfect illustrator. When they sent me David Opie’s name and I looked at his website and saw all the alligators he had drawn, I was glad that the illustrators I suggested had not been available because David Opie was perfect for this project.
I got to see the character sketch first, which was very valuable to me because I could see that Pelican’s vision and the illustrator’s vision aligned with my own for the book. After that, I got to see all the sketches, which pretty much blew me away. I also got to see proofs and the final e-galley.
I appreciate that David Opie got my humor and nailed the character of Old Gator. He’s an extraordinary visual storyteller. I couldn’t be happier and there is nothing I would change.
I did not have any art notes in the manuscript.
No wonder BJ loves her illustrator! 🙂
SUSANNA: Did you get to see advance reviews from Kirkus, SLJ, etc?
BJ: I did not get to see any advance reviews.
SUSANNA: How long did it take from offer to having the first copy in your hand?
BJ: It took approximately one year and 10 months from offer to first copy in hand, although it took over a year to get the acceptance.
SUSANNA: What kind of marketing and promotion has your publisher done for this book? BJ: I know that they are sending out books for reviews and contacting bookstore reps. Honestly, I don’t know all of what they are doing. Thank you for reminding me to touch base with my publicists about it.
SUSANNA: Describe any marketing/promotion you did for this book.
BJ: I have done a ton of marketing for my book. I have made bookmarks, postcards, coloring books, individual coloring pages, an alligator craft, mini-posters, mini-notebooks, and business cards with the book cover on them which I hand out liberally to people I meet. I have done and am still on my blog tour. I stretched it out rather than do it all in one week or two weeks. I have done giveaways. But perhaps most importantly, I arranged a wonderful book launch at Boyd Hill nature preserve with the help of my local bookstore, Tombolo Books. It was a lot of work but it was definitely worth it and the illustrator, David Opie, was here for the event, which happened on March 10, 2019. I have also had two radio interviews.
SUSANNA: How long was it between the time you started writing seriously and the time you sold your first picture book?
BJ: It’s taken me 10 years to get a picture book accepted for publication since I started writing seriously for children. However, I have had poetry published/forthcoming in 17 poetry anthologies from such publishers as Bloomsbury, Little, Brown, National Geographic and Wordsong, to name a few and eight adult poetry anthologies.
SUSANNA: BJ, thank you so much for joining us today and taking the time to share your experience with all of us! I know I speak for everyone when I wish you the very best with Old Gator!
Author BJ Lee
Here is my website and also my social media links:
Woo hoo! It’s Perfect Picture Book Friday (and therefore nearly the weekend! 🙂 )
I saw the cover and the premise of the book I’m sharing today and thought I would like it, so I opened it eagerly. Sometimes in that situation I am disappointed by the outcome, my initial expectation not quite met. But this one more than lived up to it’s promise! It turned out to be really fun and well done and I love it, and I hope you guys will all get a chance to read it!
Title: Holy Squawkamole!
Written By: Susan Wood
Illustrated By: Laura Gonzalez
Sterling Children’s Books, March 5, 2019, fiction
Suitable For Ages: 3 and up
Themes/Topics: fractured folktale, hard work, self-reliance, persistence
Opening: “One day, Little Red Hen was hungry for guacamole. She looked around her cozy cocina. She had masa and cumin. She had beans and queso. But she didn’t have any avocados. And there’s no guacamole without avocados!”
Brief Synopsis: In a new twist on an old favorite, the Little Red Hen (gallinita roja) is craving guacamole. She asks her friends Armadillo, Iguana, Coati, and Snake to help her, but none of them are so inclined…though they are all willing to help eat it once it’s made! Little Red Hen goes quietly about her business, and when the guacamole is ready, she kindly shares it. But there’s a bit of a surprise for her friends!
Links To Resources: the back of the book includes “The Story of Guacamole”, a recipe so you can try out making your own Holy Sqauwkamole, and a glossary that tells about the animals, the Spanish words used, and any other terms that may be unfamiliar to young readers.
Why I Like This Book: I love that within the familiar framework of The Little Red Hen we get a brand new story. Spanish words are sprinkled throughout the text in such a way as to make them understandable in context (though there is also a glossary in the back just in case.) Just as the original story teaches the reader a little something about what goes into baking bread, this version tells us in a fun way about the ingredients and the process of making guacamole. While the original story uses farmyard animals, this one introduces us to Armadillo, Iguana, Coati, and Snake. The art is warm, bright, and inviting – perfect for the story – and gallinita roja’s little surprise at the end (a chili pepper! 🙂 ) will have young readers giggling at the expressions on the friends’ faces as they exclaim, “Holy Squawkamole!” 🙂
PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!
There may not be any grass to walk barefoot in quite yet (at least not in my neck of the woods! 🙂 ) but a little Whoopie Pie indulgence on the back porch in the sunshine works just fine!
Have two! 🙂
Now then, onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Sarah, whom you will remember from several previous pitches (but not the same Sarah as last week!) Sarah says, “I am an Optometrist, mother, and lover of the outdoors. I live in NH with my husband and two children. I love to paint in my free time, when I’m not writing.”
The Pitch: Matt, Bratt, and Scit-Scat are three rat friends who leave the rat pack and find their own feast. They become trapped in a trash receptacle. Nudging not a budge, that can just won’t take a shake. The whole pack is summoned, and the friends re-think their initial plan.
So what do you think? Would You Read It? YES, MAYBE or NO?
If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest. If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Sarah improve her pitch. Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome. (However I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful. I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks! For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on Would You Read it in the dropdown under For Writers in the bar above. There is one opening left in May, and more in June, so you have a little time to polish your pitch before putting it up for helpful feedback and a chance to have it read and commented on by editor Erin Molta!
Sarah is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch! I am looking forward to seeing a PDF of my long-awaited ALPHABEDTIME! It’s been promised, and hasn’t arrived yet, but it could at any minute! You never know! Keep your fingers crossed! 🙂
Susanna Leonard Hill 
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