Category: Phyllis’s World Tour

Meet Iza Trapani, Author/Illustrator – And A Giveaway!

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Happy Monday Everyone!  I hope you all had a lovely weekend!

You know, I struggle a little with this blog schedule.  On the one hand, I don’t want to post more than three days a week.  On the other hand, I don’t want to cram so much into a post that you the one look at all that text and skip on to the next blog (I know – I haven’t quite mastered that one :)).  On the other hand, I don’t want to post twice in a day because that’s as bad as adding a day –  I know how busy everyone is, how many great blogs there are to read out there, and how limited your time is.  On the other hand (I believe we’re up to four hands now… so you see the struggle!) there’s is so much to share!!!  I had thought I could solve one problem by posting the monthly interviews on Saturday or Sunday, but I didn’t like that and neither, I think, did you.  We all need a break.  So I’m booting Oh Susanna this week and putting the interview in here.

And oh I have such a treat for you today!  Please join me in welcoming the incomparable Iza Trapani!

SLH:  When did you first become interested in writing and/or illustrating?  Was it something you always did, or something you came to later in life?
Author/Illustrator Iza Trapani
IT:  I have been an artist since I could hold a pencil in my hand (or lipstick for that matter; as a toddler, I used my mom‘s lipstick to paint a masterpiece on our wall.) I have also always enjoyed writing, especially poetry. In high school and college, while art was my main focus, I took as many creative writing courses as I could.
SLH:  Were you encouraged by family/teachers?
IT:  Yes, as long as I stayed away from the lipstick, my family encouraged me. They read and sang to me and instilled in me a lifelong love of art, language and music. Friends and teachers did as well, throughout my whole life. Their belief in me has always been and continues to be empowering.
SLH:  You are both an author and an illustrator.  Which comes first for you, the story or the art?
        
IT:  The story comes first, but I  envision the pictures as I write it. I want to be sure that the story suggests wonderful imagery and that scenes vary from page to page.
SLH:  Where/when/how do you get your ideas?
At the most inopportune times- in the middle of the night, in the shower, when I am driving…The idea for my first children‘s book, What am I? An Animal Guessing Game came to me  when I was on  a long mountain bike ride twenty-two years ago. When a turtle crosed the trail in front of me, I made up a little rhyming riddle about him. By the time I returned home an hour or so later, I had the book roughed out and some of the verses composed.  I  never really thought of myself as a writer until that point.  I had a portfolio packed with children‘s book art but not one story. And then one day (thank you turtle), I tapped into that part of my brain, and after that ideas kept pouring out.
SLH:  What has been the most challenging thing you have faced as an author/illustrator?
IT:  Maybe two things: The waiting- hearing back from editors and art directors, waiting for the book to be printed, waiting for reviews, waiting for royalty statements…The other challenge is  having my illustrations in progress (especially covers) reviewed by, not just the art director and editor, but the marketing team, the sales team, the editorial departments etc. I am very easy to work with and totally open to viable suggestions, but after a while it becomes “art by committee.” Have you ever heard the expression that “ a camel is a horse that was designed by a committee?” Well, it‘s something like that!
SLH:  What has been the most wonderful thing that has happened to you as an author/illustrator?
IT:  I can‘t put my finger on one thing. There have been so many exciting and gratifying moments. What warms my heart the most is the love and loyalty from my generous fan base – the parents, the early educators, the children, the supportive fellow authors, like you, Susanna. I have met so many wonderful people on this great journey!
SLH:  What has been your best selling book so far?
IT:  The Itsy Bitsy Spider. I am proud (and amazed) to say it has sold over a million copies  and is still going strong.
SLH:  Why do you think that might have been?
IT:  Timing might have had something to do with it. There weren‘t many retellings of nursery rhymes at the time (that I know of ) and so I found a niche in the market. The book became instantly popular with teachers, especially Pre-K to K. I had very positive feedback from early educators telling me how useful the book was in teaching young children to read – that the kids recognized the title so they were eager to look inside the book, that they already knew the first verse so that gave them confidence to learn the other verses. Plus the book could be sung for even easier learning.

SLH:  Were you surprised by one book’s success over another’s?
IT:  With over twenty years of practice, both my writing and illustration have improved, so it surprises me that my fifteenth book, Froggie Went A-Courtin’, which has some of my best artwork, is not doing anywhere near as well as my second book,  The Itsy Bitsy Spider.
SLH:  Have all your titles earned out?
IT:  Fifteen of the seventeen books that I haveboth written and illustrated have earned out. I have also illustrated four books for other authors and two of those have earned out.
SLH:  Are they all still in print?
IT:  All but one of my titles, a non-nursery rhyme book, My Jack are still in print. Of the four books I illustrated for other authors, only one, The Wedding by Eve Bunting, is still in print.  I have worked with small presses, who keep books in print longer than some of the big houses. My books have had a long run. I have been very lucky.

SLH:  Have sales affected publishers’ willingness to do further projects in a good or bad way?
IT:  The publishing world is in such a sea of change right now and publishers are wary and much more discriminating. It’s a very tough market right now- even for those of us with good track records.
SLH:  Can you give us any hints about what you’re working on now?

IT:  I have a new book coming out Apri11, 2012- The Bear Went Over the Mountain. As for works in progress, I have a few children’s stories brewing and am  also working on the last chapter of an adult(maybe YA) memoir.

SLH:  What advice do you have for authors/illustrators just starting out?

IT:  Spend A LOT of time reading and studying children’s books. Read adult books on writing and/or illustrating. Practice and work hard on your stories and art. Take classes, workshops, join a critique group. Look honestly at your work and polish it to the best of your ability before submitting. There is a wealth of information on the internet. Check out writing/illustrating blogs.  Join the SCBWI  (society for children’s book writers and illustrators)who offer great advice and opportunities for those hoping to become published.

SLH:  Where can we find you?
IT:  My website: www.izatrapani.com
My blog: http://izatrapani.com/blog
My Facebook Page: Iza Trapani author/illustrator
Twitter: @IzaTrapani

And now the quick, fun questions for the end! 🙂

Agented or not? agented
Traditionally or self-published? traditionally
Hard copy or digital? hard copy
Apps or not? no
Left-handed or right?  I”m a rightie (hands only :-), though I have suspicions I was born leftie and my parents raised me to use my right hand. I lead with my left hand in so many things…Long answer!
Plotter or pantser? plonster
Laptop or desktop? laptop
Mac or PC? Mac
Day or night worker? day
Coffee or tea? Both
Snack or not? Snack
Salty or sweet? Yes!
Quiet or music? quiet when writing/music when illustrating
Cat or dog? One of each (although – SLH here – I’ve seen her dog and he’s more like a pony :))
Currently reading? Besides blogs? 🙂 Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman

Thank you so much for joining us, Iza!

And now, as if that very informative interview wasn’t enough, you all have a chance to win a signed, hardcover copy of Iza’s brand new book which isn’t even officially out until April 1!!!  To qualify, leave a comment below in which (in addition to whatever else you might or might not say) you include 4 rhyming lines about a bear 🙂  Qualified comments will be loaded into random.org and one lucky winner will receive The Bear Went Over The Mountain before the rest of the world 🙂

Now, very quickly before we go:
1.  Look for Phyllis’s visit to Saskatchewan on Beth’s blog tomorrow (Tuesday, March 20) – it promises to be quite something!
2.  I will be featured on Children’s Literature Network’s new feature – Bookscope: The Story Behind The Story – with the story behind Not Yet, Rose tomorrow also! (link will be added when I have it!)
3.  Phyllis had an AMAZING visit to Missouri which you won’t want to miss (especially if you’re a CARS fan :)) so please visit Andi 🙂  And be sure to check in with Phyllis’s World Tour page for updates between blog posts here!

Thank you all for visiting with Iza!  Now write those 4 rhyming lines about a bear 🙂 – you could WIN!!!  (Oh, and please get your rhyming lines in by 5 PM EDT Tuesday March 20 – the winner will be announced Wednesday!)


Perfect Picture Book Friday – The Quiltmaker’s Gift Plus Straight From The Editor #6

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Boy has his week flown past!  It may have something to do with trying to keep up with a certain wanderlust groundhog who is cavorting about the globe in a way that suggests time has no meaning 🙂  But before we catch up with Phyllis, let’s relax for a moment with today’s Perfect Picture Book.

The Quiltmaker’s Gift
Written By: Jeff Brumbeau
Illustrated By: Gail de Marcken
Pfeifer-Hamilton Publishers, 2000, Fiction

Suitable For: ages 4-8 (publisher’s rec, but text-heavy so maybe preferable for older end or kids with a good attention span.)

Themes/Topics: generosity, greed, helping others

Opening: “There was once a quilt maker who kept a house in the blue misty mountains up high.  Even the oldest great, great grandfather could not recall a time when she was not up there, sewing away day after day.  Here and there and wherever the sun warmed the earth, it was said she made the prettiest quilts anyone had ever seen.”

Brief Synopsis:  A kind-hearted quilt maker makes the most beautiful quilts the world has ever seen, but rather than sell them she gives them away to the poor.  When a greedy king wants one, he must learn the joy of giving before he can hope to receive.

Links To Resources: The end papers of the book show numerous quilt patterns by picture and name, and the inside of the dust jacket has a fabulous illustration where kids (and grown-ups :)) can search for all the items given away by the king – the ultimate hidden picture!  Here is a Teacher’s Guide suitable for upper elementary.  And here is The Quiltmaker’s Gift Website which is full of great resources including puzzles and games, stories of generosity from around the globe, and many other things – even a book on how to make the quilts pictured.

Why I Like This Book:  Although this book got rather luke warm reviews, I love it, and my children all loved it.  It’s one of an increasingly rarer breed of picture book these days – the kind with more than 500-1000 words.  As such, it’s better suited to the older end of the picture book age group (or good listeners) and I love picture books that fall into that category.  The language is lyrical, the pictures are gorgeous and full of details, and the story has a nice message about what is really important in life.

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Next up is our latest Straight From The Editor with Erin Molta.

Here’s what Erin had to say:

This seems like it will be cute. Just a couple of minor suggestions.
(Original pitch): Three frolicking baby giraffes try to find a place to play on a hot and crowded savannah. They find it isn’t an easy task. They run into a troop of baboons, a dazzle of zebras, and a pride of lions. At last, they turn to the river, only to be confronted by hippopotami. Our giraffes find fun and friendship at the end of a long a grueling day.
Confronted indicates confrontational and doesn’t provide quite the right lead-in to, “Our giraffes finding fun and friendship . . .”  so you need to say something like, “Finally, the giraffes find fun and friendship. . .” or mention what it is that the giraffes did to change the hippos’ minds so that they are welcomed rather than confronted. It would also be cool if you added the group name for hippopotami (bloat, herd, pod?)

I hope everyone finds something helpful to take away!

Finally, I hope you’ve all been keeping up with that whirlwind Phyllis!  I can’t believe how wonderful all her hostesses have been so far!  They have been showing her SUCH a good time.  She is seeing the sights and learning all about the USA – geography, history, fashion 🙂 (yes, leave it to Phyllis to try to figure out how to wear her sombrero and her coonskin cap at the same time!)  If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out Phyllis’s World Tour on the tab above, as well as Kirsten‘s, Natalie’s First, Second and Third, Kelly‘s, and Hannah‘s posts detailing Phyllis’s visits to California, Texas, Florida, and Colorado!  They have all taken Phyllis to wonderful places, and been so creative, and posted such fantastic photos, I urge you all to take a look when you have a spare minute.  Phyllis also left for New Zealand and the UK this morning, and arrived in Missouri around noon.  It would seem the space-time continuum does not apply to her 🙂

Keep your eye on Phyllis’s World Tour tab which will be updated even when it’s not a posting day here, and tune in next week for more adventures.  Also, on Monday, instead of Oh Susanna, we will have a visit from the delightful Iza Trapani for our monthly interview which promises to be amazing!

PPBF bloggers, please add your post-specific links to the list below!  Have a great weekend everybody!

Would You Read It Wednesday – The 31st Pitch, More Awards… And A Surprise!!!

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Golly!  I’m so excited my fingers are literally tripping over the key board, so please forgive me if I make a lot of typos!  And no, it is not because I am over caffeinated.  Or over chocolated.  Yet.  (Although I do have a cup of coffee and a chocolate croissant near to hand lest I become faint whilst typing :))

First, I have been honored with more awards!  The lovely Clar has give me The Sunshine Award and The Kreativ Blogger Award.  Thank you so much Clar!  As I responded to awards just a week ago, I will refrain from boring you all again, but I did place the awards in my left sidebar with thanks to everyone who gave them to me.  And you know my policy with passing awards on – I think you all deserve them, so help yourselves! 🙂 (You can lift them from the sidebar.)

And, this just in, the wonderful Christie at Write Wild has awarded me the Pot ‘O Gold Blogger Award – such a prestigious honor!  There are rules about accepting which I’m not going to manage just now because this post is already long and I added this in after I wrote it, but I wanted to acknowledge and thank her for the award and all her kind words!  Thank you, Christie!  (I’m going to pop the award in the sidebar for now because I’m not posting on it properly but do take a look! – so pretty!)

Next, I want to update you on Phyllis’s World Tour.

WOW is she having a blast!  She has already been to The Golden State With Kirsten, The Sunshine State With Kelly, and The Lone Star State With Natalie, and has arrived at Pam Courtney’s young literacy programs in The Peach Tree State!  Last I heard she was headed for The Show Me State as well as back to The Golden State.  (Bonus points to anyone who can identify the states by their nicknames.  There will be a quiz on April 1st :))

You can follow all her travels with photos and weather reports on her new special tab above:  Phyllis’s World Tour.  But for your extra convenience here’s a little sneak peek:

Here she is, lounging in what the locals refer to as “some sort of palm tree”
– I believe that is a botanical term 🙂
And here she is modeling her sombrero, which I have a
sneaking suspicion she plans never to take off!  Ever!

Thanks to everyone who has hosted her so far.  I hope she has been behaving herself!

Now, before we get to Would You Read It, I have a surprise for you!  Actually, it was a surprise for me, too!  Yesterday afternoon, I opened an email from the lovely Donna Farrell (you all remember her from her interview, right?  My multi-talented web designer?)  Well!

LOOK WHAT SHE MADE US!!!

illustrations copyright Jeff Ebbeler
badge designed by Donna Farrell

Is this a thing of complete beauty and awesomeness or what???!!!  And I didn’t even ask her (although I had been thinking about making a badge and who I should ask to design it.)  Apparently, in addition to her creative talents, she is also a mind reader 🙂  I love this so much I want to make stickers… and bookmarks… and car magnets… maybe a billboard in Times Square 🙂

Anyway, I will be plastering it anywhere I can possibly get away with it, including but not limited to my blog sidebar and the Phyllis World Tour page and FB and maybe a huge one for my living room and perhaps a flag on Blueberry Hill, and you are all welcome to share it too!  But would you kindly do me a favor if you use it and mention that the illustrations copyright is to Jeff Ebbeler and the badge was designed by Donna Farrell?  Because they deserve the credit!

You have NO IDEA how hard it was for me not to post this on FB the second I got it.  I hope you’re all admiring my self-restraint 🙂  I think it’s so incredibly perfect!  (The badge, I mean, not my self-restraint!) (You probably couldn’t tell that from the amount of gushing :))

Okay.  Now we have to get down to business.  Sorry, Miranda for keeping you waiting!  It’s time for Would You Read It, and this week’s post is from the wonderful Miranda who has just returned from The Gambia!  Miranda Paul is an author who began her career studying aquatic biology and other oddities.  Now a mother, picture book writer, and editor, she splits her time between getting splashed by her kids, wading through revision, and drowning in submissions at Rate Your Story.  Read more at: Miranda’s Website and Miranda’s Blog.

Here is her pitch:

Working Title:  Reef Stew
Age/Genre:  Rhyming Picture Book ages 4-8
The Pitch:  When a shipwreck destroys their reef, the shellfish grow selfish and every creature’s a crab.  Can Whale stir up happiness with a single piece of stony coral?  Filled with slurps, burps, and spicy sargassum, this quirky version of a classic tale will send ripples of laughter through any school of young guppies.

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 Miranda 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 the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  Go ahead and send your pitch for a chance for it to be read by editor Erin Molta!

Miranda is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!

And please stay tuned for more exciting updates from Phyllis! 🙂

Phyllis’s World Tour Begins! And Oh Susanna – What Is An "Editorial" Agent?

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Holy high and dry, Batman!

Phyllis has been sighted in the Mojave Desert!!!

It’s true!  She made the first stop on her World Tour (really, something as incredible as a World Tour has to be capitalized :)) at Kirsten’s house.  Kirsten and her family gave Phyllis a warm welcome and showed her a truly amazing time, including some important firsts for her:

First Time Piloting An F-117 Night Hawk

As you can see, this picture was taken after she had successfully landed the plane.  That Phyllis is a born pilot 🙂

First Time In A Joshua Tree

Actually, it was the first time she had even SEEN a Joshua Tree.  This picture was taken after she climbed down because furry brown groundhogs don’t show up well against furry brown bark.  But in case you didn’t know, groundhogs are members of the squirrel family and they can climb!

For a detailed post on Phyllis’s first stop in California, hop on over to Kirsten’s blog.  (For those of you ahead of me in time zone, or any other early birds, if the link doesn’t work right away it’s because Kirsten is 3 hours behind me and her post may not be up yet, and I won’t have a post-specific link until later today – but I will update the link, I promise!)

Phyllis is now on her way to Texas, where I hear Natalie has wonderful things in store for her visit.  We will keep you posted.  And by gum, I’d better get that extra tab up top pretty durn soon! *scribbles on very long to-do list!*

After all that excitement, you can probably barely concentrate on regular life, but let’s give it a try.  Most likely some chocolate would help, even though it’s not Wednesday 🙂

Today’s Oh Susanna question comes to us from Penny.  She says:

“When I have searched the internet in search of agents, some sites point out that some agents are more editorial than others.  What exactly does this mean?  Will an agent actually make specific changes to your manuscript or will they give general feedback and have you make the changes?”

This question is both easy and hard to answer.

From the easy side:  Yes.  To both.

Some agents are quite “editorial”.  They read a MS and give very specific suggestions for change and improvement.  I’m sure it is up to the author to actually make those changes, but they are quite specifically suggested in some cases, and the understanding is that without the changes the agent won’t send the MS out.

Other agents are not editorial at all.  They read a MS and say, “Yes, I’ll send it out,” or “No, this one doesn’t work for me,” end of conversation.

Still other agents fall somewhere in the middle.  They may give a broader, less specific suggestion, for example, “Change the beginning,” or, “It needs more emotional tension,” or “Give me a better idea of who exactly Jenny is” but they don’t give you suggestions as to how to achieve that, or any kind of specific details.

The harder side of the question is how to find out how “editorial” an agent is when you’re looking and thinking about submitting to them, and what kind of agent/amount of editorializing works best for you, which you may not know until you’ve gotten a little further in to the publishing process.

Some writers want a lot of hand-holding.  They like agents who will give them a lot of very specific feedback.  Other writers can’t bear to have someone else monkeying so much with their work.  (Still others would never dream of having an agent at all, but that is a whole nother issue!)

Finding the right agent is about so many things – personality, taste, and amount of editorializing being some of the key questions you need to address.  It’s especially difficult because it’s possible that the only agent offers you get might be from people whose style doesn’t match yours.  Then you have to think long and hard about what you really want.

For my part, I do have an agent.  (As you can see in my sidebar – Liza Voges of Eden Street Lit :))  She has a lot of experience, an encyclopedic knowledge of the publishing world, and a keen sense for what works and what doesn’t.  I would rank her somewhere in between on the editorializing scale.  If I send her a MS she thinks she can’t sell, she’ll just say so.  If it doesn’t work, she won’t waste my time or hers trying to force the issue.  If I send her a MS she thinks is really strong, she sends it out.  If I send her one where she feels there’s potential but I haven’t pulled it off right, she’ll give me a general comment like, “Try to write it more from the baby’s POV” or “The end is too abrupt.”  Then it’s up to me to figure out how to make changes that will make the MS work for her.  Sometimes I can, and sometimes I can’t.

No matter who your agent is, though, they won’t (and shouldn’t) do your job for you.  It is up to you to give them only your very best work.  Too many half-baked, sloppy MSS will find you looking for a new agent.

I know a number of people who read this blog have agents.  It would be wonderful if you would share your thoughts and experiences in the comments for readers to learn from!  If you can share your agent’s name and how “editorial” she/he is, I’m sure that would be very helpful to people starting their search!
Others of you, what would you look for?  Would you prefer a lot of editorializing or a little?