I wanted to start this writing journey with some new picture book buzz. It is spring, the flowers are blooming, the birds are singing and the bees are buzzing. I am writing a new picture book and I am buzzing with excitement. Writing is my passion, especially writing for children and with children. Many of you might be thinking about writing a picture book, but are not yet ready to take the leap. I encourage you to subscribe to this blog and follow my journey. I am sure there will be some twists and turns and possibly a bump or two along the way.
Know Your Why
Every author should know their “why”. Why are you writing a children’s book? If you why is you want to make money, know starting out that you will not make much money as an author. If your why is because you want to be famous, writing a book will not make you famous. Well, you will be famous to your family and friends! Each of you has a story that someone needs to hear and only you can tell that story. Just be sure to know your why!
Children are my why. I write my picture books for children. I have spent my entire life with children. First, as an elementary school teacher, then as a parent and most recently as a teacher educator . I have enjoyed watching young children pick up books and turn the pages pretending to read. There’s nothing better than watching toddlers climb up on someone’s lap to have a story read aloud to them. Watching the faces of children as they learn to read has brought me joy for years. I love when children question something they have read and engage and relate to the story they are reading. Clearly, Children are my Why.
New Picture Book
For those of you who are familiar with Gertie Saves the Day, I am sure you are hoping it will be another Gertie book. I am sorry to say, not yet. Yet, leaves the possibility open. I do want to write more stories with Gertie and Jeff. This new book will be very different, it is a passion project I have been working on for years. My daughter is an acupuncturist and would like to have more children as clients. Children receive many vaccines when they are young that both children and adults fear needles will hurt. Acupuncture needles do not hurt, they heal, but any child that hears the word needle and runs. Since my daughter is an acupuncturists we decided to collaborate and co-write the book.
We have researched other books on the topic and there are several that teaching children about acupuncture. We would like to try something different in our story. I started writing this book about 3 years ago and it has been through at least 12-15 different revisions and edits. I have sent it to numerous traditional publishers and while they agree the topic is an important one, it did not meet their current needs.
Self Publishing to the Rescue
You may recall that my first book, Gertie Saves the Day, was published by Miriam Laundry Publishing. Miriam graciously opened a new cohort of writers for those who would like to publish a second book. This is her Publishing Mastermind Pro. I talk about her Master Class here and Miriam was a guest blogger here. Needless to say I am a big fan of Miriam, her courses and her staff. Please check out these links if you are thinking of writing and publishing a children’s book. Joining this course has given me peace of mind and I know that this new book will be in good hands.
And so it begins…
Requests …
I am so glad you’re here and so grateful that I can share this journey with you. I really do believe that the world needs your story to be told.
I’m looking forward to helping in any way that I can. And speaking of helping — please leave a comment below and let me know what questions you have about picture book writing.
If know someone who might be interested in this content, please forward this blog post to them and encourage them to subscribe to the website. My website has many valuable resources for children and adults.
Enjoy your day!