FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I’m thrilled you have a story in your pocket. Here’s a little bit of what I know about making books.

I have this book … you make books … How do I get published?

I don’t have a secret key to the publishing world. (Who told you I did?!) You’ll hear this a lot, but it’s true: every person’s path to publishing is unique. Like grains of sand on the beach … Yes, exactly like that.

I’ll start by sharing a bit of my story. I worked toward this my entire life. No joke. I’ve always been a lover of books and have known I wanted to make them. I’ve been studying children’s books, authors and illustrators since I was a tiny human falling in love with books like David Small’s Imogene’s Antlers and Peggy Parish’s Amelia Bedelia. (I could go on and on … )

When I taught high school science and English I was always having students read picture books and collaborate to make their own books. I cofounded the youth writing center, Read and Write Kalamazoo, that’s centered around amplifying and celebrating youth voices. I’ve got a few decades under my belt of experimenting with art and writing down ideas in the middle of the night, scribbling stories while kids were napping, and sketching characters during lunch at work.

Being an author/illustrator is now my full time job.

But for real, how do I get my book published?

OK, yes. I don’t know exactly, but here are some tips that can help:

• Read a lot of children’s books. Try to read all of them. Span the history of time, past and present. And if you can read future books, do that too. Study page turns and word count, dialogue and pacing. This is your new hobby.

• Commit to your art—writing and/or illustration— in a regular routine. Every day is ideal, but carve out whatever time works for you. Have your friend keep you accountable. “Sally,” your friend would say if that’s your name. “How’s your book coming? What are you working on? I believe in you, Sally!” Making time for it can be difficult, and you’ll have to sacrifice some stuff along the way. But if you’re serious about this, you’ll be willing to make the time, Sally.

• You’ll need an agent. Most publishing houses don’t take unsolicited work, so agents are working hard to get your work connected with the right editor/publishing house. I can’t begin to share all that I learn from my agent. Her guidance and support are crucial to my growth as a professional book creator.

• What authors/illustrators do you love? GOOGLE who represents those creators. And then GOOGLE their agency and read all about said agency’s submission process. (They’re all different!) THEN, you’ll think, “Ah. Submit a query letter … what is a query letter?” You will then GOOGLE “How to write a query letter to an agent” and you’ll learn all about that and find examples of great query letters (This is not an ad for GOOGLE, I promise)

• Don’t pay people up front for anything, whether it be to help you find an agent, to represent you as an agent, to GOOGLE anything for you, or to publish your book*

  *I don’t know about self-publishing, so that may be an exception? GOOGLE THAT

• Find people in your area that are into this sort of thing. Befriend a bookstore. (Preferably the folks that work there. Booksellers are the best people.) Find a writers’ group, and if one doesn’t exist where you are, you should make one. Become a member of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). You’ll find your people there, and can plug into regional and national conferences. I’m a proud member!

• You got this, Sally!

That sounds like a lot of work. It’s like a job! I just think my book needs to be in the world.

It is my job! And you’re right, it’s a lot of work. I am grateful to be able to do this work.

This may feel incredibly blunt, but I promise it comes from a place of kindness: Most book ideas for a book aren’t great. The really wonderful books we all know and love are so good they make this work seem deceptively easy. I’m constantly coming up with terrible ideas for books, and spending a long time working on the ones that I hope will see the light of day.

Heads up: the “Well, it’s a book for kids … how hard can it be to write a book for kids?!” attitude is the worst. If you’re thinking that, then I don’t think writing books for kids is for you. Successful authors and illustrators respect the audience—kids are a wildly intelligent, open and curious readers, ready and worthy of complex, experimental, nuanced stories. They will see through any and all stories that suggest otherwise.

And well, there are trends and algorithms and tiny elves who whisper in editor’s ears which books they’d like to see published. I’m not encouraging you to try to jump on any trends, you should tell the story you want to tell. I’m just saying that most things in the publishing industry are out of your control. The book that’s in your head right now may be a wonderful story … and may never see bookshelves. And that’s okay. Don’t be hurt if an elf doesn’t whisper your name. Keep at it. Listen. And then keep at it some more. Check back in with that list above and look for ways to improve your art and storytelling.