Book bebop

January 14, 2025 — I was invited to present my book at Literacy Night at the St. Fabian Catholic School, Farmington Hills, which was today. If it wasn’t for Tim, my honorary agent, I wouldn’t be able to do events this far from home because of my driving limitations. I’m so appreciative of his support. I began this morning with a stiff neck, who knows why, but I’d made a commitment to them, so I pushed myself to get through it. Thankfully, the weather alert for snow and slippery roads wasn’t too bad. 

I met Nancie Jahshan, the assistant principal, who contacted me about Lit Night at the Northville book event I took part in last year. The contacts and networking at these events is great and it’s evident how they build on each other. An author, Suzanne Jacobs Lipshaw, from the Northville (and Ann Arbor) event I attended, was also there today. Her new book, The Super Volcano: A Hidden Hero Below Yellowstone National Park, is available. I was glad that I’d learned from fellow authors about asking for some compensation for these events. As I’ve written about previously, many authors make a living from their books and so, doing events for free undermines them. Depending on the school’s budget for these activities, even if we’re paid enough to cover gas and some of our time, it’s helpful. The author’s profit on most books is low. It’s higher when we sell author copies at these events, since we get those at a discount. Anyway, it’s not just about the money, of course. But, “it comes in pretty handy down here, bubs,” as the oft-quoted (at least in our home) line from “It’s a Wonderful Life” goes.

I was set up in one of the classrooms, where I read my book for three story times. Many of the children were dressed in pajamas for the event. Two active little brothers attended my first reading with their mom. One of them was all over the room and his older brother was antsy, but mostly sitting on his mom’s lap. She was apologetic, but I told her we had two boys (now men!) and I understood. One of our boys would sometimes be all over the place when we were reading, but very much listening, as I’ve written about previously.

The second story time brought my largest audience, with five little girls, and an older boy who listened attentively. For the final story time, two busy little sisters comprised my audience. I think they did as much whispering with each other as they listened. There were two older girls there at first, but they got called away by an adult in the hallway, who was ready to go. I don’t think she realized what was happening inside the room. I try not to take it personally, but tonight it felt a little bad that my book wasn’t able to keep their attention. Of course, I realize it’s after a long school day for them, their ages and attention spans. I did get some good laughs and participation, which was rewarding. A late breaking, pleasant development was a mom who came in after my final reading. She and her kids looked through the book and bought a copy for her family. She asked her son’s friend, who accompanied them, if he wanted a copy. He said yes, which was nice. I signed the books for them and included a little uplifting message, as I do. She said she has a friend who is just getting started writing a children’s book. I offered to help and mentioned that my blog may provide her some guidance and that there’s a lot of great information available out there.

I handed out some of my postcards about Lark and our new book, which include a QR code to my author website. I hope to connect with more people this way.

Book bebopping around town

In other news bebopping around Ann Arbor, I was thrilled to discover that Schuler Books sold out of their five copies of How Happy Is a Lark? Their website has a real time update of how many books are on their shelves. Because of their trial period to determine if they’d continue to carry the book, I did some extra social media posting about the book’s availability at the store, asking people who wanted the book, to purchase it there. So, on the outside chance that you’re someone who bought my book at Schuler’s and are reading this — a great big THANKS! I haven’t heard from them yet, but I’m hopeful that they will continue to stock it.

I met a couple of friends for lunch last week at Sava’s on State Street in Ann Arbor. Their food is always great! Afterward, on the spur of the moment, a couple of us walked to Roos Roast (another great spot in Ann Arbor) for a coffee. I was just around the corner so, I finally got to Vault of Midnight, hoping to see Lark on their shelves. I heard it starts out on their red table at the front of the store, where new arrivals are displayed. When I didn’t see it among the other children’s books, I asked someone who was working there. He looked it up on his computer and found that the six copies they’d bought had all sold. That was a great surprise. I’m so thankful to the wonderfully supportive local bookstores for their support. I learned that this is a slow time for book stores, after the holidays. They will likely order more books in the spring and happily, would like to carry our new book too. 

Our upcoming book

As I’ve written, our illustrator needs some additional time to finish off his exceptional watercolors for our book. I anticipate, as of now, that we’ll offer presales this spring and the book will publish in late spring. Somewhat at the 11th hour, I decided to contact my editor to take a look over the manuscript, hoping, of course, that he’d read it and say how wonderful it is and that it was ready to go. He’d worked on this same manuscript with me years ago, which is why I was thinking it was ready for prime time. So, of course, I was disappointed when he had quite a bit of feedback for me. But, boy, am I ever glad I decided to reach out to him.

Show versus tell

I’d say the main advice he gave me was to do more showing rather than telling. Of course, I had some showing already, but too much telling. It’s a concept I sometimes have trouble wrapping my head around, but he explained it in a way that helped me to grasp the concept.

A simple illustrative example is rather than saying Miles was tired, say Miles yawned and stretched. But, also, aim for more original ways to describe things rather than using commonly used language. To show, he said imagine you’re looking at the scene and describing what you see in detail. And that generally the use of adverbs and adjectives is telling. Of course, some telling is fine, but I was pretty amazed at the difference making these edits made in my book. 

Additionally, my editor asked what’s one of my favorite songs. Being taken slightly off guard, the first one I thought of was John Denver’s “Annie’s Song. ” “You fill up my senses … like a night in the forest …” This was one I sang to our boys when they were babies. Now, I sometimes sing it to one of our cats after he takes his medicine and I’m rewarding him with treats and brushing. But, I digress. He talked about how unsatisfying it would be if there was just a single verse of the song rather than having the entirety of it to enjoy. Similarly, we talked about a favorite chocolate bar and how much better to have a whole bar as compared to just a Hershey’s kiss, say. The point he was making was to draw out certain sections of my book. By making the narrative in some of the emotional sections of my book last longer, we’re giving the reader what they want.

At one point, I told him I was feeling imposter syndrome, that I’m not really a good writer. He said that just about every writer feels that at some time, even those who have just won the Nobel Prize for Literature. It’s a natural occurrence and maybe even a good thing. We didn’t discuss the positive side of it, but I’m guessing it keeps writers sharp, wanting to improve their craft, and humble.

Projects, like picture books, take a team effort. That includes the writer, editor, illustrator, publisher, book and cover designer, test readers, and more. They collaborate to make a better end product for the children, ultimately, and the older children and adults who read the book to them.

For what it’s worth, here’s a little bonus if you made it to the end of this post. A TV show we recently watched and I’d recommend is Bad Monkey, starring Vince Vaughn. It’s funny and enjoyable. Some characters are detestable, but it’s fiction, after all. We loved Vaughn’s character and are happy to see it will be back with more episodes. It’s on Apple TV and Amazon Prime. A fun older movie (2007) we’d never seen before, “I Could Never Be Your Woman,” stars Paul Rudd and Michelle Pfeiffer, a surprising couple. It’s got the funniest (solo) dance scene I’ve seen. It’s on Peacock. 

For my readers, thank you for being on this journey with me. You know I’d love to hear from you.