Serendipity doo da

Go for it and learn as you go

Oct. 31, 2023 — Since How Happy Is a Lark was my first attempt at self-publishing a children’s picture book, there was lots to learn at every stage of the process. I won’t try to outline all of the steps here, not only because I won’t remember everything, but also it would be really tedious. 

So, to summarize core steps (interspersed with some related tangents):

First, you get an idea for your book.
Next, you develop your idea.
At some point, you start to write, and you write, write, write.
And then, you edit, edit, edit.

Serendipity

Serendipity touched my process a few times when, some 15 years ago, my phone rang at work. Even then, a ringing phone was a fairly rare occurrence, with most exchanges conducted via email. The person on the other end of the phone was calling from New York state. His name was Bob Comenole and he was editing someone’s children’s book. He needed to verify some information about an animal and as a result of his internet research, I was one of the people he called. At the time, I was the communications coordinator for the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan. We were affiliated with the Museum of Zoology and their well known Animal Diversity Web. I was able to connect him to someone for the information he needed, but more noteworthy (for me) was that as we talked, I learned that he was a writer and book editor (including children’s books, which I had been working on for a long time). This fortuitous connection led to me hiring Bob to expertly edit one of my own manuscripts. He was an excellent editor/teacher who asked me questions to help me to come up with my own answers. On his advice, I ran the book by coworkers and neighbors to read to their children, letting them know that I was still in an editing stage and asking for candid feedback. 

Traditional publishing

I’d spent 20-30 years researching and submitting manuscripts to traditional publishers, dreaming of the fateful day when I would receive that phone call or piece of mail accepting my book. Many advice books will tell you to imagine and experience how you’ll feel when that happens, as a way to help manifest it into reality. As any wannabe author knows, receiving rejections is par for the course in this highly competitive field. We even rate our rejections as good (personalized, maybe even requesting more of your work) or bad (form letter), which arrive most often. Much of this has to do with the sheer volume of submissions and staff’s time constraints. The go-to book for children’s writers to find publishers to query, was, and probably still is, The Children’s Writers and Illustrators Market, and of course, there’s our ever present friend, Google. 

Another stroke of luck

My son is a prolific writer, who, at the oh-so-young age of 31, has two books published in 2023. If you’re a sci-fi/horror fan, you will likely love his latest, Die Closer to Me, which is getting a lot of attention. A short collection of creative poetry, Decay Never Came, was his first published book. With my son’s encouragement, I decided to self-publish rather than continue spinning my wheels seeking a traditional publisher. Another stroke of luck played into my story when my husband hit a five figure win in the Lottery a couple years ago. He suggested that I get something I really wanted with some of our unexpected winnings. Other than vacations to certain destinations near and far, I wasn’t sure — I mean, what did I really want or need? During a well-timed conversation with my son, as he continued to encourage me to self-publish, the idea of hiring an illustrator for my picture book dawned on me.

I searched for artists on sites like Pinterest and Instagram and found some styles I adored. I struck out on retaining a couple of them, who either had agents, overpacked schedules, or who didn’t work with self-published authors. 

Hello again, serendipity

Enter my old friend serendipity. I knew that a coworker, Jenny Kalejs, in a neighboring cubicle was an artist so I stopped over to ask if she might know anyone who illustrates children’s books. Turned out, she had just illustrated her first children’s book for a friend of hers who was published by the Ann Arbor District Library. I love her style of sketches with whimsical and colorful watercolors. And so, after searching all over the world wide web, I found my illustrator a few feet away — just over the cubicle wall! 

Part 2 will appear in my Outta’ this World blog next week…