Hosted by Francine Puckly

​I was first introduced to Rachel Lynn Solomon online when I came across an article from her TidBits newsletter. The article delineated the first year reality of her debut novel, YOU’LL MISS ME WHEN I’M GONE, and the joys and terrors that accompany the birthing of a book. Her article prompted me to pick up a copy of YOU’LL MISS ME WHEN I’M GONE, and I couldn’t put it down! I was even more excited when I found out her second novel, OUR YEAR OF MAYBE, was hitting the bookstores a few weeks later in January 2019. 24 Carrot Writing is excited to host this interview with Rachel!
 
Welcome, Rachel! Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to be with us and our readers! 
 
Thank you for having me!

In your debut novel, YOU’LL MISS ME WHEN I’M GONE, you created a relatively unlikeable female protagonist. What do you feel were your biggest challenges with having an unlikeable female protagonist tell part of this story?
 
Adina, one of the protagonists in YOU’LL MISS ME WHEN I’M GONE, is definitely unlikable—she’s cold, arrogant, a little manipulative, and secretly very vulnerable. I’m not sure what it says about me that her voice remains the easiest and most natural one I’ve ever written, haha. She just came to me so vividly. She’s balanced out a little by her twin, Tovah, but Adina makes some pretty terrible choices throughout the book. With her, I wanted to give a voice to some of the darker thoughts I had as a teen—the thoughts many of us are afraid to acknowledge. What if, instead of behaving the way she thought she was supposed to, the way society wants girls to behave, she instead acted on her worst impulses?
 
I definitely worried that she’d be labeled “unlikable” and written off by some readers, but ultimately my goal was to create a compelling, complex character. To me that’s much more interesting than someone who makes the right choices and does the right thing all the time. I’ve loved hearing people’s reactions to Adina because while some find her pretty appalling, others relate to her and root for her, and I think it’s because in real life, we don’t necessarily make the right choices all the time either. 
 
Your characters experience interesting medical (and emotional) situations. In YOU’LL MISS ME WHEN I’M GONE, your protagonists face a fatal genetic disorder called Huntington’s Disease. In OUR YEAR OF MAYBE, you explore a kidney transplant. What was the research process like for each of those books? Will your future stories include medical aspects as well?
 
Since I don’t have firsthand experience with Huntington’s or kidney disease, the writing process for both books involved a lot of research. It was a mix of interviews with people who had that firsthand experience—patients, yes, but also doctors and family members—plus reading, watching videos, listening to podcasts. 
 
I’m drawn to subjects I want to learn more about, and that was the case with those two medical-leaning books. It can be quite heavy writing about those topics, though, and I don’t have any current projects that include illness. I also wanted to avoid putting myself in a box as a writer. 
 
OUR YEAR OF MAYBE is your second novel. In what ways did you find the publishing process to be easier the second time around? And in what ways was it harder?
 
Everyone says the second book is the hardest, and because my second book was already drafted when my book deal happened and specifically written into my contract, I thought I’d escaped the book 2 curse. I was very, very wrong. I let OUR YEAR OF MAYBE sit for a whole year while I worked on edits for YOU’LL MISS ME WHEN I’M GONE, and when I reopened the document, I was horrified. It was…extremely bad. Every scene took place at someone’s house, and though the main characters’ families were supposed to be close, their parents didn’t ever show up on the page. So I furiously rewrote it a couple months before my deadline, and after receiving my editor’s notes, rewrote it again. I love how it turned out, but it took me a while to find the story I wanted to tell.
 
I thought I’d be better about not reading reviews the second time around, but it’s only recently that I’ve been able to avoid Goodreads. Some of the positives, though: I knew exactly what was happening in terms of timeline, and probably the most incredible thing was that people who enjoyed my first book were excited for my next one. I’ve talked to some amazing, amazing bloggers, booksellers, and librarians who’ve been so supportive, and I’m just grateful beyond words. Writing can be so solitary, and the book being released means it’s no longer just yours—it’s out there for anyone to interpret and (hopefully) connect with. 

Your fifth book actually became your debut. What advice would you give novelists who are laboring over manuscripts that don’t seem to be selling? At what point did you decide to let go of a manuscript and focus on a new story?
 
Yep! I queried two books before signing with an agent on my third, and she submitted that book, another one, and then a small submission round for YOU’LL MISS ME WHEN I’M GONE before we parted ways. I queried it and signed with my second agent, who sold it. That’s a really great question because sometimes in Pitch Wars, I see the same manuscripts two or three years in a row. Everyone is working at their own pace, and there are no deadlines, but if you’ve queried many, many agents and revised multiple times without anyone biting, it might be a good idea to set that project aside for a while. I don’t view anyof my books as a waste of time—all of them made me a better writer. 
 
At any stage, the best thing to do while waiting for feedback, waiting on queries, waiting on submission is to write the next book. That’s the only thing that will get you closer to where you want to be. And falling in love with a new book was what made me realize I could move on from something that wasn’t working. 
 
You are a Pitch Wars mentor! How did you become a Pitch Wars mentor? And what is the best part about being a mentor?
 
I truly love Pitch Wars. I’ve been involved as a mentor since 2014, and back then, it was much smaller—I just DM’d Brenda Drake and asked if I could be a mentor! Since we restructured Pitch Wars last year, I’ve now gone through the new application process twice, and I’m a member of the leadership committee as well. 
 
I owe most of my friendships, even IRL ones, to Pitch Wars, and it’s opened up my community and felt like a home in ways I never could have imagined. I love working one-on-one with other writers and digging deep with their stories. Two of those fantastic books have been published: Heather Ezell’s NOTHING LEFT TO BURN in 2018, and Marisa Kanter’s WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU, which comes out April 2020. Especially with Marisa’s book, which features Jewish characters whose experiences are the closest I’ve ever read to my own, it’s an indescribably wonderful feeling to play a small role in helping that book reach readers who may not always see themselves either. 
​

Your blog is a wealth of information for debut novelists, from media expense breakdowns to swag and book-related gifts to your querying journey for your debut. In your July 23, 2018 blog (http://www.rachelsolomonbooks.com/blog/ymmwig-query), you share the query you sent for YOU’LL MISS ME WHEN I’M GONE. The stats? 80 queries sent. 26 requests. 3 offers to represent. What advice would you offer our readers as they look to pitch their manuscripts and query agents and editors?
 
Thank you! I aim to be as honest as I can about my journey because there’s not enough transparency in publishing, and knowledge might help others better advocate for themselves. We hear about the overnight successes so much—and those are AMAZING, but that’s definitely not every experience. I thought I’d find a new agent immediately after I left my first one, but I sent 80 queries over six months. I had already written a new book and was building a query list when my now-agent emailed asking for a call. 
 
I would build your query list only with agents you want to work with. Anyone can call themselves an agent, and a big social media following or an English degree is not indicative of someone’s skills as an agent. Do your research—does the agent have any big 5 sales? If not, does their agency? (At the very least, if your goal is a big 5 publishing deal, the agency absolutely should have big 5 sales.) Most websites will list recent titles. New agents at established agencies can be great, but I’m always wary of agents with little experience starting their own agencies. I think Publishers Marketplace is one of the best resources, though it’s $20/month. You can cancel any time, and it might be worth going in for a membership with a friend or two. Other than that, QueryTracker and Absolute Write are solid as well. 
 
If mentoring and writing wasn’t enough to keep you busy, you also operate Rainy Day Editing, a freelance editing service (https://www.rainydayediting.com). How do you juggle all of these different projects? And how many freelance projects do you take on at a time?  
 
I left my FT job last year with the goal of dividing my time between writing and freelance editing, and it’s been a really positive change for me. My time is split pretty evenly, and I have the flexibility to focus more on one or the other on a given week, depending on deadlines. Bullet journaling has helped me TREMENDOUSLY. Every Sunday, I plan out my week, and every month, I reflect on the past month’s accomplishments and set new goals. I also track my clients in a Google spreadsheet. It took me a while to figure out how to stay organized, but now that I’ve found a system that works for me, it doesn’t feel like juggling at all!
 
With freelance projects, I like to take on 2-3 full manuscripts per month, and I try to keep myself open for one-week turnarounds with smaller critiques. 
 
Many debut authors do not know where to begin in marketing their upcoming book. What are some essential first steps debut authors should take in preparing for their book’s release? 
 
Here are a few suggestions, with the caveat that none of these are required. There are plenty of authors who don’t have a social media presence—it’s all about what feels best and most comfortable for you.
 
That said, I would recommend establishing yourself on Twitter and Instagram if you aren’t already, and the best social media tip I can give is to interact and engage with others in the community. And make sure it’s genuine—only hype up a book if you’re truly excited about it. You might consider joining a debut group to gain a support system of fellow authors releasing around the same time you are. I had a really positive debut group experience (Electric Eighteens), and our group remains intact as a support group, but I know it’s not for everyone! 
 
If you don’t have a website, there are a number of free platforms, though I pay for Squarespace and love it—easy to use, and it looks super clean. Make sure someone can find out everything they need to know about you and your book from your site, and include a media kit as well. (I only made my media kit earlier this year, whoops, but it’s already saved me tons of time.) 
 
If you only do one thing for your book, I highly recommend bookmarks. They’re relatively inexpensive, even if you hire a designer, and they’re such an invaluable promo tool. 
 
Publishers Weekly recently announced that your editor, Jennifer Ung, at Simon Pulse has acquired two more books. Your contemporary YA romance, TODAY TONIGHT TOMORROW is due out late spring 2020, and another novel is slated for 2021. Can you tell us a little bit about each project?
 
I’m so, so excited about TODAY TONIGHT TOMORROW, probably more than either of my first two books. It’s a rivals-to-lovers romance that takes place all in 24 hours on the last day of senior year, and it was an absolute blast to write. The main character wants to write romance novels, and it deals a lot with having a passion (usually something aimed at women) that people tend to judge. There’s also a lot of exploration of pre-college anxiety and the feeling of leaving behind a place you’ve known your entire life, and in that sense, it’s also a love letter to Seattle. The romance is a slowwww burn, but I promise, the payoff is worth it.  The cover is also ADORABLE—stay tuned for the reveal sometime this fall! And here’s the book on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40032364-today-tonight-tomorrow 
 
My 2021 book is under contract, but I don’t have anything quite ready to reveal for it yet—still very early stages! 
 
Thank you so much for the interview, Francine! 
​

Rachel Lynn Solomon writes, tap dances, and collects lipstick in Seattle, Washington. Once she helped set a Guinness World Record for the most natural redheads in one place. She's the author of the Sydney Taylor Honor Award-winning You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone, also an Indies Introduce title and Kids' Indie Next Top 10 Pick, and Our Year of Maybe, a Kids' Indie Next Pick, both from Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse. Her next book, Today Tonight Tomorrow, will be out summer 2020. A longtime Pitch Wars mentor, she lives near a zoo with her husband and tiny dog. You can find her online at rachelsolomonbooks.com and on Twitter @rlynn_solomon. ​

Guest Post by Julie Berry
 ​
Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.

I wonder if any of us over the age of twelve actually believe this.

If everything’s sizzling in your writing life, this post isn’t for you. Surf onward with my blessing. But if things aren’t quite tickety-boo, pull up a chair. (Disclaimer: As an American, I have no actual right to say “tickety-boo.”)

If we want to write better, we need to fail more, and if so, why not gleefully? To fail more, we need to work more freely and loosely. Though we work in words, we should imagine ourselves to be working in finger paints, not oils. Writing needs to be a game, sans competition, where making a mess is a bonus.

(This is the reminder I need most right now. I’m looking squarely in the mirror.)

Whatever “writing well” means to you—and it means something different to each of us, so with whom are we competing, exactly?—that shining country is reached eventually. Not today. So there’s no harm in making today a writing day where it’s okay to play.

What, in fact, are we so worried about? This is the lowest-stakes profession on the planet. Nobody dies on the operating table if we solve our characters’ problems too easily. The planes all land safely, even when our characters are dull as dirt. Nobody’s portfolio is wiped out by our penchant for cliché.

Therefore: If you want to write, write badly and have fun with it.

If you’ve got a better plan—say, perhaps, to be a tortured artiste, and produce nothing but flashes of luminous beauty, when, and only when moved by the muses—go you. 
 
I’ve had seasons where ideas seemed to crackle and flow from my fingers. Pages poured. Insecurities notwithstanding, I knew something was working right. I beheld my work, and saw that it was good.

I’ve had seasons where I had nothing to offer to the page. Words, tepid; ideas, flat. The process, drudgery. My confidence, in the toilet. I beheld my work, writhed, and flirted with other career options.

All this means is that I’m a writer. But I wish I hadn’t worried so much. In the crackly times, I felt loose and light and free. In other words, confident. Confidence doesn’t always appear on command, but we can always choose to play.

Play is how puppies and kitties and cubs and babies learn—fearlessly exploring without caring how they look. Pretending. Pouncing. Mimicking. Rough-housing. Making plenty of nose. They wobble and leap, land on their rumps, then try it again.

Fun is the most open state of mind available to us, where we don’t take ourselves too seriously and we can genuinely laugh at our flops and failures. Fun is still how we learn best, if we let ourselves.

Why is that hard? Why do we run from fun? Why is it hard to persuade our teens, and ourselves, to take a chance on the dance floor and try that funky move we’ve been rocking in the bathroom mirror? Or to try out for the play/the talent show/the team? What have we got to lose? Only our precious egos, but who’s watching? Who cares?

Let’s say the writing’s not going so well right now. You’re not doing much of it; you’re blocked; you’re afraid; your idea stinks; you can’t solve the plot problem or the character problem or the research problem or the life problem.

Here’s what you do: you write a scene about a big booger in your WIP.

I dare you.

Or a scene about a drunken leprechaun. A talkative mime. A clown in love. A theme park visit gone wrong. A botched burglary. A crabby principal with a bad toupee. A first kiss plus halitosis. A loose octopus at church.

Anything worth doing is worth doing ridiculously. Face your fears in the mirror, then cross your eyes and stick out your tongue.  

I’m going to hazard a guess here: perhaps what’s holding you back right now is not your artistic weakness, but your skill.Your talent. Not your lack thereof—that’s a pet complaint, but a fib, and we all know it. You can write. You wouldn’t be here if you couldn’t. But maybe, just maybe, the way you write well is your impediment. Maybe you have to let go of what you do well to learn what else you can do. Stop clinging to your safest style, and stop critiquing your draft with your pet preferences. Let yourself fall on your rump.
 
The top coaches in the world take the best athletes they can find, then break their habits. Their good habits! Their championship-winning habits. Those coaches force their star athletes to start over and rethink the game in entirely new ways. They don’t let top talent remain complacent. They rebuild them from the ground up. Brace yourself for my zinger here: they teach them a new way to play. 

Which is why I offer you my booger method at no charge. If the old method isn’t working, try a new one, but if it isn’t play—if it’s not light and free and experimental—I’m not sure how far it can carry you.

We’re all here because in our innermost hearts, we knew making books for kids would be fun. Let’s not let worry squeeze all the joy out of this thing we once decided to do for love.

Try storyboarding your novel with fingerpaint. Sculpt a metaphoric representation of your antagonist’s motivations out of Play-doh. Hire Mr. and/or Mrs. Potato Heads to pose for that romantic scene.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t take our work seriously, nor write about weighty subjects. My topics aren’t all fun and games, but a lot of them are, and I can approach them all playfully. I don’t think it would’ve diminished the artistry of the Sistine Chapel if Michelangelo had whistled while he worked, or sketched some dorky glasses on Adam. Perhaps he did. (He didn’t use oils, either. Go figure.)
​
If we’re capable of writing – if we possess paper and pen, or a typewriter, or a computer, and we have a functioning brain and some command of language, and we have a roof to shield us from the rain and a lamp to light us, and enough stability in our lives that we can put some words down occasionally – then we are incredibly fortunate and blessed. In the great cosmic lottery, the human race allowed us to be the ones who could, if we would, serve as its storytellers. Let’s appreciate that gift by using it joyfully, playfully, and freely. Let’s stop worrying, plop our rumps in chairs, and write. 

​Julie Berry is the author of the 2017 Printz Honor and Los Angeles Times Book Prize shortlisted novel The Passion of Dolssa, the Carnegie and Edgar shortlisted All the Truth That’s in Me (2013, Viking), the Odyssey Honor title The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place (2014, Roaring Brook), and many others. Her latest middle grade novel, The Emperor’s Ostrich, released in 2017 from Roaring Brook. Her new young adult novel, Lovely War, published by Viking Children’s Books, has received seven starred reviews, and been called “Poignant” by The Horn Book, “Mesmerizing” by Booklist, and “Virtuoso” by the New York Times. Her first picture books released in fall 2019: Long Ago, On a Silent Night (Orchard Books/Scholastic); Don’t Let the Beasties Escape This Book (Getty Publications/Abrams Kids); and Happy Right Now (Sounds True).  She holds a BS from Rensselaer in communication and an MFA in creative writing for children and young adults from Vermont College. She lives in Southern California with her family. 

​For more information about Julie and her books, please visit julieberrybooks.com.
​ 

Hosted by Kelly Carey

​​We are thrilled to welcome author Lisa Rogers to 24 Carrot Writing. Lisa’s debut picture book, 16 WORDS: WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS AND “THE RED WHEELBARROW” (Schwartz & Wade, September 2019) received a starred review from Kirkus who called the book a “gorgeous introduction to the power of poetry." And more picture books are coming with HOUND WON’T GO (Albert Whitman) in the spring of 2020. 

Join us as we talk with Lisa about her path to publication, her debut picture book, and how her days as a reporter and a lover of poetry influenced her writing journey.  And about her lovable dog Tucker! 

Congratulations on the publication of your debut picture book, 16 WORDS: WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS AND “THE RED WHEELBARROW” (Schwartz & Wade, September 2019). Can you tell us about your journey from daily newspaper reporter, to elementary school library teacher, to children’s picture book author?

Thank you! My first newspaper job was as editor of The Daily Blab, our family newspaper, so I guess I’ve always had the urge to write!  My six-year-old sister was my accomplice and co-editor. The Blab was a gossip sheet full of family jokes and our way of getting back at our two tormenting older sisters. Much later, after earning two degrees in English Literature, I became a sports journalist for a small-town weekly, edited another weekly, and then moved to daily news reporting.

I worked many different beats, and found I loved features best—getting to know people and what motivated them. Yet I needed to have more time for my family, and so I made a change. I had at one time thought about becoming a librarian. A position opened up at my daughter’s school, and I got the job. I went to library school and worked as a librarian at the same time. After years of reading with children, that urge to write resurfaced and I began to write my own stories. The common thread: communicating and connecting with people in a positive way.

Why William Carlos Williams? When did you first discover his poem, “The Red Wheelbarrow”, and what was it about those sixteen words and Williams that inspired you to write your debut picture book?
​
Poetry and art have long been passions, and my poetry writing is impressionistic rather than formal, so Williams’ poetry resonated with me. Poetry for me freezes a moment in time much like a snapshot or painting can. What came before, and what happened after that moment, is left to the imagination. The inspiration for 16 WORDS came from the work of a scholar who dug deep to find the wheelbarrow’s owner, Thaddeus Marshall. When I read about his discovery, I immediately knew that I had a book to write!

In celebrating the work of Williams, you are launching your own career as a picture book author. Can you talk about how it feels to join your writing endeavors with those of Williams? How does this collaboration add to your own excitement about your career and your wishes for the book?

Wow! I just got the shivers! I would never have thought of that connection! But, like Williams, my writing has evolved. It took a while for me to find my writing voice and feel confident about it. Like Williams, I spend a lot of time noticing – training from my newspaper career. I would hope that the book will inspire young readers to notice, to trust themselves, and to respect that each human has something to share with the world. 

As a debut picture book author, what have you found most rewarding and surprising about the experience so far? How has the journey of writing and preparing to launch your picture book differed or resembled the experience of writing and publishing articles you have written as a journalist?

One of the best aspects of reporting was that I worked with incredibly smart and talented people—role models for writing who were passionate about providing news to readers. That’s the same in the children’s literature world—it’s full of gifted writers committed to their craft and their readers. Writing tight to fit a small newspaper hole was good practice for not only using the right words, but understanding that our first attempts are not always our best. One constant frustration was not being able to revise my writing due to the daily deadline. Writing children’s books is all about revision!

In your role as an elementary school library teacher, you get a front row seat to the reading habits of young picture book readers. Can you talk about how your students interact with books, dispel a myth or misunderstanding that you think people hold about how kids interact with books, and/or give one piece of advice to folks who want to encourage children to develop a love of reading?

Oh, thank you for asking my absolute favorite question! I love to brag about my students. They are experts at noticing. They love the magic of the page turn. They love when illustrators add to the story in surprising ways. They notice alliteration and repetition and enjoy what we call “juicy” words. They absolutely know when the next book in their favorite series is coming out, and they cannot stand to wait! Students love being surprised in picture books—fiction and nonfiction—and they want to feel satisfaction and resonance with a novel. My students are eager readers of characters beyond the majority Caucasian. Their preferred genre has tilted in a big way from fantasy to realistic fiction. I recently rearranged their library by genre: realistic, fantasy, mystery, science fiction, historical fiction, and graphic works. I’m meeting my students where they are: they choose their books by genre rather than author.

They appreciate beauty as well as delight in a completely funny and silly read. They want and need new books, so please keep writing them! Advice for encouraging readers: know the book before you present it to a child, and show them the best. 

You are represented by Erzsi Deak at Hen & Ink Literary Studio. How did you find your agent? What have you found most surprising, most rewarding, and/or most daunting about working with an agent?

I found Erzsi through the 12 x 12 online writing challenge, which inspires writers to draft 12 picture books in a year. I’ve never actually met that challenge, but the resources available via 12 x 12 were enormously important in developing my writing. And, my membership allowed me to submit to agents. I submitted the manuscript that became 16 WORDS to Erzsi, she took me on, and sold it almost right away. Surprising: Because someone had faith in me, I became inspired to write more and better manuscripts. Rewarding: It’s fabulous to work with someone who loves my writing. Daunting: Nothing! Daunting for me would be having to represent myself. I’m grateful beyond belief! 

In your earlier career as a daily reporter, you shared that you became skilled at “wrenching information from close mouthed cops” and that you were once thrown out of a post-election party. How has the tenacity and thick skin you developed during that career aided you in starting your career as a children’s author? What aspects of your reporting days are you happy to trade for those of a children’s author?

When your story is literally cut from the bottom, you learn quickly how to get the important stuff up high. You have one chance to grab the reader: that’s the same with children’s literature. Another huge benefit was learning to find ideas and angles, and the daily practice of getting words down. Thick skin: I use rejections as learning opportunities. Tenacity: if someone doubts whether I can do something, my response is to prove that I can. 

The children’s writing community is wonderfully supportive and offers many resources to aspiring and published writers. You are actively involved with The Writers’ Loft in Sherborn, MA as well as NESCBWI. How important has your involvement in the writing community been to your writing success?

That involvement has been enormously important—essential, actually. I am pretty sure I would not have stuck it out without that. I remember sharing a rejection with some very successful Loft authors. “That means you’re getting close!” they said. I almost gave up, but they were right. I rejoined the 12 x 12 challenge and the Loft, kept up with classes, workshops, and NESCBWI conferences, and that way, boosted my skills. It worked!

​Here, at 24 Carrot Writing, we are big on goal setting as a way to stay motivated and on task. You have shared that you need deadlines to keep you on task. Do you tend to set goals or deadlines or both to keep your writing on track?

I work best when I am crunched for time. I’m not good with self-created deadlines. But when I have a limited chunk of time to work, I do set goals. On a recent school break, I planned to revise 5 picture book manuscripts that hadn’t sold. I set a day and a half for each one, and by the end of the break, I met my goal. Some of those are out on submission now. Fingers crossed! 

Working as an elementary school library teacher, you must have author visit stories. Can you share a smashing success story and some lessons that you think make an author visit amazing? And can you share a cautionary tale with advice on how to avoid a bad author school visit?

Teachers will be thrilled to have you visit, but it’s unlikely that they will have time to prepare. As a library teacher, that’s something I enjoy doing, and I think it makes a difference.

The best visits dovetail with curricular goals, so do offer to tailor your presentation; teachers can be hesitant to ask for what they want.

Share something meaningful. What is the takeaway? A sneak preview of your next book? Something teachers can build on right away? When our 4th grade teachers introduce perspective, we host Victoria J. Coe, who has students write from a dog’s perspective. My older students remember the poetry they wrote three years before with Nancy Tupper Ling. Sharon Creech took time to speak with a small group of students. Memorable, valuable visits.

Be clear about your expectations—should the students have read your latest book or do you want to surprise them?

Insist that someone meet you and bring you to where you are presenting.

Ask that the students, especially the younger ones, wear nametags so you can call them by name. Have a teacher identify a child who might benefit from being chosen to speak. Develop a crowd control technique. From author Frank Murphy, I learned one that I use daily.

Bring backups of your presentation and essential equipment.Be flexible and expect that there will be bumps—that’s part of a school environment. ​

To learn more about Lisa, visit her website at http://www.lisarogerswrites.com/. 

16 WORDS publishes September 24. Preorder a signed copy from Wellesley Books or click on the link below to preorder an unsigned copy.  

For a list of Lisa's upcoming events, visit http://www.lisarogerswrites.com/events.html ​

Hosted by Francine Puckly

I so enjoyed meeting and chatting with Christy Ewers and Chris Tugeau, the mother and daughter team behind The CAT Agency, at the 2019 New England SCBWI Spring Conference. 24 Carrot Writing is thrilled to host this interview with Christy as Illustrator Month comes to a close. 
 
Welcome, Christy!
 
Hello! And thank you for including me!!
 
For a lot of authors and illustrators starting out in the children’s literature publishing world, the big question on their minds is, “What are my chances?” So what arethe chances with The CAT Agency? How many submissions do you and Chris receive each week/month/year and how many new clients do you sign?

Oh boy – lots and lots. We receive a consistent flow of submissions a day. I’d say 20 on a slow day. It can be a challenge to get back to everyone, but we try to. As far as chances? We are always open to submission – always. But right now, we are not actively looking to add to our list. We are a boutique agency, so we need to be careful that we have the bandwidth to give our attention to those we currently represent before we consider taking on more talent. That said, if there is someone whose work has blown us away, we huddle about it!
 
When there is bandwidth for more, we consider adding to the group. However, there are lots of submissions that have impressed us that we have had to pass on! That’s the one crux of being a small agency!
 
Have you ever received a submission from an artist you’ve declined and then a year or a few years later receive a second query from the same artist who you feel has grown and developed and then decided to represent the artist? What would be the changes in the submission materials that would lead you to change your mind?
 
Absolutely!! We have several illustrators in our agency now that have that exact story. For instance, one of our illustrators submitted to us in 2015…and after seeing her work grow stronger and stronger over the course of 3 years, I signed her in 2018. She landed a two-book deal almost immediately. I’m so grateful that she stayed in touch, evolved, grew so much as an illustrator, and had the patience that it sometimes takes!
 
As far as changes in the submission goes, usually when we see promise in someone’s work, we will give a brief critique, things to work on, things to add, etc. and then we ask the artist to be in touch with new artwork. Obvious progress, pushing oneself, listening to critique, and being motivated to draw every day…those things are game-changers!
 
Illustrators are encouraged to be fresh and original with their art. When you and Chris review potential clients, what are the factors that make you feel an illustrator’s voice is unique and authentic?
 
I completely agree in encouragement for illustrators to find themselves in their style and work. We can tell if they have been heavily influenced by a certain style or trend, and it makes their work less appealing to us. That said, paying attention to what is selling and what is happening in the market is of utmost importance, too! 
 
As far as illustrators go, we really don’t recommend that they attempt to follow trends, even if their style is not one that we think would be super successful in the industry right now. Artists should stay true to themselves and create art in a way that makes them happy. We encourage practice and experimentation and growth, but only if it’s an organic process of evolving as an illustrator. I think that when people overthink being unique and authentic, it either makes them too much so— that their work becomes too niche—or it changes who they are as an artist, and it stops being fun!
 
If you are a talented illustrator, you will find work somewhere. It may not be in picture books, but maybe it’s in scientific illustration! Maybe it’s in educational books! Maybe it’s in children’s magazines! And then maybe there’s that one picture book that’s perfect for you and only you! My point is, everyone is unique. Do YOU!
 
What’s the most common mistake (or mistakes) an artist makes when seeking representation from The CAT Agency?
 
Beginning an email with “Dear Sirs.” Ha! (For real.) But other than that, really it’s just treating us as you would like to be treated. Spelling our names right, reading the submission guidelines, and then being human in terms of connection and correspondence. 
 
A lot of people send out obvious group submissions, and the salutation is “Hello” and there is nothing personal in the body that gives us any idea that they care about our particular agency at all. When we respond to submissions, we do so on a personal level. Sometimes giving really thought-out critiques and guidance! When someone doesn’t give us the few minutes it takes to be a little personal, we aren’t compelled to do the same. And then everyone loses!
 
When you sign an illustrator or author/illustrator, do you engage in a revision process with their work? If so, what does that process look like? 
 
Yes! Illustrations-wise, if there’s anything that we see that needs to be added to make their portfolio more robust and appealing to publishers, then we work with them to get it to that point. 
 
If it’s an author/illustrator working on a dummy, then I am happy to help along every step of the process. Sometimes it’s so early in the process that I help in brainstorming ideas and characters, and I’m here to help with overall story-crafting. Often, our author/illustrators either write a manuscript or sketch out a dummy before sharing it with me, and then I edit, make notes and suggestions about how to get it to the point of being submission-ready. 
 
It’s part of my job to make sure that everyone’s work—whether it be their portfolios or their dummies, or manuscripts—is as strong as it can be, and as marketable as can be when I present it. It’s also part of my job to help as our artists grow and evolve and move forward. So it’s an on-going thing; not just something that happens at the beginning of our working relationship. 
 
Of your represented clients, what do you consider to be a “good year” for The CAT Agency and your clients with respect to the number of contracted projects? And how many projects would an illustrator typically juggle at one time?
 
Oh boy, is this a loaded question! The answer is that it’s different for everyone. We have some artists who can quadruple up on projects, and they have the speed and ability to complete dozens of projects a year. Of course, they’re not all picture books—but with a combination of picture books, chapter books, magazine work, educational work, and cover art, it’s possible. We represent some artists who only work on picture books and only work on one at a time. So a good year for them would be two picture books. We have some artists who have a very niche style or appeal, and perhaps one major project a year would be a good year for them and their particular genre. If someone is working on a graphic novel, that eats up a whole year – and so in that case, a good year is one graphic novel. 
 
When I take on clients, I ask what their goals are in children’s literature/illustration, what their ideal life/work balance would be, and what their financial needs are. And then I can set goals for myself on how I can help them to make it a “good year” for them. Of course, I’m not a wizard, and this business is still freelance – and there are no guarantees in freelance! – but together we can work to hit the mark of a GREAT year! ☺
 
How do you work with editors to match your illustrators to specific manuscripts? How do you determine if an illustrator is a good match for a project?
 
Many of our projects are commissioned by editors or art directors who come to us. If our promotional efforts have worked, they’ll know about our illustrators, and they’ll come to me checking the interest and availability of an artist for a particular job. 
 
Whenever I’m visiting a publisher, showing portfolios and dummies, etc., I’ll start by asking if there’s anything in particular they are looking for. Oftentimes, they’ll say “Yes, we have just signed up a manuscript about a penguin who thinks he can fly and we are looking for an illustrator who has a fresh, painterly style, and who can create endearing, but not saccharine-sweet penguins. Got anyone who fits that bill?” And I think for a moment, and say, “As a matter of fact, I have a few!”—and we go from there. If they have interest in any of our illustrators, then it might lead to that person getting that book!
 
Sometimes, an editor or art director will come to me, and say (for instance) “I am looking for an illustrator for such-and-such graphic novel. Any suggestions?” or “I am looking for someone who is willing to work on a tight budget, and who can turn a book around in 4 months. Got anyone?” Things like that. So, depending on the criteria, I will make suggestions—but then the art has to speak for itself from that point on!
 
Based on your website, you and Chris represent roughly twice the number of illustrators as author/illustrators. Do editors prefer author work to be separate from illustrator work? Is it an easier sell to align an illustrator with an existing manuscript or do you find that it is a case-by-case basis?
 
Well, when my Mom started the agency in 1994, she was one of the only strictly illustrator agencies in the business. Over time, many of her illustrators either were, or became, authors as well. When I joined, I opened us up a little more to the ‘author’ end of things, as writing is my background, and it excites me just as much as the illustrating does!
 
As far as editors go, I think that a one-stop-shop of an author/illustrator is great, but I don’t think that it makes a huge difference. It’s not always a guarantee that they are going to love both the story and the illustrations, so there’s always that risk in submitting author/illustrated dummies. It often happens that they like the manuscript, but not the art, or the art, but not the story. Which is why just authors should generally submit only their manuscripts, and not try to assign an illustrator to their stories, or have an illustrator do artwork for them. If they like one and not the other, it may be a pass for both.  
 
Signing up just a manuscript adds that extra step in finding the right illustrator to illustrate it, but that’s the fun part! 
 
What do you feel The CAT Agency offers its clients that is unique or different in the industry?
 
I’m not totally sure how other agencies operate, but I think that what makes us different is the family aspect of our group. My Mom and I are obviously mother/daughter, but even long before I joined her, she always cultivated an environment of “family” within the agency. She has always really cared about the people she has represented over the years; knowing and involved in their work and family life – and they were always a part of ours! 
 
Since I joined, we have expanded a bit, but it’s still really important to us to maintain the family feel. We encourage everyone we represent to get to know one another, support one other, lean on one another, and to feel like they are part of an extended family of artists. We also want to make sure that everyone feels comfortable coming to us for any reason; in the way that you would a friend. 
 
Of course, the agency is a business, and we respect that aspect of it, too. Sometimes caring for someone means parting ways, if - for whatever reason - we are unable to do our job as agents, or an artist is unable to do theirs. But even if we have to take different paths, we still support and care for everyone as they continue their journey – like a family does!
   
When an illustrator is not working on an assignment, what do you advise your illustrators do to grow their craft/art?
 
Draw every day! Every day. Always create and play and experiment. If you find yourself with free time, create a dummy! Or give yourself an assignment, like a mock cover, or experimenting with graphic novel illustration, or creating any number of new portfolio pieces. Try a new medium, or a new process. One thing I definitely recommend is to do a figure drawing class, or sketch from real life, or plein-air paint, or even collage. Challenging yourself or simply just practicing every day will keep you loose and creative, but you also may discover (or uncover) something spectacular in doing so. And that may just be the ticket to your next project!

Hosted by Francine Puckly

As Illustrator Month continues, 24 Carrot Writing is excited to host New England-based author/illustrator Deborah Freedman, creator of several picture books for young readers. Her books have received many starred and enthusiastic reviews, honors, and awards — including SCBWI’s Crystal Kite Award and a Parent's Choice Gold Award. Welcome, Deborah! 
 
You’re recently back from Nerd Camp in Parma, Michigan. Can you tell us a little bit about this event, how long have you been doing it, and what’s your favorite part of this outing?
 
I love Nerd Camps! I could talk books all day if you let me, and for the past four years visiting Parma has been a highlight of my summer. It’s a place where passionate, progressive educators are sharing their most creative ideas about raising readers, in a relaxed atmosphere, perfect for spontaneous, informal conversations and getting to know people. I’ve met so many I truly respect and admire  — and they give me hope for the world. I’m incredibly grateful for all teachers do.
           
Let’s talk about CARL AND THE MEANING OF LIFE. What was the process for bringing Carl into the world, from inspiration to completion?
 
Carl, as a character, first popped up in one of many revisions I did for my book SHY. But no one at Viking understood what this funny earthworm was doing in that book, so my darling was deleted. But not killed! Late in 2016, I was sitting at my desk, questioning my purpose in life, when this small character with big questions came back to me… and this time, he had his own story.
 
You’ve worked with Kendra Levin at Viking Children’s Books on a few of your projects. Have you and Kendra discussed or applied any of the exercises from her book, THE HERO IS YOU?
 
I’ve worked with Kendra on four books and have learned so much from her. We do talk about the creative process a lot, and she is as insightful about that in person as she is in HERO. The real Kendra, like the author Kendra, is a wonderful creativity therapist; when she helps steer me through some particular problem, she’s also giving me the tools and confidence to deal with it myself the next time.
 
Tell us a little bit about the process of working with your editors. How long does it take, from start to finish, once one of your manuscripts is acquired?
 
With Kendra, each book has started with a fairly clear concept, characters, theme… but I’m plot-challenged, so that’s where a lot of our work together happens. Even once I hope I’ve got it, she will push me to clarify my intentions and go deeper. With some projects, I chase an idea in a bunch of different directions before finding the right path, and other stories slowly evolve — but all of our manuscripts have taken a long time, up to nine months of back and forth with text and thumbnails before I start doing tight sketches. Once everything is approved for final art, Kendra hands me off to Jim Hoover, who has art directed all of my five books at Viking.
 
With any of my publishing teams, a lot gets done by email, though of course I love those long phone conversations or occasional in-person meetings where we can really hash things out. 

How did you manage the leap from pre-published to successfully published with multiple books out over the last 12 years? Was there a learning curve when it came to marketing your books and crafting author visits? And did you ever feel you made any marketing mistakes or that there was anything you would avoid in future?
 
Wouldn’t it be great if there were one place authors could go to learn everything we need to know about having a book out in the world? My main mistake has been worrying too much about what other people are doing. In the end, experience has turned out to be the best teacher, helping me to slowly trust my own instincts and simply do what I enjoy and do best—for author visits, marketing, all of it. I think that figuring out how to present our public selves to the world is a lot like finding and honing a writing voice. Which can take a while!
 
You and I met years ago at the SCBWI Summer Conference in LA standing in line at a coffee bar, just after your debut picture book was released. You evolved from SCBWI member seeking publication to debut author/illustrator to multi-published author/illustrator who now presents at conferences. How important has the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators been to your writing career?
 
Yes, I remember that! I’d sold my first book, Scribble, after being “discovered” at the NYSCBWI conference, and it had recently come out. Travelling to LA that year turned out to be important for my career too, because it helped me connect with my first agent. But honestly, I mostly value SCBWI for helping me find a wonderful writing community of people like you — who are supportive, inspiring, and dear to me. We never stop needing each other.
 
When you are taking a break from working on an assignment, what do you do to grow your craft/art?
 
A break? What’s that? ;)
 
I should take more long breaks. But there always seem to be things on my desk, in various stages, because I’m very, very slow at developing ideas and am afraid to turn the incubator off! I have also discovered that valuable cross-fertilization seems to happen between projects when more than one is going at a time.
 
But every day I do make time for reading from a wide range of both kid’s and adult fiction, nonfiction, essays, poetry…  and my husband and I take frequent advantage of our fortunate, easy access to amazing theater, music, and museums. Other art forms give me a break from my own brain for a while and then later expand it.
 
At 24 Carrot Writing, we pay a lot of attention to goal setting and planning. Do you set illustrating/ art goals? If so, what do they look like?
 
I do my best to stay loose and open for as long as I can, and have figured out that I need to schedule in enough space for experimentation and play, and also time to overcome my inevitable inertia, fear, self-consciousness…
 
My main goal is simply to grow with every book; I just want to feel like I’m always pushing forward.
 
My biggest dream is that someday the final product will be as good as what was in my head. :)  ​

​Deborah’s most recent releases are CARL AND THE MEANING OF LIFE released by Viking Children’s Books on April 2, 2019, as well as SHY (Viking Children’s Books, 2016) and THIS HOUSE, ONCE (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2017). To find out more about Deborah, visit her at https://www.deborahfreedman.net, @DeborahFreedman on Twitter, and @freedmanillustrates on Instagram.

​When I was 5 years old, just around the same age as the boy and the girl from A NEW HOME, my mom and dad had some big news for my brother and me. My dad had been accepted to a prestigious medical school in Stockholm, Sweden! This, of course, meant we had to move. Truthfully, I was scared, I had never even heard about this place before, and I didn’t fully understand what moving really implied. All I knew was that I would be leaving everyone and everything I loved behind, and that I was going to miss my home very much.  Nevertheless, we left soon after that, but something happened that I wasn’t expecting at all. I loved it! I quickly fell in love with Sweden, with the people, the food, and everything about it really, and in no time, I felt right at home. I had the opportunity to experience incredible new things that wouldn't have happened if I’d never moved to a different country. We lived there for three years and then we moved back to Mexico City, but I still cherish those years I called Sweden my home. 
 
When I graduated from high school, I really wanted to study art or design. I knew I wanted to have that experience of living in a different country again, so I applied to different schools across the United States. And this time, I got accepted to an incredible design school in New York City! I was thrilled!  When I arrived, I fell in love with the city: its sparkling energy, its incredibly diverse people, and how there was something new to discover every single day. 
 
From these experiences of moving around, I realized that no matter where I found myself, I could make that place my home. I learned so much from living in different countries and I am so grateful for that. It really opened my eyes and helped me realize that I should always be willing to try new things, no matter how scary they might seem at first. With this idea, I started writing A NEW HOME. 

Now, a funny thing happens when we move to a different country: our experience living abroad actually connects us on a very deep and emotional level to our home country.  Things you’ve taken for granted before suddenly become so precious, and you start seeing them with a different mindset. While living in NYC, I started reminiscing all the things I loved about my home city. The sounds, the smells, the food, and the people. All these things that make up a city, and what actually makes each place so wonderfully unique. There were so many things about Mexico that I wanted to share. And to tell you the truth, NYC reminded me of Mexico City in so many ways. So, you could say that this book is a love letter dedicated to these two magnificent cities I’ve had the honor of calling home and an effort to help others see them for what they truly are.

​On a final note, another incredible thing I was able to experience while living in different countries was meeting people from all over the world. While I was living in Sweden I went to an international school, so I had friends from Kenya, England, Australia, Iran, Israel, Poland, Finland, India, USA, you name it. It was amazing! I was able to learn so much from all my friends. And since NYC is one of the most diverse cities in the world, I met amazing people there as well. Because of this, I learned that that no matter where any of us come from, we’re really not that different. So, even though the boy and the girl from A NEW HOME grew up in completely different cultures and circumstances, they are experiencing the same fears and emotions—which serves to show that in the end, we are all just humans.

Bio:
Tania studied fashion design at Parsons School of Design in New York City and finished her studies in her home country of Mexico. Her work as a costume designer in film and television has helped to better grasp the art of storytelling through images. She uses a variety of media in her work, such as watercolor, gouache, color pencils, wax pastels and ink to create richly textured, engaging images.

Visit Tania's website: https://taniaderegil.com/

Tania’s American debut picture books , A New Home, and Un Nuevo Hogar, are available from the following vendors:
Indiebound: 
https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781536201932
Barnes&Noble:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-new-home-tania-de-regil/1129102613?ean=9781536201932
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/un-nuevo-hogar-tania-de-regil/1129102661?ean=9781536206753
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/New-Home-Tania-Regil/dp/1536201936/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=A+new+Home+Tania+de+regil&qid=1565288619&s=books&sr=1-1
https://www.amazon.com/nuevo-hogar-Spanish-Tania-Regil/dp/153620675X/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=A+new+Home+Tania+de+regil&qid=1565288619&s=books&sr=1-2

Final thoughts
Thank you for letting me share my process of bringing Night Train to life with you, and thank you to 24 Carrot Writing for inviting me to do so. I hope it was helpful and am looking forward to reading all the different approaches/processes other illustrators have here in the future.

About the Illustrator
Ileana Soon is an illustrator/vis dev artist who grew up in a small seaside town in Borneo, before making her way to Los Angeles where she currently lives and works. Her clients include The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Oprah Magazine. She has also won multiple awards, including a Silver Medal from 3x3, as well as recognition from American Illustration and The World Illustration Awards. Learn more about Ileana and see more of her work at http://ileanasoon.com/, on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ileanadraws/, and on Behance at https://www.behance.net/ileanasoon.

​An Interview with the team from Studio Goodwin Sturges

Studio Goodwin Sturges is an artists’ agency dedicated to nurturing creative talent and developing quality literature for children. At the Studio, Judy Sue and the staff work with children’s book publishers across the country and with artists and authors around the world.

We are thrilled to welcome Studio Goodwin Sturges to 24 Carrot Writing! 
 
 

As authors, we are familiar with querying agents asking for representation. The standard process is to send a query letter and all or a portion of a completed manuscript. Studio Goodwin Sturges’ guidelines ask prospective illustrators to send along a link to a website. How is the process of looking for representation different for illustrators than for writers?
 
Both authors and illustrators invest time, love, and energy (and blood, sweat, and tears!) in the materials we create and polish for submission. But whereas authors should have several completed manuscripts when querying, illustrators needn’t have completed projects. It’s certainly helpful for an agent to see how an artist paces a book, but it’s also entirely feasible for us to gauge an artist’s strengths by looking at samples alone.
 
Illustrators should present a varied portfolio that showcases their range but also their very best work. (In other words, if you only have a few pieces featuring human characters and those pieces are not your strongest work, consider leaving them out of your portfolio. Similarly, if your style has evolved, pass on submitting older work if you’d rather not do books in that vein. Of course, these same basic premises hold true for authors, too.) It’s beneficial for an agent to see that an artist can handle people and animals, characters and environments, fiction and nonfiction. Of course, every artist has strengths and weaknesses, just as authors do. But the more versatile you are, the more likely it is that you will find representation—and work in the marketplace.
 
Our first response to a portfolio is usually a gut reaction:  “Wow!,” “Meh,” or “Pass, just not a fit for our portfolio.” The “wows” usually reflect work in which we love the palette, the line work, and the overall creativity and sensitivity the artist brings to their art. It’s an illustrator’s job to bring their experience and storytelling capabilities to a project and not just mirror an author’s words. We want to see an illustrator speak in a visual voice that is uniquely their own. We also try not to overlap styles in our portfolio so that each artist has the opportunity to shine.
 

​Fresh voices from Studio Goodwin Sturges include Amy Walrod’s plucky heroine in Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza by Philemon Sturges (Dutton); Ora Eitan’s paintings on wood for Cowboy Bunnies by Christine Loomis (Putnam);  Claudia Bielinsky’s cheeky animals in the Vive la Différence! (Casterman); Sebastia Serra’s digital/3D collages from Una llegenda de Sant Jordi by Joan Portell (Andana); detail of Salley Mavor’s needlework from the forthcoming My Bed by Rebecca Bond (HMH, Fall 2020);and Holly Berry’s innovative use of color and black and white in a portfolio sample.

How do editors find your clients? Do editors send you manuscripts and ask you to match them to an illustrator? How do you determine if an illustrator is a good match for a project?
 
Editors and art directors find our clients on our website or the artist’s own site, via social media, through our email marketing, in the portfolio of live art we bring to publishers, at the Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators, and elsewhere; there are a variety of ways!
 
It’s not very often that an editor sends us a manuscript and asks us to match it with an illustrator. Rather, an editor or art director usually has a vision and approaches a particular artist. However, sometimes the illustrator approached for a project is unavailable, or doesn’t feel a connection to the manuscript. In these cases, we often propose another illustrator whom we think would be a good match. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t! Editors often have a ‘wish list’ they’re working through, so they might already have someone else in mind.
 
We know our artists very well, both on an artistic and a personal level, so it’s not difficult to determine if an illustrator is the right fit for a project. Again, it’s gut, but it’s also the artist’s sensibility, strengths, interests, and past experience.

Writers have to be ready to make changes to their manuscript throughout the editorial process. These revisions, while necessary and beneficial, can be painful. What does the revision process look like for an illustrator? 
​
Some illustrators begin by making thumbnail sketches. These might be for the illustrator’s own purposes, or they may go to the editor/art director for feedback. Other times, artists make character sketches before launching into full sketch/dummy mode.

​From there, the illustrator creates full-size, or at least to-scale, interior sketches. The designer will put the sketches together with the text and mark up the document with notes, and/or provide a page-by-page editorial letter. This is where things can get painful. An illustrator has thought long and hard about the compositions and decisions they’ve made, but there can still be major changes at this early stage. A designer will often move sketches around, suggest combining pages, request changes in composition or point of view, etc. Usually an editor/designer asks that certain pages be resketched, while other pages may be released for the artist to go to finish. Pages that need resketching can go through several rounds of revamping before artist, editor, and designer agree on a visual solution to any given challenge.

​Some artists submit finishes in batches; others deliver all the interiors at once. The finishes route through editorial, design, and copyediting, just as the sketches did. (Do authors know that art goes through copyediting, just like words do?!) There are usually some changes to final art for consistency or other issues. Some artwork is relatively simple to revise; other work, like oil pastels or dimensional work, not so much!        

How do illustrators react when they get a manuscript peppered with illustration notes? When are illustrator notes helpful? When are they hurtful?
 
Even if an author submits a manuscript with art notes, the notes often don’t come to the artist. Illustrators are hired to bring their own ideas and sensibility to a text, and excessive art notes can be distracting, or even intrusive and overreaching. While it’s helpful to have minimal notes if they put humor or technical issues in context, in general, writers should be very selective about what, if anything, they need to convey. As authors ourselves, we try to remind ourselves that the illustrator didn’t tell us what to write, so we shouldn’t tell her what to draw. It can be hard for authors to let go, but we must! That’s part of the picture book process, and part of what makes picture books so very special. The dance between text and image, with each telling part of the story, is so magical.
 
One caveat is that if a text is nonfiction or takes place in a specific time or place, it can be very helpful to an illustrator to have notes and/or visual research about costume, architecture, or cultural details that an author may have already uncovered. Accuracy is so important, and this can be a good place for authors and illustrators to communicate, usually through their editor.

When an illustrator is not working on an assignment, what do you advise your illustrators do to grow their craft/art?
 
We advise them to do what we tell our RISD students (and elementary students at author visits) to do:  separate from your electronics and get out and eat up the world! Go to movies, the theater, lectures, museums, parks. Read books, listen to music, cook, garden, get dirty! Try new foods, learn about a different culture, do something you’ve never done before. Be a sponge for experiences and emotions. Fill your well so that you have something to draw upon to create. As makers, we often feel pressure to produce and sometimes forget that we must nourish our brains and souls the same way we feed our bodies.
 
In terms of the book world, we advise artists to stay connected and engaged. Visit libraries and bookstores to drink in new books. What trends do you see? What gaps in the market? What mentor texts or approaches to art or bookmaking can you learn from? Form opinions about what you like and dislike, and why.
 
We also ask our artists to create new samples to freshen up their portfolios or social media feeds. Samples can be tough because they’re not part of a larger project that an artist is fully immersed in. But they can plant a seed or pique an editor’s interest, and sometimes they lead a creator in an unexpected and delightful direction. 

​Yes, covers are a different animal! They’re like posters for the book, and they really serve a different purpose than the (narrative) interiors. The cover art should reflect the feel and content of the book and should pull you into the totality of the story. For this reason, we don’t generally like pulling an interior and reusing it for the cover, as this is rarely the best choice.
 
When schedules allow, the cover is the last piece of art an illustrator makes. (Sometimes a publisher needs two interiors and a cover for launch, and then the cover must be finished earlier.) In our experience, it’s generally much easier to determine what the cover should show once the interior art for a book is done, or nearly done. Not surprisingly, covers go through much scrutiny. Illustrators often offer several cover sketches to provide options for discussion.
 

How does the team at Studio Goodwin Sturges use their own personal publishing experience to guide their clients? How has the process of writing and publishing your own books informed or changed your approach? 

Having worked on our own books allows us to empathize with authors and illustrators on a different level. We can help clients avoid pitfalls we may have encountered, and/or offer strategies to overcome them. And it’s helpful at the marketing stage, to share tips, tricks, and contacts. Most of all, it gives us an in-the-trenches camaraderie. Making books is all about collaboration and the meshing of ideas and inspiration. And that is what we’re all about!

A big 24 Carrot Writing thank you to the team at Studio Goodwin Sturges for sharing their advice and perspective. 

Studio Goodwin Sturges was founded by ​Judy Sue Goodwin Sturges and her late husband, architect-turned-children’s book author Philemon Sturges, in 1989. Judy Sue is also a longtime professor of illustration at her alma matter, Rhode Island School of Design. Studio staffers Sara Dunn and April Prince also have RISD connections; Sara is an alumna of the Illustration program, and April, an author and former editor at HarperCollins, teaches the “Word” portion of Judy Sue’s long-standing picture book course, Picture & Word.

If you would like to learn more about Studio Goodwin Sturges please visit them at: http://www.studiogoodwinsturges.com/. 

​To purchase Construction Kitties go to ​https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780805091052 and to purchase Dig In! go to https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781419705229. 

~Guest blog by Jamie Tan

As a senior publicist at Candlewick Press, my job involves a lot of travel, conversation, logistics, and a ton of e-mail. When I started out in publicity, I walked in thinking that the job would be about reaching out to event and media contacts, acting as an author liaison, and being a public-facing representative of Candlewick Press. The job is that, but with a whole lot of fun and unexpected tasks, mostly involving troubleshooting when the random things go awry.
 
My typical day at the office involves a myriad of tasks. I set up events, pitch journalists, talk to my authors about plans for their upcoming titles, and contribute to the department hive-mind when we have queries or are looking for fresh leads. I spend most of my day responding to e-mail, checking relevant social media, and planning for future campaigns. In my head, I’m thinking at least two seasons (one year) ahead. It’s nothing compared to my editorial and design colleagues, who are often times thinking two years (or more) out.

My typical day at an event or conference involves being an author liaison and amateur photographer. When I am with authors, I make sure I know their schedules inside and out so that I know where we need to be, how to get there, and who to contact if an issue arises. I also want to make sure that the authors are as comfortable and event-ready as possible, which involves taking them out to coffee or simply walking around to ease their nerves. I’ve learned how to situate myself in an audience so that I can take the best photograph possible to be used in social media or a photo round-up post-event. I admit that I’m glued to my phone during events, whether it be I’m waiting for a call or text response to a question, checking to see if anyone has posted about my author on social media, or am trying to decipher the best way to get from point A to point B. For  publicists, a strong internet connection and access to their inboxes are musts.​

When I think about my job description, I think about it like casting a wide net. I’m trying to hit up every angle I can, even the unusual ones. I get my fair share of rejection, but I also have successes. It can be depressing to send out more than twenty e-mails and not receive a response, but it is gratifying when the twenty-first e-mail you send out gets an enthusiastic response. The one thing I’ve learned? Keep trying. You never know what’s going to happen!
 
My advice for authors would be to keep an eye out for opportunities. They are my partners in the publicity process, and I really appreciate it when an author has built relationships within the industry that result in being asked to participate in interviews and also appearances. Several of the authors I work with have really robust social media presences which are really helpful in keeping their names in the public eye. While the publicity department and I have access to a wider range of events, authors are able to tap into their local literary scenes and be aware of opportunities that I might not be.
 
Jamie Tan is a Senior Publicist at Candlewick Press and has her MA in Children’s Literature from Simmons College. Before working at Candlewick Press, Jamie worked in events and marketing at several independent bookstores. 
​You can find her on Twitter @thejamietan.

​Guest blog by author, librarian and children’s book buyer Susan Kusel

You’ve written the world’s greatest book. You want to see it everywhere.
But when you walk into a bookstore or library, it isn’t there. As a bookseller and librarian, this is my most frequently asked question from authors: “Why don’t you have my book and how can I get you to carry it?”
 
Here’s some tips to help get it on the shelf.

​First, don’t assume the book isn’t there. Always ask a staff member so they can tell you what’s actually going on. Maybe you’re looking in the wrong section. Maybe it sold out and is being reordered. Maybe someone bought the last copy just before you walked in. Maybe it’s being shelved or is misplaced.
 
Ask nicely. An author who makes a polite inquiry will get a lot farther than one making demands.  You will make more sales in the long run if you are kind and courteous to the people purchasing and selling your books.
 
Give the name of your publisher and distributor.  The buyer needs to know how to buy your book and if they’ve already ordered it. Your publisher’s name is the quickest way of finding that out. If your publisher has a distributor, you should give that as well. 

Include the ISBN. This may seem like a small thing to you, but providing the International Standard Book Number saves time for a busy buyer. If applicable, give ISBNs for all formats your book comes in. 

Give plenty of time before the book’s release. If you want the book available for the on sale date, you need to provide a long lead-time. Bookstore buyers often buy from publishers 3-6 months before the book goes on sale. Library buyers need time to place the order with their distributors.

Sign stock- but give warning. It’s lovely to offer to sign the store’s stock of your books. Autographed copies help sales. But please don’t show up on a busy Saturday morning. Always get in touch ahead of time. This allows the store to find all the copies of your book, order extra copies, and have someone available to work with you.  
 
Make sure the book is a good fit. Don’t ask a mystery bookstore to carry your picture book or a children’s bookstore to carry your mystery book. Do basic research. If they don’t have your book, it is often not a critique of it. Trust that they know what sells and circulates for them.
 
Read the policies. If the bookstore states on their website that they don’t take self-published books, don’t try to pitch them one. If a library outlines the books they look for in their collection development policy, read it. 

Build a relationship. It’s not about this one book. It’s about getting to know the booksellers and librarians. Make sure it’s a two way street. Buy their books. Attend their programs. Listen to their advice.
 
Include links. When asked where your book can be bought, include a link to an indie or IndieBound. For those looking for a library that carries your book, link to your local library or WorldCat. Bookstores and libraries do a lot of work promoting you. It makes a difference if you promote them.  

​Susan Kusel has turned a life as a book lover into many careers as an author, librarian, and book buyer. She is currently the children’s book buyer at ​[words] Bookstore in Maplewood, New Jersey. She has served on many book award committees, including the 2015 Caldecott committee. Her debut book, The Passover Guest, illustrated by Sean Rubinwill will be published in Spring 2021 with Neal Porter Books/Holiday House.You can find her online at susankusel.com.