I was a freshman in high school when I thought, I’m going to write a picture book someday. Many years have passed since then (I’m not telling how many), but it wasn’t until just before the birth of our third baby in 2019 that I suddenly became obsessed with publishing children’s books.
Yep. Being seven months pregnant was a great time for God to keep nudging me to learn all I could about the publishing process. And I tried to resist, because I was having a baby and that’s what I should be focusing on, but since it was our third child there wasn’t a ton to do to prepare. So, I researched.
Start here…
I began by first trying to understand the differences between being traditionally published vs. independently published. In a nutshell, if you go the traditional route you are seeking to be published by the Big Five publishing houses: Penguin/Random House, Hachette Book Group, Harper Collins, Simon and Schuster, and Macmillan. Recognize any of them? Traditionally published means you’ll likely find an agent to represent your work who will then pitch your writing to editors, who, if you’re lucky, will choose to represent your book at their publishing house. This process takes a long time. Likely years.
On the other hand, one could choose to go the independent publishing route. This person would design their own book, find their own illustrator, and print their books at their own cost. They are then in charge of marketing and selling their books.
I decided very early that I didn’t know enough about the business to even attempt to publish independently, and I also knew my writing needed a lot of dusting off before it met readers’ eyes.
Once I knew I wanted to traditionally publish, my research kept leading me to join SCBWI. SCBWI stands for Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, a nonprofit organization for authors and illustrators. They host events, give awards, and have an amazing amount of resources for authors and illustrators looking to learn more, become a better writer, network, and more. You can read their mission statement here.
After spending a lot of time on SCBWI, listening to any podcast I could find about children’s books, and scouring social media for more information, I realized there was still one problem: I wasn’t doing much actual writing.
So, for a few months I wrote whatever was on my heart. I knew most of it wasn’t going to be seen by anyone, but I needed to find my writing voice again. I also knew that when I did finally write something that had a little potential, I needed to find a group of people to read my work. I decided to email the Assistant Regional Advisor in my SCBWI local chapter, and she was able to give me the contact information for two women who were also looking for a critique group. Their eyes on my work has already helped my writing so much, and I’m very thankful to have been introduced to them!
Another great benefit of SCBWI is their local and national conferences. Our state had a conference coming in April in which you could listen to numerous keynote speakers and sign up for a time to have your work critiqued by published authors and illustrators. Agents and editors would accept manuscripts from attendees for a few months after the conference was over. So, I decided to ask my husband what he thought of me attending the conference. Right away he said, “I think you should do it.” Shoot. I really wanted him to tell me it was too much money or that weekend didn’t work so I could chicken out. But, I signed up.
And then COVID-19 happened. The conference was redesigned so that anyone who signed up could view the seminars live via Zoom and would then have access to a recording for one month after. Thank goodness for technology. This also allowed attendees to see all the seminars and not have to pick and choose which ones to attend.
Further, I had signed up for a one-on-one critique with author Cindy Johnson who just published the book RUSSELL WRESTLES THE RELATIVES. With all the kids home, I found a quiet spot upstairs in my daughter’s room and thoroughly enjoyed my ten-minute critique with Cindy. She had so many great notes on how to help my story, and really was wonderful to work with.
Which leads to today. Now it’s time to revise the story again and see where it goes. I’ll keep updating you on this process and what’s happening next, and I’ll hope you’ll keep asking how it’s going to keep nudging me along.
twss,
Kelsey