Falling into Place: When Things Start Coming Together

Sorry I’ve been absent for a while, friends… I was sent to a training conference in Seattle for work, and the hotel’s internet was flaky, at best. While I was there, I felt it would be an excellent time to come down with lung-rattling bronchitis. Today is the first day I am both a) at home and b) able to string words into sentences. But, I have an exciting announcement (besides not being dead):

My illustrations are done!

Color me surprised, but my original illustrator got back to me. I was convinced she had headed for the hills (over a week past her extension date without a word, even though I tried repeatedly to contact her) and BAM! Over a dozen preliminary drawings show up in my email.

I’m a deadlines person. Things are always completed on time—usually even early—and God forbid anything ever be late. Artists, it seems, may run on a slightly different time table than that. While I struggle to wrap my mind around that idea, I’ve made my peace with it.

But good news all you struggling children's book writers out there: its entirely possible to have your book illustrated on a budget! Onto the next step in this process... Typesetting! 

What do you think of the illustrations?

Deadlines, expectations, and other things that can be thrown out windows

My illustrator emailed me last night, letting me know she has fallen behind, but plans to be done next week. I hope I was understanding and kind, because if you saw Wednesday’s post entitled, “Enduring the Wait,” you already know that I have the patience of a two year old that missed both nap time and lunch.

It happens. Deadlines aren’t always met. Neither are expectations. I mean, I expected that I wouldn’t sell my first book until it was illustrated and published, but, after telling a gentleman what I was trying to do, he prepaid for a signed copy of my book!

Guys, do you understand what I’m saying? I SOLD A COPY OF MY BOOK!!!

This has been the expression on my face since yesterday

If you’ve been there, you know the giddiness, the excitement, and the absolute delight/terror that comes with it. If you haven’t been there, hang on! Right now, I’m celebrating. Care to celebrate with me?

(Also, water balloons are other things that can be thrown out windows. And paper airplanes. And greetings to guests coming up the walkway.)

Enduring the Wait

My face when I realize I have to wait.

Apparently, there’s a good bit of waiting that goes along with trying to publish (even self-publish) a book. I had no idea it would be like this: trying to be patient while anticipating a dream coming true. 

Right now, there’s the waiting for the illustrations to be completed.

Then, there will be the waiting for the first print(s) to come off the press and back to my hot little hands.

Then it will be waiting to meet with local bookstore owners. 

I’m sure there are other waiting things I haven’t even considered yet. 

I hate waiting. I don’t like lines, being on hold, the 15 minutes before my work day ends, the last three days before a vacation, or the yawning expanse of time while a jury deliberates (work related, I promise). 

I’m a do-er, not a bystander. I always get into the thick of things, not because the thick of things is necessary the best place to be, but at least I’m not waiting for things to be done on their own. I’m influencing them. Its why I do what I do for work, its why I always have half a dozen projects going on at once (so if one stalls up for some reason, I can jump to another during the waiting period without any break in the action), its why I love volunteering with kids (they don’t like waiting either), and its why I’m fairly certain I have ADD. 

Some people are good at this. They're so patient and cheerful about things taking FOR.EV.ER. I want to be more like that and less like a squirrel on crack when I'm expecting something. 

How do you stand it? No, really, I need some advice here. Please help me!

Kickstarter: Hope for poor writers or a scam?

Sites like Kickstarter and GoFundMe have cropped up in the last few years, supposedly allowing the community to back projects they find worthy of funding. It sounds great, right? Create a profile, a video, an explanation of your project, and then submit it to Kickstarter. Kickstarter will approve or deny your application. Once approved, your project has a certain length of time to amass “Backers” and the funding you need.

This idea appeals to me. I love the idea of putting my book out there and having it funded by people who fully support the idea. Kickstarter even has a “Publishing” section! That’s perfect for all us unpublished souls who know what it’s like to eat mac and cheese or Ramen every night just to pay the rent.

Only, I get concerned when I read their Terms of Use. They can suspend your account at any time for any reason, and they don’t have to tell you about it (whether a Bakcer or a “Creator”). They can stop or suspend a campaign at any time, for any reason. If your project is not 100% funded, you get nothing (unsure, based on my reading, if Kickstarter keeps it or the Backers get it back). If you are 100% funded, also know that Kickstarter keeps 5% off the top, plus Amazon (who you must use to get paid) charges a 3-5% fee for credit card processing. You will be taxed on what you received in funding.

Also, the accountability is limited. If I get $10,000 funded for my project, there is NOTHING in place to guarantee that I will complete my project. Absolutely nothing. Kickstarter states that the Backers and the Community are responsible for keeping the Creator on track, but how much can you do with a few emails? Kickstarter makes no guarantees to Backers, but does state that “launching a Kickstarter is a very public act”, so fail to follow through on commitments could be damaging to the Creator’s overall reputation.

This might be something that works for you. As for me, I won't use it; I’m just not convinced…

Have any of you used Kickstarter (or tried) to fund any projects? What was your experience? Can you convince me otherwise?

Disney Finally Got One Right!

Not just because of this, but it sure didn't hurt!

If you don’t know how popular Disney’s newest animated feature, Frozen, currently is you a) know no girls between the ages of 2 and 12, and b) possibly live under a rock. Not only is it being hailed as the best Disney movie since Lion King, the song “Let it Go” from the film has been topping the charts for weeks. I might be late to the game, but I just watched it for the first time. And, I’m not going to lie, I loved it!

A princess who doesn’t need some random rich guy to be her savior? A princess who is not only brave enough and tough enough to forgive her sister who she believes has horribly mistreated her, but who is also willing to save her sister a great personal cost to herself? That, ladies and gentlemen, is a great role model for young girls.

Are the characters flawed? Absolutely! Beautifully so. Are they damaged? You bet they are. Who isn’t? That’s what makes them so relatable. Those are the kinds of characters I want to present in the books I write. Characters that have depth and resonate with kids, because even at a young age, bright, wonderful, amazing girls already know they aren’t perfect.

Did you see this movie? What did you think? Honesty is welcome here...

Also, this.

Brilliant Ideas: When Does “Unique” Become "Too Weird"?

Occasionally I have what I just KNOW to be a brilliant idea. In a flurry of excited, disjointed sentences, I blurt out my thrillingly awesome thought, only to have my patient, loving husband kindly pull me back into reality before my head explodes with sheer cleverness.

He’s probably just jealous.

Or maybe selling everything we own and moving into a yurt in the mountains of Montana in the middle of January wasn’t a great idea (but people, A YURT!). 

If you’ve been following along, you know that I'm working on self-publishing a children's book. I was thinking, it might add an interesting visual element if I have some kids I know write out the story and I use my words in their handwriting for the narrative.

Unfortunately, my husband is currently out of town on a family emergency, so I need your input: is this a good or bad idea? Why?

Finding Inspiration: What Has Inspired Your Writing?

My children’s book that I am working on publishing, The Clumsy Princess, is really a story about my friend’s little girl, who we’ll call “L.” L is a sweet, stubborn, adorably fierce and fearless 2 year old. After L spent another afternoon in the Emergency Room, this time for taking a header off of an older sibling’s top bunk (nothing had to be casted that day, thankfully!), I referred to her as an “accident-prone princess.”

                                           The face of fearlessness!

I thought about how Disney princesses appear so perfect: graceful, beautiful, well-dressed, and well-spoken. Their whole goal in life is to find their true love and live happily (and richly) ever after.

What if, instead of presenting our girls with an impossible standard to achieve, we created princesses who were more like real people?  What if we stopped subtly telling them that their goal should be to find a man to "rescue" them, but instead encouraged them to celebrate their differences and embrace life?

What if there were stories about clumsy princesses, and shy princesses, and bossy princesses, and tomboy princesses? 

Those are the kind of princesses I want my daughters (should I have any) to enjoy; princesses who are flawed, and wonderful because of it. The idea for a book series was born!

Please share! I want to know, where do you get your inspiration? 

 

Finding an Illustrator: the Non-Typical Route

I wasn’t sure how to go about locating an illustrator. There's not way I could illustrate it myself; I'm pretty thrilled if someone recognizes that the deer I've drawn is an animal. There’s probably a book or checklist that would be helpful; out there somewhere… A google search left me overwhelmed. Places with illustrators for hire I found particularly helpful:

Elance.com 

Peopleperhour.com

Illustrationweb.com

Ultimately, though, I decided to go with an old standby: Craigslist. 

I know what you’re thinking. Craigslist?! You’re going to experiment on publishing a book and you’re using Craigslist?! Except, I live in a wonderful college town with incredibly talented and artistic people, and illustration jobs are hard to come by (technically, I first offered to hire my sister who, unlike myself, is a fantastic artist, but she shot me down), and all I was asking for were simple line drawings. Besides, I only had $100 total set aside for illustrating. Within 24 hours I had over a dozen responses, many accompanied by beautiful portfolios. And one guy who told me that he charges $100 per page, so if that’s what I meant, he was my guy (it wasn’t what I meant). 

I finally decided on one illustrator for two reasons: because she had attached her elance.com profile, which had glowing testimonials from previous clients, and because her portfolio was bright, fresh, clever and fun. We emailed back and forth a few times, before I decided she was my gal. She gave me a two week timeframe to have the illustrations I’d described completed, and one week for making any adjustments I’d like. Now, I guess I wait. 

How do you go about finding an illustrator? Has anyone else used Craigslist before (or are my methods horrifying and barbaric)?