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Before you click the back button, thinking you’ve arrived at the wrong blog, let me assure you…I DO NOT hate picture books.
And neither does Timothy Young, author-illustrator of the new picture book I HATE PICTURE BOOKS! It’s his main character with the picture book problemo.
I will let him explain…
In November I was a guest blogger for PiBoIdMo and I told a brief version of how I had the idea for I HATE PICTURE BOOKS!. I was at the NJSCBWI 2011 summer conference where I was on the faculty. I taught a seminar about creating pop-up books and sat on a panel with some of the other authors in the KidLit Authors Club. I attended a couple of the other seminars while there, including “Finding The Funny Stuff” with Audrey Vernick and Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich. They were talking about parody (I love good parody) in children’s books and Olugbemisola made a very funny comment about Paddington Bear’s immigration status.
That’s where things got rolling. I’ve always loved good parody but I hadn’t really thought of doing a parody book. There have been some really good ones lately like Michael Rex’s THE RUNAWAY MUMMY and GOODNIGHT GOON. So sitting there I started thinking, if I were going to do a parody what would it be? Images of classic books started running through my head and I thought, there are too many to choose from. Could I do something that used a bunch of books instead of just one? Somewhere in my thoughts appeared this kid, this boy who misinterpreted what he was reading. He was angry about it and he yelled “I hate picture books!”.
I have to say I really liked that title. It had a great hook and I thought “there’s a title readers will notice”. It has to be a good story with a title like that. I thought of all of the books this boy would be angry at. I thought of the kind of trouble he would get into based on what he read. I was really enjoying the process.
I had the beginning of the book really fleshed out, I was even designing spreads in my head. Having the boy (he was eventually named Max) appear in the books he was talking about, and illustrating him in the style of classic illustrators really excited me.
I then came up with the idea of having lots and lots of books lying on the floor and I couldn’t wait to get home and start drawing some of the scenes I was working out in my head.
So this story pushed it’s way out of my head. Once I got home from the conference I began furiously drawing. I designed my boy and started drawing him onto the scenes I was developing. I went to my local library and checked out dozens of books. (I’ve dedicated this book to my mom and to Rosemary Morris, the children’s librarian at the Talbot County Library). I’ve had an ability to mimic other peoples styles which I’ve developed working in the toy industry with licensed product from Disney, Henson and other famous character brands. I knew I had to go the New York in August for 2 weeks so I gave myself a deadline to have a rough dummy ready for then.
I made my deadline and set up some meetings. I got a very good reaction from a number of people who’s opinion I really respect. I HATE PICTURE BOOKS! was sent out to a number of publishers by my then agent, and was turned down (nicely) by all of them. In November I was introduced to the good people at Schiffer Publishing. I submitted it along with SHADOWS ON MY WALL, THEY’RE COMING! and another book. They came back to me quickly saying they wanted all four. Since SHADOWS ON MY WALL and THEY’RE COMING! were almost ready to go they were put into the schedule right away. I then had 6 months to finish all of the illustrations for I HATE PICTURE BOOKS! and here it is coming out in a couple of weeks!
I’m having a book launch event at Books of Wonder in NYC on March 2nd (Dr. Seuss’ Birthday!) from 1 – 3 pm. If you can’t make it and want to get a signed copy, you can order one from my Kickstarter campaign until Sunday, February 17th when the campaign ends. You can see a video there of me reading the first few pages of the book.
I’m also having a contest on my website, www.ihatepicturebooks.com. If you can recognize and name 40 books from the over 250 classic and modern picture books referenced in it you can enter to win over a dozen signed books that appear in my book. They are by authors and illustrators you’ve actually heard of.
Thanks, Timothy!
I definitely cannot wait to get my hands on this one.
How about you?
Wake up, kidlit campers! Rise and shine! It’s time to register for Picture Book Idea Month!
I hope you’re ready to take the 30-picture-book-ideas-in-30-days challenge!
Need to know more before you sign up? Read this.
Those who sign-up for Picture Book Idea Month will be eligible for prizes—like feedback from one of four literary agents and critiques from picture book editors! Plus more to come!
To register for PiBoIdMo 2012, you must do three things:
1. Subscribe to this blog via email. (Click “Follow Tara’s Blog” button in left column.)
2. Leave your full name in the comments of this post. The form will ask for your email address. Please enter it so I can contact you if need be. (Your address won’t be published and I won’t use it for any other purpose.) PLEASE LEAVE ONLY ONE COMMENT. DO NOT REPLY TO COMMENTS.
3. Display the official PiBoIdMo participant badge on your blog, website, or social network. (Right click to save to your computer.) Please include a link back to taralazar.com so folks know where to join the challenge. And if you’re game, mention what an awesome job illustrator Ward Jenkins did on the logos. (If you don’t have anywhere to display the badge, then skip this one.)
Optional Other Stuff:
4. Purchase PiBoIdMo merchandise, like the official journal. [Note: more items to come over the next week.] All proceeds ($3 per item) benefit RIF, helping to put books into the hands of underprivileged children.
4. Add a Twibbon to your Twitter avatar and use the #PiBoIdMo hashtag when tweeting about the event.
5. Join the PiBoIdMo Facebook discussion group. (Note: the name says “2011” but it is the current group.)
6. Repeat after me:
I do solemnly swear
that I will faithfully execute
the PiBoIdMo 30-ideas-in-30-days challenge,
and will, to the best of my ability,
parlay my ideas into
picture book manuscripts
throughout the year.
That’s it. You’re golden!
REGISTRATION REMAINS OPEN THROUGH NOVEMBER 7th. You can still follow along if you’re not registered, but remember, those who register and complete the challenge are eligible for agent and editor prizes like picture book critiques.
PiBoIdMo will kick-off with the first guest post October 25th for Pre-PiBo, a week designed to help you prepare for the event. There will also be a Post-PiBo the first week in December to help you organize all those ideas.
Visit this blog for daily inspiration from the guest bloggers, then keep a journal or computer file of your ideas. There’s no need to post your ideas online or send them to me. KEEP YOUR IDEAS TO YOURSELF! As Sheena Easton croons, they’re “for your eyes only.”
If you’d like, comment on the daily posts. You don’t have to say anything profound, a simple “Keeno Yaccarino!” will do.
At the end of the month, I’ll ask you to sign the PiBo-Pledge confirming you did create 30 ideas, and then I’ll pick prize winners from those who have registered and pledged.
Thanks for joining! I hope you enjoy this year’s PiBoIdMo! As always, if you have any suggestions for this event, please contact me at tarawrites (at) yahoo (dot) com or post on the PiBoIdMo Facebook group.
I will leave you with a quote that serves as PiBoIdMo’s motto…from Roald Dahl’s THE MINPINS…
And above all,
watch with glittering eyes
the whole world around you
because the greatest secrets
are always hidden
in the most unlikely places.
Those who don’t believe in magic
will never find it.
So I love this coffee mug.
Everything about the title and cover design screams that it’s going to have something marvelous inside. (And that it’s HOT.)
Note the retro color scheme and bold lines representing books on a shelf.
I talked to the author of this mug, and she said she wanted to create it so avid readers could profess their love of books. And, oh yeah, to also bring in a few bucks for Reading is Fundamental (RIF), the national non-profit organization that puts books in the hands of underprivileged kids who otherwise wouldn’t have any books of their own.
Well, how did the author pull this off?
That’s right, she bugged her friend Carter Higgins, the writer and designer behind the popular blog Design of the Picture Book. Yes, the same person who designed the Picture Book Writing Pie.
And Carter delivered. Big time.
So head on over to the CafePress PiBoIdMo shop to grab your cuppa. (And there’s a shirta, too.)
All proceeds benefit RIF ($3 per purchase), so there’s a good cause behind a good design!
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious does not even begin to describe the week I’ve been having! I know, I know, why should YOU care? Frankly, I don’t know. The fact that anyone other than my mother reads this blog blows my mind.
First, on Friday, my agent said she loves the 900-word picture book I just wrote. Who knew that many words was possible? I tend to stick to the 500-is-best rule, but this story was too librarious (made-up word) to fit in such a tiny space. So it’s busting out into the world and I hope it writes home soon. Au revoir, dahlink!
Next, I spoke at the RUCCL One-on-One Plus conference. And people thanked me for my speech! To know that I helped a few mentees feel less nervous that day—whoa! Mission accomplished.
And now, I have an announcement!
Drum roll please….
Oh, you’re an animal, Animal!
I have an illustrator for I THOUGHT THIS WAS A BEAR BOOK (Aladdin/S&S, 2014)!
And he is full of awesome sauce! (Although he’s from the UK, so that might be called “admirable gravy” across the pond, I dunno.)
Without further ado (and I do a lot of ado), it’s…
(No, that’s not Benji in the picture. Although I think that may be me on a non-showering day.)
Benji is the admirable gravy behind such books as WINSTON WAS WORRIED, DINO PARADE and HODGE THE HEDGEHOG (which I mistakenly thought was about John Hodgeman), plus the delightful interactive book app series from Nosy Crow, BIZZY BEAR.
So can you tell I’m absolutely tickled to have him working on my book?
This is one of the most exciting parts of being a picture book author—finding out who your illustrator will be and falling in book love. (Not to be confused with marriage love, as I am already taken by a dashing computer geek. And yes, you can use the words “dashing” and “computer geek” in the same sentence. Although to the computer geek, it may have a programming connotation.)
So check out Benji’s work, congratulate him, and also give him fair warning that he’s working with an absolute nut. He may require counseling after the book launch.
After all, I called him “admirable gravy”!
UPDATE: 2/5/2013 #Bedtimepicks hasn’t caught on, so I’m changing the hashtag to #BedtimeReads, which is more appropriate and easily understandable. Please join in! Just Tweet the hashtag with the titles of the books you’re reading to your children each night.
For two years I’ve been Tweeting the hashtag #bedtimepicks to share the picture books I’m reading to my kids that night. For two years some folks have joined in, yet all have dropped out.
Then I realized: YOU HAVEN’T BLOGGED ABOUT THIS FOR TWO YEARS?
What is wrong with me? (Don’t answer that!)
So I now triumphantly propose we get moving with this hashtag! It’s a simple way to share and discover great picture books for parent-child bonding. (And if you read chapter books or middle grade novels to your kids, of course, those count, too!)
In the evening, tweet something like this:
Then click on the hashtag to see what other parents and caregivers are reading.
VOILA!
TWO YEARS IN THE MAKING!
If you’re in, let me know in the comments. And please blog about it to spread the word.
Now quick, let’s all play catch-up!
“Don’t use art notes,” is what you may hear as a new writer.
It’s not that editors don’t like art notes. It’s just that many new writers want to dictate illustrations that do not require direction.
For instance, you shouldn’t pick what your character looks like. Red hair, blue shirt, green sneakers, pigtails, etc. are not for you to decide. The editor of Mary Ann Hoberman’s THE SEVEN SILLY EATERS thought the characters should be animals, like crocodiles. Marla Frazee, the illustrator, thought they should be people, and she was right. She even made the mother a cello player, which was not in the text, but it added a delightful layer to the mother’s personality. The options were wide open—the author never described the characters’ appearance.
The exception to this rule is when your character’s appearance is crucial to the story, like FRECKLEFACE STRAWBERRY. Although the title pretty much says it all, right?
You must trust that your editor and illustrator have ideas for what your scenes should look like. Better ideas than you. Leave the art direction to them (and the art director). Writing that the house has a front porch, or that the cat is calico, or that the car is yellow is all unnecessary. Again, unless that car needs to be yellow for your story to work.
But you will no doubt read picture books with subversive text—where the character is doing completely opposite what the words say. Or books with text so spare, the action comes thru only in illustration. These are times when your text requires art notes. SCREAMS for them.
But if you have an art-heavy manuscript, where much of the story relies upon the illustrations, how do you submit it? Putting the art notes in [brackets and italics] is typically the way to go. However, too many art notes can interrupt the flow of the story. It gets difficult to read and comprehend.
So what do you do?
Maybe…submit your manuscript in grid format.
What?! But Tara, I’ve NEVER heard of this before.
I know, me neither. But my agent just submitted a manuscript like this. I was skeptical at first, but then I realized the grid was the best no-nonsense way to present the text with the illustrative mayhem. Yes, this book has MAYHEM. And FRACAS and PANDEMONIUM, too.
Here’s what the grid looks like in manuscript format:
The header includes your name, contact details and a word count.
Then the title (in caps) and your byline.
There is a general art note at top which introduces the story idea. Moreover, it states the art notes are “intended as a guideline.” Again, as an author, you cannot rule over all that is picture in picture books.
Next comes the grid. On the left is the story text, on the right appears “rough art direction.” Notice we said “rough” because they are only suggestions for the editor to understand the story. Remember that the illustrator may create something even better, funnier, more poignant. Remember the CELLO.
The grid continues for as long as it takes to tell your story. Typically one or two more manuscript pages.
Please note this isn’t a standard way to submit, it only serves as an example of what one author and her agent did. It’s like the photos on the front of frozen food boxes that say “serving suggestion”.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I suddenly became very hungry.
I know you’ll probably say, “Tara, you had me at Peter Brown…”, but you will no doubt flip at the entire spectacular line-up of authors, illustrators, editors and other kidlit professionals I’ve secured for this November’s Picture Book Idea Month, affectionately known as PiBoIdMo ’round these parts.
PiBoIdMo challenges picture book writers to create 30 new story ideas in 30 days. Read the full scoop here.
Plus, we have an adorable mascot this year: Doodle! She’s the doggie pal of artist-couple Peter Harren and Kayla Skogh (who are equally adorable), and she’ll be making several cameos throughout the month of November!
.
PiBoIdMo will kick-off on October 24th with registration plus a guest post from…
…YOU?!
That’s right! One lucky former PiBoIdMo participant will win a guest blogging spot to write about how past events have inspired you, what you’ve done to gear up for the event, and how you sort through that fat file of ideas to pick ones to pursue.
To be eligible:
- Blog about PiBoIdMo and what it means to you.
- Link back to this blog post.
- Leave a comment on this blog post telling me you’ve done so.
- Complete all of the above by October 15th.
I will read all your entries and pick the blogger who most exemplifies the spirit of this annual event.
And now, without further ado, here are your PiBoIdMo guest bloggers!
Peter Brown
James Burks
Priscilla Burris
Dianne de Las Casas
Kelly DiPucchio
Amy Dixon
Kate Dopirak
Ame Dyckman
Donna W. Earhardt
Marcus Ewert
Deborah Freedman
Tiffany Strelitz Haber
Peter Harren
Charise Mericle Harper
Julie Hedlund
Leeza Hernandez
Carter Higgins
Ward Jenkins
Mike Jung
Ella Kennen
Diane Kredensor
Emma Ledbetter, Assistant Editor, Atheneum
Kelly Light
Deb Lund
Tracy Marchini
Wendy Martin
Diana Murray
Laura Murray
Debbie Ohi
Carol Rasco, CEO of RIF
Aaron Reynolds
Laura Sassi
Liz Garton Scanlon
Corey Rosen Schwartz
Kayla Skogh
Tammi Sauer
Mr. Schu, School Librarian & Kidlit Book Blogger
Melissa Sweet
Will Terry
Audrey Vernick
Robert Weinstock
Tamson Weston, Editor & Consultant
Timothy Young
And while you’re waiting for registration to begin on October 24th, why not join our PiBoIdMo Facebook group? Connect with other participants and picture book professionals, chat about the event and other writerly topics.
Stay tuned for more PiBoIdMo announcements in the coming days!
Two books with exclamation points in the title!
So now we have two winners whom I hope will have exclamation points burst over their heads!
The winner of ROBOT ZOMBIE FRANKENSTEIN! is:
Brianna Soloski!
The winner of OH NUTS! is:
Maria Johnson!
Ladies, look out for an email from me.
And tomorrow everyone’s a winner because I’m announcing the guest-blogging line up for November’s PiBoIdMo! Exclamation point palooza!!!!
Remember my video about the nightmare book signing?
Well, bad signings make frequent appearances in author circles.
Recently a friend set up a table at a “free” outdoor event for parents and toddlers. She thought it would be a good opportunity to showcase her picture book and sell some copies.
No one approached her all morning. She was getting very discouraged.
Finally, a woman who had been manning another table walked up. “I’d like one for my son,” she said. “His name is [very unusual name].”
My friend picked up her pen, personalized the book to the woman’s son, wrote a special note, and autographed it. “That will be $15, please.”
The woman stared. “Oh, I thought it was free.”
My friend was taken aback. “Free? This is a picture book from [Big 6 Publisher].”
“But everyone here is giving away free stuff,” the woman said.
My friend then felt bad. SHE FELT BAD?! “Well, since you didn’t know, I will let you have it at cost. I paid $10 for it.”
“Never mind,” the woman said. “I don’t want it.” And she turned back to her table.
My friend was near tears. She hadn’t sold a single book and now she was stuck with one signed to “Jakellen.” What were the odds that another “Jakellen” would come to a future book signing? About a Jakellen-to-one!
This serves as a cautionary tale for both readers and authors.
Authors do not get their own books for free.
They are offered a very limited quantity upon publication, usually somewhere between 5 and 15 copies, most of which they use for promotional purposes. The rest they have to pay for themselves, typically at 30-40% off the retail price. Sometimes they do better purchasing from Amazon and not the publisher-direct! Free books are very rare.
And remember, that author has worked years to publish that book. And authors do not get paid while they are writing it. A lot has been sacrificed to get that book onto shelves. So please don’t expect a book for free. And don’t walk away from a book that has already been personalized. That author has now lost whatever they paid for the book, and the royalty they earned doesn’t even cover 10% of it.
While tempting, it may not be the best idea to do signings at advertised “free” events. People arrive with the expectation that they’ll never have to dip into their wallets. (And considering the economy, that’s the kind of feeling they want to experience often!) They are not in the mood to buy, and therefore may avoid you, even if what you’re selling looks good. They have not arrived with the mindset (or the money) to make a purchase.
And finally, it may be proper to let the reader know the price before you sign a book. Or else you might get stuck with a lot of “Jakellen” copies. And frankly, “Jakellen” isn’t even on the Social Security Administration’s List of Top 1000 Names. FOR ANY YEAR.
But who knows, maybe like “Splash” I’ve inadvertently begun a Madison-like name craze?!
My friend may be Jakellen-sellin’ after all!
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Book and pen photo courtesy of Flickr user Jain Basil Aliyah.
Yes, it’s finally here!
Congratulations to my great friend, picture book champion and critique partner, Corey Rosen Schwartz. And a round of applause for Dan Santat, whom I knew would be the perfect illustrator for this story.
My rating? Five stars, of course. (And I’m not just saying that. It’s a rollicking good read! Just ask the NY Times.)
Order your copy today!
IndieBound
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Special thanks to illustrator Kayla Skogh for the Photoshop help! (Check out her illustrative work, she’s amazing!)
Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) 