7 Books in 21 Years: Lee's Tips on Getting Published

This week's tips are on Getting Published – things I wish I'd known back when I was starting out, and that I'm happy to pass along to you now.

1) Know your goals and what success is to you.

Is it financial? 

Is it awards?

Is it impact on a single reader?

Is it the most readers?

Is it seeing your book on a bookstore or library shelf?

Is it even about you, or is it more about the stories and/or ideas you want to share?

Being clear on your goals can help you determine the path you want to take with getting published. 

I author-published (a.k.a. self-published) my first YA novel, and while I liked having control (like selecting and hiring the team of professionals who helped me make it awesome) I ultimately wanted that book (Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill) to reach more readers, to empower more young people.

That influenced my decision to not publish myself again, but instead to be published by traditional publishing houses that have full sales team distribution. Accordingly, I've been published by a bunch of independent publishers: Lerner/Zest Books (No Way, They Were Gay? and The Gender Binary is a Big Lie), Levine Querido (Red and Green and Blue and White), Chicago Review Press/Interlude/Duet (A Different Kind of Brave), Reycraft (Love of the Half-Eaten Peach), and now Cardinal Rule Press (Like That Eleanor).

If you want to explore the many different paths to getting published, check out this free resource from IBPA, the Publishing MAP (Models and Author Pathways).

2) Don't "submit" your work. "Offer" it.

Author and poet Lesléa Newman gets the credit for this shift in mental models. I also don't want to "submit" and give up my power. I would much rather "offer" the work to a publisher to see if they want to partner with me on getting that book published and out in the world and into the hands of readers.

For me having a book out on "offer" has been a very healthy switch in how I think about getting my work out into the world.

3) The Big Five are not the only path. There are Indie Presses. And Self-Publishing (or Author-Publishing).

At this point, the general public does not care who published a book. If it is beautifully done and the quality is there and it is professional published, it doesn't matter to them who published it. They are not studying the copyright page.

This is an amazing opportunity.

Librarians and bookstores do care still who published something, so if you're going the smaller indie publisher or author-publisher path, there's a lot more vetting you'll need to do so your book is considered.

4) Publishing yourself is not a short-cut.

Impatience is not a good reason to author-publish (self-publish.) 

Being a publisher is a completely different role from being a writer, and even being a published author. A publisher has so much else to consider and deal with, and while there's a lot of control, you have to control it all...

Be sure it's what you really want to do. And if you do it, do it in the most professional way.

5) Publishing is subjective. Incredibly subjective.

...Meaning it's not a 'failure' if a project hasn't found its publishing home yet.

Case in point: recently, a book project of mine went on offer to an editor at an imprint of a publishing house. They asked for revisions. I revised, and they loved the new proposal/sample chapters. "We're going to acquisitions!" 

Then the musical chairs of publishing stopped the music—as often happens in this industry—and there was a different person who was the new editor of that imprint. 

Same book project. Same imprint. But now my book didn't fit their vision of what they wanted to publish. So that book didn't go to acquisitions after all. 

And now my agent and I need to figure out what would be the right publishing home for that project, and put it out on offer again.

It is all subjective. Don't beat yourself up if the answer is 'no.' Sometimes, it takes a lot of 'no's to get to the right 'yes.'

6) Email etiquette and compassion.

Email sucks.

A few years ago, when agents started saying that they would only respond to pitches when they were interested, there was quite an uproar. It felt unfair, that we were being told to careful craft our pitches and tailor them specifically for a specific agent, and then we might not even hear back! 

Many of us wondered, How was that professional? 

I view that with a LOT more compassion now. In my day job (as Chief Content Officer for the Independent Book Publishers Association) I get between 150-200 emails a day. That is so much to respond to! I do my best, but sometimes it's a few weeks before I respond, rather than a few days. And there are emails that get by me! 

I'm doing my best, but email is an incredibly inefficient means of communication (I also dislike how tone doesn't come through) and it's a lot -- especially when juggling all the other parts of my job.

So I've come to view agents (who get many, many more emails than I) with more compassion about the email situation. They have to prioritize their current clients, the things that are most pressing, and they're squeezing in reviewing offers for representation...

We could all use a bit more compassion when it comes to emails. And if you want some email etiquette tips from a publisher I admire, Brooke Warner rounds some up here.

7) Publishing has two speeds: Glacial and Panic.

You only control what you control, so try to focus on that. 

And while your work is out on offer, or you're waiting for notes back from your editor, or otherwise publishing is making you wait, work on something else. Don't just sit around waiting. 

Put your energies into what you control.

**

I hope these tips have been helpful!

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

School visits: A few things I've learned along the way

I first started speaking at elementary schools in Iowa back in the early ‘90s, way before my first trade picture book published. At that time, I illustrated a lot of basal readers for educational publishing companies. My work soon got the attention of a local social service agency, who invited me to speak at elementary schools—whoa!? 

Like a lot of writers and illustrators, I was an introvert. And I was shy, too (there's a difference). The idea of talking to anyone other than myself or my mom was strictly out of the question. I mean, what would I talk about? Honestly, I knew the answer. Kids love art, and a visiting artist would be inspiring for them. Still, I needed time to get over my fear of public speaking.  

Fast forward thirty years later—I’m now way past my fear of speaking to large groups. In fact, believe it or not, I enjoy it. Today, I present at elementary schools all over the country—in person and virtually.  For me, there’s nothing more delightful than when I’m sharing my experiences with young readers. I love the excitement in their eyes when they meet “the author.” I love their interesting and over-the-top questions. And I love their letters and drawings that often follow. Here are a few things I’ve learned along my school visit journey:

 

First and foremost, visiting elementary schools is not a must. I’ve met many authors and illustrators

who have no interest in presenting at schools, but somehow feel pressured to do so—for promotional reasons; or because their publishers asked them to; or because, they think, children’s authors are supposed to do so. But here’s the thing: don’t treat children like they’re a promotional opportunity. Visit schools out of a genuine love and caring for children. As authors and illustrators, we have this wonderful career because of the kids! So, if you’re going to visit schools, do so out of the spirit of love, teaching, edifying, and inspiring a lifetime appreciation of reading. Also, if kids really aren’t your thing (yes, I’ve met a few children's book authors who fall into that category), do kids a favor: Write books, but don’t visit schools. 

Don’t be boring. I know, that sounds kind of simplistic, huh? But seriously, if I had a dime for every teacher or librarian who confided in me that most author visits they’d experienced were boring, I’d have quite a few dollars built up. Author visits are a day that children will carry with them for a lifetime, so make the day special. Now I don’t mean that you have to juggle flaming torches to get kid's attention, but you do need to think about and plan, and to find a way to engage them. Some kids already think that books are boring—I mean, books have to compete with TikTok, Netflix, and Minecraft. So, don't do a boring author visit. Keep in mind, learning to engage children isn't going to happen on the first few visits—being an engaging speaker is a learning process. Take a speaking course. Join Toastmasters. Show up (ask permission) at a school when a visiting author is in your area. How does that author engage an audience? Think about yourself as a child—how could a visiting author have grabbed your attention?

Make positive connections. As much as author visit day is about you sharing with students, it’s also a day for students to share with you. So make connections. The simplest way to make a connection is through a smile. No matter what kind of crazy my life is before entering a school, once I pass through the doors, I’m going to connect with everyone through a smile. I want everyone to feel welcome around me, I want to leave a positive impression. You never know what kinds of monsters a child might be dealing with. A simple smile, eye-to-eye contact with a high-five or a wave, goes a long way.

In addition, while I’m presenting, I try not to keep the focus only on myself. I want the students to tell me about themselves too. What are they really good at? What are their special talents? I keep the presentation interactive—an ebb and flow of author and students sharing with each other. Once they’ve shared their dreams and aspirations with the author, you’ve made a meaningful connection.

Personal gender pronouns. Okay, I’ll admit, I was slow to understand the pronoun conversation. I’m 58-years-old. For the majority of my life, “they” and "them" were plural pronouns that quickly earned a bad grade in English class, if you used them in the singular. Visiting schools turned me around, though. There's no worse feeling than referring to a child as “he” and then having them correct you—in front of the entire class—as, “I’m a she,” or vice versa. That happened a few times, and I felt awful. I want to be respectful of every child who crosses my path, so I learned. And I changed. During a Q&A at a virtual school visit recently, a child thanked me for identifying my pronouns on my profile picture, saying to me in front of the entire class: “You made me feel safe.” I want every child to feel safe and respected.

Don Tate is the award-winning author and/or illustrator of numerous picture book biographies, including PIGSKINS TO PAINTBRUSHES: THE STORY OF FOOTBALL PLAYING ARTIST EARNIE BARNES (Abrams, 2021) and SWISH! THE SLAM-DUNKING, ALLEY-OOPING, HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS (Little Brown, 2020). His WILLIAM STILL AND HIS FREEDOM STORIES: THE FATHER OF THE UNDERGROUND  RAILROAD (Peachtree, 2020) was an SCBWI Golden Kite winner in the nonfiction category. Don is a founding host of the Brown Bookshelf, a blog dedicated to advocating for Black authors and illustrators writing for children. When Don isn’t writing, illustrating or visiting elementary schools, he enjoys working out, swimming, yoga, and anything sweet and chocolaty.

Craft Advice On Phone Conversation Dialog from Deena Nataf

There are some great tips for writing dialog that the reader only hears one side of in this article on Writing Phone Conversations to Forward Your Plot and Draw Your Characters from the BookBaby Blog, including this:

After you have written the first draft of your phone conversation, read it aloud and ask yourself the following questions:

Is it subtle enough, or am I hitting readers over the head with information?

Does it sound true to life?

Am I communicating to the reader what he or she needs to know, and nothing extra that has no purpose?

Is the conversation moving the plot forward?

Does the conversation give insight into the character of one or both participants in the dialogue, or the relationship between them? Or does it enlighten the reader about another character not participating in the conversation?

Are emotions and motivations being conveyed?

With suggested exercises and even an invitation to have your dialog critiqued in the comments section, it's a piece that's well-worth reading.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Editor Harold Underdown Explains How To Use a Revision Grid

It's a powerful tool. You may have seen the legendary one created by J.K. Rowling for the entire Harry Potter series, on one piece of paper!

In this blog post over at the Highlights Foundation, Using a Revision Grid to Break a Story Down Into Elements, there are two videos with Harold walking us through, first, the revision grid concept, and second, how he used a customized grid to look at the first two chapters of Gail Carson Levine's Dave at Night.

A still-frame from the video where Harold walks us through what a Revision Grid is, and how it works.

The post even includes downloadable templates for creating your own Revision Grid for your story.

I'll add that making a revision grid works for picture book manuscripts as well—especially as a way for writers to track if there are enough different locations/visuals for an illustrator to explore with the 15 or 16 page turns.

The Highlights Foundation post is a generous teaser for their upcoming revision retreat (co-facilitated by Harold Underdown and Eileen Robinson), and is well-worth checking out. Read the full post and watch the videos here.

Illustrate and Write—and Revise—On!
Lee

Funny, Harsh, and Even a Bit True: Harlan Coben's Writing Tips

Harlan Coben has written "dozens of novels," and over at Publishers Weekly's BookLife, he shares five writing tips.

#3 surprised me, though given Harlan's genre, maybe it shouldn't have:

3. Write like there is a knife against your throat.

The knife is right there and if you bore us, flick, you’re dead. Write with that kind of energy. Make every word count. The great Elmore Leonard said it best: “Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.”

#4 felt very true.

4. The distance is nothing. It is only the first step that is difficult.

I don’t know who originally said this, but the first word you write each day is the hardest, the second word is the second hardest, and so on. Once you start, it does get easier.

Take a look, and see if these tips are helpful for you.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

KID LIT CON Tip: How Do You Know Which Blogs To Tell About Your Book?

This year's conference of bloggers of children's and teen literature, KidLitCon13, happened in Austin, Texas in November.

While I went to present and meet my fellow kid-lit-obsessed blogger peers, I also learned a lot from the sessions I attended.   One tip I'm especially excited about was from MotherReader, a.k.a. Pam Coughlan, in her session "Beyond the Blog for Authors and Illustrators."

A little bit of set up:  The Cybils Awards are annual book blogger awards for children's and teen literature.

Problem: How do you figure out which blogs to aim for in promoting your book?

Solution: Pam suggested that the annual lists of Cybils awards judges is a great place to start.  They list their panelists and judges by category:

Book Apps
Easy Readers/Short Chapter Books
Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction
Young Adult Speculative Fiction
Fiction Picture Books
Graphics
Middle Grade Fiction
Young Adult Nonfiction
Elementary/Middle-Grade Nonfiction
Poetry
Young Adult Fiction

Let's say you write MG nonfiction - just in 2013 you can see the seven round one judges (who read everything and come up with the short list) and the five round two judges (who choose a winner from the short list.) That's twelve dedicated and respected bloggers who focus on YOUR genre/age category, who should absolutely know about your book.  And the list was different last year! (And the Cybils started back in 2006!)

It's an awesome tip.

Thanks, Pam!

Illustrate and Write On, and Happy New Year!
Lee

Portfolio Tips from SCBWI MidSouth Members Susan Eaddy and Mary Uhles

Illustrators, check out this excellent (under 7 minute) video on putting together your portfolio.

 

Finding this video is a great example of the wonderful content packed every two months in SCBWI's Bulletin. This "Portfolio Tips" video was highlighted in the Sept/Oct 2013 Bulletin "Art Tips" column, edited by Alison Davis Lyne. (On page 12.)

You can find out more about Susan and Mary at their websites, Susan Eaddy and Mary Uhles.  

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee