We're Havin' A Heatwave!

It was over 100 in our backyard by 10 this morning.  I was watering our plants, hoping to keep them alive for the next week to ten days as temperatures are expected to soar into the 100s consistently. Whew!

Fortunately, even though not air conditioned, our office stays quite comfortable with a fan. What's lacking is a whole lot of motivation on my part. 

I think, though,  over the next several posts I'll meander on and tell you how I went from one book to three in very short order. 

I probably would have done a lot of things differently, hindsight being 20/20, if I had had more experience.  So how do you get experience?  I think pretty much the same way I do. Try it out.  If it doesn't work, try something else. 

All things considered, it's working out.  To take advantage of an overused term these days, I think I'm flattening the (learning) curve. Stick with me!

Be Sure You Get What You Want

My project manager told me I was far more involved with the process than most of her clients.  To me this was natural since I knew nothing at the outset and wanted to know everything I was getting for my $2500!

I had no idea I had written a "middle grade" story.  By definition that's a story for kids between 8 and 12. Those books are in a 9 x 6 format. They are illustrated but not always in color.  The text is right and left justified.

The text drove me crazy because to justify it there were often huge gaps between words.  Totally normal, so I was told. Mind you I had put my trust in these people.  They did add some neat touches like splash marks around the first letter of chapters, representing, I'm sure, drops of slobber. They also put paw prints around the page numbers. They were nice touches and something I couldn't do on my own without investing in a lot of pricey programs.  The initial $2500 was a sting unto itself!

The cover was another issue.  I was only given two choices.  The one chosen was chosen because it was colorful and showed action. I wasn't crazy about the color but I guess it was to compliment the snail. The dog and the snail were extrapolated from actual illustrations.

The next step was proofing the formatting.  That was another hassle because many of the illustrations didn't mesh with the text.  I went through and placed them where, or at least close to where, they should have been.  That was time consuming.  So you've got some very lengthy processes involved.  I found it had been unwise to anticipate a launch date. However, I was told to keep it in front of my audience and part of that was the telling of its coming.

Once satisfied with the layout, it was ready to be uploaded to the printer.  Again, this is a step I left to the pros.  Many do it themselves but it must be a harrowing experience for anyone doing it for the first time. Especially when they charge for re-uploads should you find an error after the fact.

Let me say that Ingram Spark charges.  Amazon does not.

Next post will be about why we chose Ingram and what all was involved.

Picking the Pictures

 I thought I had done enough illustrations - better than thirty, but by the time we  placed them it was decided we needed about eight more. I spent the next several days working on them.

The one to the left is one of my early favorites. My two heroes studying a snail drinking beer.  What is that all about?  Read the book! Slobbers and Slime.  All the books, by the way, are available on Amazon and most bookstores that have an online presence.  I'll be repeating this often, just in case...

I had studied a lot of illustrated children's books and have to this day never seen one illustrated in my style. I thought so many of them were very static and while  cute, they didn't show action. By design I kept mine loose and sketchy. After all the book is for kids and I wanted them to be able to feel a sense of action and intrigue. 

My project manager told be I should investigate putting myself out there as an illustrator but I didn't, and still don't, know enough about the publishing requirements nor all the technical aspects of the drawing program. I decided to stick with my own projects which were challenging enough. She had a point though, when she told me illustrators command around $150 per picture.  My immediate thought was, wow, I could never have afforded to have a professional illustrate my book to the extent I did.

Once the illustrations were completed everything was made available to the layout people.  This is another area where there are a lot of guidelines online for those wanting to tackle it themselves, but again, I knew nothing about it so opted to have the professionals handle it. Layout and cover design.  We're getting close to actually having a book!

Have the Dog, Define the Characters

                                                                                                                                                                                       The old adage to write about what you know went right out the window when I was told the kids needed to be different ethnicities. Talk about 'politically correct'! 

 Okay, I can do that. I'll just create the kids to be exactly like the kids I knew when I was growing up only have them look different.  They won't care.  They're about the same age, best friends and neighbors.  That'll do.

So I created the families. The Whites.  Dad George, mom Sarah and their kids Bud and Sis. George is a stockbroker.  The only one in the small village of Serenity.

 Sarah is a stay at home mom but helps out at the local library or art gallery when they find themselves shorthanded. She has her hands full with Bud and Sis. Especially Bud since he's the mischievous leader of the Gang of Four.

Sis is smarter than she acts.  She finds it easier to deal with Bud that way. Their best friends and neighbors are Lin Huang and Deon Brown. More about them in the next post as this saga continues.  I hope you'll come along for the ride!

Shedding Light on the Beginnings of Slobbers Story

 As you can see in a few previous posts, I had a few false starts upon discovering my old blog was still functional.  I guess I had the same experience with Slobbers story. But perseverance willed out. Three books have been published.

There is some truth  to the saying people come and go from your life for a reason.  I guess that's why I've been fortunate enough to meet some bona fide writers in my time.  I've become good friends with a few of them

What do friends do?  They talk.  Especially female friends. Naturally, in discussing books, I finally let it be know that I had this "spoof" locked away and was immediately told to get it written out.  Would they read it? Absolutely.

I had no clue where to begin so I just hen pecked away on the old computer, wrote a half manuscript and half outline. This was all the way back in 2018. The first friend I showed it to gave me some invaluable advice and, contrary to my nature, I actually took it. Advice like what people were and were not reading those days, whether it should be first person or third, that my characters must be diverse, etc. She also told me no one was reading spoofs of monster movies.  I wasn't sure I believed that but I decided to trust her.

What's the saying? Trust but verify?  So I showed it to another friend who promptly told me it would make a great kids story.

A kids story?  I felt lost again.  I even contacted a much younger friend who, too, was a Saint Bernard enthusiast and asked him if he'd like to collaborate.  I felt he could put the kid into the kids far better than I could.  We got started, but as happens, life intervened and that association was not to be.

I took a deep breath and told myself it was a good story and if I was going to have to stumble through it on my own, so be it. I sat back down at my computer and began again...