APRIL 22ND - MAY 17TH
Author Penny Lockwood introduces her newly released picture book
for children aged 18 months to 7 years.
Boo is a very bored
kitten. When Timmy and his mom return home, Boo sneaks out of the house. Boo is
frightened by the noises of the big world outside of the safety of his warm
home. When Timmy coaxes Boo back into the house, Boo realizes some places are safe
and some are not.
Talking Points for
parents include:
·Taking care of a pet
·Dangers of a busy
street
·Listening to parents
·Safe places vs.
unsafe places
Day
One
Wendy welcomes Penny Lockwood on
the first day of her tour.
I've read this beautiful book and
placed a 5 star review (by Calamity) on Amazon. Congratulations Penny. Over to you.
Hi Wendy, thank you for offering to host me on your blog today.
Although
I’ve been writing stories for adults and older children since 1993, this is my
first foray into picture book writing. It was definitely a challenge. It’s so
easy to look at a picture book and think, as a writer, “Oh, that must be easy
to write.” In reality, a picture book takes a lot of thought and effort.
Like
any other book, when Boo was finished,
I asked for first readers to give me feedback. I was fortunate to find several
young mothers with toddlers willing to give it a try. The hard part, though,
was there were no illustrations, so it was difficult for the little people to
grasp this was to be a picture book. Still I did get positive responses and set
about locating a publisher.
For
several years, I have participated in the Muse Online Writer’s
Conference where I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with publishers from
several houses. One of the women I met was Vivian Zabel who is one of the owners
of 4RV Publishing. I liked what I heard about 4RV and Vivian from other authors
who have published books with her. They are a small house and only publish a few
books every year. I was very fortunate that the acquisitions staff liked Boo’s Bad Day
when I submitted it a few years ago. Vivian asked for a few changes, which I was
happy to make, and I was rewarded with a contract.
I’m
not sure how other houses handle authors and illustrators, but 4RV Publishing
uses their own stable of illustrators. It’s my understanding this is common practice
with picture book publishers. One of 4RV house rules is that authors and
illustrators have no correspondence, so I had no contact whatsoever with
Deborah C. Johnson, the talented illustrator who worked on Boo. She was given
the manuscript and created the pictures, which in my mind are perfect. She
captured the spirit of not only the book but Boo the cat as well, without any
input from me.
Was it a
nail-biting experience? Not really. At the same time the illustrator was working
on Boo (unknown
to me), I had
been working on edits for my MG novels, Ghost for Rent and
Ghost for Lunch, also scheduled for release from 4RV Publishing. I wasn’t
even thinking about Boo
when I received the galley proof to review! When I saw the illustrations Deborah
did, I couldn’t have been happier. I didn’t see a need to change anything.
Deborah
was able to bring Boo to life on the page. The expressions she uses for the
different experiences Boo has are just delightful. I think she was able to make
Boo come alive for the children who will read the story and added to the
experience kids from around eighteen months to seven years will have when
either the story is read to them, or they can read it themselves.
Authors
interested in writing a picture book should explore sites on the Internet
devoted to children’s writing such as the Children’s Book Insider Clubhouse. There
are a lot of great articles available to the public even if you’re not a member. Writing World has
an entire section devoted to children’s writing, including an article by me,
“Eight Things Picture Book Editors Don’t Want.”
Penny, it's fascinating to hear of your experience towards publishing your picture book. I've always imagined finding a publisher and an illustrator would be an impossible task. Thank you, too, for sharing the sites above which will be enormously helpful for writers who wish to follow in your footsteps and get their picture books out to the mums and bubs.
Boo's Bad Day is available from the publisher
Find Penny at her website
Day 2
Tomorrow April 23rd Penny is on Terri Forehand's Blog
where she'll tell us more about Boo's Bad Day.
Wendy,
thanks again for hosting me. At the end of the tour, I will pick out one commenter’s
name and send an autographed copy of Boo’s Bad Day to
a United States address only. If the name I pick is someone who lives outside
the U.S., I will send a PDF copy of the book. So remember, readers, be sure to
leave contact information when you comment!
