Thought I Was Through, Didn't You?

Nope I haven't given up. There's much to catch up on, but I'll do that later. First, I want to talk about what's shaking now:

So, I've been accused of having too much on my plate at one time. Maybe so, but I've just got so much going on that it's hard for me not to stay busy. A big thing that I'm pretty excited about is my collaboration on a children's book.

Unlike my novel-length kid's books, I'm working with an artist (who is fan-tastic) on a picture book to help kids who are having nightmares, are scared of monsters, etc. It's an idea I thought of over a lunch break one day and I'm running with it.

To the end...

Seriously. We are going to see this one through from beginning to end and that means we're going to publish it ourselves. Yep. We'll make it absolutely perfect, maybe have some pros look it over to make sure we're on the right track and we'll bypass the submission process.

Instead, we're planning on getting copies of the book to some of the local schools, libraries, etc...and seeing if we can't make a little noise that way. I've even got contacts in a few big-chain bookstores who would be willing to sell the book.

Why would you do this, KMC? If it's such a good book, why not shop it around?

I'm glad you asked. Typically, with picture books, they only want illustrations if they're done by the author. If that isn't the case, they pull an illustrator from their pool and I'm stuck working with someone I don't know (and probably won't like). Since I couldn't draw to save my life, I thought this would be the way to go.

How are you going to pay to have it published?

Grants and what-not. There's all kinds of money out there that they're giving to people who are working on less-interesting projects. We won't need a ton, but just a little to get 100 copies or so made up.

So, what then?

Assuming we've got what we set out ot design completed and the response is good, I'm going to work on a press kit and send it to some of the local TV stations. If all goes well, we'll be on TV, talking about our book and hopefully getting our name out there. Of course, this will help launch both me and Dickie S's careers. Heck, they may even want to look at my (award winning yet-unpublished) novels as well.

Anyway...it's still in the early stages. If there's stuff to share, I'll be sure to do just that.