Today, I am happy to host my
very first writer friend, Susanna Leonard Hill, to talk about picture
books. Susanna is the award winning
author of nearly a dozen books for children, including Punxsutawney
Phyllis (A Book List Children's Pick and Amelia Bloomer Project
choice), No Sword Fighting In The House (a Junior Library
Guild selection), Can't Sleep Without Sheep (a Children's
Book of The Month), and Not Yet, Rose (a Gold Mom's Choice
Award Winner.) Her books have been translated into French, Dutch, German,
and Japanese, with one hopefully forthcoming in Korean. Her newest
book, Alphabedtime!, is forthcoming from Nancy Paulsen Books, an
imprint of Penguin Books, in Fall 2015.
Debby: Susanna, you were my very first writer friend
more than twelve years ago. And I feel
like you have shared the journey with me.
I have been blogging lately about the importance of writer friends. Thank you for being such a good friend. I am so happy you are here today!
Susanna: Thank you so much for
having me, Debby! I am honored to be
your friend and to have had the chance to share our writing journeys.
Debby: Speaking of writing journeys, I wanted to
talk about picture books. For so long,
this has been a club that only admits a select few authors who are celebrities
or politician’s wives. You have 7 published
picture books with one coming in 2015.
What is your secret?
Susanna: I have been so fortunate to
have published 1 pop-up book, 1 board book, 2 lift-the-flap books, 4 picture
books in English and 1 in Dutch, 1 early reader, and 1 e-book, with another
picture book forthcoming in 2015. I wish
I had a secret! If I did, maybe I’d be
able to produce saleable picture book manuscripts a little more often! But I think if I have anything to share it’s
that perseverance is the name of the game.
You have to show up every day and write.
You have to polish stories until they’re ready to submit to your agent
or editor. If they get turned down, you
have to send them out again, or reevaluate them to see where they went
wrong. You have to keep writing new
stories while your finished stories are out on submission. I think the secret, such as it is, may be
simply that often the difference between published and unpublished is whether
or not you keep trying.
Debby: That is a really important message for all
writers, not to give up. What about the
notion of rhyming or not rhyming? Are
there rules?
Susanna: It is said by many that
editors do not want rhyming picture books.
This is patently untrue. Two minutes
in the library or bookstore will show you that editors buy rhyming picture
books all the time. BUT. Rhyme is very hard to do well. If you’re going to submit it to an editor it
must be perfect. If your rhyme and/or
meter is off, you risk having a story rejected because of that, not because of
the quality of the story. So unless
you’re very good at rhyme, you are often better off writing in prose.
Debby: Picture books depend so much on the artwork
to bring your vision to life. How hard
is it to wait for the unveiling of the artwork?
Do you have any advice for other authors who have to wait to see the
artwork for their books?
Susanna: It is VERY hard to wait for
art! Although in this day and age you
can easily google your artist and see samples of their work, that gives you only
a general feel for their style. You still
have no idea how they’re going to conceptualize and develop your story. And since most editors do not allow sneak
peeks, you just have to wait and see and trust that the editor, the art
director, and the illustrator will bring your story to life in a way that works
for you. That said, I have been very
fortunate in this department. With one
exception, my books have come out even more beautifully than I could have
imagined. Advice on how to wait? There’s
nothing you can do. You can’t make the
artist work faster. You can’t make the
time fly by. So get to work on something
new and try not to think about it too much J
Debby: Of course we all want to know which was the
one exception that didn’t come out the way you imagined. But I know you won’t tell us. So I will move on and ask you about ebooks. So many kids use tablets now, how is the
market for epicture books?
Susanna: I think there’s a strong
market for epicture books. They’re
convenient. They’re beautiful. They have features that regular picture books
don’t have (like read-to-me.) And
they’re extremely portable – you can carry a whole library in your purse or backpack,
which is great when going anywhere with kids.
I don’t think they will replace physical picture books (at least I hope
they won’t!) I think there’s still a lot
to be enjoyed about reading a physical picture book together from the smell of
the ink to the actual turning of pages to the joy of reading to your child (not
just relying on the recorded voice of an ebook) and the discussion that can
ensue.
Debby: I love the smell of a new book and the feel
of the pages. My daughters and I found
our favorite picture books by browsing in children’s book stores, but with so
many of them closing, how do you promote picture books?
Susanna: That’s tough. I am firmly in the group that likes to pick
up books and look through them. Many
online bookstores offer “look inside” features, and that helps somewhat, but I
don’t think the experience is the same.
And whereas writers of MG, YA or adult books can share excerpts on their
blogs to give readers a taste, that is a lot harder with picture books. The text is so short that an excerpt isn’t
particularly helpful, and since picture books rely on illustration, the text is
often not entirely clear without the pictures.
I make book trailers for my books.
It’s not quite the same as being able to pick them up and leaf through
them, but it does give a glimpse of both the text and the art. I also do as many school and library visits
as I can so that I can share my books with kids.
Debby: I know you also teach a class in writing
picture books. Can you tell us about
your class and where authors can sign up?
Susanna: My class is called Making
Picture Book Magic. It is a one month
course. Participants receive one lesson
each weekday via email for 21 days (no lessons on weekends.) The course covers all the essential elements
of writing picture books from character development to story structure to how
to leave room for the illustrator. We
have a private FB group where the class can share assignments with each other
if they choose (no one has to share if they’re not comfortable) and get feedback
from me and the other members of the class.
The cost is currently $99 but it will probably go up in July. For full details please see http://www.susannahill.com/MAKING_PICTURE_BOOK_MAGIC.html
Debby: That sounds like such a wonderful opportunity
for writers to work with you. Any hints
about your work in progress you can share?
Susanna: I always have multiple works-in-progress at home in my computer –
too many to choose from J But I
can tell you that my next book will be released from Nancy Paulsen Books, an
imprint of Penguin Books, in Fall 2015.
It is being illustrated as we speak by the talented Betsy Snyder, and
the title is ALPHABEDTIME! (so you can probably guess what it’s about J)
Debby: The
title is so much fun! I can’t wait to
read it. Thank you so much, Susanna, for
being here today.
Susanna: Thank you so much for
having me, Debby! It’s been a delight to
visit your blog and meet your readers!
Debby: To learn more about
Susanna and her wonderful books, here are some links to her website, blog, FB author page, Twitter, Making Picture Book Magic
(online writing course).
D.L.
