Writing my first children’s picture book
Before leaving for mat leave, my colleague gifted me a book (“Mom has to poop” for anyone who is interested!) she had written herself during her own maternity leave. During my last mat leave, my outlet during my free time was teaching Ukranian newcomers English. This mat leave I wanted to direct my efforts towards staying creative and finding new outlets. When my colleague gifted me her book, I couldn’t help but think “I want to do this.”
I’ve been writing since I was 16 – started interning at a local newspaper then, to becoming a full-fledged journalist, writing a few short stories that appeared in a few anthologies, and pivoting to marketing… long story short, I’ve never stopped writing.
I started on my picture book quite a few months ago (June 2023 to be exact — it is now March 2024), knowing I wanted it to be educational to children with similar backgrounds to my own children: being raised in a multicultural family OR interested in learning about different cultures. In all transparency, I went into this not knowing if I wanted to be traditionally published or self-publish. I’ve heard of great things on both sides, but wasn’t sure where to go with my book. The goal was to finish it first 😂 This meant hiring an editor, finding my own illustrators, book designers, printers etc. all on my own.
It wasn’t easy, but for me the hardest part was realizing the first iteration of my book wasn’t great.
My editor tore my book apart in the best way possible. After her first test-edit, I knew I had to work with her. I’m someone who loves constructive criticism, so I absorbed all of her feedback and built my book (and ego lol) back up. The main feedback was “show, don’t tell” and “make it a story and not a list of facts.” As someone with a journalism background (and wrote a lot of hard news), I struggled with this and to be honest, it took me almost six months to figure out how to address her feedback to have another meaningful draft for her to go through.
Fast forward to “finishing” my drafts and going through more rounds of edits, I finally felt ready to submit to publishers. I figured, the chances were slim that I’d hear anything back from anyone but I wanted to give it myself options.
… And the rejections came rolling in. Until one day I got an email asking to learn more, and then a month later, another email requesting a meeting with a different publisher.
I’m happy to report today that I have an offer from a traditional publisher who feels so great to partner with. I’m excited to share more about the book and release date here, but in the meantime, I just had to share this positive news at the tail end of my mat leave.