All in Due Time

After almost 5 years of trying to get the draft of my children's book into the hands of someone who can facilitate the process of publishing, I'm still sort of nowhere.

I might be over dramatizing a little bit here. Obviously I didn't work for five years straight. That's ridiculous. I have a full-time job. And a summer job. And I'm easily distracted. And also easily discouraged. I went to a few workshops.

But I THOUGHT about it a lot. Oh, does that count? Let me check. 

(Googles, "does thinking count as working?" Reads. Reads some more.)

Inconclusive, based on the 90 seconds worth of research I did. Oh, that could really be an indication of how my attention span impacts my workflow. Not now, inner monologue. Not now.

Back to the topic at hand though - I've dipped in and out of this, and I've queried a couple dozen agents, and I keep hearing the same things. "We love the work, but..."

But what?

Mostly it's but they don't feel strongly enough. Or they don't know if they are as connected with the concept as they would need to be to do the work justice. That's fine. An agent does really need to believe you to sell you. Now would be a great time for me to review the structure of what I'm trying to do. Here's a step by step, as it would best work for me.

1. Creative person gets an idea. For a picture book that includes an approximately 300-800  word story, spread out across a 32-page (often) layout of picture pages. 
2. Pictures are drawn for what the storyteller would like the reader to see while reading those words.
3. A few sample illustration sketches are done in color/more detailed to give a sense of the desired aesthetic.
4. A dummy is put together. Usually digitally. A PDF to send around. 
5. A query letter is written, including a summary of the project and a pitch. Some biographical information about the author/illustrator. Professional, all while being a little snappy, clever, and well-worded.
6. Agents are researched. An agent is a benefit because they navigate the business with experience, have established relationships with publishing houses, have negotiated past deals, etc. They get a cut, but they handle the parts of the process that are hardest for me to manage, so it's worth it to me.
7. A query is submitted to an agency. A lot of ways to do this. Some have special processes. Some use QueryTracker. Some just like an email with an attachment. I have a theory that when I connect with an agent, it will be one of these - very casual. Low key doesn't give AF how the material gets in their hands.
8. An agent...

This is where I lose the process because this is as far as I've gotten. Theoretically, the agent says, great project, I'd love to work with you." They sell your book. You get a book deal. You both win, and your book makes it to the NYT Bestseller list. Theoretically. Note: there are other paths to a published book, but as of right now, this is what I see working best for me, who is still a full time teacher, and will be for another decade or so.

But...I haven't gotten that far. Yet? I don't know. It does get discouraging. Rejection is a big trigger for a lot of us, but I'm getting better at it. No response ghosting is the worst, but lately I've been getting more actual replies. Is that progress? I'm going with yes.

So, in the meantime? Trudging onward. Trying to improve where I can. Can my query letters be more precisely crafted? Yes. Is my story timely, valid, and approachable? I think so, but I'll keep letting people read it and give feedback. Is my artwork to the industry stand. Oh, hell yes it is. That's one of the few things that I can be confident about. Am I outwardly representing someone that can be worked with successfully? Not sure. Does the full time teacher thing make this seem like a hobby? Maybe. Is it a hobby? Yes, for now. But it's also part of what I do and will do more as I work into the next phase of my career. Can they tell that? Maybe not. I'll check. Wow. This really is helpful to talk through. On my blog. Hey. We take whatever we can get. 

One acknowledged area with room for growth is public presentation. My social media should sing. I barely post. My online portfolio should be very impressive. I'm not sure it is. So yeah. I guess we know what I need to do.

Give up.

Kidding. I'll keep taking the steps and maybe I'll get there. All in due time.