My Journey as a First Time Author

Lets start at the very beginning! One day my dad, who had been trying to get me to write and illustrate a children’s book for years, said "I came up with a title for your first book...Shoo Fly Shoo".  I asked him what he wanted it to be about and he said "Anything! Just name it Shoo Fly Shoo." 

I thought on it for months but not too seriously…I was a horrible illustrator so how could I write and illustrate a children’s book? I knew I was horrible because I barely passed my illustration classes in college. They had criticized me to the point where I did not paint or draw for years after college…I was no good!   

But…my dad’s birthday was coming up and I always liked to make hand-made things for him because it was so special to him. One night I decided I would give it a try and at least come up with a story. I knew I wanted it to rhyme and be educational for kids. I got my computer out and typed up the story in a few hours…it just came to me! Throughout the next few months I worked on the illustrations in between a full-time job and a life! 

I finally finished the book in August 2011 and started looking for companies that could print it up so I could give it to my dad on his birthday in September. I came across Blurb, a self-publishing company, and I ordered one through them. I was ecstatic when the book came in and I was able to see my work printed in book form! I couldn’t wait to give it to my dad and ended up giving it to him early. He was so excited, probably more excited than I was! 

Check out one of my previous blog posts for the full story!

Next on my agenda was to find a publishing company. I had no idea what I was getting myself into at this point!! I researched into self-publishing vs traditional publishing, read articles on how to get my book noticed…etc. I submitted my book to a few companies, but most companies required a literary agent…which I didn’t have. After months of this, I was contacted on April 12, 2012 by Tate Publishing saying:

Danielle,

Congratulations! This e-mail is to inform you that we have accepted your submission “Shoo Fly Shoo” for publication with us...

I was very excited about this opportunity, but also a tad skeptical…is this a scam...are they legit… I forwarded this to my dad who said it seemed like a form letter and we need to talk to them more about it personally. I spoke over the phone with a rep from Tate who was very nice and answered my questions. My dad emailed her later with a few of his own questions and this is basically what 

we learned.

1. There was a fee ($3990) to retain a publicist and after I sold 1000 books retail, I would get that   money back.

2. If I wanted to publish another book through them I may have to pay another retainer.

3. Tate only puts soft cover in distribution. If I wanted to sell hard cover books I would have to personally buy the books (minimum 75) at an additional cost of $4 per book.

4. Ingram/Spring Arbor is their distributor and Tate has become the 10th largest seller of books in the country. After publication, my book would be available online on major sites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble. They may or may not end up in stores on bookshelves.

5. They don't usually accept outside illustrations, but they liked mine so they made an exception.

They also sent a production timeline:

It sounded good, except for the Publicist retainer of $3990…but that would be refunded after I sold 1000 books so I thought I would surely be able to sell that many. I also had originally wanted my book in hard back form but was willing to forego that idea to get the book out there. I spoke with Tate reps on the phone, emailed questions back and forth, meticulously looked through the contract, and talked with my husband about it. I did not take this decision lightly. I also contacted a friend of a friend who had published twice through Tate and asked how his experience was. He claimed that his experience with Tate was ok, but that we could do better by going to a literary agent. He also said that after he sold the 1000 books, he got his money back...so that made me feel better. 

I looked into literary agents but the process seemed difficult and I already had an offer from Tate…so after much consideration, I accepted the offer and sent in the payment May 16, 2012. I sent in the manuscript and digital illustrations and awaited their next move. They sent me an email May 25 stating that my book was scheduled for production in August, 2012. Yay, I was so excited. Little did I know the craziness that was to ensue the next year!

The email I had been waiting for finally came:

Aug 3

Production of your book has officially begun, and we want to let you know what's happening with your project. This month, our copyediting staff is reviewing your manuscript and adjusting any technical issues that it may present...

Sept 7

My editor contacted me and the developmental editing process began:

Within the next couple weeks you will receive an email from me containing your edited manuscript... I received the edited manuscript about 2 weeks later, made some adjustments, and sent it back.

Oct 1

Congratulations! The next step in your book's production process is illustration! 

Since my illustrations were complete, I didn't expect this process to take long!

Oct 4

Congratulations! We are one step closer to seeing your final product. Your illustrations are complete, and now it's time to begin on your Cover and Layout design. The cover was quickly finished. They gave me two options, one of which I had designed myself, so I chose that one. The layout, on the other hand, took a lot longer than it should have...

Oct 15

Congratulations! We are another step closer to finishing your book. Attached you will find a PDF file of your book's layout. This is where things got a little hairy! 

In the attached file, I noticed a few mistakes right away. The font size changed dramatically between the 1st  and 2nd spread. Text placement seemed a bit crowded on some pages and the paragraph indentions were weird. I also didn’t like having orphans (one word on a line by itself). These were all basic things I had learned in the limited graphic design classes I had in college. I sent an email back requesting that they please change a few things (font size on first spread, no paragraph indentions, no orphans…etc). They also had some text centered and other text left justified...but I didn't notice until after I had sent the email.

Oct 17

My editor was able to fix most of the issues, but missed the paragraph indention on the last page so I emailed back about that and a few more issues that I had noticed (the text being left justified and centered, some text needed to be changed from black to white for readability…etc).

Oct 24

After not hearing back from my editor for a while, I finally heard back from a Tate representative  saying that they needed my address so they could send me a proof. I guess my editor was tired of me finding errors...I quickly replied and they said the proof was on the way. Not sure the exact day I received it but it was about a week later. The first issue I noticed about the book was the size. My editor and I had talked about the size before and I told him that I wanted the biggest size available because it was a children’s book. I wanted a teacher to be able to read it to a class. The size was 6x9…very small. I was sooo disappointed! I wanted to cry! I felt like they had turned it into a joke! It looked like one of those books you would buy at the Dollar Store.

After thinking on it for 2 weeks or so, I finally emailed them about it. I nicely stated my disappointment about the size. I pointed out that the quality was good, but that the size was way too small for a children’s book. Almost 2 weeks later I still had not heard back from my editor! (I had tried calling and emailing). Finally, I decided to email the senior editor to see if my editor still worked there…

Nov 29

The next day, I received an email from my editor saying:

I can't seem to get ahold of you through the phone. If you can call me tomorrow from 7-3. I'm just trying to get an update on where we are at.

Hmmm…strange. I never had any missed calls from him…I checked.

A day later I was finally able to reach him on the phone. He said he could do a larger size-8.5x11. I was sooo excited!! I asked him to please email me the details (so I could have it in writing). He never did…all he sent me was- The listed change is with the corrections department now. I'm waiting to hear back from them then will send you the changed pdf. I asked again for more details (price, exact size...etc. I wanted it in writing! I didn't want to have to go through the layout process again if the size and price were not going to be worth it).

He replied:

Once the layout gets updated the designer will update that information and then I'll be able to view it. But larger prints are roughly 19.99. But I'd expect yours might be a little cheaper. But won't know more till I get the update. 

Dec 18

Hi Danielle, If I'm not mistaken the only thing you were wanting changed was the size of the book. So these files should be 8x8 size...what?? I emailed back "What happened to the 8x10 or 8.5x11 you had mentioned?" He replied the next day with- Sorry about that, I had forgotten the size we discussed. Here's the resized version...still wasn't sure what size that was...

I looked over the new version and noticed that most of the text was off-centered (1st picture) and that the text was placed over Buzz (2nd picture)...

...here we go again...I was beyond frustrated! We had already worked on getting it right 2 months ago and now we were back to square one! I immediately wrote back asking about this! He said basically that things must have shifted when they sent the files and my computer would see things differently than theirs and I shouldn't worry about it...hmmmm. How am I supposed to proof-read a file like this?

Dec 21

I finally got an email stating the new size:

…And the size is 8x11. 

I was hopeful, but also skeptical...they didn't have a great track record so far.

My editor and I worked on the layout...again...for weeks!  At one point, the text for one spread was on the next spread and all of the illustrations were a page off. I kept begging him to just let me edit and send it back, but he wouldn’t let me.

I finally received a Final Approval Form. It stated that the size was 8x8 and the price was set at 19.99…I was furious! What happened to 8x11?? Why was it so expensive for an 8x8 paperback?? 

Jan 17

I wrote an email to the editor asking for a detailed explanation as to why the size changed again and why the price was so high for a paperback 8x8?? I stated that I could have just self-published for that price but that I thought the retail price would be less expensive going the traditional publishing route.

Almost 2 weeks after I sent this email to my editor and after not hearing back, he forwarded it to a lady that oversees production and she wrote back saying “I'm not sure where you're getting the information on printing being cheaper with a publishing company- that's not quite how things work.” and “I realize this is your first book, but this isn't our first children's book.” Yadayadayada. I wrote back and thanked her for replying to my concerns (I was trying to be professional and not let my emotions take over) and updated her on the frustrating ordeal I had been having with my editor. I stated that I had done some research before going with a traditional publishing company and that’s where I got the notion that it would be better to go with traditional publishing. I also said: 

"Like I said before, I honestly feel like I am being strung along. Is the book going to be 8x8 or 8x11? Is the book going to cost 19.99 or will it be less like I was told it might be? If the book is going to be 8x8, then why the extreme jump in price from $8.99 to $19.99? The size change from 6x9 to 8x8 is not 

that drastic…” 

She asked what price I was trying to hit and I told her $16 at the most. She responded that they could do an 8x8 for $15.99. I was happy that they were finally willing to work with me on something and even though it wasn’t the size I wanted (or shape)…I was ready to be done with editing and it was a better price! I agreed and after receiving the proof, I signed the contract February 20. WHEW, I was soooo glad to be done with my editor....the source of my frustration!!!! What a load off my shoulders!!! We had been editing in circles for 4 months!!!

Feb 21

Congratulations! Your book is finished and ready for you to order, and it is time to begin your new venture. Experienced authors often say that they thought writing a book was hard work until they got to marketing, where the real work begins. Marketing never ends; it is a marathon, not a sprint. 

Oh boy...

I will be your Marketing Representative and liaison to our publicists at Key Marketing. You can schedule a call with me any time you need help with marketing or publicity.

They wanted me to do 4 things:

1         1.Place an order for books.

2         2.Study the marketing guide

3         3.Fill out the marketing questionnaire

4         4. Subscribe to a blog

They emailed that day about starting the audio voicing as well for the audio book version.

Feb 26

The book was for sale on Tate's website and the official release date was set for June 11th!! It was surreal to finally have a release date!!

They wanted me to set up niche events and start selling my book, but because it would not count towards my 1000 (I had to sell 1000 retail to get my $3990 back) and buying bulk orders of my own book was costly, I decided to wait until they could set up the book signings at bookstores so I could sell retail. They did not take kindly to this...my marketing rep and another rep I spoke with got pretty snippy and rude with me when I did not want to buy my own book and they said that was not how things worked. They stated that it would take years to sell 1000 books retail and that I just needed to buy and re-sell the books at niche events...seemed to me like they didn't want me to sell retail so that they didn't have to give me my $3990 back! I politely stated again that I would not be buying my own books and that they needed to find bookstores that would supply the books at the book-signing events. My marketing rep said that no bookstore would do that (...but I now have 2 events scheduled at Barnes and Noble and they are supplying the books so unless things changed recently, then he lied...I'll talk more about this in another blog post).

April 8

The audio book was sent to me for my review. I found one small correction that needed to be made and by 4/24 it was completed. 

In the midst of all this, my husband took a job in Texas and we moved from Alabama to 

Houston mid-May!

May 24

Tate started on the website for my book. 

P.S. I'm not advertising this website because purchasing books directly from Tate does not count towards my 1000 books retail.

  

June 3

Book trailer started! They sent me a proof July 18th and sent the final version July 26th! It turned out really cute and can be viewed on youtube!

June 11

My book was released!!! I was so excited to see it on Amazon!!

I noticed right away that there were 2 grammatical errors in the book description...come on Tate!! Maybe I'm a perfectionist...but errors like this reflect poorly on me and I did not want to start out as a first-time author leaving a bad impression!

June 13

I contacted Tate asking if they could fix the grammatical errors on Amazon. I didn’t hear anything back (except for emails about deals going on where I could buy books..etc). A few days later I contacted them again about the grammatical errors. My marketing rep finally contacted me saying that he would submit it and it might take a few days. I believe it took around 9 days (after that conversation) to fix the errors.

July 8

I contacted my rep about the long shipping times on Amazon (3-6 weeks) and why Amazon didn’t have books in stock. 

July 12

After not hearing back, I emailed again asking him to direct me to somebody who knows the answers to my questions. He replied saying sorry he missed me and that Amazon should now be stocked…he had to send in 2 shipments and that they should be good to go. (I’m still wondering why they only stocked Amazon with 1 book on my release date…).

So basically my production timeline was:

Different than the timeline they sent but that was to be expected and it was still within 6 months from start to finish!

As I write this, my next step is to try to get into schools, book fairs, art festivals, and big book companies. My goal is to blow Tate's mind away and sell 1000 books retail within a year! I will try to keep everybody updated on my progress! If you'd like to help me reach my goal, you can purchase Shoo, Fly, Shoo on Amazon.

It has been a long, difficult journey to this point, but I have to keep reminding myself that I’m published!!! If anything, Tate has published my book and it is out there for anyone to purchase! I hope that my book can reach many kids! I hope it encourages them to stop bullying and see that everybody has worth! If I can help at least one child then this crazy journey will be worth it!!