A few years ago, my sister in agent-hood Pat Zietlow Miller asked if I would take a peek at her manuscript. That manuscript turned out to be the newly-released WHEREVER YOU GO. I immediately knew it would be a beloved hit because of its lyrical text and universal theme, but once Eliza Wheeler signed on to illustrate, I became certain her art would exponentially elevate WHEREVER YOU GO into the stratosphere. (Don’t you wish we had flying cars to take on that trip?)

Since this blog loves to talk about how ideas originate, I asked Pat and Eliza a few questions about the path to this book’s publication. (Get it? THE PATH???)

Pat, what was the genesis of WHEREVER YOU GO?

This book started when I was at work and a few lines of random poetry popped into my head:

Over a hill, under a bridge, deep in a dale, high on a ridge …

I…

by Tammi Sauer

Psst. Hey, you there. Yes, you. Do you want to wow an editor with your next picture book manuscript? Great!

It only takes one thing. Come up with the next Fancy Nancy, Olivia, or Skippyjon Jones. Editors are wading through their slush and/or agented submissions in the hopes of finding an irresistible, can’t-put-down, character-driven manuscript. They want manuscripts that make them feel something and a great character can do just that.

Examples of strong characters in picture books:

OLIVIA by Ian Falconer
Olivia is a feisty little piglet who has too much energy for her own good.

FANCY NANCY by Jane O’Connor
Nancy is very into fanciness whereas her family is not.

SKIPPYJON JONES by Judy Schachner
Skippyjon Jones is a little kitty with a big imagination.

A PET FOR PETUNIA by Paul Schmid
An exuberant Petunia wants, wants, wants a pet she really shouldn’t have.

DINOSAUR VS. BEDTIME by Bob Shea

I’m a bit of a sucker for infographics (if you take a look at some of my Pinterest boards you’ll get the idea!) and when I saw this one, I thought it was worth sharing.

All of the tips sound simple and straight-forward enough – the most successful approaches usually are the easiest – I think success with these comes from consistency and doing them in a co-ordinated way. If you put the effort into a book launch, make sure your online presence reflects this and ties in…is it on your blog, Facebook and being promoted on Twitter with good links between them so your audience find the right feature? And rather than just pushing the event itself, think about sharing with people what it’s like organising the event – what has been fun and exciting, what has been challenging – is it what you expected? In general, people seem…

Experts reveal solutions to finding time to blog and still be productive.

What is your goal for your blog?

Is it to get page views?  Traffic seems to be most bloggers’ dream.

Do you have a number in mind?  100 page views a day?  1,000 page views a day?

A blogger, who has been blogging for six years, who I consider successful, told me if she has 100 page views, she is having a bad day, and if she gets 1,000 page views, she is having a good day.

1,000 page views?

On a day I consider “good,” I try to follow the advice I share with my readers.  Treat others like you would want to be treated.  If you want page views, you should visit others’ blogs and also give them traffic.

However, many of my readers and I work outside the home.  How are we supposed to find…

A lot of “stuff” has been going on in my life lately. Hard stuff. Heavy stuff. The kind of stuff that just makes me want to write massacre scenes….except I am so brain dead I had to google how to spell “massacre.”

Masicker? Missucker?

WHAT AM I DOING???? *breaks down sobbing*

I am supposed to be an adult an expert okay, maybe functionally literate. Fine, I give up! I have nothing left to saaaaayyyyyy. I am all out of woooords *builds pillow fort*.

I figured it’s time for a bit of levity. Heck, I need a good laugh. How about you guys?

We writers are different *eye twitches* for sure, but the world would be SO boring without us. Am I the only person who watches Discovery ID and critiques the killers?

You are putting the body THERE? Do you just WANT to go to prison? Why did you STAB…

DRESS ME!

No, not me. I’m quite capable of dressing myself, thankyouverymuch. Although I often remain in my pajamas. It’s a comfortable life!

I’m talking about the new book by author-illustrator Sarah Frances Hardy, and it’s a dress-up delight for little readers. What child doesn’t love pretend play, imagining themselves as anything they long to be?

Sarah Frances, how did DRESS ME! come to be?

I knew I wanted to do a companion book for PAINT ME! which released last year from Sky Pony Press, and I had written a manuscript for a dress up book a few years ago that never quite worked. My agent and I talked through it, and she suggested I take the dress-up idea and do another “me!” book with that.

So did you play dress up as a child? What was your favorite thing to be? Were any of your childhood choices reflected in the book?

Did I ever!

In my search of good places to submit original writing, one of the first I came across was the juggernaut that is the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” books. Having received many of these books as gifts over the years, I was intrigued. So with my usual, What the hell, attitude, I wrote an essay and sent it off to their call for submissions on Volunteering and Giving Back. (They have a boatload of titles and topics so check out their website and write an essay to submit.)

Much to my shock delight, I’m in! The book is publishing in August and my essay entitled, “A Little Lipstick,” will be inside.

So, the point of this post, is this. If you are a writer or a wannabe writer, adopt the useful, “What the Hell” attitude. Send off your work and send positive vibes into the universe. Or, do as I did…