Which is harder, self-publishing or cheering up a child who has a broken leg?
Today I'm delighted to welcome author Judith Wolf Mandell to my blog. She's had a long career as a journalist/publicist, and the childrens book, Sammy's Broken Leg (Oh, No!) and the Amazing Cast That Fixed It represents her first venture into picture books.With her husband and Cockapoo, Judith Wolf Mandell moved from San Diego eleven years ago to be near family in Nashville--read the book and you'll see how important family is to her. They live in an absurd-for-their-age three-level house in the woods and have a critter control service on speed-dial. This is Judith Wolf Mandell's first book and I, for one, really enjoyed. Click here for my review of Sammy's Broken Leg (Oh, No!) and the Amazing Cast That Fixed It
So, find some coffee and maybe a gluten free brownie (yes, I've been baking!) then sit down and learn enjoy the tale of Judith's road to publication. Thank you for joining us, Judith. And over to you:
NINE YEARS TO CREATE A BOOK
(BUT WHO'S COUNTING?)
by Judith Wolf
Mandell, author
Sammy's Broken Leg (Oh, No!) and the Amazing Cast That Fixed It
Nine years to create a thousand-word, 32-page book? No way! Yet
that's how long it took.
I was inspired to write the book when my granddaughter had
an "oh, no!" fall that fractured her thigh
The first draft practically wrote itself. My granddaughter's
experience was memory-fresh. The whimsical element of the story -- a troupe of
kisses who secretly whoosh into the child's life to cheer for her and inspire
patience -- came to me as an "aha." If one kiss heals a boo-boo, then
a broken leg needs a bazillion kisses.
I've always loved a line from Cyrano de Bergerac: "A kiss is the rosy dot over the 'i' of
'loving.'" The Kisses were from all the people who loved my protagonist
and knew in their hearts she was hurting.
What took so long? Life happens, so I was otherwise occupied
for some chunks of time. For other chunks the manuscript sat on the shelf
because I was stymied about next steps. My best friend had self-published a
novel, so I knew about that possibility. But my book needed art. How would I
find an artist? Can an illustrated book even go through the same process as a
text-only book? Those questions boggled.
Then I heard a sermon about "living your dream."
I knew I was meant to go forward. First step was to send the manuscript to friends
and family. Most loved it. A few disputed The Kisses as being unrealistic. Oh,
c'mon! I banked on Santa, The Tooth Fairy, Peter Pan as beloved improbabilities.
Next: send the manuscript to professionals for medical
clearance. Mission accomplished, with a bonus of endorsements I used on the
book's eventual back cover.
While I was taking these steps to make my book a reality,
the self-publishing (now known as "independent publishing") world was
growing up, becoming a popular route for would-be authors. At a Community College course on
self-publishing, I learned about CreateSpace, Amazon's self-publishing arm, a
low- or no-cost platform: download its template, input your book, upload said
book, have a cover designed or DIY, push the "publish" button and voila,
you have a POD (print-on-demand) paperback book. Nifty.
Except that pesky issue of illustrations. By now I had
given my book a title: Sammy's Broken Leg (Oh, No!) and the Amazing
Cast That Fixed It. I had a vision for its art: bright, whimsical,
insightful. The Internet brought portfolio samples from around the world. None
clicked. In my heart of hearts I wanted someone local for what I envisioned as
a collaborative effort. Networking rules: through a mutual friend, I found my
illustrator, Lise C. Brown, close by. Her quirky style, experience with
juvenile art and knowledge of graphic design made her a perfect fit.
While the art was underway, I was on a mission to find a
way to produce a hardback version. Envisioning my book in libraries, schools,
children's hospitals, doctors' offices, I intuited the need for a durable
hardback. A hardback would also be more likely to be stocked by bookstores;
time will tell if I'm correct. My search came to an end with my discovery of
IngramSpark, producer of deluxe POD hardback and paperback books.
Then Google found me a local graphic designer who specializes
in book formatting and is certified to work with IngramSpark's exacting specifications,
as well as CreateSpace. Bonus: she had the savvy to make the book available for
Kindle and iBook readers. An eBook version is attractive to my target demographic:
youngish parents.
My book was technically finished December 7, 2016...but
once again, sat on the shelf. I was stubborn about having a Sammy
website before publication. Networking rules again: I found my talented,
affable web designer locally. Please visit www.sammysbrokenleg.com to appreciate how worthwhile the wait was until we at last "test
drove" the website.
On this March 15, I hit the "publish" button at
CreateSpace and IngramSpark, making my book -- nine years later -- a reality.
Recall that I set out to help kids cope with the challenge of life in a
cumbersome cast. Imagine my gratification to read this Amazon review:
"This book is
perfect for our almost two-year-old who is one week into her spica cast experience. We're already read it dozens of
times!"
Find Sammy's Broken Leg Oh No on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Sammys-Broken-Amazing-Cast-Fixed/dp/0997444908/
and on Barnes and Noble here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sammys-brok%E2%80%8Ba%E2%80%8Ben-leg-judith-wolf-mandell/1125988035?ean=9780997444919
and find the author on her website: http://sammysbrokenleg.com/
Comments