I’m reviving my blog series, Peek Behind the Publishing Curtain, to support my writing friends who are new to traditional publishing. Hopefully, the information will also interest those who wonder how books are made.
Since it’s been a minute, let’s get caught up.
In the first episode of Peek Behind the Curtain, I share how I came up with the idea for a potential new book.
In the second post, I share how I investigate whether my idea is marketable. Thankfully, in this project, I found that there weren’t significant barriers to sellability.
And, just like that, here we are in the third episode…
Now I needed to dip into research related to the topic. Here were my big questions:
- Could I find current (within the last 5 years or so) research on the development of animal body parts? Would the research be about animals that would interest young readers? [Sharks! Dogs! Big animals!]
- Because I’m a layperson-not a developmental biologist/research person working in a lab- could I access the scientific research papers I needed?
- Would I be able to understand the information if I could find it? Yes, impostor syndrome is real.
Happily the answers to all of the questions posed above were yes!
When I searched online portals for scientific studies on my topics, I found great options for subjects, and many were accessible to non-researchers. And, guess what? With contextual assists from my scientist spouse when needed, I could understand the data and information. Pro Tips: use Google Scholar as the search engine for science-y topics. Start a document NOW to capture links and descriptions of the nuggets you find. I use Word and Excel for this.
The pieces were coming together.
Once I had a feel for what I could access and what was possible, it was time to check in with my agent, Kelly Sonnack, to see what she thought of the project. Kelly is a fantastic bellwether. She’s positive and realistic. She offers great insights for how to make something better and more marketable. In August of 2020, I emailed her my pitch.
Scroll down for the pitch. Note that this is written to someone I’ve worked with for a number of years. It is casual and breezy. I would NEVER send something this casual to an editor or other industry players. My goal is to hit the highpoints and give enough for her to react to quickly.
Her answer?
You knew this was coming, right? Stay tuned for the next installment. 😉 
Pitch to my agent
I’m cracking myself up with this title. I’d love your high-level thoughts on this when you can. Worth pursuing?
The Womb Where It Happens: How Baby Animals Prepare for Life Outside
A 32-page nonfiction picture book about gestation in mammals. One spread devoted to each of 14 mammals including the familiar (golden retriever) to lesser-known (swamp kangaroo), tiniest (bumblebee bat) to tallest (giraffe), sea-dwelling (dolphin) and highest mountain top (wild yak). Provides information about how long babies brew (from 12 days to 22 months), how very small they begin, and how they prepare for life outside the womb. Could be a photo book, illustrated, or a combination. 32-page format would include two pages of backmatter (glossary, human gestation for comparison, etc.).
Pink is For Blobfish (for style, tone, and wild animals) meets Nine Months: Before a Baby Is Born (inside look at gestation in humans).
I’m not finding anything like what I’m proposing out there. Current related books are: sex education, life span educational books about one species, before the human baby comes/preparing for new siblings.
