Peek Behind The Publishing Curtain Part 6: A Book Baby Being Born Today! Watch Them Grow: The Fascinating Science of Animal Beginnings

Filed in About the Books, News, Watch Them Grow Book / Comment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s the final episode of my six-part blog series, Peek Behind The Curtain: Journey to a New Book. [Scroll to the end for links to the previous episodes.]

The series has the best ending because it is also launch day for WATCH THEM GROW: The Fascinating Science of Animal Beginnings! (Blog readers, you know the original title!)

Isn’t she eye-catching? Here’s how I describe the book: This middle-grade STEM nonfiction book explores animal gestation. Specifically, it details how certain body parts develop in 12 animals and how these defining features help animals survive on their own. It features stunning photographs from scientific research papers and facts that budding scientists or anyone interested in how things work will enjoy. (Blog readers, you know how this came to be!)

As my debut authored book for middle-grade readers, this project has challenged me in all the best ways. Writing for 8-12-year-olds who are independent readers (hopefully) is quite different from writing for the picture book audience. The text needs to hook the reader, who now has many choices in what they consume, and keep them turning the pages. My goal is to challenge them too, but in ways that make them feel successful and encouraged to read more. The team at Millbrook Press/Lerner went above and beyond to create a book that hooks and has staying power.

In my latest newsletter, read about a behind-the-scenes Watch Them Grow wrinkle, and grab your free downloadable Discussion and Activity Guide. Honestly, Debbie Gonzalez outdid herself. [Oh. Do you need to sign up for the newsletter? Click HERE.] Want to be entered in a Watch Them Grow giveaway? Click HERE.

Reader reviews are coming in, and I’m excited to see that adults, especially other STEM authors, enjoy and learn from the book, too!

People ask me how they can help the book reach readers. Here are some of the many ways:

  • recommend this book to librarians, tutors, media specialists, and teachers-in-training
  • purchase copies for yourself, your family, your friends 🙂
  • purchase for a special teacher/classroom/library
  • gift it to your pediatrician, veterinarian, vet student, zoology student, and any STEAM junkie
  • review the book at your favorite book purchasing and/or review sites
  • and share the book with others through your social communities. Feel free to download and share the cover by clicking HERE.

Many thanks to my agent partner, Kelly Sonnack, and the team at Lerner/Millbrook Press for creating an outstanding book.

Thank you for reading my blog series and for being an important part of this journey.

Grow brightly!

Carrie

Previous blog series episodes:

In the first episode, I share how I came up with the idea for a potential new book.

In the second, I share how I investigate whether my idea is marketable.

The third episode covers researching the topic and, pending the success of that effort, pitching the project idea to my agent, Kelly Sonnack. I provide the actual pitch in the post.

In episode four, I give a high-level look at drafting, feedback, more research, and drafting, and (finally) being on submission. We get an answer we love, but not quite what we expected.

Episode five is when the real work begins.

Peek Behind The Publishing Curtain Part 5: SOLD! And Now The Real Work Begins

Filed in News / Comment

Welcome to the next episode of Peek Behind the Publishing Curtain, the series I’ve written to give people an idea of the steps an author takes to bring a new book to readers.

Check out the previous posts if you need to get caught up:

In the first episode, I share how I came up with the idea for a potential new book.

In the second, I share how I investigate whether my idea is marketable.

The third episode covers researching the topic and, pending the success of that effort, pitching the project idea to my agent, Kelly Sonnack. I provide the actual pitch in the post.

In episode four, I give a high-level look at drafting, feedback, more research, and drafting, and (finally) being on submission. We get an answer we love, but not quite what we expected.

Now for the penultimate episode, #5. Let’s get into it. (I feel like a podcaster when I write that.)

In April 2023, Carol Hinz, associate publisher of Millbrook Press and Carolrhoda Books, imprints of Lerner Publishing Group, reached out to say her team was interested in The Womb Where It Happens (working title) but felt it fit best within their middle-grade science space. Would I be interested in reworking the project for that age group? Would I like to talk about it? My answer to the second question was an emphatic yes. I’ve been a fan of Carol and Lerner for many years and have enjoyed watching how they champion the books they make. The educational market (versus commercial or trade, the markets my other authored books live in) would be new to me. Middle grade would be new to me. But I was up for the challenge, and after speaking with Carol, I knew I’d have good support. This would be a photo-driven book with some graphics that they would contract out.

I dove into the scientific research with the end goal of finding gestational information about 12 animals. Not only did the research need to be the most current, as scientific understandings can evolve rapidly, but it also needed to be physically available to those outside of the science community (us!), AND include gestation-related photos that we might be able to secure.  Plus, we had some thematic buckets to fill: gestation of body parts designed for moving, for sensing, for ingesting, and gestational outliers. It was a needle-in-a-haystack situation. I kept digging. When the science was over my head, I asked my husband, a physician, to interpret. This made for some interesting dinner conversations.

Meanwhile the clock was ticking on getting everything written, turned in, edited, and vetted on time. The Millbrook Press team wanted the book to launch during their 2025 fall season which seemed fairly impossible and was made even more so because of a wrinkle that surfaced toward the very end…

You knew this was coming, right? Stay tuned for the final episode. But you won’t have to wait long because it drops Tuesday, September 9th, 2025.

Peek Behind the Publishing Curtain Part 4: Drafting, Feedback, On Submission (aka: waiting and keeping the faith)

Filed in News / Comment

Welcome to the next episode of Peek Behind the Publishing Curtain, the series I’ve written to give people an idea of the steps an author takes to bring a new book to readers.

Check out the previous posts if you need to get caught up:

In the first episode, I share how I came up with the idea for a potential new book.

In the second, I share how I investigate whether my idea is marketable.

The third episode covers researching the topic and, pending the success of that effort, pitching the project idea to my agent, Kelly Sonnack. I provide the actual pitch in the post.

So let’s jump into episode four.

It’s August 2020. I’ve sent Kelly my pitch for The Womb Where It Happens: How Animal Babies Prepare for Life Outside (working title).

Waiting for her response to my pitches is always tough. She’s quick to reply, which I appreciate, but I still find myself checking my email too often. Her answer helps determine what I’ll be immersed in for the next months if not years. Kelly is respectful of my ideas and offers feedback in a positive way. If an idea doesn’t resonate with her or if there are obstacles to its success from her perspective, we discuss it. Sometimes I decide it’s not worth pursuing. The bottom line is that agents need to be excited about projects because each one requires a significant amount of time, strategy, and decision-making.

Kelly responded positively and asked me to send her a draft when I had it ready. Wheee! Now I’m off and running.

I started the process of further research, organizing the material, finding my voice, and drafting. I asked for feedback from my critique partners and sent a first draft to Kelly in late fall 2020. We went back and forth three times, and in December 2021 (about 13 months later), I sent her what would become the final draft used in our editorial submissions. Meanwhile, she tackled the cover letter including her pitch and the submission list.

Sidenote: pre-agented writers wonder whether they will be responsible for preparing the pitch, cover letter to editors, and submission list. Some agents want more involvement from clients, some less. Ultimately, it is the agent’s job to pitch to and follow up with editors. A good agent shares the pitch, cover letter, and submission list with clients for feedback before sending them out and keeps clients informed, in the loop as the submissions play out.

On January 13, 2022, we were officially on submission. Responses started coming in… sometimes quickly, but also with long periods of waiting and nudging. I tried to work on other things with mixed success. In April 2023—15 months after the initial submission—we received the response we were looking for, but not quite in the way we expected…

You knew this was coming, right? Stay tuned for the next episode. 😉

 

Peek Behind the Publishing Curtain, Part 3: TOPIC RESEARCH AND AGENT CHECK-IN

Filed in About the Books, News, Nonfiction, Writing the Manuscript / Comment

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.

PS. be glad we are not swamp kangaroos…they have two uteri and are always pregnant. One fetus is ready to deliver and another is growing. Yikes.

Newsletter Drop Alert

Filed in News / Comment

Be sure to sign up for my seasonal newsletter, Connections, which includes giveaways, resources, news scoops, the backstories of books and research, and other interesting tidbits. Click HERE to sign up so you don’t miss a thing.

As part of this month’s newsletter, I share my guest post on LitLinks, the blog of Sibert Award author and environmentalist Patricia Newman. Her blog aims to ‘share the natural connection between STEM and language arts’ and serves as a valuable resource on many levels.

Educators, librarians, homeschoolers, and caregivers will find classroom activities that align with topics written by authors. Their authored book for young readers is central to these topics, so visitors to the blog also discover new books.

Pre-published and published authors will find ideas for connecting STEM and language arts topics and activities. They can use the blog as a mentor text of sorts to learn how to make their own connections in their school visits, visit descriptions, and conversations with their book-loving communities.

LitLinks is a treasure trove of free resources—perfect for keeping that dreaded summer slide at bay. Head on over and check out my post and activity. I’d love to hear how it works for you.

~ Carrie

(more…)

Peek Behind the Curtain Part 2: Research for Marketability

Filed in Craft, Nonfiction, Writing the Manuscript / Comment

This series is intended to help my new-to-writing friends, but also should be of interest if you wonder how books are made.

In the first installment of Peek Behind the Curtain, I shared the lightbulb moment of a new manuscript [cue copious thank yous to Lin-Manual Miranda, Leslie Odom, and Hamilton].

The idea was a nonfiction picture book about animal gestation called The Womb Where It Happens. (I know, right? It still cracks me up.) I envisioned a book similar in feel to Pink Is for Blobfish: Discovering the World’s Perfectly Pink Animals (Jess Keating, David DeGrand, Knopf Books for Young Readers/Penguin Random House) with photographs, main text, and sidebars.  I would pitch it as Pink Is For Blobfish meets Nine Months: Before A Baby is Born (Miranda Paul, Jason Chin, Neal Porter Books/Holiday House).

After the Universe gifts me an idea, my first step is to find out if the idea could be marketable. (Sorry, Universe; gotta be pragmatic.)

Why waste the time of my critique groups/partners, my agent, and myself on a manuscript that won’t sell because there is already a:

  1. great book (or more than one great book), 2. in my genre (nonfiction in this case), 3. on that topic (animal gestation), 4. with my slant (Pink Is For Blobfish meets Nine Months), 5. that has been published in the last five years, or 6. is an evergreen title.

Let’s explore these potential barriers to selling. What is:

  1. a “great” book? To me, it’s a book that is developmentally appropriate for the reader’s age, with professional illustrations and design, thoughtfully crafted, and in line with other effective children’s books. I will identify* books on my topic or adjacent to it that meet these guidelines. If I don’t own them already, I order them via interlibrary loan, or if they seem perfect for my research, I purchase used copies to investigate further. These are comparison titles (“If you like this book, you might like that book”), and they might also be competing titles (folks might buy this book instead of mine because it offers the same or similar information).**
  2. in my genre? Nonfiction provides true and actual information no matter how it is delivered. If the comp books are fiction, or informational fiction (true facts told in a nontrue way, e.g., via anthropomorphized animals, etc.), my future nonfiction book could offer something new to the market.
  3. on my topic? Granted, my topic — animal gestation– is broad. As the manuscript is developed, I might be able to lean into various aspects of this topic that aren’t covered now and offer something new to the market.
  4. with my slant? Maybe my slant isn’t the best for the information I will find as I research further. Maybe the content would be better delivered lyrically, in a Q & A format, or even as an older age category. Who knows? I’m honestly not as worried about slants at this point because I’ve learned the information I uncover during research will point me to the right approach eventually. ***
  5. and 6. sort of go together. I have a science affinity and experience researching science topics and therefore, I’m quite confident I will unearth developmental biology findings that are more current. Remember that illustrated picture books take at least two years to produce (when we aren’t in a pandemic — click HERE to read more about the impact of this on my authored book, VIRGINIA WOULDN’T SLOW DOWN! The Unstoppable Dr. Apgar and Her Life-Saving Invention). So any book published five years ago could include research that is at the very least seven years old. That’s a long time in the science world. But, if that title is evergreen, meaning that it is known as the definitive title for that topic, we might have a harder time convincing editors there is room for another book on that topic.

I hope this peek is helpful for your next project.

PS. I go through a similar process for fiction, too. Stay tuned for the next installment of Peek Behind the Curtain: Topic Research-Lite and Agent Check-In.

While you’re waiting, take a gander at these adorable babies inside VIRGINIA WOULDN’T SLOW DOWN! The Unstoppable Dr. Apgar and Her Life-Saving Invention illustrated by the amazing Nancy Carpenter. I love their expressions and little arms! 🙂

* How to identify comp titles? Check out your local independent bookstore, Worldcat.org, industry publications like Children’s Bookshelf and Publisher’s Weekly, Horn Book, etc., Bookshop.org or other online retailers, ask crit partners, listen at conferences, read children’s book blogs, awards lists, themed posts on social media and Pinterest…there are endless ways to unearth good books!

**See how the words, “comp title” get confusing? Most people mean competing when they say ‘comp’ title.

***Don’t I sound confident about this now before I begin writing the manuscript? Just wait, my friend…

Book Baby Being Born TODAY!

Filed in APGAR book, News / Comment

I’m thrilled to share that today is the launch day for VIRGINIA WOULDN’T SLOW DOWN! The Unstoppable Dr. Apgar and Her Life-Saving Invention. This book has been a labor of love from the first minute Dr. Apgar’s story hooked me.

Read more about the making of the book in spite of All. The. Things. in my latest newsletter. [Oh. Do you need to sign up for the newsletter? Click HERE.]

Reader reviews are coming in, and we are delighted to see that adults enjoy and learn from the book, too!

“Definitely recommended to homes, schools, as well as libraries. No better way of creating a greater gender balance in STEM fields than by inspiring the next generation of girls through the story of a pioneering woman medical professional! 5 stars.” — Rosh

“I believe more children, especially young girls, need to read about Dr. Apgar and become inspired to live full lives and pursue any career despite any societal or cultural challenges that might deter them from becoming what they want to be. We never know what these children will invent and how their lives could touch us all.” — Michelle

“I have never heard of Virginia Apgar until this afternoon, and now everyone on my I’ve spoken to today know [sic] about her and her contributions to science and medicine.” –Lisa

People ask me how they can help the book reach readers. Here are some of the many ways:

  • recommend this book to your community librarians
  • review the book at your favorite book purchasing and/or review sites
  • purchase copies for yourself, your family, your friends
  • purchase for a special teacher/classroom, health care worker, or health care graduate
  • gift to new BABIES at showers and birthdays
  • and share the book with others through your social communities. Feel free to download and share the cover HERE

Thank you for being an important part of this journey!

Oh! Be sure to snag your free coloring sheets directly from the pages of VIRGINIA WOULDN’T SLOW DOWN! The Unstoppable Dr. Apgar and Her Life-Saving Invention!

You can find them linked here in the newsletter. Thank you, Nancy Carpenter!

Be Unstoppable!

Warmly, Carrie

A Twisty Turny Journey Story: How REAL PRINCESSES Came To Be

Filed in About the Books, APGAR book, PRINCESS book, Research / Comment

Unless we are involved in creating a book, we’ll never know all the twists and turns the book took to live on a shelf. I thought it might be interesting to share the journey story of REAL PRINCESSES CHANGE THE WORLD. Following is an interview from the SCBWI Michigan Mitten blog series, Book Birthdays.  The interview was posted on the book’s release date (April 11, 2023) but the journey hasn’t changed 🙂

PS. The Mitten Blog is a great place to read lots of journey stories by creators of great books for children. If you need a dose of inspiration, check it out.

REAL PRINCESSES CHANGE THE WORLD BOOK BIRTHDAY BLOG

How did you get the idea for your book?

The idea for this book was born about 20 years ago when our daughters were 8, 6, and 4 years old. They loved to pretend and dress up. One of their favorite scenarios was “princess,” mostly adapted from Disney characters. While I applaud Disney’s cinematography and ability to engage their audience, I always cringed when their princess characters’ behavior and costuming were un-empowering to women. Plus, all of the early Disney princesses presented as white and very young. As parents, my husband and I relied on books to provide experiences to our children outside our own bubbles. I could never find a book about real princesses for young readers. I knew princesses were not the caricature we saw, but I had no evidence.

Many years later, I started writing children’s books. I surveyed students during school visits and found that children still believed that princesses were waiting to be saved by princes, lived in castles, and wore ball gowns on the daily. With this knowledge, I pitched the concept of a children’s book about how real princesses change the world to my agent, and she loved it.

How long did it take to conduct the research for the book and were there challenges?

We submitted the book on proposal as a middle grade. But an editor at Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan asked if I’d consider writing it as a picture book. They were going for a read-alike to Chelsea Clinton/Alexandra Boiger’s She Persisted. It took me about a second to say yes, and while working up a sample for them, I realized that the job would be difficult.

I had already written and sold a picture book biography of one subject [VIRGINIA WOULDN’T SLOW DOWN! DR. APGAR AND HER LIFE-SAVING INVENTION, August 2023], so I knew how challenging it is to distill a person’s life in 1500 words or less. The PRINCESS project would require almost the same work for about 15 people and in 150 words or less each. Turns out that collective biography for young readers is challenging!

One would think it would be easy to research celebrities; for some, I could find good sources. But because these women are accomplished in several areas, I worked hard to 1) unearth current, solid research unrelated to the clothing or jewelry they wore! 2) create a unique, compelling theme for each princess based on that research.

I started researching princesses in mid-2017 for the proposal and turned in the final draft of the manuscript in mid-2021. Yes; you read that right. I wasn’t researching that whole time, but it was a large part of the project.

What is something you hope your reader will take away from your book?

I hope readers see that our caricature of others isn’t always accurate. I hope they realize that people are a diverse tapestry of problem-solvers and that we can use whatever power we have – royal or not – to make the world better.

The book enriches and supports standards for informational/nonfiction texts. It also reinforces STEM-based and other career conversations since several princesses hold professional positions (engineering, computer science, law, business, ambassador, etc.)

 

What are your marketing plans for the book?

This is my first Macmillan book, so I’m still learning the answer to this! Their publicity program includes ARC distribution and outreach to magazines, newspapers, online influencers (bloggers, BookTokers, BookTubers, Bookstagrammers), educators, and parenting influencers. My local indie bookseller, Snowbound Books, is hosting a signing and the launch will be at a 100+ year-old candy store, Donckers, in Marquette. There are Women’s History Month promotions in the works. Right now, I’m in the mode of doing whatever they tell me before it is due.?

On my end, I contracted our own Deb Gonzalez to create an educator guide, PookyHonk Productions to create a trailer, and Blue Slip Media to fill in the essential promotion gaps. It takes a village, by golly!

What’s next for you?

I’m preparing for the Apgar biography to launch in August 2023. My agent, Kelly Sonnack, is submitting a nonfiction picture book about animal gestation. [stay tuned for news!] Like all creators, I have a multitude of projects in various stages of completion, from snippets on scrap paper to final drafts. The goal is to keep writing amidst all the other book, life, and SCBWI activities!

A little bit about the book . . .

Real Princesses Change the World is an inspirational and diverse picture book profiling 11 contemporary real-life princesses and 4 heirs apparent from all around the world.

There are many ideas of what princesses are: Princesses are sweet, beautiful, and gracious. Princesses wear poofy dresses and strut about their castles. Princesses are just missing a handsome prince. But what message does that send to the children who look up to them?

This picture book compiles biographies of 11 princesses, highlighting who they genuinely are: diplomats, engineers, activists, athletes, and so much more. It focuses on their achievements and contributions, situating them as active global and local community members. This picture book takes readers on a trip that spans the whole world. From Nigeria to Japan, Saudi Arabia to Sweden, and Thailand to Tonga.

With stunning portraits by bestselling illustrator Dung Ho (Eyes that Kiss in the Corners), Carrie A. Pearson’s Real Princesses Change the World showcases princesses in an empowering, feminist light that is both accessible and engaging for young readers.

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan

A little bit about the author . . .

Carrie A. Pearson is an author, a speaker, and a former early education teacher. She lives with her husband on the sandy shore of Lake Superior in Marquette, Michigan, and blows daily kisses to her three grown-up daughters. Carrie is a literacy advocate, an SCBWI-Michigan co-Regional Advisor, and on the Steering Committee for the SCBWI Impact & Legacy Fund. She is a mentor for aspiring creators of good books for all children. Carrie knows that narratives about princesses who need saving are most likely fairy tales. For much more, visit https://carriepearsonbooks.com/ 

Instagram: carrieapearson.author

Facebook: carrieapearson

Twitter: carrieapearson

Pinterest: carrieapearson

Peek Behind the Curtain: Journey To A New Book (Hopefully)

Filed in Craft, News, PRINCESS book, Writing the Manuscript / Comment

gold curtain with textMuch of children’s publishing feels like a big ol’ mystery especially when we are getting started in the industry. I thought it might be helpful to share the process of a new children’s book from my original lightbulb moment to the eventual book on a shelf.

Caveat: there is no guarantee this will actually be a book on a shelf. More on that to come.

Add any questions in the comments. My goal for this monthly series is to transfer some knowledge you can use.

Let’s go!

THE IDEA

On July 3rd, 2020, Hamilton, the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical written by Lin-Manual Miranda, was released on Disney+. We sprung for a streaming subscription, and our family was captivated by the musical. I watched it three times that summer. I particularly loved the song, The Room Where it Happens, performed by Leslie Odom, Jr.

During the last viewing, a picture book-related thought popped into my head. Again. [If picture book-related thoughts were basil leaves, I’d have pesto for centuries.] My thought? What about a nonfiction picture book about animal gestation called The Womb Where it Happens?

Funny, right?

I shared the idea with my family right then and there. Although they laughed out loud (or at least snorted. In my memory, there were extremely loud guffaws), they wanted to keep watching the musical. But later that night, I decided to see if the idea had legs. So I…

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SNEAK PEEKS: REAL PRINCESSES CHANGE THE WORLD

Filed in About the Books, News, PRINCESS book / Comment

If you subscribe to my newsletter, you’ve seen me gushing about the sneak peeks of my next authored book for children, REAL PRINCESSES CHANGE THE WORLD. I apologize (sort of). Going forward, I’ll share different information in both places, so be sure to subscribe to both my blog and newsletter if you are so inclined.

Back to gushing…

In our quirky industry, we tend to show only the front cover of books, but in this case, the back cover is equally impressive!

The publisher is Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers. The illustrator is Dung Ho who you might know from her New York Times bestselling illustrated book, Eyes That Kiss in the Corners written by Joanna Ho.
REAL PRINCESSES CHANGE THE WORLD highlights women from around the world and is organized geographically. The map will help readers contextualize where the princesses live. What questions do you think this one page will inspire in young readers?
Because the princesses are all nuanced, busy, passionate people, one of the most challenging parts of this project was selecting only one attribute to highlight for each, such as “Real Princesses Are Engineers,” “Ambassadors,” “Businesswomen,” and “Visionaries.”
After meeting the eleven contemporary princesses and four heirs apparent in this book, young readers will realize that the caricature we construct about others isn’t always accurate.
“It’s a stunning, feminist picture book biography collection of real princesses actively helping their community,” — BabyLibrarians

The book launches on April 11, 2023

Click HERE to Pre-Order

Behind the Scenes: The Making of Just ONE Book
Another tendency of this industry is to give the author and illustrator the limelight of picture book creation. Sure, we deserve credit, but many other people are involved in making just ONE book! There are many more talented people behind the scenes. Here are some of the people I’ve interacted with so far:

  • my critique group and readers (Big smooches for all. You know who you are!)
  • students and family members who participated in my fact-finding missions prior to writing the manuscript
  • Senior Literary Agent — Kelly Sonnack. Andrea Brown Literary Agency
  • Roaring Brook Editorial — Megan Abbate, Connie Hsu, Nicolás Ore-Giron — plus copyediting and vetting
  • Art Director and design team led by Mina Chung
  • Macmillan School and Library and Publicity teams

As we move toward launching the book on April 11, 2023, I’ll work more closely with the folks at Macmillan, at Blue Slip Media, who I’ve contracted to help make connections with readers, with PookyHonk Productions, who will create a book trailer, and with Deb Gonzalez who will develop the educator guide. Can you believe all of these people are involved in ONE book?

The next people to get involved will be readers and reviewers. Fingers crossed everyone likes it as much as we do.

Ciao for now, friends!