Spring has sprung in the high desert and once again I’m reminded of what Ralph Waldo Emerson once said.

Those of you who read Publisher’s Weekly might have read some disturbing news about the Reading is Fundamental program (RIF). Here is how the RIF website summarizes it:

“The President’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2009 eliminates the Inexpensive Book Distribution Program, which is the RIF Book Distribution Program. Unless Congress reinstates funding for this program, RIF will be unable to distribute 16 million books annually to the nation’s youngest and most at-risk children.”

RIF is the oldest program of its kind, starting in 1966. For many at-risk and less advantaged children, the RIF program is the only way for them to have books of their own. Think about the first book that you knew was YOURS. Remember that feeling of wonderment and how you read it over and over again? Now imagine how many kids will never have that happen if the RIF program is gone. Having books excites kids about reading (I won’t go into the pros of reading—I think I’d be preaching to the choir on that issue!). We must do what we can to try to save this program.

Please-please-please—act now by going to the RIF website (CLICK HERE) and following their simple instructions for locating your political leaders (congressmen/women, state senators, and the president himself) and asking them for their support in continuing to fund RIF. It’s very simple and only takes a few minutes to complete (and isn’t it worth a few minutes of your time to help put books into the hands of less fortunate kids?).

Thank you!
Terry

This past weekend I attended a fabulous writers’ retreat through the Ventura/Santa Barbara SCBWI chapter. I spent Thursday and Friday packing my book bag (loaded with 13 critiqued mss for my fellow group members, my notebooks, first pages, complete mss in case my dream miracle occurred and an editor asked me if I had the complete ms on me so she’d have reading material on the plane) and my personal belongings (still managed to forget my robe–nighttime sprints to the bathroom way down at the end of the hall were interesting, to say the least).

In January 2007, I received an acceptance call from Sylvan Dell for Blackberry Banquet. Last week, I received a preview of the finished artwork for the entire story (publication date July 2008). Sorry folks, no sneak previews here, under strict orders from my publisher. However, I can say that the artwork is adorable. Dare I say it? Okay, I will—it’s CUTE! Very cute! I think preschoolers will love this book.

Seeing the artwork made me think about the time involved in creating this book. Consider this—I wrote the first draft of the story in the summer of 2002 and began subbing it to publishers in late 2003. Sylvan Dell accepted it in January ’07 and a year later I’m now viewing the finished artwork. It will take seven more months for the finishing design (editing, text layout, etc.) and printing. That’s six years from when my pencil touched the paper until the publication date. Yes, it takes time all right!

Once, three months after I’d stopped teaching and had begun writing, someone asked me if my first book was out yet. Heck, I was still learning how to format a manuscript! But herein lies the “problem.” I think it’s a common misconception that picture books are easy to write, easy to draw and easy to publish. Uh…pardon me while I go pound my head against the wall.

I often say that this business works in glacial time. During a recent visit to Yosemite National Park, I pondered the glacially carved granite walls of Yosemite Valley and thought about the publishing business–how it too involves great amounts of time in the creation of something amazing. It takes months to years to write a picture book and sell it to a publisher. The average time from acceptance to published book can range from one year (which is very fast) to three years or more, in some cases (I currently have an easy reader that is now at four years after acceptance with no pub-date in sight).

Why such a long production period? A few reasons, actually. First, how long it takes the publisher to determine the right illustrator for the project (matching art style to story is key). Second, how quickly the illustrator can get to the project (successful/popular illustrators might be booked with other projects for months or years). Third, how quickly the illustrator can finish the project (creativity takes time). Fourth, how fast the publishing company itself works. Fifth, the baseball factor (whether the sun gets in your eyes, the grass is too tall or your mitt is too tight)—meaning, all of the other extraneous things that can happen to slow things down.

But the good news is, approximately five thousand children’s books are published annually, so despite global warming, the kid-lit glacier is still inching forward. And with that movement is the hope that your story will become one of them. It may take some time, but it can happen!

Good luck in 2008 for finding your publishing successes!

As another the year comes to the end, I once more think about the things that have happened in the past and what might come in the future. I’ve got so much to be thankful for, but I’ll keep it writing-related 🙂 (you’re welcome!).

Last year couldn’t have begun any better, with Sylvan Dell’s acquisition of Blackberry Banquet. January also brought the release of my award-winning picture book series, Mother Goose Rhymes. I also found out that my easy reader, Tae Kwon Do! was named on the Bank Street College Best Children’s Books of 2007. For the first time ever, I was receiving “outside” validation for my writing (something that I believe all writers need, no matter where we are in the process). That same month, I also attended a fabulous Ventura/Santa Barbara SCBWI Retreat on cyber-promotion, which led to my blog.

I was also able to do some school visits, which I loved. I attended many educational and enlightening SCBWI events and did some other fun speaking engagements. I was surprised in July when I found out that Sterling Publishing was using jokes from Greatest Goofiest Jokes as part of a compilation joke book, Laughin’ Jammin’ Slammin’ Jokefest. And I finally *finished* my first novel, Out of the Storm (of course, we all know that a novel isn’t really finished until it’s acquired and your editor says its finished). Yes, it’s been a very good year.

Looking ahead, I now get to shop my novel around, along with a handful of other picture book and easy reader manuscripts that I’ve toiled over for quite some time. I look forward to doing more school visits, book signings and discovering those seeds of stories that are still hidden deep in my mind. I’m eagerly anticipating the release of Blackberry Banquet in July and looking forward to working with Sylvan Dell in promoting it. And I’m looking forward to continuing with my blog, hopefully reaching my goal of helping other authors, sharing some of my experiences and contributing to the writing community that has helped me so much.

I’m going to take a little “winter vacation” from blogging, from Dec. 21 – Jan. 7. Please check back in with me in January.

I wish you the happiest of holidays and a very prosperous new year!

Last weekend my husband and I went to the Pantages Theatre to see WICKED. What a treat! I hadn’t read the novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, so all I knew was that it was the backstory to The Wizard of Oz. And what a great story it was, not to mention the acting, singing, coreography and sets. I was reminded of the flood of fractured fairy tales in the children’s book market not too long ago. This was like one of those stories tenfold. If you get a chance to see it, don’t pass it up. It’s worth every penny.