Files Full of Stuff

There were scores of rejection letters. I hadn’t kept them all or else there would have been hundreds.

A Tale of Twin Books

Here’s a bit of the bunny-eat-bunny world that I’d put out of my mind up until recently. A terrific cartoonist I follow blogged about people stealing his ideas, and it brought back memories. Twice in my 35 year career, I felt that an idea I submitted had been stolen. I knew that we could not…

When to give up on a story.

Writers love their stories. It can be a love-hate thing throughout the writing process, but when a writer reaches the end and declares the story is done, they are hopelessly in love with it. Does anyone remember the intro scene from Romancing the Stone, when the sobbing Joan Wilder types in the final scene in…

The Rejection Wins

My paternal grandmother, Zola Koontz, aka Mrs. Wilbur Koontz, was one of many mid-20th century housewives who took a stab at jingle writing contests. It is a mystery why she sent this one again under her Mrs. Husband’s name rather than her own. But in any case, she won! $25.00 in 1947 had the same…

Can you handle the truth?

In the world of publishing we (hopefully) agonize over a project until it is perfect and present something we believe in our hearts is an incredibly awesome work of art. So it’s never any fun when our projects are rejected by an agent or publisher. In 30+ years of publishing children’s books, here’s my take…