A Leap into the Unknown

October 16, 2014 News, Publishing

A while ago I was chatting with my publisher about the type of children’s shows we remembered – Bill and Ben, Bagpuss – and about how sad it was that shows like that weren’t being made anymore. I jotted down a short children’s story in that vein as a joke.

My publisher loved it. So did his child.

So, rather baffled, I sat on the idea for a week. Which was when I discovered what pester power meant, and that was just from my publisher. Around the time I finished the fourth, I did start to think I might be onto something here. However my publisher does not handle illustrated books or children’s books, and those markets could be quite specialist.

It took me a while to make a decision, because after what happened with Fire Season, going away from my nice, safe, micro-press and back into mainstream publishing seemed a very large step. It also means giving up control of the artwork, influence over the covers, and frankly a lot of control over the process, as well as the risk of losing rights if a publisher goes bankrupt. But at the same time, it means they might get published…

So I’m doing it one step at a time, and right now I have a set of children’s stories on submission with a UK agent. I should hear back in six weeks.

Wish me luck.

Featured Image from Pixabey.com