20 Questions: Success stories for books that tanked on submission

Welcome back to our series, 20 QUESTIONS!,

where we answer questions about writing, reading, and author life.

(Note that we enjoy the series so much we’ve decided to just keep the questions coming!)

This month’s question:

Do you have a success story for a book that tanked on submission?

Valerie Bolling

Two of my books tanked on submission with one publisher and later another publisher acquired both of them in a two-book deal! After writing LET’S DANCE!, I wanted to write about other activities that children enjoy, so I wrote a book about many of the universal, timeless games that children play called LET’S PLAY; that book became RIDE, ROLL, RUN: TIME FOR FUN! LET’S DANCE!,which is about dances from around the world, inspired me to write a book about musical instruments from around the world called LET’S JAM!; that book became BING, BOP, BAM: TIME TO JAM! 

– Valerie Bolling, author of I SEE COLOR with co-author, Kailei Pew, illus. Laylie Frazier (Harper Collins, 2024)

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Kirsten W. Larson

My middle grade graphic novel, THE LIGHT OF RESISTANCE (coming 2026), the story of French art curator Rose Valland who spied on the Nazis during World War II, started life as a picture book biography. On submission, the feedback was consistent: the topic was too complex and nuanced for a picture book audience. I needed more space to tell the story. Fortunately, editor Emily Feinberg at Roaring Brook fell in love with the story and pitched the idea of doing it as a graphic novel. The book is being illustrated by Barbara McClintock. 

–Kirsten W. Larson, author of REIMAGINING YOUR NONFICTION PICTURE BOOK (Both/And, 2023)

20 Questions: The It Factor

Welcome back to our series, 20 QUESTIONS!,

where we answer questions about writing, reading, and author life.

(Note that we enjoy the series so much we’ve decided to just keep the questions coming!)

This month’s question:

How do you ensure your books have that special “It Factor?” 

Hope Lim

“I don’t presume that my books have an ‘It Factor’ but one thing I hope to accomplish in my stories is the exploration of more than one thematic element. My storylines may seem simple but underneath the simplicity, a deeper meaning can be extracted and discussed. For example, SOURGRASS is about finding a way to live in hope after a difficult time of parting with a friend. At the same time, it uses spring as the context for return and renewal, while demonstrating the beauty of keeping promises and the importance of trust in relationships.”

– Hope Lim, author of Sourgrass illustrated by Shahrzad Maydani (Beach Lane Books, 2024) 

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Patricia Newman

“The ‘It Factor’ is a personal connection for me and my readers. As I write I ask myself over and over, ‘Who cares?’ Once I find my inner spark of connection, I put all that passion on the page. My books tend to be persuasive, so once I find the child’s connection to the topic it’s fun to empower them to care.”

– Patricia Newman, author of Eavesdropping On Elephants (Millbrook Press, 2019)

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Valerie Bolling

“My critique partners help me ensure that my books have an ‘It Factor.’ They regularly read stacks of picture books, attend webinars, and are members of writing communities. In other words, they know what makes stories pop, so their feedback is critical to helping me polish my manuscripts. In addition, I have an amazing editorial agent who adds his feedback, and I’ve been fortunate to work with editors who help me fine-tune my stories even further.  

– Valerie Bolling, co-author with Kailei Pew of I See Color , illustrated by Laylie Frazier (Harper Children’s, 2024)

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Kirsten W. Larson

“I think what sets my books apart are their unique structures, which coincide with the topic I’m writing about. The story structure of Wood, Wire, Wings, the story of the first women to design an airplane on her own, follows the engineering design process. A True Wonder, a book about the invention of the comic book hero, Wonder Woman, is told in comic book format. And The Fire of Stars, a book about the woman who discovered what stars are made of, parallels her formation as a “star scientist” with the process of star formation. These unique structures bring something special to the table.”

– Kirsten W. Larson, author of The Fire of Stars, illustrated by Katherine Roy (Chronicle 2023)

20 questions: Drawing from real life versus making things up

Welcome back to our series, 20 QUESTIONS!,

where we answer questions about writing, reading, and author life.

(Note that we enjoy the series so much we’ve decided to just keep the questions coming!)

This month’s question:

What in your latest book is drawn from real life, and what, if anything, is made up?

Valerie Bolling

“In my RAINBOW DAYS early reader series, Zoya and her puppy, Coco, love to create art together. In THE ORANGE WALL, Zoya paints her room. When she finishes painting, she decides to… (spoiler alert) paint a mural on one of the walls. The idea for what she paints on that wall was inspired by my own experience. I enjoy walking in the woods, and so Zoya paints a scene of herself, walking in the woods with her dad and Coco.” 

– Valerie Bolling, author of RAINBOW DAYS: THE ORANGE WALL, illustrated by Kai Robinson (Scholastic, 2024)

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Candy Wellins

“A GEODUCK IS NOT A DUCK examines the very real geoduck, the world’s largest species of burrowing clams. Pronounced “gooey duck,” a made-up news crew (comprised of a talking Sea Star, giant Pacific Octopus, and Otter) is on a mission to find an actual gooey duck. A knowledgeable crab is full of real facts about geoducks that are misunderstood again and again.”

–Candy Wellins, author of A GEODUCK IS NOT A DUCK, illustraded by Ellie Peterson (Little Bigfoot, 2024)

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Margaret Chiu Greanias

In HOW THIS BOOK GOT RED, Red, a red panda, recognizes that none of the books are about her kind of panda, so she decides to write her own. In the midst of struggling with writing her story, she sees a town where red panda representation is missing: in books, in merchandise, all the way down to the doll a baby red panda holds. The idea behind this story came from my childhood growing up with very little positive Asian representation in media and books. Like the baby red panda holding the giant panda doll, the dolls I played with looked nothing like me. 

– Margaret Chiu Greanias, author of HOW THIS BOOK GOT RED, illustrated by Melissa Iwai (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2023)

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Hope Lim

“In Sourgrass, when Sofia and May venture out into the wild field, they nibble the stems of sourgrass and giggle. This scene came straight out of my kids’ preschool years. I chaperoned a field trip to a community garden located up on a grassy hill, and watching them smile under the bright sunshine in a field of sourgrass is one of my favorite memories from my kids’ preschool era. The two characters, Sofia and May, and the resolution of their story are made up. However, all the fun things Sofia and May enjoy in their yards and beyond come from real life. As a child, I played outside all the time, running through the fields and climbing mountains, and my kids also loved being in nature, always finding ways to have fun. I used these real-life memories of being outside in SOURGRASS.”

– Hope Lim, author of SOURGRASS, illustrated by Shahrzad Maydani (Beach Lane Books, 2024)