It's. Here. August 1, 2011 12:15 4 Comments

The day I have been waiting for, for over a year, has finally arrived.

 

 

The first of two board books YOU ARE MY CUPCAKE published through Scholastic/Cartwheel is OFFICIALLY out! I wish I could just sit back and bask in the glory of my new book release but I am drowning in prep for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Annual Conference in Los Angeles that I am leaving for in 3 days AND I'll be exhibiting at the New York International Gift Fair for my stationery/gift business Wanart right after I get back. My mind has been swirling with SCBWI/NYIGF madness!

 

It can take about 18 months or more for a book to go from concept sketches to store shelf. Here are pictures I took of the packages I created and sent out to 8 different publishers (this was before I started working with my wonderful agent Teresa Kietlinksi of Prospect Agency) when I was pitching the idea for this book back in November of 2009! The idea for the book was inspired by a line of New Baby cards I designed for Wanart featuring images of foods that are often used as terms of endearment. The packages contained a cover letter, my bio, a Wanart catalog, a book dummy, and a manuscript page.

 

 

 

I once read that not more than perhaps 1-2% of the material submitted to a slush pile (unsolicited) gets published. But like the NY Lottery slogan goes You Gotta Play to Win and sometimes pitching books can feel like you're playing the lotto! LOL It only took about a week to hear back from my publisher and than another 6 agonizing months after that until it was formally acquired! I'm not sure how I got so lucky but not only did the book concepts get picked up but it ended up being by Scholastic/Cartwheel where I got to work with the most AMAZING creative team ever. They took my vision for the books and pushed it even further producing results that are cuter than I could have ever imagined! I want to thank them for helping me create such a beautiful set of books that I am really proud of.

 

Stay tuned for the release of the companion book WE BELONG TOGETHER which will be out in September.

 

 

Thanks to everyone who's been supporting and encouraging me all these years - I couldn't have done with without you. Lots of love!

 

xoxo Joyce