These are notes from a webinar hosted by Write4Kids. It was given by Josh Funk at joshfunkbooks.com.
His books look delightful.
Q: How do come up with a great concept that holds a book series together and has enough room to write a lot of different books?
A: The author wants to see what would be fun to be illustrated.
Don’t normally plan a series when doing the first book.
Q: If the first PB becomes popular do editors ask for more?
A: He pays attention to children’s bookshelf from publishers weekly. It gives a list of what books have sold.
When he sees excitement about his current book inspires him to do more books.
It is good to have a wide breadth of subjects for your books
Q: PB needs to be standalone. You have a strong hook for the series and your characters are interesting.
A: He thinks of it like a sitcom which is based on the characters. They are not so much procedurals. He sees his like they are episodes in their lives.
You don’t have to read them in order. Each does need to be stand-alone and you have to reintroduce the characters.
He does try to set up a variety in a series. One is a race, another is an adventure, a mystery, and a magic body swap.
Q: you have such a range of subjects in your books. How do you do accomplish that?
A: He reads a lot of picture books.
Q; I see you need a good hook in medi-fractures fairy tale story?
A: It’s a fractured story because the characters don’t want to do what they’re supposed to be. Metta is crossing the 4th wall.
Once you know the pacing and you know where the story is going to go or how illustrations will be handled, it’s easier to do a sequel picture book. For the little riding hood had the story take a different tangent.
Q: Part of the success of this is readers know what the original story is but your characters are not following the rules.
A: It has to be fairytale people are already familiar with. He wanted to choose stories that people are familiar with but not choose ones that have been overly done.
Q: If you can’t’ publish your first book? How about self-publishing?
A: It is hard to sell a sequel to a self-published book. To produce it, it will be more expensive.
More success if you Professional publish the first book.
You need a good illustrator if you are self-published. You need to commit to doing all the series. Be ready for the economic investment. *
Q: how to put together a picture book submission package.
A: Still get black holes and the query disappears.
With his agent, he sold 6 of his 12 books. Those 12 books were sent to 154 publishers.
It’s worth it and it only takes one yes to get published
Write a lot and write a lot of different things.
Q: How does one make on average on a PB? Get $25,000 k words is the high end. Many PB pay $2 K. Search advance of royalties to find out advances.
If you start seeing book reprints you know the book is good.
Jane Yoland said that when you sell 30 different books you are successful.
Q: How to do page number in the manuscript?
A: Presenter: doesn’t give page numbers. Some write like a play
A: Author: Most picture books are 40 pages with 16 spreads.
Paginating helps him in the blocking of the story.
You can see which pages have too many lines and another page too little.
Paginate when there is a new picture.
Q: How to you write the text and not worry what the illustrations will be?
A: Many authors don’t think of how their book will be illustrated when writing. Try to stay general in your head. Don’t need to give details.
Sometimes people will see things in your book that the author never intended.
Q illustrator notes:
A: Simplify, just say “toy under the bed’ if you have a visual joke.
He hears that a lot of agents don’t like illustrator notes.
Q; How do you know you’re done revisiting a manuscript?
A: When critique partners don’t have much to add. It’s important to have critique partners who are better writers than you.
It can be considered done when the author likes it after coming back to it.
He had a whole bunch of partners. He has different sources and knows the different strengths of different reviews (one or two people). When you send books to new people a second time the reader is invested. You need to determine if not much feedback is because it is good or because the reader is not interested in it.
If you don’t’ know if a book is done, do something else and then come back and see if you still love it. Wait on responding on a review’s advice see if you agree or note.
