At the start of my Journey to become published, I had a collection of poetry I’d written dating back to 1985. Now that I’ve written a children’s story I’m not sure which genre to publish first. Why not just work on both at the same time you ask? Good question. Being new to publishing I feel it’s important, for me at least, to concentrate on one manuscript so that I can apply lessons learned to my other manuscripts once I go through the publishing process. In order to make my decision on which manuscript to publish first I’ve decided a trip to the book store is needed for research. Research is part of a writer’s job to ensure details of a story are accurate in order to maintain reader interest. Research is equally important in deciding what genres publishers believe will sell. Why not do that online you ask? Another good question. In this case I’ve decided to do the research myself, in person. So I throw off any pandemic fears that might otherwise keep me indoors. After all a little outing may just do me some good by refreshing my mind.
I’ve decided on Barnes and Nobel because of it’s size mostly, but also because of the Starbucks inside just waiting to brew up a fresh double vanilla latte, and perhaps I’ll grab a tasty pastry to boot. I made a mental list of what I want to research and now it’s time to hit the road.
The first thing I want to determine is the size of the poetry section vs. the children’s book section. There is no contest here. The children’s book section is brightly decorated and takes up the entire second floor, save for a small section in the back corner for astrology and science. The poetry section in stark contrast is contained on 2 bookcases consisting of 7 shelves each. It doesn’t take an industry professional to figure out that children’s books are published more often and get more space in stores because they sell better.
Gaining this knowledge was somewhat troublesome since I’ve been writing love poetry since 1985 and only had 1 children’s book. This new information has made me consider turning some of my poems into children’s books.
Another consideration for children’s books is illustration. One thing I’m not is an artist, at least not the kind of artist required for creating picture illustrations. This brings up a new area of research for me. How to get my picture book illustrated. Illustrations for children’s picture books are usually just as important, if not more so, than the words themselves. Let’s face it, quality illustrated Children’s books are simply more fun to read and help to clarify the point the author is making to the reader. My wife’s artistic ability is immediately brought to mind. I’m sure she would be excited to get into a joint venture. I hope. The fact that some of these books only have 1 sentence per page, while others have as many as 3 of 4 sentences, is evidence of how much these books rely on illustration, as opposed to the written word, to get their point across. At the end of the day exactly how I will get my children’s book illustrated is undetermined.
Now it’s time to check out the poetry. One of the main things I want to check out is the number of poems per book. I look at book after book of poetry and their table of contents, and book after book has many more poems than I’ve written. Each book containing 30 or more poems. I have finally answered the question that has plagued me for decades and has allowed me to procrastinate on publication of my love poetry. Do I have enough love poems to have my own book published? But wait maybe I should continue looking to make sure. I was beginning to think I would need to write more poems or partner with another poet, until I ran across a book with just 11 poems. Finally I know it’s possible to get published with less than 30 poems. Yes!
During the course of my research I continue to accumulate books I find interesting and book clearances on titles I cannot resist. I drop these books off at the assistance desk one by one and ask them to hold them for me till I completed shopping. I have accumulated quite a collection. Once I document the publishers of the books I’ve researched and pay for the $120.00 worth of books I’ve dropped off at the desk to hold along the way, it’s time to head home.
Now, it’s time to write.