"It's Delightful"

"It's Delightful." 

I want to burn this quote into my brain. I want to write it on the bathroom mirror, and dangle it from the rear view mirror in my car.

I sent off my children's picture book, "Sorrysorrysorry," to British author, Martin Baynton, about two weeks ago. Last night, I opened my mail box and found a 'delightful' note from him. He didn't offer a contract to make the book into a TV series, but he said, "It's delightful." Ahhhh!

He gave me some tips to use with the story and these tips are galvanizing me into doing more. Here they are. I know they'll prove helpful to you, too. 

Send it off as is. Send it off now. Keep sending it until it's sold.

Don't find my own illustrator. (even though I know how 'I' want the pictures to look, the publisher is better able to know what the market wants. (meaning sellability)

Don't add or tweak it until I get specific feedback. They may want something different than what I would add. 

NEVER EVER let the MS sit on my desk. Don't let it EVER sit on my desk. As soon as one rejection comes, send it off to another publisher.

Prelable and stamp LOTS of envelopes, so as soon as the MS comes back rejected, it can be sent out without a thought, or a roadblock, or any hesitation.

Go for the biggest publishers. 

OK. Some of you might be wondering why this seems to be such a big deal for me. I'll tell you.

Martin Baynton is an awesome children's book writer. He wrote the 'Jane and the Dragon' series along with the F'ifty' series and many more. He's also the creator and executive director of the hit series 'Jane and the Dragon' and 'The WotWots.' 

He was an illustrator until carpal tunnel struck. He illustrated tales from the Brothers Grimm and Graham Greene, along with books by Russell Hoban and Mary Carbine's dinosaur series.

Here's some links so you can enjoy/buy his books and see segments of his TV shows. He is co-owner of Pukeko Pictures (Sir Richard Taylor and Lady Tania Taylor are the other part of the studio.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Baynton
http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/parent-child/meet-martin-baynton
http://www.wetanz.com/martin-baynton/
http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Baynton/e/B001HPJGY8
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pukeko_Pictures

Life is affirmation.