Sleuthy Seven with Ana Crespo—seven
answers on how to land a picture book deal (AND unveiling the mystery of the illustrator, illustration notes, etc., too!)
HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY, Ana!
Thank you for agreeing to an interview and congratulations on your debut picture
book THE SOCK THIEF (Albert Whitman, March 1, 2015). I adore your story set-up—Felipe sneaks through his sunny, Brazilian town, stealing all the
socks, but why? He doesn't even need socks, since he wears flip-flops every day.
Kids will love solving the mystery of THE SOCK THIEF. I know I'm buying a copy for my nephew, today!
Jacket Flap:Brazilian boy Felipe doesn't have a soccer ball. So, when it's his turn to take one to school, he uses a little bit of creativity… and a few socks. Felipe is the sock thief, but finding socks is not that easy and the neighborhood pets make it even harder. "Au, au, au!" a dog barks in Portuguese. Felipe wonders if he'll play soccer with his friends today or if he will be caught by a tattle-tale parrot? Along the way, Felipe leaves delicious mangoes in exchange for the socks he steals. After he swipes each pair, he twists and turns them into an ever-growing soccer ball. At the end of the day, he returns each pair of socks with a note to say thank you.
And now, getting answers
to solving the mystery of scoring a publishing deal.
 |
| Ana Crespo author of THE SOCK THIEF |
Q –Ana, you’ll probably get
this question during every school visit, but I’m dying to know—how did the idea
of THE SOCK THIEF story unfold?
A –It’s a bit of a long
story – several years long. When I was
little, my father used to tell me stories about his childhood years. One of these stories happened to be about how
he and my uncle would sneak into my grandmother’s bedroom, get her stockings,
stuff them with newspaper, and make a soccer ball. The story stuck to my mind and came back when
I started to pursue a career in writing for kids.
Q –How long have you
been writing picture books, and how did you meet your editor (the fabulous
Kelly
Barrales-Saylor of Albert Whitman)?
A –I started writing
seriously in 2012, so I haven’t been writing for a long time – I am one of the
lucky ones. I met Kelly during my second Rocky Mountain Chapter SCBWI conference,
in 2013. I was probably one of the first
people (if not THE first person) to sign up for the conference and was lucky
enough to get a manuscript critique with Kelly.
The critique spots go away quickly, so you really have to pay attention
to the registration dates. The manuscript
she critiqued was THE SOCK THIEF.
However, despite meeting Kelly for the manuscript critique, I think we
really connected during the post-conference workshop, when we realized our
views about picture books were pretty similar.
Q – I understand you
have a five-book deal with Albert Whitman, so here’s the question every writer
really wants to know—how did you score your publishing contract? (Details,
please! How did you score this one, the other four, etc. Tell us the steps from
contact to contract).
A –The offer for THE
SOCK THIEF came after I sent Kelly the manuscript with revisions. I don’t have
an agent right now, so I had to deal with all the aspects of the contract
negotiation. It was a bit of a headache,
but everyone at Albert Whitman was wonderful.
They answered all my questions, helped me figure out what I didn’t
understand, and etc. I’ve been pretty
happy with the process so far. After the
contract for THE SOCK THIEF was signed, I sent Kelly a list of some manuscripts
I had available, including this small series about JP, a very imaginative
little boy who is still learning how to deal with his own feelings. It turns out they were looking for new
stories about feelings and the JP books were the perfect match. We signed a 4-book contract. The first two books – JP AND THE GIANT
OCTOPUS and JP AND THE POLKA-DOTTED ALIENS – are pretty much ready and going to
print soon. They look amazing!
Q –So, you landed the
deal. The contract was signed. Now tell us about next steps and how the editing
process worked between you and Kelly (and others).
A –Like I said, Albert
Whitman is wonderful, and the editing process was just as wonderful. I was included in most of the steps. From the very first sketches, they welcomed
my comments. I offered a different,
honest point of view, while always keeping in mind that the final decision
belonged to Kelly and her team. And I
liked it that way. It was a great
learning experience. Then, came the
marketing. Again, Albert Whitman has
been extremely supportive. I was lucky
to land a contract with such a professional publisher.
Q –THE SOCK THIEF was illustrated by Nana Gonzalez—she did a beautiful job creating
fun,
lively, and authentic spreads. People always ask picture book writers if
they did the illustrations, too. Obviously you did not. Although there are many
author/illustrators out there, there are also many authors who are not
illustrators, and the publishing house hires the illustrator. Did you have any
input on picking the illustrator?
 |
| Illustrator Nana Gonzalez |
A –No, I didn’t. However, as soon as Kelly knew who would be
illustrating the book, she let me know.
Nana is from Argentina and, as it turns out, her grandfather used to
make sock balls as well. It was the
perfect match. Her illustrations are
beautiful.
Q –MORE on
illustrations. So we know you wrote the text; Nana Gonzalez created the
illustrations; And Albert Whitman found Nana; And you and Nana never met before
you wrote THE SOCK THIEF. Since I only have seven questions, I’ll do a
sneak-around and divide this question into two parts.
Part one—I’ve heard many editors
say that it is typical that the author and illustrator never have a single
conversation, and that is done by design—the publisher wants the illustrator to
create their vision without being impinged
by the authors vision—keeping the two apart generally creates a richer
finished product—was this true for you—were you and Nana kept apart (as in no
phone calls or emails with one another during the creation of the book)?
Part two—I’ve heard editors
provide mixed responses regarding authors providing illustration notes. What
was your experience with this—did you give any art notes prior to or after the
creative process?
A –I didn’t have any
contact with Nana, but that didn’t bother me.
Albert Whitman was a filter between the author and the illustrator, but
I still feel like I participated in the illustration process through my
comments. In fact, that brings us to the
answer to a previous question. The final
decision in regards to the book belongs to the editor and its team. If the author and illustrator exchange ideas,
there is a chance the author’s message will contradict the editor’s message. I am a very practical person. The way I see it, the editor wants the book
to succeed just as much as I do. Of
course, that doesn’t mean I won’t share my opinions, especially when I feel
strongly about something. However, I
feel comfortable leaving the decision to the editor. If I trusted my work to that editor, I must
trust her decisions, too.
Regarding the
illustration notes, I have also heard different accounts about what is too much
and what is okay. In my opinion, it
really depends on the story. In THE SOCK
THIEF, for example, illustration notes weren’t necessary, except to mention the
story was set in Brazil and to describe how to make a sock ball. On the other hand, the JP stories wouldn’t
make sense if it weren’t for the illustration notes. In JP AND THE GIANT OCTOPUS, for example, JP
spends most of the story talking about a giant octopus that lives only in his
imagination. If I didn’t use
illustration notes to reveal what the giant octopus really was and what it was
doing, the story wouldn’t make sense.
So, I guess authors must be careful not to constrain the editor’s
imagination (because that will likely turn into a rejection) and later the
illustrator’s imagination by being too detailed about the illustration notes,
but they are necessary in certain cases.
Q –Where and when are
your book signing events?
Right now, I have two
signing events scheduled in Colorado Springs, but there may be some more coming
up. You may find an up-to-date schedule
at http://www.anacrespobooks.com/#!appearances/csw1.
Thank you so much for
this interview, Kim! It was a pleasure
sharing with you and your readers. I
hope everyone enjoys the book.
Buying Links for THE SOCK THIEF:
Editorial Guidelines for submitting to Albert Whitman & Co. Publishing:
http://www.albertwhitman.com/content.cfm/editorial-guidelines-for-writers
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