Let’s Read a Book!

Ok. So, a few things to tell you about today… And an exciting update at the end!

1. I made the cupcakes. First time ever making cupcakes from scratch, and they are delicious. Thank you Grannanny. So the recipe goes in the book! (My Book is Brad the Hungry Alligator Works in a Bakery. It is about an alligator who has to deliver cupcakes. We help him compare numbers of cupcakes throughout his workday.) If you would like the recipe, send me your email!

2. Since the recipe was good, that means the book is ready to go! On Thursday, I mailed a hard copy, no illustrations, accompanied by a cover letter, to Chronicle Books. They could take up to 6 months to look at it. They will not let me know when they receive it. They will not return it when they are done. I will only hear from them if they decide they want to publish the story. If I don’t hear anything from them in the next 6 months, I can resubmit my manuscript after revising the story.

I also emailed a copy, as a Word Doc attachment, no illustrations, accompanied by a cover letter, to Arbordale Publishing. They are supposed to let me know when they receive it. They will only contact me if they are interested in the story. And if they aren’t, they do not want me to resubmit that same story ever again.

It was sooooooo stressful! I read and re-read that manuscript a billion times. I let the computer read it to me out loud so I could hear it. Even as I was handing that giant envelope to the nice lady at the post office, and as I was about to press send on that email, my heart was pounding. I had a giant uncontrollable toothy smile, but I was also about to pee my pants out of fear. Letting it go didn’t ease the feelings. I am sure I will be on pins and needles for the next 6 months.

3. I was going to tell you about the self-publishing class I attended on Saturday, but…

4. EXCITING UPDATE: I just got an email TODAY from Arbordale Publishing! That was quick… They said my book has potential!!! What?! They also told me to get it critiqued, and suggested that I find someone on www.scbwi.org to do that for me. Then they said I can resubmit the manuscript! That’s big news! This is the publishing company that said don’t resubmit unless they ask. Well, they asked. So now I need to go join SCBWI, and find out how to get a book critiqued. Aaahhh!

Let me know below if you want the cupcake recipe! And I will let you know what comes up next. Happy Writing!