January 2008 I was working at a bank, bored to death, and looking for an out. My sister-in-law, Chris Jammer, was kicking her love of sculpting into high gear and selling weekly on Ebay. Chris always prepared a short write up to accompany each item placed for auction, but that January afternoon she emailed me a picture of a child immersed in bubbles in a small wooden tub. She asked if I would write up a little something to introduce this sculpt to her followers. That was the day Synni’s story came to life.
My muse was with me and The Stibil Forest was crying for attention. I sent the draft copy off to Chris, who responded immediately, suggesting maybe we could create a children’s book. I laughed and shrugged off the idea, however, Chris was persistent. Eventually I succumbed and over the next while went to work filling, revising and editing the story. Chris went to work with her clay, creating the characters and sets she would need to complete the illustrations.
In the weeks following I started searching the web for various publishers and informational sites. What I found was not encouraging. Many companies were not accepting unsolicited manuscripts and even if there was an opportunity to submit, the infamous slush pile loomed before us. Everywhere I looked it was advised, strongly, that an author not submit with an illustrator or vice-versa, which meant our stay in the slush pile might very well be permanent. That was when we decided to research other options available to us, as it was unthinkable that we would not continue on together.
Over the next few months I read a plethora of articles on self-publishing and print on demand. I also began researching copyright info, ISBN numbers and printing companies. I spoke with other writers, getting their input and viewpoints regarding alternative methods of publishing a book. Finally the decision was made; we would brave the world of self-publishing.
The next steps involved finding a reputable printer for our book, an editor to send the text to for proof-reading and copy-editing, and creating the layout for the book. In my naivety I had thought that once we had the illustrations and text ready we would plot our layout and the printers would put it together for us as specified. NOT! I found myself sitting at my computer facing a design program, which several people had told me would be no problem at all, yet realizing I was once again drowning in ignorance. The next several months were spent acquiring the necessary tutoring and learning that program.
Our journey took two years to complete and I cannot begin to explain the pride we felt, and continue to feel, as we cleared each hurdle leading toward our prize. We have acquired a wealth of knowledge in pursuit of this dream and yet we realize we have only touched the surface of this industry. Our goal in stepping into this arena was not only to self-publish, but to create a story that when read, would have children eagerly awaiting each turn of the page, as well as a book that could proudly be displayed on any bookshelf. In that, I believe we have succeeded.
And now the next frontier, MARKETING. Hmmm! Maybe we’ll ponder that over a glass of fine wine.
Cheryl is the author of Little Synni’s Moonlight Mischief, the first book in The Stibil Forest Adventures, illustrations by Chris Jammer.
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