Answers to some of your questions

Here are the answers to some questions I've gotten. If you have more questions, leave a comment and I will answer them in a later post. Thanks!

How can I get a book and how do you set up book signings?
It's really easy actually. You can email me with you name and number to to set up an event, I will let my marketer know and he will take it from there. My books can be bought direct from the publisher at www.tatepublishing.com or any online bookstore like www.amazon.com or through me! I will always have a few on hand. You can request for them at your local bookstore, I'm sure they would be willing to order one for you. I can't believe I found one "used" for sale already and it's only been on the market for 2 months!

How do I get a book published?
I think there are as many ways to publish a book as there are Eskimo words for the color white. The more I talk to authors I realize that my story is unique and I really do not understand the entire process. I wish I could say it is going to be as easy as my experience was. Most first time authors have to self publish and prove themselves marketable before a big time publishing company will buy their book. This means you front all the costs (close to the price of a nice new truck), find your own illustrator, graphic designer, editor. Then you have to buy your own books one mass printing at a time and warehouse and market your own books. Its a lot of work, a lot of time and money before every seeing any pay off BUT those people who have taken that road are so much more apart of the process and understand at the end what all goes into making their dream come true. To me they are the giants in this industry.

My experience: I had an idea, I submitted it, they called me, we went from there. That was the short story. Honestly I didn't know what I was getting into. I used google a lot and looked in the covers of all my favorite books and looked up their publishers. I found a submit button on Tate's website and after researching the company felt comfortable submitting my manuscript. A couple of months later I got a call from them asking if I wanted to sign a contract. I put in a small down payment (comparatively) and away we went! They have first dibs on the next book and if I sell 5,000 copies they will invest 100% on the next book. This happens for less than 9% of all first time authors who submit manuscripts. Some publishers just don't accept first time authors at all.

Where did you get your idea?
Well the book is about my Granddad who was an AMAZING person. I like writing about life experiences. He passed away a couple of years ago but his last year we spent a lot of time at the farm as a family and boy did a lot of stories get told! One year after he passed, I was back at the farm for "apple weekend" with my friend Jenny. We were picking apples, canning apple sauce, pressing apple cider and spending evenings knitting near the fireplace, telling stories of loved ones passed. Sharing in our grief and joys. It was such a rewarding and sweet healing time. At the end she mentioned I needed to write some of these stories down. Getting home I was so inspired by our weekend, I wrote down what had been heavy on my heart for a long time. A book about life: before, during and after the death of a loved one...for children.

How did you find your illustrator?
I was very lucky to have an Aunt who is an AMAZING artist. When writing the story I had quite a few of her paintings in mind. She had painted many paintings of her dad and the family and the farm over the years so really I only had to get permissions to use her paintings and commissioned only one for the book. Tate has their own illustrators. I had to get special permission to use her, in other words her work went before the board and they accepted her work of course because it's AWESOME! I have heard of people finding illustrators, editors and graphic designers on websites like www.craigslist.com and at writing conferences and workshops. You can buy the paintings from the artist or the rights to use them or, as in my case, we decided on a shared percent of the profits.