I talk to a lot of aspiring picture book writers who have spent YEARS working on their first book. And revision is great! It's essential! But you know what's really the key to picture book success? Write something new. Then do that again. (thread) - ThreadSky

katemessner.com • 80 days ago

I talk to a lot of aspiring picture book writers who have spent YEARS working on their first book. And revision is great! It's essential!

But you know what's really the key to picture book success? Write something new. Then do that again. (thread)

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amymacdonaldftw.bsky.social•80 days ago

I also talk to a lot who have investedSO much in getting this one--first--book published. Would a beginning potter expect her/his 1st attempt at a pot to be bought by a museum? No! Think instead: great start! Now make another--it will be even better. Sadly many aspiring authors refuse to hear this.

janetfrencksheets.bsky.social•80 days ago

Great analogy!

ilimaloomis.bsky.social•79 days ago

I'm curious what this looked like earlier in your career when you still had a day job? How did you balance failing forward and deciding which projects to prioritize with more limited writing time?

ilimaloomis.bsky.social•79 days ago

This is great advice

jenngautam.bsky.social•79 days ago

Writing something new can also keep you excited and motivated and then you can come back with fresh eyes to a MS you worked on before!

I've written a lot of things, and many are not great and that's ok.

janetfrencksheets.bsky.social•80 days ago

Thank you for sharing this.

jessicafgwrites.bsky.social•80 days ago

Great thread, Kate! It’s reassuring to hear that this isn’t just a newer writer experience.

sdscottwriter.bsky.social•79 days ago

As an aspiring picture book writer who has spent a fortune in conferences, assessments, pitch opportunities and more, this is exactly the thread I needed today! Thank you! It can be so discouraging to get so close but not quite over the line. Keeping writing is the key. 💕

jessicablank.bsky.social•79 days ago

I really do appreciate this take. I find it hard to abandon ideas because I’m getting a lot of feedback that is “so close but still not there” when we submit my projects, and also, as an aspiring author/illustrator the process of making a dummy is so time consuming. It’s a lot of unpaid labor.

katemessner.com•79 days ago

I get it. But you can also try to look at that "unpaid labor" as "free education." I really do learn from every book I write, whether or not it ends up getting published.

Also? Working on something new doesn't necessarily mean giving up on that other book forever. But sometimes we need a break.

katemessner.com•80 days ago

The concept of failing forward plays a huge role in writing picture books. Truly - you need to play around with a LOT of ideas to find one that works. It really becomes a numbers game.

katemessner.com•80 days ago

Here's the thing - I've published 20+ award-winning picture books. But I've written wayyyyyyy more than that.

katemessner.com•80 days ago

Here's what picture-book math looks like for me.

Probably once or twice a day, I see or hear something and think "Oh! Maybe that's a picture book idea!"

Some of those ideas get dismissed right away. But I scribble at least one or two a week in my writer's notebook.

annielynn215.bsky.social•78 days ago

@katemessner.bsky.social Haha! I do the same thing but with songs and little bits of a musical riff here and there. You're right, it adds up!

katemessner.com•80 days ago

So that's maybe 75-100 ideas per year in my notebook.

Not all of those books get written. Sometimes I look back at a scribble in my notebook and think "Wait...WHY did I think I could make a whole pb about hamsters eating cheese sticks?" Those ideas just hang out in the notebook indefinitely.

katemessner.com•80 days ago

But some of those scribbled ideas are genuinely promising, and I get excited when I see them again. Excited enough to try writing them into picture books. Some of those ideas don't work - I get partway through and understand why. But some yield finished drafts!

katemessner.com•80 days ago

Of those finished picture book drafts - maybe a couple dozen a year, I'll decide that half of them aren't good enough or unique enough to continue with. The others, I'll revise and revise, and then I'll send them to a writer friend to get another set of eyes on them.

browncs.bsky.social•80 days ago

This thread was really inspiring to a brand-new aspirational writer! Thank you!

kellyjholmes.com•80 days ago

📌

justmemarieg.bsky.social•79 days ago

I’ve written many picture books, however, I’m not an artist so I have no illustrations. Most agents will not accept submissions without illustrations, or writers who haven’t had previous representation or been published already. It’s very frustrating. So nothing gets submitted.

katemessner.com•79 days ago

Yep - as an author, it can be tough to get an agent with just picture books. But there are still some smaller publishers accepting unagented submissions. And if you attend workshops & conferences, those sometimes come with an opportunity to submit to the editors presenting.

justmemarieg.bsky.social•76 days ago

Well, I will have to look into that, however, I really don’t have a lot of freedom to go do that so that’s on me. Thank you for your response and shining a ray of encouragement.

abigailrosek.bsky.social•79 days ago

This is really helpful advice, thank you. And it really helps put it into perspective to hear how many you write and how many make it. (Hamsters and cheese sticks has me craving cheese!)

acebauer.bsky.social•79 days ago

👍

deborahkops.bsky.social•80 days ago

Great advice. On the other hand, in her excellent workshop on writing fiction for adults, @rebeccamakkai.bsky.social advised us to struggle with a first novel for a few years and resist the urge to start another.

katemessner.com•80 days ago

But picture books are different. And I’ve seen so many writers get hung up on trying to get that One Picture Book published that they stop learning & playing.

katemessner.com•80 days ago

Well, two things. First, I am 100% a @rebeccamakkai.bsky.social fan and think she’s right about that. It’s easy to get frustrated with the middle of a novel & give up too soon.

deborahkops.bsky.social•80 days ago

I’m sure you’re right about picture books. Novels are an altogether different beast. And approaching the two with a similar strategy is, I know from experience, a very bad idea!

linipnilson.bsky.social•80 days ago

Thanks for sharing the process !

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