In Which a Book Journey Is Shared (with Some Suggestions Sprinkled In)
Hello, fabulous 12 x 12 folks! I hope you are having a great start to the year and are inspired to learn, create, and share with the support of this wonderful community. In this post, I’m sharing my journey with my debut picture book, I DON’T WANNA HIBERNATE!, from idea to publication. I hope some of my experiences will be useful to you in your writing journeys.
I grew up on the writing of A.A. Milne—not just the Winnie the Pooh stories but his wonderful poems as well. I knew many of them by heart. It sounds terribly old-fashioned, but in my family, memorizing and reciting poetry was a thing. When we had big family get-togethers with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, some folks would play the banjo or guitar, and others (me included) would stand up and recite poems. Through endless repetition, the rhythms of those poems got stuck in my head and in my heart.
Suggestion #1: You don’t need to memorize them, but read your favorite picture books aloud, again and again. Ask a trusted friend, family member, or critique partner to read your own work aloud to you and listen to where it sounds great and where it sounds off. All of this helps develop your ear.
Fast forward several decades. 2019 was the first year I participated in Storystorm and the year I joined 12 x 12. I still have my Storystorm idea notebook from that year. One entry reads: “Twist on bedtime book: I don’t wanna hibernate. Baby bear doesn’t want to go to sleep.”
I let this idea sit for a while and didn’t start writing the story until late 2021. By this time, I was agented, and we had sent out several manuscripts to editors without success. I knew right away that I wanted the story to be in rhyme with a repeating refrain. I also wanted to include some backmatter about hibernation. In doing the research, I found that groundhogs, more than bears, are true hibernators. Since there are a ton of picture books about bears and not so many about groundhogs, it made sense to make the switch to writing about a little groundhog.
Suggestion #2: Know the market and think about where your book fits in, but include an element or two that differentiates your book from others on the same topic.
For inspiration, I reached back to the early childhood of my kids—neither of whom ever wanted to go to bed. They tried every delaying tactic—from asking for another story or a drink to claiming that their stuffed animals would be lonely. I thought about the words they said, the tricks they tried, and what they got away with.
Suggestion #3: If you spend time around young children as a parent, caregiver, teacher, or librarian, keep a notebook of the words and phrases they use and the things they do. This will come in handy for story ideas.
When I started drafting, rhymezone.com was my best friend. For every word you type in, this free website will generate a list of rhymes, near-rhymes, synonyms, homophones, and the list goes on. You can choose to search by syllables or letters and to include phrases or not.
When I had a finished, critique-group-approved draft, I sent the story to my agent. She thought the idea was cute, but something was missing. The rhyme and meter were so regular that it was putting her to sleep—and not in a good, bedtime-story type of way. She also thought that the ending needed work. Instead of the little groundhog suddenly changing her mind and falling asleep, why not include a twist? And how about a tie-in to Groundhog Day?
As so often happens with advice from my agent, my first reaction was: “No! I don’t know how to do this.” Instead of saying this out loud, I let the advice burrow into my subconscious for a couple of weeks. I also checked out a stack of rhyming mentor texts from the library and studied how some authors varied the meter at different points in the story. Finally, I got some new ideas.
I varied the meter with some short onomatopoeia verses. One of them (where the parents walk in to find the little groundhog jumping on her bed) goes like this.
Suddenly, a thumpy thump.
BOING!
SPROING!
JUMP!
I also added a couple of twists. When the parents are too exhausted to stay awake any longer, the little groundhog tucks them in. And yes, there is now a tie-in to Groundhog Day at the end. After I implemented my agent’s suggestions, the manuscript was a million times better!
Suggestion #4: It’s natural to want to reject critique suggestions at first—especially if they sound hard. But don’t be too quick to do so. Let the advice settle for a while until your brain can take it in and feels ready to act on it.
The next part was a whirlwind. The manuscript sold quickly, and after one round of light edits, illustrator extraodinaire Raahat Kaduji was ready to work her magic. It was a joy to see her bring the groundhogs to life!
The entire book journey, from idea to publication, took six years. There’s nothing unusual about that. The process of publishing works slowly, and often ideas need time to form fully. But with enough patience and persistence, we can all be successful in our writing journeys. In the words of A.A. Milne, “Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”
ANNA OUCHCHY (O-shee) is a children’s book author and former teacher. She loves writing picture books that inspire wonder about the natural world or make kids laugh. Her articles and stories have appeared in Highlights magazine, and her first picture book, I DON’T WANNA HIBERNATE, came out in January. She lives in Wilmington, North Carolina, with her family and a very spoiled cat named Spooky.
You can find her online at www.annaouchchy.com.
Anna is offering one lucky winner a critique of a fiction or non-fiction picture book under 600 words (rhyming is fine)! Comment below for a chance to win.
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203 Responses
I love these great suggestions. Thank you. And your book sounds adorable.
love this story-behind-the-story and the life lessons! thank you!!
Thanks for the tips!
I love the idea of your book and how it progressed. I can definitely picture my kids when they were young and didn’t want to go to bed. Thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely try them.
Thank you for these honest and helpful suggestions. I enjoyed reading about how you grew up reciting poetry at family events — what a strong foundation you earned and received! I also enjoyed reading about your journey to publication. You book sounds wonderful!
Thank you for sharing your publication story and some great tips. Congratulations on your book!
I’m excited to read your book and so appreciative of your suggestions, particularly #2 and #3. Thank you for sharing your writing journey.
Great suggestions! Hearing your work really helps in the revision process. 🙂 Your book is so cozy and fun. congratulations.
Love the tips–and your adorable book.
Thank you for sharing your journey! I love that your family played music and recited poetry! And I appreciate your suggestions!
Great Advice! Thank you!
Congratulations, Anna! Thank you for the suggestions and sharing your journey to publication.
What a delightful origin story! Thank you for sharing this along with your tips. I’ll have to hunt down my old favorite PB’s soon. Kudos on your debut!
Thanks for sharing your journey. I love how the suggestions percolated until you found your path. The variations in the rhyme work so beautifully because they are strong word choices. Love this!
This is a fabulous way to learn about you, your story, AND pick up tricks to improve our manuscripts. Bravo! And thank you! And congrats on the recent publication of I Don’t Wanna Hibernate! I can’t wait to read it.
Thank you for sharing your story and congratulations. Your book looks wonderful. I look forward to reading it.
Thank you so much for sharing your journey. This is a great tight list of very helpful suggestions. One of your key suggestions is #4. In the film industry it is so key to be able to accept criticism and make script changes. I help finance films and time and time again I find the biggest obstacle to getting a script financed is the writer’s refusal to make key changes in their work. I will look forward to recommending this book for our local library. I wish we had your book for the last week’s library story-time where we selected 3 groundhog books to read. I can’t wait for nest year’s story-time. Wishing you great success with this book and all your writing.
I appreciate your tip about varying the meter with onomatopoeia. That is good advice, as is not rejecting critique suggestions right away. 🙂
Congratulations on publishing I DON’T WANNA HIBERNATE.
I love your book, but then again I like groundhogs. In Alaska, groundhogs are called marmots. Same animal, just diifferent names. Thanks for the suggestions and for sharing.
Anna, your debut picture book looks adorable. What an inspiring idea to change the MC from a bear to a groundhog. Your suggestions are practical and number three was especially helpful to me as I am a part-time childminder. I never thought to jot down the funny things the kids tell me although I have definitely incorporated a few of them into my stories. Congratulations on your success.
Hi Anna – thanks for a great post and a peek behind the scenes at your writing process. I DON’T WANNA HIBERNATE sounds adorable! I look forward to reading your story! Congratulations!
Thank you for this interview. You have given me inspiration. Congratulations on you book.
Hi Anna! Looks like your 2019 hibernated/incubated over many years, and you’ve left the burrows. Congratulations! Do groundhogs have a dance of JOY?
I love hearing about your writing journey with some helpful advice sprinkled in. Thank you so much!
I especially appreciated the advice about meter and how it’s important to let suggestions for change sink in over time.
Thank you Anna for this interview. I agree that taking suggestions for change and letting them settle in for a few weeks is super important. After all, we read text differently based on our experiences. Congratulations on your book. I remember teaching my Kindergarten kids about bears not being true hibernators. They do wake up in the winter and sometimes head out to forage for more food. Switching to groundhogs makes a lot of sense. Enjoy the rest of your journey.
Fantastic suggestions! And what a great idea to use onomatopoeia to vary meter!
That’s interesting that groundhogs hibernate, I didn’t know that.
Great suggestions and congratulations on your book. Isn’t it wonderful when you let ideas marinate and then it just clicks and comes together. I wish it would happen more often!
Thanks for the excellent tips! And for sharing your writing journey with us.
I’m so excited to read your debut story. It sounds wonderful! Thank you for sharing your journey.
Anna, thank you for your helpful hints and tips. You are a down to earth writer and relevant to the everyday writer of today. I especially applaud the use of family and life experiences to enhance your writing. Thank you for being the writer you are.
I really resonated with all the steps in your writing journey, from the first spark of an idea to seeing your book finally being published. it is easy to give up hope, especially when you are not in the USA and trying to make your mark from South Africa. But I shall persevere!
Thank you for this, Anna. I can relate to so many things you said, especially the part about not wanting to make changes, but eventually trying them out and finding they work. Congratulations – the book looks adorable.
Thanks for sharing your great ideas and your journey and congratulations! Looking forward to reading, I Don’t Wanna Hibernate.
Anna,
Way to hang in there to get your book published.!
Thank you for your timely suggestions and tips (that I need to hear often)
Congratulations on your book (Our library has it ! yea)
Hi Anna,
Thank you so much for sharing your invaluable experiences and insights with us! I especially loved your advice on keeping a notebook of kids’ phrases and antics – it’s a great reminder of the importance of observing and listening to our young audience. Your honesty about initially feeling uncertain about your agent’s advice is also really refreshing. It’s reassuring to know that even experienced writers like yourself face similar challenges and doubts. Your approach to tackling that uncertainty – letting the advice simmer in your subconscious, studying mentor texts, and being open to new ideas – is a great model for all of us to follow. Thanks again for your generosity and transparency!
Very inspiring, congratulations on finding an agent you can trust to help find your voice. Wonderful story telling!
Thank you, Anna, for all the great suggestions. I love rhymezone.com as I am working on my first attempt at a rhyming book. It’s a great, free resource. I really liked your suggestion to write down what kids say. As a mom of young adult children now, it’s been a while since I have had the exposure to young kids and the way they see the word. I will have to pay extra attention.
Congratulations on the book!! I look forward to reading it.
Cindy
Thanks so much for sharing your childhood experiences and for your professional journey to publication. Your tips will be very useful to me.
Thanks for sharing your story. I especially like the reminder to sit on feedback and let it marinate.
Love the hear how books are born! Your book sounds adorable!
I love learning about how stories/books came to be! Thanks for sharing yours. And all your tips are super helpful— and right on. As they are experiences I have had as well.
Thank you, Anna, for all of your thoughtful suggestions! I’m looking forward to reading, “I Don’t Wanna Hibernate!”
Hi Anna! Thanks for your wonderful post. I can’t wait to check out your book. Congrats!! 🙂
Anna, ah! How fun this book sounds–can’t wait to check it out (literally)! Congrats on your debut!
Thank you, Anna! I appreciate the story behind the story. Congratulations!
Congrats! Your advice will come in handy as I’m taking my first try at a rhyming manuscript.
Thank you for writing this! Your advice is spot on and a helpful reminder.
Thanks for the sprinkles, Anna! 🧁I’ve put your book on hold and look forward to reading it. Congrats on the publication and thank you for sharing your story. I am inspired 💖
Love your story! Appreciate hearing your book journey! Looking forward to reading I Don’t Want to Hibernate with my granddaughter. Thanks!
I loved reading the backstory to the creation of I Don’t Want to Hibernate! Thanks so much for sharing.
Thank you for sharing this journey and congratulations on your debut! Looking forward to reading and adding it to my personal library and the town’s if they do not already have it.
I love your persistence and your book sounds adorable! I look forward to reading it!
It’s great advice to write down things that kids say–I find myself trying to commit them to memory and only occasionally jotting them down. Will commit to writing them down in a notebook! Congratulations on the book!
Thank you for your many words of wisdom. Persistence is one huge factor in meeting our writing publication goals. I love your simply ad clear advice. Congratulations on your book! I wonder how you had such a fabulous agent when you had not yet published a book. I’d love to hear the story of how you acquired your agent as well. The book sounds so cute. I will for sure pick it up to read to my grand daughter.
I love reading about how you and your family used to gather and recite poetry! What a gift that time is still as it clearly lives in you today. I also love your concise and practical suggestions with your lived-experience examples. Thank you! I am looking forward to reading your book!
Thank you for sharing your writing tips. I’m counting the years from when you had the idea to publication. You have perseverance. May I borrow some?
I also appreciated learning how you felt when your agent advised you on your manuscript and how you solved those problems. Congratulations!
Thank you for sharing these tips and your story. Congratulations Anna, on your debut. Looking forward to read it. 😀
Oh my gosh, this book is adorable! I just read it and then came to read your feature here, which is wonderfully inspiring.
These are such good advices. Thank you so much!
You definitely give me hope and I will surely buy your book for my grandson who never wants to go to sleep!
Thank you for sharing some useful advice especially about varying the meter. I can’t wait to read your debut book.
These are good suggestions, thank you! Congratulations on your book!
I love the humbleness of this advice, to listen, internalize and then work. A lovely piece.
Congrats on your debut! It sounds adorable! Thanks for the great tips. I’m currently sitting on agent advice and I’m so stuck revising it.
Thank you for such practical, step-by-step advice. I love the thought of the rhymezone.com website.
Thank you for your insight and suggestions! It’s always refreshing to hear when others experience the same critique-resistance that I do. Haha, the pause between receiving critiques and revising the manuscript has been so helpful for me as well. I feel very open to critique, but that “I don’t know what to do with this” hits hard. But time has been my best-friend in integrating, or strategically not integrating, critique. If I disagree with a critique, I have found that it doesn’t necessarily mean that the MS doesn’t need to change. Sometimes it means that I have not made clear what I was trying to get across. So that element may not need to change, per se, but the way I communicate that element needs locked down. And sometimes it does mean that I need to change XD.
So much of this shines with insight! Thanks for sharing your process, take on rhyming, and all of the editing that led to debut day. Congrats!
Thank you, Anna, for sharing your story and publishing process. All in time is reassuring, trust the process. The more I hear this, the more patient and persistent I become as a writer. Your insight is wonderful. Congratulations on getting your debut into the world. Well done!
Tip #4…I need to be reminded of this time and time again. When it’s hard to accept, something about it must ring true. I never feel finished revising, but there are a few precious places in each of my pieces. Thank you. Been watching your book rise. Congratulations. One day that will be me!
Thank you for sharing your journey. Great suggestions. I’m looking forward to reading your book.
Your story idea sounds so fun. I can’t wait to read it! And the details you gave regarding your story writing process were very helpful. Thanks for all of the good suggestions!
Thank you for sharing your book journey. I appreciate all your helpful tips for development and revisions. Congrats on your book!
Six Years! Wow, you stuck it through and the book sounds amazing. Congratulations! Your point #4 is a good one. It always takes me a few days for someone’s critique to sink into my thick skull and show me avenues of change.
Such great tips – thank you!
What a really cute and fun book! I am from the Punxsutawney area and I hope you do a reading on the Today show when they reveal if there will be more winter or spring is on the way! Say hi to Phil for me! 🙂
Thank you for your great suggestions. Congratulations on your book =)
Anna,
Please continue to be an inspiration for us all as we travel together in our writing journeys.
Great suggestions.
And I often use rhymezone, not just for rhymes but also synonyms it descriptive words.
I’m looking forward to getting my hands on your book! It sounds like it could be a comp title for a future project I’m working on. 🙂 Your suggestions are so helpful. I was a big fan of Shel Silverstein as a child, and he’s a huge influence on my rhyming work. I appreciate your acknowledgement of that knee-jerk reaction to critiques, too…I loled at your “No! I don’t know how to do that.” The things we write are so personal and close to our hearts, it’s hard to let them go at first. It’s nice to hear that from someone else.
Thank you Anna for all the great ideas. I’m going to pull out some of my favorite picture books to read again and again.
I look forward to reading your book.
Kristi
It’s so helpful to hear the details about your journey – from how long it took to what the steps were on creation, revision, and publication.
Thanks for persisting on the story and sharing your path to help others!
Love these suggestions! And your book sounds adorable!
Thank you for sharing these suggestions and your journey! I can’t wait to read your book.
I loved this post because I also learned much from A.A. Milne with his children’s books and poems. I had not heard about rhymezone.com and will use that tool in future writing endeavors. Anna’s six-year endeavor was a total inspiration to me since I have been trying to get published for five years myself. I will also use her helpful tips about rewriting and listening to suggestions from critique partners.
Thank you for your suggestions. I’m definitely going to have my husband read my stories out loud to me to listen for what works and what doesn’t! Great tip!
I love to see the other hibernators represented!
All of this was helpful to hear about, craft and publishing tips. Thanks so much and congrats on your book.
Such a smart idea to shift from a bear to a groundhog, and a good reminder to be aware of the market!
Thank you so much for this! I’m just starting out in picture book writing so it is great to see your process and how you added layers to it. On Tuesday, Heidi Stemple also talked about how you need to sit with critique notes for a few days.
Anna, congratulations on your debut! I love groundhogs 🙂 And thanks for sharing your journey!
What a power set of bullets for us. Thank you so much Anna. I concur about the importance of reading our work aloud, and find this so helpful, especially when I’m stuck. The musicality, or lack of it, always comes through the voice. Thank you also for the Rhymezone resource and detailing your pivot from bears to groundhogs in your story.
Thank you so much Anna for sharing the pivot from bear to groundhog focus in your story. I concur about the power of reading stories aloud, especially rhyming ones. The voice always reveals the depth of musicality and meter, or where it’s missing. Thank you for the Rhymezone reference. Be well
Great suggestions. Thank you.
This book sounds so wonderful!
This was the perfect read for me today, as I received some very unwanted critiques today! Thanks for sharing your book’s journey.
Childhood poetry sticks! My second grade teacher basically left a Shel Silverstein record on repeat. Decades later, those still poems pop into my head out of nowhere. Very useful for teaching my kids how to tell if a window is open.
Thanks for these suggestions and for sharing the story behind your fun book! Congratulations!
This book looks adorable! That’s so interesting that your agent asked you to vary the rhyme a bit to make it more interesting and to add a twist. Thanks for posting!
Love your little groundhog! Thank you for sharing these great ideas. It is not easy to take feedback, especially if you receive opposite ideas from different people, and figure out how to integrate it in your story. Congratulations on your debut! May it be the first of many books to come!
This book is so adorable! Loved understanding your writing process.
I love how you mix inspiration and practical tips in this post. Even though 6 years is a long time, it gives me comfort to know where I’m at is okay.
I love hearing about your process. And your book is adorable!
This was such a fun book! love hearing how the idea evolved from first thought to end result!
Thanks for the reminder to just give it a try if you get critique advice that feels like a definite no but could really change everything.
Thank you for all the advice.
Loved reading about your journey- thank you for sharing. Great tips for becoming a better writer!
wonderful suggestions, thank you!
Thanks for sharing, Anna! Great advice for those starting out the gate of picture book writing. I love a good twist at the end. 🙂
Thank you for sharing your journey to publication. Hearing how you revised based on your agent’s feedback was especially inspiring!
Thanks for sharing :). I also love writing stories with anthropomorphic animals.
I loved hearing about the journey you went with your adorable book. I appreciated your suggestions, particularly the need to let things settle in for a while and wait!
Thank you for explaining the process to bring this story to life – suggestion #3 was particularly insightful to me. I’m excited to read your book!
Thank you for sharing your writing journey, Anna! I love your awesome suggestions!
Thank you for sharing your writing experiences and constructive suggestions. We get our story ideas from all around us every day.
What an inspirational book journey! It is important to remember that everything takes time. I appreciated all the excellent advice. As an aspiring PB author and former theatre teacher, I particularly like the suggestion to have someone else read your manuscript out load. It is amazing how different the words sound in your head compared to out loud. Thank you for sharing your expertise!
Thank you for this terrific post. I loved hearing the writing journey behind I Don’t Wanna Hibernate!
The story sounds delightful! And thank you for sharing your suggestions.
I love hearing about this journey. I, too, was raised on the poems of A.A. Milne and the rhythms are still in my head!
This was a lovely and inspiring post! Thank you for sharing your book journey and these very helpful tips.
Great suggestions tucked into a wonderful story of your book journey. Letting critiques settle in is something I need to try.
🙂
Anna,
Such a fun and informative post on how your delightful debut came to be. I especially liked the advice on accepting critiques with an open mind and taking time on both writing and revising. It reminds me of a slow cooking stew–with delicious results!
Love all your suggestions.
Thanks for the tips.
Those are all excellent tips. I love how you said, I let the advice burrow. Fun word play. Thanks for sharing.
Great suggestions! I am going to try to get started on a notebook this coming week!
Fabulous post. I am so inspired by your story.
Great tips-thanks for sharing!
Gah, so much great information! Saving this to go back to.
Thank you!
Your extended family get-togethers reciting rhymes and strumming the banjo sounds beautiful! What a lovely idea for an authentic picture book you could write! Thank you for sharing all these spot-on ideas.
What a lovely family tradition. Thanks for the great tips!
Thank you for your valuable advise, Anna! I am letting your words sink in and I will incorporate these methods while I iron out the wrinkles in my manuscript!
Congratulations! Rhymezone is the best! Thank you for sharing your journey and tips. 🙂
Four very excellent suggestions. Rhymezone.com is a good friend of mine as well. Thanks for the post.
Thank you so much for writing! Great suggestions!
I’m so glad to hear you (and so many commenters) are fans of Rhymezone. I use it too, but it somehow feels a little like cheating to me. Thanks for giving me permission to not feel that way!
Thanks for the wonderful tips, Anna, and congratulations on your adorable new picture book!
A good reminder that great ideas take time. And, as an author who doesn’t usually rhyme, I appreciate the suggestion to use RhymeZone. Thanks, Anna!
Such helpful suggestions. AND… what an adorable book!! I can’t wait to read it. 🙂
Thank you, Anna, for sharing your publishing journey. I love the quote you share at the end from A.A. Milne, “Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” Congratulations on your debut book! I look forward to reading it to my daughter at bedtime.
This is a fabulous post. Thank you for sharing!
Great advice, Anna, about letting critique suggestions “settle.” Your advice validated my choice to let my brain rest. I recently attended a writing workshop and received so much information that I am waiting a little while, before I dig-in on the suggestions. Thank you!
Anna, thank you for sharing your heartfelt suggestions. They are helpful and encouraging.
Love your groundhog story. I’m finding that my rhyming poetry is coming easily these days, so this is helpful. Also, I’m a huge fan of the great Bill Murray movie, so this resonates for me re Groundhog Day as well . Finally, I didn’t know about rhymezone.com- thanks for the tip!
Anna, your suggestions are spot on. I find that several of my stories come to me in rhyme so I can’t wait to get your book! Thank you.
Sounds adorable! Can’t wait to read it with my kids. (And I too love rhymezone!)
This book sounds like so much fun! I look forward to reading it.
I just love hearing the “behind the scenes” part of a story, and how extra twists were added. Anna, I especially appreciated that you shared a practical example of how you improved the rhyming (and I had a giggle at how the previous version had apparently put your agent to sleep…). Thanks for sharing so authentically with us!
Great advice, Anna – especially suggestion #4. I’m always tempted to jump right in after getting feedback but often find that, with a little time away, I get a better idea of what the feedback is really getting at. Looking forward to reading I Don’t Wanna Hibernate!
Oh I love this. And it’s not only relatable to current kids, but the kid in all of us! I was for sure a kid who tried all the delaying tactics. Once, just to try it, I asked my dad for hot chocolate, and he actually made me some. I was so shocked, I quit calling him to my room after that! Lol.
I can’t wait to read this book. Thank you for sharing these great tips.
Reading about your family gathering surrounded by music and poetry made me smile!
Anna, thank you for sharing your experience and for the practical advice!
Thanks for the tips – especially rhymezone!
I want to know what happens to little Groundhog after the parents are tucked in! We’ll check it out from our Austin library 🙂
Wonderful set of simple suggestions. Thank you!
I’m relieved that I’m not the only one who initially wants to reject feedback because the suggested changes seem too difficult. Thank you for your advice.
So glad the just right revisions worked their way into your story. Congrats!
This is an adorable idea, and I love the way you incorporated your agent’s suggestions. Congratulations on I Don’t Wanna Hibernate.!I look forward to reading it.
I loved reading about your publication journey, Anna! My debut was a rhyming book too and it was definitely a challenge. The A.A. Milne quote you shared at the end of your post is one of my favorites and a great reminder that the writing/publication for each book has its own pace.
Congratulations and thanks for sharing your wisdom!
Thank you for sharing!!
Very insightful, thank you! I was hesitant to listen to the the bit about letting feedback sit for a while, but after a day or two of thought, I decided to accept it. (I kid, I kid)
Congrats on your book! I love your suggestions,,, especially the one about reading a manuscript out loud. My critique group does this for each other and it’s so helpful to hear someone else read it!
Congrats on your book! I love your suggestions,,, especially the one about reading a manuscript out loud. My critique group does this for each other and it’s so helpful to hear someone else read it!
Thank you, Anna-it’s always so helpful to be reminded to let things sit after critiques. And to return to our Storystorm ideas. I will have to go digging for mine.
Great advice! Thanks, Anna! I enjoyed reading about how your book came to be. Congratulations! 🙂
I agree. I always let suggestions sink on overnight and revisit them the next day! Congrats on your book!
Congratulations on your book! And thank you for your ideas – I love the suggestion of keeping notes on fun things the kids around us say. Definitely will be using this one.
Congratulations on your book and thanks for the suggestions.
Such great advice and reminders. Thank you!!
Congrats on your book and thanks for the tips.
Thank you for the great tips and what a great book!
I see what you did with the word “burrow” (and I love it!). 😉 RhymeZone is such a great resource. I’m laughing because I was on it about 15 minutes ago. Congratulations on your newest book! (I love that you switched gears and capitalized on the opportunity to make a groundhog the star of your story.) Thanks for sharing your wisdom with us.
Thank you for sharing your process of idea to fruition in the publication of your book. It’s sobering and reassuring to know how long it takes to get a book published. I plan to check out your book at the library. Thank you also for mentioning RhymeZone. I had no idea it existed. I love the idea of making a list of expressions and vocabulary used by young children. I appreciate all the tips you shared.
Dear Anna — Thank you for your lovely inspirational words. I, too, hope to get there someday! Good luck with your next writing adventure.
Thanks for sharing!
Wow! It’s hard to believe that it can take 6 years to bring a book to life. Also, I love groundhogs so I will definitely be checking your book out!
Thanks Anna for taking us with you in the journey. Wonderful suggestions, we all can use more time developing our ears and waiting for our brain to take in advice that we did not appreciate. I like the way you research needed information.
It is a blessing the way you refer to Raahat Kaduji.
Looking forward to read your book, and the ones to follow.
Thanks Anna for taking us with you in the journey. Wonderful suggestions, we all can use more time developing our ears and waiting for our brain to take in advice that we did not appreciate. I like the way you research needed information.
It is a blessing the way you refer to Raahat Kaduji.
Looking forward to read your book, and the ones to follow.
Thank you for sharing your journey, Anna. What a great story! I love the tips, especially the one about having trouble with a regular, predictable meter. I have a manuscript that needs something, but I’m not sure what the something is. Perhaps that’s it! I’m going to go back with those rhyming tips and take another look. Congratulations on your book!
Thanks for your suggestions. They’re awesome! It’s motivating, too. Books take time like the river. Loved that quote. Wishing you lots of success with your book and with other stories.
I am hibernating until Spring!
Love your book. It was on the New Books shelf at the Library!
Thank you Anna, I know your story will be loved by many. After reading your tips, I checked out rhymezone.com. Just what I needed. Lynn M
Hi Anna, I love how you reacted to your agent’s advice and the revision of the rhyme sounded perfect! Congrats!
Thank you for the suggestions- it really gave me something to think about. your title of your book made me think about the fact that I need to stop hibernating as a writer lately 🙂
Hi Anna, an interesting read. Your suggestions are truly helpful.
Anna, this is so encouraging! I’ve got RhymeZone in my bookmarks, and I always feel like I’m cheating when I reference it or howmanysyllables.com – but WHY!? They are tools, so thank you for the reinforcement! Congrats on your book – can’t wait to read and thank you for sharing your story and best practices!
Clever move with the groundhog instead of a bear.
Yes! to AA Milne’s poems – a staple of my childhood.
I wish I’d kept better records of my oldest son’s lunchtime conversations with his firend. Hilarious jokes / not-really-jokes.
I’m intrigued by your ending. (Nice one – that’s what we all want)
I love the premise of your book and how it evolved. Your advice to journal what children say is a great idea. My 3-year-old granddaughter is a very important critic of my work. She is often the first person to hear my stories.
Anna, thanks for sharing your story! I especially like the encouragement to break up the rhyme and give the reader/audience some breathing (or in the case of the example you gave, jumping) room.
Thank you Anna for such terrific insight! I loved your comments on rhyming and how to deal with critiques in a positive way! Best of luck with this book and future endeavors.
Thank you for your great post! I especially like your suggestion about jotting down words and phrases of the children around you. You can’t get more of a childlike voice than that.
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. Your book sounds delightful and I look forward to reading it soon.
How long does one have to wait for moderation. I sent a comment yesterday, but it has disappeared and I still cannot log in to record my writing and revision progress. Please advise. Thank you
Hi Marina! It can take a few days for comments to be approved—especially at the beginning or end of the month. All of your comments are approved now. You do not need to have comments approved to report your progress in the Rafflecopter in the check-in post here. (Even before your comment shows up, you can mark that you made the comment.): https://www.12x12challenge.com/12-x-12-february-2025-check-in/
Also, you can log in to the forum to request badges for your new drafts and revisions here: https://juliehedlund.vanillacommunity.com/categories/important-announcements
Thank you for the suggestions! Great advice. It’s so hard to be patient!
Thanks for sharing!
I Love this book! One of my kids was a master about flying under the radar in our home at bedtime to try and stay up later. Congrats on this story!
It is so help to hear stories’ stories. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much for sharing your story! Hearing different paths of published authors is educational, fascinating, and inspiring. I cannot wait to read “I Don’t Wanna Hibernate!”
Thanks for acknowledging the emotional hurdle of saying “yes” to a critique. It’s hard! Hard but worth it. 🙂
Appreciate the thoughtful overview. May we all get there one day!
Congratulations on your book! I appreciate learning about the time frame to get to a published book; it helps me keep perspective. What a boon to learn about rhyme zone.com. I had not heard about it and yet this is precisely what I need right now. A thousand thanks for sharing.
Thank you for this great post! I appreciate the need to let suggestions simmer for a bit. And I had never heard of rhymezone before! What a valuable resource!