“Someday” Q&A
It has been almost a week since my new book went live, and I am still processing the fact that it is finally done & here!
I am so eager to start hearing feedback as you start to receive your books!
I received a lot of questions, and I thought that it would be easiest to share here, so lets dive in!
Q- “how long did it take you from start to finish?”
I remember this so vividly:
It was May 2021, we were 14 months TTC, and it was the last month before we were scheduled for our initial evaluation with Shady Grove Fertility. I was completely unprepared for how hard mothers day would be in a season like this, but despite 13 months of disappointment, we were still feeling hopeful. It was Friday, May 21st when day 1 came, and it hit particularly hard that month for that reason. Brian and I were sitting outside by a fire, watching the sunset, and the song “Someday” by William Beckmann came on. Tears started to pool in my eyes as I listened to the words carefully. The next morning I decided to go with Brian for his long run on the Appalachian Trail so I was not sulking at home, and I planned to go for a hike with Rylee. To Brian’s surprise when he looped back around for a water refill, I was still sitting by the truck. He asked me what I was doing, and I reluctantly said “I think I am going to write a children’s book on infertility”, and to my surprise he looked up at me and said “OK!”. I was fully prepared for him to tell me I was crazy, but he didn’t.
It took him believing in me that I could do this, to truly believing that I could myself.
So long story short, it took from May 22nd when I initially felt the pull on my heart to do this, to April 6th when the book was officially published!
Q: “how did you know where to start?”
I didn’t! lol. I literally had no idea what I was doing or what the process would look like to make this idea become a reality! I started by reaching out to William Beckmann personally because that seemed like the logical first step to see if it was going to be possible to use part of his lyrics in the book. I wrote on May 24th, 2021, “I’m feeling a strong pull to speak out more about infertility, and I really would like to look into making a children’s style book with beautiful illustration to depict the struggles that many couples go through as they try to grow their family”. He was so incredibly kind, and responded within hours of me sending this message that he would love to be a part of it and connected me with this manager/record label. I will say that this part of the process took the longest to get the rights to the song for use within this book, but I am so glad that it worked out.
Q: “why did you choose to use lyrics for part of the book instead of writing the whole thing”
I have always felt connected to music, and I think that it is incredible how people can connect to the words in a song in a way that is completely different than it was intended when written. It felt more like “me” to write the first half of the book, and incorporate lyrics from a song to tie it all together because of my love for music (and Texas Country music specifically).
Q: “were you ever discouraged during the process?”
Um, yes, many times.
There were many times I felt imposter syndrome. It was hard reaching out to people and constantly being asked “how many other books have you published”. But when I felt worried that no one would like or be interested in the book, I brought my thoughts back to my purpose, and kept going.
Q: “how did you find your publisher?”
I looked through which publisher was used for other Children’s Books that I liked, and looked them up online. I actually never googled “how to publish a book” or something similar. I just took it all one step at a time in an order that seemed logical. I have to say I did not look into very many publishers because I really connected with West Bow Press when I read their mission statement in the new author handbook:
After speaking with them, there were a couple of key points that I liked:
Print on demand: I was not required to buy a certain amount of copies to distribute myself (truthfully I do not have time to do this).
Inclusive packages: the publisher takes care of the ISBN and listing it with Amazon, Barns & Noble, and my website (this was important to me as I truly have no idea what I doing, and I did not want to have to figure this out on my own).
Hard cover and soft cover options
Complete creative control (within normal limits of a Christian publisher).
Q: “how did you find your illustrator?”
I searched #childrensbookillustrator on Instagram! I was able to search through and find illustrations that I like/connected with, and then I reached out to see if they were interested in working together!
I reached out to probably 10 illustrators, but I truly was so lucky to come across Alice Jago. Alice had a way of knowing exactly what my vision was, and helped me bring it to life. She is kind, easy to work with, willing to adjust and make changes, and see the project until the very end.
Q: “How long did the illustrations take?”
We were working together on the illustrations from the beginning of October until March 8th.
Side note: it took until October 2nd, 2021 to finalize all of the logistics for use of the lyrics, and sign on the book with the publisher. This was only 4 days before we lost our girl. I had a very specific vision in my head for what this book would be like, and it always included her.
Q: “what is your favorite page?”
This is a VERY hard question, but I think that if I had to pick:
When I was thinking through the illustrations for each page, I really wanted to capture specific instances that I remember being triggered during our journey that you do not anticipate- walking at a farmers market and seeing the joy of a family walking by, watching a dad help his daughter pick out an ice cream flavor, the holiday’s, etc. Additionally, since it is a children’s book, I wanted to include certain things that a child can point out like flowers, a dog, the colors of the flags, leaves on the trees, etc.
My vision for these illustrations was somewhat simplistic, and I wanted to include a lot of white, but I also wanted to be intentional with what I did bring into and highlight on each page.
Alice was able to capture this perfectly.
Q: “did it cost a lot of money?”
There is always risk with taking a chance on something- this is a perfect example of that. Publishers and illustrators can vary, and then marketing is an additional added cost.
Marketing packages in particular can be very expensive so I am choosing to self market this book instead.
Q: “Can I see one page of the book?”
Sure, I already shared my favorite page spread above but I will share another!
Q: “who do you think this book is most relevant for?”
The purpose of this book is to highlight the journey in the wait before your “someday” is here, and therefore I feel this book is most relevant for anyone who is currently in the season of wait. But, it is additionally relevant to anyone who has previously walked this journey in the past, and is special to share with their “someday” once they are here.
I truly felt that there was no other book available that talks about the journey without the “someday” yet,
and that is why I wanted to create this book.
Q: “where do you see this book in a year?”
I hope to see this book in the homes of those who need it most, as well as on book shelves everywhere (this is very scary to say out loud, but if you do not set your goals high enough, you are not setting yourself up to reach your full potential).
If you would like to help support my book, please write a review with your thoughts on the retailer you purchased from!
I truly appreciate all of the love and support for this book.
