When I started looking for ways to self-publish I was astonished at all the ways to go about it. I connected with Archway Publishing – an arm of Simon & Schuster. Probably not the cheapest way but I’ve been pretty happy with their process. The process begins with choosing a publishing package. This presents an exercise in reflection, “Why do I want to do this?”
To make money? Not going to happen.
To be “famous”? Not going to happen.
To impress others? Not going to happen.
I just liked the story and wanted to share it with children. I had told it a few times when storytelling and it felt like a fun one.
Step 1 was sending the manuscript to the company for review and approval. The next step in the process – deciding on illustrations. I chose to use illustrators employed by the company. I received a form for relaying my ideas about the physical appearances of the characters, the action, the settings, etc. Since the number of illustrations was limited I had to decide which parts of the story lent themselves best to illustration. Initial sketches were sent to me and through the next several weeks of editing, approving these and then repeating the process when color was added. Any mistakes in the sketches or their representation of the story are mine alone. During these processes I would continue to edit the manuscript.
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