Natasha Wing's Blog, page 4

Gifts from the Pandemic

In January 2020, I launched a self-published joke book called Saltwater Sillies. I funded it via Kickstarter, and had it illustrated by a Colorado creative, Stan Yan. Writing the jokes, raising the funds, overseeing the design of the book, and releasing the book within months of reaching the funding goal was exhilarating! I was excited to share my humor with kids and give dads a fresh supply of jokes. Then the pandemic hit.

Most everyone now knows, Covid was no laughing matter. All my dreams of Saltwater Sillies being in beach resort shops, on cruise ships, Marine World, and in bookstores in beach towns sunk like a ship.

With Saltwater Sillies, the creation to lauch process felt like “hurry up and wait.” With The Legend of Lop-eared Larry, it was more “wait and don’t hurry.” This time the publication of the book would unfold as naturally and slowly as it needed to.

Typically, I’m a somewhat-impatient person. As I’ve gotten older, indecision and procrastination drive me nuts. At the very least, the pandemic has taught me patience. There were a lot of heavy life events that happened during the making of this book. For one, my father got sick with Covid and died 2 months later. My book was back-burnered for good reason. We missed the window to print the books before Easter 2021 which then pushed the next window opening to Easter 2022. Looking back, I’m thankful for that delay.

I gathered more information on how to launch a book. I read Brian Jud’s How to Make Real Money Selling Books. I tuned into Zoom Kidlit Socials through Children’s Book Insider and got tips from successful independent children’s book publishers. I laid out a game plan for posting blogs leading up to the publication date of the book (this is one of them), and I researched and found some book reviewers.

The extra time before the launch date allowed me to think outside of the box. Instead of relying on traditional methods of marketing, I played with niche marketing ideas. I focused in on rabbit lovers and found The Bunny Museum in California, The Rabbit Hole Explor-a-storium in Kansas City, and HUTCH magazine printed by Blue Bunny Books. I purchased a plush rabbit and my neighbor sewed him a jacket, just like Larry’s in the story. I printed the book cover on the back of carrot seed packets to use as handouts or up-value goodies. And instead of having a short time before publication to let people know about my new book, I’m spending months having fun posting memes and photos on social media.

 

So yeah, the pandemic sucks in many ways. But the silver lining is that it bought time and gave me access to resources that could help promote the book. And for that, I’m grateful and all the wiser.

The Legend of Lop-eared Larry will be officially released January 2, 2022. But if you want to be notified of the pre-release sale, send an email to: natashawing@gmail.com and I’ll put you on the list. Or you can get it via Amazon's pre-order. Thanks as always for your support. Can’t wait for you to read it!

 

Back to School Means Letting Go

Oh, my. It’s back-to-school time. Time to watch your “little baby” become a big kid and head off to school, and your teenagers head off to college. These are hard times to let go, but necessary times for growth and independence. 

Three of my school-themed Night Before books are about letting go and may help you and your child deal with being separated. 

In The Night Before Preschool, a boy has the jitters and realizes that he forgot his teddy bear at home. When naptime comes and he doesn’t have his snuggle friend, another preschooler loans him her bunny. 

The little boy had a hard time letting go. He wanted his teddy, a symbol of still needing his “security blanket” and a connection to home. Bu the little girl who offers up her bunny is ready to let go and help a fellow preschooler who’s not quite there yet. After a day at preschool, the boy decides that he can’t wait to come back the next day! He has let go of his shyness and apprehension.

In The Night Before Kindergarten it is the parents who are having a hard time letting go. When I was first working on this story, I surveyed my friends and asked them what was the hardest thing for your kids about starting Kindergarten. A few of them said, “It was harder on me than them!” One parent admitted to dropping of her child then driving down the street and pulling over to have a good cry. So I wrote The Night Before Kindergarten to reassure both the child heading off to school and the parents who were watching their “baby” being all grown up that everything will be okay. 

In The Night Before First Grade two best friends who get separated and are put in different classrooms. They had to let go off their together time and in return, they both made a new friend in their different classrooms. At lunchtime, they are reunited and find out they made friends with twins - so school would now be doubly fun!

So if either you or your child is having a hard time letting go of what’s safe and are heading into a new unknown world, you might want to read my books. The stories bring up feelings that you can talk about with your child, and happy endings so that everyone will be excited for this new experience of school.

Update: The Night Before Second Grade will be published in 2022!

Pondering Paper and How to Save Trees

 

With the multitude of wildfires raging, it makes me concerned about the loss of trees. Trees make paper and paper makes traditional books. I often wondered about all the trees it took to print the millions of Harry Potter books and if the trees were being replenished. 

Come to find out, just how many trees go into producing a book varies by paper type, whether or not the pages are coated, and cut size. The Conservatree website (http://conservatree.org/learn/EnviroIssues/TreeStats.shtml) has several calculations to determine how many trees might be used to make various types of paper. For example, one ton of uncoated non-recycled copy paper uses 24 trees.

The site got me thinking. As a writer whose work and product revolves around paper, I’m responsible for making a concerted effort to conserve and reduce the amount of paper I use. So in my office, here are some things that I do:

* Make quick notes about stories I’m working on on scrap paper such as white envelopes that come with bills or junk mail, and the backside of grocery lists.

* When I mark pages in books that I’m reading to research a nonfiction story, I tear post-it notes into smaller sizes and use those instead of full-size Post-its.

* When I print out stories to edit on paper, I print them on the backside of already printed on sheets of paper. When both sides are used, I recycle the paper.

* Limit the number of drafts I print out. Instead I work mostly on my laptop to do my editing. 

When it comes to printed books, I advocate getting rid of the jacket cover and just printing the information on the hard cover. 

Some of my creative friends have repurposed old books into journals and notebooks by reusing the covers and adding blank pages inside made of recycled paper. Rather than throwing out falling apart books, I’ve seen artists use the pages to print images on and then frame the new art. 

Teachers can take old pages of books and cut them into squares for kids to make origami art with, or cut out the artwork in the book to make greeting cards.

On the Conservatree sight there’s a link to see what else you can do to save paper. Let’s save more trees, one sheet at a time.

What are you doing to save trees and paper? Please share in the comments below.

Why Brittany Wanted to Illustrate the Book

The proof of my new children’s chapter book arrived and I’m thrilled with how it turned out! The actual release date is January 2, 2022 so until then enjoy the fifth installment of the book's journey and the illustrator's creation of The Legend of Lop-eared Larry.

In Brittany's words:

I have always loved little critters and creatures ever since I was a kid. My mother always encouraged us to read and I loved the story of Peter Rabbit. My brother had a baby blanket of Peter Rabbit that was cross-stitched for him and I would always steal his blanket because I loved the character. Real rabbits weren’t a part of my life until college. I adopted a Holland lop on an impulse and I fell in love with him. He became my best friend when times were hard or when I felt alone.

Lil Zacky was the spice that I needed, the muse I always wanted. Having him helped me figure out my path to children’s book illustration. I wanted to draw things that were disugstingly cute and that made you go awww. I went bunny crazy, drawing them, and it just sort of became a part of my personality and art style. I live for cuteness, and rabbits are at the heart of it (and my dog).

When Natasha approached me about this project, it had to be fate. This was my gig, the project I didn’t know I needed to do. I. Was. So. Fricking. Excited. I wanted to make this project something I would be happy to show people or see on a bookshelf in a library or in a kid's hand. I was hooked and the story made it that much sweeter.  

The Legend of Lop-eared Larry will be officially released January 2 for Easter 2022. But if you want to be notified of the pre-release sale, send an email to: natashawing@gmail.com and I’ll put you on the list. Thanks as always for your support. Can’t wait for you to read it!

Visit Brittany's website.

How I Found the Illustrator

The proof of my new children’s chapter book arrived and I’m thrilled with how it turned out! The actual release date is January 2, 2022. Until then, enjoy the fourth installment of the journeys both the illustrator and I took to create The Legend of Lop-eared Larry.

For this story, I wanted someone who could draw bunnies well, someone who could capture a classic but modern feel. I asked around on Facebook and on children’s author/illustrator pages for recommendations and someone suggested I check out the SCBWI illustrator gallery. Since I’m a member, I thought it’d be great to support a fellow member.

When I scrolled through the gallery and came across Brittany David’s illustrations, I was immediately intrigued. Her style reflected both that traditional and modern style I was looking for! Her bunnies had a sweetness about them, and I was curious about her color palettes. (Below is a cropped illustration sample from her gallery.)

Here’s what Brittany says about being on SCBWI’s website:

"I have been a part of SCBWI since 2016. I was pretty active posting my work on the website but going to the RMC conference sort of shifted my focus from marketing my work to creating and developing work that I didn’t hate two weeks later. I wanted to brand myself so that when people saw my work they would know that it was me. I think it’s cool to share my work with people who are like-minded and creative. It’s a great community and when I ask for feedback I don’t get the “I don’t know anything about art, I don’t know why you ask me,” lines from my family."

I also check out Brittany’s website. When I read this description of Brittany's I knew I had my bunny artist.

“My style is edgy and whimsical with textural storybook qualities and inspired by traditional vintage children's book illustrations. I also have a passion for integrating illustrative hand lettering and love creating disgustingly cute illustrations that tug at your heart strings.”

When I found out that Brittany was a Coloradan and rabbit lover, I had to inquire to see if she was interested in working on my story. Thankfully she said YES!

Check out Brittany David’s SCBWI portfolio. And here’s her website which is filled with fun bunny puns: https://www.carrotpencils.com/. If you’re interested in contacting Brittany for your project, email her here: bunny@carrotpencils.com.

The Legend of Lop-eared Larry will be officially released January 2 for Easter 2022. If you want to be notified of the pre-release sale, send an email to: natashawing@gmail.com with subject line Larry and I’ll put you on the list. Thanks as always for your support. Can’t wait for you to read it!

 

Why I Decided to Self Publish

The proof of my new children’s chapter book arrived and I’m thrilled with how it turned out! The actual release date is January 2, 2022 but until then enjoy the third installment of the journeys both the illustrator and I took to create The Legend of Lop-eared Larry.

As I mentioned in the first installment (June 7, 2021), I had written this story a long time ago, but there was something about it that kept tapping me on the shoulder. Some little voice that kept saying, “This should be a book.”

I could envision the illustrations and I loved the way that I had written it. Besides, I didn’t want children who loved bunnies to have their desire to read bunny stories end with picture books. Bunnies can be in chapter books, too!

When the story was submitted to my agent, I was told it was too “old-fashioned” in both storytelling style and language. But that’s just what I wanted! As a child, I loved Beatrix Potter books and the coziness of their stories and illustrations. With all that’s happening in the world being so heavy and scary, I wanted a story that felt comforting, like it was written generations ago.

So after my agent told me she wasn’t interested in representing this story, I decided to independently publish. And I would use my stimulus checks to make it happen. Using the stimulus checks took the pressure off of investing my own money during a pandemic. And the idea behind stimulus checks was to stimulate the economy, right? So I decided to support creatives.

Once I decided to independently publish, I had to not only put on my writer’s cap and clean up the story once again, but also had to put on my editor’s cap, designer’s cap, and project manager’s cap. I played around with storyboarding the story and figuring out where the illustrations should go. Then the next step was to find an illustrator to develop the book.

Find out in the next installment blog, "How I Found the Illustrator," who I chose and why. 

The Legend of Lop-eared Larry will be officially released January 2 for Easter 2022. But if you want to be notified of the pre-release sale, send me an email to: natashawing@gmail.com and I’ll put you on the list. Thanks as always for your support. Can’t wait for you to read it!

Smile! My new Night Before is here!

I always prided myself in not having a cavity. Whenever I'd go get my teeth cleaned, the dental assistants would call in the dentist and say, "Look! No cavities!" Then in my 40s I got my first cavity and I was devistated. I asked that the doctor not to use novacane and I sat in the chair while he drilled the tiny spot out and filled it with white filler, maring my perfect record. 

I realize not everyone is as lucky as I was to get through a good period of life without cavities. But I'm hoping my new book encourages little ones to start good dental hygiene early and think of going to the dentist as fun. I wish the dentist office I went to as a kid was as cool as the ones pediatric dentists have now. 

To read more about the story behind this story - and to be entered to win a signed copy - check out the July 12th Writing and Illustrating blog and leave a comment. 

 

Why I Included Easter in My New Book

The proof of my new children’s chapter book arrived and I’m thrilled with how it turned out! The actual release date is January 2, 2022 but until then enjoy the second installment of the journeys both the illustrator and I took to create The Legend of Lop-eared Larry.

Why Easter is Part of My Story

As I mentioned in the last post, my first stuffed toy was a rabbit, Boing Boing. When I was four I remember going to the store with my mother to pick out toys for my birthday. I picked out a white bear with red ears and feet that I named Billy Bear, and a pink bunny with a pink hat that I named Easter Bunny. I was the kind of kid who was excited to start school so I’d play teacher with my stuffed animals. I’d line them up including Boing Boing, Billy Bear, and Easter Bunny in front of my board and show them how to count and recite the letters of the alphabet.

Easter was one of my favorite holidays. I was so proud when I could dye my eggs with different color stripes. When we got older, my Russian grandmother showed us how to make Ukrainian Easter eggs. I attempted a few, but they were so challenging! I do still have some that I keep out all year long in this basket because they are so pretty.

Our mother used to make bunny prints to our baskets by dipping her fingertips in flour and stamping the prints across the tabletop. Evidence that the Easter Bunny was really there! On Easter we’d dress up in our Sunday’s best and go to church. (That’s my baby sister, Nina, below.) 

I still have my childhood Easter basket, and yes, I put it out each year hoping for a chocolate bunny. When I was a kid, I only wanted a white chocolate bunny, but now I’ve broadened my palette to include milk chocolate.

In The Legend of Lop-eared Larry I wanted to include the Easter Bunny and show how the rabbits of Hare Hollow celebrate after he returns from delivering eggs. I imagined there would be a village-wide party and at the center of it would be a giant carrot cake for all to share. (Psst. There’s a carrot cake recipe in my book as well.)

The Legend of Lop-eared Larry will be officially released January 2 for Easter 2022. But if you want to be notified of the pre-release sale, send me an email to: natashawing@gmail.com with the subject line: Larry Book, and I’ll put you on the list. Thanks as always for your support. Can’t wait for you to read it!

How My New Chapter BookCame to Be

The proof of my new children’s chapter book arrived last week! The actual release date is January 2, 2022. Until then enjoy this first installment of the journeys both the illustrator and I took to create The Legend of Lop-eared Larry. It all began with…

Where I got the Idea for the Story

I’d been working on this story for a long time, probably 20-plus years. It’s a chapter book that was submitted to editors for the past few decades, with no takers. But every time I revisited the story, I still loved it. So the time came to take the hop and self publish my bunny book.

Welby, the bunny that fell down the window well.

Ever since I was a baby, I loved bunnies. My first stuffed toy was a white rabbit named Boing Boing. Later, in my 20s I got a tawny lop-eared rabbit for my birthday and named it Br’er. (He was the inspiration for my tale.) Then one snowy day in Colorado, a baby bunny fell into the window well. I took it in and fed it until the storm passed three days later. It was a challenge to keep my curious cat from wanting to “meet” the bunny! When the storm let up, Welby was released back to the wild. But all that summer a bunny that I’m sure was Welby hung out in the backyard. So you see, my love for bunnies couldn’t help but sneak into a story!

As an ode to Beatrix Potter, I wanted to tell a legend of how lop ears on rabbits came to be. In The Legend of Lop-eared Larry, Larry is born with droopy ears. His parents try to fix them but can’t. The other rabbits make fun of him. Larry dreams of fitting in and finding a talent of his own.

As a lover of Easter (‘cuz bunnies!) I tied my story in with Easter to show a holiday tradition from the rabbits’ point of view. In Hare Hollow, after the Easter Bunny delivers all the eggs, the rabbits throw him a big party, complete with a carrot cake.  (Easter Bunny has a sweet tooth like someone else I know.) This Easter, Larry’s lop ears save the day when he’s the only one who returns from Old Man Hooley’s garden with carrots to make the cake. Larry goes from being an outcast for having different ears to a hero.

My childhood Easter basket with Boing Boing in front. 

In a way I’m glad that it took so many years for the story to be published. My writing skills improved in that time, and I also was able to find the perfect artist to illustrate the story, Brittany David. Sometimes things happen for a reason. But all these years, I didn’t give up on the dream of putting this story out into the world, no matter how long it took.

The Legend of Lop-eared Larry will be officially released January 2, 2022 for Easter 2022. But if you want to be notified of the pre-release sale, send me an email to: natashawing@gmail.com with the subject line: Larry Book, and I’ll put you on the list. Thanks as always for your support. Can’t wait for you to read it!

If you know someone who'd like to hear about the making of a book, please share this post with them. 

3 Prizes!!!

Los Bagels is joining author Natasha Wing in celebrating the 25th anniversary of the children’s book inspired by the bakery titled Jalapeño Bagels. They are giving away three prizes:

- An 11”x14” print of art from the story signed by the illustrator Robert Casilla

- A Jalapeño Bagels: The Full Experience sampler with baked goods mentioned in the story

- A book signed by Natasha Wing

Natasha was a resident of Humboldt County from 1988 to 2010 where Los Bagels is located. Jalapeño Bagels is her second published book and was inspired by Los Bagels. “I wrote this story to address multiculturalism,” said Wing. “I combined Mexican and Jewish heritages. Los Bagels was both my research and setting for the story.”

The story is about a boy who has to bring something to school for International Day to represent his heritage.  “I imagined owner Dennis Rael as the young boy, Pablo, who is the main character.”

The illustrator actually used his own son as the model for Pablo. But he used photos Wing had taken of the interior of Los Bagels in Arcata and of the baked goods to create his artwork. There are recipes and a glossary included in the end notes.

To enter the drawing for the prizes: Send an email to: jalbagelscontest@gmail.com. Entry period is from June 1 to June 15, 2021. Three winners will be randomly chosen.

For more about Natasha Wing’s books go to natashawing.com. For more about Los Bagels go to losbagels.com.