Q&A with Author Arthur Wooten

As manypeople know, my blogs (like my life) cover many different topics. I havementioned the children's book ( Wise BearWilliam ) my friend Arthur Wooten has written on here before, but reallywanted him to share what the experience of publishing a children's book hasbeen like. I'm so glad he had the time to give us some insight into this world.  
Welcome back to my blog, Arthur!I know this is your first children's book, but tell us your background inwriting/performing for children.
Arthur WootenWhen Ifirst arrived in NYC in 1975, hoping to make it in show biz and carrying mylittle valise full of all my worldly belongings and a pair of tap shoes (I kidyou not), the first show I landed was a children's musical. It ran at theProvincetown Playhouse on MacDougal Street and it was called Dirtie Ferdie Comes Clean. Ferdie had tofight germs and disease and I was cast as his friend and hero, Lester TheLaundry Bag. Yes, they dressed me as a laundry bag. Actually, it was very cute,ran forever and was my first introduction to children's theatre. Performing forchildren is tough. They are a brutal audience. If they love you, you'll knowit. If they hate you, you'll know it. If they question you, you'll know it. Iremember during the run of the show, a kid sitting in the front row of amatinee performance screamed out to me, "Are you girl or a boy?"
Performing for children is such agreat look into what kids want. So when was William 'born' after that & what has been his journey?
Bud SantoraItwasn't until 1988 that I wrote my first children's story and it was Wise Bear William. Teamed up with myillustrator, Bud Santora, from the very beginning, we created a giant black andwhite dummy book, landed an agent surprisingly quickly and she spent about ayear trying to sell the project to publishing houses. The tone of the book,more classic in storytelling with rich, saturated illustrations, was not theflavor of the year. It wasn't the flavor of the next decade! But Bud and I knewwe had "something". In 1992,Phylicia Rashad discovered the project, fell in love with it and optioned it asan animated feature film with music. It was shopped around Hollywood andended up at Paramount. Ultimately they did a "demographic" of the project andwe discovered once again that it just wasn't the right time for this type ofstory. 1995 atelevision producer entered the picture and optioned Wise Bear William but it never materialized. A coupleof years later, a literary agency discovered "William" and for about two yearsaggressively tried to market it as a book again, but they fell short. In themeantime, Bud and I had gone on to other projects and we put the project tosleep.
One can never say something was born overnight with you! You have really stayed with the project and how wonderful it found a life in 2011.
I'd say it was the success of my novels and with the world in a post 9/11 mindset and theUS in a very tentative state and clearly in a recession, Bud and Isensed this may be "William's" time.It's a story of patience, hope and integrity. It demonstrates that if you holdonto your beliefs and do good in the world, you'll be rewarded. So we publishedWise Bear William: A New Beginning asa children's picture book in December of 2011 and we're both thrilled with theresults.
What were some challenges/differencesin publishing a children's book?
Ithought publishing my novels was a task but creating children's books is a hugechallenge. Creating them to our standards. Bud works in "illustrator" and"photoshop" and has created luscious and intricate illustrations that are, aswe found, tricky to translate to publication, both as a book and eBook.
Tell us about the book version.
Withnovels, you format your manuscript into the required format, create thecover…and that's about it. With a children's picture book there are so manythings that can go awry. Bud could have created a "simpler" version of the bookbut a big part of what really makes the story work, is the way each page isliterally framed and behind the frames is a repeat "wallpaper" that is reallytricky to line up when printing. Color has to be perfect and type and qualityof paper plays a huge factor. Softcover versions, the paper tends to absorbmore of the ink, whereas hardcover is a glossier paper eliminating thatproblem. However, many publishing companies were hesitant to create hardcoverversions of our work because it's a very expensive venture. "Wise Bear William" is available inhardcover – but by specialty order (meaning they can get one by contacting medirectly). The publishing company will not distribute him, I guess, fearingthey may not make their money back. I'm here to prove them wrong.
So many things we never think about in dealing with print. eBooks must be difficult forpicture books as well?
Can youspell "nightmare"? The bottom line is Kindle can't support what we havecreated. Maybe that's why we see so many children's books, in print and eBook,with simple line drawings and little "vignettes". But Bud and I had a visionand we stuck to it. We tried a million different ways but Kindle couldn'thandle it. However iBook could. And "William" looks glorious on iPads, iPhonesand iPods and is fantastic for parents traveling with their children. New specsare out from Kindle enabling viewing of full color children's books with theirnew devices but still, the experience is limited because the Kindle itself isso small. I'm sure they will come up with a solution to compete with iBook.
It sounds as if Bud was always thereworking with you so images were in your head, but did you write the storyfirst?
Yes, Budwas working side-by-side with me on this project from day one. And that's rare.Often, in traditional publishing, the house will pair up a writer with anillustrator and you're stuck with whom you get. Bud and I worked off eachother: his illustrations and ideas influenced the manuscript, my ideas arereflected in the illustrations.
The real Blanket BearBut thestory was there first. In fact, it's based upon a stuffed toy I have calledBlanket Bear. Made from my Scottish grandfather's World War I army blanket, Ioften wondered what memories must be woven into him. It was decided that thecharacter's name would be changed to Wise Bear William but Blanket Bear doesappear in earlier stories of "William". His characters name is changed to OldTeddy Tartan.
Having read the book, I love hearingthe back story on William! What differences do you see in writing forchildren?
It wasvery clear, during the editing and proofing phase, that writing for children isreally a challenge. I scoured the script, word by word, making sure everythingwas perfect. Although "William" is few pages in length, it's a huge story. Andchildren hang onto every word you write. It had to be perfect. One wrong choiceand it could throw the entire tone and message off.
Have you found marketing to bedifferent from those of your adult novels?
It's notreally different than marketing my novels. You just have to find your audience.And one of the most powerful ways of doing that is through "bloggers". Powerfulbloggers. And some "mommies" out there are powerhouses! And with some research,you find the right magazines and publications to approach. But basically, forme, the formula is the same.
Will there be more adventures for WiseBear William?
Thereare ten books in the Wise Bear Williamseries. Wise Bear William: A NewBeginning is the last chapter in the series. The previous chapters lead upto this story and there's the possibility we will start with the beginning one,First Night In The Attic and continuein a linear fashion or we may jump a bit. Bud and I are still meditating on it.
But weare also going to create a Halloween book and possibly some others based aroundholidays. There is a Christmas book already lined up. On my end, themanuscripts are done. For Bud, there is so much work involved. He needs moretime to catch up with me. And we're hoping that Hollywood will come knockingagain. We both believe, and with the help of the success of the books, that themovie version, The Life And Times Of WiseBear William, will become a realization as well.
Such great information from a truly prolefic writer. Check out Arthur at www.arthurwooten.com or follow him on twitter at @ArthurWooten