Back at the end of June, I wrote a post about what I’d achieved in my writing for the first six months of the year. Well it’s already time to update that list with my accomplishments for the second half of the year!
Unfortunately, the news I was eagerly hoping for at the time never came to anything and so I am still waiting (not so) patiently for that ever-elusive first publishing contract.
Here’s a reminder of what I achieved in the first six months of 2022:
-At the start of 2022 I decided to focus my efforts on children’s poetry, with the aim of getting some writing published. So far, I have had poems accepted by The Dirigible Balloon, Caterpillar Magazine, Tyger Tyger, PaperBound Magazine, Little Thoughts Press and a short story included in Glittery Literary’s anthology.
-My short story won me first place in Glittery Literary’s competition and my poem in PaperBound Magazine was the issue’s runner-up (second only to the cover art)!
-I’ve had a couple of posts featured on Salariya’s blog, one of which – The Twelve Rungs of a Picture Book Writer’s Ladder – was very well received by the writing community.
-I achieved an honourable mention in the Kids’ Choice Contest, which is one of the few contests I have actually entered this year (because being agented often disqualifies you).
-I was asked to write my ‘How I Got My Agent’ story for the Children’s Writers Group on Facebook.
-In March I went and spoke to both Tabitha and Polly’s year groups about being a writer (for World Book Day). Speaking at schools is the part of being an author that I’m most nervous about, so I really wanted to do this as a practice run to know that I could! I’m proud of myself for actually doing it!
-Having had a few poems accepted inspired me to set up my own children’s literary magazine, which is called The Toy. Without giving it too much deliberation, I threw myself into this project head first and edition one is now filled and ready to be released in August. Fingers crossed it is successful.
-I have become a mentor for a fellow picture book writer through the WriteMentor summer programme. I selected her out of over 100 applicants, which made me the mentor with the highest amount of applications.
-I was commissioned through my agent to come up with ideas for and write a set of board books which hopefully should be out in the world in the not too distant future. This was (when I actually get the money) my first paid writing gig. On the back of this, I was also commisioned to write a picture book text from a set brief for the same client.
– Had an exciting zoom meeting with a US publishers which sadly didn’t go any further (the company are being brought out and are not signing any new authors, otherwise I think the news would have been different).
And here’s what I went onto achieve in the latter half of the year:
– I finally received payment for my hand puppet books and picture book commission (making me a fully-fledged paid author!)
– I used the money from this to launch The Toy magazine – the first two editions are now available to buy, with a third in the pipeline for the new year. I’ve yet to cover all of my costs for the first two editions, but it is not doing too badly.
– I was commissioned to write another two interactive board books for a different publisher
– Two out of the four hand puppet books (Shark and Croc) became available to pre-order on websites such as Waterstones and Barnes & Noble, meaning my name is on these sites for the first time ever! The four hand puppet books along with the picture book is also featured in Imagine That’s 2023 catalogue.
– I had a poem accepted by Buzgaga for their ‘Letters to Santa’ book which is now available to buy on Amazon.
– I had a poem accepted into Parakeet Magazine which comes out in the new year.
– I received an honourable mention in the NYC Midnight Rhyming Challenge (which considering the genre I was assigned was horror wasn’t bad going!)
– I received an honourable mention in the Halloweensie contest.
– I have just had a new commission from my agent for another picture book (different publisher), aswell as two more interactive board books.
So there we go. I don’t think that’s too bad going for a list of achievements over the course of one year. Yet I STILL feel like I’m failing as a writer because I haven’t received a publishing deal of my own. The writing commissions I’ve been assigned are amazing, but they are not really MY books (even though my name will appear on at least some of them). I won’t receive any royalties from them, nor will I be expected to promote them with school visits/book signings etc. And so as we head into 2023, my ultimate writing goal still remains the same as it has been for the past four-and-a-half years. Fingers crossed next year will be the year it finally happens.
Life with Peachy & Polp 