Back on Track!

We got our first color proofs this week! I'm excited and hopeful this book will be done very soon. This summer we had to put it on hold for a few months to do budget issues. Unfortunately, we had to miss the Decatur Book Festival this year, which is one of the biggest book fairs in the US. I'm shooting for next year and hopefully will be able to get our own booth. This will help with sales for Daddy's Guitar and maybe get the ball rolling for Octopus in the Car wash.

The good thing is Christmas is only a few months away! Great time to launch a new book!

I can only give you a sneak peek at the inside images. But the colors just pop off the page! My illustrator Michele does an awesome job!!

J.E.Clark

Update-Daddy's Guitar

I think Daddy's Guitar should be released closer to Christmas!! Just in time for holiday shopping! Maybe October launch date??  We will see...my book is still with illustrations. We are about a few months behind from what I thought would be our launch date. BUT, this is my first book so I'm learning as I go.   Everyone who donated is still on my list to get their signed books! Thank you all for your donations!! 

I'm still very excited and I have two other books I want to see get published. 

Daddy's Guitar-2014
Octopus in the Carwash
Adventures of Frick and Frack

-J.E.Clark

Atlanta Writers Conference 2014

This was my first time attending a writers conference. The experience with well worth it! I signed up for two of the conference workshops, Query Letter Critique and Pitch Session. Both were very reasonable in price. Most conferences cost well over $500 to attend.

The goal of this conference is to give you access to ten top publishing editors and literary agents and to educate you with a workshop and talks by experienced authors. This is a great opportunity for new writers like me to critique my work and find ways to improve. You could be offered a contract based on the materials you’ve submitted: after every conference some AWC members sign with conference agents and realize their dream of publication. I was one of them!

Not only was my Pitch session a success, but I was awarded Best Pitch by Heather Alexander from Dial Books! It was a pleasure meeting with her. She loved my story and provided me with her contact information to submit my manuscript to her.

What a dream come true for a new writer! Authors can submit hundreds of manuscripts to publishers only to be rejected a hundred times. I met with many wonderful authors at the conference many who have gone through countless rejections.

Upon my manuscript submission, I'm hoping to receive a contract from Dial Books. Dial Books for Young Readers is a hardcover division publishing approximately seventy titles per year for children of all ages, from preschool through young adult.

I'm working on my manuscript now. Heather offered a few suggestions, one of them, no rhyming for my manuscript. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping with in the next week I can submit my manuscript and hear back from her soon!

J.E. Clark

Atlanta Writer's Conference

I'm super excited for this weekend! I signed up for Query Letter Critique with an agent and publisher (Quirk Books) tomorrow and then another publisher with Dial Books at the Atlanta's Writer Conference!  This is a great chance and learning experience for me as a writer! I just finished my new manuscript titled The Octopus in the Car Wash. This was a last minute change on what material I was going to bring. I was originally going to bring my manuscript Frick and Frack, Good Friends to the End but felt that didn't really have a strong delivery. It's cute and fun, but not personal. The Octopus in the Car Wash is another book based on my son's fear at the car wash.  The book is about what could be going through his mind and conquering his fears. LOVE IT!! This book is my 2nd favorite to Daddy's Guitar!

Wish me luck!!

Jennifer

Daddy's Guitar Sketchs

I'm getting very excited!  Michele sent over the first 5 sketches for Daddy's Guitar. We went over a few changes and she's ready to add some color!  She has 3 more sketches to create. My book is getting closer and closer to becoming published!

Final Step: Marketing Campaign!

Writing a book can be a challenge. Publishing a book can test your patience. Marking a book tests your wallet, peace of mind and confidence as an author.  Marking your book is the biggest step in publishing. How else can anyone know that your book it out there?  Self-publishing is a gamble. A risk to your peace of mind and tests your talent. How do you know your book is good?  How do you know your book is marketable?  You don't really know until your book is our in the public eye. Until you start seeing reviews come in from strangers and you start to see what you are truly made of as an author. I'm excited and scared at the same time. This is going to be a roller coaster of a journey, I'm excited to start!

I love to write. I love to create characters and bring my thoughts onto paper.  Writing is a creative side of me I love and enjoy!

Come join me in my Marketing Campaign and help support being a Children's book writer! 

Thank you to all who have supported me and to all that will support me!

Interview with the Author- J.E.Clark

Interview with J.E.Clark, Author of Daddy's Guitar, due to be released this June 2014.

Why did you write the book?

It really just came to me. It's a personal memory of my husband and son playing the guitar together. I wanted to write a children's book for my son to enjoy.


What was your inspiration for the book?

I have always loved books. Since my son was born, I love reading books to him I enjoyed as a kid along with some new ones. My son and husband are my inspiration.


Who are your favorite authors?

I enjoy Shel Silverstein, Ludwig Bemelmans, Beatrix Potter, Nicholas Sparks to name a few


What are your current projects?

I have a few projects I'm working on but one I'm really excited about is a book series called The Adventures of Frick and Frack. It's a cute story about a frog and a fly that are good friends and have a few exciting adventures together.



Who designed the cover?

My good friend Michele Phillips. I didn't realize she was an illustrator for children's books until she submitted a workshop on Facebook. At the time, I had a rough draft of Daddy's guitar done and was looking for someone to illustrate. Talk about great timing!


What do you plan to do with the funds you raise?

The funds will help me to finish publishing my book but most of it will go to marketing my book. Marketing is one of the most important aspects of your book. How else is anyone going to know your book is out there?

Support My Book-Pubslush Community

This is a wonderful site using Crowdfunding to help get new authors off the ground. They provide services tailored to the needs of authors, agents, self-publishers and small presses. For authors, Pubslush is a good deal, taking only 4 percent of raised funds, much lower rate than other fund raising sites. 

Come check out my campain to support my book, Daddy's guitar!


A wonderful picture book about a young boy, curious about the new sound he hears coming from downstairs. He finds his daddy sitting on a chair with his big shiny guitar. Excited about this new musical instrument, he wants to learn how to play. Daddy is more than happy to show his son all the ways you can strum a guitar to make different sounds.


What is Daddy holding? What could it be?It's big, and it's round; I really want to see.He strums up—twing.He strums down—twang.Daddy moves his hands up and down, making neat little sounds.

Cover Launch!

Yay, I'm excited to show everyone the cover of my book!  This is a huge step towards getting my book out there and sharing in the excitement!  The rest of the book I will give you little snippets and sketches. Keep and eye out for Daddy's guitar to be printing this May or June 2014!

Cover Update

We are making progress! This week I hope to have my completed cover image done and ready to share. I have attached the sketch concept for you to see. We also narrowed down the publication release month. We are hoping to have my book ready for print by May! I will keep everyone post if this changes. We still have a long way to go with illustrations and layout. Please donate to help! With any donation above $20.00 you will get a signed copy of my book! Any donation is helpful!! Thank you everyone who has donated and for all your support. :)

J.E.Clark

Publishing

It's now February and I am still waiting on my book. I started this journey back in August 2013. Publishing a book takes patience. It takes many cooks in the kitchen to help publish a book. Even more for a Children's picture book.  You need to have a publisher willing to work with you, an editor, an illustrator you work well with, a marketing plan, you need to have connections. I'm sure there is more, but I'm still in the middle of how this all works.

My illustrator is wonderful. Because she is wonderful, her plate if full with projects. Around Christmas, there was no way she could even start working on the illustrations until she met he deadlines with other clients.  This past January I met up with her to take photos of the guitar I wanted to use, my son and husband for imaging proportions. Trying to draw a child without an image can be difficult.

Can you tell I'm excited? I keep reading my manuscript and imagine what my book will look like. I can't wait to start to see it all come together.  I know this is going to be such a fun book to show my friends and family. I have something proud I created!  I'm going to be a published Children's Author!  Part of me is hoping this is my path to career happiness.  I'm not looking to get rich, but I would love to write books, work from home and at least cover my current income with something I love to do.  If it doesn't happen, I still have a neat book to keep in the family. Win Win!

J.E.Clark