Okay, you guys. I really need your help on this one. I, may have put myself into a bit of a predicament. Is it big and troublesome? Not really. In fact it could be something good. But….it wasn’t really the plan. And to contradict myself it wasn’t not the plan either. Maybe I’m overthinking this, but it was supposed to be a distant future plan because I didn’t think it was something I could do now. But something happened this last weekend that made me wonder – could it be in the plans closer than I thought? Am I going to have to start rethinking the dream?
Rethinking the Dream – The Dream
Those who have been with me for a while, or who have known me for a long time, will know that I have a dream to become an author. I wanted to write and publish books and I even had a genre picked out. The dream, and plan, was to write a fantasy novel, possibly YA. And I was so excited. Slowly, I’ve been working on putting my novel together. And the series that I had planned was going to be so much fun to write and I was excited to share it with you all. And then, this thing happened; this thing that has me rethinking the dream.
Put Down the Pitchforks
Now calm down. I can see some of my friends reading that paragraph and grabbing their phones to send me angry text messages. Let’s all take a deep breath and let me explain. I titled this, rethinking the dream, not abandoning the dream. The dream to publish fantasy books has not been abandoned. So let’s take another breath, calm down, and continue with the blog.
Rethinking the Dream – What Happened?
So, this last weekend I got to be a substitute Sunday School teacher. With my schedule at the hotel being so hectic, I have been unable to rejoin the regular teaching rotation again. I got to teach the grade 2 class and they were kids I had last year when they were in grade 1. It was so fun to be reunited with them. We had a great lesson and then a snack, and even turned our memory verse into a fun song. We still had time and so I asked the kids if they wanted a silly story. Two just wanted to play a game at the table, which I said was fine. The others came and sat down and I made up a silly story for them off the top of my head. They laughed and even the two who didn’t want the story stopped their game to listen. And you know what? They loved it.
The New Dream?
I told some others about the story after and they were like where did you find this story. When I said I made it up they were shocked and said it should become a children’s book. A coworker said she would love to read it to her nephew. Now, here’s the difference between adults and children. Children are brutally honest. So the fact that these kids said they loved the story and immediately wanted another one, has me thinking. Should I be rethinking the dream of starting out as a YA Fantasy Writer, or a Thriller author, and start my journey by writing children’s books?
Why This is Hard
So, there are a few reasons why rethinking the dream of starting with fantasy or thrillers, and writing children’s books instead, is so difficult. I thought about writing children’s books first. Because I love children and teaching them and watching them grow, I thought that this just made sense. But when I sat down to try and write one, I stared at a blank screen for a long time with no inspiration. The only ideas that were coming to mind were for older generations, like young adult, and maybe adult, fiction. Nothing came to mind for writing a children’s book. But that was only one problem.
Cost
The cost of a children’s book could be a lot more than say, a young adult fiction. That makes no sense. A novel is much longer. You’re not wrong. Children’s books are meant to be short, sweet and simple. But the length isn’t where the cost rises. It’s the illustrations. According to a quick search, a children’s book could cost anywhere from $3000 to $10,000 for a book. A novel usually only has illustration costs with the cover, though some do have maps included in fantasy books and maybe a picture with the chapter starts. But a children’s book needs lots of pictures and they need to be bright and colourful and fun! That means these illustrators are spending hours upon hours working on these books. And that costs money!
Ideas
Rethinking the dream means rethinking ideas for books. I ONLY HAVE ONE! How can I hope to become successful if I can’t continue. One children’s book and then done? That doesn’t sound very promising. Though, I suppose it might spark other ideas. And clearly the ideas are in this wacky brain of mine if I could spit one out on the spot. Now I just need to knock the others loose. And who knows, maybe this is how I launch my career.
Rethinking the Dream – Doesn’t Have to Mean Change
This doesn’t mean I have to drop the dream of writing YA Fantasy. There are plenty of authors who write more than one genre. I actually learned of an author who writes science fiction, horror and children’s books. That’s quite a range. And, if I start with children’s books and do well, I can possibly earn more money to help launch my novels when they are ready. This could help. If I can get it done. First, I need to actually write it out. Then I need to locate an illustrator and see how much this will cost me. I did read that some illustrators will take a lower start fee in return for royalties on books sold. Maybe I can find someone like that. But this will take time, so I’ll either keep you posted or surprise you with the launch of my first book. Anything can happen if I try.
