Banana Peelin' with Jennifer Ward

Not too long ago, I found myself in a rather ironic situation. While my children were in the middle of deep conversation about a very educational TV show, eh hem... excuse me, I mean, while my children were sitting watching TV in erie vegitative states, slightly resembling this one...

 ... I sat on the couch next to them reading, Jennifer Ward's, Let's Go Outside, an excellent book that  describes outdoor activities families can enjoy together. While a whiny little episode or two of Caillou is not the worse thing my children could be watching, you can probably guess I was feeling a slight twinge of mommy guilt. But then, wasn't I doing something right by reading the book in the first place? Huh, huh? Who's with me? Anybody? Somebody? Ping.

 I must admit, that her book is one I feel ALL parents should own, especially parents like me, who need some coaching in the outdoor play department. I am more of a picnickey, go-and-run through-the sprinklers, kind of mama.

I am so happy to introduce today's Banana Peel Thursday author, the very funny, Jennifer Ward!




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When Elizabeth invited me to slip and slide my way down memory lane to share my journey to publication, I was both honored and excited to partake. My first published book, "Way Out in the Desert", came out in 1998, and I've been published consistently since that time - feels like eons ago that it all started - and boy, was I green back in the day. Today I'm still a bit green, but all bananas ripen eventually, don't they?

So I was the typical school teacher having a major love affair with children's books, implementing them to teach every subject in my classroom. Of course, with each book I fell in love with, I also had that nagging, 'I wish "I" had written this book' mentality. But I had no clue about how one could become published, other than knowing that publishing houses existed and writer's existed - but each was a mysterious entitiy to me. I didn't personally know any authors. I didn't know SCBWI existed. This was somewhat pre-world wide web access. And I lived in a bubble, evidently.

So my school invites an author to visit. An amazing author, whose work has received several Caldecott medals, whose entire body of work I admire with deep emotion, adoration, and appreciation. I was over the moon, getting to meet my first "real" author in-person.

-Insert Banana Peel Here - Maybe if I introduce myself, explain that I've always wanted to write children's books, too, she will give me her phone number and help me get published?

Okay - so her response wasn't what I had envisioned. There may have been a subtle eye roll (or maybe that was my imagination), and at the very least, a subdued sigh under her breath. Apparetnly this author had certainly been told by a thousand, overly-eager, enthusiastic fans over the years, "I want to write children's books, too!"

She didn't give me her phone number. However, she did give me a, "Good luck. This is a tough business, and the industry isn't what it used to be." End of conversation.
Granted, this was back in the early 90's, and she had been published since the early 70's. Talk about evolution. I wonder what she thinks about the industry today?

Not to be dismayed or dissuaded, I had a great idea for a book one summer (when school was out), wrote several drafts, went to a bookstore to find a book on how to publish, found "The Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market", figured out the process, sent off my manuscript to one publisher referenced in CWIM, and Wa-La! A few months later I received a phone call and and an offer to publish. No kidding.

-Insert Banana Peel - Wow! This business is easy! ha ha ha

Okay, just throw down a whole mess of peels for me to slip and slide on from here on out. Call it the School of Banana Peel Hard Knocks:

-My editor was thrilled with the book's first wonderful review from SLJ. Me: What's School Library Journal?


-A librarian tells me my book is nominated for a state award. Me: What's a state award?

-A school a few hours away invites me to visit. I take a personal day to do this, leave before the crack of dawn, show up and proceed to present EIGHT back-to-back sessions, a.m. K/p.m. K through- 6th grade, no breaks, no lunch, no time to pee, no time to breathe. I execute each session giving 100%, only collapsing once I get in my car to drive home, unable to sing along with my car radio because my throat is swollen shut from being "on" all day.


-My second book lands a record number subsidiary sale to Scholastic (for my publisher) and I proudly share this sales number with a newspaper reporter who is interviewing me. Number is published in the paper. I receive a scathing letter from the publisher, slapping my hand for divulging such information. That's where I learn the terminology "off the record" for interviews.

-In the early days, I eagerly sent manuscripts off to my editor straight from my brain to paper - no revisions. Ugh. What was I thinking? Ugh. What was my editor thinking I was thinking?


-I've trusted GPS to get me to schools, only to wind up on dead-end dirt roads and the clock ticking toward my first session.

-I've trusted schools to trust their technology works.


-I drove an hour to a B&N for a book signing, only to discover they had ordered copies of a book written by a different "Jennifer Ward", and the book we were supposed to be launching (mine), they hadn't gotten in yet. Good times.


-I've signed contracts without negotiating them. I even had an editor once tell me, during a contract discussion, "Jennifer, you know...we have wiggle room if there are areas you want to negotiate." Can I just say my agent is worth her weight in gold, because I suck at negotiating contracts. (Can I say suck?)

-I have a book that just surpassed 100,000 in hard cover trade sales, and too bad my agent wasn't on board for that book. Live and learn, right?

-I have a typo on my website I can't fix (new site launching soon, though).


-I once had a school ask me if I could cut me fee in half because budgets were tight. Being an educator, I agree. Their response, "Great! Thanks! Now we can also hire XXXX author, because he's expensive!"


-I once had a librarian tell me I was cheap. But I assured her I wasn't easy.


 

-I once saw Jimmy Fallon perform "Whip My Hair" as Neil Young, and I actually thought it "was" Neil Young. Okay, so that's not writing related. Just thought I'd toss that one in, too, because those dang banana peels are everywhere in life.  (I HEART Jimmy Fallon, and I HEART Neil Young, too! : )

So would I change any slips and slides I've experienced along the way? No. The journey has been a fun ride and blessed and a blast, and I expect more banana peels in my life, as long as they help me grow and progress in this profession.

And as a final note: bananas are not only tasty, they're high in potassium.

-Jen

Jennifer Ward is the author of numerous acclaimed books for children, including, Way Out in the Desert, Somewhere in the Ocean, Over in the Garden, Way Up in the Arctic, The Seed and the Giant Saguaro, The Little Creek, Forest Bright/Forest Night, Because You Are My Baby, There Was a Coyote Who Swallowed a Flea, There Was an Old Monkey Who Swallowed a Frog, There Was an Odd Princess Who Swallowed a Pea, and, The Busy Tree.Her parenting books include, I Love Dirt! 52 Activities to Help You and Your Kids Discover the Wonders of Nature, Let's Go Outside: Outdoor Activities and Projects to Get You and Your Kids Closer to Nature, and, It’s a Jungle Out There: 52 Nature Adventures for City KidsForthcoming titles by Jennifer Ward include What Will Hatch? illustrated by Susie Ghahremani (Bloomsbury/Walker Books), Mama Built a Little Nest, illustrated by Caldecott artist Steve Jenkins (Simon & Schuster/Beach Lane Books), The Sunhat, illustrated by Stephanie Roth Sisson (Rio Chico), and, There Was an Old Pirate Who Swallowed a Fish, illustrated by Steve Gray (Marshall Cavendish).

Jennifer’s writing is often inspired by nature. She lives in Southern Illinois with her daughter, her boyfriend, their dog, Bandit, and a cat they call Jaz. When not writing, Jennifer is unplugged and outdoors where you’ll find her canoeing, jogging, meandering, gardening, bird watching, barefoot, and cloud gazing.
Visit her on the web at www.jenniferwardbooks.com