Caroline Starr Rose

award-winning picture book and middle-grade author

20 Years, 350 Rejections, 17.5 Manuscripts, 7 Books: My Writing Journey in Numbers

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See this? It’s a rejection from my editor Stacey, written in 2008! She didn’t buy a book from me until 2013.

I first started writing the summer of 1998. Back then, I was a teacher on break with three months stretching before me. After years of dreaming, I decided it was finally time to dig in and try to write a book.

For eleven years I wrote, submitting my four novels and six picture books almost exclusively to editors.* This was back in the snail mail querying age. Remember the anticipation you experienced as a child waiting for birthday presents to arrive in the mail? That was me for about a decade.

In spring 2009, I won a contest at a local writing conference. At the last minute, I’d decided to send in my middle-grade historical novel-in-verse. It was my best work, but I wasn’t sure how it would be received alongside pieces meant for the adult market.**  My prize included a one-on-one with an editor who specialized in fantasy, sci-fi, and women’s fiction, a world apart from my writing. She took one look at my manuscript and asked, “Why don’t you have an agent yet?”

Part of my very high-tech submission records and some artwork from my son.

That’s when I started subbing to agents in earnest, sending three to five queries at a time. By May, I’d gotten my first full request. In June I got two more. In July another two. In September, yet another two.

By October, I’d had ten agents request fulls and two ask for partials. One agent liked my story, but felt some significant changes were necessary. I thought through her suggestions but took things in another direction, coming up with an entirely new, stronger ending. In the days I spent revising, two more agents requested fulls, bringing my total to twelve. I contacted the first agent, telling her I’d made changes to the story, though not along the lines she’d suggested. If she was still interested, I told her, I’d be happy to send it, but I also wanted her to know two more agents were reading the newer version. She graciously told me she’d love to see the story if the other two agents passed. One did. One didn’t.

Writing stats from 1998 to 2010, when I signed with my first agent:

10 manuscripts (4 novels, 6 picture books)
211 rejections from editors (2 fulls and 1 partial requested)
12 contests/grants (1 win)
75 rejections from agents (12 fulls and 2 partials requested)

With my first agent I sold two books, May B. (novel #4, which subbed to eleven editors and had 3 offers. It  was orphaned when Random House closed Tricycle Press.  The book was days from its ARC printing. Six weeks later, it was picked up by another Random House imprint, Schwartz and Wade, and went through three more rounds of edits), and Over in the Wetlands (picture book #5, which sold to Schwartz and Wade with zero rejections). After reworking several manuscripts, I officially retired most of them and drafted my verse novel, Blue Birds.

In 2013, I was on the hunt again for an agent. I submitted to three agencies and got two offers. I’ve been with Tracey Adams of Adams Literary ever since.

Writing stats for the last five years:

7.5 manuscripts (1.5 novels, 6 picture books — 3 of these manuscripts have been officially retired)
5 sales (3 novels, 2 picture books…the second picture book I hope to be able announce soon-ish!)
2 anthology pieces, including an overhauled chapter from novel #2…the one Stacey rejected in 2008!
3 grants / 2 contests (with no wins)
55 rejections

Some thoughts

You could look at these numbers and get pretty discouraged. 14 years to see a book on the shelf? Regular rejection with 7 books sold? I can look at these numbers — even knowing things worked out in the end — and feel the same. I know plenty of people with a shorter apprenticeship. I’ve got lots of friends far more prolific. All sorts of authors I debuted with in 2012 have published far more than I have. Here’s the thing: Your process is yours. Your journey is yours. Each book finds its way on its own.

Two truths kept me going before I sold my first book (and aren’t bad to remember now):

  • I have something unique to say (even when I’m not sure what that is).
  • My work can only improve if I keep at it.

Rejection continues to be a part of the process. That’s just how it goes.

The writing life (and the publication process) is a long-road, long-view, long-term journey. There’s no other way to look at it.

So, my friends, if you are on this journey, too, take heart. There is no right way. There’s no quick fix. There is no easy road. There is a fair dose of frustration and disappointment. But there is joy and satisfaction, too.

Here’s to all the good work ahead. Here’s to the next twenty years.

 

*Because an agent isn’t a necessity in the children’s market (but is a REALLY GOOD IDEA), I figured submitting to an agent was an extra, unnecessary step. Perhaps not my smartest move, but it also was not detrimental, as my writing wasn’t yet ready for a sale or representation. These were my apprenticeship years.

**I also wasn’t sure if anyone would understand what I was trying to do with this verse thing. A few months before I had submitted the first ten pages to an editor at a children’s conference. She clearly was unfamiliar with the form and thought it was a rather mature picture book that was missing its ending!

Classroom Connections: How to Code a Sandcastle by Josh Funk

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age range: 4-8
genre: informational fiction; coding
author’s website

With an introduction by Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani, a diverse cast of characters, and delightful visual background humor, this painless introduction to coding basics will engage, entertain, and educate audiences. –Booklist

An accessible introduction to coding rules that also easily entertains. –Kirkus Reviews

An excellent, age-appropriate introduction to the world of coding. Highly recommended. — School Library Journal

Please tell us about How to Code a Sandcastle.

First, thanks for inviting me! How to Code a Sandcastle is an informational fiction picture book about a girl named Pearl and her robot Pascal as they code a sandcastle.

“Wait? They code a sandcastle? How does that even work?” you might ask.

Well, coding is just a bunch of logical steps put together to complete a larger task – in this case, building a sandcastle. So Pearl and Pascal use common coding techniques – such as sequences loops, and if-then-elses (commonly called conditionals) to do it.

First, Pearl asks Pascal to find a place to build (and realizes she needs to be very specific with her instructions). Then, she asks him to scoop lots of sand into a big pile using a shovel and pail. But rather than tell Pascal to scoop-fill-dump and scoop-fill-dump and scoop-fill-dump over and over and over again, she uses a loop – and only has to give Pascal instructions once. And so on….

But underneath it all, How to Code a Sandcastle is really just a silly and fun picture book about a girl and her robot who try to solve a problem (building a sandcastle), and coding just happens to be the mechanism they use to solve it.

What inspired you to write this story?

I am a software engineer – I’ve been writing code for over two decades. I only started writing picture books about 7 years ago. It wasn’t until about 3 years ago that I considered (at my agent’s suggestion) writing a picture book about coding. But it took a really long time and many (three and a half) completely different manuscripts to get this to the right place.

There are some great books for older readers where coding plays an integral role, but I see kids starting to code at younger and younger ages all the time, as early as preschool. So it was clear that they could handle a picture book about coding. And I really wanted to create a narrative fiction picture book about coding that would also serve as an entertaining story even if you had no interest in learning about the topic.

And that’s what I set out to do. Hopefully readers will think I succeeded.

Could you share with readers how you conducted your research or share a few interesting tidbits you learned while researching?

At first, I didn’t do much research. I’m a coder, I’ve been coding for years. In fact, I probably knew too much about coding for my own good when trying to write an introductory book for ages 4-12 on the topic.

My research was less about coding and more about how to teach coding to children. And what did my research show? When I was drafting, revising, and submitting my manuscript in 2015 and 2016, the U.S. government was in the process of figuring out which organizations they would fund to research how best to teach coding to kids. (It took re-reading that last sentence several times to make sure I wrote it right, so I don’t blame you if you’re confused.)

In short, there is no consensus regarding how to teach coding to kids. There are no standards. There is no agreed upon curriculum. Everyone is doing it their own way.

But when I looked into it further, pretty much everyone that is teaching coding, starts teaching it the same way:

  1. First sequences.
  2. Then loops and conditionals.
  3. Then variables and functions (or functions and variables).

And that’s what I touch upon in How to Code a Sandcastle – sequences, loops, and conditionals. (Side note: 2019’s How to Code a Rollercoaster covers variables.)

What were some special challenges associated with introducing the complex topic of coding?

Writing a book about coding concepts, something relatively complicated for a picture book audience, was pretty hard to figure out. It wasn’t narrative nonfiction, such as a biography of a historical figure or event, or a deep dive into a scientific topic. And while coding is math-related, it’s a bit more complicated than addition, multiplication, or even fractions – which have been successfully tackled in the picture book arena. Also, it was important that the coding play an integral role in the story and wasn’t just a bunch of buzzwords or a plot mechanism leaving the informational aspect to the backmatter only.

I’m not normally one for mentor texts, but in this case, I definitely learned from Cindy Neuschwander’s Sir Cumference and the First Round Table. If you’re not familiar, it’s a book (series, really) all about geometry, a relatively advanced concept for a picture book – but it’s placed in a kid-friendly and familiar environment (King Arthur’s England).

So when I landed on the kid-friendly, familiar idea of building a sandcastle on the beach, that’s when things really started to click.

What topics does your book touch upon that would make it a perfect fit for the classroom?

My hope is that How to Code a Sandcastle can be used on many levels.

It could be used simply as an introduction to coding concepts such as sequences, loops, and if-then-elses – or even just the idea that coding is “a thing” for those in the younger crowd.

It could be an introduction to offline coding exercises such as writing sequences (and possibly acting them out). A favorite of mine back in elementary school was when everyone had to write down instructions of how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and our fifth grade teacher followed them to the letter – scooping peanut butter with his hands (when the instructions didn’t say to use a utensil) and spreading it on the bag of bread (when the instructions didn’t say to take a slice out first).

Of course, I think it could be used as a primer before diving into an actual coding exercise on some type of screen.

And most importantly, I’d hope How to Code a Sandcastle generates enthusiasm for coding at a young age – because coding is FUN! There’s really nothing like seeing a bunch of symbols on the screen compile, build, and create something awesome!

Thanks so much for inviting me to Classroom Connections!

My pleasure!

 

MIRACULOUS!

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I’ve sold a new novel!

From Publisher’s Weekly:

Stacey Barney at G.P. Putnam’s Sons has acquired world rights to Caroline Starr Rose’s MIRACULOUS, a historical middle grade novel starring Jack and Cora, who learn that it takes more than faith in a charlatan doctor and the magic of his medicine show tonic to fix things that are broken. Tracey Adams at Adams Literary negotiated the deal. Publication is planned for Spring 2020.

This idea has been brewing for years. It started with a visit to a museum in St. Louis, when I sat in on a lecture on medical quacks. Fascinating! MIRACULOUS is about wounds and secrets and belief and power and persuasion and community.

Excited about this one! Wish me luck as I tackle the good work ahead.

 

I took this picture last summer at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Kansas homestead site and rediscovered it this morning. Perfect, isn’t it?

There is No Schedule

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If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you know my friend  J. Anderson Coats says a lot of things that resonate with me. She’s the one who gave me my favorite piece of writing advice and came up with that great cow-through-a-colander writing metaphor.

During a recent email exchange with my Class of 2k12 friends, Jillian shared this:

A writing career is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. You’re not on a schedule. There is no schedule.

That first part, I’ve probably heard it a thousand times. But the second part? It felt like a revelation. It’s true that when you’re on deadline you most certainly have a schedule, but otherwise, the writing life is wide open.

So you know what?

  • If there’s no schedule, someone else isn’t going to beat you to the punch. What you’re working on now will not somehow be replaced by someone else’s (faster) efforts.
  • The market isn’t in charge of your story. You are.
  • For you published folks, you will not be forgotten if you somehow don’t get to keep some “regular” publishing schedule. Yes, your readers might age out, as they say, but there are always new readers to take their place and earlier books to introduce readers to the new ones, whenever they happen to be published.
  • Unless you’re contractually committed, you can write whatever you want whenever you want.
  • And there’s what author/illustrator Ruth McNally Barshaw (my niece’s former Girl Scout leader!) posted on Facebook a few days ago:

Repeated themes I heard at the writer-illustrator conference in LA: Slow down. Take time to do your best work. When you think it’s done, set it aside to assess again later. Build on what you borrow. Be courageous — do work you find important, no matter what others say. LIVE so you’ll have a rich portfolio of experiences to draw and write from. What gets your next book published isn’t luck, desperation, a magic shortcut, or networking with stars; it’s your hard work, your being ready to jump at sudden opportunities, and your connections with friends. #SCBWI14

Here’s to approaching your writing with freedom in the days ahead!

 

 

 

Dealing With Envy

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Years ago I read Jeff Vandermeer’s Booklife: Strategies and Survival Tips for the 21st-Century Writer, a book with an entire chapter devoted to envy.

It is easy to be envious in all professions, but I think there’s a special envy reserved just for the arts. When what you create is the thing ultimately received or rejected by others, it is often difficult to keep ourselves separate from our work, and it’s easy to grow bitter when others’ work is received differently than our own.

Here’s what Vandermeer has to say:
…Envy expresses a perverse feeling of helplessness: an acknowledgement of our inability to control what we could never control anyway. The only true balm is to tend to our own work, our own business, and to be as sound and honest in it as we can be — and as for others, to treat them with love and affection, recognizing that what we may see of them in our eye, they too may see of us in theirs. Recognizing that the fortunes of our fellow travelers rise and fall as do our own — knowing that we are bound in a brotherhood and sisterhood of envy — may remove the sting of the sliver when it enters, and when it exits.
How do you deal with envy?
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