📌 How a Dream Came True

Otherwise entitled: "A huge thank you to my wonderful editor, Kat Brzozowski"

Now that the, er, raccoons are out of the bag, I have (understandably) been getting a few questions about how this book came to be. One thing that especially intrigues people is that when this offer arrived, I was unagented. Unagented book offers can happen more often than one might think—though certainly not with the regularity that agented manuscripts garner—but they are still a bit of a unicorn…riding an elephant…playing the banjo (and playing it decently). Or, as one of my critique partners quoted a well-known author saying, me getting an offer this way was “practically a miracle in the picture book market today.”

Documentary footage of a pair of seasoned writers saying “good luck” to someone submitting without an agent

So how did this happen?

Well, my miracle arrived in the form of the wonderful, whip-smart, and super-patient Kat Brzozowski of Feiwel & Friends at Macmillan.

But…let me back up. I want to start by saying first: I did the work. I’m not bragging—in fact, it’s a total bummer that sheer talent and a golden first draft didn’t bring me to this point instead of the far less glamorous years of grunt work I actually did (shakes fist at sky) instead 😂—but it’s just a fact (as my critique partners can attest). I guess I just want to acknowledge that no amount of luck or even Kat (alas!) can make up for not putting in the craft writing hours to start with. (Check out my very long list of "platform-I refuse-to-not-call-Twitter" thank-yous to prove my point.)

STILL! On to the super fun part!

I had been working on this admittedly strange story and, unlike my others, it seemed to be a bit polarizing—esp. the opening spreads (which were done in a way that had comedy arc pros but potentially emotional arc cons).

Anyhow, I’d been tinkering with it (and, truth be told, snickering to myself while doing so) when I saw an MD/DE/WV SCBWI First Pages event pop up, organized by their amazing volunteer team: co-RAs Lisa Crayton and Nicole Davis, former co-RA Rebecca Evans, former Webinar Coordinator Meg Eden Kuyatt (who invited Kat!), and Illustrator Coordinator Cheryl Mendenhall. THANK YOU, MD/DE/WV SCBWI team!

It was only $15 to attend and included a first-page submission, with no guarantee your work would be critiqued live during the workshop. Because it was so inexpensive and because I could see that the editor who was doing it, Kat Brzozowski, was a seasoned pro (and from her Twitter, very funny and cool), I also signed up for a written critique option at the same time. Kat’s MSWL was heavily YA and MG with a mention of "select PBs” (which I incorrectly assumed—shakes head at silly 2022 Elayne—meant she only edited PBs from her YA and MG authors), so I figured it was a clever way to get a constructive critique from a top editor without any pressure whatsoever.

But they pulled it to read through during the workshop! I was excited to hear her thoughts and to hear her say: "This is so odd…" and make a quick reference to “Sideways Stories from Wayside School” (which, did my heart explode in happiness at that? Yes, yes, it did). She did seem pretty amused and very thoughtful about it, and she gave me a couple of (excellent!) notes and insights, which I took to heart and used for a first-page revision before I submitted the manuscript for the written critique afterward.

Well, I’ve always been glad to get a helpful critique, but never have I been SO glad as this one because when she returned it to me, she asked if she could share it with her team! And that’s how it all began.

Now, I don’t want to sugarcoat things. Kat (and I) loved the story, but the team (correctly) thought it could/should be even funnier. So, Kat gave me the chance to revise it for further humor—and I did! I went spread by spread, thinking like a “punch-up” comedy writer. And it worked—in that regard! The team thought it was hilarious now. In fact, maybe it needed even more heart now to balance it out—which, again, turned out to be correct. (Dagnabbit! 😂) And I’ll never forget how grateful I was that they gave me another chance to revise the story the second time. (It’s incredibly rare to be granted the opportunity to revise a submission—rarer still to get it twice.) But the second revision (after a lot more work!) did the trick—and we were off to Acquisitions!

WHERE THE AMAZING KAT SHEPARDED IT THROUGH!

AND NOW—AHHHHH! THIS IS GOING TO BE A REAL BOOK! That YOU can buy in Summer 2025, wherever books are sold! (I mean, hopefully not at a yard sale yet because it will be brand new, but you know what I mean.)

I’M SO EXCITED! IF YOU CAN’T TELL!!

And it’s been months of keeping it all under wraps—this wonderful thing that’s happening! :)

There’s still so much to talk about—how the offer helped me finally nail down a top-choice agent!—how (incredibly!) lucky I was to partner with an illustrator I first got excited about in 2020!—and more! BUT…

That will have to be another day. Because today, I’m just glowing with book-expectations (in spring 2025! Seriously, mark it down! or sign up for my newsletter, and I will remind you when it’s time to pre-order)!

And now you know why! :)

Yours in gratitude—especially to Kat (and the entire Feiwel and Friends imprint!),

Elayne

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