Progress report 1 – Things Evie Eats
Just as I was getting used to the days of sunshine here in Wales, this was the view from my window this morning. You can’t see the rain sheeting down in this photo, but believe me, it was torrential. So, as there was no sun to distract me, I spent the day with my trusty laptop.
For those of you who don’t know, my next book is called Things Evie Eats and it’s about a little girl with very definite ideas on what she likes to eat.
Most of the pictures for the book are finished. I am waiting on revisions for just two pages from the artist. It’s been months since I mocked up the first draft of the book, a blend of images from the web and my less-than-artistic stick figures.
Me v an artist
Spot the difference?
Yeah, I’ll probably keep with the writing.
I’m super pleased with the watercolour images but getting them into InDesign required some resizing which was problematic because the paper was textured and if I shrunk or enlarged the image the texture got bigger and smaller too. Worse than that, if I shrunk the image too much the texture didn’t fill the page. Either the image had to cover the whole page or I had to cut the it out. I decided on the second option, which I didn’t really know how to do, so the process involved much complaining about Photoshop.
But then I decided I actually liked the effect of the images on the textured paper better, so I had to put a blank page behind the resized images: involving more complaining about Photoshop.
As well as learning how to remove the background from images, I also figured how to make text follow a line in InDesign, … and discovered the gutters on the house need cleaning out because they look like a waterfall.
However, the majority of the book is now laid out ready for printing. Not a bad effort for a stormy Saturday afternoon.
Suzie x
P.S Don’t forget I have an autographed copy of Better Buckle Up to giveaway over on Goodreads.
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Update.
I just had to update you with this this screenshot from Amazon.
Better Buckle Up is at no. 5 in the children’s ‘cars and trucks’ category. Squeee!
Yes, I know it has a long way to go to reach Amazon’s all time no. 5 but I was still excited anyway.
I’d like to thank all the people who have downloaded the book since it went live on Wednesday and especially those who have taken the time to post a review. Reviews means so much to authors.
I hope you and your little ones are enjoying the story and are chanting ‘Better Buckle Up’ when you fasten them in their car seats.
Love Suzie x
Things Evie Eats …
… Day 20 May #AtoZfavbooks challenge.
Day 20 of the #AtoZfavbooks challenge features Things Evie Eats. (It’s not cheating to pick your own book, is it?)
I’m sure you all know a fussy eater. Well, Things Evie Eats is the story of a little girl with very definite ideas on the things she wants to eat.
When Evie decides she only wants to eat flowers, her big (-ish) brother comes to the rescue and keeps everyone happy.
I’ve had so much fun with food whilst writing this book which is due to be published in paperback and ebook on 20th July 2016. Sign up for the newsletter to catch the recipes for your own fussy eaters.
Suzie x
P.S. Don’t forget to share your favourite book title starting with the letter T in the comments below or post them on facebook or twitter with the hashtag #AtoZfavbooks so I can find them.
First reviews
I’m thrilled that the first reviews for Better Buckle Up are coming in.
Here’s what people are saying.
Delightful Illustrations and Effective Story L. Favreau
As a professional child care provider I’m always looking for books that will help solve problems for my parents. This book does an excellent job reinforcing the importance of buckling up, not for fear of being hurt in an accident (a concept that is too abstract and potentially too scary for some) but in a manner that empowers the child to chose and cooperate.
My child rearing mantra is “Distract and Redirect” a theme this book gets perfectly. Rather than ordering her child to buckle up or lecturing, the mother gives her son concrete observable examples of what benefit he gets by cooperating. The choice is self-motivating rather than forced upon him.
And it works like a charm. Giving children incremental power over their lives instills confidence. Especially well done given that the outcome isn’t really a choice-they have to buckle-up, it’s the law.
I read this on my laptop. The illustrations are vibrant and clear, jumping off the page. I hope it is available as a board book soon.
Absolutely adorable! Murboyd.
Absolutely adorable! A charming book to help parents and their kids when it’s time to lock up the car seat belt, and done in a fun way. It’s quick, which is good for youngsters, and the pictures are a delight. Little ones understand race cars and space ships and dune buggies and . . . I won’t do any more spoilers of the cute lures to convince kids to buckle up. It has the added advantage of giving them ideas for pretend while they are in the car seat. I loved the bright smiles on the car drivers, etc, as they zip and soar, and always, never too obvious, the seat belt.
One other fun thing about the book is that if you double-click on the print, the words enlarge for easy reading. I didn’t have any trouble reading them before, but thought that feature might be neat when the children get old enough to read themselves. Not to mention just plain fun for young and not so young!
For you fellow Paperwhite readers, I have a Paperwhite and it won’t let me read it there. It downloaded fine, but won’t open, but I also have my computer, a tablet and a Blackberry Passport, and it works perfectly on all of them. You won’t want to read this in black and white anyway! The color pictures are too good to subdue!
A very clear and positive message, in a captivating story. P. Edwards.
A really enjoyable read for all. A very clear and positive message, in a captivating story. Lovely colourful and interesting illustrations with lots to look at on each page. Every read you spot something different to talk about and discuss. Looking forward to many more reads to come!
So there you have it. Don’t know why it won’t open on a Kindle PaperWhite … will investigate.
A big thank you to all who have bought Better Buckle Up and especially to my first reviewers.
Suzie x
Launch day for Better Buckle Up
Better Buckle Up has finally been cleared for launch.
A book aiming to make car safety fun, follow Ollie as he drives a fire-engine, a racing car and even a rocket … all whilst wearing his seat-belt, of course.
At the time of writing it’s only in ebook edition although I’m hoping/praying/begging that the print version will be available in the next few days. (See here for the reasons behind the delay)
I hope you’ll check out the book. It costs £2.12 to UK readers, $2.99 in the US and if you’re a member of Amazon Prime 
you and your child can read it for free.
Suzie x
Pre launch Panic.
Well, I’m looking at the countdown timer for the launch of Better Buckle Up and having a pre launch panic.
Two hours!
This was not the post I was expecting to write. I thought I had things organised so early on. But the print version has been beset with problems. I had to lighten the picture files as they were too dark and I changed the binding from saddle stitch to perfect bound, so that delay was my fault. But, having been told by the printer that the cover file would be OK for both types of binding, it caused problems with the trimming. I mean, they almost cut the bar code off! And it took a while to figure out why it was happening. So that delay wasn’t my fault.
Has it been fixed? I’m still waiting for UPS to deliver what will hopefully be the final proof of the print copy which will then be available in the next few days.
So, it’ll be a soft launch tomorrow. Just the ebook will go live on Amazon. It’ll cost £2.12 to UK readers, $2.99 in the US. Members of Amazon Prime can check it out for free.
Suzie x
Better Buckle Up photoshoot
Another Better Buckle Up photoshoot and I just had to share these pics.
My little model did a great job at looking suitably fed up at the prospect of sitting in his seat.
I think we have a budding actor on our hands here.
Suzie x
Better Buckle Up book cover has arrived.
Pleased to report I’ve been working super hard and the book cover for Better Buckle Up has been finalized.
Phew!
I am so pleased with the gorgeous, bright illustrations from PlainSightVFX and hope you’re going to like them too.
More pages coming soon.
Let me know what you think.
Suzie x
Illustrations for Better Buckle Up have arrived.
Squee! I’m super excited because I just received the files with the illustrations for Better Buckle Up.
Can’t wait to share them with you guys.
What? You thought you were going to see them?
Ooh, just teasing, you’ll have to wait a little while longer 🙂
