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Nancy Coffelt
Author of WHAT'S COOKING'? A HAPPY BIRTHDAY COUNTING BOOK (Chronicle), THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF (Harcourt), to name a few.
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What drove/inspired you to get started?
I started out as a fine artist and owned my own gallery. I started to notice that the titles on my artwork were getting longer and longer. I wrote a few stories and showed them to customers to see if they were something a parent would read to their kids. It never occurred to me to test the stories on kids themselves.
Do you have any specialized training?
I am a self taught artist and illustrator. The same goes for writing. This does not mean I have had no education. My training has come from countless hours of reading, looking and listening. The world is a wonderful university as long as you sign up for the good classes.
Has this been something you've always wanted to do?
It actually started out as a lark but now I am flat out addicted. I had always thought I'd be doing strictly fine art. Have there been any obstacles along the way? Rejection, rejection, rejection. Even after having four books published with a major pub, it was still eight long years before I got another book on the shelves.
Before you got the all important contract how did your friends and family react to your goals? Were they supportive?
At that point they didn't really know what I was doing. But they had already come to terms that Iwas probably never going to have a "real job".
Now that you have a book/books in print, do you get different reactions from friends and family?
They are pretty tolerant about listening to my "Hey! Check this new story out! Isn't this great?" My husband and son have learned to just nod and back slowly out of the room.
How did you land that very first book deal?
I sent a packet of five mss. to Harcourt (two had slides of finished illustrations) and I got my return postcard back within the week saying they wanted one of them. It was very exciting.
Did you have any misconceptions in the beginning about the whole book process?
Looking back, (to 1991) I realize I really had no idea what was going on!
How would you describe your work? What's the most important thing you'd like others to get out of it?
I like my work to be fun. It is also important to me to connect the story or the characters with a concept that has some depth to it. I have written about science and divorce and 'crying wolf' and disabilities but these themes are always buried in hopefully a funny story and illustrations. I'm a firm believer in "stealth learning".
Do you have an agent? If yes, please explain how you acquired your agent and how do you think having one has helped you? If you don't have an agent, would you consider getting one?
I don't have a standard agent relationship. My sister Wendy is the business end of Nancy Coffelt Studios. She handles all the submissions as well as correspondence, marketing, shipping and bookkeeping. Besides Trade books we still work with galleries in the fine art market, provide artwork from textbooks to commercial installations and provide author visits to schools and other groups. So she is a full fledged partner.
Describe your relationship with your editor (art director if applicable).
I always enjoy the collaborative process that that relationship affords.
How do you most often communicate with your publisher--e-mail, phone, or snail mail?
Wendy does most of it and it's usually email.
What books do you have in the works now?
I am finishing a dummy of one. (it is taking me forever) I am chomping at the bit to start the dummy of another finished mss. I have another new story to take to my critique group next month.
Is there anything you'd do differently with your new projects?
YES! I have a bad habit of rushing projects to submission. Wendy and I are bringing these new projects to a finished dummy form so an editor can get a good sense of how this book might look.
What's the best thing about publishing a book? What's the worst?
I love having people tell me that they have enjoyed my books. Books were so important to me as a child that I sometimes can't believe I have an opportunity to share my work this way. The worst thing is when my books go out of print. That is one hard goodbye.
Any last words of encouragement for beginners?
Get educated. With all the books on the children's book business there is no excuse not to know the game. Join SCBWI, take a class at your local Community College, go to the bookstore and learn to spot different publishers' styles, find a critique group, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.
