I’m extremely excited to be able to share, finally, that I just signed and returned a contract to Clarion for a second picture book poetry collection! This collection of poems about books has kind of an interesting genesis, as I wrote 13 of the poems to submit for an anthology. Not one of them got accepted, and I was so disappointed. In fact, I blogged about it on Wordy Girls just over a year ago. And now Clarion has bought that collection. I’m passionate about books and had so much fun writing the poems, and I’m beside myself with joy that they’re going to be published.
And my editor wanted a few more poems to round out the collection, so I wrote a dozen more (once I start on this topic, I just can’t stop) and sent them off to her. No response yet on whether she likes any of those, but I’m sure we’ll get there…um, pretty sure, anyway.
My first collection with Clarion, Stampede: Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School, is due out in 2009. It’s aimed at 1st-2nd graders. This new collection (pub date: who knows?) will be for older kids, perhaps 4th-7th grade or so. I’m amazed that Clarion has enough faith in me to purchase a second collection before seeing how the first one does…especially such different collections.
Anyway, you all are always here for me to share my hopes, plans, and disappointments with. Thanks for being here to share in the good news too. I feel blessed to be part of this community.
The Poetry Friday roundup this week is at writer2b. Check it out!