Popo & Meimei Can Help: Process and Timeline

I always wondered what the process of publishing a children’s book was like, and why it seemed to take such a long time. Well…now I have an example from my own experience! I went through previous emails to track down exact dates so I could put together this timeline of events and what happened in each point of the process:

2021

June - Submitted my entry for the Little, Brown Emerging Artist Award while 8 months pregnant. (Shoutout to my critique group with Storyteller Academy for sharing this submission opportunity with me!)

Sept - Found out I won, with a 2 month old!! We were on our first weekend road trip with a newborn when I got the email, and all sleep deprivation melted away when I read it :’)

Oct - Had my portfolio review via videoconference with the LBYR Publishing Team (Little, Brown Young Readers) and illustrator Oge Mora. Before COVID, I would have been flown to New York to have this meeting in person which would have been such a cool experience. But I was still super grateful and giddy for the video call, and it was amazing to meet everyone and to hear such valuable feedback on my portfolio and dummy (the quick sketched version of the story that I submitted). Got some revision notes shortly after with some changes to make so it could be at a stage ready for acquisition!

June 2021: The cover art included with my submission

2022

Feb - After a couple rounds of revisions, the story was definitely more clear and had a better flow. And with the newly revised dummy…I received an official offer from Little, Brown!!! A quick celebration, and then onto even more revisions with my editor to hash out the little details of all 40 pages so that it would be ready to take to final artwork with color. The image below is about the level of detail that the dummy was at – just enough to get the point across, but definitely needing refinement and some tweaking of layouts.

July - Got my final sketches approved, and ready to move on to final artwork. Also worked with the team on things like the cover and title page designs, about the author, jacket design, dedication, etc.

2023

Jan - Submitted final artwork, and had a couple rounds of tweaks. There were a bunch of little things I’d missed that needed to be fixed, like forgetting to add stripes to Popo’s cardigan on some pages. Oops. I’m sure it happens, but I was still beating myself up for not catching those kinds of inconsistencies.

March - Got some loose page proofs of the book pages mailed to me!! Also saw some different options for the cover, like glossy, matte, and demi-matte. Changed some of the Chinese translations at this point as well, which is late in the game for copy edits…but after showing my parents the proofs and getting a “hmmm…” reaction from them commenting that some of the translations sounded too formal or unnatural…I got insecure and really wanted to push for changes. I admit my Chinese is not the best, but I don’t need my book to show it so obviously!

May - I was so excited to get my F&G (folded and gathered) copies in the mail this month! Similar to the proofs, but cut to size and folded so it resembles a book more, and can be flipped through. After receiving it, I read the story to my almost-two-year-old for the first time, and I was so happy that she liked it :’) (I knew because she requested I read it again, hah). It was also my first time reading the story aloud to an actual child, period. So it was pretty interesting to figure out how I would go about it.

Dec - Received my first hardcover copy just in time for the holidays!!!! This was so magical! I cried.

Dec 2023: My first hardcover copy arrived in the mail!!

2024

April 23 - Popo & Meimei Can Help will finally be available in stores!! Until then, it is available for preorder here from your choice of retailer.

Looking back, it was definitely challenging working on dummy revisions with a newborn and the final artwork with a toddler. Maybe I could have finished everything faster if it weren’t the case?? But in the end, having something of my own to focus on and work toward during those early months of motherhood was a very good thing for me. It was hard to find motivation to think about creating for a period of time (I honestly only started to feel back to “normal” in terms of creativity and excitement to work on my business around the time my daughter turned 2) so it was nice to have the book to work on, with a whole schedule and story planned out. I got to prioritize creative work without having to come up with my own plan of how it was going to work out.

I learned so very much through this process, and fingers crossed I get to go through it again at some point!