True Story
Test drove the manuscript and sketches at Dovercourt school this afternoon. Lots of great feedback. Most kids love the cover. A few were disappointed that there wasn't more on the cover, but I did try to explain to everyone that this was just an early sketch. One student didn't care for the cover at all because the cats looked to cartoonish. The student was very nice and apologized for not liking the cover. I'm glad that he was willing to express his honest opinion even if it was something negative. The fact that he offered the criticism with an apology showed to me that he was sincere, and I totally appreciated that. Thanks so much for all the feedback.
Not all the feedback will wind its way into the book, but a good writer and artist considers what works and what doesn't. They then make the choice to either listen to the feedback or not. The smart ones at least listen to the feedback and try to figure out if the comment is going to help tell their story or help tell someone else's story. After that, it's pretty easy to figure out what to use and what to use.
Now I have to sort out the business end of the book and start pulling together the copyright page and the contracts for the artist and graphic designer. It's a lot of work, but boy am I having fun working on this project.