Good Eating

MINI- AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH CAROL BALDWIN

CAROL: Why krill?

MATT: There is something about Antarctica that I find fascinating. It's this huge, relatively untouched wilderness. After reading a lot about Antarctica, I kept coming across mentions of Antarctic krill. So much of the wildlife down there eats krill. Penguins, seals, whales, sea birds - all these cool kinds of megafauna eat krill. They are essential to that ecosystem. So I thought a book about them would make for a fun window into that world.

CAROL: This is your first picture book, but you've written several educational books for kids. Can you tell us a little bit about the difference between writing the two different genres? 

MATT: When you write for the educational market, the publisher comes up with the idea. They know exactly what they want the book to be about, what reading level it should be, how many words, everything. They assign the book to you and your job is to write exactly to their specifications. For the trade market, it's the opposite. You come up with everything on your own. For Good Eating, I decided that krill would make a good topic, did all the research, and wrote a polished manuscript before contacting a publisher. Then I had to find a publisher and convince them that my vision would make a good picture book. It's a long, difficult process with no guarantees. /p>p>CAROL: Do you have any advice for anyone else who wants to switch from writing educational books to writing for the trade market?

MATT: For anyone looking to break into the trade market, I would just say that it's very difficult, it takes a lot of time and persistence, but hopefully if you stick with it, you'll eventually find an editor who can appreciate your vision.

https://carolbaldwinblog.blogspot.com/2022/01/good-eating-debut-stem-picture-book.html