At the end of August, I posted the book's latest status update about how close we were to finishing up the text and starting on some new tasks! Many readers were astonished at just how much work goes into making a book. There is always SO much to do, all the time!
But I'm betting you'll be just as astonished at how many people go into making a book, too! We like to call them "Little Raindrop's Big Helpers," and everyone has a different job to do. Some are friends or family members, writers or readers (that's YOU!), illustrators or graphic designers, parents or kids, teachers or librarians, students, science or water environment professionals, editors, printers, bloggers or book reviewers, or just regular 'ol people... and some of them have just been sent a Review Package in the mail!
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| Lot's of work goes into mailing things, too! |
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| Plenty of goodies to go around! |
No matter how big or small the job is to be done, ALL of our helpers have big hearts and are willing to lend a hand to help make this book the best it can be! We are SO LUCKY to have all of Little Raindrop's Big Helpers here on our side!
The great news is, Mr. H and I are done with the manuscript (or the story text) for now! We are sending it out to some of our Big Helpers who have volunteered to read it and send us back some input and ideas. I am hoping we get a lot of helpful advice and constructive criticism, because we really need to weed out any mistakes or fill in any holes in the story. It is very important that we make Little Raindrop's story the best we can!
While we wait for our friends to send back the edited story, Mr. H and I are busy doing some other important things:
-Mr. H has been actively promoting the book every moment he can, from Parent Teacher Day, to book festivals, to just about any event he can get involved in. He is sharing all the latest updates with the kids in both his classes, which is a total of 44 kids! And then if we add up how many kids he taught last year, that's over 60 kids who have been involved in the behind-the-scenes making of a book! That's not to mention all the kids who know Little Raindrop from Mr. H's school plays, too! GOOOOO, Mr. H! :D
-I am also promoting the book while I work at my other job, but more importantly, I have been busy drawing! Yes, DRAWING! Making art is my favorite part of making a kid's book, and I am very happy we are at this stage in the process. Right now, I am mostly working on all the Activity Pages we will need for every chapter. There should be a total of 32 activity pages, so every chapter will have four fun pages!
-Here are some photos I have taken as I work on the art:
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| Images Copyright 2013 Melanie Linden Chan, All Rights Reserved |
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| Images Copyright 2013 Melanie Linden Chan, All Rights Reserved |
-Once I am done making some of the Activity Pages, I will be sending them along to Mr. H and my other teaching friends to test them out on the students. This will help us learn if the Activity Pages are too easy or too hard, and we can adjust them to meet the story's needs. And, yes, we will be posting some of them here on Little Raindrop's blog!
So far, we're staying on track, just like the Little Engine that Could! I hope you are having fun riding along with us on our little train, and I hope you'll continue to join us as we travel forward towards publication. Wooooo wooooooo!
Thanks for reading, as always!
~Miss Melanie
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