The Last Round of Editing #LittleRaindropsBigPlunge!

Hello, there!

It's been quite some time, and I'm happy to say that we are currently in our final round of editing the entire manuscript of Little Raindrop's Big Plunge! The eight chapter story has been reviewed by a professional children's book editor, and as far as story, grammar and punctuation are concerned, the story is clean and ready to go. We just have a few items to fix here and there, and then I can begin working on the text and art layout for the ENTIRE BOOK.

I am soooo excited!!!!!!

So far, it seems like the editing phase of the book has been the most difficult, and it felt like it has taken us forever. Between Mr. H and myself working full time on our other jobs, and silly Life Events getting in the way, we had to push through the sludge and just try our best at moving forward. It took us seventeen times to edit the story, believe it or not. BUT WE DID IT. We so did it!

I can't wait to get back to the drawing board again!

I shall be in touch, and in the mean time, Little Raindrop, Mr. H and I all wish you a very Happy Holiday season!

~Miss Melanie

"Little Raindrop's BIG Plunge" Book Status Update, Spring 2014 #LittleRaindropsBigPlunge

Hello, hello!

It sure has been a while, hasn't it? But don't fret, we're all still here, chugging along and working hard as always! Life sometimes just gets in the way of the blogging, and before I know it, it's been quite a few months.

In the last super-detailed book status I wrote, I kept a detailed list of everything that has happened up until this point. I'm not going to repeat the entire story here, but if you want to read up on what happened between The Very Beginning in 2011, up until the Fall of 2013, you can read it here. For now, I will start at the end of that list with what we've been up to since then!

August, 2013:
-I do a video chat with Mr. H's class of 2013! (learn more here)
-Mr H. comes to visit, and we bring Little Raindrop to Mystic Aquarium!
-I near completion on the manuscript's revision and cleanup.
September to October, 2013:
-I complete the entire manuscript revision/cleanup!
October, 2013:
-I prepare packages to send out to our Little Raindrop's BIG Helpers!
-The manuscript and review questionnaires are sent out to teacher and science friends for review.
November 2013 to January 2014:
-Our review results slowly trickle in from our Helpers, and by the end of January they have all responded.
-I catch up on some of the blog posts.
-I re-work, edit, and create many of the Activity Pages.
-I get feedback from Mr. H's class on the Activity Pages, and we learn there is some work needed on some pages!
February, 2014:
-I read over all the notes, long answers, and edited materials that have been so graciously given to us by our friends. This valuable feedback provides me with the tools I need to fix some problems we have with the story, and I re-write a few sections of the story. It's even BETTER than before!!!
-Mr. H does further work on our Nature Notes sections, which have been lacking up to this point.

*HUGE NEWS*-I am contacted by an ACTUAL publishing company, Tibury House Publishers, who ask me to do some sketches on a story they need art for. But, more importantly, I am asked to send things I am working on, and I send them a digital copy of Little Raindrop's book dummy and manuscript. We are waiting to hear their response, and in the meantime, I am putting together a physical book dummy to send them, as my own copy is beaten up and dirty now!

March, 2014:
-I re-work, edit, and create more of the Activity Pages.

-I prepare materials for the upcoming school visit...
April, 2014:
-I do a presentation about the creation of the book with Mr. H's two Third Grade classes, as well as my Aunt's two Fourth Grade classes. The kids are really excited for this book to be complete!
-I (will soon) have another presentation about the creation of the book, but with a local Girl Scout troop
-I create and order some bookplate stickers for signing, as the kids tend to ask for autographs (eek!)


And here is what our Mega To-Do List! is looking like now... (some items may be a tad out of order)
-Integrate the newly edited Nature Notes with the current manuscript
-Complete the rest of the Activity Pages

-Send the entire manuscript to our professional editor
-While waiting for professional revision to be completed, complete the Marketing Plan
-Work on the end pages of the book, which include an Index and Glossary, as well as a Flora and Fauna Glossary, and a Quote Index
-Plot the visual layout of the pages of entire book in a storyboard form.
-Meet with the editor for feedback
-Final revision of manuscript
-Sketch out each page's layout and design in full size. Plan text and art placement.
-Create a FULL, COMPLETE dummy book
-Send complete dummy book to art and layout friends for revision
-Gather names for the Pre-Order and Email list
-Determine price of printed books and estimated time of printing
-Use feedback from Helpers to further revise and edit; maybe send to editor one last time
-After all the revisions and edits and corrections are made, including the art and layout issues, begin working on the complete and final art. (YAY! My favorite part!)
-Final art must be completed. (That's drawing all the comics, all the double page spreads and special items throughout.)
-Final art scanned and merged with layout and text components via computer.
-(Don't forget to order/pay for the desired final text font copyrights!)
-IF STILL SELF PUBLISHING: Launch Kickstarter campaign
-Complete and print final sample book on regular printer. Check for mistakes, and send the final version to mistake-checkers and other Little Raindrop's BIG Helpers!
-IF STILL SELF PUBLISHING: Get ISBN number, register the story and copyrights and all that legal stuff!
-IF STILL SELF PUBLISHING: Double check everything with the Printer. (From colors, to text, to layout and design. This might take a trip to VA.)
-IF STILL SELF PUBLISHING: Print the books!
-Plan and prepare for two book launch parties; one in RI, and one in VA
-Send the books for Pre-Order customers
-Send special Thank You gifts for all our wonderful helpers!
-OUR BOOK LAUNCH PARTIES! WOOOOOO!
-Sell those books, baby!

THE AFTERMATH... when the first book is complete and published
-Do some school visits
-Create Little Raindrop's Official web site at some point... a fancier version than just the blog
-Plot and outline the next two books in the series
-Get some ideas for some of the Little Raindrop spinoff picture books


While there is still so much to be done, I can't help but think of some really awesome quotes that I have up here on my studio wall...

"Mountains cannot be surmounted except by winding paths." -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
"Determination gives you the resolve to keep going in spite of the roadblocks that lay before you." -Denis Waitley

...and I feel positive and upbeat about how far we've come so far. I'm excited every time I fill up a Project Time Sheet and it's time to start a fresh one, which means we are constantly moving forward, and constantly improving!

Thank you, as always, for being there with us every step of the way!!!
~Miss Melanie

"Little Raindrop's BIG Plunge!" Book Status Update & Little Raindrop's Big Helpers!

Greetings!

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!

Lot's of work goes into mailing things, too!

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:

Images Copyright 2013 Melanie Linden Chan,
All Rights Reserved

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

Book Status Update, Summer 2013 #LittleRaindropsBigPlunge

Well, hello!

The summer is nearing its end, and the new school year is about to begin! It sounds like a perfect time to give everyone an update on the book's progress and our upcoming plans.

Sometimes working on a book can be a difficult thing for us authors and illustrators, because it's such a HUGE process. Lots of the things that we do (like revising the story) are time consuming, and sometimes things (like researching certain topics) can be a tad dull, and some things (like sketching and re-sketching) can even be very tiring. But the worst part is, no one but us gets to see all the hard work we put into these things! And these things are VERY important things!

So what I like to do each time I work is sign into a Time Sheet. It might sound silly, but it's great because, over time, we get to see how far we've come since the start of the project! Take a look at only one of my Time Sheets. (I have at least TEN of these!)

And that's not even ALL of it!

In fact, here is what we have done so far. (Keep in mind that Mr. H is a full time teacher, and not only do I work elsewhere full time, but I also have been taking classes in the evenings. So we aren't the fastest turtles. But we sure work hard!) The cool part about this is that I pretty much blogged about it all fairly early on, which helped me to keep track of what happened!


"Our Story's Story"
The Very Beginning:
-Mr. H wrote Little Raindrop's story! (We will have to ask how long it took him to do that part!)
-Mr. H decides he wants to publish his story.
-Mr. H decides he also needs an illustrator.
July, 2011:
-Mr. H looks for an illustrator online, and then finds me on the SCBWI site!
-I do a few sketches for Mr. H. (here they are!)
August, 2011:
-Mr. H and I talk about the project. We decide it would be a good test for me to illustrate a full color double page spread to see if we will enjoy working together on this project. Mr. H mails me a section of the story, the River Habitat.
-I sketch out a few different layouts for the spread. I decide I like a certain layout. But I realize I don't know how to draw some of these animals!
-I research kinds of animals that live in a River Habitat. Then I sketch and sketch and sketch them. (see the sketches here)
-I worked on the final piece. It took me long enough, (about 32 hours!) but I finally completed it! (See the work from Start to Finish here.)
September, 2011:
-Mr. H sends me the rest of the story. I like it!
-Mr. H and I decide we really want to work on Little Raindrop's book together, so we write up a contract!
-I research how to write a GOOD contract! One that is fair to both the author and illustrator. This is the not-fun part of the job. The paperwork... ugh!
October, 2011:
-I start up Little Raindrop's Blog, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. (click here to see the first blog post!)
November, 2011:
-Little Raindrop needs to be a true character. So I sketch and sketch until he shows himself! (see the sketches)
December, 2011:
-I go through the manuscript to plot out my layout. I realize there is a TON of awesome stuff in this story. So Mr. H and I have a chat and decide this book needs to not only be a Chapter Book, but also a trilogy! (here's the proof!)
January-March, 2012:
-I organize the text for layout purposes. I am actively editing and revising the story as I go at this point in time. Chopping things off here, adding things on here, etc.
-I sketch out some double page spreads. (see examples here)
-I try to figure out a consistent way to present certain pages in the book. Sometimes I needed help from Mr. H's class!-I also work out how I want to paint and illustrate the story, and the steps I need to take to draw them quicker and easier!
-Somewhere along the line here, we both did some research on how we want to Self Publish! This was one crazy Time Eater! But in the end we figured it all out. And it gave me lots of knowledge on the topic that I could pass along to my readers. (Like this stuff, here.)
March-May, 2012:
-I actively work through the spring to draw and layout the pages for the book dummy.
-I re-work the cover. (see it here)
-I complete the first two chapters of the dummy book! PHEW! (here it is!)
-I learn that I have too much stuff going on at once, and I decide not to take any more classes until I complete Little Raindrop's book. (Talk about having Crazy Eyes!)
-I design and print up bookmarks and buttons for marketing!
-Little Raindrop's Cafe Press store opens!
June, 2012:
-I visit Mr. H's classroom of totally awesome kids! (see it here)
June-August, 2012:
-I learn about Kickstarter, and Mr. H and I discuss that it might be the way to go for us!
-I read a book on marketing, and I realize I need to know more about our target age, and what kinds of books Third Graders really like to read.
-I do a lot of research on other books in Little Raindrop's genre. I check word counts, vocabulary, page numbers, numbers of chapters, artistic styles, topics, how the books handle layout and design- EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING I can think of to see where Little Raindrop fits in. Now that I have a dummy book in hand, I can really see what needs to be changed or re-worked as far as fitting in with the crowd.
-The Little Raindrop plushies are born! :D (you can see them here)
-I design and print up business cards for sharing!
September-November, 2012:
-Mr. H continues writing the last few chapters of the book. I take some time to work on stuff for my own business, MLC Illustration. (For things like calendars!)
December, 2012:
-We launch the Around the World with Little Raindrop section of the blog!
January, 2013:
-Mr. H sends me the last four chapters of the book!
January-August, 2013:
-I finish up on some non Little Raindrop projects.
-I continually blog about Little Raindrop's spring and summer adventures.
-I hunker down and weed through the entire manuscript, to be sure we have all the correct vocabulary, that the chapters are all the same length, that all the science topics needed are covered, and all scientific facts are correct. I add a few more Activity Pages, so that each chapter now has four instead of two. I check the story for consistency in characters speech and actions, for number of Quote Drops and Fascinating Facts, and to be sure the story flows naturally. (Just like water!)
August, 2013:
-I do a video chat with Mr. H's class of 2013! (learn more here)
-Mr H. comes to visit, and we bring Little Raindrop to Mystic Aquarium! (blog post coming soon)
-I near completion on the manuscript's revision and cleanup.
September, 2013:
-I should be completely done with the entire manuscript revision/cleanup!

With all the stuff we have already done, it's hard to believe we still have SO much work to do! But here is our checklist, nonetheless:


Mega To-Do List!
-Send the entire manuscript to our professional editor
-Send the manuscript to a few of our science and teacher friends for revision
-While waiting for revision to be completed, complete the Marketing Plan
-Meet with the editor for feedback
-Final revision of manuscript
-Plot the visual layout of the pages of entire book (this can be done while waiting for feedback, too.)
-Create a FULL, COMPLETE dummy book
-Gather names for the Pre-Order and Email list
-Determine price of printed books and estimated time of printing
-Send complete dummy book to art and layout friends for revision
-Revise and edit; maybe send to editor one last time
-Final art must be completed. (That's drawing all the comics, all the double page spreads and special items throughout.)
-Final art scanned and merged with layout and text components.
-(Don't forget to order/pay for the text font!)
-Launch Kickstarter campaign
-Complete and print final book on regular printer. Check for mistakes, and send the final version to mistake-checkers!
-Get ISBN number, register the story and copyrights and all that legal stuff!
-Double check everything with the Printer. (From colors, to text, to layout and design. This might take a trip to VA.)
-Print the books!
-Plan and prepare for two book launch parties
-Send the books for Pre-Order customers
-Send special Thank You gifts for all our wonderful helpers!
-BOOK LAUNCH PARTY! WOOOOOO!
-Sell those books, baby!
-Create Little Raindrop's Official web site at some point
-Plot and outline the next two books

And there is probably a lot more that I am missing right now! I will add and subtract things as we go along, but this list sure is going to help me to stay on track! And it will help the readers see just how much work gets put into an awesome book like this one!

Thanks for reading, and for all your support! We could never accomplish such a task without our readers and fans like you!

See you soon!
~Miss Melanie

Summer 2012 Book Status!

Hello, Readers!


Well, it's been a busy summer for sure! But now that I've gone and had my fun on vacation, it's time to crack the whip and get this book really flying!


Many of you have been asking "When will the book be out?" In all honesty, it's really hard to tell! Both Richard and I only have our spare time to put this book together, as we both work other jobs. But we're aiming to have the book ready by the end of 2013. We're trying really hard to work quickly and efficiently, but Quality is our goal so we're not going to rush to the finish line.


For now, here is where we are at:
-the first two chapters of the book are in Dummy Book form
-the second two chapters have been written and revised
-I am working on the page layout of the second two chapters
-the last two chapters of the book are currently being revised


And in the meantime...
-our Marketing Plan is being plotted out
-our bookmarks are being handed out
-we are plotting and outlining the next two books
-we will be creating Little Raindrop's web site
-we are gathering names for the Pre-Order and Email list


And there is LOTS more that needs to be done! The story will need a fully professional edit so I can draw up the rest of the Dummy. Once the full Dummy is complete, it will need lots of feedback from other artists and writers, and perhaps more editing. After we make all the changes we need to make, I will be able to go back and re-draw and paint and digitalize the WHOLE story! And then I will clean up the layout and the text, and then look the whole thing over to check for mistakes once again. 


When (and ONLY when) all edits and critiques and inspections have deemed the story and art spotless, we shall move on to printing the books! How exciting!!!


We also have a lot more EXCITING things that will be happening from now until then, so stay posted! You never know when something new will pop up here on the blog...

...like this!

Little Raindrop and Friends
Characters, Art & Design © 2011-2012 Melanie Linden Chan
Story and Ideas © 2011-2012  Richard Halttunen

Off to draw I go!

~Melanie

December Update!

Hey Everybody!

Can you believe December is almost over? Today marks the first official day of Winter, and you know what that means... I get to be a snowflake! Yahoooo!

December also brings great news about my story! Richard, (whom I shall call Mr. H from now on), Miss Melanie and I have been gathering our thoughts and putting our heads together on how my story will be told best. And we've decided that my story is in fact THREE stories in one! It looks like we're working on a potential trilogy! Isn't that amazing?! I'm about to burst with happiness!

We also want to wish you all a very happy holiday season, full of love and friends and good food! But most of all, I hope you'll have some fun in the SNOW! Hee hee!

Be good Little Water Heroes and keep your showers short! I know you're feeling chilly but a sweater will do the trick in a jiffy! Oh, and check out this neat song about the Water Cycle: http://havefunteaching.com/songs/science-songs/water-cycle-song/

See You Around!
~LR