HELLO, STAR written by Stephanie Lucianovic
I am a huge fan of Stephanie Lucianovic, but I will try not to fangirl TOO much.
Stephanie is the author of the brilliant book THE END OF SOMETHING WONDERFUL (which everybody should read, especially during these trying times) and, amazingly, has agreed to share her revision journey of her second picture book, HELLO, STAR illustrated by the New York Times bestselling creator (and brilliantly talented) Vashti Harrison.
I mean, just look at this beauty. Take it in.
Excuse me while I collect myself.
Right, where was I?
This is the *third* picture book that Stephanie has written. Her first book was a nonfiction book during her time as a food writer called SUFFERING SUCCOTASH and she also has another book (I know, right??) THE LEAGUE OF PICKY EATERS coming soon.
Oh, some weird facts about her, you ask? She has two extra wisdom teeth, a belly button phobia, and she once wrote all the entries for an entire cheese library.
And now, onto the gouda stuff…
Hello, Stephanie! I’m immensely tickled to have you share your revision journey. Starting at the beginning…what is the story behind your story? What sparked the concept?
When my oldest son was six, he was obsessed with the solar system. One night he came to me and said, “Did you know that stars die? Isn’t that sad?”
I was struck by how very empathetic that was of him. It made me start thinking what a child might do to take care of a dying star. I sat down that night and wrote the entirety of Hello, Star in one sitting.
That is so brilliant! Gotta love when those moments of inspiration just strike. How long did it take from idea to book?
When this book publishes it will be almost exactly six years from idea to published book.
But that takes into account that deadlines shift and the pubdate had to change a few times, due to scheduling issues.
What was your revision timeline?
2005: I wrote my first draft in and edited it after sending it to a critique group.
Submitted to editors accepting unagented manuscripts
Got interest from an editor who wanted to think more about it
2006: Waited to hear back. Added backmatter and re-sent to an editor who was previously interested and said they were still interested.
Lots and lots and lots of rejections from agents and editors.
Put all my dreams of it away and wrote other things.
Got an agent with a different book.
Kept HELLO, STAR in a drawer and went on submission with other projects that didn’t get offers
Finally mustered up the courage to show my agent in a sort of, “This might not be any good” way. She loved it.
Revised it based on her feedback and went on submission.
Still didn’t hear back from the interested editor, even though my agent checked in on it
2018: Got an ecstatic offer from a different editor
Went through four revision rounds tweaking things with editor
2019: Manuscript was considered final, with a few minor copy edit tweaks in 2020 once the art director and illustrator were involved.
2020: Saw text with art and made a few minor adjustments to line breaks
2021: It’s probably final-final now.
What was the hardest part of revising?
Trying to get various taglines in the book to resonate in a way that both my editor and I wanted.
Did you have an ‘ah-ha!’ moment with your manuscript during the revision process? If so, what triggered it?
Not during the revision process, which, for this picture book, was focused more on tiny details than a bigger picture.
My “ah-ha” moments with this book came with the initial generation of the idea and story and writing it. Not a whole lot changed in the revision process at all. If we were talking about my MG novel, though, I would have a very different answer.
What advice do you have for other writers? Are there any resources you would recommend to help with the revision process?
You’re not required to take to heart every last thing your critique partners might say. I did that early on and discovered that when I acted on every note given, I made my manuscript incomprehensible. Be open to notes and suggestions but only execute the ones that resonate with you.
Sometimes it’s good to sit with the notes for a bit. I’ve gotten notes where my first reaction was, “No way. I cannot.” But a few days later I’m like, “Wait, maaaaaybe…?”
Resources: podcasts! I love First Draft with Sarah Enni as well as Deadline City with Dhonielle Clayton and Zoraida Córdova
That makes a ton of sense, and definitely something that I feel we all have to learn as we progress with the craft of writing (well...all creative endeavors, really).
And now, a snippet from one of the early drafts...
The girl went to school and asked her teacher to tell her more about stars. But it wasn’t enough, so she went to the library and carried home slipping stacks of books about stars and space for her parents to read to her.
...and the final words in the published book.
At school, the girl usually let others do the talking. But now she had questions of her own. Her teacher pointed to a chart of the solar system and told her that our galaxy, the Milky Way, is thick with stars, and that the closest one to Earth is the sun.
But the girl wanted to know more, so she went to the library and carried home slipping stacks of books to read with her parents.
Anything else you'd like to share about your book?
I really want an astronaut to read it on the ISS in space. It would be the coolest.
YES, that would be amazing! And my fingers are crossed that it happens. Also, it was really interesting to read how you added such rich details from one draft to the final story.
Thank you, Stephanie. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy and inevitably read this story multiple times to my child.
Are you following Stephanie on Twitter? If you haven’t, you’re missing out. Follow her at (@GrubReport) and Instagram (@GrubReport) and keep up to date on her latest news on her website.
And don’t forget to order your copy of this beautiful story on Bookshop.org, or Stephanie’s favorite indie store Kepler’s!