Ford Street Publishing

On Thursday 28th July 2022, I printed the whole story of Paisley Partridge out!  It was a LOT of pages.  Ford Street Publishing like to have the hard copy of the manuscript so I took it down to the post office and the guy behind the counter said, "Oh! That's a lot of pages!" 

It felt like deja vu to be sending off a manuscript this way.  When I first submitted work for publication, Caitlin and Anna were only babies and Josh wasn't yet born.  

I had written a story which was accepted by a small publishing company and I remember the day I found out that they wanted to take it on.  I jumped so much with excitement I hurt my hip!! Sadly, that joy was short lived as the publishing house didn't complete the book before they went out of business.  To be so close and yet so far was heartbreaking. 

However, when I think about that book, it wasn't strong enough anyway so it's probably just as well in the end. 

I think Paisley is a much better book but the competition is fierce now and the avenues limited. 

Still, we keep trying.  

And I've run out of options for Paisley now.  If no-one wants her, I'll get a professional manuscript assessment done and I'll explore self-publishing! 

Paisley's next big adventure...

 I entered Paisley in the Ampersand Prize today.  I feel so sorry for her.  She has a delicate ego and this prize is a golden ticket for sure.  It is highly regarded and to be long-listed would be extraordinary!

The competition closes at the end of July and the long or short lists won't be announced for quite some time.  

I have submitted work here before and was not good enough to be mentioned.  So, I've done it and now I'm going to forget about it.  (Easy to do these days! 😄)

https://www.hardiegrant.com/au/hardie-grant-childrens-publishing/ampersand-prize

First page of Paisley Partridge and the Case of the Disappearing Little Penguins...

 Chapter One

“It’s one thing to slide tackle your teacher but it goes up a whole new level when she happens to be a flesh-eating zombie.”

My best friend Connor O’Neal is telling me his dream - second by boring second - as we walk to school on our first day of our grade five year.

If I hear one more word about zombie-teachers, I’ll scream so I change the subject.

“I wonder if we will be in the same class again?”

Connor shuffles nervously beside me. I know he’ll be chewing the inside of his lip. I don’t even need to look at him. We’ve been friends since Kinder. He has no secrets from me.

“Hope so Paisley. There’s no way I’ll get through Maths without you.”

I notice his mouth droop for a moment, then like the sun peeking out through storm clouds, his face brightens.

“Do you want to know what happened next?”

Truthfully, I don’t but I can’t hurt his feelings. My mind is on the most important question of the day - who will be my teacher?

Connor goes on to recount a gruesome battle between the Grade Six Shearwater Bay Soccer team and the ZombieTeachers with garlic-onion breath. It involves exploding soccer balls, teachers firing rubber missiles from staple guns and a lot of yelling and running around. I’m not listening to the detail. I’m thinking. It’s the thing I do best. And analyzing.

I know I’ll be in Mr. Perkins’ class because he always teaches the gifted students. Mr. Perkins is youngish for a teacher, probably about 30 and loves Science and Maths, my favourite subjects. I’ll be the 2IC (second in charge) in 5/6P. Paisley Partridge in 5/6P. Perfect. And although I’m in Grade 5, I know he’ll be putting me to work with the sixes or he might need to look at the grade 7 curriculum.

 

Wednesday 29th June 2022

A big day for Paisley today. After doing some final edits and checks, I wrote a synopsis (which tells the whole story - including spoilers), a one lined summary of the story (much harder to come up with something snappy!) and I submitted to two publishers.

Firstly, I sent it to Loose Parts Publisher.

Publishing With Us – Ethical, Sustainable, Beautiful Books for Kids (looseparts.com.au)

Secondly Walker Books for Walker Wednesday. I have been aware of Walker Wednesday - the only day in the year that this publisher accepts unsolicited manuscripts but I had forgotten which day it was.

I had just sent Paisley off to Loose Parts and thought quite casually, I might check Walker Wednesday... and today is the day!! 

So some mad scrambling I got Paisley ready and submitted it. Phew!  

I can't update you for a long time because publishers are so swamped with submissions, they never get back to authors so if a few months have passed, you just assume you haven't been successful. 

Paisley's Obstacles 2

 

CYA Competition 2022

I've had some success in the CYA competitions over the years - never made it 

to first place but have come second twice.  I thought I'd give Paisley an 

opportunity to shine in the CYA competition for 2022 but something 

happened.  

She didn't impress the judges at all and didn't make the shortlist.

 Neither did my other story.

This was quite a blow to my fragile writer's ego.  

And questions buzzed around my brain... 

Am I rubbish at this?  Are my stories worth pursuing? 

 Am I wasting my time with this writing business?  

Should I just give up and learn quantum physics? 

Paisely's Obstacles

SCWBI Critique Group

I started sharing chapters of Paisley with my fabulous colleagues in the SCWBI online writer's group.  

Oh boy!! 

She arrived on the page like a hurricane and to be honest, I think, at first, she didn't make many friends in this group. 

One particular person thought she was an absolute pain in the ... well, you get it.  

I think their opinions have improved over time but there's no doubt about it, she's extreme.  

 

Introducing Paisley Partridge...

 

Paisley is my first attempt at writing a protagonist who lives in the real world, not a fantasy one. I love her but not everyone does. She is feisty, strong-willed, and super smart. And she will need all of those skills, and a mega-dose of luck if we're to find a publisher for her.

I got the idea of Paisley when I was doing a course with the Australian Writer's Centre. Every piece of writing I presented to my course instructor was picked apart and I could tell she wasn't super impressed. So, for my very last one, I wrote a piece that came straight off the top of my head about a teenage boy who was teased mercilessly at school because his mum had invented toy unicorns that farted smells like cinnamon doughnuts and strawberry cupcakes. The course instructor really liked it to my surprise and delight.

That little bit of encouragement was all I needed to try my hand at writing a less serious story and Paisley was it. Then, after a heartbreaking writing festival in Hobart where my spirit was crushed by the stark knowledge that the publishing world probably wasn't going to open the door to me, Paisley found out that her teacher had a terrible secret and she had to discover what it was.

Later, I heard the sad stories of little penguin colonies being destroyed across the North-West coast of Tasmania and there was Paisley's most important mission - to save the disappearing little penguins from Mermaid Cove.

I have loved writing Paisley and spending time with her and when my lovely friend Amanda's lovely daughter Polly read the finished narrative and liked it, I felt that Paisley could possibly do it - become my first published book.