Eric Trombly
March 27, 2016
Post #4244 – 20160327
Dear Mr. Pinkwater,
Hello, my name is Eric Trombly, I am a student at Northern Michigan University majoring in English, minor in writing. One project I am working on is to write a children's book, and I was hoping you'd be able to answer a few questions.
1. Did you ever see yourself as a children%u2019s and young adult%u2019s author when you were younger? Do you think you would have been one if it wasn%u2019t for that editor who pushed you to write, The Terrible Roar?
2. How long did it take, on average, for you to write any of your children%u2019s books?
3. What were some of the challenges you encountered while trying to get published?
4. If you could go back, would you do it all again, or would you shift your style? What would you keep the same? What would you do over?
5. What kind of advice would you have for someone who is about to do research for and write a children%u2019s book?
Thank you very much for all of your time and patience. Feel free to answer any or all of these questions, and/or anything else you feel would be pertinent information to add. Thank you again.
Daniel replies:
1. I never saw myself as a children's or young adult author. I don't see myself as one now. Most of the time I don't see myself as an author. Actually, I'm not sure I see myself. I do get a glimpse in the bathroom mirror quite often. Usually that causes me to laugh.
2. On average, it takes between an hour and two years.
3. I don't recall any challenges. I lived in the metropolitan New York area, and editors took me to lunch at nice restaurants. Sometimes they would decide to publish something and give me money. When they didn't, I was still ahead on the lunches.
4. I wouldn't change anything. I am a pleasant lunch companion, and the editors I have dealt with have been clean and well-behaved.
5. I would advise that person not to do it unless they find the activity itself quite enjoyable. These are different times from when I started out. It is much harder to get published, and I think publishers don't have the same kind of lunch budgets. Besides, if you're in northern Michigan, there may not be even a sandwich in it for you.
Sincerely,
Eric Trombly
