BIOGRAPHY

GREAT QUESTION but a LONG ANSWER because it took me 5 years to get published so sit back as I try to summarize my 5-year journey…

First, you need to write the book, which is HARD. Sign up to my newsletter for writing tips and book recommendations to help you with your craft.

Second, you need to figure out if you will be published traditionally (with a publisher printing, editing, distributing, and marketing your book in which you get a percentage from each sale) or self-publishing (you do all the work, and it is A LOT, but keep ALL of the profits.) Also, there are hybrid publishers now as another option; you pay them a fee to help you publish your book.

Researching these options will save you a lot of aggregation in the long run. Remember, once you self-publish a book, you won't be able to query that book; and once you sell a book to a publisher, it will be very difficult to get your rights back and self-publish. In other words, make sure you are one hundred percent sure about the publishing path you want to go down, before moving forward.

For traditional publishing ask yourself: Are you willing to wait years for an agent or publishing deal? Are you okay with collaborating with an editor and publisher on your book and giving away some of your creative control? Are you patient? Are you okay with getting a percentage of each book sale? ​

For self-publishing ask yourself: Do you have publishing/marketing skills or money to invest in marketing/ an illustrator/ editing services/ formatting? Do you have time to invest in all of the above? Are you okay with your book not being in bookstores and potentially schools and libraries? ​

All these things and more are worth considering seriously before picking your path! You might be wondering WHERE to look. Google and YouTube are your friends. Follow authors on social media, sign up for their newsletter, and seek out publishing-related podcasts for more information. Look into organizations like The Word - A Storytelling Sanctuary, We Need Diverse Book, and the Latinx KidLit Book Festival.

A very simplified version of what you might expect when you traditionally publish would be to: 1) write and revise the book to the absolute best of your ability, 2) query to agents, 3) find a literary agent, 4) revise the book with the agent, 5) go on submission, 6) get an offer from an editor at a publishing house 7) your agent negotiates the contract, 8) publish the book in 1-2 years (approx). There are MANY more steps and remember that everyone's publishing journey is different!

For self-publishing you might 1) write and revise the book, 2) illustrate the book or hire an illustrator, 3) format your book for ebook and paperback 4) look into book distribution, 5) begin marketing 3-6 months before release, 6) release book and continue to do promo.

Please keep in mind these are incredibly simplified versions of each path, and there are many more steps and sometimes complications but these are the big ones that I think it's important to take into consideration.

My journey was full of love and support, first from an editor, Norma Perez-Hernandez. We both went to the same high school, and she gave me a bunch of resources to dive into. Then, I applied for the Las Musas Hermanas Mentorship and was nurtured and challenged by the prolific award-winning and NYT Bestselling author Donna Barba Higuera. I learned so much about craft and the publishing industry through Donna. After this mentorship, I applied for The Words’ Editor-Writer Mentorship Program, which changed my life. I was fortunate enough to work with Jessica Anderson, editor at Christy Ottaviano Books/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. My writing improved in ways I could not even imagine during this mentorship. To top it off, Jessica acquired two of my manuscripts; The Bronx Is My Home comes out in October 2023, and Gloriana Present: A First Day of School Book comes out in 2024. From idea to publication, this has been in the works for about four years. Publishing is a hard and competitive industry, but I am glad I did not stop and kept moving forward. I am grateful to the community I cultivated that supported me along the way.

I had three picture book manuscripts and my query letter ready for submission. I created a spreadsheet of agents that were open to clients using Query Tracker. I queried my agent and then the rest is history.

While I would love to be able to help every author that reaches out to me with this question, unfortunately, I can't. My agent gets HUNDREDS of submissions and is not able to show preferential treatment. But I can help you with your manuscript and your query letter manuscript. I can help you stand out in an agent’s inbox.

Where did you get the idea to write this particular story? I wanted to be a writer since I was 7 years old because I grew up with my Abuela - the original storyteller. She had a second-grade education, but that didn’t stop her from telling the best stories that captivated EVERYONE’S attention. I remember looking up to her and wanting to be like her. I think she knew that because she would rope me into “helping” her tell her stories. These are some of my fondest memories as well as the time we spent in the kitchen together. My love of my Abuela, her stories, and the food we made together inspired Plátanos Are Love.