My First Self-Published Children's Book

It seems to come out of nowhere. Usually when I'm not trying, when I'm focused on something else or when I least expect it, an idea, a really creative one, pops into my head. The idea seems so well thought out, it feels as if someone whispered it into my ear. The ideas usually make so much sense that immediately after I come up with them my very next thought is "I can't believe no one else thought of this!". Which is exactly what happened when I learned that one of the names for a group of bears is a sleuth, and I also found that the collective noun for a group of crows is a murder. It instantly clicked, since sleuth is also a synonym for a detective, it would make perfect sense to write a story about a group of bear-detectives investigating the murder of two crows. So, A Sleuth of Bears A Murder of Crows was born.

The first part of the book flowed naturally. I was inspired to write in a rhyming format, crafting a "Who done it?" style mystery where the bear detectives question various groups of animals in an effort to solve the murder of two crows. This gave the opportunity to make fun references to other interesting collective nouns for different animals, like a parade of elephants or a parliament of owls. I was and still am very proud of this book. I thought it was a very good book, but the most important part of this process was convincing other people to believe the same thing. I self-published the book, selling through various outlets. Many people who read the book gave me great feedback. The company we used to make physical copies of the book even shouted me out on Twitter, commenting on how clever the book was. One thing that I found odd was that on more than one occasion, when I told someone about the book, they had some reservations about a children's book with the word murder in the title.

I've gotten reactions including bewildered expressions followed by hilarious questions, basically asking me if I am sure this awesome book was a children's book. Someone straight up told me they 'wouldn't let their kid read that'. I understand where they're coming from; I don't agree, but I understand. I think people should be a lot more open minded. My wife and I are a lot more liberal than some... maybe most. In fact, my seven year old son has recently been studying collective nouns with his mom and he innocently asked "what is murder?" I didn't freak out and ask him where he heard that word, or question what he'd been watching or playing. I just explained it to him and asked "Why he wanted to know?" I'm not sure what parents are so afraid, nor why they avoid these types of conversations. Anyway, A Sleuth of Bears A Murder of Crows is not what you might think. Never judge a book by it's cover. Buy it and read it yourself. I'm pretty sure you and your children will enjoy it!

I pitched this book to literary agents. They gave me amazing feedback and constructive criticism. They really liked the book. They said it was extremely witty, funny, and the illustrations were great, but... of course there was a but. They didn't think they could "sell" it to a publishing house. They told me publishers would have to be convinced they could sell the book, which usually means they are looking for something similar to something that has already been successful. Again I think people should be more open minded. Big companies won't take a chance on something unique until the one brave company takes a chance on XYZ, which becomes a hit making them millions. Then the same companies that played it safe start looking for the next XYZ. If you have an idea that is unconventional and you truly believe in it, stick with it. No one really knows what's going to work until it does. All we can do is share those sparks of creativity, eventually it will resonate with someone.