It’s my pleasure to welcome author Susan Johnston Taylor to Creator Chat. Susan is the author of Animals in Surprising Shades: Poems About Earth's Colorful Creatures and a professional actor.
Read on to find out how Susan became an author and her advice for creators.
Welcome to Creator Chat, Susan! Tell us about your background and how you became an author.
I have been writing all my life. As a kid, I penned poems and short stories, even winning an honorable mention in a Cricket magazine writing contest for a story about a female stowaway on a pirate ship.
As an adult, after earning a communications degree, I worked in marketing and eventually became a full-time freelance writer for publications including The Boston Globe, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, and many other places. I wrote a lot about business and personal finance.
Eventually, though, I burnt out and decided to try my hand at writing picture books so I could stretch my creative muscles in a new direction. In 2016, I started studying at the Writing Barn (where I now work part-time and teach online). Before landing a trade deal, I wrote for several educational publishers to get more experience. Then in 2020, I wrote the manuscript that would become my debut picture book and sold it to Gnome Road Publishing the following year.
What would you go back and tell your beginner-writer self if you could?
Be patient and embrace a beginner’s mind! Just because you get paid to write in one specific area doesn’t mean those skills automatically transfer to other genres. The expectations for children’s books and especially picture books are super specific and very different from journalism for adults. It takes time to wrap your head around concepts like leaving room for the illustrator and show, don’t tell. But lessons like brevity will improve your writing for adults, so it’s worthwhile to keep going and embrace this new creative challenge.
What’s been the most rewarding moment of your creative career so far?
Seeing kids engage with my book and get excited about poetry!
What three pieces of advice would you give any creators hoping to get published?
Find your community. Community is so important for your sanity, as well as helping level up your craft and build your understanding of the industry. There are tons of places to connect with other kidlit creators through social media, in-person events, classes, and conferences. Need a free or inexpensive fix? Follow hashtags for your genre, participate in contests, comment on kidlit blogs, or ask someone you meet on social media to swap manuscripts.
But don’t put too much stock in one person’s opinion. Joining critique groups and taking classes is really valuable, but you want the right critique groups and the right classes. Having your work torn apart by someone who only writes in another genre or has an outdated understanding of the market is not the same thing as getting tough love from someone knowledgeable who sees your potential and wants you to soar. (I have an upcoming project that I shelved for over a year after a publishing professional ripped it to shreds in a critique, but I still found it a home without a complete overhaul.)
Be prolific. I cringe when I think back on my first few attempts at writing picture books. The more you write (and read), the better you get. Not every story is going to become a book, so by all means, pour your heart onto the page … and then write something else so you’re not too invested in a single project.
“The more you write (and read), the better you get.” Susan Johnston Taylor
Do you have any rituals (eg light a candle, make tea, go for a walk) that help you get a creative session started?
I’m also a musical theatre performer and my wonderful voice coach gave me an exercise to get into a playful storytelling mindset: Look at any object in your environment and say (or just think) "this is a ___." You can call it anything you want (does not need to be related to the object), but you can't name the actual object. Take a breath and look at another object doing the same thing for a few minutes to get into a flow. For instance, I might look at a book on my shelf and say "this is a kiwi fruit." Then I might look at a bookend and say "that is a Corgi," etc.
I’ve recently started doing that not just when I sing but also when I start a writing session.
Is there something else creative that you’d like to learn how to do? (e.g. illustrate books, play an instrument, embroidery etc.)
I also perform in opera and musical theatre and do cross-stitch. I’d love to improve my piano skills, but I’d really have to put in some time practising and, honestly, it’s not a high priority. Can’t do everything!
Any writing goals (big or small) that you’d like to share?
So far, I’ve mainly published poetry for kids (plus a lot of nonfiction articles in magazines like Highlights and Scout Life). But I also have several fiction and nonfiction picture books that are more narrative that I’d love to get into kids’ hands someday.
Since I’m a singer, I’ve also thought about turning Animals in Surprising Shades into a song cycle I can perform at schools and other events. I’m intrigued (and a little daunted) by this idea.
My long-time goal was to sign with a literary agent, and earlier this month, I did it! I’m now represented by Mara Cobb at Martin Literary Agency, and I’m so excited to partner with Mara on the next chapter of my writing journey.
CONGRATULATIONS! And thank you for joining me today, Susan!
Susan Johnston Taylor writes children's books that spread kindness and curiosity, including over a dozen titles for the educational market. Her trade debut, Animals in Surprising Shades: Poems About Earth's Colorful Creatures, came out in 2023 with Gnome Road Publishing. It was named a 2024 Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12 by the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) and the Children's Book Council (CBC). In addition to teaching online with The Writing Barn, she is a freelance journalist and a proud member of the Story Wranglers, a troupe of professional actors and singers who bring third graders' stories to life onstage.
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I have shard Animals in Surprising Shades with many children who love the poems and the animals. Thanks for the great post and advice.