We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tracy C. Gold a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Tracy C. , so happy you were able to devote some time to sharing your thoughts and wisdom with our community. So, we’ve always admired how you have seemingly never let nay-sayers or haters keep you down. Can you talk to us about how to persist despite the negative energy that so often is thrown at folks trying to do something special with their lives?
There is a lot of rejection in the writing and publishing world! I’ve made a lot of great friends over the years who commiserate with me about rejection. Probably one of the best stories I have, though, is from when I was first learning how to write picture books. I sent a draft of a manuscript to two freelance editors for feedback. One told me not to pay her to work on it because she thought it would never sell. The other told me not to pay her to work on it because she thought it was perfect as-is! Well, a few weeks later, I had a book deal with Familius for that book. So many industries are subjective, and I always tell myself that you miss all the shots you don’t take. Lots of misses means you took lots of shots, and some of them have to go in the hoop at some point.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m excited about my new picture book, “Call Your Mother,” which is about all the times you need to call your mom, from when you’re a baby to when you’re a mother yourself. This book was inspired by how my relationship with my mom changed when I became a mother. I still call her a lot! So far, early reviews are glowing: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/158403291-call-your-mother I’m so excited for its launch on March 5th, 2024!
I am also working on spreading the knowledge I have about writing in ways that educate more people. In 2023, I launched two online classes, one about rhyming picture books, and one about writing picture books for beginners. There are a lot of unspoken rules in the publishing industry and I’m trying to speak them! For example, so many people don’t know that you don’t have to be an artist to write picture books. You can send publishers the manuscript and they’ll find (and pay for!) the illustrator. Then, you split the royalties with the illustrator. Anyway, I’ve done a lot of in person and synchronous teaching, so branching out to creating on-demand classes seemed like the best way to share my knowledge at scale. It has been a big learning curve for me, mainly with technology issues, but I’m excited about the classes! Here is my class on writing picture books in rhyme and rhythm: https://tracycgold.com/new-on-demand-class-on-writing-rhyming-picture-books/ And here’s the class for beginners to writing picture books: https://tracy-s-site-f04c.thinkific.com/courses/writing-and-publishing-picture-books-a-quick-and-fun-beginner-s-guide
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Persistence, being open to feedback, and finding a community were all huge for me and still are. I still get rejections on new books, on my books not being reviewed or accepted to festivals, and various sundry small disappointments. I need to persist, be open to getting better, and have friends to talk about these challenges with! I would say be willing to put yourself out there and support other people in communities for the type of work you do. Then, you can ask for help in return–and the cycle keeps going!
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
Marketing is a huge challenge I’m facing. I’m confident in my courses and books, but the market is crowded! I really felt I should be able to do this myself as my first job out of college was in digital marketing, but the work wasn’t getting done. I recently reached out to a marketing consultant and she has made huge strides for me so far! And I haven’t had to agonize over Facebook ads for hours!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tracycgold.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tracycgold/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tracycgold
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracycgold/
Image Credits
Sally Gold, Scotti Morrow
