Book Profile: Prancing Dancing Lily

By Lisa Mullarkey

Once an author has published her first book, she can take lots of shortcuts to get subsequent books published faster, right? Wrong! Just ask Marsha Diane Arnold, author of Prancing Dancing Lily (Dial Books for Young Readers, March 2004; illustrated by John Manders), her newest 32-page picture book to hit the shelves. Her road to publishing Lily took nearly four years to complete!

Arnold has published nine books for children, including The Pumpkin Runner (Dial, 1998; illustrated by Brad Sneed). She sold all nine books without an agent. In her latest book, Lily is a cow who will someday be the “Bell Cow,” leading the herd into the barn. Because her prancing and dancing disrupt the herd’s order, she decides to travel the world looking for her place as well as the right dance for her.

Arnold wrote the book in early 2000. She estimates she wrote “at least thirty drafts” before she felt it was good enough to submit in February, 2001. “Although it was initially rejected,” says Arnold, “editor Karen Riskin requested revisions. After a couple of revisions, a contract was offered about six months later.”

Arnold’s experience reminds us that writers need to be patient and open-minded, as well as flexible. “When I subbed it [Lily] to Dial, the ending was completely different. Lily is an Ayrshire cow and I wrote the ending with Lily dancing a Morris dance, which requires the use of bells. I thought it was perfect. But Karen had a different idea. She led me gently--and with such skill--down another path.”

“I was worried that kids wouldn’t know what a Morris dance was,” says Riskin, a senior editor with Dial. “So I suggested using a line dance instead. I suggested the Bunny Hop, the Conga, or a country-line dance. But I understood Marsha’s wish to have the Morris dance in the book, so I took the manuscript to another editor at Dial to make sure my concerns were valid. After much consideration, Marsha agreed to change the story’s ending and add the Conga line. She didn’t do it grudgingly or half-heartedly. She became excited about the idea, made it her own, and wrote a fabulous new ending that’s extremely funny.”

Arnold knows that revisions are part of the process and expects them. “I’ve always done revision requests without a contract,” she explains. “You need to trust your editor. Karen and I met while I was visiting New York. I loved her from the minute I met her. Her insights were wonderful, and she made it easy to trust her. When she first told me the ending wasn’t right, it was difficult to hear. But the ending is perfect now, and it’s what kids tell me they love about the book.”

Arnold grew up on a farm, where she loved to help her father with the Ayrshire cows. “My book,” Arnold says fondly, “is dedicated to my father. It was important to me that the cow remained an Ayrshire cow. Karen respected that desire and passed my request on to John [Manders, the illustrator]. I was thrilled to see that Lily was indeed an Ayrshire cow. The way he drew Lily was brilliant. He made her funnier with his humorous drawings.”

Acceptance of a manuscript is only part of the publishing process. Choosing the right illustrator takes a great deal of time, and, as with all phases of bringing a book to life, an author’s patience is greatly appreciated by editors. According to Riskin, “Everything takes a long time in the publishing world. Marsha is a very patient person and understands that it takes time to develop a picture-book manuscript and find the right artist for it. When it took us a few months to find John, she was very patient, and I was so grateful!”

Arnold echoes that sentiment. “Patience and perseverance are a must.” And it obviously pays off! Arnold and Riskin developed such a fondness and deep respect for each other while working on Lily,that they are currently working on Arnold’s next picture book, Roar of a Snore, to be published in 2006.

Riskin describes Prancing Dancing Lily as “funny, spirited, uplifting, and, of course, MOOOOOVING.” That explains why the book is MOOOOVING off store shelves so quickly. Lily has found the right place--tucked in the hearts of children everywhere.

Advice from Karen Riskin to our NJ SCBWI Members:

When you ask an editor what they’re looking for, the #1 answer you hear is “A strong, narrative voice.” Your members have probably heard this so many times that they want to scream because “a strong voice” is so difficult to describe. When asked to define it, most editors will tell you something really vague and frustrating, like “I know it when I see it.” Here’s the thing: I believe that every writer can recognize a strong voice when they read one. And that’s why it’s so, so, so, important to read as much as you can read. Read all the Newbery winners. Visit the American Library Association Website (WWW.ALA.ORG). And read all the notable books from the previous year, and all the best books for young adults, and all the quick picks for reluctant readers. These are the strongest voices in our field, the crème de la crème of voices. Of course I’m not saying your members should try to imitate these voices, but I do think that the more they read, the more they’ll be able to identify a strong voice and critique the voice in their own writing.

Tips from Marsha Diane Arnold to our chapter members:

1. I read almost every book I found in the library about writing in general and writing for children specifically. I visited bookstores to see what was currently being published for children.
2. I joined SCBWI. If someone tells me they have a wonderful idea for a children’s book and they ask how they can get it published, I direct them to SCBWI.
3. I started, with another writer, a writer’s critique group.

The three things I didn't do at the beginning of my career, but wish I’d done are:

1. I wish I’d focused more on the business of writing. The business of writing can involve designing and preparing author brochures and business cards, keeping contact lists up-to-date, or joining and attending your local booksellers' association. All that and more.
2. I didn’t take seriously enough the responsibility of promoting my own book. It took me years to understand the importance of doing this - of realizing that I’m in a profession that produces beautiful stories and art, but it is also a serious business. You, the writer, with the illustrator, editor, art director, and others, create something wonderful that you’re trying to sell to the most people possible. That’s business, with a capital B.
3. The third thing I wish I’d done more of is networking. Developing contacts in the publishing world is important. Attending conferences and widening the circles of editors and agents and other writers you know is good. When the “what you know – your great story” is finished, it’s nice to have a “who you know.” Networking is simply opening up to others who love the world of children's books, then sharing and helping each other along our individual paths.