What’s going on with that kid’s book?

A lot of people have been wondering what’s happening with the children’s book I’ve been working on?  Well, here’s your answer.

I let the author know when my grandpa passed away, which was a little strange because that is the subject matter of the book.  She responded by telling me I was a talented artist but my style wasn’t working.  This was after she had to blow off a meeting we had to discuss her concerns, and me reaching out several times to find out exactly what the issue was.

I responded and let her know I still wanted to work on the book and felt we could work it out.  She agreed and we were supposed to talk some time after I was down grieving.  Then I decided that I didn’t want to reach out anymore.

It is frustrating, because I did a lot of preliminary character sketches, and I mean A LOT, to find something she was happy with.  And she signed off on the main character and the style and said it was fine to move ahead.  And this happened a couple times before she apparently changed her mind.

I honestly think part of the problem was that she didn’t really know what she wanted, or at least how to convey it to me.  Another problem was that she was regularly meeting with an editor, or possibly multiple editors, without me, and they would tell her things that she wouldn’t fully communicate to me.

So if she decides to reach out again I will still be happy to try and work it out, but I won’t be pursuing it.  I enjoyed her as a person, but working with her wasn’t easy.  And I’ve got a lot of other stuff going on I can focus on.  I got paid half my money, and while it would be nice to get the other half, and I think legally I could based on my contract, it wasn’t some huge amount that was going to make me rich or anything.

I’d like to do a kid’s book, but maybe this one wasn’t for me, and maybe she is better off approaching an artist that already fits the style she is looking for.