The Thing in the Pool: An Emerging author talks about his publishing journey

When my husband was little, his sweet mama read to him constantly. One favorite book, Little Raccoon and the Thing in the Pool, survived his childhood and eventually made its way onto our bookshelf to be enjoyed by all of our children and grandchildren.

In this story, Little Raccoon is growing up, and his mama sends him out alone for the first time to hunt for supper in the pool on the other side of the woods. She has taught him all she can; now he must learn to face the fears and foes between him and a delicious meal. It took him a few tries and he had to learn to filter out lots of uninformed advice, but once he found someone whose guidance he trusted and mustered up a little courage, he got what he was looking for.

Let's imagine you, the writer, are Little Raccoon. You are going through a process to decide how to publish your work, and it's a little frightening. There are lots of bad actors and characters who don't know as much as they think they do whispering in your ear. Who do you trust? Who do you listen to? 

How about listening to another author who has been where you are? In this podcast (#99), Ryan J. Southworth, author of The Treeborn Trilogy (Encourage Publishing 2024/2025) talks with podcast host and media pastor James Kenniv (Faith Bible Church, Cincinnati, Ohio) about his process, and gives his perspective as an emerging author working with a hybrid publisher (Encourage Publishing). You might get some of your questions answered here.

Also, you'll learn about his journey in writing this amazing new children's middle reader fantasy series, and hear his perspective on children's literature and the Christian worldview. One of the differences he touches on between traditional and hybrid publishing is control. In his case (and he doesn't specifically mention this in the podcast), a traditional publisher interested in his work asked him to infuse a particular agenda into his characters, something that was not consistent with his own faith. 

Now, this is interesting - a test. If he had taken that deal, his book series would have become completely different, and he would not have been able to stop it. Let's be clear: if you can get a traditional deal that works for you, that makes sense - take it. We offer traditional contracts in very limited circumstances. Just be clear on what you are giving away. If you can't get a traditional deal but still need a lot of help, take a look at hybrid. If you can't do hybrid, self-publish. In all cases, you'll find foes in the woods, bad actors and characters who don't know as much as they think they do. Find someone you can trust, and muster up a little bit of courage. There's a tasty meal just on the other side of those trees!