Introducing Mrs Mean

Those who follow me on Twitter or who follow this blog, will know that we are busy creating the Angel's Great Escape picture book. If you have the app on your smartphone or tablet you will know the story of our little Angel well and will have seen how she wants to escape the miserable Meanies to get to the Good Family over the road. The Mean Son tells his mopey Dad how he thinks Angel and her decoration friends are all rubbish and that they should be thrown out. But where was Mrs Mean? And have you ever wondered what she looks like?

Well, it seems she was busy preening herself in the lounge mirror when the picture of Mr Mean and his son was drawn but now we're planning to produce a print version, she is ready to make her first appearance! Ooo, look at that sneer! She may be a Meanie but we rather like her.

 

Creating A Picture Book Contd!

Things are moving on a pace at And So We Begin and we are busy making the final tweaks to the picture book layouts of Angel's Great Escape: A Christmas Story. Our lovely designer, Sarah Goodwin, has done a wonderful job of translating the words from app to page. I imagine this is a fairly unusual way of making a picture book as usually the book would come before the app. Or an app would be simply an app and would not be reinvented as a book. Do get in touch if you know of anyone who has taken on a similar project or you have done so yourself!

From app to book
The story is written in rhyming text and in the app version each couplet is displayed separately in a very consistent way. We can also have numerous couplets on one page by using the arrow mechanism to 'scroll' through the text. In the book, our space is more limited. Also the illustrations were designed to have the text at the bottom, as per the app and not to have text displayed within them, in the way that a picture book would be. Sarah has done a wonderful job of finding her way around this by tweaking the images and adding different backgrounds and layers to the spreads.

Here's an example of a layout from the app vs a layout from the book with the app version on the left. You can see that a white section and blue line have been added to the right of the main image for the book version to allow space for the text to be displayed.
 

Copy editing
One additional and vital step we've taken in the past couple of weeks is to have the copy for the book professionally edited. Again, an introduction through a friend was invaluable. It is amazing what a new pair of eyes can see! From capitalising words, to spotting missing commas, to suggestions for revised sentence structure and word replacement. I have lived with the story for so long that it is really refreshing to hear a new opinion of it and to learn how some very tiny tweaks can improve the flow. Luckily there's no need for a major overhaul (phew!) but we are making a few small changes for the book version, which, of course, means changes to the app too but I'm excited that we are getting to a place where both formats will be the best they can be. Now, it's onwards to plans for printing and spreading the word... But more on that soon!

Illustration Inspiration

I spent a wonderful morning yesterday strolling around the Cambridge School of Art Show for their MA students of Children's Book Illustration. It was the last day of the show and I'm so pleased that I made the journey to go. I have been to the show before when it was held in Foyles and the new Candid Gallery venue was a lot larger, light and airy and an absolute feast for the eyes. Portfolios laid out to browse through at leisure, mocked up picture books to handle with care and beautifully displayed artwork on the walls. It was hard to know where to begin!

The displays were so absorbing and carefully put together with comments books of many different styles to scribble in. Some of the picture books made me giggle out loud, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see several of them picked up by publishers and on sale in the next year or two. If I were a publisher, there were certainly some gems I would consider investing in.

One particular treat was seeing some of the artists' sketchbooks, like a sneak peek 'behind the scenes' of becoming an illustrator. Here are a couple of pictures of Emma Armitage's that were on display.

Below are just a few of the photos I took, I honestly could have snapped all day as this is a mere snippet of the wonderful work that was on display! Please click on the pictures to see more about each fabulous illustrators' work.

Creating A Picture Book

As I've mentioned a couple of times both here and on Twitter, we are busy creating a picture book version of Angel's Great Escape and I wanted to share some of my experience with you. My decision to publish the book independently was largely due to my love of projects. A lot of people talk about those who self-publish wanting to have control over their work and I understand that in some way. But for me, it's not so much about control as about being a part of it all, being completely engaged in the whole process, learning and enjoying seeing it all unfolding. With a little bit of impatience thrown in!

About 8 years ago, I sent the Angel story to several animation companies who all advised that I should create it as a book first to find an audience as they thought it would be difficult to fund without proof of readership. So I set about rewriting the story as a book. Storybook apps were just emerging and I saw this as a middle ground between animation and books. The idea of publishing the story myself really appealed to me. I could be proactive, join with like-minded creatives, see my story come to life as I imagined it. And so, while I researched how to create a picture book, we created the app and I couldn't quite believe it had happened. This Angel who had danced around my mind for years was finally smiling at me from the screen and if I tapped her, she moved! More importantly, I sat with children as they read the story and saw the smiles on their faces. That, for me, was what it was all about.

So, now, on to the picture book. When I was little my favourite book in the world was The Story of Father Christmas by Ann and Dennis Mallet. It made me feel so cosy and comforted and I would love the Angel's Great Escape picture book to make children feel the same way. Having published the story as an app, I'd like to share the story with more children, to reach those who don't have an iPad, whose parents prefer books. And I'd like And So We Begin to take it's first steps towards becoming a traditional publisher. Stories come in all shapes and sizes, apps and books. Even though I am essentially self-publishing, I like Joanna Penn's thinking of it as independent publishing. It is far from simply myself creating this book. I am slowly establishing a lovely team around me who care as much as I do about the book and who are all contributing to making the book as good as it can be.

So after a rather rambling introduction, here are three stages we have been through with the book on it's journey so far.

1. Illustrations
Self-publishing has really opened up for novelists with the use of CreateSpace and Lightning Source so writers can be completely independent if they choose to be. But a picture book isn't quite so straight-forward. The finished product needs to be a perfect balance of words and pictures, with the two feeling as if they were always meant to be together. I had already commissioned the fabulous Kristyna Litten to illustrate the app and chatted to her agent at Arena about amending the contract to incorporate the use of the illustrations in a picture book too. Luckily, Kristyna's illustrations for the app were already high resolution and print ready due to the requirements for this for the retina display on the iPad.

So how can you find the right illustrator for you? When I was first looking for an illustrator, I went to graduate illustration shows such as the Cambridge School of Art MA Show to seek out emerging talent and I also spent a long time loitering in bookshops browsing through the picture book shelf seeing what style felt right. Karen Inglis has written a great blog post about her own journey and reveals that she found her illustrator through Elance. In the end, it was Arena Illustration who recommended Kristyna to me saying they thought her style would fit the story and as soon as I saw her sample sketches, I knew they were right. The picture below is just a tiny peek but you can see how close the original designs were to our finished product.

2. Structure
We are working with a picture book layout of 32 pages with end papers and hardback cover for Angel's Great Escape. Despite it initially seeming that 32 pages should equate to 16 double-page spreads, the title pages and copyright page also have to be considered. Whilst taking into account the limitations and also the illustrations that I already had, I took a step back and thought about how I would have structured the story had the app not been made. I found it helpful to sketch out the pages, numbering them 1 - 32 and then making a note of what the illustration and wording would be on each page. I also learnt a lot from looking at lots of other picture books to see how they were laid out. For example, I'd never thought about end papers before and realised these add to the beauty of the picture book. Here's a sneaky peek at ours.

3. Design
Closely entwined with structure is the design of the book and this was where I felt it was time to call in the professionals! Again the lovely Arena ladies came to the rescue and recommended a fabulous freelance designer to me. We met to have a chat through the project and within one meeting it was clear how much her experience would bring to the project. She understood immediately that I wanted the book to have its own personality rather than to feel like a transfer of the app on to paper. She made me realise that creating the book would give me an opportunity to play with different styles, more elaborate fonts and singled-out spot pictures. A professional book designer also knows how files need to be sent to print, how to ensure the colours will look true to the design and what fonts will appeal to readers. All vital with a picture book.

The layouts are now almost complete. We have had four face to face meetings over the course of four months which have been invaluable. We spend a couple of hours each time going through the designs with a fine-toothed comb. Kristyna created her artwork with many layers in Photoshop so the illustrations are very malleable. Each character has the possibility of many expressions and poses so the designer can play with these as well as experiment with the proportions and positioning of the text. Some spreads have what is referred to as a full-bleed, meaning the background image fills the pages, whereas some spreads have a white background with a 'spot' picture and some text. As soon as we are 100% happy I will share some of the pages with you.

The process of creating a picture book independently has already been a huge learning curve for me and we've barely started! The next steps are copy editing, deciding which printer to choose and working on the marketing and distribution plan. But more on that later!

I'd love to hear from you with your insights, advice or thoughts especially if you are creating a picture book independently too.

New Year To Do List

Here at And So We Begin central (also know as my desk) the year is off to a project-packed start. This obviously called for a new notebook. In And So We Begin Pink. It's my first Leuchtturm1917. It's got a contents page and page numbers. And yes, I'm going to say it, I think it might be better than a Moleskine. Gasp.

Before we all keel over with the shock of my last statement, here's a little peek into my New Year To Do list.

1. Angel's Great Escape - The Picture Book!
Although I started the company to publish my story, Angel's Great Escape as an app, I have always seen the story in other formats too so this year I'll be taking a sideways step into the world of traditional publishing. It's already proving to be quite an adventure and I'll be sharing a bit of insight into the journey in another post shortly.

2. The Novel
Last year I started work on a novel for 8 - 12 year olds. At about 50,000 words in I had to go back to my day job of events management and my characters were left dangling. This month I have had time to finish the novel which has meant a lot of re-reading and editing. Then a week or so ago there was a flurry of excitement on Twitter as Chicken House Books announced that they were having an open submissions day because 'everyone is a bit gloomy in January'. It certainly brightened my day. And my five chapters are ready to send off tomorrow!

3. The Radio Sitcom
For the past six years I have been working on a sitcom script with one of my best friends. It's all a bit top secret squirrel but this month we have been re-writing the sitcom as a radio pilot. After six years of writing and re-writing, we know our characters really well and can often be heard saying things like, "Oh no, he wouldn't say that, he'd say…" We had a read-through with some friends last week and recorded it so we could hear the script as if it was on the radio. It was a merry-go-round of accents and attempts at sound-effects. With some more tweaks it's now time to send it to an 'interested party' (she said mysteriously!)

4. The Next App
I had a great meeting with Stefan, the developer behind my first two apps, last week. He is working on some really interesting coding at the moment that has given me lots of food for thought about my next app project. We talked about children being able to use apps to tell a story themselves which is an idea I find interesting. I also followed the London Book Fair Tech Tuesday on Twitter this week. Nosy Crow did a great write-up and I was particularly interested in Stuart Dredge's comments about delivering stories differently. The idea I have been working on has the potential for more engagement so I think a little more time on the drawing board before moving forwards will work well.

So in summary, LOTS of writing to do. Best get back to that Leuchtturm1917!

*Freebie* Make Your Own Christmas Decorations!

We've got a fun little Christmas treat for you! Download our Make Your Own Decorations PDF and have lots of fun making your very own deccies ready for your Christmas tree.

The colouring-in sheets feature the characters from Angel's Great Escape: A Christmas Story, including Angel, Fairy, Reindeer, Snowman, Teddy and the main man himself, Father Christmas.

Print them out, colour them in however you like and then add a bit of sparkle and a piece of ribbon and *TA-DAH!* they will look wonderful hanging in amongst the fairylights!

We would LOVE to see your decorations. Please email your pictures to hello@andsowebegin.co.uk and we will start a new Christmas gallery here on our website to display them.

Happy decorating!

Snow Globe: A Christmas Treat Is Now Available!

We are VERY excited to announce the launch of our second app, Snow Globe: A Christmas Treat!

Snow Globe: A Christmas Treat features Angel and her decoration friends from our first storybook app, Angel’s Great Escape, illustrated beautifully by Kristyna Litten. Place them in the snow globe where you wish, choose one of three background scenes and either gently shake your device or tap the snowflake to see the snow fall around them. Snow Globe is accompanied by Ginny Walker's twinkly Christmas lullaby, Leap of Faith.

We hope that your little ones will enjoy playing with the Snow Globe. It is sure to put you all in a Christmassy mood as the festive season approaches!

Our First Birthday

It was our first birthday a couple of weeks ago, a fabulous excuse for chocolate cake and a little celebration! I started And So We Begin last year as a home for my writing projects and as a launch pad for my first children's story and so much has happened in just twelve months.

Angel has been downloaded in 40 different countries, from Turkey to Taiwan, Mexico to Moldova! How wonderful to think of Alan Titchmarsh's dulcet tones and Ginny Walker's lovely lullaby captivating children all around the globe. Not to mention Kristyna Litten's sweet illustrations bringing the whole story to life. All because a strong-minded little Angel character came to me about ten years ago and demanded to be seen.

I've teamed up with the same developer who worked his magic last year, Stefan Nowak, to create a new app for this festive season and I'm very excited to say that Snow Globe: A Christmas Treat will be released in exactly one week's time. The Snow Globe allows you to play with Angel and her friends, to create endless scenes and to see the snow fall all around them. Lots of Christmassy fun for all ages.

Meanwhile, we are already starting to make preparations for Christmas 2014! We've started work on the book version of Angel's Great Escape and layouts are currently in progress, as you can see from the little sneak peek below.

We're very excited that the story will be released in a traditional format and hope that it will bring it to an even wider audience in the future.

So, let our second year begin! We're looking forward to sharing lots more ideas with you and as always, would love to hear your comments on our 'stories so far'.

Children's Book Week

Children's Book Week inspired me to dust off a couple of old boxes and spend some time leafing through some of the books that I loved when I was little. As I sat on my lounge floor eating chocolate biscuits and smiling at the stories I felt like I was seven again, utterly lost in their pages.

I set out to write a blog about my five favourites but there are just TOO many to choose from! So here is a selection of battered, dog-eared and well-loved books that have been with me since childhood and will stay with me well into my twilight years.

Do you remember any of these? What were your favourites?

1. Fish, mice and rabbits

This selection from my younger years are so battered and bruised there is no doubt that they were read a thousand times. There are bits of tape on every one and pages fell out as I flicked through. The Armada Book of Young Verse hooked me with such treats as the following from Spike Milligan.

Down the stream the swans all glide;
It's quite the cheapest way to ride.
Their legs get wet,
Their tummies wetter:
It think after all the bus is better

2. A man in a string vest

I had completely forgotten about this book and television show from the same team who brought us Cockleshell Bay. Looking through made me remember how cosy this book made me feel. Why Harry was in a string vest I have no idea.

3. Something a little bit Scarry

With the recent return of Lowly Worm, Richard Scarry has been in the news lately. I spent hours one afternoon spotting Lowly on each page of a big book with the little ones and it reminded me of this little pink book that is falling apart at the seams with love. It's 'littleness' was my favourite thing. It seemed to be ME sized and the details captivated me for hours.

4. A THREE DIMENSIONAL cottage!

Oh my goodness, I LOVED this book by John S Goodall. So many minute details to explore and did I mention the three dimensional cottage? You could even look in through the windows to see inside. There are no words in this book, just wonderful pictures so I would make the story up myself and imagine myself in the cottage.

Pop up books are brilliant. How do the designers plan such a thing? How do all the moving parts get put together? How does it WORK?

This book occupied me for ages, I'll have to see if it does the same for the little ones.

5. Magical worlds

I can't seem to find my copy of the The Enchanted Wood but that was the book that I remember as a turning point in my reading. It completely transported me to another world, a world I was sure existed with Silky, Saucepan Man and Moonface. I longed to climb the Faraway Tree to meet them. This led on to other Blyton books and then Roald Dahl. I remember being absolutely convinced that I would find a golden ticket in the Club bar in my packed lunch.

Another treat was Helen Clare's 'Five Dolls in a House' in which Elizabeth, the owner of the doll's house, was able to become small enough to go inside and meet the dolls. For some reason one my over-riding memories is of one of the dolls getting measles and being allowed to eat jelly. I remember wishing I had measles so I could have jelly too.

6. A girl called Anne and a boy called Gilbert

I was a bookish girl, the boys called me square, I was teased for being studious. I needed a heroine. Enter Anne of Green Gables. She chatted endlessly, was mischievous and got herself into fixes. She got her best friend drunk, floated down the river as the Lady of Shalott, stood up to Gilbert Blythe when he called her carrots. She was dramatic, clumsy and creative and I really wanted to be her. I LOVED this series and I loved the television show too.

7. What does Father Christmas do for the rest of the year?

It's a good question! This book gave me the answer and I read it endlessly all year round just checking to see what he might be doing in the Spring, Summer and Autumn. I have such an attachment to this book that it sits on my main bookshelf all year round so I can still read it through the year now. It's so beautifully drawn and has so much warmth. Maybe it's the reason that Angel's Great Escape came to me. Christmas is such a magical time and this book made it even more so. Just wonderful.

The New App Store Kids Category

I've been watching the exciting changes to the App Store over the last couple of days with interest. For those who haven't seen yet, Apple have added a new category for Kids. This is really good news. To me, Angel's Great Escape sits much more naturally in this category. There's also a lovely header for interactive kids stories, which is exactly what Angel's Great Escape is. It's a subtle difference in the world of apps but it somehow seems to make sense to refer to storybook apps as this rather than 'books'.

We're working on some small updates to the app for this Christmas season and we're looking forward to re-categorising the app and seeing how this affects visibility.

My only dilemma is going to be which age group to submit the app under as there doesn't seem to be an option yet for 'kids from 2 - 102'.

Books Are My Bag

I first saw the flash of orange of the Books Are My Bag campaign at the London Book Fair earlier this year so was a bit giddy with excitement to see all the coverage of today's Big Bookshop Party. The #booksaremybag and #BAMB hashtags were soon trending on Twitter this morning. I spent a happy hour with my poached eggs on toast reading through all the posts and looking at all the smiley photos of book lovers with their new purchases.

I always love a leisurely browse around a bookshop but all the online chatter made me even more excited than usual to get down to my local store. Alas, no tote bags were left but I did bag a fab bookmark and gathered an armful of books to add to my shelves.

I made a beeline for Maggie O'Farrell's Instructions For A Heatwave, a novel I have been meaning to buy for a while. I have all of her books and have read most of them at least twice. She is an exceptional storyteller, one who I recommend to everyone I know. Then there was Joanne Harris' latest, Peaches For Monsieur Le Curé. I can't wait to catch up with Vianne and her girls and to see which magical place the story will take her to next.

As always, I was drawn to the children's book section next. It's good to see what's currently on the shelves as I work quietly at my various projects. What is popular? What catches my eye? What are the children looking for as they browse the shelves? Where will my books sit on the shelves?

I picked up a book I've been excited to read, Shifty McGifty & Slippery Sam by Tracey Corderoy & Steven Lenton. I've seen a lot about this book on Twitter and it totally lives up to expectations. Brilliant rhymes and charming pictures. I absolutely love it and know the little ones will too.

Next was a book I had planned to track down by a new Twitter friend, Wendy Meddour. Wendy Quill Is A Crocodile's Bottom looks so much fun it was a must-buy. I'm so utterly impressed that the illustrations are by Wendy's 11 year old daughter. What a brilliantly inspirational back-story for the littlies, who will be the lucky recipient of this book (once I've had a cheeky read first!)

Finally another Nosy Crow book, Meet The Grunts by Philip Ardagh which looks like the perfect afternoon's entertainment for a certain little boy I know. I read the first few pages as I stood in the shop and was tempted to take a seat by the tropical fish tank and carry on reading!

A successful trip all round and confirmation that books are indeed my bag!

Changing Seasons

It’s been over a year since we started work on our first little app and my, how the year has flown. While And So We Begin is getting up and running, I live a secret double life as a freelance event manager and this year has taken me to the wonders of Jaipur and the super-cool city of Berlin, leaving little time for creative pursuits (apart from taking photographs!)

In the brief moments of calm, I have squirreled away like a woodland creature in the night and several app and book ideas are slowly emerging as scribbled words, pencil sketches and cost projection spreadsheets.

And so I find myself here as the season’s change, starting to think about the lead up to Christmas and how Angel’s Great Escape: A Christmas Story will find it’s place in the crowded Christmas market of 2013.

On that note, I am very pleased to announce that we will be releasing a FREE app to support our little angel. Myself, Stefan and Kristyna are busy working to get the new app released next month so more news will follow very soon.

A little clue to get you thinking: it’s ‘snow’ joke.

The Press Awaits!

Today has been a busy day for the Angel's Great Escape creative team! Kristyna braved the rain and headed to Hull to be interviewed about all things illustration by Peter Levy on BBC Radio Humberside.

Meanwhile, I was interviewed by the lovely Porte Magazine this morning about the creative process behind our first app. Talking about how we got to where we are made me realise what a journey it has been and how all the pieces of the jigsaw have fallen into place. The very talented June Cadogan took some photographs to accompany the article. After hiding behind a screen for so long it felt very odd to be in front of the lens!

Unmissable Christmas Apps

We had a lovely surprise this morning when Net Mums let us know that Angel's Great Escape: A Christmas Story has made it into their list of Unmissable Christmas Websites & Apps. They gave us a lovely write up!

"An enchanting interactive Christmas story, narrated by Alan Titchmarsh. This one has beautiful illustrations and a charming story that really builds up the magic and excitement as we near Christmas day. You can read it yourself or listen to the narration and tap, flick and swipe the screen to make the drawings come to life - for example to flick snowballs, help Father Christmas decorate the tree and put the presents underneath it. It's just lovely."

Click here to see the full list!

Playing In The Apps Playground

It's been quite a journey releasing a book app into the wild and waiting to see how my little Christmas story will be received, so I'm really delighted that Angel's Great Escape: A Christmas Story has been getting some lovely reviews on iTunes.

I am also very thankful to Stuart Dredge, who reviews apps for the Guardian newspaper and writes app blogs, Apps Playground and The Appside. Stuart has single handedly promoted our storybook app to be in the same league as some of my childhood favourites - Miffy, Winnie the Pooh, Tom and Jerry, Dr Seuss and My Little Pony no less! - by including it in his list of the 30 Best iPhone and iPad Apps for Kids for November 2012.

We are also alongside one of my own personal favourites, Little Fox Music Box which is a big hit with everyone in my family. They've just released a free version which everyone should download!

Sitting Pretty

What a week it's been! Angel's Great Escape: A Christmas Story went live on iTunes and we soon found ourselves in the company of some greats in the top 15 on the UK book chart. Peter Pan has always been a firm favourite in our family so being on the same screen as him was a huge thrill!

A few days later, our chief developer, Stefan, sent me an email to let me know that he had just spotted Angel fluttering around on the 'Featured' page of the UK App Store in the books category. I had a look and there she was smiling at us all from the top of the tree. After all the hard work and energy that our little team have put into the app it's wonderful seeing it out there for all to see!

Read It Daddy!

This week we were really excited to be reviewed by one of the Top 100 Tots Top Daddy Bloggers, Read It Daddy! Read It Daddy and his 4 1/2 year old daughter "wade through piles of books, e-books and apps each week, searching out treasures in the delightful whimsical world provided by the best children's authors and illustrators on the planet." We particularly loved the fact that Charlotte identified so much with Angel, telling her Dad, "She's me!"

Read It Daddy stated, "We thought it was a marvellous little tale with great artwork and high production values. It looks like 'And So We Begin' are app developers to watch closely if their debut is any indication of the quality to expect from them in future." Thank you!

Click here to read the full review.

As Cosy As A Christmas Jumper

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While we are busy uploading, submitting and waiting for approval of our first app, I am busying myself by starting to plan my Christmas viewing 'must-haves'. I would really love <em>Angel's Great Escape: A Christmas Story</em> to become as familiar as my favourite Christmas movies, as cosy as a Christmas jumper. What are your favourites?

Elf
“SAAAANTA!!”

A Charlie Brown Christmas
“Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?!”

Robbie The Reindeer
“Do children sing a song about me? No!”

The Snowman
All together now… “We’re walking in the aaaaaair…”

A Muppet Christmas Carol
“Heatwave! This is my island in the sun!”