The Making of Must Win Matilda

You may wonder: How does a self-published children’s book get made?

Here’s a snapshot of my process!

The ORIGINAL cover idea… changes were to come!

First, where does the idea come from? Turns out, I just take a look around at my busy family of six and I’m inspired. This particular book, originally called Muddy Matilda, was based on my daughter’s high school muddy cross country race in the Fall of 2023.

One month after her race, the idea popped in my head. I began with a quick character stretch based on my daughter.

The character design… would also undergo edits. But isn’t she cute?

She underwent a few changes before her debut in Must Win Matilda (socks and shoes changed colours; I removed the knee brace; I changed the number “5” to red). I fell in love with this little character and couldn’t wait to put her into a competitive race.

My sketches are absurd.

If you can make any sense of these crazy thumbnail image ideas, then you have a gift. I am a messy sketch artist. I think my ideas feel urgent and I have to get them out ASAP or I may miss something important.

So let’s rewind a moment. First, I write my manuscript, then I draw my book spread thumbnails. I attempt to nail down where and when the text will appear, to keep the book an interesting page turner. Then I draw rough ideas of my drawings, keeping in mind differing perspectives to engage the reader (from up high, down low, etc).

The beginning of the story —let’s meet Matilda

In order to make this post readable, I’ll jot down what I’m keeping in mind in the early stages of a book.

  • I decide size —in the case of Must Win Matilda I went with an 8”x10” trim size to accommodate the height of the runners.

  • In Procreate, I create my book spread template, including the margins and bleed so that I keep the most important elements inside the boundaries (ie. text and main illustration components).

  • In the first pages of the book, I’m establishing the setting and the character’s likes/dislikes/personality so we can pick up quickly what they are like. In this case, Matilda is a runner and she has a dog (we actually do!). The dog is our pup, Duke, who sleeps in my daughter’s room.

A zoom out of some Must Win Matilda book spreads

A book spread takes approximately 1-2 days to complete. I follow a colour palette so that the book is unified and as mentioned before, I keep it interesting by changing perspective.

Must Win Matilda took about two months to complete, and approximately two weeks to prepare for publishing. What I keep in mind post-writing/post-illustrating:

  • Using Kindle Create to make a digital version of the book

  • Loading the ebook and paperback to Kindle Direct Publishing on Amazon

  • Creating a hardcover via IngramSpark

  • Ordering a proof from Amazon and IngramSpark —and making any necessary text/illustration changes

  • Announcing the book release on socials (Instagram and Facebook) and my email newsletter

  • Setting up Amazon ads

  • Setting up a digital version on Booksprout for early reviews (so far Must Win Matilda has two 5-star reviews before it’s release February 1st, 2024)

  • Creating a small Pinterest campaign to draw attention to the book

  • Monitoring sales

  • Updating my website’s book page and creating a blog post

I hope this shed light into the behind the scenes process. As you can see, a lot of sweat and love goes into the making of my books! Let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers!


Stephanie HoefnagelsComment