LyndaW
Hi Jill
What is your experience of the dramatic changes in publishing since you were first published? Is it harder to get your book noticed and published do you think?
If you are referring to the dramatic use of eBooks and screens, it doesn’t seem to have made a huge difference to the publication of real books. In my case, I just plough on writing my stories as I have always done [in longhand, because I prefer the feeling of the book coming out of my hands onto the paper], and as I am an illustrator too, it really matters to me that the illustrations are placed on the pages in a way that will help my readers to be involved with both the illustrations and the stories. A good example of this is on pages 4 and 5 of “The Worst Witch and the Wishing Star”. There is a description of everyone arriving in the playground during a rainstorm where I have taken the illustration right across the base of the two pages so that the writing fits neatly on top.
LyndaW
Do you use social media at all to promote your books?
No, I’m not on Facebook and I don’t use Twitter. Life is exhausting enough answering e-mails and trying to write and illustrate books!
LyndaW
Are any of your books available in ebooks format? I just can't see how ebooks will be as useful for kids books? They like turning pages don't they?
All the Worst Witch books and “Dear Hound” are published in e-format, but I completely agree with you that I would much prefer children to read the real books, for the reasons I have outlined above — that the books are laid out with great care to knit the writing and pictures together. Also, if they are reading an e-book on an iPad, the iPad is distractingly full of so many other things, whereas a book is just a book and gives them a nice, calm space to concentrate.