How do you make a children's book? A fun, quick visual description of the process focusing on Effie Starr Zook Has One More Question by award-winning author Martha Freeman.

1. STORY OF A BOOK,
THE MOVIE
By Martha Freeman

2. Several years ago, I was reading aloud
from one of my books
in a small Pennsylvania town.

4. After I read, a girl came up
and whispered in my ear.

5. I’m not allowed
to tell you this,
but my name is Moriah.

6. That got me thinking.
Why wasn’t she allowed to tell me?

7. I was pretty sure
I would never learn
the real answer to that question.

8. So I decided to make one up.
Eventually my answer
became…

10. Writing a book
requires more than just one idea
or inspiration.
And writing a book takes time.

11. Moriah was in my head
for a couple of years before I sat down
and started scribbling notes.

13. It’s not interesting to watch me writing.

17. About the most interesting thing
that happens is I switch
from a computer to a spiral notebook.

18. And then I switch back.

19. I do this because I believe
it shakes up my sleepy
brain cells.

20. Once an hour or so,
I get up and…

21. …do some jumping jacks.

22. I do this because I believe it
wakes up my sleepy body.

23. “Effie Starr Zook”
is fiction.

24. That means it’s a made-up story.
Even so, I did research to write it.

25. There is a solar airplane in the story,
so I read about solar airplanes.

26. PHOTO

27. There is a goat in the story,
so I read about goats.

29. My friend Sharif is in the story…

30. PHOTO

31. …under an assumed
name.

32. PHOTO

33. So I asked him questions about
what it’s like to be Sharif.

34. PHOTO

35. Some things I didn’t have to research
because I was already an expert.

36. A long time ago, I was a newspaper reporter
like Tapper Sprocket in the book.
When I wrote about her,
I thought back to that time.

37. There’s a small museum in the book.
A long time ago, I worked in one like it.
When I wrote about the museum,
I thought back to that time.

39. In one scene, Effie climbs a tree.
Writing that, I thought about
my daughter Rosa,
who used to like to climb trees.

41. Then there is the name of
the main character.
Effie Zuck
(different spelling)
was a real person
who lived on a farm
in Pennsylvania.
And she was my
friend.

42. Now you know I sometimes
use real people in my books.
So when you meet me:

44. Writing a book is like making a collage.
You put together scraps
and see how you like the result.

46. If you don’t, you try again a different way.

48. Then comes the patient part,
and there’s no way around it.
You write one word after
another, forming sentences,
paragraphs, pages and chapters.

49. In fact, writing is a little like running...

50. OnlyOnly jjjjjfffffOnly inste

51. … only instead of step by step,
it’s word by word.

52. Up until now I have been talking
about creating a book
as if I do it all by myself.
But that is not true.

53. Before a book is a book,
it is called a manuscript.
That’s the part I mostly do on my own.

54. But once the first draft is done,
I have help from the publisher.

55. A publisher is a company that turns
manuscripts into books,
then sends them
to bookstores and libraries.

56. The publisher of “Effie” is
Simon & Schuster in New York City.

57. The publisher wants every book to
be as good as possible so that it will
sell a zillion copies, and we will all
make loads of money and live
happily ever after.

59. That is called capitalism.

61. If you’re an author,
the most important person who works for
the publisher is your editor.
This is my editor at
Simon & Schuster. Her name is Sylvie Frank.

63. Do you want
to know a
secret?

64. She is also my daughter.
Here she is reading to her sister, Rosa,
the tree climber, when they were little.

65. When Sylvie read “Effie Starr Zook” the first
time, she told me some scenes were too long
and some characters didn’t make sense.
How do you think I reacted?

67. Ha ha. JK.
My editor is a smart cookie.
I listened to her and made changes
that made the book better.

68. Once the editor is done with the book,
a copy editor and a proofreader go over it
to make sure there are no misteaks
mistakes.

69. Then the book is
designed by an art
director.
This is Chloe Foglia,
who designed “Effie
Starr Zook.”

70. Someone also has to
draw the art for the
cover.
This is Pascal Campion,
the artist for “Effie Starr
Zook.”
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71. Didn’t he do
a great job?

72. When everything is perfect, the book goes
to a printing plant like this one
in New Jersey across the river from
New York City.

73. At last “Effie,” which
started as a question
in my ear, is a book.

74. It takes a lot of people to
make a book. And it takes a
long time. But there is one
more person to mention, the
most important of all.

75. Do you know
who that is?

76. It’s you, the reader!
Without you there’d be no printing press, no
publisher, no editor, no author and no …

78. The people who helped
make this presentation:
Madison Mock
Shannon Locker
Kevin Beyer
Mike Searer
Sharif Pendleton
Leslie Zuck
Sylvie Frank
Evan Locker
Casey Locker
Dustin Brackbill
Thank you!