A Picture Book Timeline for NO BEARS ALLOWED! by Lydia Lukidis

by Lydia Lukidis

As you all know, the publishing industry works at a snail’s pace. Maybe slower. It takes time to find the right publisher and go through all the steps necessary to publish a book. Writers must be perseverant and patient.

But the actual writing process also takes time. This was the case with my new picture book NO BEARS ALLOWED. Here’s a quick timeline for how things went down, from concept to publication:

2012
Yay! An idea was born. Believe it or not, this book started with an inside joke (but don’t ask me to explain it to you, it makes no sense!). Yet somehow, the phrase “No Bears Allowed” stuck with me. I saw humor in it, and I knew that one day, it would become a children’s book. I tucked it away in my inspiration folder, where it would remain for 3 years.

2015
I was leafing through my ideas one day, and I stumbled across the phrase that I had once fallen in love with. That’s the moment I committed to developing this story. I wrote the first draft, and the second, and so on, so on. I kept getting stuck on the ending, so it took about 8 months to write. Then I swiftly sent it off to my critiques partners, who helped me bring the text to the next level. By the end of the year, I had a polished book. Now, I just needed to sell it.

2016
This was a milestone year. I got my first agent! I did my happy dance for days. In my naiveté, I thought I would soon be swimming in contracts from the Big Five. NO BEARS ALLOWED would surely find its home in a few months, right?!

Nope. That’s not how the cookie crumbled. My then-agent did submit it to various publishers, but never followed up because we had decided to part ways. So there I was, agent-less, contract-less, and feeling utterly and completely dejected.

2017
But wait, suddenly there was hope on the horizon! After receiving 3 offers, I landed a new agent at a reputable firm. My dreams were back on track. Except—this agent didn’t want to submit NO BEARS ALLOWED because they felt it was a “quiet” story.

I decided to take matters into my own hands, and with that agent’s blessing, I subbed it on my own. A few months later, I received an R & R (revise & resubmit) request from Alayne Christian, editor at Blue Whale Press. I revised the text, and they acquired it. It went through several rounds of rigorous editing, but it was smooth sailing after that. We found a talented illustrator, Tara J. Hannon, who not only produced quality work, but did so quickly.

2019
Victory! By May of 2019, I was holding the ARC in my own hands. It was definitely worth the wait. I’m ecstatic that my story made its way into the world. Its themes touch on overcoming one’s fears and resisting the urge to judge others and make preliminary assumptions. If everyone could follow this advice, we would be living in a very different world!

NO BEARS ALLOWED will be officially released July 1. It’s now available for pre-sale.

About the book:

Rabbit is afraid of many things, but most of all he’s afraid of gigantic, monstery, BEARS! The very nervous Rabbit is soon confronted by his worst fear who appears to be far more interested in making new friends than causing Rabbit any real harm. Despite his apprehension, Rabbit agrees to join his jovial new acquaintance for dinner, but wait a minute . . . is Bear planning to “have” Rabbit for dinner? In this tender story about a very nervous rabbit and a lovable bear, Rabbit discovers that things aren’t always as scary as they seem, and sometimes you may just have more in common with others than you think.

Lydia Lukidis is a children’s author with a multi-disciplinary background that spans the fields of literature, science and theater. So far, she has over 40 books and eBooks published, as well as a dozen educational books. Her latest STEM books include The Broken Bees’ Nest and The Space Rock Mystery. 

Lydia is also passionate about spreading the love of literacy. She regularly gives writing workshops in elementary schools across Quebec through the Culture in the Schools Program. Her aim is to help children cultivate their imagination, sharpen their writing skills and develop self-confidence. Visit her at lydialukidis.com.