Graphic novel publisher and debut author, Bethany Loveridge, shares tips for navigating kidlit publishing

In episode 48 of the Book Deal podcast, host Tina Strachan interviews Bethany Loveridge, a champion of children's literature. The episode explores Bethany's journey from writing her first story as a child to becoming a debut author with her middle grade novel, Harper Wells Renegade Timeline Officer. Bethany shares insights into her experiences, including the creation and publication of her graphic novel publishing house, Perenti Press. She offers valuable advice on navigating the publication process, writing strategies, and the importance of reading. Listeners also get an exclusive preview of Perenti Press's upcoming projects and tips for pitching submissions. Additionally, author Jessica Mansour-Nahra briefly discusses her upcoming Australian Gothic thriller, The Farm.

00:00 Introduction to the Book Deal Podcast
00:46 Meet Bethany Loveridge: Kid Lit Powerhouse
03:59 Bethany's Journey to Her First Book Deal
18:51 The Birth of Harper Wells: Renegade Timeline Officer
24:32 Upcoming Works and Future Plans
25:29 Exciting New Picture Book Release
25:55 Introducing 'The Farm': An Australian Gothic Thriller
27:51 Understanding Middle Grade Literature
34:36 The Importance of Graphic Novels
35:02 Launching Parenti Press: A New Publishing Venture
41:30 Tips for Aspiring Authors and Pitching Advice
48:18 Final Thoughts and Farewell

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Transcript

Tina and Madeleine: [00:00:00] This is the Book Deal podcast where you will discover the inspiring stories, the authors behind your favorite books. No matter what sage of writing you are at, we've got you covered. I'm Tina. And I'm Madeline Cleary, and join us as we pull back the curtain of published authors one deal at a time. 

Madeleine Cleary: The book Deal podcast acknowledges the traditional owners, the land and waters, which it's recorded on and pays respect to their elders past, present, and emerging.

Tina Strachan: Hello and welcome to the Book Deal podcast. My name is Tina Strachan, and in this episode I will be interviewing the Kid Lit Powerhouse, Bethany Loveridge.

Tina Strachan: Bethany is a champion of children's literature and has not only recently spearheaded a graphic novel [00:01:00] specific publishing house called Perenti Press, but she's also a debut author with her middle grade novel Harper Wells Renegade Timeline Officer out within days of this episode, going to air. Bethany has a wealth of knowledge for all authors and shares many tips and advice to help you with your publication journey.

Tina Strachan: It's an episode not to be missed.

Tina Strachan: Bethany Loveridge, thank you so much for joining me on the book Deal podcast. 

Bethany Loveridge: Um, I'm really happy to be talking to you, Tina. Thank you. 

Tina Strachan: Oh, look, it's taken us a little while to line up this interview, but I'm so glad we finally have and we've made it work and it's probably been a blessing though because, um, it's ended up, we are ending up recording like days before your debut book hits the shelves.

Tina Strachan: Nine days. Yes. Nine days and counting. Yeah. But we'll get into that. But I, and I've got so much that I wanted to want to get into with you, Bethany, and I know the listeners are really [00:02:00] going to enjoy this episode because you have so much to offer them. You are most definitely an industry professional.

Tina Strachan: Especially in the kit lit space and um, I think you are absolutely in your moment right now. Bethany, do you think? Aw, well 

Bethany Loveridge: I'm having a moment.

Bethany Loveridge: Hey, I think this is a great, um, a period of breakthrough. It's a bit dizzy, dizzying, almost, so, yeah. Yeah, it's pretty great. 

Tina Strachan: Yeah, and I think it's just the start too. I think if, if things are just gonna get better and better for you. Um, so Well that's, 

Bethany Loveridge: that's very kind, Tina. I'll take that. I'll take it. Just remember we were 

Tina Strachan: friends when you're at your dizzying heights.

Tina Strachan: Yeah, that's right. Um, yeah, so yeah, you're very well known in the kid Lit world, especially here in Southeast Queensland, but your resume now includes years as an arts educator within schools. You are an award-winning author and illustrator, a [00:03:00] 2025 debut Crower with two book series and a picture book signed.

Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm. 

Bethany Loveridge: You 

Tina Strachan: are the A champion of Love Oz mg, the newly appointed state leader of Squibb, or the society of children's writers and book illustrators for the Australian East region. Mm-hmm. And just this year you have announced your brand new publishing house specializing in graphic novels, Parenti Press.

Tina Strachan: And you're also a mom and you've got young kids. And so yeah, Bethany, I think my first question for you is, do you ever sleep? 

Bethany Loveridge: I told you. I told you I was feeling dizzy. Uh, yeah, I do. I do like sleeping. I like sleeping a lot. 

Tina Strachan: You would need a big rest after all of that. So obviously I have many, many questions for you and lots to ask you that I know our listeners will find, um, very, very helpful.

Tina Strachan: Mm. And, um, yes. And let's, we've gotta try and fit it all in. So [00:04:00] perhaps first, Bethany, um, because we love a good publication story here on the podcast, can you please tell us and take us on the journey with you from the moment you first started writing? To, and I mean, the very first moment I can see you.

Tina Strachan: Okay. Yep. Um, did everything you did in between that took you up to actually signing your first book deal? 

Bethany Loveridge: The, the best part about this is you told me that we've got, you know, less than half an hour and this is the first question my, just describe my journey. Alright, your time. I'll take, I'll take you back 10 years ago, please.

Bethany Loveridge: Uh, Tina. And actually, heck, I'll take you back. I'll take you back. Please do. I'm gonna take you back 30 years. Hey, I, um, I grew up. I grew up when computers were like really fat, and I had a standing tower next to them, um, and the internet was dial up and if anyone rang the phone while you were trying to ring up, you'd be disconnected.

Bethany Loveridge: Yeah. 

Bethany Loveridge: Um, you know, back in the [00:05:00] eighties, but in the, in the nineties, I started writing my first story on one of those old computers. Um, 

Bethany Loveridge: mm-hmm. 

Bethany Loveridge: Now, I think it was probably inspired by CS Lewis upon reflection, but essentially it was called, um, that Moss Should Grow, which I thought was really poetic and it was about, it's poetic.

Bethany Loveridge: Yeah. Thank you. I might yet write it. I know It was about this little girl who licked some moss on the side of a waterfall and, um, traveled into to a fantasy world. So. I love that. Hey, that was, um, prob probably gonna be a bestseller, but my, my, my tiny sister at the time flicked a little curious switch at the back of the computer and blew a fuse and, and um, you know, I think we're, we're, you know, the big floppy disks, I think.

Bethany Loveridge: Yeah. That, that was the only way of saving anything at that time. And, and I had not saved my masterpiece, so, um, but I'm sure it was great. Anyway, so that was, that was 30 years ago. Let's go 10 years ago now. Um. Somewhere in [00:06:00] the however many years in between. I don't even try maths that for you. It's fine. I think I sort of like forgot that.

Bethany Loveridge: I could be a writer or that that was a thing that people could do as a job. I think at school we think, well, we could be a teacher or a doctor or a marine biologist. 

Bethany Loveridge: Mm-hmm. 

Bethany Loveridge: And that, and, and you're a child of the nineties. Um, so you would, you would know that those were the three jobs you could do. 

Tina Strachan: Marine biologist.

Tina Strachan: That's what I was doing. 

Bethany Loveridge: That you were doing that one? Yeah. Well, well, I became a teacher, so, um, and. It was something that happened when I was, um, having some time off work as a teacher and I kind of discovered that the only way to write a book is actually to write it, which sounds like just the silliest thing.

Bethany Loveridge: And the only reason why some people are authors is because they wrote a book. I mean, mind, mind blowing stuff, isn't it? Um, so I did, I wrote this Awful Ya, it was about 70,000, 75,000 words. Um, [00:07:00] really awful, but. I wrote all the words of it and it came to the end and I wrote the end and I was like, oh my goodness.

Bethany Loveridge: Mm-hmm. That's how you write a book? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Like incredible. The biggest step, isn't it? It's the biggest step. Yeah. And it was trash and and that's fine. That's fine. It's part of the process. So, but then in, um, 20 20 20, um, about the middle of the year I was off teaching again. Here you go. There's a theme here.

Bethany Loveridge: And I had this dream about, um, a wall of my pine. Which is a tree that features throughout this story and this trilogy that's, um, my debut because I read an article about this tree that's, they call the dinosaur tree that disappeared from our fossil records and they thought was totally extinct and didn't exist, that a hiker found in the blue mountains, like hidden in between sandstone cliffs, hidden from the elements, had somehow survived and like outlived so many species of plants and animals.

Bethany Loveridge: Right. And I just thought. What a [00:08:00] magical tree. And I had this dream about the fact that this tree had been so eternal, um, you know, could mean or might mean that it could access through the fiber of the earth. Like Australia's timeline, obviously that's very scientific. Um, and when I woke up the next day, I wrote 7,000 words, the first 7,000 words of this story.

Bethany Loveridge: So, um, that's great. And we could all aspire to have dreams that make us wake up and write 7,000 words. 

Bethany Loveridge: Mm-hmm. 

Bethany Loveridge: So. Um, they were also bad and none of them are in the, the final book. But, but what I did with those 7,000 words is I entered a kill darlings, um, mentorship program. And for some reason Leanne Hall, who's a phenomenal children's author, um, wanted to work with me, which was incredible.

Bethany Loveridge: So with with Leanne in 2021, we finished the first draft. Um, I mean, I wrote it, but she was there. She taught me lots of amazing things like, yeah. The fact that you can write [00:09:00] five chapters to work your way into the story. Um, but Bethany, I'm sorry, your story actually only starts in chapter five. You need to delete all of that.

Bethany Loveridge: Um, and, and also to write with kindness. She's an incredibly kind, um, and empathetic person, and I think that has strengthened my stories. But anyway, so I finished a draft with Leanne's, um, guidance and I started submitting. It was way too early to do that. Um, I sent everywhere, all over the world that, you know, as we do, 'cause we dunno what we're doing.

Bethany Loveridge: Mm-hmm. Um, and I joined write links about that time, which is, um, if you are in Queensland or. More specifically, probably Brisbane than you might know of, right? Links who are a fabulous critique group, um, and support supportive organization that meet monthly swap pages. Um, very special group of people. And I also entered the Australian Society of Authors and Copyright Agency Awards mentorship program.

Bethany Loveridge: [00:10:00] And Christina Schultz became my mentor, and I, um, got one of those. So anyway, so I rewrote the whole thing again. Through that process, um, and then sent it out to some other places as you do. And then I got, um, lucky enough to be shortlisted for a varuna. Residency with it. And I went to Veruna for a week and I rewrote the whole thing 'cause I decided it needed to be present tense.

Bethany Loveridge: And I remember I had this assessment with, um, Luna Sue, who's one of the people who I've got in my acknowledgements. Um, she's from Marty Grant, that's not who published my book, but I had this assessment with her and I was like, ah, dear. Like, is, is it supposed to be first person or third person or present tense or person?

Bethany Loveridge: It's like, what's going on? And she just kind of looked at me and she was like, can you just stop wasting your time like it's cooked. It's to stop. Mm-hmm. Um, and I think that was like July 20, 23. Mm-hmm. And, and I sent it off to Wombat, [00:11:00] um, wombat books open like slush slush. Treasure pile. Is it? Yeah. Sorry.

Bethany Loveridge: Calls it treasure. Yeah, she, she calls it something like that. Yeah. Treasure tro. Treasure trove or op 

Tina Strachan: pile of opportunity. 

Bethany Loveridge: Yeah. I need to stop calling it a slush. It's awful. Um, anyway, so Rochelle picked it up out of that and. And it was still out there, it was still on submission to a few places, but Rochelle was so excited and, and it all happened really quickly.

Bethany Loveridge: And, um, I mean, I told you the day I signed the contract. Mm-hmm. So cheeky. 'cause that was CYA the next year. So Yeah. Um, and in that same kind of moment, Rochelle signed another trilogy, a junior fiction trilogy, um, with me as well. So. Um, is that enough of a story? Like there's a lot there. That's an incredible story.

Tina Strachan: It's there, there is a lot there, 

Bethany Loveridge: but well do, you know, it's, it's less than 50,000 words, but I reckon I've, you know, in the process have, have written about 200,000 unique words to get to that story. Mm-hmm. Lot and lots of rejection [00:12:00] and tears because, mostly because it was under baked. Mm. Until when you started, when you started 

Tina Strachan: submitting?

Tina Strachan: When I 

Bethany Loveridge: started submitting, yeah. Mm-hmm. 

Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm. It's not an uncommon story though for unpublished authors, you know, to send too early or to write like four times as many words as what actually ends up in there. Yeah. It's, it is just, it's almost like the natural evolution of a, of a completed and finished and well-rounded book in the end, isn't it?

Bethany Loveridge: Yeah. Well, this is a trilogy and so you know, that's. It was probably about five years almost of writing this first one. But the second one, a matter of months. 

Bethany Loveridge: Yeah. 

Bethany Loveridge: Because I knew what I was doing. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So, and given that you've outlined all the things I, many, many, too many things I do with my life, I really, really hate wasting time.

Bethany Loveridge: So I'm kind of like at a stage now where if I'm, you know, if I'm working on a project, I will make sure every, every minute that I have to write counts. Mm-hmm. Because. Otherwise I'll be angry with myself. Mm-hmm. [00:13:00] I'm not suggesting that's healthy saying, 

Tina Strachan: I'm saying that I get a bit panicky. I'm like, oh, must must spend this time.

Tina Strachan: Um, so given that you don't like to waste time, does that mean that you're a bit of a plotter? 

Bethany Loveridge: Oh yeah, absolutely. 

Tina Strachan: Interesting. I can't believe I haven't asked you that before. How do I not know that about you? 

Bethany Loveridge: Do I seem like wild and creative? Like maybe I just pants it? Do I have that kind of vibe? 

Tina Strachan: I see. I am adamant that we all do the same.

Tina Strachan: We all do the same thing. If you pants it, you end up doing some sort of plotting situation at the end to, to fix all the issues. Yeah. Um, see, but you pan pants, let's call it pants. Your first, what the first. Integration. 

Bethany Loveridge: Oh, yeah, totally. I didn't know, I didn't know what was happening in that story, and I didn't know how to write a book.

Bethany Loveridge: So, um, I, I would write chapter by chapter and read it to my daughter and my, and my, uh, long suffering husband and sort of get their response. And then, um, uh, and, you know, I was working with the mentor with those [00:14:00] two mentors that I mentioned who, um, you know, great gave great guidance, which was probably even better than plotting.

Bethany Loveridge: Mm-hmm. But yeah, now I, I will, I mean, I'm not, I'm not a, um, I'm not a super micro, micro plotter or anything. I don't, I'm sure there's like levels of plotters, but I will. Dream about something for a number of weeks, and I have notebooks around the house and I will like write down an idea or I'll draw a picture 'cause um mm-hmm.

Bethany Loveridge: Obviously love illustration as well. So I'll draw something like, might be an aspect of the world that's fantastical or a character or something. Um, and I'll never look at it those again. Yeah. But there's something about like the pen and the paper pen to paper that kind of puts it in your brain anyway.

Bethany Loveridge: Mm-hmm. More so than like any note I send on a phone or in a, yeah. You know, document. 

Bethany Loveridge: Yep. 

Bethany Loveridge: And after I've dreamt about it, thought about it for a couple of weeks, then I will do like a chapter outline. 

Bethany Loveridge: Mm-hmm. 

Bethany Loveridge: Where I'll have like a couple of [00:15:00] sentences per chapter all the way from beginning to end, make sure that stakes are high enough, make sure the ending is happy, hope, hopeful.

Bethany Loveridge: Mm-hmm. And then before I start, yeah, I like that. Yeah. So that's probably not like. S like I've seen what some people do. 

Tina Strachan: Yeah. Yeah. And 

Bethany Loveridge: I, I'm impressed. But 

Tina Strachan: yeah. No, but I think that's important because, and also I think the key to to that as well is that you've spent all this time thinking about it. Like I know some people literally open up a blank page with no idea what's gonna come out or where it's going, and.

Tina Strachan: And then just pants their way through like that. But, but I, and you sound like the same as me. I don't do that until I actually have basically the whole story in my head. Almost like a book that's already written or a movie that's already written. It's all there. Yeah. And so when I open up that, that blank page, I, I know where it's sort of headed and it can change, but um, oh yeah, it does basically know where it's gonna go and how it's gonna end and Mm.

Tina Strachan: Yeah. Some of those exciting scenes are in your head already. 

Bethany Loveridge: Whole, [00:16:00] like, um, you know, secondary storylines will appear that you, that you didn't know were gonna appear or mm-hmm. You know, and, and the characters really gain their personalities as you're writing. Yeah. Um, you know, more than any other way.

Bethany Loveridge: Mm-hmm. Um, although with this first, this first trilogy, I did a, um. The ARD darlings middle grade writing for middle grade online course that Daniel Binks, um, had put together. Mm-hmm. And so I did do a lot of like, character profiling and sort of like following along with that. Um, you know, I went on on the stock image websites and found like pictures of my characters and Yeah.

Bethany Loveridge: And I kind of had them in my mind then, um. But now I probably don't do that as much. 

Tina Strachan: Yeah, well now, now it's all up. In your mind, that's kind of like doing your research right before you, before you do your writing, which a lot of people spend years researching sometimes, don't they? Before they start writing anything.

Bethany Loveridge: Yeah. Well, historical fiction, yes. And the most [00:17:00] frustrating thing about that is you kind of like, you know, my, my story features Edith Cow and this one, the next one is constant stone. Like these are historical, um, Australian females, so much research. Mm-hmm. And, and then if you kind of try and put any, any of that on the page, it's boring.

Bethany Loveridge: So, I mean, it's really tricky to kind of like show that you have researched something without a. Writing, you know? Mm. And in 1921 on this day. Yeah. Um, you know, anyway. 

Tina Strachan: Do you write first and then insert or try and find the right bit of historical research that fits the story that you're writing? Or do you actually get the, all the research first and then sort of base your story around what you found out?

Bethany Loveridge: Um, yeah, that's a good question. I think. Recently, recently wrote something different that I decided I wanted the character to be an apprentice wagon builder. Um, and I watched a whole lot of videos about how to make [00:18:00] wagons, um, on, on YouTube and like, you know, medieval society, whatever's, um, and, and got a book about it.

Bethany Loveridge: And um, yeah, all of that was before I started writing, I think. 'cause I wanted to understand. Um, you know, I wanted to really understand the world before I started writing. I probably, like, I might leave out a tiny detail, like if I was writing something and I wanted to. You there was, there was a flow happening, but I wanted to write about a house and I didn't know whether the houses were made outta brick or what.

Bethany Loveridge: I might, I might like come back and then make a review note in the Word document to say, yeah, actually find out what the answer to this is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I like that. But other than that, like big stuff is part, that's part of the story, you know, that will be before. 

Tina Strachan: Hmm. So you're talking about your debut Noble out in just nine days.

Tina Strachan: Um, so Harper Wells Renegade Timeline Officer. [00:19:00] And congratulations, Bethany, especially being like it's the first full apart from your marvelous, um, Moss Licking book when you are 10. But that's never finished. That was never finished. There's always time. There's time. Mm-hmm. Um. You know, there's something really special about publishing pretty much that first book that you really put all that thought and effort into, because I think sometimes our hearts are, are with those ones and it feels very special.

Tina Strachan: So can you tell us a little bit about Harper Wells? It's the this the Renegade Timeline Officer. So this is the first book in the trilogy. Can you tell us, um, a little bit more about it? Uh, you said that you had a dream and that's what initiated it. Uh, yeah. Can you tell us about the, the first book and, and a little bit about the other books that are to come?

Bethany Loveridge: Yeah, I'd love to tell you about it. Um, so Harper Wells is a 12-year-old girl who lives with her father, who is overbearing, equally overbearing and absent somehow. Um, and a [00:20:00] really, um, annoying older brother, which. I based on your brother at all. Well, I was gonna say that then I thought, oh no, don't say that.

Bethany Loveridge: Look, I love my brothers. He's, um, one of my best friends. Um, but my childhood experience with my brother certainly inspired, inspired the brother character. Um, but her, her family is like that because her mother who used to work at State Museum, disappeared, went to work and disappeared, didn't come back. Um, and the father is kind of still looking for clues and trying to find her, um.

Bethany Loveridge: She was a plant scientist working at the museum, and the father is an artist, so they worked together. Um, anyway, so she has this kind of interesting family dynamic and her response, even though she kind of doesn't know it, her response to her mother missing is, um, a bit of anxiety. So she, you know, that's prevalent throughout the story as well, um, and how she deals with that.

Bethany Loveridge: Also did a lot of research into that. Um, [00:21:00] but anyway, so this is the family dynamic, my character to Harry or Harper. She goes to an op shop. She's finally getting her own room away from her brother. She finds a bed, um, it's kind of ugly and heavy, and she makes her dad and her brother taken home for her.

Bethany Loveridge: And it's made outta all of my pine and is a time traveling device. So that's a setup for the story. And in the first book, she meets Edith Cowen. Um, who is Australia's first female parliamentarian, but when Ededie was Edie Brown. So she's 70 years old. She's just, um, been shafted to a boarding house and not long after that, her father is, um, hanged because he shoots his wife.

Bethany Loveridge: Anyway, so Ed Ededie has this fully tumultuous, um, childhood. Which is very interesting and important part of the story. Uh, essentially Harry just goes back and makes friends with Edie 'cause they're lovely girls and, you know, um, but she gets busted by the [00:22:00] timeline agency who own the beds, who control the Australian timeline.

Bethany Loveridge: And she's just like breaking all the constitutional rules. You shall not go back and talk to people in the past like the number one rule. Um, and so she. Has to pretend to be a timeline officer. So she does get terminated, AKA knocked off. Um, and so there's a bit of danger and um, she finds out that a lot of timeline officers have been kidnapped.

Bethany Loveridge: And so she then she goes on a rescue mission to try and find the rightful owner of her bed and the reason why her bed ended up in the op shop in the first place, even though she doesn't really want to give up her bed 'cause she loves it.

Bethany Loveridge: I think I'm probably supposed to give you like a, like a, like a pithy two sentence pitch in answer to that question. And I, and I just took you on another journey, um, in the interest of making this a half an hour interview. Um, but yeah, so it's very, like, it was important to me to kind of, um, celebrate.

Bethany Loveridge: Australian historical females. Um, in the second book, [00:23:00] Constance Stone, she's Australia's first female medical doctor. She had to travel to America to study. Um, I've given those historical women very different kind of personalities, uh, which is my license to do that as a historical fiction author and has been really fun.

Bethany Loveridge: Um, and then in the third one. She meets Jesse Hickman, who was a notorious, uh, bush ranger, female bush ranger who hid in the Woolite National Park. Um, so obviously lots more danger and excitement and action in the third one. Mm-hmm. So I'm kind of doing all the genres, like there's historical fiction in all of them.

Bethany Loveridge: Um, lots of probably adventure, uh, and thrill. And the first one, the second one's a bit more of a mystery. And the third one, we are gonna. It's gonna be a showdown. Look, I haven't written it. It has to be. I haven't written the third one yet, Tina, but it's gonna be great. It's gonna tie everything all together perfectly.

Bethany Loveridge: I bet. 

Tina Strachan: Yeah. It'll, it'll wrap up all those ends. And how can you go wrong with a female bush ranger? I have to say. [00:24:00] I 

Bethany Loveridge: know. That sounds incredible. 

Tina Strachan: It sounds incredible. I'm, I'm so excited. And, um, I can see why Wombat snapped it up as soon as they 

Bethany Loveridge: got a hold of it. 

Tina Strachan: Uh, 'cause it just sounds incredible and it's gonna do amazing things.

Tina Strachan: Well done 

Bethany Loveridge: Bethany. Oh, thank you. I'm very, I'm very excited. It's all, it's all a bit like, um, surreal as well, isn't it? Mm, mm-hmm. I mean, I'm asking you that question 'cause you've also part of the debut crew and you just kind of like. Yeah, 

Tina Strachan: yeah. Only a few months ahead of you, so, yeah. Yeah. Yes, it is a, it is a pretty incredible experience.

Tina Strachan: Um, so Harper Wells is middle grade, and that's, you write middle grade, you've got a picture book signed as well, but you, I have, I 

Bethany Loveridge: have two, two picture books, um, coming out next year. Sorry. Two. Oh, sorry. 

Tina Strachan: I cannot keep up. Yes. 

Bethany Loveridge: Well, I'm very excited about both of them. The first one, um, coming out at the beginning of the year with Little Book Press is illustrated by Chris Ken, and that will be like fun and silly and amazing.

Bethany Loveridge: And a funny story about that is that, [00:25:00] um, I wrote that story in like a day. I just had this idea and just wrote this story came, came so easily, picture book, so like 350 words and I thought it was gonna be the first one published. And I was, and I had this 'cause Harper got bought forward a year. Because it was supposed to be, um, next year originally.

Bethany Loveridge: And so my first book was gonna be this, this picture book that I love and it's fun, but like, not the labor of love, you know, so it's worked out well for me. That, that Harper Wells is the first book. It's very correct. Um, and then my second picture book coming out just before Father's Day, um, with Wombat is very exciting.

Bethany Loveridge: Mm-hmm. 

Bethany Loveridge: And that's sort of an homage to being a, a creative child. Who wants to, to share their creativity all over your walls and 

Jessica Mansour-Nahra: I am Jessica Mansour-Nahra and Hachette Australia is publishing [00:26:00] my debut novel called The Farm. The Farm comes out on Tuesday, the 26th of August, and I'm so excited to bring this Australian Gothic thriller to readers all over the farm. Concerns my main character, Layla, an independent 37-year-old woman from Sydney, who unfortunately suffers a serious health tragedy and.

Jessica Mansour-Nahra: It sends her into a deep level of depression. She unfortunately can't recover the way she had hoped to, and so her concerned and loving partner James says to her, let's go and spend a year away from Sydney at my family farm, and we can recover rest and rediscover each other, and Layla immediately agrees.

Jessica Mansour-Nahra: Now when she arrives, however, she realizes that the farm is actually more isolated than she had expected, and she spends most days there alone. While James goes to work in the nearby town of Bathurst, soon she starts to [00:27:00] experience some unexplained, potentially supernatural phenomena, and she has to work out is it her?

Jessica Mansour-Nahra: Is she hallucinating? Is it perhaps something to do with the relationship she's in and why she's been brought to the farm? Or is there another mystery concerning the history of the house itself? I am so thrilled for readers to discover the farm. It's a timely look at women and their bodies, our level of autonomy over them, and it asks questions about who's really in control of our lives and our fertility.

Jessica Mansour-Nahra: I hope women get excited to read this. I hope that it is suspenseful and that there's twists and turns that you'll enjoy and if you read the farm, thank you very much and I hope you enjoy 

Jessica Mansour-Nahra: it.

Tina Strachan: So can you explain for those people that don't know about middle grade, um, what that is?

Tina Strachan: 'cause I love middle grade too, and I write middle grade [00:28:00] myself. Um, sort of what that category is

Bethany Loveridge: yeah, I think, um. I think when I was a kid, in between when I wrote that story that got deleted.

Bethany Loveridge: Um, and, you know, all those many years later, I kind of went from reading, uh, teen Power Inc. Emily Rodders, teen Power, Inc. Which, and, um, Rowan of R which would be middle grade like to, to Robin Hub. Like, and there's nothing in between. There wasn't a lot in between. There wasn't a lot to kind of read. So I think, um, and, and, and definitely not a lot of Australian literature.

Bethany Loveridge: So it's really exciting now that kids who are between that eight to 12 kind of age bracket, you know, there's so much, so much to read. Um, and so we're doing well. We're doing well. Um. That's what Love oz mg is really about celebrating and championing, um, Australian authors of, um, middle [00:29:00] grade fiction. So I mentioned the age range.

Bethany Loveridge: It's typically, it's eight to 12, somewhere in between there. Um, it's readers who, um, like their stories pacey, so they tend to be page turners. Um, there doesn't tend to be kind of a lot of. I mean, there's all those lines, there's those lines, there's plenty of lines. So we're not going into anything graphic, um, in terms of violence or sex or horror or whatever.

Bethany Loveridge: Um, another rule is that there's a happy ending or that, or that there's some kind of hope at the end, even if it's a bittersweet kind of ending.

Bethany Loveridge: I think it's exciting. Look, I'm an adult and I find it really difficult to read adult. Because it moves so slowly after you, um, are kind of like, I mean, I write middle grade love. That's my favorite, um, age group to write for.

Bethany Loveridge: It doesn't really, it's not really a genre. There's every kind of genre in, in middle grade, there's graphic novels in, in middle grade. It's really just about that age's about capturing, um, the attention, keeping the momentum of [00:30:00] kids like. Until they get to ya. Like between their kind of picture book and early readers and junior fiction, like we lose them.

Bethany Loveridge: Mm-hmm. Because there's TV and there's friends and there's a whole huge big world of stuff that, um, you know, unless we are making books that they wanna read mm-hmm. Then we lose readers there and they never come back. 

Tina Strachan: Yeah. 

Bethany Loveridge: Um, or they wait till their thirties. 

Tina Strachan: Yes. 

Bethany Loveridge: Yeah. Um, and even, and, but I don't think that's.

Bethany Loveridge: I think I'm lucky. I'm a lucky person who kind of like stopped reading after high school and didn't start reading again until I was almost 30, so. Mm-hmm. Um. Yeah, certainly not uncommon. It's kind of like this black, there's a black hole. I dunno what, I dunno what happened in that time of my life. I don't think I read a single book.

Bethany Loveridge: Um, so it's really, it's really to me like imagine if my, imagine if I'd kept reading that whole time. 

Tina Strachan: Yeah. 

Bethany Loveridge: Because that's like, I'll read it. [00:31:00] Catherine Rundell story or a Jessica Townsend story, or Samantha Ellen bound story, and I will be like, oh, yeah, that is, I, I'm invested in that story world and I will wanna write, you know, the, the reading and writing is so connected to me.

Bethany Loveridge: If I'm reading something I'm not into, then I will also be having a writing slump. Mm. It's like I get that 

Tina Strachan: too. 

Bethany Loveridge: Do you? 

Tina Strachan: Yeah. Yeah. It affects what you are writing. Yeah, a hundred percent. 

Bethany Loveridge: Do you have a GoTo like. If you need to get in a writing mood, do you have a go-to author to read? Uh, 

Tina Strachan: no. I don't really. I just make sure that what I'm reading within the stack that I have beside my bed is, I think in line with what I'm writing.

Tina Strachan: I wanna get into that vibe. And because I'm the same, I, I, I do read adults through to, you know, junior fiction, so sometimes have to calm down on the adult if I'm, if I'm writing, if I'm writing something. But, um, I, I think it's also, um. Interesting story on that. I just came back from writers on the Reef residency.

Bethany Loveridge: Yeah. 

Tina Strachan: Um, last week. And I was the only kid lit [00:32:00] author there, and I was working on something that was, um, well I thought it was middle grade and it might still be middle grade, but. Um, there were three poets on the residency with us and, um, and an adult literary fiction author and I, I don't know, but I think just being around them as well.

Tina Strachan: Just my writing was more, um, more, it was more poetic. It. I can't even explain it. I don't know why. I think I just felt that, I don't know, I just kind of sucked up the vibe of everyone around me and just, yeah, just wrote it and it was, yeah, it was really lovely actually to, to get back into that space. So, yeah.

Tina Strachan: So it's everything. Hey, it's probably a little bit of your surroundings as well, is what you're reading. 

Bethany Loveridge: Yeah, well, there you go. I have an 8-year-old daughter, so they, you know, but I've been writing middle grade for a long time, obviously, but she's, she's finally in the middle grade, um, you know, age bracket right down the bottom of it.

Bethany Loveridge: So I've [00:33:00] got this amazing bookshelf, um, and, and many stacks of books throughout my house and many, many middle grade, um, stories. And there's definitely some though that I, that I think are, you know, that 10 plus, so she can't read those yet. Um, yeah. But she's funny. Like she's read Remi LA's, um, ghost book a lot of times under her covers.

Bethany Loveridge: She's not allowed to read that one yet. Um, and she's read it, so, and she's read it so many times. I know she has. And, and she keeps asking me and I said, well, you know, you're not allowed to, but also you have read it. And she says, yeah, but I wanna read it like in daylight. Well, I'm not hiding from you, mom.

Bethany Loveridge: Yeah. Oh yeah. She's the rat bag. Yeah. She's one of those kids who, um. Stays up way too late reading. But as if you, I just can't be mad. 

Tina Strachan: No, you can't. No, it's awesome. It's incredible. I have one of them and I have one that isn't, but you know, I'll take one. That's the best I can do, 

Bethany Loveridge: Tina. [00:34:00] I have a child who likes nonfiction.

Bethany Loveridge: I just dunno what to do. Me too. I actually 

Tina Strachan: do also, that's the, I have someone, one who reads in, in who's, who's 11 and reading Young Adult now. Yeah. Like depending on what it is and, um. One who's just reading books about bugs and things. Yeah. And I have to say, look, if you can't, you know, it is a different vibe reading, you know, stats and figures as a bedtime story, but you know, if that's what entertains them, it's still reading.

Tina Strachan: It's definitely still reading. 

Bethany Loveridge: Of course it is. It's definitely still reading, but it's certainly, um. It's certainly hard, harder for me as the story. I know, 

Tina Strachan: I know. I try, I try to be interested, but, you know, um, and that's the other thing I wanna talk to you about, and this is where, um, I guess it's so important with that crossover and, and getting kids into, uh, reading stories and just books in general is graphic novels.

Bethany Loveridge: Mm. 

Tina Strachan: You know, you know a little bit about them, don't you think? I I like them. I like them. You like them a little bit. You like it so much that you just, you [00:35:00] know, started up your own publishing. Press Parenti Press. And can you explain for people who don't understand what graphic novels are, 'cause they're not new, they have been rough for a little while, but they're certainly gaining momentum now and, um, a little bit about what they are, um, where they sort of sit on the shelf.

Tina Strachan: Um, can you, yeah. Can you tell us a little bit about that? 

Bethany Loveridge: Well, I, um, grew up reading comics, which aren't, which aren't quite the same. Uh, comics tend to be like, uh, serialized both in the newspaper. I read them like little tiny line by line, weekly snippets. What's gonna happen to Calvin and Hobbs? Although I think I always saw that one was boring, but then, but I, yeah, my, my grandparents bought all the Phantom comics, um, and the Archie Digest comics, so that's what I kind of grew up on.

Bethany Loveridge: Um, I read lots of Tintin and I read lots of asterisk and obl, so, um, or how good is. Asterisks. Um, it's television [00:36:00] adaptation. So good. Everyone should go and watch that anyway. Um, so, but graphic novels kind of like, you know, from that same world in terms of visual storytelling, in terms of telling the story through panels, um, with words and text.

Bethany Loveridge: But a graphic novel tends to be a standalone, um, fully self-contained story. Um, and. There's lots of interesting and very cool formats that you can find a graphic novel. Um, they might have mostly paneled, uh, illustrations, but then they might have like beautiful full spread. We're gonna slow down and feel something at this part of the story.

Bethany Loveridge: Um, spreads and, um, they come in picture book format, uh, and they are made for adults as well. So, and, and everything in between. Um. And I think they are kind of so popular because of that. They're, they're quite pacey. You can see the action on the page. They're like, if you are not watching the tv, [00:37:00] maybe, maybe the closest thing if you have to read a book, mom, um, then, because they're full color usually 

Tina Strachan: too, aren't they?

Bethany Loveridge: Well, they can be, they're quite expensive and I think like, um, quite expensive. And therefore like a, it, there's a risk associated with, um, going into publishing graphic novels who do that. What maniacs, um. But yes, uh, certainly PTI press plans to make, uh, full color graphic novels, um, for children at this stage as well.

Bethany Loveridge: So, uh, I think people are really excited. We haven't even made any books yet. We've announced some incredible creators, um, but people are already excited. And we've already kind of like found great success in, in terms of people who wanna support us to get their stories out there. So, um, she says very diplomatically, not spilling Anys Secrets, 

Tina Strachan: but you can check out Renzi Press website Oh yeah.

Tina Strachan: On the Instagram. And that will give you a little bit of a clue into um, yeah, who's currently. [00:38:00] 

Bethany Loveridge: Well, our first TI titles are coming next year. Um, about the middle of next year, we'll have some books on the shelves. So that's exciting. It's so exciting. And we're working with, um, all Australian creators. We're working with lots of author illustrators, which is pretty special because, um, you know, the stories have totally come out of their brains and through their fingers and onto the pages.

Bethany Loveridge: So 

Tina Strachan: that's, I'm excited. 

Bethany Loveridge: I'm excited about that. 

Tina Strachan: Yeah, I can't wait. So you are a publisher now, Bethany. And um, so are you open for pictures? Do you have your own not slash pile, your pile of, um, opportunity, path of opportunity? What are you gonna call it? 

Bethany Loveridge: I don't know. I'll clearly have to think about that prior to this interview.

Bethany Loveridge: Um, so that I sound clever, I, we have got, um, some, a pitch opportunity at Sketch and Scribe Festival, which is coming up in October. Um. And apart from that, we are running the Preti [00:39:00] Prize at the moment, which is really exciting. It's for authors only, writers only, um, which is an incredible, it's, it's really hard to get into the market of writing graphic novels if you're not an illustrator.

Bethany Loveridge: So that's why we are doing this. Um, it's opened until the 1st of November. There's lots of genres that you can enter and, um. Nonfiction as well. Clearly we all know what I feel about that. Um, but I also, I know there are people out there who love nonfiction, so we do have a nonfiction category, um, and that's for people who can't draw.

Bethany Loveridge: So you should, I'm really excited about that. Yeah. Well, there you go. You should, you should set a, a graphic novel, Tina. So it's, it, it has to be a complete manuscript. Um. We got some more information about that on the website. So at the moment, those two things, the pitch at Sketch and Scribe and the per enterprise are the only way of getting just words in front of us.

Bethany Loveridge: Mm-hmm. If you are an author, illustrator. [00:40:00] Um, we are open for submissions on our website. Under the submissions tab, there's a button that says, submit your idea and you can upload, um, some sample artwork and some, and some sample pages for us. Or if you're just an illustrator and you really, really, really wanna, um, illustrate someone else's words.

Bethany Loveridge: We wanna hear from you too. So, and same place. 

Tina Strachan: And what are you, are you looking for anything specific? Is there something that you've, like a gap that you're trying to fill or you're currently open to all suggestions and genres? 

Bethany Loveridge: Well, yeah, we are open to all the things. Um, I, I really wanna see a mystery, like a super hooky, twisty, surprising mystery.

Bethany Loveridge: Mm. But that's off the record. 

Tina Strachan: No, Don, it's okay. No one's listening. It's not good. 

Bethany Loveridge: Um, yeah, but I do though. I just like, how cool would that be? It'd be really cool. We have, we have some amazing, um, Kim Han is making us just the most [00:41:00] incredible little early reader, graphic novel. I'm super excited about that.

Bethany Loveridge: We have another junior fiction graphic novel coming from Brent Wilson. Um. And we have, I'm trying, as I'm talking, remembering which ones we've announced. Um, and we have a spectacular YA one coming from, um, Wendy Tyra I'm really excited about too. So we don't really have a gap in terms of something we don't have.

Bethany Loveridge: We just want really compelling stories and something that is just begging to be told visually. 

Tina Strachan: Yeah. That's great. And so you say the pitch, it's coming up, the, you know, author illustrators can submit online. So what, what makes, but what suggestions do you have for people that wanna submit or want to pitch?

Tina Strachan: What is do's and don'ts for pitching? What's some good tips and tricks? Um, what's the inside goss? 

Bethany Loveridge: The inside goss? Well, the inside Goss, um. I do have, I do have an information session coming up, um, [00:42:00] that gives, that gives kind of a really comprehensive idea about the things that we like and some things that we don't like, as well as, um, a suggestion for formatting.

Bethany Loveridge: But honestly there's not really any rules in terms of how you present it to us. This is kind of a new thing, um, for everyone really like. For all publishers everywhere. Well, probably not. There's probably some overseas who definitely know what they're doing. Um, so it's really just about communicating your strong story, your strong hook, your point of difference, um, and all those other buzzwords that every publisher tells you when you ask that question.

Bethany Loveridge: Tina. Um. But I do, I really wanna know what, what the hook is. I, I like a story that has a strong narrative arc, even if it's, even if it's nonfiction. Like I still wanna know why we're turning pages and why and how we're being led through the story. So I think making that really clear. Um, because yeah, I don't like books that you kind [00:43:00] of read a chapter and then maybe you don't really care to read anymore.

Bethany Loveridge: Hmm. Yeah, 

Tina Strachan: no, that's good tips and that they are tricky things to do, isn't it? Capture people in that first chapter and, you know, help 'em to understand. Or show them what the, what the character's wants and needs are and, and connect to that character. It's a, it is actually really tricky. So, yeah, it's really, it's really good that you're doing that workshop ahead of it, I have to say.

Tina Strachan: And often when you enter, um, or sometimes when you enter competitions and, um, assessments, the people who are organizing it will offer that sort of workshop or, you know, there'll be online videos on. On how to do it, to give you some ideas and suggestions so you're, you know, making the most of your entry.

Tina Strachan: And I think that's really important because. I've had the last one, the last, uh, assessment that I entered, uh, I, yeah. Feedback I had from everybody, uh, who I had conversations with, the publishers were, this is great, this is like, you just set it out perfectly. I'm like, I just simply followed the instructions.

Tina Strachan: Like it's not, I, [00:44:00] it wasn't me that came up with it, I just followed the instructions. So, yeah, you know, when it comes to submissions, check your submissions criteria, 

Bethany Loveridge: you know, 

Tina Strachan: check what the publishers are, um, looking for. Don't submit something that's. They're just not looking for, if they say, set it out a particular way, set it out a particular way, they all might have something, a different way that they want it, but just do it.

Tina Strachan: If you have to do it 15 different times, do it 15 different times because it makes a difference. 

Bethany Loveridge: Have you, have you heard the podcast? Um, and I'm not gonna swear, but the, the bleep mm-hmm. They don't tell you about writing. 

Tina Strachan: Yes. 

Bethany Loveridge: Yeah. Well, I, um, not to plug another podcast that's not even Australian on your, on your podcast.

Bethany Loveridge: Um, 

Tina Strachan: no, but we love it too. It's a very, it's, it's brilliant. 

Bethany Loveridge: I've, I've listened to that for almost as long as I've been writing, so I kind of felt like when it came time for me personally, as a, as a writer to submit. I felt like quite equipped. Yeah. So I would say to people looking ready to query, um, [00:45:00] that that's a pretty reasonable resource to go and have a look.

Bethany Loveridge: Mm-hmm. In terms of structuring, um, your query, putting your hook up front, putting your point of difference up front as an author, um, if you are writing nonfiction, that's another clue. If you're writing nonfiction, we really need to see why you are qualified to tell that story. Mm-hmm. Um. If you're writing fiction, it's just gotta be strong.

Tina Strachan: Yeah. And then, so that's the same with the, so the pitch, the pitches that you were talking about that are coming up, they're in person? Yeah. Um, or online. Oh, they're online. They're online. This the, the for sketch and scribe? Yeah. Yeah. And are they like a three minute pitch? 

Bethany Loveridge: They are, but I think they're on the 1st of September, so.

Bethany Loveridge: Oh, okay. Very soon. You might have to 

Tina Strachan: In general. In general. I think, I think that'll be over. That's okay. This, no, this will be out before. Oh. So, you know, if, if you, if you're participating, um, it's the same thing like you said in writing. Um, make sure you get your hook up front. Do you think, you [00:46:00] know, tips, 'cause that's, those three minutes are tricky when you're trying to pitch, trying to get it out there quick.

Tina Strachan: You, is it the same thing, do you think, uh, get your hook out there early 

Bethany Loveridge: So tips for that are to talk about your story. Um. I promise you that like I will find out your name and I will probably see who you are so you don't have to spend a lot of time telling me who you are. Um, I think that's reasonably universal if someone, like, if you have a strong pitch with a publisher, that they can, they can find that out for themselves.

Bethany Loveridge: Um, but what they can't find out is the story that you haven't published. So I think, um, start with a, start with a pithy hook, a really short kind of. Something special about your story. Not like I did before when you asked me about my story. Um, 'cause I am really bad at three minute pictures. Hey, the other thing is I so don't mind if you read like mm-hmm.

Bethany Loveridge: You know, every time I do. That's good to know. I do one of these things like I will have, 'cause it's not enough time [00:47:00] mm-hmm. To, to stumble and. Say a silly thing if you're like me, like, oh, oh, sorry. Coffee. I haven't had enough of it. And did you know the best coffee comes from, you know? Yeah, 

Tina Strachan: yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tina Strachan: No. Okay. That's good to know because I think people worry about that. Yeah, they think they have. I mean, and great if you can memorize it and just, you know, run it all off, but. Whether someone can memorize some their pitch or not is, that's not the test gonna be Yeah, that's not the test. No, it's, it's what is your hawk and Yeah.

Tina Strachan: So if you have to read, just do yourself a favor and read. 

Bethany Loveridge: Yeah, I do. I, I think, um, comps, like comparative titles are really important. Mm-hmm. Um, and. It's good when they are contemporary as well, because that shows that you are a reader and that's, um, important to me. 

Bethany Loveridge: Mm-hmm. 

Bethany Loveridge: As a reader. Mm-hmm. Not just because it shows that you kind of can speak the language that you're trying to speak, but it also tells me that you are part of the community.

Bethany Loveridge: Mm-hmm. 

Bethany Loveridge: You know, like how good is [00:48:00] that when you are a creator and you. Buy other people's books. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Because that's the industry you wanna keep, you wanna keep alive. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So that's, 

Tina Strachan: that's really important, really important information. Good luck everybody. Who's pitching next week or, um, any other pictures upfront that, uh, sorry, in the future.

Tina Strachan: So I have one more question for you, Bethany. You've given us lots of tips and helpful advice, but. What, do you have any other advice for aspiring authors or debut authors on this journey? What's, what's your one greatest, biggest tip? 

Bethany Loveridge: Uh, my greatest, biggest one tip is mm-hmm. To read. Yeah. Which I think I said lots of times throughout this, over and over, but, um, yeah.

Bethany Loveridge: Read. Mm-hmm. And. All sorts of things, I guess, but particularly what you wanna write. I mean, I, I think I have a couple of picture books. I find them incredibly difficult to [00:49:00] write. Um, but. I read picture books all the time. I still read them to my, to my kids. 

Bethany Loveridge: Mm-hmm. 

Bethany Loveridge: Um, and you know, there's a couple that I love to read, whether I don't know what it is about them, I mean, they're a bit funny or the rhythm to the story feels nice as you're reading.

Bethany Loveridge: Or you know, there's moments where you can say something in a certain way that will make one of your children respond with laughter or like give you a cuddle or whatever the moment is, you know? Um, and those picture books, I will. Keep in a pile by my desk and sometimes I will read them and then study them, like there's only 300 words in there, but I'll type them down into a document and go, what's happening here?

Bethany Loveridge: How did they do that? Mm-hmm. Um, and that's a bit easier with picture books than it is with the, with the 50,000, um, middle grader or 70,000 ya, or whatever it is. It's the same, like it becomes a language that you, that you learn as you read it. Mm-hmm. So, and then you can speak it [00:50:00] maybe. 

Tina Strachan: I love that. That's incredible.

Tina Strachan: Incredible tips. 

Bethany Loveridge: Thank you. Hey, I, I came into this interview and I had to say something clever so you could use it as a pull quote. So something's in there, hopefully. 

Tina Strachan: Okay. Yeah, there'll be a lot. There'll be a lot. Because you know, we do like to quote. Oh, Bethany, thank you so much for your time today. You are a very busy lady, so I won't keep you any longer.

Tina Strachan: Um, but this has been so great and I know that the listeners are gonna love this episode. There's so much information and thank you for sharing. 

Bethany Loveridge: Mm. I'm super excited to chat to you. Anytime. 

Tina Strachan: Congratulations on Harper Wells. Good luck with the launch. 

Bethany Loveridge: Thank you. 

Tina Strachan: Thank you for listening to the Book Deal podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the pod so you can receive updates as soon as our new apps drop and to keep up to date with what the pod is doing. You can also find us on Instagram.