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n this episode Mark interviews Jacob from the JJ McFaull is collaboration children’s book Where Pumpkins Go After Halloween.
Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update and a word about this episode’s sponsor.
This episode is sponsored by the new book The Podcast Guest Playbook co-authored by Mark and Matty Dalrymple.
Check out the book here: https://books2read.com/podcastguestplaybook
In the interview, Mark and Jacob talk about:
Mark and Jacob talk about:
- How even as a kid, Jacob was making up stories
- Getting involved in the book industry in 2024 after initially trying to get his children’s book published
- The organization CANSCAPE (Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers) which is a great resource for creators
- The title for his book which incites the right questions in people
- Seeing pumpkins left on the curb after Halloween, which is what inspired the story
- Collaborating with his father James and working as an author/illustrator duo under the name JJ McFaull (JJ being short for Jacob and James)
- How Jacob’s father has been an illustrator his entire life
- The origin of how the book got conceived and published
- An important design element Jacob would recommend for children’s book authors to consider
- Some of the challenges with the quality of POD children’s books ordered from Amazon
- Selling books at in person fairs and other locales
- How having the book tied in to a specific holiday (Halloween) can be really beneficial
- How farmers markets were a great place for Jacob to set up for selling his books in person
- The way that having a pre-illustrated book on submission to a publisher can actually work against an author
- A little bit about the YA book that Jacob is working on right now
- The Christmas themed picture book that JJ McFaull will be releasing in the fall of 2025
- Advice Jacob would offer to other writers
- And more…
After the interview Mark reflects on the unique father-and-son collaboration as well as on the importance of recognizing where additional talent needs to be brought in on a project.
Here are the different cover image styles as discussed in the interview.
Links of Interest:
- JJ McFaull’s Website
- JJ McFaull Instagram
- The Indy Author Podcast – Episode 291: The Podcast Guest Playbook with Mark Leslie Lefebvre
- Manuscript Report (Mark’s affiliate link)
- Buy Mark a Coffee
- Patreon for Stark Reflections
- Mark’s YouTube channel
- Mark’s Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
- An Author’s Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
- The Relaxed Author
- Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
- An Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
- Wide for the Win
- Mark’s Canadian Werewolf Books
- The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
- Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard
- Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
JJ McFaull is the author/illustrator of Where Pumpkins Go After Halloween, a debut picture book released in September 2024. Under the pen name JJ McFaull, Jacob (the author) and James (his father and illustrator) combine their passions for storytelling and art to create memorable books for young readers. The second book in their holiday series is scheduled to release this fall.
The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
What I got out of this episode is a two part reflection. First, the value of having even one person around you who supports your passion and encourages you keep at it. The second is the value of seeking out people who can do the things you can’t do. This can range from editors, to cover artists, to formaters, people who can help you get the word out about your works. We are a community and no one has to do it all by themselves if that is too overwhelming for them.