Latest / The Book Deal / Kidlit superstar Kate Foster on managing multi-publications, co writing, celebrating diversity and being a good industry citizen

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Kidlit superstar Kate Foster on managing multi-publications, co writing, celebrating diversity and being a good industry citizen · The Book Deal

• 0:09
  Tina Strachan: This is the Book Deal podcast where you will discover the inspiring stories behind your favorite books.
• 0:15
  Natasha Rai: We interview seasoned and debut authors, as well as publishing industry professionals to bring you the best tips and advice on
• 0:22
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• 0:25
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• 0:29
  Tina Strachan: I'm Tina Strachan.
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• 0:32
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• 0:34
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• 1:01
  So everyone with that exciting intro, Tina, Madeleine and I, Natasha are gonna be together in person to record a very special Christmas episode of the book deal.
• 1:14
  Um, we are going to be together in Sydney on the 25th of November at 6:00 PM.
• 1:21
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• 1:27
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• 1:32
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• 1:43
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• 2:07
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• 2:11
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• 2:17
  Hope to see you there.
• 2:25
  Tina Strachan: Welcome to episode 60 of the Book Deal podcast.
• 2:28
  Tina Strachan: My name is Tina Strachan and I am very excited to bring you this week's interview with Kid Lit Superstar author Kate Foster.
• 2:36
  Tina Strachan: Kate is an internationally multi published author whose most recent release is called Camp Spooky.
• 2:44
  Tina Strachan: She is one busy lady with four books out next year, as well as organizing the author pen pals program and the Dans Awards promoting diversity in children's books.
• 2:56
  Tina Strachan: In this interview, I pick Kate's brain about the importance of celebrating diversity in books, what it means to be a good industry citizen.
• 3:05
  Tina Strachan: What has helped her navigate the rejections and ups and downs of the publishing industry, the joys of co-writing and how on earth she fits this all into her day to day life.
• 3:17
  Tina Strachan: Kate.
• 3:21
  Tina Strachan: Kate Foster, it's such a pleasure to have you on the book Deal podcast with me today.
• 3:26
  Tina Strachan: Oh, thank you, Tina.
• 3:27
  Tina Strachan: Strachan.
• 3:28
  Tina Strachan: It's very, very exciting to be here.
• 3:30
  Tina Strachan: Thank you for inviting me.
• 3:31
  Tina Strachan: Oh, anytime.
• 3:32
  Tina Strachan: We have been trying to do this for a little while, haven't we?
• 3:35
  Tina Strachan: But we've finally managed to get each other in a room.
• 3:38
  Tina Strachan: That's not too loud.
• 3:39
  Tina Strachan: Well,
• 3:40
  Kate Foster: that's right.
• 3:40
  Kate Foster: And I think just because we are so incredibly busy and successful and incredible, you know,
• 3:46
  Tina Strachan: very hard, very hard to pin us down, isn't it?
• 3:49
  Kate Foster: Exactly.
• 3:49
  Kate Foster: How do
• 3:50
  Tina Strachan: we fit all this in?
• 3:51
  Tina Strachan: We're so amazing.
• 3:52
  Tina Strachan: I know, but that is a question that I am gonna ask you pick your brain about actually, because you are very busy.
• 3:58
  Tina Strachan: Because I wanted, so I wanted to chat to you today.
• 4:01
  Tina Strachan: About so many things.
• 4:03
  Tina Strachan: Um, you obviously, your name is huge in the kid lit world, Kate Foster, uh, and I wanted to talk to you about your most recent release camp Spooky, uh, your upcoming series, Freddie Jones.
• 4:16
  Tina Strachan: Uh, I also wanna talk to you about the Dans Awards.
• 4:18
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 4:19
  Tina Strachan: That, uh, you have created and managed, uh, the author Pen Pal program, which you also run.
• 4:25
  Tina Strachan: Um, I wanna know how you fit this all into your schedule with your family and your kids, and also just being a bloody good industry citizen, Kate.
• 4:33
  Tina Strachan: So.
• 4:34
  Tina Strachan: I feel a bit exhausted.
• 4:35
  Tina Strachan: Just,
• 4:36
  Kate Foster: well, you know what?
• 4:37
  Kate Foster: I feel like that'll do, should we just leave the podcast there?
• 4:40
  Kate Foster: I think like you've done enough work for me.
• 4:42
  Kate Foster: You've really big me up there and I'm, I'm happy to leave it at that so much to cover.
• 4:47
  Tina Strachan: Um,
• 4:48
  Kate Foster: there is, but yeah, the, the way that I fit it in, I, I don't, this is my job.
• 4:52
  Kate Foster: This is what I do.
• 4:54
  Kate Foster: So, um, I am very lucky in that respect.
• 4:58
  Kate Foster: So my days, my, my kids are older, so I've got two at uni, one at college.
• 5:04
  Kate Foster: Um, and so really it's just the dogs that I have to, you know, do on 24 7, which, you know, that's tiresome.
• 5:11
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 5:11
  Kate Foster: Um, but bless'em, uh, they give a lot back.
• 5:14
  Kate Foster: So, yeah, basically this is, this is my job.
• 5:16
  Kate Foster: So from writing and editing, yeah.
• 5:19
  Kate Foster: Um, obviously that takes up a lot of time.
• 5:21
  Kate Foster: Um, but I, you know, I enjoy running the Downs Awards.
• 5:26
  Kate Foster: I enjoy putting author pen pals together.
• 5:28
  Kate Foster: So, um, yeah, it doesn't, I mean, obviously there's some days that feel like, like, why have I done all this?
• 5:36
  Kate Foster: Why have I said yes to all these things?
• 5:38
  Kate Foster: Why have I taken it all on?
• 5:39
  Kate Foster: Um, but ultimately it's, it's.
• 5:42
  Kate Foster: Selfish.
• 5:43
  Kate Foster: 'cause I enjoy it.
• 5:44
  Tina Strachan: That's good.
• 5:45
  Tina Strachan: It doesn't, it's one of those things, it doesn't, it doesn't feel like work if you're enjoying it or whatever that saying is.
• 5:50
  Tina Strachan: I dunno.
• 5:50
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 5:51
  Kate Foster: Yeah, absolutely.
• 5:52
  Kate Foster: I mean, I, yeah, but it, it doesn't, it doesn't feel like work.
• 5:55
  Kate Foster: I mean, I know it is work, but it, it doesn't feel like work.
• 5:58
  Kate Foster: It's a pleasure to do so, um, yeah, winning.
• 6:01
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 6:01
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 6:02
  Tina Strachan: No, it sounds like, it sounds like a pretty good deal.
• 6:04
  Tina Strachan: You've got yourself on there, I have to say.
• 6:06
  Tina Strachan: But I do wanna come back to that'cause I have some other questions about.
• 6:08
  Tina Strachan: You know, fitting it in and time management and all those sorts of things.
• 6:11
  Tina Strachan: Um, but I wanted to start, uh, by asking you about your wonderful new book, camp Spooky, which released just last month, which was October.
• 6:19
  Tina Strachan: So, um, perfect timing for Halloween.
• 6:22
  Tina Strachan: Um, it was also co-written with the brilliant Pip.
• 6:25
  Tina Strachan: Harry, can you tell me first a little bit about Camp Spooky?
• 6:29
  Kate Foster: Yeah, so Camp Spooky is super fun, super funny, um, a little bit creepy, um, but not too scary.
• 6:38
  Kate Foster: So anyone who is easily scared, you probably won't be with this, this little guy.
• 6:44
  Kate Foster: Um, it is just fun.
• 6:46
  Kate Foster: That was the whole point.
• 6:47
  Kate Foster: So Camp Spooky is about two very different kids who are going on a sports camp in, uh, the middle of the Outback.
• 6:56
  Kate Foster: Um, and.
• 6:58
  Kate Foster: From the moment they're on the bus on the way there, some strange things start happening.
• 7:03
  Kate Foster: Um.
• 7:04
  Kate Foster: When they get there, things get weirder.
• 7:07
  Kate Foster: Like there's strange, actually quite repulsive smells that are everywhere.
• 7:11
  Kate Foster: Um, weird flashing lights at nighttime.
• 7:15
  Kate Foster: Kids that are acting like zombies and lots of devices that are going missing from, um, yeah, people's cabins and whatnot.
• 7:23
  Kate Foster: So, um, yeah, it's basically about these two kids, Archie and Isla, who, um.
• 7:29
  Kate Foster: They seem to be the only ones noticing anything weird going on.
• 7:32
  Kate Foster: So they decide to team up and figure it out.
• 7:36
  Kate Foster: Um, and I feel you, who knows what they're gonna find?
• 7:39
  Kate Foster: Maybe they go behind a bin and maybe they go under the bin.
• 7:42
  Kate Foster: Maybe they find something beneath the, the ground behind that bin, um, that leads them to solve a mystery.
• 7:50
  Kate Foster: Um, but ultimately it's, it's a great fun read.
• 7:54
  Kate Foster: Um.
• 7:55
  Kate Foster: Beautifully illustrated throughout black and white illustrations by Joanna Bartel.
• 8:00
  Kate Foster: Um, and yeah, it's perfect for reluctant readers, readers who are really into kind of the, the graphic novels, but maybe wanna move on to something a bit different.
• 8:12
  Kate Foster: Um, yeah, it, it was an absolute joy to write and I hope it's
• 8:16
  Tina Strachan: a joy to read.
• 8:17
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 8:17
  Tina Strachan: Well, it is, I can attest to that.
• 8:19
  Tina Strachan: Uh, both my kids have read it.
• 8:20
  Tina Strachan: My 12-year-old read it on his own and my 7-year-old I read to him.
• 8:24
  Tina Strachan: But he, it thoroughly enjoyed it.
• 8:26
  Tina Strachan: And, um, illustrations were, um, yeah, it, it certainly helps them, doesn't it, when they're making that transition from like, um, you know, picture books and, and things like that.
• 8:35
  Tina Strachan: And moving and junior fiction up to,'cause it is class as middle grade, isn't it?
• 8:39
  Kate Foster: Yeah, I think, well, junior fiction, middle grade.
• 8:42
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 8:42
  Kate Foster: Is there a, i I get very confused with all the chapter books, early readers, you know, like teen books, when tween books, what, what are all of these things?
• 8:52
  Kate Foster: Um, so yeah, it is the, the illustrations, the shortness of this book.
• 8:57
  Kate Foster: It's a short read.
• 8:58
  Kate Foster: Um, it does help like it's, um, if.
• 9:02
  Kate Foster: It offers kids that opportunity to read an entire novel, you know, entire chapter book pretty quickly.
• 9:09
  Kate Foster: Um, and gives them that lovely feeling of satisfaction, um, and fulfillment.
• 9:13
  Kate Foster: So hopefully they'll go on and they'll pick up more
• 9:14
  Tina Strachan: books.
• 9:15
  Tina Strachan: Yeah, yeah.
• 9:16
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 9:16
  Tina Strachan: No, I think it definitely does all of that.
• 9:18
  Tina Strachan: But I wanted to ask you, Kate, um, about co-writing.
• 9:21
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 9:22
  Tina Strachan: So this isn't the first time you've co-written a book with somebody.
• 9:26
  Tina Strachan: You co-wrote small acts with Kate Gordon.
• 9:29
  Tina Strachan: I did and yeah, I have, I have many questions about co-writing.
• 9:33
  Tina Strachan: I've never done it before.
• 9:35
  Tina Strachan: I, I don't even, I've heard people talk about it though.
• 9:37
  Tina Strachan: Um, other authors talk about it and they all seem to have sort of different methods or tricks and ways of getting it to work.
• 9:45
  Tina Strachan: So can you tell me more about it?
• 9:46
  Tina Strachan: Like, who comes up with the idea?
• 9:48
  Tina Strachan: Do you like ask them?
• 9:49
  Tina Strachan: Would you like to co-write with me or is it just something that you come together with?
• 9:53
  Tina Strachan: Tell me, tell me about it.
• 9:54
  Tina Strachan: How do you do it?
• 9:55
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 9:55
  Kate Foster: Oh, well, it was, it, the, the prob process was very different with Kate as it was to Pip.
• 10:00
  Kate Foster: So, um, with Kate, um, we had actually been discussing for a super long time to do something nice, to do something that puts kindness out there in the world.
• 10:10
  Kate Foster: And we were coming up with all of these ideas.
• 10:12
  Kate Foster: Look, I live in Queensland, Kate's in Tassie, and um, we are both really busy.
• 10:17
  Kate Foster: So we just, everything idea that we came up with was like, oh, it says quite a lot.
• 10:20
  Kate Foster: That's quite a lot.
• 10:21
  Kate Foster: I dunno if we can make that work.
• 10:23
  Kate Foster: And then weirdly, we just kind of went, well look, should we just write something together?
• 10:28
  Kate Foster: You know, it took us that long to remember that we're authors and, and that's what we do.
• 10:32
  Kate Foster: Um, so, uh, yeah, we just kind of came up with this idea that we wanted two kids, two neuro kids who wanna do kind of things, but they just dunno how, um, you know, they, they don't have.
• 10:45
  Kate Foster: The confidence.
• 10:46
  Kate Foster: They're not socially outgoing.
• 10:47
  Kate Foster: They don't have money.
• 10:48
  Kate Foster: So how do you do these big, wonderful, kind things without all of those things?
• 10:53
  Kate Foster: Um, so yeah, that was kind of how it started with Kate.
• 10:57
  Kate Foster: We had this rough idea of what we wanted to happen, um, and then.
• 11:03
  Kate Foster: We just wrote.
• 11:05
  Kate Foster: So back and forth chapter to chapter i'd, I had Ollie, um, sorry.
• 11:10
  Kate Foster: I had Josh and Kate had Ollie, and we just kind of, yeah, I wrote a chapter.
• 11:14
  Kate Foster: She wrote a chapter and, and so, and so on and so forth.
• 11:17
  Kate Foster: Um, and with Kate, like we didn't plot much, so I was often like, woo, what's coming back?
• 11:22
  Kate Foster: Um, and very often was really surprised, like, oh, okay.
• 11:26
  Kate Foster: But I really enjoyed the challenge of it.
• 11:28
  Kate Foster: Writing with Kate was a joy.
• 11:30
  Kate Foster: So with Pete it was a very different process.
• 11:33
  Kate Foster: Um.
• 11:35
  Kate Foster: Uh, we both have worked with the amazing Christina Schultz as an editor, and years ago Christina said to me, oh my gosh, you would love Pip.
• 11:42
  Kate Foster: She's just absolutely brilliant.
• 11:43
  Kate Foster: You'd be such good friends.
• 11:45
  Kate Foster: Um, if you ever, you know, meet you, you gotta chat.
• 11:48
  Kate Foster: And so it just so happened that I was, um, at the CBCA conference, um, a few years ago, and, um.
• 11:55
  Kate Foster: Pip was there and I was all fan girly and you know, oh, I can't talk to her.
• 12:00
  Kate Foster: It's Pip Harry.
• 12:01
  Kate Foster: Uh, but I did, I just made myself had Christina's words ringing in my head.
• 12:06
  Kate Foster: So, um, I just kind of went up to her and just like, oh, hi Pip, my name's Kate.
• 12:10
  Kate Foster: We should be friends or something, you know, along those lines.
• 12:14
  Kate Foster: Um, and the conversation just.
• 12:16
  Kate Foster: Um, went really easily and then I think I just said, should we write something together?
• 12:20
  Kate Foster: Um, and she said, yeah.
• 12:21
  Kate Foster: Okay.
• 12:22
  Kate Foster: So we had some, um, zoom meetings, um, and'cause um, pip's down in New South Wales, obviously I'm up in Queensland.
• 12:32
  Kate Foster: Um, we had some Zoom meetings and we kind of said to each other.
• 12:36
  Kate Foster: What would you all, what have you always wanted to write, but like, never sort of had the opportunity And so Pip said, well, I, I'd quite like to write sports and a camp.
• 12:47
  Kate Foster: And I said, well, I'd like to write comedy and horror.
• 12:50
  Kate Foster: Um, and so we just kind of mushed it all together.
• 12:53
  Kate Foster: Um.
• 12:54
  Kate Foster: We plotted a lot more than, as I've previous, previously done.
• 12:59
  Kate Foster: So Pip and I had these conversations, we really plotted in detail so we knew exactly what was gonna happen and when.
• 13:04
  Kate Foster: Um, and so the process was, was different, but equally as fun.
• 13:10
  Kate Foster: Like I loved it, you know, Pip's such an extraordinary writer, so getting her chapters back was fun and seeing how she bounced off my character.
• 13:18
  Kate Foster: Um, and that was it.
• 13:20
  Kate Foster: Yeah, it was.
• 13:21
  Kate Foster: Just a joy and I highly recommend it.
• 13:23
  Kate Foster: And look, it's half the work.
• 13:27
  Tina Strachan: That sounds their pip so fun.
• 13:29
  Tina Strachan: Their Pips words, by the way.
• 13:31
  Tina Strachan: That's, yeah.
• 13:32
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 13:33
  Tina Strachan: Still a lot of work though.
• 13:34
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 13:35
  Tina Strachan: Um, that sounds so fun.
• 13:36
  Tina Strachan: I love that idea of getting the chapters back and being like, Ooh, where's this going?
• 13:41
  Tina Strachan: That's so cool.
• 13:42
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 13:43
  Tina Strachan: Do you wanna write a book together?
• 13:45
  Kate Foster: Yeah, let's do it.
• 13:46
  Kate Foster: I would love that, Tina.
• 13:47
  Kate Foster: And it would have to have, but it's gonna have some dogs in it, like as long as you're good with that.
• 13:51
  Kate Foster: Absolutely.
• 13:52
  Kate Foster: And hey, look, we, we've both got a dog that looks exactly remarkably similar, so maybe that could be at the core of the story.
• 13:59
  Kate Foster: Yeah, mine's called Millie.
• 14:00
  Kate Foster: And what, who's
• 14:02
  Tina Strachan: your one that looks like Millie?
• 14:03
  Tina Strachan: Uh, Claude.
• 14:04
  Tina Strachan: Claude Could, Claude my little, um, spoodle, um, I'm trying to think of a name of, to mold together.
• 14:10
  Tina Strachan: Clearly, clearly, Lord,
• 14:14
  Kate Foster: yes.
• 14:14
  Kate Foster: No, that is, that isn't, I didn't ring to it, actually.
• 14:17
  Kate Foster: Let's not do that.
• 14:18
  Kate Foster: Okay.
• 14:18
  Kate Foster: We'll workshop that.
• 14:19
  Kate Foster: We'll workshop that.
• 14:20
  Tina Strachan: Uh, I love that.
• 14:22
  Tina Strachan: Um, so you touched on it just briefly before Kate, um, and all of your books, uh, do feature neurodiverse Charact.
• 14:29
  Tina Strachan: Neurodiversity.
• 14:31
  Tina Strachan: Um, which is fantastic.
• 14:32
  Tina Strachan: Um, can you chat a little bit about that, why it's so important to you and, and why it's important for children to read these books with diverse characters?
• 14:41
  Kate Foster: Oh, a hundred percent.
• 14:42
  Kate Foster: I mean, you know, there's that famous saying, um, which I'm not gonna get right'cause I get it wrong every time I try and say it.
• 14:48
  Kate Foster: Um, windows, mirrors and sliding tools.
• 14:52
  Kate Foster: Is that right?
• 14:52
  Kate Foster: I, yeah, I don't know.
• 14:54
  Kate Foster: Could've got it wrong.
• 14:54
  Kate Foster: Sounds good.
• 14:55
  Kate Foster: Sounds good.
• 14:55
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 14:56
  Kate Foster: So anyway, yes, there, there's this, um, books, you know, have this ability to transport, allow us to live in the, the lives of others.
• 15:03
  Kate Foster: Um, but they're also a reflection of us.
• 15:07
  Kate Foster: Um, and so.
• 15:08
  Kate Foster: We need books with as many different characters from different backgrounds, living different lives to reflect every reader.
• 15:17
  Kate Foster: Um, and particularly in Australia, you know, it's so multicultural.
• 15:20
  Kate Foster: It's such a wonderful, um, you know.
• 15:25
  Kate Foster: Beautiful, colorful array of people with different lives from different origins.
• 15:29
  Kate Foster: And so, you know, we need, there isn't the number of books out there currently with diverse representation to cover all of these beautiful people.
• 15:39
  Kate Foster: Um, and so neurodiversity is just one small section of that.
• 15:45
  Kate Foster: Um.
• 15:45
  Kate Foster: And having an autistic child, being autistic myself.
• 15:50
  Kate Foster: Um, and just hearing the community talk about the lack of representation of seeing themselves in books.
• 15:56
  Kate Foster: Um, and when they do, it's usually stereotyping or it's trauma based books.
• 16:02
  Kate Foster: Um, you know, it's pigeonholing us where we don't wanna be.
• 16:06
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 16:06
  Kate Foster: So, um, that is why I just wanted to write joyous happy books.
• 16:12
  Kate Foster: Um.
• 16:13
  Kate Foster: Still balanced, still covering some of those tricky topic topics and how it can be hard day to day.
• 16:20
  Kate Foster: Um, but also, yeah, just to say, look, we're we're really cool people and we, we wanna do really like normal or some things.
• 16:27
  Kate Foster: So, um, yeah, that's really at the heart of why.
• 16:32
  Kate Foster: I do what I do, um, is to offer this representation, um, and to offer other kids the chance to step in the shoes of someone who doesn't see the world in the same way they do.
• 16:43
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 16:43
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 16:44
  Tina Strachan: And, um, because of your passion, uh, Kate, you have also, um, in promoting awareness, you have also, this is I'm assuming why you also created the Dans Awards.
• 16:58
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 16:59
  Kate Foster: So the Dans Awards was, um.
• 17:02
  Kate Foster: A thought that I'd had, or some, not Dan specifically, but an award that really focused on, on different people and different lives.
• 17:11
  Kate Foster: Um, a long, long time ago, but I was like, no, you know what, I'm, I'm far too green.
• 17:16
  Kate Foster: I'm too new.
• 17:17
  Kate Foster: I don't have enough contacts or knowledge.
• 17:19
  Kate Foster: I'm not the right person to set something like this up.
• 17:22
  Kate Foster: Um, I'll, I'll leave it to someone else.
• 17:24
  Kate Foster: And I, you know, I know that we've all been.
• 17:26
  Kate Foster: We've all had that, that happen, I'll just leave it to someone else to, to fix or someone else to do.
• 17:31
  Kate Foster: Um, but, you know, fast forward a few years and there was still nothing really here in Australia.
• 17:36
  Kate Foster: Um, and so I just weirdly enough put a tweet out on X when it was Twitter, um, and basically saying, you know, is anyone, would anyone support this?
• 17:47
  Kate Foster: If I set it up and I got it?
• 17:49
  Kate Foster: A message back almost immediately from who the then president of the Australian School Library Association, who was like, yes, I would like to talk.
• 17:59
  Kate Foster: Um, and it just kind of steamrolled from there, really.
• 18:02
  Kate Foster: It went, it went fast.
• 18:04
  Kate Foster: Steamrolled, is that the right word?
• 18:07
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 18:07
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 18:07
  Kate Foster: Yep.
• 18:08
  Kate Foster: Um, so I've always in my head that steam rolls rollers are quite slow, so maybe not they are, but
• 18:14
  Tina Strachan: they're forceful.
• 18:15
  Tina Strachan: Uh, and they do move forward most of the time.
• 18:17
  Tina Strachan: Right?
• 18:18
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 18:18
  Kate Foster: Okay, so we'll go with it.
• 18:19
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 18:19
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 18:19
  Kate Foster: So anyway, steamrolled from there.
• 18:21
  Kate Foster: Um, and yeah, the awards, so it snowballed.
• 18:25
  Kate Foster: Sorry.
• 18:26
  Kate Foster: Snowballed.
• 18:27
  Kate Foster: That's much better.
• 18:28
  Kate Foster: Snowballed just came to me.
• 18:30
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 18:30
  Kate Foster: Steam rolling.
• 18:32
  Kate Foster: The steam rolling.
• 18:32
  Kate Foster: Snowball.
• 18:33
  Kate Foster: I don't know.
• 18:34
  Kate Foster: Anyway, um, yeah, and it just went from there.
• 18:37
  Kate Foster: So the idea of the award, um, was to celebrate groundbreaking books, really Books which, which, um, yeah, celebrate different people that offer people that.
• 18:48
  Kate Foster: Chance to step and sit at the table with someone different to them, um, and go, well, look, this is how I do things.
• 18:54
  Kate Foster: This is how I live.
• 18:55
  Kate Foster: This is what happened to me once, you know, this is how I see the world.
• 18:59
  Kate Foster: So really, you know, what I consider proper inclusivity, you know, just everybody equal, everyone's sharing a little piece of themselves.
• 19:08
  Kate Foster: Um, nobody's saying, oh, I'm, I'm better, or whatever.
• 19:11
  Kate Foster: It's all a case of, look, we're all just humans.
• 19:15
  Kate Foster: You know, with different approaches to life or different experiences of life, and let's all just kind of learn about each other.
• 19:22
  Kate Foster: Um, and so that was, yeah, that was how Dans was born.
• 19:27
  Kate Foster: Um, and I always have to tell the story about the, the name.
• 19:30
  Kate Foster: So I was trying to come up with this name.
• 19:32
  Kate Foster: The wards.
• 19:33
  Kate Foster: Um, and I thought, well, diversity in Australia and New Zealand, Dan's perfect.
• 19:38
  Kate Foster: So I ran it by my family.
• 19:40
  Kate Foster: I ran it by my husband, and I said, what do you think of this, Dan's?
• 19:44
  Kate Foster: And he, and he pressed a hand to his heart and he said, are you naming it after me?
• 19:50
  Kate Foster: Because he's called Dan.
• 19:51
  Kate Foster: And I was like, oh, yes.
• 19:53
  Kate Foster: Yes, with naming it after you, because I love you so much.
• 19:57
  Kate Foster: Um, so yeah, I think maybe he still believes that it's named after him.
• 20:02
  Kate Foster: I'm not sure.
• 20:03
  Kate Foster: It's just a happy coincidence
• 20:04
  Tina Strachan: that also Australia and New Zealand, um, also spells that.
• 20:08
  Tina Strachan: But of course you didn't realize that till after you named it after.
• 20:11
  Kate Foster: No, poor guy.
• 20:13
  Kate Foster: So, um, yeah.
• 20:15
  Kate Foster: So he's still living in this.
• 20:16
  Kate Foster: This blissful, uh, knowledge that I, I the name the awards named after him.
• 20:20
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 20:20
  Kate Foster: So that's lovely.
• 20:22
  Kate Foster: Um, so yeah, Dan's is going from strength to strength.
• 20:24
  Kate Foster: We're into our third year.
• 20:25
  Kate Foster: Um, and, you know, we are collecting lots of, um, figures and statistics as we go, which I'm finding quite fascinating.
• 20:35
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 20:35
  Kate Foster: Um, and I think soon we'll put it together so we can feedback.
• 20:39
  Kate Foster: To the publishing industry, um, and into education to really say, look, you've got some gay holes, which you really need to fill.
• 20:48
  Kate Foster: Um, but you need to fill not necessarily fast, but well and properly and correct.
• 20:54
  Kate Foster: So, um, it's been a great experiment as well.
• 20:57
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 20:57
  Tina Strachan: Really, I love it.
• 20:58
  Tina Strachan: It's a joy.
• 20:59
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 20:59
  Tina Strachan: And that's a really important point that you make in don't just fill these gaps with anything because they aren't all well done and correct by any
• 21:09
  Kate Foster: means.
• 21:10
  Kate Foster: Are they indeed?
• 21:11
  Kate Foster: Absolutely.
• 21:12
  Kate Foster: And that's it.
• 21:12
  Kate Foster: You know, maybe it is better to have no representation as opposed to offensive, you know?
• 21:18
  Kate Foster: Harmful representation.
• 21:19
  Kate Foster: Exactly.
• 21:20
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 21:20
  Kate Foster: So, um, yeah, that's, that's really the message that we are trying to do with Dan's is that it's, you know, we, these are books which celebrate, which avoid all of the, the done and dusted nonsense.
• 21:36
  Kate Foster: That's, yeah.
• 21:36
  Kate Foster: That is harmful.
• 21:38
  Kate Foster: Um, this is about celebration.
• 21:39
  Kate Foster: Um.
• 21:40
  Kate Foster: So, yeah, it's great and oh
• 21:42
  Tina Strachan: gosh, what beautiful books there are out there.
• 21:45
  Kate Foster: Yeah,
• 21:45
  Tina Strachan: yeah.
• 21:45
  Tina Strachan: No, it's incredible.
• 21:47
  Tina Strachan: And I love how you just put it out on Twitter and the Library Association was like you, you could tell they were probably, I.
• 21:55
  Tina Strachan: Or had already noticed that gap themselves, but were also sort of had, just had of taken that step maybe to do anything and, and I love how you just put it out there and it just sort of attracts
• 22:06
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 22:06
  Kate Foster: The right
• 22:06
  Tina Strachan: energy back and look at where it is now.
• 22:09
  Kate Foster: Exactly.
• 22:10
  Kate Foster: And it is a lot, you know, that that whole thing of right place, right time, you know, university is ready and it obviously just was so, um.
• 22:18
  Kate Foster: Yeah, it, the Asler have just been extraordinary.
• 22:22
  Kate Foster: Martha and Sonya, who are the current, uh, president and secretary are, I couldn't have asked for a better team to work with on this award.
• 22:31
  Kate Foster: Um, and we really are growing and growing, going from.
• 22:34
  Kate Foster: Strength to strength.
• 22:35
  Kate Foster: You know, it's, there's a new website being built, um, and there's lots of other things behind the scenes, which I can't talk about yet, which hopefully is gonna really just inject some big open conversation and change in the industry.
• 22:47
  Kate Foster: So I am very excited.
• 22:49
  Kate Foster: That's so exciting.
• 22:50
  Kate Foster: And it's open now, isn't it?
• 22:52
  Kate Foster: It's open for submissions now.
• 22:53
  Kate Foster: No.
• 22:54
  Kate Foster: So we are currently in the midst of judging Oh.
• 22:57
  Kate Foster: So, um, nominations closed, um, a month or so ago, and all of the books now are with our young judges because we have children who judge our books as they should.
• 23:07
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 23:08
  Kate Foster: Uh, it's children's books, children's awards.
• 23:10
  Kate Foster: So, um, they are our judges and so they are, yeah.
• 23:13
  Kate Foster: At the moment, reading and judging and returning their checklists to me so I can input scores and, um, we announce our long list,
• 23:23
  Tina Strachan: um, early next year.
• 23:24
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 23:24
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 23:25
  Tina Strachan: And then there's usually like a, like a actual awards night.
• 23:29
  Tina Strachan: There is, yes,
• 23:30
  Kate Foster: absolutely.
• 23:31
  Kate Foster: We've, um, our first year we had a little, um, event at some story fest on the Gold Coast.
• 23:37
  Kate Foster: This, uh, sorry, the last year's award, which we, um, had the event this year was in, uh, the Geelong Kat Stadium as part of the Azla Biannual Conference.
• 23:47
  Kate Foster: Um, and next year watch this space.
• 23:52
  Tina Strachan: We are.
• 23:53
  Tina Strachan: Sorting the out as we speak, let's say that.
• 23:55
  Kate Foster: Well,
• 23:55
  Tina Strachan: very exciting news to come.
• 23:56
  Tina Strachan: Can't wait to find out more.
• 23:58
  Tina Strachan: Um, so also talking about kids and, um, and reading and writing.
• 24:03
  Tina Strachan: Also, you ha are involved in the author Pen pal program.
• 24:08
  Kate Foster: Yay.
• 24:09
  Kate Foster: Tell us more about that, Kate.
• 24:11
  Kate Foster: Uh, so there's some that is, uh, oh, look, I not, I didn't steal it.
• 24:16
  Kate Foster: Okay.
• 24:17
  Kate Foster: Mm.
• 24:17
  Kate Foster: That's just, that's just clear that up right now, Kate.
• 24:20
  Kate Foster: I borrowed it.
• 24:20
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 24:21
  Kate Foster: Um, but no, I did actually reach out.
• 24:23
  Kate Foster: There's, there was a program in the UK called Book Pen Pals, um, and I was a part of it, so I wrote basically to some students in year.
• 24:32
  Kate Foster: Five or four in the uk, some classes, um, back and forth over the course of the school year.
• 24:40
  Kate Foster: And I just thought, what an incredible program.
• 24:43
  Kate Foster: What an amazing, simple idea.
• 24:46
  Kate Foster: You know, snail mail, um, handwritten letters.
• 24:51
  Kate Foster: Um, and just that personal connection with an author or an illustrator.
• 24:58
  Kate Foster: Um, you know, we hear from teachers, teacher, librarians that when an author or an illustrator visits a school, it is like magic, you know, the kids.
• 25:08
  Kate Foster: Who aren't big readers suddenly wanna borrow the books.
• 25:11
  Kate Foster: They wanna read, they wanna know more, they wanna tell their stories, they wanna write stuff.
• 25:15
  Kate Foster: And so, um, I just thought, there's so many schools, this country's so massive and there are so many schools, um, rural, regional who so, you know, disadvantaged who will never have the money to bring in authors to pay.
• 25:28
  Kate Foster: So let's.
• 25:30
  Kate Foster: Create this free program here.
• 25:32
  Kate Foster: Um, and it, we are now into our fourth year, I think.
• 25:37
  Kate Foster: Um, I run it with the brilliant author, uh, D White.
• 25:40
  Kate Foster: Um, and so we are just, people can sign up now, authors, illustrators, and also schools.
• 25:45
  Kate Foster: Um, they can sign up and basically we just match an author or an illustrator with a school, a cohort class, whatever it may be, and they write back and forth.
• 25:57
  Kate Foster: Across the school year, and that's it.
• 25:59
  Kate Foster: And it's just incredible.
• 26:00
  Kate Foster: Um, you know, you can authors tell the kids about their writing process, about where they write, where they get their ideas from, they can give them writing prompts, you know, whatever it might be.
• 26:12
  Kate Foster: Um, and then the kids write back and tell them, you know, little bits, snippets about themselves and stories they've written.
• 26:19
  Kate Foster: And yeah, it's all in all, it has just been.
• 26:23
  Kate Foster: The, one of the most positive experiences.
• 26:26
  Kate Foster: Um, I mean, I think last year we had over 12,000 students.
• 26:31
  Tina Strachan: Wow.
• 26:31
  Tina Strachan: That,
• 26:31
  Kate Foster: that we reached through the program.
• 26:33
  Kate Foster: So yeah.
• 26:34
  Kate Foster: I love
• 26:34
  Tina Strachan: it.
• 26:35
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 26:35
  Tina Strachan: Yeah, it's incredible.
• 26:36
  Tina Strachan: I was part of the, um, I was one of the authors last year and that was my first year and that was, it was so nice.
• 26:42
  Tina Strachan: It was just so lovely.
• 26:44
  Tina Strachan: I had, um, St.
• 26:45
  Tina Strachan: Lutheran's primary school in Victoria.
• 26:47
  Tina Strachan: They had their grade four, five, and, uh, it was so great.
• 26:51
  Tina Strachan: I think I got like.
• 26:53
  Tina Strachan: Um, all, pretty much every student sent me, you know, a little bio about them and it was so nice just seeing what they do and, you know, their spare time'cause it's completely different area to where I grew up and where I live.
• 27:05
  Tina Strachan: So it's so nice seeing that and then just talk about stories and books and they just had the most incredible questions.
• 27:11
  Tina Strachan: Most lovely questions.
• 27:13
  Tina Strachan: Um, and I just received like my last letter from them the other day.
• 27:18
  Tina Strachan: And it, some of them had written some stories that they'd sent.
• 27:22
  Tina Strachan: To me, so I'm gonna have a, can't wait to have a little read of them and, um, yeah, yeah.
• 27:26
  Tina Strachan: Send them something back.
• 27:27
  Tina Strachan: So it really is a beautiful way of, um, yeah.
• 27:31
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 27:31
  Tina Strachan: Just making contact and touching those other schools that, that sometimes don't have availability or access to other authors.
• 27:38
  Kate Foster: Yeah, totally.
• 27:39
  Kate Foster: That's it.
• 27:40
  Kate Foster: It's just, um, you know, we're constantly being told literacy levels are dropping, you know, people aren't reading for pleasure.
• 27:45
  Kate Foster: Uh, and it's like, well, this is just a little attempt at trying to reach many of those kids who just need to see that authors are normal people.
• 27:57
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 27:57
  Kate Foster: And that anybody can be an.
• 27:59
  Kate Foster: Or an illustrator or storyteller, you know, it doesn't not necessarily have to be the written word.
• 28:04
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 28:04
  Kate Foster: Um, and you know, anybody can do that, but everybody's stories are important.
• 28:09
  Kate Foster: Um, and, you know, hopefully in that process, they reach for a book.
• 28:15
  Kate Foster: Who cares what it is?
• 28:16
  Kate Foster: Who cares if they're 12 and they're picking up a picture book?
• 28:18
  Kate Foster: I read picture books.
• 28:19
  Kate Foster: I, I read middle grade.
• 28:20
  Kate Foster: You know, I'm four, six years old.
• 28:22
  Kate Foster: I'm not ashamed.
• 28:23
  Kate Foster: All of them are wonderful stories.
• 28:25
  Kate Foster: All the things you can learn about different people in the world.
• 28:28
  Kate Foster: And, um, and that's really yeah.
• 28:30
  Kate Foster: What, what the whole program is about.
• 28:32
  Kate Foster: Just making it a celebration mm-hmm.
• 28:34
  Kate Foster: Of story.
• 28:35
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 28:35
  Tina Strachan: And it's things like these programs that actually can really change someone's life, you know?
• 28:40
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 28:41
  Tina Strachan: They'll remember these little things for, it's not little, but you know, they'll remember maybe getting a letter from her.
• 28:46
  Tina Strachan: Or just having someone, an author respond back to something that they had written can really stick with them forever.
• 28:52
  Tina Strachan: Yeah, and like you said, just be that spark or that change that they need to continue reading or writing or just, yeah,
• 28:59
  Kate Foster: exactly.
• 29:00
  Kate Foster: They can do it.
• 29:01
  Kate Foster: Exactly.
• 29:02
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 29:02
  Kate Foster: It's just building that confidence and that self-belief.
• 29:05
  Kate Foster: Uh, you know, and we'd really, we'd like to grow the program and perhaps, you know, in some way work with an education body and try and make it so it's actually built into the curriculum.
• 29:14
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 29:14
  Kate Foster: I think that would really help the teachers and the librarians as well.
• 29:18
  Kate Foster: Um, because yeah, look, we all know full well that.
• 29:22
  Kate Foster: TLS teachers, they're absolutely, um, at a max with the amount of work that they have to do.
• 29:28
  Kate Foster: So, um, yeah, if there's some way that we can in the future build it into the curriculum, I think it would be, um, it would help everybody.
• 29:37
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 29:37
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 29:38
  Tina Strachan: That would be awesome.
• 29:39
  Tina Strachan: So if someone wants to apply as a school or as an author mm-hmm.
• 29:42
  Tina Strachan: Uh, that's open now, isn't it?
• 29:44
  Tina Strachan: Author Pen Pals?
• 29:45
  Tina Strachan: Absolutely.
• 29:45
  Tina Strachan: And they can just go to the website.
• 29:47
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 29:47
  Kate Foster: Author pen Pals.com.
• 29:49
  Kate Foster: Um, and scroll down.
• 29:50
  Kate Foster: Make sure you read the website, you know, through, so you really understand what the minimum commitments are, which are, they are very minimal.
• 29:57
  Kate Foster: Um, and then.
• 29:59
  Kate Foster: There are two links.
• 30:00
  Kate Foster: There's one link, which is to the author, illustrator, signup form, and the other is to the school signup form and signups stay open right through until the end of January.
• 30:11
  Kate Foster: So there's lots and lots of time.
• 30:13
  Kate Foster: Um, we know from experience that's some.
• 30:16
  Kate Foster: Teachers need to be back in the classroom before they know what class they're gonna be teaching or you know, how many kids they've got.
• 30:22
  Kate Foster: So we don't match and start really the writing process until kind of into February.
• 30:29
  Kate Foster: So there's plenty of time.
• 30:31
  Kate Foster: Um, it's very relaxed.
• 30:33
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 30:33
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 30:34
  Tina Strachan: No, that's great.
• 30:34
  Tina Strachan: Thank you.
• 30:36
  Tina Strachan: Um, so all this.
• 30:37
  Tina Strachan: Work that you're doing.
• 30:38
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 30:39
  Tina Strachan: All, all these extracurricular besides just writing, um, you do so much.
• 30:43
  Tina Strachan: You are truly the epitome of a good industry citizen, which we've spoken about a couple of times on the podcast.
• 30:50
  Tina Strachan: Um, you are always lifting up others and willing to share your knowledge and your contacts and your advice.
• 30:57
  Tina Strachan: Can you tell us, um, why is it important to be a good industry citizen?
• 31:02
  Tina Strachan: And, and I mean, what I'm saying by that, um, I, I know you understand, but, um.
• 31:07
  Tina Strachan: It, you know, and just helping out other authors and other writers on their journey.
• 31:12
  Tina Strachan: Um, and can you tell us why, why that's important for you?
• 31:16
  Tina Strachan: Oh,
• 31:16
  Kate Foster: I mean, it's multilayered really, like it is a solitary job a lot of the time.
• 31:24
  Kate Foster: Um, and.
• 31:27
  Kate Foster: So having community, it keeps you going.
• 31:30
  Kate Foster: You know, this industry is riddled with rejection and disappointment that there's no getting away from it.
• 31:35
  Kate Foster: Um, and they say you need a thick skin, and yeah, you do, but I've, I'm still to grow one.
• 31:40
  Kate Foster: I don't know where this thick skin, I can, maybe I can buy one.
• 31:44
  Kate Foster: I'm not sure.
• 31:45
  Kate Foster: Um, so every rejection, every disappointment.
• 31:48
  Kate Foster: Hurts like a, sorry, I can't get away from it.
• 31:50
  Kate Foster: That's just how it is.
• 31:52
  Kate Foster: And so I think sometimes having community, having other authors, one or two, it doesn't have to be a whole room full, um, to just be able to share, you know, your own experiences and share those emotions and get out in the open without being judged and being told you're so ungrateful.
• 32:08
  Kate Foster: Um, you know, if anyone would dream to be in your position.
• 32:10
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 32:11
  Kate Foster: You know, of course.
• 32:12
  Kate Foster: So not being ungrateful, just saying that we're really disappointed in this particular aspect or this particular moment.
• 32:17
  Kate Foster: It passes.
• 32:19
  Kate Foster: So having people that understand that, that don't judge, um, it is, it's golden.
• 32:24
  Kate Foster: It keeps you going.
• 32:25
  Kate Foster: It lifts you back up.
• 32:26
  Kate Foster: It puts you back in front of the laptop.
• 32:27
  Kate Foster: It puts you back into the query trenches or, you know, whatever.
• 32:31
  Kate Foster: Um, and so I've, you know, my journey to being published.
• 32:37
  Kate Foster: Massive.
• 32:37
  Kate Foster: It's, it's, I'm no overnight, you know, success story at all.
• 32:42
  Kate Foster: I had hun, I've had hundreds of rejections over the years.
• 32:45
  Kate Foster: I've had, you know, numerous agents.
• 32:48
  Kate Foster: My agent's life has been just as rocky as they could.
• 32:53
  Kate Foster: And I mean, that's probably like a whole half an hour to tell you about that.
• 32:57
  Kate Foster: Um, you know, I've had almost, I've had contracts offered and then contracts looked at, which have been dodgy, so I can't have that book deal.
• 33:07
  Kate Foster: Um, and, you know, things fall through at the last minute.
• 33:10
  Kate Foster: So, you know, it's, um, honestly, sometimes I look at myself and think, how, why am I still doing this?
• 33:16
  Kate Foster: Like, what, why didn't I just.
• 33:17
  Kate Foster: Break, which earlier on, but hey, um, it was because of community.
• 33:22
  Kate Foster: It was because people shared, people, you know, further up the ladder to me said, look, hey, come along to this.
• 33:28
  Kate Foster: Come and meet this person.
• 33:30
  Kate Foster: Um, here's some advice.
• 33:32
  Kate Foster: Read this blog.
• 33:33
  Kate Foster: Um, and all of that is what just keeps you, has kept me ticking.
• 33:38
  Kate Foster: Um, and.
• 33:40
  Kate Foster: I consider myself still very brand new in this industry.
• 33:43
  Kate Foster: I'm still learning every day.
• 33:44
  Kate Foster: There's always someone new that comes along that teaches me something different that I had never considered before.
• 33:50
  Kate Foster: Um, and so why on earth would I not help other people when I can, you know, if I know something or I know someone that could make a difference, then why would I be precious and keep that to myself?
• 34:02
  Kate Foster: Why wouldn't I share my contacts?
• 34:04
  Kate Foster: Why wouldn't I share my knowledge?
• 34:05
  Kate Foster: I, I think, I just don't understand.
• 34:08
  Kate Foster: That way of thinking when people.
• 34:11
  Kate Foster: Don't, but hey, look, we're all different.
• 34:13
  Kate Foster: No judgment.
• 34:14
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 34:14
  Kate Foster: Or maybe a bit, I'm not sure.
• 34:16
  Kate Foster: Um, but yeah, for me, like that is what keeps things ticking.
• 34:21
  Kate Foster: That's, that's being not just a good industry citizen, it's being a good person, isn't it?
• 34:26
  Kate Foster: Being a
• 34:26
  Tina Strachan: good human.
• 34:27
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 34:27
  Tina Strachan: That's always helpful too, I find.
• 34:29
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 34:30
  Tina Strachan: Well, that does help.
• 34:31
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 34:32
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 34:32
  Tina Strachan: I mean, yeah, like you said, your, your journey to publication was.
• 34:36
  Tina Strachan: Um, you know, long and rocky and there's lots of pe, lots of people on that journey at the moment.
• 34:41
  Tina Strachan: Do you have like one top tip that could help people, um, yeah.
• 34:47
  Tina Strachan: Get through that time?
• 34:49
  Tina Strachan: Um, yeah.
• 34:50
  Kate Foster: Um, well there's like, I've got lots of top tips.
• 34:53
  Kate Foster: I mean, how many can I put out there?
• 34:55
  Kate Foster: Many, um, find people at the same stage as you and clinging to them because, you know, those are the conversations like I've mentioned.
• 35:04
  Kate Foster: Um.
• 35:05
  Kate Foster: Those are the conversations that keep you going because you know, somebody else feels what you do and you're not being, uh, you're not an imposter, you're not over the top, you're not being dramatic.
• 35:15
  Kate Foster: You know, they, every feeling is valid.
• 35:18
  Kate Foster: Um, I would also say that the absolute top tip is to remember why you wrote stories in the first place.
• 35:23
  Kate Foster: You know, most of us, it's because we enjoy telling stories and we enjoy the process of writing.
• 35:29
  Kate Foster: So, um.
• 35:31
  Kate Foster: Always clinging onto that.
• 35:32
  Kate Foster: Always remember that that fundamentally is why you're doing it.
• 35:35
  Kate Foster: 'cause you enjoy it and you wanna get these stories out there.
• 35:38
  Kate Foster: Um, the other thing is, which I don't think is talked about very much at all, you know what, if you do wanna walk away, walk away.
• 35:46
  Kate Foster: You know, like there's no, um, shame in deciding that you can't keep going.
• 35:53
  Kate Foster: It's too painful, it's too difficult, it's too much energy.
• 35:57
  Kate Foster: Walk away.
• 35:58
  Kate Foster: Walk away and just go write something else or find another medium to be creative there.
• 36:04
  Kate Foster: Um, you know, I've met lots and lots of people over the last decade or so who, um, yeah.
• 36:09
  Kate Foster: Did step back.
• 36:11
  Kate Foster: You know, it wasn't happening for them.
• 36:12
  Kate Foster: They, they couldn't deal with the rejection that was coming and, you know, there's, what's nothing wrong with that?
• 36:17
  Kate Foster: Like, they just decided they couldn't do it anymore.
• 36:20
  Kate Foster: And I've got absolute respect for them for just turning their back, um, on what is a very difficult and often yeah, rigid.
• 36:29
  Kate Foster: Industry.
• 36:31
  Kate Foster: So, um, yeah, they would probably be my, my three top tips.
• 36:36
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 36:36
  Tina Strachan: I think,
• 36:36
  Kate Foster: no, they were really good top
• 36:37
  Tina Strachan: tips.
• 36:38
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 36:38
  Tina Strachan: It's not worth when the, when the love is gone and you're not having any joy from it anymore, it's not worth your health and your mental health, is it?
• 36:47
  Kate Foster: Oh god, no.
• 36:47
  Kate Foster: Absolutely.
• 36:48
  Kate Foster: And that's, that's it, you know, like, um, you've gotta look after yourself because often you're not.
• 36:55
  Kate Foster: Gonna be able to write good stories if you're not in a good place.
• 36:59
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 36:59
  Kate Foster: Um, and how you can come back, like, just take a break, go away for a couple of years and do something different.
• 37:05
  Kate Foster: Because you never know when that seed of a new idea is gonna come along.
• 37:09
  Kate Foster: And that could be the one that could be the one that gets you that one Yes.
• 37:14
  Kate Foster: That then, you know, turns into more yeses and everything that you've, that you've dreamed of.
• 37:21
  Kate Foster: You know, I went on submission.
• 37:23
  Kate Foster: I queried so many books and I went on submission several times to editors, um, with books that I thought were the one, this is it, this is it.
• 37:32
  Kate Foster: Um, and got so close and then it wasn't gonna happen.
• 37:36
  Kate Foster: And while all of that was happening, I, you know, decided to sit down and write pause, which was the book, which I probably had been thinking about for a long, long time.
• 37:46
  Kate Foster: 'cause it was.
• 37:47
  Kate Foster: Part of my life.
• 37:48
  Kate Foster: It was experiences that I'd gathered over the years for me and my son.
• 37:52
  Kate Foster: Um, and I just sort of sat down and thought, oh, well, you know, while all that's happening in the background, I'm just gonna write a story that I'm passionate about.
• 37:59
  Kate Foster: And that was a whirlwind that clearly it was, again, universe responding and saying, yep, this is the one.
• 38:07
  Kate Foster: Um, I, I left the agent I was with, I queried pause.
• 38:11
  Kate Foster: Within I think maybe six weeks, eight weeks, I got an agent and within about two weeks I went on submission and about five weeks later I had a book deal.
• 38:21
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 38:21
  Kate Foster: So, you know, that, that to me is a whirlwind.
• 38:24
  Kate Foster: Um, that was fast, that was furious.
• 38:27
  Kate Foster: Um, so yeah, just, you never know when that the book
• 38:31
  Tina Strachan: is gonna come along.
• 38:32
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 38:33
  Tina Strachan: That's great advice.
• 38:34
  Tina Strachan: And I think also importantly, um.
• 38:36
  Tina Strachan: Not putting everything in one basket or everything on this one manuscript.
• 38:42
  Tina Strachan: Like Sure, finish it off.
• 38:44
  Tina Strachan: And even if you think it's the one and you're sending it out and querying it, and agents and publishers move on to something else, almost put it to the side and move on.
• 38:54
  Tina Strachan: Because I guess for a few, for a few reasons, and one of'em being just, um.
• 39:00
  Tina Strachan: You know, there's gonna be ups and downs with it.
• 39:02
  Tina Strachan: And if it just doesn't get through, you know, number one, you've already been started to work on something else.
• 39:08
  Tina Strachan: So you've got something else sitting there kind of ready to go and to, to keep you busy.
• 39:11
  Tina Strachan: And it's maybe gonna hurt a little bit less if you're not just looking.
• 39:16
  Tina Strachan: You know what it's like You send, you send it off and you send the email off and then you just keep clicking refresh, hoping that that email's coming back like straight away.
• 39:25
  Tina Strachan: Um, but.
• 39:26
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 39:26
  Tina Strachan: It kind of takes your mind off that because it's going, the time is gonna pass anyway.
• 39:30
  Tina Strachan: You might as well be putting that time to good use.
• 39:34
  Kate Foster: Oh, I couldn't agree more.
• 39:36
  Kate Foster: Um, and you know, like a lot of people will then counter that with, well, you know, I spent so much energy and time on this manuscript, you know, like, um, I, I've got nothing left to give.
• 39:47
  Kate Foster: But I think that maybe is a lesson in itself in very few authors are one hit wonders, you know, that, that, that enormous.
• 39:55
  Kate Foster: Book deal.
• 39:56
  Kate Foster: Um, and that major success to, you know, for one book is rare.
• 40:03
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 40:03
  Kate Foster: Um, and so you, you know, if you do want publication, I guess you've gotta look at it as a career.
• 40:10
  Kate Foster: And so you're gonna need more projects, you're gonna need more stuff to put out there on submission.
• 40:14
  Kate Foster: Um, a lot of editors here may sign one book from you, but they're potentially gonna come and say, what else have you got?
• 40:23
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 40:23
  Kate Foster: So, um, I think.
• 40:24
  Kate Foster: Treating it as a business in some small capacity as early as possible is a very good idea, you know?
• 40:32
  Kate Foster: Um.
• 40:34
  Kate Foster: Putting that creative brain into multiple ideas projects is not ever gonna be a waste of time.
• 40:43
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 40:44
  Kate Foster: Um, I've had people say to me, oh, you know, you've, you seem to write everything and you know you're getting booked deal after book deal.
• 40:50
  Kate Foster: I'm like, well, actually, do you know what, um, pause was being written when I was on submission with something else?
• 40:56
  Kate Foster: The bravest word and Harriet Hound were written.
• 40:59
  Kate Foster: While Pause was on submission.
• 41:02
  Kate Foster: Um, and so no, I wasn't like, like I didn't get the pause book deal and then write all of the other books.
• 41:10
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 41:10
  Kate Foster: They were all being written way before I signed any contracts.
• 41:15
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 41:15
  Kate Foster: Um, and you know what, there's still some manuscripts maybe in old folders in cupboards that, um, I wrote years ago that I might.
• 41:23
  Kate Foster: I think, Hmm.
• 41:24
  Kate Foster: Maybe it's time for you and plenty more in your mind.
• 41:28
  Kate Foster: I'm sure that have really come out.
• 41:29
  Kate Foster: Um, too many actually.
• 41:31
  Kate Foster: Um, people talk a lot about like not having enough ideas.
• 41:34
  Kate Foster: Um, but I'm that one of like, I've just got too many.
• 41:38
  Kate Foster: Um, and no, not all of them are gonna go anywhere.
• 41:42
  Kate Foster: It's just not enough time in the day to write them all down.
• 41:43
  Kate Foster: Okay.
• 41:44
  Kate Foster: Yeah, exactly.
• 41:45
  Kate Foster: And like, oh God, writing can't.
• 41:49
  Kate Foster: You know, fully formed.
• 41:50
  Tina Strachan: Wouldn't that be amazing if you could just somehow streamline them from your mind
• 41:54
  Kate Foster: into Oh, technology.
• 41:56
  Kate Foster: There you go.
• 41:56
  Kate Foster: That's a breakthrough.
• 41:57
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 41:57
  Kate Foster: Oh no, maybe not actually.
• 41:59
  Kate Foster: 'cause now we're maybe getting into the topic of ai, which is not great.
• 42:02
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 42:02
  Kate Foster: Oh God.
• 42:03
  Kate Foster: Okay.
• 42:05
  Tina Strachan: Oh, so Kate, so you know.
• 42:07
  Tina Strachan: That's a lot.
• 42:08
  Tina Strachan: I think I need a little lie down after, after going through all everything that you are, that you're doing.
• 42:13
  Tina Strachan: It's so much and it's so incredible.
• 42:14
  Tina Strachan: And, you know, we've had a lot of questions recently, um, from authors, uh, that listen to the podcast and just, just catching up and meeting, um, other authors and illustrators recently.
• 42:25
  Tina Strachan: And they, they seem to just sort of have the same question and query about how, how does everybody.
• 42:32
  Tina Strachan: Do it all.
• 42:32
  Tina Strachan: How do they fit it all in?
• 42:33
  Tina Strachan: How do they get it all done?
• 42:34
  Tina Strachan: Like how are they managing it, you know, with deadlines?
• 42:37
  Tina Strachan: Um, you know, some have families, some don't.
• 42:39
  Tina Strachan: Some are full-time authors and author illustrators and, and some, you know, have other jobs.
• 42:44
  Tina Strachan: Most have other jobs.
• 42:46
  Tina Strachan: Um, but even full-time writers are just, they're finding it, the struggle, you know, difficult.
• 42:52
  Tina Strachan: And, um, yeah.
• 42:53
  Tina Strachan: What advice do you have?
• 42:55
  Tina Strachan: How do you do it?
• 42:55
  Tina Strachan: Do you have any time management?
• 42:58
  Tina Strachan: Tips for us or just staying motivated?
• 43:02
  Kate Foster: Oh, oh my gosh.
• 43:03
  Kate Foster: Probably not gonna help anyone by what I have to say about that.
• 43:07
  Kate Foster: I'm, um, look at the beginning of every year, I'm tremendously motivated and driven, and I do, I am like, right here we go watch this space.
• 43:18
  Kate Foster: You know, and the words pour out and, you know, I'm, I'm filling in that form and applying for this, and I'm like, you know.
• 43:25
  Kate Foster: Amazing.
• 43:26
  Kate Foster: And then I reach probably about September.
• 43:29
  Kate Foster: And it's all gone.
• 43:31
  Kate Foster: Um, and, and I'm just exhausted and I don't have much left in the tank.
• 43:35
  Kate Foster: Um, but that's how I work best.
• 43:39
  Kate Foster: You know, it is like these people that would are better off working, um, three, four days a week and they will get like probably six, seven days work worth of work done in those three or four days.
• 43:51
  Kate Foster: So I'm like that with months.
• 43:52
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 43:53
  Kate Foster: So, um.
• 43:54
  Kate Foster: I don't even know if what I've said just made sense or, um, if it's at all helpful in answering a question.
• 44:01
  Kate Foster: Um, but I don't really have any advice.
• 44:05
  Kate Foster: There we go.
• 44:06
  Kate Foster: I just roll with it and, um.
• 44:09
  Kate Foster: I love what I do, and I think maybe that's a big part of the motivation.
• 44:14
  Kate Foster: Um, deadlines are tough.
• 44:15
  Kate Foster: Um, and you know what?
• 44:16
  Kate Foster: If you're not gonna make your deadline, tell your editor in advance, you know, really let them know as soon as possible and be like, yeah, this is not coming your way in three weeks time.
• 44:25
  Kate Foster: I'm gonna need longer.
• 44:26
  Kate Foster: Um, don't try.
• 44:27
  Kate Foster: And, you know, if you, you are not in a good head space and those words are not coming, don't just presume they're gonna.
• 44:35
  Kate Foster: Um, you know, ask, speak to your editor because maybe you could have a meeting with them and they will fix a problem for you.
• 44:41
  Kate Foster: You know, this industry, it needs to be more collaborative.
• 44:45
  Kate Foster: Um, but that also relies on the author reaching out for help.
• 44:48
  Kate Foster: Um, instead of thinking, right, well, if I don't meet this deadline, there's gonna be another author that comes along and fill my spot.
• 44:54
  Kate Foster: Um.
• 44:56
  Kate Foster: You know, talk to your editor.
• 44:58
  Kate Foster: They took your book for a reason.
• 44:59
  Kate Foster: They wanna work with you for a reason.
• 45:01
  Kate Foster: So, you know, be confident in who you are and what you're doing.
• 45:04
  Kate Foster: Ask for help, reach out to people.
• 45:07
  Kate Foster: Um, but in terms of time management can't help.
• 45:10
  Kate Foster: So I.
• 45:12
  Kate Foster: I've got, I'm terrible with none.
• 45:14
  Tina Strachan: It sounds like you, your method is go hard and, and, you know, embrace it and, and go hard and get out as much as you can, as, as soon as you can.
• 45:24
  Tina Strachan: And then you just, but you're aware, you're like, come September, I'm kind of done.
• 45:28
  Tina Strachan: So that's good.
• 45:28
  Tina Strachan: Like you, you know, I'm just gonna front load this.
• 45:32
  Kate Foster: Well, that's right.
• 45:33
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 45:33
  Kate Foster: And then spend September crying a bit because someone I've got more edits to get done.
• 45:39
  Kate Foster: Um, and, and you just had book Week Week, yeah.
• 45:42
  Kate Foster: That's it.
• 45:42
  Kate Foster: That's, you know, like, yeah.
• 45:44
  Kate Foster: Um, no, it, not, not really crying all the time.
• 45:47
  Kate Foster: Maybe just every now and again.
• 45:48
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 45:48
  Kate Foster: Um, but yes, it's, that, that is, that's it.
• 45:51
  Kate Foster: I, I just use when I'm pumped and I'm.
• 45:54
  Kate Foster: Ready and I'm motivated and creative.
• 45:57
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 45:57
  Kate Foster: That's when I'll just get, get it done.
• 45:59
  Tina Strachan: Just, yeah.
• 45:59
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 46:00
  Tina Strachan: No, well that's good advice.
• 46:01
  Tina Strachan: No.
• 46:01
  Tina Strachan: You know what works for you.
• 46:03
  Tina Strachan: Maybe try some different things.
• 46:04
  Tina Strachan: Yeah,
• 46:04
  Kate Foster: there we go.
• 46:05
  Kate Foster: Absolutely.
• 46:06
  Kate Foster: Maybe don't try and do like a whole year's work.
• 46:08
  Kate Foster: Work in six months.
• 46:09
  Kate Foster: Mm-hmm.
• 46:10
  Kate Foster: I don't know if that's, maybe that's the message that's come through from what I've just said.
• 46:14
  Kate Foster: I don't know if that's wise for everyone.
• 46:18
  Tina Strachan: No, but that's incredible.
• 46:19
  Tina Strachan: But it does seem to be working for you, Kate, like four books out next year.
• 46:23
  Tina Strachan: That's an incredible achievement and very exciting, huge year for you.
• 46:27
  Tina Strachan: So good luck with everything next year.
• 46:28
  Tina Strachan: Kate, I hope you manage some rest and relaxation time now as we're heading towards Christmas and.
• 46:34
  Tina Strachan: A bit of a reset so you can go hard
• 46:36
  Kate Foster: again in the new year.
• 46:38
  Kate Foster: Most definitely.
• 46:39
  Kate Foster: That is the plan.
• 46:40
  Kate Foster: Christmas for me is gonna be, um, on the sofa, pajamas, festering, watching box sets, playing Mario Kart and, and eating.
• 46:49
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 46:49
  Kate Foster: Fest.
• 46:49
  Kate Foster: Festering.
• 46:50
  Kate Foster: Festering.
• 46:51
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 46:51
  Kate Foster: Festively festering, I guess.
• 46:53
  Kate Foster: Ooh, yes.
• 46:54
  Kate Foster: I love that festival, festering.
• 46:58
  Tina Strachan: I love it.
• 46:58
  Tina Strachan: That's what I'm gonna call it from now.
• 46:59
  Tina Strachan: I'm just festering away over here.
• 47:02
  Tina Strachan: Oh, Kate, it was so great to talk to you.
• 47:04
  Tina Strachan: Thanks for coming on the pod.
• 47:07
  Tina Strachan: Aw, thank you.
• 47:07
  Tina Strachan: It's always lovely to talk
• 47:08
  Kate Foster: to you.
• 47:09
  Kate Foster: You're just like my little Gold Coast bestie.
• 47:11
  Kate Foster: Yeah.
• 47:14
  Kate Foster: Oh, okay.
• 47:15
  Kate Foster: Thank you.
• 47:15
  Kate Foster: We'll talk to you later.
• 47:16
  Kate Foster: Bye.
• 47:16
  Kate Foster: See you.
• 47:17
  Kate Foster: Bye.
• 47:18
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• 47:20
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