Award-winning Author & Illustrator. Dad. Sock Darner Extraordinaire. Represented by Jess Hare of @TALLagent All views are my own.
Yorkshire, UK
Joined July 2014
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Delighted to see so many ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reviews of my latest book, when it's not even been out a week! 👉
amazon.co.uk/Where-Cake-Amaz…
#WritingCommunity #writerscommunity
Ere, what you been doin'?
Yer a pink pony girl, and them horses need shoeing.
#muchbetterlyrics
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Recently had fun making this Pink and White chess set. It's for a wonderful ex-student of mine who has a chess mad partner.
If you're going to learn to play chess, you should learn in style!
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Happy Easter guys! I hope the Easter Bunny, Patron Saint of Diabetes, has been kind and generous to you on this holiest of chocolatey days. X
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Andrew Sanders retweeted
How the children's books industry works:
1. People are way less likely to read children's books on a Kindle.
2. Children's books generally have a longer shelf lives than adult books. If they're a hit, they stay popular for a long, long time.
3. Picture books cost way more to print than traditional books. A 32-page picture book can cost as much to print as a 400-page novel.
4. They have smaller margins because even though the printing costs are higher, they typically retail for significantly less than adult novels.
5. They have three kinds of storytelling: words, images, and the space between them. "It's almost like the author has to be a director, and all the children's books authors will talk about the mystery of the page turn."
6. The one commonality among every children's book writer is that they treat kids with respect. They don't talk down to them.
Jon Yaged runs Macmillan, one of the five biggest publishers in the world, so I asked him to explain the book publishing industry to me.
My main question: why should authors work with a traditional publisher, especially when self-publishing is taking off?
What I got was a full tour of how book publishing works. Everything from how authors make money, to how publishers choose which books to back, to the traditional vs. self-publishing debate.
Timestamps:
2:01 Consolidation in book publishing
4:01 Celebrity books
7:57 The scale of the publishing industry
9:48 How to get your book published
14:15 New York
16:25 Using data to find great books
29:33 How to work with a publisher
31:11 The economics of a book deal
36:42 How sequels work
42:21 Children's books
48:42 Books in Europe vs. America
50:25 Should writers use AI?
1:00:57 How printing works
1:04:52 Book marketing advice
1:09:48 What a publishing CEO does
1:11:06 Audiobooks
1:15:17 Are people getting stupider?
1:18:20 The publisher business model
1:19:08 Macmillan
I've shared the full interview with Jon Yaged below. If you'd rather watch or listen to the interview somewhere else, check out the first reply tweet where I've linked to the interview on YouTube, and also on Apple / Spotify.
Enjoy!
Want a FREE copy of my award winning children's book? 📚 Just type in the name of your local library below! 👇 You can win yourself a free book and FIFTEEN copies for your library too!
#WorldBookDay #WorldBookDay2026
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⚡️Tag all the photographers/illustrators/creatives you know ⚡️
You can now get Serif Affinity Photo-Editor (99% identical to Photoshop for FREE.
Yes, FREE. It's awesome. I use it. And you should too.
affinity.studio/photo-editin…
#Adobe #Photoshop
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Live in East Yorkshire? Got a kid who loves to draw? Book a place for them on my In-Person Draw-Along workshop at Beverley Library on August 7th!
*Spaces Limited* Book now to avoid disappointment. 👇✏️🧡 👇
eastridinglibraries.co.uk/wh…
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It was wonderful to finish as Runner up in the Leicester WiT Awards for 2025! I am delighted and will just have to make sure my next book is super duper awesome to go one better next year!
Well done @paddydonnelly for winning! Thank you to everyone who took part in Our Best Picture Book 2025 and for the support from the amazing shortlisted authors, illustrators and publishers @OBrienPress, @NosyCrow, @templarbooks, @PuffinBooks, @MacmillanKidsUK, @KidsBloomsbury.
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Andrew Sanders retweeted
The votes are in for Our Best Picture Book 2025 – thanks to all who have voted. We’ll announce the winner after the Easter holidays! @paddydonnelly,Chris Naylor-Ballesteros,@Ze_ShanAkhter,@kelechnekoff,@shortandsmiley, Lou Carter, @AsaGilland, @HayesDias, Aysha Awwad, Magda Brol
Andrew Sanders retweeted
Introducing one of Our Best Picture Books 2025: Whose Dog Is This? youtu.be/gejRO_ZEVKY @shortandsmiley, @MacmillanKidsUK, @MidlandsCLS, @leicesterlibrar, #OBPBLeicester
Andrew Sanders retweeted
Meet Andrew Sanders – fantastic author of Whose Dog Is This? (Our Best Picture Book 2025 shortlist) youtu.be/EH7Uh8b4sc8 @shortandsmiley, @MacmillanKidsUK, @MidlandsCLS, @leicesterlibrar, #OBPBLeicester
Another exciting event, at the wonderful @Molescroft Primary School this time! Books and artwork all available 11-2.
