by @RamonaRichards

I took my first job in the publishing industry in 1981. Yes, I’m old.

I worked as an editorial secretary in the children’s book division of Abingdon Press. Unbelievably green, I found myself startled by the long lead time of books, the intricacy of the processes of art and text development, and the varying stages of production, from four-color separations, to galleys that smelled like stop bath (look it up), to bluelines that made everything in my vision turn pink and brown, to the rush of receiving the final book.

It was on-the-job training in the most exhilarating way. But some of the most lasting lessons were the simplest ones, prompted by questions to my then boss, a magnificent woman I never called anything but Mrs. Calhoun.

What makes a good children’s book?

The same thing that makes a good adult book. Engaging characters, tight storytelling, hopeful resolution. Do not look for the “lessons” in children’s books. They’ll be too overhanded. Start with a great story.

What if I overlook a book that someone else buys and it becomes a bestseller?

So what if you do? That’ll happen, if you stay in this business long enough (It did, more than once). I once turned down [remarkably famous children’s book]. You can’t have those kinds of regrets and stay sane. Focus on your line. Trust God. Don’t worry about the rest.

There’s a typo in one of our books! It’s been there at least ten years! How do we prevent that?

You can’t. There’s no such thing as a perfect book. That book was proofed four times before it was printed. It’s been proofed before each of the reprints (14 at the time). It was missed. It happens. You do the best you can with the best people you can. Then let it go. If you’re going to sweat every mistake, you need to find a new field.

There were other lessons . . . countless others. But these are the three that always immediately come to mind when I talk about learning the complexities of publishing. The simple ones.

Mrs. Ernestine Calhoun died in 2012 at the age of 88, long retired and content in her beloved Crystal Springs, Mississippi. She’d been a teacher during the 60s, involved in the Civil Rights movement, and had even partied with the Harlem Globe Trotters. Wound up editing curriculum for Abingdon before taking over the children’s book line. She was used to teaching young people lessons and being involved in ways to change the world.

She certainly changed mine.

Ramona Richards is the associate publisher for Iron Stream Media, the parent company of New Hope Publishers, Iron Stream Kidz, Ascender Books, and Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. She has been an in-house editor for Abingdon Press, Thomas Nelson, Rutledge Hill Press, and Ideals magazine, and has freelanced for a dozen other publishers. She recently received the Joann Sloan National Award for the Encouragement of Writing, a mentoring, editing, and coaching award presented by Vision Press at the Southern Christian Writers Conference. The author of nine novels, three books of devotions, and numerous magazine articles, she is a frequent speaker for women’s and writers’ groups, and has presented at numerous conferences across the country. Her latest book, Murder in the Family, is available now.

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