When Sophie Gillies was about eight years old, she was an avid reader, and often imagined telling Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls about life in the late 20th century. Fast forward to well into the 21st century and Sophie studied creative writing at university before finding herself working in environment education.
But becoming a parent to twins refocused her love of literature on children’s fiction. The result is Sophie’s debut non-fiction picture book, Wombat Poos Are Square – illustrated by Karen Erasmus and published through CSIRO Publishing.
Mastering her craft
Sophie's motivation for taking the course initially came from an unexpected place.
“The initial impetus is a little embarrassing – at the end of my long service leave, my kids had a term left in fee-paying preschool, and I needed something to do to satisfy the childcare subsidy activity test,” Sophie explains. “I had a few picture book ideas up my sleeve and wanted to develop them, so I looked for picture book courses.”
Sophie was drawn to the Writing Picture Books course at the Australian Writers’ Centre – initially for practical reasons due to its online format. But this quickly turned into much more. “I ended up thoroughly enjoying the course,” she says. “It turned out to be the best professional development course that I have ever taken on any topic – and I have taken many.
“The content was brilliant. I was able to listen to it while fulfilling other responsibilities that involved working with my hands. I have vivid memories of reseeding my lawn and painstakingly watering the new growth over several weeks while listening to Cathie Tasker explain the finer points of picture book writing.”
Valuable industry advice
Sophie loved how open the tutor was to answering any questions.“The course was about writing fiction picture books, but I had this non-fiction project up my sleeve and I had a question about the structure that I wanted advice on,” she recalls. “The tutor took the time to answer that question and it really helped finesse my manuscript into something publishable.”
Sophie also found the market research advice particularly valuable in her journey toward publication.
“When selecting which of my various draft projects to polish up for publication, I knew from the course to first choose the idea that was the best fit for the publishing zeitgeist, and then how to identify publishers who were open to unsolicited submissions and would be a good fit,” she says.
This strategic approach paid dividends. “I think I put more work into that process than into the actual drafting of the manuscript, in the end, and it paid off.” Tongue firmly in cheek, she adds that “unlike Jane Austen and JK Rowling, my manuscript was accepted by the first publisher I sent it to!”
The publication journey
Sophie's book idea took shape during a relatable parenting moment.
“When my kids were toddlers and learning to use the toilet, there were so many books for little kids about poo and wee, and I could see this was a timelessly popular subject,” she recalls. “I wrote most of the first draft in my head while walking the kids around in their pram, in between doing Google research to find the facts I was going to present.”
Sophie then dedicated herself to finding the right publisher. “That involved a lot of going to bookshops and libraries and searching online to find related books on the market, as well as doing desktop research on which publishers were accepting unsolicited manuscripts.”
Her targeted approach was successful. “I ended up with a big spreadsheet of publishers ranked by how well my manuscript would fit their list, and how much I liked their other publications. I thought CSIRO Publishing would be the best match and I was right – they were the first one I sent it to and they took it on.”
Learning her book would be published was an emotional moment for Sophie.
“[I was] over the moon. I first got an email indicating it was probably going to be published, and I was running whooping around the house. I had to tell my wife immediately,” she shares.
“After some pretty serious professional jobs, all trying to make a difference socially and environmentally, this is the first time in my life that I have had the opportunity just to put something fun out into the world, and see it turned into a beautiful product that people love.”
Fascinating poo facts
Sophie's debut book combines humor, education, and Australian wildlife in a unique way.
“It's a non-fiction picture book about Australian animal poo,” Sophie explains. “Starting with the well-known fact that wombat poos are, indeed, cube-shaped, I thought it would be fun to write a book about the different features of different types of Australian animal poo.”
The book evolved as she researched the topic. “The original idea was to talk about the features that allow the poos to be identified, and there are many, many cool facts about that – for example, did you know that parrot fish poo sand, and echidna poos are sparkly? Then along the way I learned all sorts of fascinating facts about the ecological functions of specific animals' poo, which, as I am an environmental-education geek, was right up my alley.”
Written as a humorous poem with scientifically accurate information, the book is illustrated by Karen Erasmus. “She has done a gorgeous job of illustrating the many quirky creatures featured in the book,” Sophie notes.
Balancing writing and life
With Wombat Poos Are Square out in the world, Sophie is getting back to touching base with writing around half an hour a day – balancing full-time stay-at-home parenting and other diverse interests.
“Apart from my main focus of raising happy, healthy kids, I have many and varied hobbies ranging from running and gardening, to kayaking and swimming, to reading, and avid consumption of news, political, science and storytelling podcasts,” she shares.
And advice for someone else interested in writing picture books? Sophie enthusiastically recommends the Australian Writers' Centre courses.
“Hands down the best professional development course I have ever done on any topic. Go for it,” she says.
Written as a humorous poem with scientifically accurate information, the book is illustrated by Karen Erasmus. “She has done a gorgeous job of illustrating the many quirky creatures featured in the book,” Sophie notes.
