Interview & Giveaway with Elisa Boxer

I’m excited to welcome to the blog this week, author Elisa Boxer!

* Elisa is offering one lucky winner a copy of The Voice That Won the Vote: How One Woman’s Words Made History. To enter, check out the Rafflecopter giveaway following the interview below.

About Elisa:

Bio: Elisa Boxer is an Emmy-winning journalist and columnist whose work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, Inc. and Fast Company. She has been a newspaper, magazine and television reporter, and is especially drawn to stories of unsung heroes like the ones in her first book, The Voice That Won the Vote. Elisa lives in Maine, and you can visit her at http://elisaboxer.com/.

Connect with Elisa:

Website

Goodreads

Twitter

Facebook

Please tell us about your debut book, The Voice That Won the Vote: How One Woman’s Words Made History.

Hi Justin. So happy to be here on the day my book heads out into the wild! It’s the little-known story of the mom who saved suffrage, and it’s releasing during the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote.

Who might this story appeal to?

Anyone who likes to learn about unsung heroes, silenced voices finding a way to speak out, and one single act of courage changing the course of history.

What inspired and/or motivated you to write it?

An email from my agent, Steven Chudney! He’s full of great ideas. In 2018, he sent me an email letting me know the women’s suffrage centennial was coming up, and asked if I’d be interested in writing a picture book about it. From there, having always been drawn to changemakers and unsung heroes in history, I began researching little-known figures in the women’s suffrage movement. When I found the story of the mom who saved suffrage, and when I learned that there weren’t any children’s books about her, I instantly knew this was a story I wanted to tell.

How has the recent or current atmosphere influenced the process and production of this story and how you told it?

Given the current political climate, it’s easy to feel powerless and discouraged at times. I think that gave me an extra amount of oomph to shine a light on this woman who took a huge risk and gave voice to what she wanted, despite what society expected of women at the time. Hers is such an inspirational story, and I hope it encourages children everywhere to know how much their voices really do matter.

Who were the team members you worked with on it and what was the process like collaborating with them?

The book couldn’t have found a more wonderful home than Sleeping Bear Press. Sarah Rockett has been a dream editor, sharing my vision for the book while helping to sculpt it into the best possible version of itself.

And the old-world style art of Vivien Mildenberger is a perfect match for the historic nature of the book. It was such a thrill seeing everything from the initial sketches to the final art. I was on pins and needles throughout the process, always waiting for the next phase, but looking back it all went by so quickly! Every time I look at the book, I am in awe of the illustrations. And I spot something new every single time!

The designer, Jennifer Bacheller, put so much time and care into this project, which is visible in many unique touches, which I won’t spoil for the reader, but I will just say I have never see such a creative display of an ISBN number 😉

And now I’m working with Julia Hlavac, the publicity manager, who has taken what could have been an overwhelming process, and made it not only manageable, but super fun!

I’ve also been working with my local indie, Print Bookstore, to get signed, personalized copies in the hands of anyone who wants them!

And I’m really lucky to have my colleagues in the Soaring 20s debut group. We’ve been working together behind the scenes for so long, it’s incredible to now find ourselves in our debut year! Writing is such a solitary profession, so to have this like-minded, supportive team has been a blessing. For anyone just starting out on this publishing journey, I highly recommend either joining or forming a debut group.

What was the overall timeline like for this story, from your inception of the idea to publication?

I’ll answer this beginning in 2017, which was the year before I came up with the idea for The Voice That Won the Vote. That’s because I actually signed with my agent for a different manuscript about another little-known hero. While that one was out on submission, I got the email from Steven, alerting me to the upcoming 19th Amendment anniversary in 2020. After I dug up the idea for The Voice That Won the Vote (the original title was A Vote is a Voice, which is the first line of the book), the actual writing went pretty quickly. It had to, because I knew that two years was going to be a tight turnaround from submission to (hopefully!) publication. So I dove right in.

I was so excited about the topic, I had a first draft within a couple of weeks. I know other creators can relate to finding a subject that ignites that inner spark, and that was definitely the case here. The story of Febb Burn and the letter she wrote to her son had such a natural narrative arc, built-in suspense, a satisfying resolution, and a surprising plot twist at the end. My critique partner for that manuscript was my 16-year-old son!

I spent another week doing revisions, until I felt it was ready to send off to my agent. He really liked it, suggested a few more tweaks, and then we sent it out on submission. I got several rejections, and within a couple of months, three editors expressed interest and I had a signed contract with Sarah Rockett at Sleeping Bear Press! From our first phone call, it was clear that she shared my vision for the book and was just as enthusiastic about it as I was. A month later we started edits. Then came Vivien’s preliminary sketches, final art and layout, and last month my author copies were delivered! Now that was a surreal moment.

During the past year, I’ve been putting together my marketing plan, launching my pre-order campaign, writing my other books, and teaming up with my Soaring ’20s debut group. And my book hits store shelves today!

Now, one thing I clearly had not counted on was having my book debut during a global pandemic. But if this industry teaches you anything, it’s flexibility. So even though my launch event has been postponed, I am happy to be connecting with parents, teachers, and librarians to find ways to connect with their kids during this time of school cancellations. In fact, if you’re reading this, I’m part of the #writetoanauthor campaign, so email me for my address and I promise to write back to your child!

What were some of the greatest challenges you faced during the creative process for this particular story?

I think the most challenging part has, in some ways, been one of the most rewarding parts: The waiting! In the initial stages of publication, you wait for the offer from the right agent and then from the right editor (and rack up rejections in the meantime). Then you wait for the contract. Then you wait for the publisher to sign an illustrator. Then you wait for edits. Then you wait to see sketches. Then you wait to see final art. Then the cover. And then the book is still many months away from publication!

But honestly, the flip side is that each of these stages is an opportunity to savor the many sweet steps along the path to publication. Somewhere along the line I re-framed the waiting as the first time I heard my editor’s voice on the other end of the line, the first time I got to see the artwork, the first time I got to hold my book in my hand, etc. And I never take for granted how fortunate I am to be able to wait for all of these things, because I remember what it was like when my first manuscript didn’t yet have a home. I have a few more projects under contract right now, so I am savoring every single part of the process for those as well!

What type of discussions might this book serve as a springboard for?

Great question. I can see some important discussions centering around the theme of courage: What is it, and what are the different forms it can take? On a related note, I can also see discussions about how to give voice to something that matters to you, when it goes against popular opinion. There’s a teacher’s guide that will be up on the Sleeping Bear Press website next week, with some great ideas for further exploration of these themes in the classroom.

How does being a journalist (an Emmy winning one at that) and a columnist affect you research process?

My specialty has been long-form journalism for newspapers, magazines and television, so I definitely think that background has helped with knowing how to research a complex topic and distill it down to a succinct story. Also, as a journalist I’m trained to hunt down primary sources, which has been a helpful skill to have in this internet age, where there’s so much inaccurate information. Finally, as a journalist, I’m always looking for stories with emotional resonance. I want people to relate to the characters and their struggles and triumphs. I really have that same goal when I write for children.

What was your research process like for this particular story?

After some initial internet research to find a little-known hero in the women’s suffrage movement, I finally felt that inner “Yes!” when I stumbled across the story of Febb Burn and how she wrote a letter that led to one of the nation’s biggest wins for women’s rights. From there, I read several books on the women’s suffrage movement — for background, and also to find out more about that eleventh-hour legislative session in Tennessee that led to Febb’s son Harry Burn tipping the scales and giving women the right to vote. I also enlisted the help of the Special Collections department at the University of Tennessee libraries. They were very patient as I kept requesting more and more documents from the 1920s. They also shared with me a scanned version of Harry Burn’s personal scrapbook, containing newspaper clippings from his historic vote. I geeked out over that so much.

Any research tips and/or tricks for fellow authors?

My best advice would be that while you’re doing all of the research, also keep in mind the themes, subtext and heart of your story. What’s the message you want readers to internalize? For The Voice That Won the Vote, my message to every child is: Your voice matters. From the early stages of research to the final edits, I tried to always hold that message.

Is there anything you’re currently working on and would like to share with us?

I have four more picture books and two middle grades in the works, most of them featuring unsung heroes!

Thanks for your time, Elisa!

Thank you so much for having me here and for supporting the book, Justin!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

No Comments

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.

Subscribe

To receive regular notifications when a new interview appears, please submit your e-mail. Thanks!
First Name
Last Name
Email address
Secure and Spam free...