Mandy Foot lands children’s book deal as writer and illustrator

Courses taken at AWC:
Writing Picture Books

Congratulations to Australian Writers’ Centre Writing Picture Books graduate Mandy Foot for the publication of her second picture book, Lucy and Copper, with Hachette Australia.

Her charming debut book Joey and Riley, about a young boy and his beloved dog set in rural Australia, was published in 2018 as the first in a two-book deal with Hachette.

As an established illustrator living in South Australia, Mandy wanted to illustrate and write her story and was recommended to look at AWC’s online course Writing Picture Books.

“Completing the AWC course made all the difference as even though I am an established illustrator, writing is a whole different matter. I had tried submitting manuscripts before and failed and looking back now I think, my gosh, what was I doing! There is almost a science behind it and the skills learnt and information provided, I will be able to draw upon for a lifetime.

“Once I’d completed the course, this encouragement then gave me the nerve to put an edited version forward to my peers in a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators critique session. The rest is history!

“I went through the process of editing and re-editing, strengthening the plot and I’m very pleased with the final manuscript. I still had to go through the gruelling acquisitions process but I was actually grateful at having to do this as once I received the initial letter of offer, then I knew it was good enough to make it to a book.

“During this time I had also been storyboarding, working out where the pictures could support the text and vice versa which caused me to edit further.

“As Cathie Tasker, the presenter of Writing Picture Books pointed out – publishing a book is an expensive process and I had to earn this as a writer now, not just an illustrator.”

Congratulations Mandy!

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