PUBLISHING SMALL FOR A BIG WIN

By Kelly Milner Halls

Throughout my 30-year career, I’ve written nonfiction for major houses like Harpercollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, National Geographic, Random House and Lerner. It’s been fun to imagine myself a part of the big dog team. But publishing more recently with Sasquatch/Little Bigfoot--a smaller house in Seattle—has given me a big new win.

My first book with Little Bigfoot was CRYPTID CREATURES: A FIELD GUIDE (2019). My book about mysterious creatures, TALES OF THE CRYPTIDS (Lerner, 2006) has been a favorite among elementary school readers for almost 20 years. But as those readers aged out, they asked for a meatier bone—a bone I hoped to deliver. Lerner wasn’t willing, but Little Bigfoot was.

Instead of mimicking the 72-page TALES OF THE CRYPTIDS picture book, they allowed me to write the expanded 224 page paperback my older readers wanted. They even let Rick Spears, the illustrator who made TOTC a masterpiece, create original art for the project—a lot of it.

We offered well documented eyewitness reports on 50 different unconfirmed animals with three illustrations for each one—an adult, a baby and a skeletal feature. I loved the book throughout the process, but I expected it to take years to be discovered. Silly me.  

Almost immediately, the book—distributed by Random House/Penguin—sold like gangbusters. After 18 years, TOTC has 145 Amazon reader reviews. Five years into CRYPTID CREATURES, there are more than 700, most of them five stars.

Little Bigfoot promoted the book with gusto, in part because they had fewer titles to present than the major houses might have. My editor was exceptionally gifted and the publicist lined up the best television coverage I’ve ever enjoyed.

I attribute the success to Little Bigfoot’s willingness to take a chance on a book I was convince would find an audience, when the big houses refused. The partnership was so successful, I have another Little Bigfoot book on Washington State’s only dinosaur fossil discovery coming this fall. SEA MONSTERS: A FIELD GUIDE and BABY CRYPTIDS (a board book) will be available from Little Bigfoot in the fall of 2025—all illustrated by Rick Spears.

Publishing with any house is a win, and I’d still work for the big dogs if the opportunity arose. But I’ll never overlook the little guys again. Little Bigfoot may be small by New York standards, but the results have been super-sized for me!  

About the Author:

For the past 30 years, Kelly Milner Halls has crafted high-interest nonfiction books and articles for young readers. Known for well-researched topics, Halls delights in drawing even reluctant readers into the realm of discovery through the exploration of dinosaurs, Sasquatch, mummies, UFOs and dozens of other themes. She makes her home in Spokane, Washington with two daughter and a cat named Sue. She speaks at schools and conferences all over the world. 

 

 

  

When the Line Between Truth and Fiction Blurs

By Kelly Milner Halls

My friend Chris Crutcher once asked me how I write nonfiction about fictional characters. He was referencing my interest in cryptozoology – mysterious animals that may or may not be real. I answered, “If you’d read the books, you’d know.”

I have written hard science – books like Death Eaters about scavengers and Dinosaur Mummies about soft tissue fossilization. Sourcing those is a matter of scouring professional journals and following up with interviews to fill in young reader gaps.

Writing more subjective books like Cryptid Creatures: A Field Guide about mysteries like Bigfoot and Goatman is a special challenge because the stories may or may not be true. For those projects, research is more important than ever.

I’ve explored these topics for roughly 15 years now, beginning with Tales of the Cryptids, released in 2006. When I started, I thought I’d prove the stories were falsehoods meant to deceive. To my surprise, when I did the deep dive, I discovered many of the eyewitnesses were credible. If they didn’t see the creatures they described, they certainly believed they did.

I realized, it wasn’t my job to prove or disprove the Loch Ness Monster. It was my job to track down the best possible evidence. Once I’d managed that, I could leave it to the readers to decide if the animal might be real or not. If I couldn’t prove it was a hoax, I didn’t say it was a hoax. That would be a lie.

That effort begins with exhaustive reading. I haunt my public libraries. I pore through search engines and databases. I track down books published by experts who have been searching even longer than I have, read them, then interview the authors for answers and assessments of my own.

I almost never rely on blogs or self-published materials for my research. Those sources haven’t been evaluated by professional editors and art directors. Those sources might not be rooted in reality. I rely on more traditional books, magazines, newspapers and conference lecturers.

Once I’ve found at least two reliable sources on any one mysterious animal, I decide if the evidence merits inclusion in my projects. Some make the grade. Some fall away from my final manuscripts. Some are enhanced by tracking down the witnesses quoted in the source material for one-on-one interviews.

I believe some could be proven real in time. I believe others are unlikely, at best. And I share my opinions with the readers – not as fact, but as educated evaluations.

I do my best to teach young readers how to be critical thinkers, through the text published in the finished books. And I seek out illustrators like Rick Spears who can imbue the visual representations with life, even if they’ve not yet been photographically and scientifically documented.

I’ve pursued the same process for cryptozoology, aliens and UFOs, and ghosts. I suspect other mysteries will be on my horizon. Why? Because kids are brimming with wonder. They don’t want all mysteries solved. They dream of being the first to prove their favorites are real. But they do want to trust that I’ve done my homework.

I try never to let them down. If I do my job, imaginations soar, as does healthy skepticism. If I do my job, young readers learn how to make thoughtful evaluations of their own. I try to be a trustworthy and reliable guide along roads less traveled – roads kids cannot resist.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelly Milner Halls has written quirky nonfiction for young readers for the past 25 years.  Her latest books, Cryptid Creatures: A Field Guide, Death Eaters: Meat Nature’s Scavengers, and Gross Science Projects prove her weird flag continues to fly.  She does conferences, festivals, and school visits all over the country and loves every minute of it. For more about Kelly, visit her website: www.wondersofweird.com. 

ABOUT THE PRIZE

Kelly is giving away FIVE prizes, one of each of the books pictured above, a critique, and a 15-minute phone call to discuss your questions or stumbling blocks.

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