20-plus picture books published in 10 years. I think we can all agree that that qualifies as both prolific and unbelievably badass. That’s why I was more than jazzed when superstar author, Josh Funk, reached out to chat publishing and his latest book (and SEVENTH in a picture book series!), WHODONUT? A HOLIDAY MYSTERY. Josh gives us some real truth about how manuscripts for rhyming picture books can be both wonderful and awful, how topsy-turvy this industry can be when editors leave for a variety of reasons, and how just keeping at it is the best advice for a writer no matter what stage of the game you’re in. Let’s dive in!
Jason June (JJ): When you started your writing journey, what was the biggest frustration you encountered as you tried to find an agent and/or went on sub to editors for the first time that you wish you could have vented about?
Josh Funk (JF): This one is pretty easy. I wrote picture books in rhyme. And rhyming picture books have a stigma associated with them throughout all levels of the kidlit industry.
To be fair, it’s sort of a well-deserved stigma. A lot of writers (like me) start out thinking two things:
Picture books are short, so they’ll probably be the easiest things to write.
I always loved rhyming picture books growing up. And I love reading rhyming books like Iggy Peck, Architect and Llama, Llama Red Pajama and Circus Ship to the little ones in my life.
And we therefore conclude that we should start our kidlit writing careers by writing (1) picture books (2) in rhyme.
And we do. Like all writers, our first manuscripts are inevitably our worst. But we write them, get them critiqued, submit them, and get rejections.
And some of us stubbornly continue to write in rhyme, and we might improve our rhyming picture book manuscripts to the point where they’re worthy of publication.
Others, however, may decide that they would be better off writing picture books not in rhyme. Or they realize they prefer writing for older readers and start writing chapter books or YA (not thinking of anyone in particular here, this is just a general statement).
But FAR too many of us submit TERRIBLE rhyme to agents and editors. So the negative attitude toward rhyme is merited.
My first handful of picture book manuscripts ranked at various qualities between terrible and REALLY terrible. In retrospect, I never should have sent any of them out into the world. But after a couple years, I could sense that my writing was improving. I was figuring out all those rhyming mistakes one could make and mostly avoiding them. I joined a new critique group with writers at even more advanced stages in their careers and their feedback was encouraging.
But my queries were still getting no traction. In fact, out of 36 queries I sent out for Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast, I received two passes from agents who clearly read the manuscript, ten form rejections, and 24 black holes.
So, I tried submitting directly to publishers. And here, I had some luck. In 2013, I sent out three different manuscripts to a variety of publishers mostly via snail mail and a few via digital submission. All three garnered interest, and along with a personal recommendation from a friend of mine to their agent, we had offers on all three within a couple of months from Scholastic, Penguin, and Sterling.
JJ: How about after you got your first book deal and continued on to be multi-published? How did your frustrations (if you had any) change, and what would you have vented about or did vent about to author friends?
JF: I’ve been very fortunate over the last decade. My first book came out in 2015. Since then, I’ve had 20 more picture books released. And next spring (2026) I’ll have two more. I’ve worked with 7 different publishers for those 23 titles. But I’ve worked with 18 different editors.
How is that possible? I’ll break it down for you
● Sterling/Union Square: 9 books. 7 editors.
● Penguin: 4 books. 3 editors.
● Two Lions: 4 books. 1 editor.
● Macmillan: 2 books. 3 editors.
● Simon & Schuster: 2 books. 2 editors.
● Bloomsbury: 1 book. 3 editors.
● Scholastic: 1 book. 1 editor.
(Note: I know that adds up to 20 editors. But I actually worked with both S&S editors previously at Scholastic and Penguin. So technically, it’s only 18 different people, just two of them at two different publishers.)
So I guess my vent is the transient nature of the publishing industry. Some editors move to new children’s publishers. At least I can still submit to those at other places (as I’ve done with Simon & Schuster). Some move to adult publishing (so I can’t sub to them any more). Some become agents. Some leave the industry altogether. And the worst is when they get laid off (which has happened to two of my editors in the past 12 months - a circumstance far worse for them than for me, obviously).
I’ve gotten so many emails with subject lines like “Some news” or “A note from [insert editor name]” or “News from [insert publisher name]”. The first time I got one of those emails it was devastating. But it’s happened so many times I’ve become numb to it. It’s not that I expect it to happen, but I’m no longer surprised.
Of course, I’m not alone. Pretty much everyone goes through this sooner or later. I just seem to get a new editor once every six months or so. Sometimes it’s because I sold a book to a new house. But most of the time it’s not for a good reason.
JJ: Tell us about your latest book! And (I bet you know where this is going) what’s the biggest vent you’ve got about the process of creating this book?
JF: WHODONUT? A Holiday Mystery, illustrated by Brendan Kearney, is the 7th book in the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series. In this adventure, titular characters are invited to a special reading of Agatha Crispy’s new book at Gingerbread Mansion on Holiday Eve. But before Agatha Crispy can begin, the lone copy of her book is stolen! Pancake and Toast, along with a dozen other familiar characters throughout the series (Baron von Waffle, Inspector Croissant, Agent Asparagus, Count Caper, Professor Biscotti, Miss Steak et al.) split up and search the house à la Clue (the movie), including all manner of hilarious hijinx. Spoiler alert: the book is found. And the culprit is definitely who you’d suspect.
It’s honestly pretty amazing that I got to write seven books in a picture book series, let alone one that never made a best-seller list (unless you count that week in February, 2016 when LADY PANCAKE & SIR FRENCH TOAST was the #8 best-selling picture book in St. Louis according to Publishers Weekly, thanks Novel Neighbor Bookstore!). The series as a whole has sold over 250,000 copies; and that’s even before WHODONUT was released.
Books 2 through 7 were all named to the Kids’ Indie Next List (by booksellers across the U.S.), and WHODONUT was actually named the #1 Kids’ Indie Next Pick for Sep/Oct 2025. The Union Square editorial team has been great to work with. Brendan is a dream illustrator. The Union Square marketing and publicity folks have been very attentive and supportive.
So what’s my vent? Union Square was acquired by Hachette a year ago. And while the Union Square team appreciated the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series, I think it got lost in the transition to Hachette. Most likely, Hachette had all their sales conferences prior to integrating the Union Square list into theirs, so when it came time to share books with booksellers, WHODONUT wasn’t top of mind.
And despite being the NUMBER ONE Kids’ Indie Next Pick, many indie bookstores haven’t stocked it. I know it’s not because the previous books didn’t sell well. I’m pretty sure it just got lost in the shuffle.
By the time my next book with Union Square comes out, I hope (and believe) the Hachette sales team will be ready. And hopefully they’ll prioritize it when they go to B&N and all the indie bookstores.
JJ: Any words of wisdom you have for writers whether they are at the beginning of their journey or multi-published?
JF: For those at the beginning, my best advice is always to keep writing new things. We all love our first story (even if it’s a rhyming picture book). And you need to revise it, get it critiqued, revise some more, send it out to agents and/or editors and get rejections, revise some more, and so on.
But you’ll learn SO much about writing (both the craft and the industry) while doing all that. And your second story will start off in a much better place. And your third will be even better. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a keynote speaker at a writing conference say something like, “and finally, the seventh novel I wrote sold to a publisher and became my debut.” And these are the keynote speakers!
For me, my first book, LADY PANCAKE & SIR FRENCH TOAST, was the 10th picture book manuscript I wrote. I’ll never go back to those first few. I know now how flawed they were. Both in concept and execution. But I needed to write and revise and submit them to get to my 10th. And you will, too.
As far as multi-published authors, my best advice is to appreciate every step. There’s always something more out there to strive for that’s often out of our control. Things to be jealous about. (being a best-seller, being a #1 best-seller, being a multi-week #1 best-seller, getting an award seal on your book, getting the gold award seal on your book, etc.)
But I try to remember to step back and think about the fact that I’m a published author. I have a book that’s available at public libraries and bookstores and is read in schools. A book that kids and their parents read before bed. Maybe when that kid grows up, they’ll remember fondly a book that I wrote and it’ll make them feel nostalgic. And maybe they’ll read it to their own kid.
Sure, there are lots of things to vent about. But I wrote a published book. A book that kids actually read and enjoy. That’s pretty cool. And isn’t that why we do this, after all?
JJ: Thanks so much for joining us aboard the Ventorship, Josh! Author-passengers, read below for more info about Josh and WHODONUT? A HOLIDAY MYSTERY!
About WHODONUT? A HOLIDAY MYSTERY
A thief is among us ... The newest Agatha Crispy book is here, and Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast have been invited to the very first reading on Holiday Eve! But when the lights go out and the book goes missing, everyone becomes a suspect. As the party splits up to search the mansion, Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast team up once again. Will they be able to follow the clues and save the ending to the Miss Maple series, or will the culprit be at large forever?
About Josh Funk
Josh Funk is a software engineer and the author of books like the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series, How to Code a Sandcastle, Dear Dragon, My Pet Feet, the It’s Not a Fairy Tale series, Lost in the Library, and more. His books have sold more than half a million copies worldwide and been translated into a dozen languages. He has presented (and virtually presented) at over 900 schools and libraries in the last decade since his first book was released. For more about Josh, visit joshfunkbooks.com and @joshfunkbooks on socials.
Authors, the Ventorship is looking for traditionally published writers to be featured with their latest book release in a future edition of The Vent! Email me at heyjasonjune@gmail.com with the subject: THE VENT to let me know you’re interested. All you’ll need to be featured are answers to the same four questions asked above, as well as an author bio, cover image, and book description.
If you’d like to anonymously vent about anything author/writing related, write to me at heyjasonjune@gmail.com with the subject: VENTORSHIP. I’ll give you my take in a post, and we’ll crowdsource author opinions in the comments. You’ll remain anonymous, and any haters will be thrown overboard. Ultimately, I think you’re going to be buoyed up by author love and support as we realize we really are all in the same boat 🛳️
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