It takes about 4 hours to make a challah and about 6 years to make a book about one. At least this was my experience for my most recent picture book, Challah for Shabbat Tonight. Below is a behind-the-scenes look at my sometimes-messy writing kitchen, plus a GIVEAWAY!
Recipe timelines are not exact. They can’t possibly account for how fast you measure and knead, the draftiness of your kitchen, or how hot your oven runs. Picture book publication timelines are not exact either. They can’t possibly account for how fast you write, how long it takes to find an agent, how many rounds of submissions before a manuscript is acquired, the revisions needed, or an illustrator’s schedule. But here is a timeline of one example of one book from idea to finished product.
July 2018: I have been writing for about a year when I decide I would like to try my hand at a rhyming manuscript. When considering topics, baking, which has its own rhythm, repetition, and predictability, seems like a good fit for rhyming verse. From there, I immediately hone in on challah, carb of the highest order. I know meter is important but I don’t know quite what it is. So I sit in the park while my six-year-old chases pigeons, reading rhyming picture books and drumming their rhythms onto a bench. This perturbs the pigeons, but it helps me bang out, quite literally, a first draft. Because I do my research, I make a lot of challah and eat it all. I like being accurate.
November 2018: Three drafts and four months in, Challah for Shabbat Tonight is ready for feedback. I tinker with it a little bit as it circulates my critique partners, and then I set it aside until I have enough polished manuscripts to begin the agent search.
December 2019: Yes, a whole year later, because in this industry, what is time? Renée LaTulippe, champion of confused rhymers, selects a snippet of my manuscript for her Peek & Critique series. She pronounces the meter “trochaic tetrameter.” It has a name!
January 2020: I start querying Challah for Shabbat Tonight. I have been querying other manuscripts for the past year, focusing on my prose stories. Lots of form rejections and many crickets later…
July 2020: I sign with Tricia Lawrence of Erin Murphy Literary Agency. I have a wide and weird range in my writing repertoire and Tricia wants it all.
October 2020: We go out on sub for the first time, starting with other manuscripts.
September 2021: No luck yet, so we switch things up and Challah for Shabbat Tonight lands in editor inboxes. One editor has recently signed a similar book, one isn’t looking for food books, one wants more narrative, one wants more focus on other cultural elements, one just doesn’t love it enough. These are all passes.
March 2022: But one editor wants a challah book that is all vivid verbs and a loving family preparing for their favorite meal of the week. Challah for Shabbat Tonight finds its home with Sarah Alpert at Algonquin Young Readers.
May 2022: I get an editorial letter and Sarah and I head deep into the wordy weeds. We condense stanzas, wrestle with word choice, untwist the tongue twisters, and tweak the actions. Should it read “pan, rack, knob heat” or “rack, pan, knob, heat?” What about, “knob, heat, rack, pan,” which doesn’t rhyme? “Ran, pack, blob, feet?” We knead every sound and syllable until it feels right. By July we are done. (You can laugh at me in 20 seconds).
August 2022: Alona Millgram signs on as illustrator. I look at her portfolio and am immediately charmed.
November 2022: Character sketches are in. I gush.
January 2023: We decide the text is not, in fact, finished. Ha! The initial ending includes Saturday morning challah French toast, but many Jews do not cook on Saturdays. Is this my particular practice? No. But could we revise the ending to be more inclusive without losing meaning? Yes! By around version 25 of this stanza, words no longer sound like words. I’m delirious. I exchange nearly 40 emails with my editor. We find our ending and the text is finished. For real.
May 2023: Alona’s sketches are complete. More gushing.
January 2024: The final color proofs are shared. My gushing about Alona becomes repetitive for everyone involved. You can find out more about her process on her instagram @alonamillgram.
February 2024: A few tiny tweaks later, Challah for Shabbat Tonight heads to printers.
Sept 3, 2024: Our book is published, and it only took 6 years, 1 month, and 17 days.
I hope our book fills your heart and your belly. If you would like to enter to win a copy of Challah for Shabbat Tonight, please comment on this post by September 30. U.S. mailing addresses only, please.
Congratulations Kathy Cannon Weichman! You won a copy of Seeker of Truth: Kailash Satyarthi’s Fight to End Child Labor by Srividhya Venkat and Danica da Silva Pereira from last month’s giveaway.
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing your publishing timeline. Fascinating! I can’t wait to see the entire book and share it with my students. 🙂
I love reading books about foods and different cultures. This one sounds so heartwarming because it tells of baking bringing family together.
It’s interesting to hear about other’s authors loong and winding journeys to publication and know I’m not the only one. Congrats!
I like your line: What is time? In writing, time in definitely relative. Six years for a picture book doesn’t seem all that long to me.
Congrats on this delicious-sounding book! Thanks for taking us along on your journey.
Congratulations Sara!!! What a beautiful book. I loved reading your journey to publication!!!
“Lots of form rejections and many crickets later…” illustrates the importance of patience and persistence. I love that you have kept your handwritten notes. Thanks for sharing.
The backstory is so fun – and so true. Years pass but we always hope!
Congratulations, Sara! I remember this one:-). Thanks so much for sharing your story! I look forward to reading your latest book.
Thank you for sharing your book’s journey. I look forward to reading it.
Whoohoo! LOVE this book! HUGE CONGRATS!
Sara, all your hard work and perseverance paid off! Congratulations!
Thanks for sharing your timeline for this book. So much goes into the finished product. It’s all rather daunting, fascinating, and ultimately, oh so amazing and beautiful. Huge congrats!
This book looks amazing! So cute!
Thank you, Sara, for creating an interesting timeline for your book, CHALLAH FOR SHABBAT. I look forward to reading your finished product.
Sara, thank you for sharing the insightful, behind-the-scenes journey of your delightful new book, CHALLAH FOR SHABBAT! I especially loved listening to Renée LaTulippe’s Peek and Critique of your draft. Lovely. Mazel Tov on a beautifully crafted book. I admire your perseverance, and I can’t wait to read it to my grandson (and follow your recipe, too)!
Sara, thank you for sharing the insightful, behind-the-scenes journey of your delightful new book, CHALLAH FOR SHABBAT. I especially loved listening to Renée LaTulippe’s Peek & Critique of your early draft. Lovely. I can’t wait to read your book and follow your challah recipe with my grandson!
What a lovely (and tasty) book! I always love reading picture books about food and the importance of different foods to family. Beautiful! I also love the timeline! Thanks and congratulations!! In rhyme too!
Hmmm. My reply is not posting! It says, OKAY, and poof. It’s gone. That would be a great picture book for adults… Trying again, so I’m sorry if the other mysteriously shows up.
I LOVE picture books about food and how the food is important in our families. This looks like such a tasty book! Thanks for the timeline too! Congratulations!
And sure enough… now the other showed up. (insert eye roll)
Congratulations, Sara! A beautiful book! I can’t wait to read it!
In my previous life I was a preschool teacher and would have loved to have read -and made- individual Challahs with my students! We did make pasta by hand!
Having made scores of the delicious braided bread for family and friends, I now look forward to reading this delightful book to my 2 year old great-granddaughter and then letting her help me knead, “push, pull and stretch slow”!
Congratulations! Hearing the story behind the creation of the book is fascinating. I love how you highlighted this special family tradition.
Thanks for sharing your journey. I think it give hope to the rest of us. Congratulations on thei beautiful book! I look forward to reading it.