18 Dec Tonnye Fletcher

EL: As this draws to a close, I want to introduce you all to the amazing Tonnye Fletcher. Some of you may know her for her great support of the kidlit community and her wonderful program, PB Jamz. However, there is even more to her. Read on. 

Tonnye, before we get into PB Jamz and all the other wonderful things you do, will you please tell our readers a little about YOU?  

TF: Hmmm, let’s see. I’m Tonnye Willimas Fletcher and I live in rural southeastern NC. It’s much warmer than I like it here most of the year, but it’s my hometown and my family is here. I lived in six houses before I moved away to college and they’re all within a 5 mile radius of where I live now. My dad owns a farm here. We’ve tried a few different things, but haven’t really found our niche yet. (It’s hard for small farmers.)  My husband and I have been married for almost 35 years and are living in (and constantly fixing up and remodeling) an old Victorian farmhouse (built in 1882 and moved to our farm in 1992) It’s a wonderful house with lots of character and lots of needs, but we love it and it suits us. We always thought there would be kids to help us fill it, but that wasn’t in the cards for us, so we have a gym, a library, a craft room, my WordSmithery, and a guest bedroom. In my day job, I teach music to kinder – second grade, and I mostly love it, although I have a special respect for kindergarten teachers, because I’m not sure I could do kindergarten all day every day.  I also lead a local literacy nonprofit, associated with the NC Reading Association. We are the Columbus Council and we promote literacy in myriad ways in our community. I wear lots of hats, and I love them all!  In kidlit, I am a member of SCBWI (Carolinas) and Julie Hedlund’s 12×12 PB Challenge. I also participate in several critique groups.

EL You’re a busy lady! Now, let’s talk about PB Jamz.  Can you tell us what it is?

TF: PBJamz is a bi-weekly multi-media blog spotlighting picture books with musical connections. I highlight a book every two weeks (except during December and a couple of weeks in the summer when I take off for summer vacay.) I share a video interview with the author (or other connected professional – sometimes it’s an author/illustrator or a musician who wrote a song about the book, etc.). I’ve had a couple of musicians on who focus a lot on literacy and use picture books as a vehicle for music.  I’m building bridges between music and literacy and teaching in all the ways I can. During the first week of highlighting a book, I share the interview, a blurb/review of the book, a connected piece of music, writing tips from the author, and all the links to the author’s socials, website, and links to buy the book. The next week I follow it up with tons of teaching tips for classroom teachers, music teachers, families, homeschools, daycares, etc. – ways they can use the book to enhance learning in multitudinous ways. I also throw in a Pinterest board with more teachable/singable/writeable activities, a YouTube playlist full of fun music and more fun activities, related videos, and my own list of writing prompts related to the book (suitable for teachers or writers of any age).  There is also a PBJ recipe because that was the inspiration for PBJamz.

EL: Ah ha! PBJ! So clever!  I am grateful that DEBBIE’S SONG and I were PB Jamz! Will you tell us how, why and when you started PB Jamz? 

TF: When I came into the writing community I was so amazed by all the people giving back to the community in myriad ways, even ones who weren’t yet published. I knew I wanted to do that too, but I wasn’t sure what my niche would be – I didn’t want to offer something others were doing. I needed to find something different. One day (probably over a PBJ sandwich, although I don’t remember for sure), I made the connection between PB – picture books and J – jam/jamz (music!) The idea was born almost immediately, but I took some time to flesh out how I wanted to do it. Most people do written interviews like this, and I get it – they’re quick to put together and quick to skim and scan. But I love the personal connection of hearing people’s voices and seeing their faces light up so, although I’d never done anything like this before, I decided to do video interviews, and then I chose the other pieces I wanted to include specifically in order to serve and give back to three communities that have sustained me, supported me and brought me such joy: the teaching community, the kidlit community, and the music community. I wanted to bring the three together and offer something of value to each of them.

EL: You do so much for all of these communities. I count myself very fortunate for not only having you here but talking to and actually seeing you via your program. What is the most rewarding piece of what you do?

TF: One of the most rewarding parts is knowing that someone was touched by something I shared – or used it, or learned from it. I was thrilled recently when an author tried one of the PBJ recipes because I think it’s one of the underutilized parts of the series 😉 The giveaways connect books and readers and it’s always great when the recipient talks about how much they enjoyed the book. I’m still growing the teacher audience, but I hope they’ll realize what great resources I’m offering and more and more will come on board. The MOST rewarding part has been the friends that I’ve made during this journey. People I’ve interviewed who have become dear friends. Regulars whose comments show up nearly every episode. It has been such a fun learning experience for me and to gain all these lovely relationships has been a huge bonus blessing that I am so grateful for! I’m thankful to be able to give back in these ways and am honored to be coming up on the two-year anniversary and the 50th episode in February. I have some fun and exciting things coming to celebrate the milestone. Follow me to catch all the PBJamz birthday fun! 

EL: I can’t wait!  I know you have some other news. Will you tell us about your journey to get your wonderful agent? 

TF: It’s been quite a busy year in my world!  In Feb. I participated in PBPitch (as I had done, to no avail, many times before.) I went to bed, as usual, thinking I had received no hearts, but when I awoke Friday morning, I had a DM on Twitter from Winsome Bingham from Reycraft. She liked my pitch and sent me her email to send the full manuscript. I took some time to get CPs to weigh in on the manuscript and the query letter to make sure it was as strong as possible and sent it to her about a week later. Since I know email gets cluttered easily, I decided to drop a note in her DMs to let her know I’d sent it. She immediately responded with, “Call me. . .” and a phone number. I thought, “This is not how this works. Someone has hacked this woman’s Twitter and played a cruel joke.” I was literally doing a reverse phone look-up on my computer when my phone rang, and it was Winsome. After she introduced herself, her next words were, “I want to buy this manuscript.” (cue the fairy tale music) My mouth dropped open and I didn’t know what to say for a moment (that felt like much longer), but eventually, I mumbled something like, “Wonderful, what happens next?”  Then she asked if I had an agent, and my heart fell to my feet.  She continued with, “If I find something I really like but the author doesn’t have an agent, I just help them get one, so who can I call for you?” (Cue the fairy tale music again . . .)  After some chatting, she recommended Joyce Sweeney, and after some more chatting (and lots of positive comments about Joyce from Winsome), I agreed, and Winsome said she would call me back. And she did – the next morning. I was teaching, so she left a voice mail to query Joyce and gave me all the pertinent details. I queried Joyce immediately, and she emailed me back ON MY BIRTHDAY with these words, “Tonnye, this is stunning.” (Cue the fairy tale music . . .again!)  And WHAT. A. BIRTHDAY. PRESENT.  Of course, she wanted to see more work – and it took her some time to peruse and think and meditate, but a couple of weeks later we had a fun Zoom call. Conversation was easy, we laughed a lot, and it felt right. She offered representation. I did my due diligence and took some time to think and pray, but it felt right so I accepted her offer and am really happy with our partnership!

EL: That’s awesome. And now, let’s hear about that magical book that made this all happen.

TF: The book that Reycraft purchased is a lyrical retelling of a concert for plants during the Pandemic in Barcelona, Spain.  The concert captivated me after another agent had shared the video on Twitter and touted that was on her wish list. Summer 2020.  I set to work, writing 3 different stories about the same event – this lyrical retelling of the concert, a straight NF piece about the concert, and a fictionalized piece from one of plants in the audience.  I polished them all (some took longer than others) and sent all three of them to her and she rejected them outright – so I sat on them for a while; and worked with them intermittently. Finally, this one rose to the top and I queried it around and got only passes.

Recently, I had an editorial meeting with Winsome and she spent much of the time talking about how beautiful, lyrical, and musical, the book is – and how we want to elevate those parts of the book. She talked about how well-written it was, how she had read it aloud into a “tape recorder” before sending it to her team so they could “get it like I do” and how her boss had said how beautiful it was and how they needed just the right illustrator to capture that.  And can I tell you that there is no feeling in the world (at least not yet) that compares with the feeling that people who know books and do books for a living are sitting around talking about MY book that way!?!  It was the most beautiful, yet humbling experience ever. 

EL: This is such a wonderful story! I can’t wait to read that book! And along with all that, you still produce wonderful musical showcases as shown in the above picture. How can people get in touch with you? 

TF: If anyone has a musical PB (including board books) coming out or already in publication and would like to be considered for a PBJamz slot, they can contact me through my website or send me a message on any of my socials!  

My website is www.tonnyefletcher.com

My FB author page is here: https://www.facebook.com/TWFauthor

Twitter/X @tonnyef 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonnyefletcher67/

I’m also on BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/tonnyef.bsky.social)

and on MightyKidLit  (https://mighty-kidlit.mn.co/share/mogpESCt8gJTbbE9?utm_source=manual)

EL: Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?

TF: While my story may read like a fairy tale, there is lots of hard work behind it. Some people get lucky straight out of the gate, but most of us have to work long and hard to make the magic happen. Don’t be discouraged by other people’s success. You have to be willing to work hard for as long as it takes. Vivian Kirkfield was one of my early guests on PBJamz and she talks about the P’s. (Check out her website or the interview with her on PBJamz [https://www.tonnyefletcher.com/pbjamz/making-their-voices-heard]) Her basic message has become mine, “If you keep trying you will be successful.” It’s a competitive business, but when I stopped thinking about that and started just truly and genuinely being happy for others’ success and lifting them up, I began learning from them. Check out my Snippets blog on my website for more encouragement (Write Like a Sea Turtle ) or (Twenty “Simple” Steps [https://www.tonnyefletcher.com/snippets-bits-of-life-blog/twenty-simple-steps-to-be-a-successful-picture-book-writer]. I hope that my story plants hope that if I can do it you can too!  And also, the waiting and hard things don’t stop when you have an agent – or a book deal. It never stops. It’s part of the business.  But obviously, there are mini-fairy tales in the mix. I know, because I’m living one! 😀

EL: Thanks so much for visiting with us today, Tonnye. This is so inspirational! And now a

Tonnye is happy to giveaway one of these great prizes. Winner’s choice! So be sure to comment on this post by December,27.  Let me know if you are a subscriber or if you shared it to get an extra chance of winning.

Your choices:

• A Zoom AMA (30 minutes)
• A non-rhyming PB critique
• Your choice of any of the PBJamz books Tonnye has featured

Wishing you all the best, and I’ll see you in 2024!

Ellen