Click Here To Purchase Barrington Bear On Safari

Today, Norm Goldman Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as our guest, Keith Szafranski author of Barrington Bear On Safari.

Good day Keith and thanks for participating in our interview.

Norm: 

Please tell our readers something about yourself and what motivated you to write Barrington Bear On Safari.

Keith:  

I have been a professional photographer for over 25 years specializing in wildlife and nature photography. When I first moved to Montana 25 years ago, I began selling my work to magazines, books, calendars and other publications. Then in 1989, I decided to try to sell fine art prints of my photographs at art shows across the country. This proved to be more lucrative for me than the publishing game so I pursued this to a greater extent, eventually getting out of publishing almost entirely.

It was at one of these art shows a few years ago that a friend of mine gave me the idea of doing a picture book for kids using my photography. She had recently published a picture book using her artwork and was doing very well with it. I really liked the idea but could not come up with any specific ideas that I really liked. Almost two years later, literally out of nowhere, I came up with the idea that eventually manifested itself into Barrington Bear.  

Once I had the basic idea of a little bear that travels the world taking pictures (just like me), the ideas for books came welling forth. I quickly wrote down about ten possible titles for the books. Barrington Bear On Safari was the second on the list. The first, Barrington Bear Visits the Emperor, was published in February of 2008.

Norm: 

What do you want your book to do?

Keith:  

 I want the books to provide a fun and educational experience for the young reader.  I hope to teach children about the world around them without them realizing that they are in fact learning something. If learning is fun then it won’t seem like a chore and the kids (and adults) are apt to do it more often.

 I also try to make the experience as real as possible in the short span of a picture book. In Safari, for instance, I introduce a second character, Sokwe a chimpanzee. This is Barrington’s driver/guide just like the driver/guide that I had on my trips to Africa. I also have Sokwe teach Barrington a little of the native language, Swahili, just as my driver and some of the other locals I met on my safaris tried to teach me. In essence, Barrington is me in furry suit.  

Norm:

What is your background in children's literature? 

Keith:

 I don’t have any formal background in kids lit. I am primarily a photographer.  When I was young, I was a voracious reader. I especially liked reading about animals and mysteries. I also liked writing about anything and everything. About twelve years ago, I got the crazy idea of re-reading some of the stories I read as a kid. I started with the Hardy Boys series of books. Hardly great literature but they were fun. What started as an innocent return to childhood became almost an obsession. I started collecting many more titles and became rather particular about the condition of the books I collected. My collection now numbers over 4000 books, mostly pre-1960. And yes, I do actually read them even at my age. 

Norm:

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Keith:   

At first, there were several things that proved challenging in writing picture books for children. One was brevity. Because I am trying to teach as well as entertain, it is difficult to say all that I want to say in so few words. Then there is the challenge of language. I worked really hard on keeping the language in the books at a 3^rd grade level, which was difficult in the first book but a bit easier in Safari.

Norm: 

Could you describe to our readers the process of blending your photos with the text?

Keith:   

This is the real fun part for me. Before I even started writing the first book, the artist friend that suggested my doing picture books told me I had to start with the text and then add the pictures. That may work fine for her but I do it just the other way around. I look at the photographs that I have for a particular story idea, sort of weave them together into a story line, and then add the text. Some photographs just scream, “Add Barrington, here!” so I try to tailor part of the story around that photo. (I just want to add here that most of the photos that include Barrington are done via Photoshop.) In Safari, if I decide it’s time for Barrington to see some elephants, I look at all of the elephant photographs that I have selected for possible use in the book and write the text with the ones that I finally choose to use in mind.

Norm: 

Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

Keith:

 I learned many things from writing the books. One of the most surprising things was how much fun it is. Sure, it is a lot of work but, what is the old saying, “If you enjoy your job you will never work a day in your life.” That is the way I feel about writing these books. The actual writing and laying out of the book is loads of fun. My only regret is that I did not start doing them sooner. 

Norm:

What do you think makes a good children’s story? 

Keith: 

I think any subject can make a good children’s story as long as it holds the reader’s interest. Certain subjects tend to do that more than others do. That is why I chose a cute and cuddly teddy bear as my main character. Everybody loves a teddy bear. The main character in the story should also be involved in an activity that is of interest to children and is something that they can do. While and African safari might be out reach for many kids financially, I think it is something that many children dream of doing someday.

The most important thing in a children’s story is make it interesting and make it fun. 

Norm:

Can you tell us how you found representation for your book? Did you pitch it to an agent, or query publishers who would most likely publish this type of book? Any rejections? Did you self-publish? 

Keith:

I never really considered querying a publisher. I was thinking self-publish all the way. It’s really tough to get any book accepted by a publishing house these days but it’s especially difficult with picture books. I also like the control I have over the content and being able to keep more of the income from the books is not too bad either.  That’s not to say that I would not welcome inquiries from publishers or agents. While I really like writing these books, I am not too crazy about the production and marketing end of things. 

Norm:

How have you used the Internet to boost your writing career? 

Keith: 

Before I even received the first Barrington Bear book from the printer, I had a functioning website online at www.travelswithbarrington.com. It wasn’t much but it worked. I have worked on it a bit more since then but it still has a long way to go. I have used the Internet to find help with the writing of the books and to find organizations that might help my career. The Internet is also where I found you,

Norm.

Where the Internet is becoming most important in my writing career is in marketing. I am using it to find places that might buy my book and have done email and regular mail mailings to them.  I also have the books on Amazon. I have gleaned marketing ideas from the Internet and have used the Internet to find a printer for the book as well as reviewers and editors. Not many days go by that I do not use the Internet in some way to forward my writing career. 

Norm:

How can readers find out more about you and your endeavors? 

Keith:

As far as the books go, they can go to Barrington’s website at, www.travelswithbarrington.com . Be sure to check out the links at the top of the page. If anyone is interested in my photography, they can visit my website at, www.mostlywildlifephotos.com .  They can also email me at, keith_szafranski@msn.com or Barrington at, barringtonbear@q.com .  

Norm:

What is next for Keith Szafranski and is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered? 

Keith: 

Right now, the big push is to market the first two books and get them into as many retail outlets and libraries as possible. I also want to get at writing book three in the series, Barrington Bear’s Yellowstone Adventure.  This marketing thing is too much work. I need to start having some fun! 

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors.

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