Nonfiction Archaeology: An Interview of Kristen Fulton by Tina Cho

I recently took an awesome online nonfiction picture book class that I just have to share with you all! It's called Nonfiction Archaeology, taught by author Kristen Fulton. She coached us from book idea to the submitted product. For this one month online class, lessons are delivered on weekdays to your email, and every Monday night there's a live webinar. (It's also recorded.) I even participated live from the other side of the world! Kristen is wonderful, flexible, and can really help you find the essence of your story. So I decided to interview Kristen for the Grog blog.

1. How did you get started in writing for children? 
The idea was always in the back of my head, but I had a career that I loved and short on time. I will never forget the moment, June 23, 2011 at exactly 5:10 pm, my phone rang, and my world turned upside down. The simple words, “You have breast cancer, it appears to be aggressive stage 3.”

My youngest had graduated that May. My husband and I were entering a new time in our lives, and I was leaving behind my career. Due to the amount of lymph nodes removed from my left arm, I had pretty much lost control of my left hand. I am left-handed.

After a long battle, my wonderful husband asked me in December 2012, “Now What?” My answer, “I’ve always wanted to write for children.” He discovered the SCBWI and made me come out of my pity party. 

January 2013- I attended my very first conference.

June 2013- I entered remission.

July 2013- I signed with my agent Kendra Marcus.

October 2013- I sold my first story.

2. How did you find an agent and sell two of your stories? 

Carefully :-) I am a plotter; I write outlines before I type. I research before I speak, and I calculate my decisions. Sounds boring, huh? I laughingly say that I have CDO, (OCD in the proper alphabetical order).

I researched agents and kept a spreadsheet on each one that interested me. I thought of it like a marriage; I wanted it to last forever. When I found my top 3 favorites, I started submitting. My agent compliments me perfectly; her strengths are my weaknesses.

My first story was purchased after a critique with Margaret Minks, Editor for Spider Magazine. She asked for the story right then and there. My second story which will be a picture book has been on a roller coaster. First, it was being edited for Beach Lane books after Andrea Welch wanted the story; then they decided it needed to be fictionalized. I was against that. So, then Grace Kendall at Scholastic acquired the story. It doesn’t stop there. Grace left and went to FSG and wanted to take my story with her, but after speaking with Scholastic they still wanted to retain my story and contract. I am not sure who the editor will be yet, hopefully I will find out soon. My third book is with Laura Whitaker at Bloomsbury and that is also the same editor that has asked for me to write a minimum two book MG series.

So, that is where I am.

3. How did you get the idea to start the class Nonfiction Archaeology? 

I love nonfiction and this summer as I was researching a story, I had to really dig deep. Hence the name- Archaeology. Truthfully, I didn’t think that I should teach a class. I am not even published yet. After several people asked, “How,” I decided to create a class that shared my steps/techniques. 

I absolutely LOVED how Susanna Hill's class for picture books was presented, and I LOVED the webinars from the Picture Book Academy. So, I combined both. Four-week class, Mondays are a webinar, and Tuesday-Friday are daily e-mail lessons. We have a lot of activity in the class Facebook group so everyone always learns from each other as well.

4. You're also hosting a retreat in July. Can you tell us a little about that? 

Our retreat is called WOW (Week of Writing) and will be held July 7-13 just outside Atlanta, Georgia. We have a stellar line-up of agents, editors and authors attending to help everyone have a hands-on education. It is dedicated to Picture Books and extremely well-priced. All workshops, meals and lodging for $800. This is for an entire week working with a stellar staff.

We currently have 4 spots left. For more information, click here.

Thanks so much, Kristen, for joining us today! Now all of you who want to write a nonfiction picture book, check out her class here! 

You can find Kristen Fulton at her blog Explore Nonfiction with Kristen Fulton.

And if you're interested in joining a nonfiction Facebook group that she administers, let us know! 

Kristen Fulton is represented by Kendra Marcus of Book Stop Literary. She writes from her RV in Florida where she travels with her rocket scientist husband and a small herd of dogs. To find out more about her, check out her blog.