Did you figure it out? I dropped some hints yesterday. They were all red herrings, of course. But if you know me, you’d probably know that I’d know you’d know, but knowing that I’d know you’d know, I’d pull the Ol’ Switcheroo. But anyway, I will reveal the answers by giving you the projects’ titles. DONUTS FOR EVERYBODY will proudly feature:

SILVERSTEIN’S RECIPE by Kate Allen Fox

THE BIG ORANGE BANG by Bill Canterbury

DEATH BY CHOCOLATE by Jess Yoon

And now for today’s topic.

There’s a common perception that having an online platform will translate to publishing success of one type or another. Whether it’s turning a webcomic into a graphic novel series, or finding an agent through a pitch contest, or impressing an editor with your sharp with through a carefully-written-but-doesn’t-look-like-you’re-trying-too-hard tweet, yes, creators have in the past parlayed their social media presence into an actual paying project/career/whatever.

That said, I don’t know that it ever happens intentionally. Or, rather, you can’t fake it. Kate Beaton kept HARK, A VAGRANT for years before turning it into a series of books. Matthew Inman did the same with THE OATMEAL before running an 8.7 million dollar campaign on Kickstarter for EXPLODING KITTENS.

DONUTS FOR EVERYBODY is similar to both of those projects (though far, far more modest than either) in that I didn’t go into it aiming to make anything but a couple dozen donuts on Twitter. I can’t even call it an artistic experiment. All I wanted to do was make donuts for people, so I did.

So, if you’re looking for guidance on how to land a book deal by appearing like an interesting person online, I can’t help you.

But Jerrold, you ask, isn’t that a bit disingenuous? Isn’t your social media curated and didn’t I even see you post a thirst trap recently?

Okay, I’m not so naive as to think that an online presence doesn’t impact how you’re viewed as a creator. Sure, it’s a reality of the business. But I’ll say it again, you can’t fake sincerity. If you want to be known as a person who makes things, you have to start by making things. So, to that end, if you’re looking for advice on creating for the pure joy of it, on indulging in making without expectation of reward, or, in short, how to shenanigan, here’s my advice:

DON’T SELF CENSOR

Certain creative impulses can feel frivolous. Making donuts? When you’re supposed to be building a portfolio?? Writing rhyming couplets when you’re supposed to be revising your middle grade novel?? There’s no end to the excuses a person can make when inspired by something silly and it’s very easy to consider certain things beneath your notice. My advice? When something tickles your fancy, follow it. Just listen to that voice and don’t offer any criticism. If it suggests something, reply only with “Yes”.

DON’T WRITE TO AN INVISIBLE AUDIENCE

If you pass that first hurdle and actually allow yourself to start making something, a voice is eventually going to say “I bet (this person) would like this”. “This person” might be an agent, an editor, the buying public, or Guy Fieri. IGNORE THIS VOICE. You were drawn to that inspiration by a need to make real something that was inside you. You are doing this for yourself. No one else. And I don’t offer this as a touchy-feely “honor your inner child” type philosophy (though it kind of is). It’s more about letting yourself discover and develop your voice.

LET YOUR INSPIRATION TAKE THE WHEEL

There were a few donuts that completely surprised me. One was the Summer Sunrise donut, another was the Shel Silverstein donut. Some of that surprise came through discovering an unexpected technique, some of it was in uncovering a type of visual narrative. I don’t know if I would have had either of those experiences if I went into the project with a set of rules. Like making only “edible” donuts, for example. I let each request inspire me in its own way.

And the inspiration for some requests (the Podcast Donut, for example) took more than a few months to arrive. Did this cause me stress? I don’t think so. I did keep a list of unfulfilled orders, so they were on my mind, definitely. But I trusted I’d do them eventually. I guess it comes down to exactly that, trust.

GO ALL IN

I’m realizing a lot of what I’ve typed here basically comes down to trusting and honoring your own creative impulses. A great way to show your ideas that you honor and trust them is to go all in. Dedicate a weekend to making donuts? Sure! Make a picture book themed all donut advent calendar? Why not? Attach yourself to a twelve hour livestream and make one hundred and forty four donuts for no good reason at all? You bet! Spend a day interrogating your reasons for making donuts in the first place and then do a blog post about it and cross-post it across three social media sites? Sign me up!

I know there’s some privilege attached to this. We don’t all have the time or resources to dedicate an entire day (much less multiple days) to our creative impulses, but whatever time you have, celebrate it.

HAVE FUN

Finally, none of the above applies if you’re not having fun. I think a lot of creators feel bound, perhaps in an unhealthy way, to projects they start. If you see yourself in that statement, you might want to practice letting go. DONUTS FOR EVERYBODY for me was a joy start to finish. And I can say that honestly because there’s a finish, we’re approaching it. I couldn’t have kept making donuts on Twitter forever and I wouldn’t have wanted to. I’m happy moving on. If something stops being fun for you, thank it, let it go, and make room for the next thing.

IN CLOSING

All this is easier said than put into practice. I know I come across as a go-with-the-flow type, but I wrestle with many of these things I’ve talked about. I am very, very impatient and what’s more, I have the focus of a lighthouse (hyper-illuminated, sees a great distance, but is constantly moving). I have, however, done good in quieting my inner critic, and that’s made space for things to click. And when they do, my goodness, what a feeling.

Somewhere early in the project I had the idea I wanted to include some flash fiction in the book. That decision was purely instinct but if I was to break it down, it would probably be because #DonutsForEverybody was always a collaborative project: you gave me the prompts, I made the donuts. I thought a delicious twist on this would be for me to give authors a donut, and have them make a story based on it.

Another reason I wanted this to happen is that this would allow the book to offer something followers didn’t get from the online experience. Creating something new was also important to me. And so…

In hitting up the authors, I gave them a donut and asked if they’d like to write something (anything) inspired by it. I told them the only rule was that it had to be short because a) the project is based on spontaneity, b) the written work had to fit on a single page, and c) this wasn’t a paying gig. There would be no revisions (because who wants to do all that work?) and they were free to tell me to get lost. No one did. I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to all the author for their generosity, their willingness to play with me, and their enthusiasm for this experiment.

THE GAME!

Below are three of these fine humans, Kate Allen Fox, Bill Canterbury, and Jess Yoon. Below them are the three donuts they used as a creative prompt. Which donut do you think each author picked? Read their bios, look at the donuts and see if you can match them.

KATE ALLEN FOX!

Kate Allen Fox is an award-winning children’s author from southern California. Her debut picture book, Pando, A Living Wonder of Trees, was published by Capstone in 2021 and named one of the best books of the year by School Library Journal and Chicago Public Library and a finalist for the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award. Little, Brown will publish her second picture book, A Few Beautiful Minutes, in 2023, and Beaming Books will publish Winter Solstice Wish in 2024. Her essays have appeared in several publications, including The New York Times and McSweeney’s. Find her online at kateallenfox.com or on Twitter and Instagram @kateallenfox. 

BILL CANTERBURY!

Bill Canterbury is a screenwriter in Los Angeles. He has had many odd jobs, including having been the caretaker of an abandoned summer camp for kids. There were whispers from the cabins and the swings would sway by themselves, so the place was clearly haunted. Or maybe just breezy.

JESS YOON!

Jessica Yoon (she/her) is a second generation Korean American kidlit writer based in Pennsylvania. She is the recipient of the 2023 Highlights Foundation Anti-Bias Book Bearer Scholarship and was an Honorable Mention in the 2022 PBParty and PB Rising Stars Mentorship. As a passionate advocate of representation in children’s literature, Jessica has provided freelance sensitivity reader services to We Need Diverse Books and is a member of the Harrisburg Asian Writers Collective. When she is not writing, Jessica can be found chasing around her two feral children with her spouse or dreaming about her many food cravings.

And here are the donuts:

What are your guesses? Which donut “spoke” to each author? Did Kate recognize humanity’s best-before date in Death by Chocolate? Did Bill recollect the heady LA nights he spent partying alongside Shel Silverstein? Did Jess realize that picking the Big Bang would give her a head start on alliteration?

Put your guesses (and for bonus virtual points, your reasoning) in the comments below.

ps – If you want to see their donutty words, you will have to get the book! Available as a pay what you want pdf download or in delicious paperback.

Jerrold, you’ve made FIVE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FOUR donuts, what could you possibly have left to do?

Besides the packaging and the shipping, there’s this:

It’s the Dozen Days o’ Donuts Book Release Extravaganza! The book is finished and I want to celebrate. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be uploading a series of “making of Donuts For Everybody” posts in acknowledgement of all the work that went into this mighty tome. Topics to be covered:

August 21 Guest Authors Part 1

August 23 How to Shenanigan

August 25 Guest Authors Part 2

August 28 On Revisions

August 29 Alligator What Now?

August 30 Foreword by…

August 31 Guest Authors Part 3

September 5 Blurb-arama

September 6 Hard Headed/Soft Hearted

September 7 Cover Reveal

September 8 BOOK LAUNCH!

There’s a lot here—some of it is fun and games, some of it is process talk, a lot of it is a celebration of community. If you want to immerse yourself fully in the story of this book’s making, you can purchase a copy here. It’ll also be available as a pay what you want pdf download.

But anyway, yeah, 584 donuts. Here’s what 144 of them look like when you put them side by side by side by side by…

Hey hey!

Did I tell you I have a book coming out? I have a book coming out. Look! ~~~

It’s my DONUTS FOR EVERYBODY art book, a 144 page celebration of children’s book illustration, community, goodwill, and, of course, DONUTS. It’s at the printer’s AS I TYPE and I’m looking forward to releasing the book in a few short weeks.

Before the book goes live, though, I thought it’d be fun to celebrate the project’s completion with a series of posts dedicated to the entire DONUTS FOR EVERYBODY project. Let’s start with that old chestnut, guess the number of jellybeans in the jar.

Except in this case it’s guess how many donuts I managed to cram into my 144 page book. I can give you some information. There’s about a million fewer than you’ll find in WHO NEEDS DONUTS? by Mark Alan Stamaty.

And maybe a thousand fewer than you’ll find in THE DONUT CHEF by Bob Staake.

Need some more clues? Well, those of you who followed the project will remember I did four donuts days over on Twitter with a dozen and a half donuts per day. There was the Twelve Days of Donuts in December, plus the 144 donuts I made on a livestream back in January.

Some pages hold more than one donut, though. The Strega Nona page, for example, holds six dozen.

Add to this the fact that I can get carried away in creative projects and the knowledge that I had an absolute blast putting this book together.

I think this should get you in the ballpark. Make a guess in the comments below! Closest without going over gets a virtual donut and my warmest regards.

Yours as always,

Jerrold