Sneed B. Collard III—Border Crossings

Advance copy: Backstories on books by NASW members

Border Crossings

BORDER CROSSINGS
Sneed B. Collard III (NASW Member), Howard Gray, illustrator
Charlesbridge Publishing, January 2023, $17.99
ISBN: 9781623542382
For readers aged 8-12 and their families

Collard reports:

When I heard of our ex-president’s plans to build an impenetrable steel barrier from one end of our southern border to the other, my first thoughts were of how that would impact the people who live along the border and relations between the U.S. and Mexico.

My next thought: “What will become of the millions of animals that cross back and forth between our countries every year?” It was clear the administration had not considered this—and Border Crossings was born.

Sneed Collard III

A proposal for a picture book generally needs to be accompanied by a completed manuscript. I wrote all of Border Crossings before sending it to my wonderful agent, Karen Grencik at Red Fox Literary. To illustrate the plight of border animals, I chose two fictional ocelots—one that was free to cross the border without hindrance, and another that was turned back by the border wall. These beautiful, highly charismatic creatures have small populations in both Arizona and Texas that will be dramatically impacted by the wall. The story must have struck the right note because Charlesbridge Publishing scooped it up.

The most difficult part of writing the book was finding details about the new wall and keeping up with its construction. The wall went up so quickly that by the time the book was published, the book’s “wall-free” section of Arizona had been solidly blocked by steel. Rather than trying to revise the story, I used this unhappy circumstance to discuss in the backmatter how simple-minded solutions often create far more problems than they solve.

Although Border Crossings is attracting positive attention, plenty of my other books have never seen the light of day. Even after thirty years in this business, I still often am mystified by which books get published and which ones don’t. I urge other writers to focus less on “getting published” and more on making their writing the best it can possibly be. Only then does one’s writing career have a chance to reach its full potential.

Contact info:

Sneed B. Collard III: sbcollardiii@gmail.com; https://www.sneedbcollardiii.com/, Blog: https://fathersonbirding.com/, @sneedcollard, @SneedBCollardiii
Book: https://www.charlesbridge.com/products/border-crossings, https://www.sneedbcollardiii.com/sneeds-books/sneeds-nonfiction/
Publicist: Donna Spurlock, 617-321-2502, dspurlock@charlesbridge.com
Agent: Karen Grencik, Red Fox Literary, https://www.redfoxliterary.com/

NASW members: will your book be published soon? Promote it by submitting your report for Advance Copy.

Tell your fellow NASW members how you came up with the idea for your book, developed a proposal, found an agent and publisher, funded and conducted research, and put the book together. Include what you wish you had known before you began working on your book, or had done differently.

See https://www.nasw.org/advance-copy-submission-guidelines.

View Advance Copy archives at https://www.nasw.org/member-article/advance-copy.

Thinking of writing a book? If you are a NASW member, you may access a list of more than 200 books and online resources to help you craft your book proposal, find an agent and funding sources, negotiate your contract, learn about self-publishing, publicize and market your book, and more at https://www.nasw.org/article/write-book.

Send book info and questions about book publishing to Lynne Lamberg, NASW book editor, llamberg@nasw.org.

Follow @LynneLamberg on Twitter for news about science/medical books, writing, and NASW authors.

Banner image adapted from original photo by Sneed Collard III, taken on one of the author’s trips to border wall construction sites while writing his book. The photo shows a then-incomplete section of the wall between the U.S. and Mexico in Southern Arizona.

NASW members: Share photos of your office bookshelves for use on our website. Upload photos to bit.ly/naswpicsubmit.

Advance Copy

The path from idea to book may take myriad routes. The Advance Copy column, started in 2000 by NASW volunteer book editor Lynne Lamberg, features NASW authors telling the stories behind their books. Authors are asked to report how they got their idea, honed it into a proposal, found an agent and a publisher, funded and conducted their research, and organized their writing process. They also are asked to share what they wish they’d known when they started or would do differently next time, and what advice they can offer aspiring authors. Lamberg edits the authors’ answers to produce the Advance Copy reports.

NASW members: Will your book be published soon? Visit www.nasw.org/advance-copy-submission-guidelines for information on submitting your report.

Publication of NASW author reports in Advance Copy does not constitute NASW's endorsement of any publication or the ideas, values, or material contained within or espoused by authors or their books. We hope this column stimulates productive discussions on important topics now and in the future as both science and societies progress. We welcome your discussion in the comments section below.