Introducing: The Creative Muslimah
My revamped newsletter!
Salaam friends!
It’s good to be back. With my book launch, family visiting us, Ramadan, Eid and a trip to Oman, it has been pretty non-stop! A huge thank you to everyone who purchased my book, by the way. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, Alhamdullilah.
Anyway, during this time, I spent a lot of time thinking about this newsletter and some changes I would like to make to it. “Maryam’s Newsletter” is back in a whole new way, with a new name and a whole new concept.
Bismillah.
Welcome to The Creative Muslimah, a bi-monthly newsletter. This is a space dedicated to Muslim women who want to explore and develop their creativity in all areas of life. This includes their professional life, family life, their business or even their hobbies. In each issue we will share tips and tricks from such women in various creative fields. Or perhaps you are simply interested in what your fellow muslim sisters are creating! If any of this applies to you, you’re in the right place.
As an illustrator and now children’s author with experience in creating books for Muslim children, I understand the unique challenges that Muslim women face when trying to balance family life and pursuing their own interests or building a business. And this is what I hope to dissect and discuss in these newsletters.
And here’s the best part: you can get involved too! Twice a month, I plan to feature a fellow muslim creative and allow them to share their story, their projects, advice and wisdom.
I will also continue to share what I have learned through my own journey too insha’Allah. If you want to know more about me, check out the very first edition of my newsletter:
Before we get into it, here’s a 10% discount code for my Etsy shop which is especially for you guys!
Use the code: NEWSLETTER
Here are the links to my Etsy shop, my books and my Instagram: click here
My newest print:
Now that’s enough about me for now. Let’s introduce our first guest!
Our special guest today is…
Shabana Hussain! A children’s author of two wonderful books aimed at Muslim children. She answered 10 important questions. If you are new to Shabana’s work, you can find her social media and books here: click here
Here’s her story:
How did you get started?
Lockdown unlocked my creativity and I needed to focus on something creative to keep me sane! I took a Na'ima B Roberts course and during that summer in 2020 I wrote several stories within 6 weeks of which two have now been published Alhamdulillah.
What are the best and worst/hardest parts of writing children’s books for Muslim children?
The best part of writing stories for Muslim children is knowing that it's sadaqa jariya and I'm inshaAllah going to be a part of a Muslim child's Islamic knowledge and giving them much needed representation. Having the creative control and working with an illustrator to bring your vision to life is a great feeling. The difficult part is dealing with the mental responsibility of putting something out for the ummah. It's a privilege to work on books for mini Muslims, but it's a heavy burden too. It can be challenging to keep motivated when you hit roadblocks and things don't go to plan! That's when you need to remember your WHY to help you refocus and continue. You have to trust in Allah's timing.
I want to learn how to write children’s books. How do I do this?
If you want to begin, make the right intention, make dua and then do some research. That means reading books in your genre, reading up about the publishing industry and where possible seek out free courses to build your knowledge and craft like Reedsy.
How many people are involved in the process of producing a children’s book?
Many people can be involved in the making of a book depending on which route you take. Illustrator and editor at a minimum, you may also hire a cover designer. In addition you need readers you will test your book with to know you're meeting the needs of your target audience. Perhaps you may have a launch team as well, especially if you're self-publishing. If you have a publisher that is supporting you, then you have a team: editor, illustrator, designer, typesetter, beta readers (you still should have your own beta readers too) and a marketing person.
How did you secure a publisher?
I researched a few, followed the guidelines and submitted. I heard back from a couple, but they weren't taking on children's books at the time, however, they did give some positive feedback. Others did not respond which is normal as publishers are inundated with submissions. I then pitched to Kube Publishing and they were interested Alhamdulillah! For most traditional publishers, you will need an agent so you'll need to submit to them as the publishers will not accept your manuscript without an agent working on your behalf. For independent publishers you can submit directly.
I'm looking or an Islamic book publisher, do you have any suggestions?
For Islamic Books, in the UK we have Kube Publishing, Ta Ha Publishing and Beaconbooks, as well as Shade7. Elsewhere Ruqaya's Bookshelf and Tughra Books. A Google search may bring up more.
When you use a publisher, what are the typical lead times?
Children's pictures books can take between 18 months and two years to publish. They have many submissions to go through and many authors/illustrators to manage so they can only work on a limited number each year depending on the size of the publisher, whether that's a small independent or one of the big five traditional publishers.
Have you recieved much negativity? How did you deal with that?
There are highs and lows in a writer's world, as is the case for most jobs. There has been disappointment for me as well as amazing moments. There have been rejections, which can be hard to take if you're not clear on your purpose. You need to have a thick skin when you're querying (sending out your manuscript to publishers/agents) as often, you may not get a response at all so it's best to busy yourself with other projects once you've sent out your submissions. Also, not every publisher/agent will be the right fit for your story so don't take it personally. Everyone you come across may not be professional so be careful who you choose to work with.
I found that each time I was stepping out of my comfort zone, I would procrastinate because I feared the unknown. This is when you again need to revisit why you started and it helps to have a good network of people who believe in your work to encourage you to keep going.
How did you find an illustrator and how did you know they were right for your story?
For my debut book, Speak Up Sami, the publisher chose the illustrator. For my second book I had a very clear idea of what look I wanted to achieve so I selected the illustrator myself. It took me a year to finalise and I searched on Instagram as well as other places online such as Fiver. I asked a few illustrators to do sample pages after giving them a brief. I knew Atefeh was the one for Hamza Attends A Janaza when she completed one of the most challenging pages from the story.
Can I live off being a full time children’s author?
If you break into traditional publishing which offers advances (which you have to earn out through the sales of the books) and you have regular books being published, then quite possibly you can make a living from it, but I wouldn't give up the day job too soon! I think most authors will supplement their book work with author visits and other speaking events or if they're experienced and established enough, they may offer other services like mentorship, writing workshops etc. I'm still new to the whole industry so it definitely isn't a full-time income situation for me, but that could change in the future. Would love my author work to be a career inshaAllah.
I'd like to add, that publishers and agents will never ask the author for money. They pay YOU to publish your story, so be wary of those who ask you to pay anything. These are called vanity publishers and are not selective. There may be some that are hybrids, but you must do your research. If you're starting out may Allah put ease and barakah in your writing, Ameen.
It’s Maryam again!
A huge thank you to Shabana for taking the time to contribute to my newsletter!
I hope you found this newsletter beneficial and I look forward to creating the next one in 2 weeks inshaAllah!
Love and duas,
Maryam
Since your newsletter is about Muslim women and the various fields that they are working in, you would be happy to know that I am a poet and A Leaf upon a Book (Leadstart, 2022) is my debut poetry collection. I am a poet/writer by profession :)