Today we’d like to introduce you to Alastair Heim
Hi Alastair, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was first inspired to try and write picture books after my oldest child was born back in 2008. My wife and I received a ton of children’s books as baby shower gifts and, after reading through them all, there were some I loved, some I liked and others that made me wonder if writing them myself was something I could do.
In 2011, after three years spent writing close to 20 manuscripts, and querying nearly every literary agent on the planet (hearing “no” back from all of them), I was finally offered representation by Kelly Sonnack of The Andrea Brown Literary Agency – who has been my agent ever since.
In 2014, after receiving countless rejections from publishers, through several rounds of manuscript submissions over the course of three years, I got an offer from Little Bee Books for my first book called LOVE YOU, TOO (published in 2016). Shortly after that, I received offers from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for my second and third books called NO TOOTING AT TEA (2017) and THE GREAT PUPPY INVASION (2017), followed by another offer from Little Bee Books for my fourth book titled HELLO, DOOR (2018).
Fast forward to the fall of 2018, my agent sent a new manuscript to several publishers for consideration – including Random House, who publishes new and backlist Dr. Seuss books. Before the end of the year, all of the publishers had passed on my manuscript, with the exception of the editor from Random House, who hadn’t replied to my agent’s query. Once Kelly discovered that the editor had retired without getting back to her on my story, my agent spent the first six or seven months of 2019 trying to find out who at the publisher was in possession of my manuscript.
At approximately 2:07 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31st, I received a phone call from my agent that would change my life. Kelly told me that she had connected with a Vice President of publishing who had received my manuscript…and also happened to be the same person who offered me a contract on my first and fourth books, while she was at Little Bee Books. After a bit of back and forth, my agent discovered that there was an opportunity for me to try out to write a new Cat in the Hat Book and, if I wanted to do so, I would have to submit my first draft by the following Monday (five days later).
I got home that evening, kissed my wife and kids goodbye and locked myself in my office for four days straight – writing as much as I possibly could before the Monday deadline. I submitted my first draft to the VP at Random House and found out, four days later, that it was now between me and one other writer. The publisher gave us each another week to make edits they requested and, after revising my manuscript, I resubmitted it for their consideration.
On Wednesday, August 21st, I received a text message from my agent letting me know that Random House and Dr. Seuss Enterprises had chosen me to bring the newest Cat in the Hat title to life, which ended up being called IF I HAD YOUR VOTE BY THE CAT IN THE HAT (with a little help from Alastair Heim). Since then, I have been lucky enough to have gotten to write four Cat in the Hat books, two Dr. Seuss board books and the official sequel to HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! called HOW THE GRINCH LOST CHRISTMAS!, which published in September of 2023.
To date, I have had 20 books published, with nine additional titles coming out over the next couple of years (including more Dr. Seuss books). I’m incredibly fortunate, honored and humbled that I’ve gotten to work on the projects I have and don’t take for granted that I get to play in the incredibly creative sandbox Dr. Seuss created all those years ago – a responsibility I take very seriously.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
From the time I first started trying to write children’s picture books to the time my first book came out in December of 2016, there were starts, stops, highs and lows all throughout the nine years it took. The publishing industry is full of rejection at every turn, which can be frustrating, discouraging and emotionally debilitating at times. There were several moments along the way where I was ready to give up on my dream of becoming a published author, but the people in my life offered me encouragement and support that kept me going. The industry can also be a glacially paced one, too. So, unless you are prepared to remain patient, resilient and determined amid times of delayed responses or outright radio silence from agents and editors, children’s publishing might not be for you.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Here’s my official author bio that speaks to this question…
Alastair Heim is the author of 20 children’s picture books including the #1 New York Times Best Selling official sequel to HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! titled HOW THE GRINCH LOST CHRISTMAS!, as well as HELLO DOOR, which was named one of The New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2018, THE GREAT PUPPY INVASION, which won the 2019 Oklahoma Redbud Read-Aloud Award, and QUIET DOWN LOUD TOWN!, which was named a 2021 Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. He has also written four books for Dr. Seuss Beginner Books titled IF I HAD YOUR VOTE, IF I RAN YOUR SCHOOL, IF I WERE SAINT NICK and IF I DROVE AN ICE CREAM TRUCK – all featuring The Cat in the Hat. He is represented by Kelly Sonnack of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency and lives in Kansas City with his wife and three incredible children.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
When it comes to being an author, I’ve always said that I’m not writing books to win awards…I’m writing them to win BEDTIME. In other words, I want my books to be the ones that kids insist upon for parents to read to them before they go to sleep. With every book I write, my main goal is to give readers “five minutes of happiness.” The world is filled with all kinds of negativity these days and if one of my stories helps put a smile on a child’s face before they drift off to sleep, I feel like I’ve done what I set out to do.
When it comes to school author visits, it is my mission to help kids stay creative as they get older. There is a quote I love, attributed to Pablo Picasso that goes, “The creative adult is the child who survived.” I’m often asked how I got to be a children’s book author and how that turned into me writing for Dr. Seuss. The truth is quite simple: I’m someone who loved writing as a kid and fought for my creativity as I grew up. There is so much pressure for kids to conform to what everyone else thinks is cool as they age and creativity doesn’t always come along for the ride.
When I present to kids in schools and libraries, I ask them to promise me they will stay creative as they grow up. If they love to dance and they get made fun of for it at school, I tell them to dance in the morning before they come to school, dance when they get home and dance all weekend long. The same goes for singing, drawing, writing and any other creative endeavor they love. Kids have the most creative brains on the planet and, when my generation of writers, illustrators, musicians, actors, etc., are done with their last creative endeavors, the world is going to need the creativity of today’s kids. And 30 years from now, if just one person comes up to me and says, “You spoke at my school when I was a kid and asked me to promise I’d stay creative as I grew up. I wanted to tell you that I did and here’s what I do now…” I will have done my job.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.alastairheim.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alastairheim
- Youtube: @alastairheim1422
- Other: https://bsky.app/profile/alastairheim.bsky.social
