We recently connected with Dana Miroballi and have shared our conversation below.
Dana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Have you signed with an agent or manager? Why or why not?
My agent is Ammi-Joan Paquette. We initially connected when I was a finalist in Mindy Alyse Weiss’s PBParty contest in 2021 for an early version of my 2025 picture book Inventions to Count On: Celebration of Black Inventors. Joan requested to read the manuscript along with additional work. I was very excited because she’s a rockstar agent with some very well known clients, but in the end, she wasn’t ready to extend an offer of representation. I kept working and learning. I was chosen as a PBParty finalist again in 2022 for my 2024 picture book If My Hair Had a Voice. An editor was interested in the story, so I reached out to Joan to see if she might still be interested in working with me, and she was. I’m very thankful that she saw potential in my work.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My day job is a school speech-language pathologist, and I worked as an elementary school before switching careers. Now I’m also a children’s book writer. I’ve been writing poetry and stories since middle school but never thought I could become an author. Picture books were a big part of my life before I started trying to write one. I use them at work and have two young children of my own. I started getting picture book ideas during the COVID-19 lockdown because we were reading so much with the kids. Since we were stuck at home, I had time to explore picture book writing. I discovered Dr. Mira Reisberg’s Children’s Book Academy and enrolled in a course. This introduced me to the kidlit community. I took more classes and entered contests. It paid off. I now have two published books and more to come.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Hearing a child say they enjoyed my book is so rewarding. The principal bought a copy of If My Hair Had a Voice for each grade level at the school at which I work. It warms my heart when students come up to me to talk about the book and writing.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
When it comes to writing, I quickly discovered that it’s essential to learn the craft. One of the best pieces of advice I received was to treat writing as a job, not a hobby. Enroll in a virtual writing course if possible, but don’t worry if you can’t. Find books about writing at the library and watch YouTube videos like Pat Zietlow Miller’s free webinar “When Less is More.” Some authors have resources for writers on their blog or website like “Josh Funk’s Guide to Writing Picture Books.” Think about the types of books you want to write and find mentor texts to learn from. I also highly recommend the BookEnds Literary Agency YouTube channel for valuable insights on the querying process and the publishing industry.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://danamiroballi.com
- Instagram: @noshesthebear
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/shesthebear/
- Twitter: @shesthebear
- Other: Bluesky: @noshesthebear.bsky.social
Image Credits
Christy Tyler