I am honored to introduce you to picture book author and influencer Jamie Bills. I absolutely fell in love with Jamie and I know you will, too!

About Jamie

Jamie Bills writes laugh-while-you-learn books sprinkled with heart. Inspired by Ross Burach, Ryan T. Higgins, Laurie Keller, and Aaron Reynolds, she believes humor has the power to lift, heal, and bond while fostering a love of reading in children. Jamie has lived in six states, attended five colleges, spoils her four-legged friend, has three beautiful daughters, completed two triathlons, and is married to one handsome man. Jamie is website coordinator for SWBWI-MI.

Residing in the middle of Michigan’s mitten, you can often find her sharing books on Instagram, running, re-watching Survivor, or planning her next vacation.

Disgruntled Hedgehogs

I am currently out on submission with a story titled DISGRUNTLED HEDGEHOGS.

February 2nd is Groundhog Day and Hedgehog Day, but everyone celebrates the groundhog. Well, everyone except a couple of disgruntled hedgehogs who are plotting a rodent revolution.

DISGRUNTLED HEDGEHOGS is a 340-word picture book for 3–8-year-olds who enjoy the persuasive nature of ESCARGOT (Slater/Hanson) and the mixture of facts and absurd humor in THIS IS A TACO (Cangelose/Shipley).

What is the Story Behind Your Story?

I came up with the idea for DISGRUNTLED HEDGEHOGS while visiting a friend. Her son had a hedgehog at the time. He requested I make sure to post hedgehog books on Hedgehog Day. When I asked him when it was, he said it was the same day as Groundhog Day.

The more I investigated Hedgehog Day, I learned that hedgehogs predicted the weather way back during the Roman Empire. Then, when the Germans came to America, they switched from using hedgehogs to groundhogs because there weren’t hedgehogs around.

So even though the hedgehogs came first, they are now being totally overshadowed by the groundhogs on Feb 2nd.

If I were a hedgehog, I would feel pretty disgruntled.

What Has Your Writing Journey Looked Like?

I started writing picture book manuscripts around 2010. When my third baby came at the same time we moved across the country, I put it aside for “a little while.” Totally immersed in the world of raising three young children, that “little while” lasted about ten years. I picked up writing again during 2020 when we all had more time. Since then, I’ve spent countless hours reading, learning the craft, working with other creators, and writing/rewriting my own manuscripts.

In 2020 I also started reviewing picture books on Instagram and found a love for that community. Now I post reviews for many publishers. It has been a great way to stay current with the market and meet other creators and reviewers from around the world.

What Has Suprised You The Most About Publishing?

What surprised me so far is how intense the publishing world is and how long each step in the publishing process takes. For picture books, a writer will often create and polish at least twenty to thirty stories before they start becoming sellable stories. They often start querying way before their stories are at the appropriate level, which is humbling and urges them to learn more and try again. After a couple years of heavy writing, critiquing, and querying, they might finally land an agent. But the work, waiting, and rejections don’t stop there. You must be passionate and determined to make it in this industry. You must be willing to put in the time both working and waiting. If you can’t handle critiques, rejection, or waiting at every stage of the game,
publishing is not for you.

Are You a Plotter or a Pantser and What Is That
Process Like for You?

Almost every manuscript has looked different for me. Sometimes I know the title or the characters I want to include, and I will start going at it like a pantser. This happened with LUKE WILL NOT THINK ABOUT HIS BIRTHDAY. Other times I will write the pitch first and then I use it to inform my writing and make sure I am conveying what I want to say. In SNEAKY BESSIE, I knew my characters and did extensive research on the geographical areas I wanted to cover before plotting those points and finally
writing the story. And sometimes I will start one way and switch methods until I can get the story out. For example, I have a new story that I thought I’d title WITCH SHOES. I wanted to play with the homonym which. After
going at it from about five different angles, I knew it wasn’t working. But I couldn’t get the characters Yulda the colorful witch and her bunny, Moon (which I figure must be a blue bunny) out of my head. So, I sat down and sketched them. Then I wrote detailed lists of Yulda’s wants, loves, imperfections, challenges, and quirks and the story took a completely different turn. It’s now a story about optimism and friendship titled POSITIVELY STORMY.

What is Your Favorite Writing Tool?

What is Your Favorite Writing Resource?

Hands down, critique partners. They are priceless! I couldn’t improve my stories without them. Plus, they understand the journey. Besides that, I find Tara Lazar’s FREE Storystorm program invaluable. During January, she hosts
different creators on her blog each day. They share how they come up with story ideas, then you are encouraged to come up with at least one manuscript idea each day. If done properly, you will end the month with at least thirty ideas. I love having those ideas to develop throughout the rest of the year. I also utilize podcasts such as Picture Book Summit Podcast, You May Contribute A Verse, Author(ish) Podcast, and SCBWI Podcast to learn more about the industry and craft. And I have paid membership in Julie Hedlund’s 12×12 group as well as the Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators. Both extremely helpful for picture book writers.

What’s Next?

I will continue to be on submission in 2024. I have high hopes. While I wait to hear back from editors, I will continue writing, reviewing, and feeling blessed to be on this writing journey with so many other talented creators.

Where Can People Find You?

You can find me reviewing the latest, greatest, and funniest picture books on

Instagram (@jmebills)
You can also find me at my website- https://jamiebills.com/
And on Twitter/X- https://twitter.com/jmebills

While I wait to hear back from editors, I will continue writing, reviewing, and feeling blessed to be on this writing journey with so many other talented creators.

Jamie Bills

Jamie’s Recent Guest Appearance on Author(ish)