Cover Reveal Q&A: What Are You Waiting For? by Marcy Campbell and Shelley Johannes

What Are You Waiting For?, a new picture book by Marcy Campbell and Shelley Johannes is out March 4th, 2025. Today, we get a first look at the cover.

But before that, I asked Marcy and Shelley a bit about how the book was made . . .

Travis: Hello Marcy and Shelley! Marcy, the first question is for you: What was the initial inspiration for What Are You Waiting For?

Marcy Campbell: The genesis of this book is very different from my other picture books, which were more clearly based on a problem-solution with specific characters. What Are You Waiting For? didn’t start with specific characters in mind. I didn’t even start with a particular problem, except for the broad idea that waiting is hard!

I came up with this book idea in December 2020, right in the thick of the pandemic, a week or two before the Capitol was stormed. I’d been having weird dreams about getting stuck in mazes. One night, I woke up and jotted, “Where do we go from here?” on a piece of paper on my nightstand. Then, I wrote some more about being in a holding pattern and the anxiety that comes with that. I wanted things to get back to “normal,” but wondered: How do we get there? What exactly does that look like? What wrong turns will we take? 

Over the months I spent on it, I found myself repeating the phrase, “This time next year…” to my kids. We were all home together trying to do school and work, and I wanted to keep them focused on a better future that would come, hopefully soon. I look back at how this manuscript started, from a place of deep uncertainty and worry and ended up so full of joy and promise, and it’s kind of surreal. Though it’s not at all “a pandemic book,” I think I was mentally writing myself out of the pandemic. It really was the hopeful project I needed at the time.

Travis: Shelley, this is your first illustration-only project. How was that different from your books where you were author and illustrator?

Shelley Johannes: As an author-illustrator, words and image are typically inseparable for me. Having one of those components off the table was such an intriguing experience. It allowed a new kind of exploration of the visual story and the various ways an author’s words can be interpreted. In the end, what surprised me most was how much doing the job of illustrator engaged the storytelling side of my brain. I’ve always been a fan of Marcy’s work, and illustrating her words was so much fun! 

Travis: Shelley, how did you make the art for this book?

Shelley Johannes: The art was created with marker, graphite, colored pencil, and pastel on many layers of tracing paper, in a process very similar to my other picture books.

Eventually all the layers get scanned and collaged together in Photoshop. The process is messy and tactile, and leaves endless room for experimentation and happy accidents along the way. For this story I wanted the art to emphasize the journey of each kid stepping into the light.

I found that blue pastel gave me the best looking light after the scanning process, so my studio was a constant haze of blue dust.

Travis: This last question is for both of you: What was the most challenging part of the book to get right?

Marcy Campbell: The language of this book is more poetic than in my other picture books, and I found it a challenge to get it exactly right. The rhythm was very important. I made lists of synonyms, reworked lines over and over, and read aloud (mostly to my dog!). I also wasn’t sure, as I drafted, what the kids in the story were actually doing. I imagined them in many activities, but the text doesn’t give specifics. Of course, once Shelley joined the project, she had such a perfect solution with her talent show idea!

Shelley Johannes: We have seven kids in this story, each waiting for—and working toward—their moment to shine in the spotlight. The most challenging part was creating each kid’s character, personality, and talent to correspond to the specifics of the text with the most meaning, humor and impact. Sometimes it felt like ciphering one of those logic puzzles where Bob can only juggle next to Jane or Sadie, but never next to Charlie, except on Thursdays, while wearing stripes or neon blue. Luckily, in my sixth grade biology class we began each day with a logic puzzle and I’ve loved them ever since.

Thank you both for taking my questions! And now, the cover for What Are You Waiting For? by Marcy Campbell and Shelley Johannes. Published by Little, Brown and out March 4th, 2025.

About the book (from the publisher):

It’s almost the big day. You’re counting the hours . . .and minutes . . .and seconds . . . But what if it all doesn’t go the way you’d planned?

Time goes slowly when you’re dreaming, hoping, and most of all waiting for your next big challenge. But one thing is certain: You’re growing stronger and wiser each day. So . . . take a deep breath and gather your courage. The world is ready and waiting for you!

Here is a spirited story that will shake out the jitters and boost the confidence needed to face whatever it is you’re waiting for.

Filed under: Cover Reveal