I’m curious about other ways you promote your subject. Do you have speaking engagements or lecture, and if so, for what type of audience? Do you stick to your current book when doing so? How about book signings?
How do you balance your time between writing and researching? Do you tend to do all your research and then start writing, or is it more of a simultaneous process? The subjects you cover are so complex I find it hard to imagine how you even start putting words on a page!
Can you share with us anything about what you’re working on now?
I’ve run the gamut. School visits are a personal favorite. You’ll find me at conferences, book festivals, book signings, campus lectures—anywhere there’s a conversation to be had related to my latest book or ones from the past. Most events focus on recent titles, understandably.
Such a great question! I prefer to frontload the research. I compile extensive note cards from multiple sources and write from those. Periodically while I’m researching, I sort the cards into the rough order in which I’ll use them. As they accumulate I can assess where I need to keep digging and where I’ve learned enough.
The note cards make it easier to begin writing. I’ve literally got the facts at my fingertips. Inevitably I’ll hit a gap from time to time and need to break for more research, but the note cards steer me back to a source that can serve as a jumping off place for a new resource, such as something mentioned in a book’s citations.
White Lies is my longest work and also was built on the most note cards—more than 7,000 of them (4x6 inch) in all. Collecting, organizing, reading, and rereading them is incredibly time consuming, of course, but I’d be lost without them! I can’t imagine trying to undertake such a project without note cards—and all the sources they represent!
Sure! I have two new titles in the works. As you’ve noted, I tend to write about social justice history, but occasionally I stray elsewhere. At first these diversions were spontaneous, but then I wrote Stubby the War Dog. You asked about favorite titles. I still love Stubby. I actually wrote a second book about him, for adults, as mentioned earlier—Sergeant Stubby. These books are about a real dog who was smuggled to France by an American soldier during World War I. The dog served heroically and became famous after his safe return when the war ended. But in addition to being useful—sharing guard duty, killing rats in the trenches, alerting the soldiers to incoming rounds of poisonous gas (truly), finding wounded men, and capturing a German soldier (I kid you not)—Stubby was what we would now call a therapy dog. His soldier friend, Robert Conroy, credited Stubby with getting him through the war.
All of which is to say I realized, after finishing these books, that Stubby had been my therapy dog, too. I’d done a run of book about civil rights movements, immigration injustices, and threats to civil liberties. Spending time with Stubby was good medicine. He taught me I needed to take a break every now and then or risk burning out with my focus on darker stories from history. (Not that World War I is light content, but Stubby’s story is a love story, and that makes all the difference.)
All of which is a long way of explaining why I have two projects in the works.
The first is called BOOKMARKED and is a love letter to libraries and librarians, told through a series of episodic stories about notable libraries, their collectors, patrons, and caretakers. It’s for middle schoolers (and adults!!!) and follows in the vein of an earlier title The Bard and the Book: How the First Folio Saved the Plays of William Shakespeare from Oblivion, which came out in 2024 from Peachtree Books. (I adored writing this book!!! It’s my love letter for the works of Shakespeare and my sneaky effort to hook pre-teens on the Bard before they go into shock reading him in high school. Plus it’s surprisingly funny for a book about a book from 1623!) Peachtree will publish this new title, too. We’re aiming for next year. If you need a therapy read after White Lies, try The Bard and the Book or one of the Stubby titles.
From there I’ll turn to my next book for Roaring Brook, another big one like White Lies. This one is also aimed at teens but will hold interest for adults. It’s still untitled, but I’ve been researching it off and on for the past year. The book will explore the intersection of the public and private lives of Thomas Jefferson with those of members of the enslaved community at Monticello. This subject includes Sally Hemings, of course, but there is a lot more to the history. I’m thoroughly enjoying the research and can’t wait to start writing. Watch for it in 2028.
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Wow, you are one busy lady! I’m impressed with the breadth of your projects and can’t wait to read more of your work. I think this crowd in particular will love Bookmarked.
You must also be incredibly organized. Back in high school the notecard technique was how they taught us research as well, and I remember just a stack of 50 was a big deal. How do you keep them all straight? Do you color code them? Have you ever dropped a stack of them?
Do you tour while you’re writing, or is this mostly between books? Do you book the events yourself or do you have help?
Thanks so much for being here, Ann! We’ve really appreciated chatting with you. Before we close the conversation, is there anything you’d like to mention that we haven’t touched on?
Fortunately I’ve never dropped a stack of note cards or, even worse, one of my storage filing boxes (sort of like shoeboxes but designed specifically to hold 4x6 cards). It is a fear that makes me careful!
I use different colors of cards to track my sources. Certain references are particularly central to a project, for example, and it’s helpful to recognize them instantly by color. Or when I have oral histories, as with Freedom Riders, I used colored cards to differentiate between the speakers. As soon as I picked up a card while writing the book, I knew whose voice I was reading.
Beyond that, I use cardboard tabs (a related 4x6-inch card product) to mark major sections within a chapter and post-it notes to mark subsections within that category. That way I can easily go back and confirm facts later during revision. I can’t imagine writing any other way.
I rarely turn down a speaking opportunity. Writing is my livelihood, and speaking is part of the job. I do not have a booking agent. I prefer to respond to invitations as they come rather than actively seeking them. That way I can focus on writing, then enjoy the diversions as a bit of serendipity.
Gosh, Kim, I think you’ve covered the scene. Thank you for inviting me to visit with this community and for creating such an engaging conversation. I’ve greatly enjoyed our chats.
If anyone wants to find out more about my books, hop over to my author website, AnnBausum.com. The site is filled with more stories, notes on related resources, and buy-now links for various titles on Amazon.
Happy reading, BookBrowsers!!!