Around 1930, when Laura was in her sixties, she bought a supply of inexpensive notebooks and pencils. She began to write. This time it wasn’t a newspaper column but a book about her life focusing on her family’s pioneer experience in the American West. She titled it Pioneer Girl.
 |
| Pioneer Girl manuscript. South Dakota Historical Society Press. |
Rose, a published author, offered her mom writing advice and
typed the manuscript. She further edited Laura’s work and even sent it to her agent. Because of the Great Depression, publishers were not making a lot of books, so
Laura did not sell Pioneer Girl to any publishers or magazines.
The publishers didn’t want THAT book, but they might be interested
in a children’s book.
Likely without Laura’s knowledge, Rose adapted the Pioneer
Girl manuscript and created a picture book for a young audience. One editor with Knopf, Marion Fiery, liked it but wanted a longer book for older children.
Laura set to work to make the needed changes. It was no
longer told in the first person. It was now about Laura instead of told from Laura's perspective.
Laura wrote about her life as a child, so it was mostly autobiographical. But to tell a good story, she made adjustments and fictionalized portions of the manuscript.
When the manuscript was complete, the children's department at Knopf was closing. It's quite likely that Marion Fiery recommended the manuscript to Harper Brothers (now known as HarperCollins). The rest, as they say, is history.
Want to know more about how Laura became a published author? I highly recommend Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman Behind the Legend by John E. Miller and Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer's Life by Pamela Hill Smith.When the manuscript was complete, the children's department at Knopf was closing. It's quite likely that Marion Fiery recommended the manuscript to Harper Brothers (now known as HarperCollins). The rest, as they say, is history.
~ Annette Whipple
This post contains affiliate links. If you make any purchases through the Amazon links, I will earn a tiny percentage at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support.
