Interview & Giveaway with Tricia Torrible: Back Matter Break Down

Welcome to the Back Matter Break Down! I am excited to share the first poetry book that I am featuring on this blog! Today’s interview has some great behind-the-scenes details about creating back matter with a debut picture book author. And don’t forget to read all the way to the end so you can get details on our giveaway – you could win a 30 minute AMA! Let’s go!

Book: Torrible Puns: A Collection of Punny Poems

Author: Tricia Torrible

Illustrator: Robert Dunn

Publisher / Year: Gnome Road Publishing, 2025

Genre: Fiction

Topics: Poetry, Wordplay, Jokes & Humor

Blurb: Packed with witty humor, this clever mix of poetry and puns features everything from animals and beloved nursery rhyme characters to outer space and favorite sports. Each poem contains at least one word or phrase with a double meaning, which will not only make children (and adults!) laugh out loud, but also provides a fun lesson on homonyms. The short poems, the lovely art, and the groan-worthy punchlines will leave readers begging for “just one more.”

What is your manuscript word count? What is your back matter word count

Because it is a poetry collection, it is a bit longer than your average picture book. The manuscript itself has about 2,120 words, and the back matter word count is approximately 1,120.

At what phase of the drafting/revising/publishing process did you decide your book needed back matter? Did you always plan to have explanations for each of the puns in the book?

When I first started writing punny poems, my focus was on the poems themselves, so I wasn’t really thinking about back matter. However, as I continued to recite my poems to my own children, it quickly became clear that back matter could be very beneficial. The playful nature of the poems along with the beautiful illustrations make this book an excellent fit for elementary age children.

However, wordplay is still a developing skill during these years. My three kids currently range in grades from kindergarten to sixth grade, and sometimes they wouldn’t immediately “get” some of the puns in the poems. Fortunately, as soon as a pun was explained, the “AHA!” moment was seen in their eyes and they LOVED it! My eldest child immediately understood many more puns than my youngest, but my youngest seemed to enjoy the poems just as much once he was “let in on the joke”. In fact, with his newfound understanding, my youngest gained a lot of confidence in language and began pointing out different homophones in real life and coming up with his own puns. This would never have happened if some of the puns had not been explained. As a result, I decided to write back matter for readers to make sure that no “AHA!” moment was missed, and to encourage a love of language.

What was the earliest version of the back matter like?

I started writing the back matter before I ever sold the manuscript, and the earliest version was much longer. At the time, I was mentally preparing myself to self-publish (while still hoping and striving to get a book deal). I personally lacked the artistic skill to illustrate a full color picture book, so I was envisioning more of a black and white poetry chapbook. This meant that I wasn’t limited on space when it came to back matter. Therefore, my earliest version had longer explanations for each poem.

What changes and revisions (if any) came about after working with the editor/agent?  

After receiving a book deal (woohoo!) and realizing that TORRIBLE PUNS was actually going to be a fully illustrated picture book (double woohoo!), it quickly became clear that my original back matter was too long. My editor and I both agreed that we wanted to include as many poems that we could comfortably fit in the book, so we knew we had to keep the back matter limited to one spread. Thus, we took on the task of condensing my original pun explanations without losing their original meanings. 

What were some challenges (if any) that arose during the back matter publishing process?

When I was originally writing the back matter, my biggest challenge was deciding how much detail I wanted to include. At one point, I had considered labeling the puns based on different categories such as homonyms/homophones/homographs, idioms, recursive puns, compound puns, etc. However, while most of the puns fit nicely into main categories, there were some that didn’t (which led me down some long linguistic rabbit holes!). Furthermore, it also became clear that not all sources agree on the exact definitions of some of the considered categories. For these reasons, I decided it was best to focus on simply explaining the puns.

Once I got past the decision of what to include, I wouldn’t say there were any big challenges, just necessary editing. As mentioned earlier, my editor and I had to reduce my original, longer pun explanations to fit on one spread. It took a couple rounds of back and forths, but I feel we were able to capture the same level of information within the space constraints. I definitely learned how to be less “wordy” when needed :).

What do you hope readers will take away after reading your back matter content?

I hope they will gain a greater love of language and wordplay. I want every poem to bring laughter and joy, and I hope everyone walks away with a firm understanding of each pun. Understanding brings confidence, and confidence can lead to experimenting and having fun with language. 

Reflecting on this process and what you learned, what tips can you offer picture book writers for writing back matter?

Ask yourself what information would make the book more understandable and enjoyable. I personally think the beauty of back matter is you can stretch your audience a little by including material in your book beyond what they initially know. There certainly needs to be a balance to this, but including a few unknown words or concepts can be a great opportunity for learning. 

Are there resources you can share that would be helpful for anyone wanting to learn more about back matter? Are there any picture books you’d recommend for their back matter?

Nonfiction picture books are often the go-to to find excellent back matter examples (though back matter is not limited to these!). One great example is DREAM SUBMARINE, written by Charlotte Gunnufson and illustrated by Cleonique Hilsaca. What I love most about this back matter is that it includes an “interactive map” that encourages readers to match the numbers on the map to information on the following pages. This way, readers can learn more about the places and creatures visited by the Dream Submarine.

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Thank you, Tricia! It’s so interesting to read the journey you went on with your back matter, and how you arrived at this final version. It’s a good reminder for us all to think about how we might need to pivot in our approach at different phases of the process. Please support Tricia:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/triciatorriblewrites/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ttorrible.bsky.social

Twitter/X: https://x.com/TTorrible

Author Website: https://triciatorrible.com/

Book Website: https://torriblepuns.com/

Now for the giveaway! Tricia has generously offered a 30 minute Ask-Me-Anything zoom chat to one lucky winner! To enter: leave one comment on this blog post by April 1, 2025 at 11:59pm Pacific Time. For additional entries, leave a comment on my (Judy’s) BlueSky and/or Instagram posts for a maximum of 2 bonus entries. (Remember to check back on this blog post and social media to see if you are selected as a winner!)

Thank you for reading!

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