Overview

Follow Laura Ingalls Wilder’s journey from rejected memoir to successful first novel. To get there she needed the unsung help of editor Marion Fiery and then Virginia Kirkus. In this Part 2, finish the story of how Wilder wrote and got the first of the Little House books published.

What You’ll Hear

| Time | Topic
| 00:00 | Cold‑open & Intro
| 01:30 | PioneerGirl origins and rejections
| 04:39 | Marion Fiery’s editorial revisions & Knopf contract
| 11:52 | Knopf children’s division shutters
| 16:00 | Virginia Kirkus reads the manuscript
| 18:00 | New title, illustrator Helen Sewell, book deal
| 19:45 | April 1932 publication and early library buzz
| 20:40 | Theme recap
| 23:30 | Fiery’s unsung legacy & closing thoughts
| 26:00 | Bibliography & sign‑off

Timestamps are approximate.

Takeaways

• Responding to criticism and direction - Laura took criticism from, Rose, from Fiery, and from Kirkus. She dramatically changed her story into something totally different from what she first wrote. Laura was diligent in responding to suggestions and re worked her story to hit all of the points that Rose and Fiery though would make the book compelling for readers.
• Libraries Matter - One of the biggest drivers of sales for the first Little House book, was the interest and support of libraries and librarians.
• Quite Support Matters - To get her first book published, Laura needed the help of her daughter Rose, of Fiery, and or Kirkus. It was the quite support of Fiery that was essential to the book making it to publication. We should all look for opportunities to support excellence maybe especially when it comes in unexpected packages like a 65 year old trying to publish her debut novel.

Books Mentioned:

• Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (HarperCollins 1932)
• The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder (HarperCollins 1971) - Skip this one
• Laura Ingalls Wilder, A Writer's Life by Pamela Smith Hill (South Dakota Historical Society Press 2007)
• Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Frazier (Metropolitan Books 2017)

People Discussed:

Laura Ingalls Wilder | Author of the Little House series | 00:40

Rose Wilder Lane | Novelist and journalist | 01:46
Marion Fiery | Children’s book editor (Knop | 04:30

Graham Lorimer | Fiction editor at The Saturday Evening Post | 04:06

George Bye | Literary agent | 11:40

Virginia Kirkus | Children’s editor at Harper & Brothers; founder of Kirkus Reviews | 16:07

Helen Sewell | Illustrator of the first edition of Little House in the Big Woods | 19:05

Garth Williams | Illustrator of the 1950s Little House reprint editions | 19:19

Pamela Smith Hill | Biographer of Laura Ingalls Wilder | 27:12

Caroline Fraser | Journalist and author of Prairie Fires | 27:35

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Credits
Host / writer / editor: Will Jauquet
Cover art: Wili Joel Productions

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