Fluffy Little Kitten – Interview

Rob Bassett is a great example of how to break into the children’s entertainment industry.  His self-published books, Fluffy Little Kitten, have become popular among children and adults alike and are about to be broadcast on CBeebies radio – let’s hope we see the move to TV soon!  We asked Rob a few questions about Fluffy Little Kitten:

Tell us a bit about yourself and Fluffy Little Kitten

I’m a salesman – currently selling posters in railway stations (advertising posters – not the sort you put on your bedroom wall). I’m 35, married and live in London. No kids of my own, but have a cat and a rabbit.

I started writing Fluffy Little Kitten (FLK) stories around 2002 – I wrote them whenever I had a sick day, so they’re Lemsip-fuelled children’s books. Initially they were very basic, and supposed to be a satire on children’s books. I popped a few discs onto eBay with the FLK “stories” burnt onto them, and was very pleasantly surprised by the reaction. It turned out that because I’d studied lots of picture books to get the parody right, I was unconsciously ticking a lot of boxes as far as young readers were concerned.

The sales and feedback continued to go well and I got so much encouragement that I decided to try for a publishing deal. I “straightened” the books out  (ditched the references to Sylvia Plath, edited the story where the spotty kittens had two dads and the yellow kittens dad was in prison, etc.) and pitched them around the literary agents. I had no success whatever – it’s very hard to get an agent to take you on as a picture book author “off the street” – they tend to commission stuff or use actual artists, and FLK is the limit of my drawing skills. He is the best figurative representation of a cat that I can do!

Like the sensible man I am, I ignored all professional advice and raised £5,000 in chunks of £75 from friends and collegues and self published. Although I’m not stocked in the multiples I’ve sold a thousand or so books, but most importantly I attracted the attention of CBeebies who commissioned 6 stories to be broadcast on their website and radio station. These are recorded now, and should be on air later this year. The fourth book is being printed in more retailer-friendly form (TIP: if you self publish, print with a spine, not just a staple) and with the BBC endorsement I’m hoping for the books to get much wider exposure in bookshops.

Do you think there should be more children’s programming for radio?

Definitely. But specifically I think there should be more stations dedicated exclusively to kids. I’d like it if you didn’t have to worry about “Dads Army” or “The Archers” coming on – not that there’s anything wrong with “Dads Army!”. I’m led to believe that the scheduling of “Go For It” on Radio 4 meant that 40 year old men were the largest listening group! One of the issues you have is that if you look at the 2-4 year old age segment you don’t have a lot of words to play with. FLK stories are actually much longer than standard kids books because they’re specifically designed not to drive parents insane. Zoe Williams in the Guardian said that “Fluffy Little Kitten Falls Over” is one of the few childrens books that doesn’t make her feel sick!

There are a lot of children’s TV programs bought in from abroad, especially the US and Canada. Do you think we should be producing more home grown Kids TV?

I can only speak from my experience as a child and I loved the foreign stuff – TV was all about escapism for me so shows set in foreign countries or with the high production values the Americans can afford were great. Don’t forget we bombard the world with our Kids TV as well, so we can’t really complain. I also think that there’s a niche for all types of programs and that british humour can always co-exist with the most gung-ho flash-bang US programmes.

What do you think are the best UK Kids TV shows at the moment?

I don’t get to watch too much kids TV these days so it’s hard to say…does Doctor Who count? Sadly when I do watch kids tv it’s usually american cartoons.

Do you think that there are too many adverts on Kids TV channels?

Nope – kids are far more savvy than they’re given credit for and it’s good for them to learn about advertising. It’s not like they can go bananas with a credit card, and if they’re being encouraged to want inappropriate things then at least it brings it out into the open and a discussion can be had. Plus no adverts means no money to make the shows.

Are there any plans to bring Fluffy Little Kitten to TV?

I’ve been told that the best thing to do is wait for the BBC broadcasts on radio and then attempt to sell the rights then. FLK will certainly be easy to film! I’ve tried out a few things with slide shows, audio and animation, some of which are on the FLK website or YouTube.

Are you writing any new books, Fluffy Little Kitten or otherwise?

I am always writing something. The problem is publishing them, not writing them. There are 13 finished FLK stories already. Book four is being printed as we speak – it’s called “Fluffy’s Brother” and is all about Fluffy’s annoying younger brother. If I can keep the BBC work going, it provides just enough money to publish a new book a year, and existing sales of the books should raise enough for another one a year. Because FLK has “taken off” I’ve halted all my other projects – I had a slightly older kids’ book planned called “The Otter Margin” about a series of doodle-style otters who live in the margins of books and steal words during the night. A friend has come up with an idea for The M6 Troll, which I’m very keen on and I’ve always got “Angry Little Puppy” up my sleeve – a small dog that thinks he can bark his problems away! Oh, and of course I have ten thousand words written of two “proper novels” – one about a man who fakes travelling around the world but stays in Tooting, and the other a sort of Dan Brown spoof about a global Nazi/Homeopathy conspiracy. I also have a completed liberetto for “YMCA the Musical” which I don’t know what to do with and a screenplay for “Space Invaders the Movie” On top of this, I have a huge amount of photography for a deep fat fryer cookbook – deep fried lettuce etc

Finally, what were your favourite TV shows from your childhood?

My all-time favorite kids TV show is Press Gang, in which Dexter Fletcher butchers an american accent. I now own all the DVDs and for a brief period in the 90s when I worked for the NME, I “stalked” Paul Reynolds (who played Colin) at a series of magazine parties and music events. It is still incredibly high quality and makes me yearn for the pre-mobile phone days.

Thanks Rob.

You can buy Fluffy Little Kitten books from Amazon UK and don’t forget to tune into CBeebies radio on Wednesday 14th October at 6:15am

Next week we’ll have an exclusive Fluffy Little Competition – join our Facebook fan page to hear more.