'Feedback isn’t a negative thing, it's positive'

Kids Alive! Editor Cara Mott explains how mutual accountability is key to making the weekly comic.

How is Kids Alive! made each week?

We have regular planning meetings where we talk through ideas. Deputy Editor Ibukun Baku, Editorial Assistant Jacob Adams and I turn those ideas into articles. Next our designer, Philippa Martin, makes everything pretty and engaging. Then the pages are proofread by lots of people before they go to the printers every Friday.

Why do you plan together as a team?

So that everyone can input ideas and it’s not just me saying, ‘Why don’t we do this?’ Philippa also comes to our planning meetings so that she has a voice as a designer – having everyone’s input means we get a higher quality end product.

When has that paid off?

All the time! For our Christmas special, we all fed in to our Love Came Down-themed cover. For our International Day of Children and Young People issue in April, we had a cover that was half-finished so that kids could add to it – that was Philippa’s idea. In our planning meetings, we also thought of different ways kids could contribute. I loved seeing what they came up with – that’s inspired us to include kids’ voices more often in different ways. Throughout December, for example, we’re asking three children to write our Bible comments.

Would you ever publish something without it being checked by someone else?

Never! There are all kinds of grammar and spelling things I check for myself daily! When you read something you’ve written, you know what you’re trying to say, but that doesn’t mean it’ll make sense to everyone else – everyone’s brains think differently. That back and forth is essential. If you can make something or do something better, why would you choose not to?

How do you check each other’s work?

If Jacob or Ibukun writes something, they send it to me. If I write something, I send it to one of them. Once Philippa has designed it, I check it before the whole team proofread it again to catch anything. That might include a mistake, an image or just a tricky sentence to read. We all have a style guide to refer to for consistency. We also have a proofreader, Chris Horne. He’s superb and what he does is so important. Not a week goes by when he doesn’t spot something the rest of us have missed! He gives me much more confidence in what we’re printing. He’s also a fresh pair of eyes – it’s hard to spot things when you’ve seen something so many times.

Is it about not having an ego?

Yes. One of the things we all adjust to when we join the Publishing Department is that feedback isn’t a criticism. It’s not necessarily that something is wrong, but it might not come across how you expect. It’s not about something not being good, but about improving it. The feedback I’ve received has increased my knowledge and made my writing better.

What’s something you’ve learnt from feedback?

To break down information in a way that’s easy to understand while also being honest. It’s a complex thing to write for children – it’s a fine line between not giving too much information and not patronising them. There are lots of things I’ve learnt from other people that have stuck with me! Feedback isn’t a negative thing. It’s positive.

Is giving feedback in that spirit equally important?

Definitely – when I give feedback, I explain why I’ve made a change and that any amendments are to help improve it. Also, everyone makes mistakes, nobody can remember everything. There’s no shame in spelling something wrong!

Do mistakes ever appear in the finished comic?

Very occasionally a mistake might slip through. The worst was when we forgot to change a reader’s profile photo many years ago. We apologised and offered a reprint of the profile to make amends. It’s important to acknowledge our mistakes and to learn and improve. We listen gratefully to any feedback from readers, so that we can do things better. We take the responsibility we have very seriously.