What can happen in two months time (when you write and speak and sell and rhyme).

01 Feb What can happen in two months time (when you write and speak and sell and rhyme).

Sometimes through this journey of publishing our first book, it feels slow-going. I can’t give it full-time attention. I don’t have an author website (yet). I’m limited in how many school presentations I can do. I’m struggling to get the “Look Inside the Book” feature on our Amazon listing. We don’t yet have a hardcover option. I have say no to things I’d love to say yes to. But then, I remember that we printed this book for the first time at the end of October 2015, and now, some 90 days later, we have an online shop, we’ve sold nearly 400 copies, we’ve attended numerous craft shows, we’ve gotten into our first retail location, we’ve started a Facebook page, we’ve presented The Shoephabet to over 1,000 students in schools, we connected ourselves to Amazon, we’ve scheduled a B&N event (for March), and we’ve almost completed our next book! I’m still full-time home; James is still full-time working. We’re still having fun and not stressed by the process. In the words of Pete the Cat, “It’s all good.” (By the way, his first book? Self-published.) Sometimes a little perspective goes a long way. I have such an all-or-nothing personality that giving some goes against every fiber of my being. But I’m learning in this season that some over an extended period of time is always better than none and even sometimes better than all for a short time. (I’m even observing the truth of this in our homeschool journey, but that’s for another post.) So. Here’s a look at some of the writing, speaking, and selling. (And of course, it’s aaaall about rhyming.)

WRITING

I’ve gotten some time away to work on…

…The Monsterbet.

And also to work on my #selfie.
#takeseven

During this writing session, the neighbor girls used their
snow day to gift me with a chance to walk downtown and
write for over an hour. Straight! (Big deal in the SAHM
world.) It was such a gorgeous day (early December) that
I sat outside with my chai and water. And pen and notebook.
And iPad and phone. Modern writers have a bit more to carry.

SPEAKING

Our printing company, Blurb, contacted us, asked if
they could feature our book in their December favorites blog post.
We thought about it. For half a second. Before saying yes.
We’re currently completing an interview that they’ll
post sometime in March. We’ll let you know!

I’ve been wanting to get some coloring pages of each shoe to email
to schools before our visits, something to get kids familiar with us
and excited. Unfortunately, the “coloring page” button on those free
photo editing sites just didn’t work for our colored pencil illustrations,
as it couldn’t determine which lines to keep and which to eliminate.
So James made them himself. #marriedtomyillustrator

We gave a number of free presentations at first (to the school I
worked at, for example) following the line of thinking:
Crawl before you walk.
But now that we have lots of great references
and I’m continuing to be invited
and I’ve needed to get an actual sitter
instead of James taking the day off work,
we’ve started charging.
(A very small percentage of what many authors charge.)
We don’t want to devalue the work of other children’s authors,
and we want to be able to continue engaging students in the work
of creatively looking at the world around you, getting them excited
about reading and writing and even publishing themselves!

As a side note, those cute high-heeled boots I’m wearing?
Never again! I still have blisters from that day!
I’ve been ogling these Tieks, but with that price tag,
I’ll have to wait til everyone can pitch in for my birthday.
Which, unfortunately, is not tomorrow.

The public library has invited me to share The Shoephabet
with their 2s-5s this March. We love our local library and
have benefited from so many of their free programs.
This was an easy yes!

I love being able to sign books to kids. To hear their
writing dreams and know that’s where it all starts.

SELLING

We attended our first outdoor market and had GREAT success.
We’ll do another one with this group in May.
Check it out! Headed up by my college roomie
and her sis-in-law. #shesabigdeal

We put ourselves out there in a local kids’ shop.
Last I checked, we hadn’t sold a single book.
#cantwinthemall

We also put ourselves on Amazon. I haven’t pushed
marketing this yet, as I’m not having luck getting
through to a real person about how to add the “Look
Inside the Book” feature. Lots of emails, lots of reading.

However, we did get 7 seven reviews the first day.

And currently have 14 reviews. THANK YOU, FRIENDS!
We greatly appreciate your support in helping us reach
people we don’t know! Also, Amazon has discounted our
book, so hopefully we can work together quickly and
move forward with a giveaway and Kindle version!

We also listed all the individual prints on our Etsy shop.
So many people have asked for them! We decided to do a
digital download in two sizes, so that you can print it at home
or at a local print shop cheaply and…in your preferred size!

Can you read what name this is below? The Shoephabet is
a bit more abstract in spelling, but sure is engaging art!

A problem is that many of the shoes are very gender-specific.
A Maria would likely enjoy her shoe name more than, say, a Martin.
Same with Samantha over Sergio. Jaeda’s only concern, however,
is that she has to share her shoe with Dad. #jtroubles

Well, we’re down to 30 books and another 300 arrived this morning.
They say self-published authors sell 150 books on average
and burn out by 400. We’re about to hit 400 books sold,
and we’re not dead yet! #maybeat401

Hopefully, my next update will be on my new website!
Keep walking forward in love, friends!
One step at a time.