5 Tips for a Successful Children's Book

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As a writer and published author of soon-to-be eight books, I recently embarked on the journey of a children’s book and received questions from my community about the process. Have you always wanted to write a children’s book? Are you curious about the steps? Let’s look at five tips for a successful children’s book under the self-publishing model!

1. Know the Market

For most people, your journey starts when you get an idea of a topic or plot you want to capture for your audience of kids. What books are already out there with a similar plot or topic focus? If there aren’t many, you have a brighter green light to go forward with your book. In contrast, if there are popular books already out there on the topic, or your plot is too similar to a best-seller, you could put yourself at risk of trademark or copyright infringement, so make sure your topic or spin on a topic is truly unique!

2. Confirm Your Audience

Now that you’ve confirmed your topic has value, who is your audience? Is it a certain age of children? Elementary aged kids? Parents with kids with a particular challenge, like kids going through divorce, kids starting at a new school, kids struggling with ADHD? In my process, I reached out to four child therapists in my community that I respected to see if they’d read my text for feedback. I asked them what age they felt it was written for when working with kids—a population I haven’t served in 7+ years—which helped me narrow down my age range for illustrations of the characters and future marketing.

3. Invest in Illustrations

A children’s book has to have eye-catching illustrations and cover design for people to want to pick it up. Therefore the most significant investment (both in time and money) is illustrations. If you are a creative person, you could attempt to complete the illustrations yourself. For many of us, however, the illustrations come to life through contracting another professional who specializes in children’s book illustration. I put out a request for proposal for an illustrator on upwork.com and had over 35 responses in 36 hours. The next step is taking a look at their portfolios to see what designs speak to you, and confirming price point and pages.

Tips:

1. Amazon KDP self-publishing requires a minimum of 24 pages to publish

2. Color illustrations cost more than traditional books to print

3. Set your budget for the project versus an hourly rate to manage costs. Plan for a range of $1000-$3000 USD depending on the contractor you hire, how many characters you want created, and how many pages your book includes.

4. Embrace Creativity and Communication

Once you hire an illustrator, your job isn’t done. Now comes the part about communicating your vision so they can bring your story to life! What aspects or details do you want included in your characters? Can you “paint the scene” in words for your illustrator to draft-up each page as part of your story line? I enjoyed this process the most because it challenged me to communicate what I was seeing in my head into details my illustrator could work with. Don’t be afraid to speak up about changes in the sketching phase to get things “just right.” After the illustrator gets your go-ahead, they add color for the final design.

5. Identify your Keywords

In the self-publishing space, keywords matter. Thousands of books are being released each day, so ensuring that your audience can find your book amidst millions of books is critical. I enjoy working with Richard Wolf at Wolf Design and Publishing. He’s fast, affordable, and shows his process of finding the keywords that will best help folks find your book when he delivers the results for you to put into your Amazon listing prior to publishing.

Your dream of writing a children’s book can be a reality! Embrace these five tips to get your children’s book out of your head and onto paper! I look forward to learning more about your process and celebrating the launch of your future book with you!

10 Tips for Aspiring Authors to Finish Their Book

As I navigate publishing multiple books—I’m working on number 7!!—there have been more questions from colleagues on the whole process. Here are ten tips to help other professionals bring their books from idea to reality!  Don’t forget to check out the videos of these tips on our Aspiring Authors playlist on YouTube!

1.     Identify Your Gift

You’ve heard this idea woven in other content from me, and it still rings as true as when public speaker coach Mari Geasair first presented it! Ask yourself, “what’s the gift I’m giving?” What do you want your reader to walk away with? What idea or concept can they learn from you? What is the call to action after reading your book? What do you want them to feel?

2.     Do your Research

First, researching other books out there that are similar to yours is important. Is your idea different enough to interest your audience? Do you have a new spin on something that folks would find valuable? Second, how old are the books out there? Is the market saturated with books on your topic, which wouldn’t bode well for a successful launch? Are the books available ten or twenty years old, ensuring your content would be well received by filling in the gaps? Is there an absence of information, which would motivate you to get your book out there as soon as possible?

3.     Make an Outline

Just like in elementary school, having an outline organizes your thoughts before putting pen to paper. It can help you start to see where information would be housed in sections or chapters, creating an intentional flow to your work. Additionally, an outline is oftentimes what a publisher wants to see included in your book proposal to consider your book and a possible contract. So although an outline may feel less than exciting to complete, consider it a roadmap of what you are writing, while also helping others see where you are headed in your book journey in order for them to give you an enthusiastic yes to publishing it!

4.     Create a Ritual

A personal favorite, what rituals can you create that you associate with writing? Are you wearing a particular outfit or pair of pants? Do you write in a specific spot to help your mind drop into the task of writing? Do you treat yourself to a coffee or listen to certain music when writing? Consider all five of your senses and how they can support a ritual that gets you into the groove of writing regularly.

5.     Set Time Blocks

What amounts of time do you need to write? Do you need several hours in one chunk? Do you need more breaks, like 30 minutes on, 10 minutes off? If you don’t schedule it, it doesn’t happen, so experiment with blocking out some times that are labeled “writing” or “my book” to see how that can motivate you.

6.     Talk About Your Book

I have had such valuable conversations when talking about my books to others. Notice their responses. Listen for their questions and assumptions, which could be transformed into content within the book. Odds are that if they have a question, so would your readers. So talk about it! It will help you flush out more things to include within your pages.

7.     Interview Other People

In alignment with Tip #6, interviewing folks can bring content into focus. Are there any themes or concepts from interviews worth capturing in your writing? Is it about highlighting a person’s perspective or experience, with their consent? Maybe you are trying to explore the lived experience of others, in comparison to your own experience as the author? Either way, I recommend interviewing folks to further clarify what content belongs in your book.

8.     Tell Stories

My favorite part of writing these days is the stories. Weaving them into each chapter can build trust and connection or teach a skill. Stories can illustrate concepts you are introducing to your audience, encourage ah-has, or be a reference point for later reflection as the reader. People remember stories and they like them, so it’s worth considering how you can use story within your book.

9.     Write the Easy Parts First

Aspiring authors can get tripped up on the idea of writing their books in order. Chapter by chapter, beginning, middle, end. This can lead to writers block if you start feeling stuck on one particular section. How about writing the “easy” parts first? Or the parts that bring you joy in the moment? The parts that feel more clear or the ones that are on your mind when writing this week? By giving yourself permission to write the easy parts first, you are also giving yourself permission to write things out of order, knowing you’ll piece it back together as an additional step later.

10.  Read It Out Loud

Some of you may cringe at this idea, but I promise you it’s an important tip for authors! Not only does reading it out loud help you check for grammar, punctuation, and flow, it also helps you check out if the content sounds like you. As an author, you are your brand. By reading it out loud, you get to ensure that it sounds like you and holds the tone you want to convey, especially if your aim is a conversational instead of academic voice. A bonus? Reading it out loud prepares you for any audio book recordings you may feel compelled to complete after the book launch! Audio books remain a popular option for readers, so having the practice of reading it out loud gets you one step closer to recording.

Are you feeling ready to write your book? Check out these additional tips from our ten amazing mental health professionals turned authors from our Virtual Book Fair this month!

What to Do When Your Work is Stolen As a Self-Published Author

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You’ve published a book and it’s a big deal! After putting your thoughts to paper and finessing the gift you are giving your audience, you are focused on marketing your book and getting it out there. It’s exciting and feels like hard work all at the same time. Amidst the rollercoaster of emotions that come with being a published author, it doesn’t even cross your mind that someone could steal your work and sell it as their own in the self-publishing space. As the author of five self-published books, I sure didn’t, and yet it happened to me!

I found out my work had be plagiarized on 10/14/22. Not once but TWICE. I happened to be looking up my book on Amazon after a colleague reached out to share that they’d submitted a 5-star review. Imagine my surprise when I saw my Amazon #1 Best-Seller Perfectioneur: From Workaholic to Well-Balanced listed (in English, Spanish, and a workbook), followed by two almost identical titles, published to Kindle in July 2022. My first reaction was shock. Was that really my book title under another author’s name? I clicked on the Kindle listing and was even more baffled to see a verbatim list of my book chapters under their book’s description.

Exactly the same.

As I attempted to wrap my head around what was happening, I felt a mix of flattery—wow they thought my content was good enough to steal!—and outrage—do people really think they can get away with this? Luckily, a quick google search showed me how common it is to have your digital work plagiarized in the self-published space. Thankfully, my search also provided me with some guidance on possible solutions. I want to share my experience with you here so that you too can feel prepared if this were to ever happen to you as a self-published author.

Step 1: Gather your materials that show the Intellectual Property (IP) was yours first.

This is basically a paper trail showing your ownership before others decided to steal your material. Examples of things that could work include:

·      links to your book listing in Amazon that reflect the original publishing date

·      an email time stamp on your book manuscript

·      screenshots of marketing or social media posts that advertised your book

·      a blog where you first wrote about your concepts before the book was written

By no means is this an exhaustive list. Not to mention I’m not an IP lawyer. However, my attorney has emphasized over the years that ownership of IP is best proven by written materials that include unalterable dates on them. So start gathering your proof!

Step 2: Gather evidence of the plagiarism

This includes screenshots, links to the book listings, and capturing the ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) or the link of each product you are reporting.

Step 3: Outreach Amazon to file a Copyright Infringement Form

Millions of people have chosen to list their self-published books on Amazon. If this is you, utilize Amazon’s form to file your complaint. They will review the materials you submitted and will most likely ask for additional information to prove you are the original owner of the IP in question.

In my experience, I notified Amazon the Friday I found out and had resolution by Monday morning 72 hours later when they emailed me to confirm they were taking down the listings that had plagiarized my content.

What not to do? Do not outreach the sellers. Why, you might ask?

1)    From my google search, I learned that oftentimes the author listed isn’t even a real person. Instead, folks could be scraping your written material off digital devices to then place it under a fictious author.

2)    If you outreach them, the listed contact can remove the plagiarized content before Amazon can see it, getting away with plagiarism and any of the profits they made from your work. Not to mention they could re-list your book content under a new listing if not flagged by Amazon itself.

So begins your journey to resolution regarding plagiarism. You may have noticed that the first efforts I listed don’t involve taking folks to court. In fact, that could be a costly response to your content being stolen and is considered a last-resort option for many. If you have plans to continue to put out new self-published content, consider having an Intellectual Property lawyer on retainer for legal advice as you go forward. Lastly, do an Amazon search once in awhile to ensure your content isn’t showing up under another listing or author’s name again. It’s definitely not the fun part of being an author, but it may feel necessary to check your online listings regularly, in order to reduce any anxiety you feel about your work being sold as someone else’s book, oftentimes as a cheaper price.

Where do I go from here in my own personal story of plagiarism? I feel like I’ve learned a lot in the last 72 hours. I can only hope my experience can help another author navigate this aggravating event with minimal stress. After all, your work is valued and valuable—it deserves to be out there under your name as the original author within the safety net of a professional self-publishing space.

Five Tips to Help You Write One Book a Year

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As an author having just submitted my sixth book to a publisher, I’m being asked the question of “what’s your process?” What makes it possible to write and launch one book a year, as I’ve done since 2019? Although there is no ‘one way’ to do it, I have learned a couple things that work for me and could work for others too!

Tip 1: Identify the gift your book gives others

Most of us start with a book idea. Perhaps it came to you at 4am or while talking to a close colleague. Maybe you realized from your client work that you have a message to share with a broader audience. Similar to a TEDx talk, asking yourself “what is the message worth spreading” can help you get clear on why you want to write this book in the first place. Identifying your gift also reinforces the bigger vision and audience of your book, which comes in handy as you decide to either self-publish or pitch your work to a publishing company.

As an example, let’s take a look at the ideas behind my books over the years:

1)    The Empowerment Model of Clinical Supervision (2019)-- introduced a new model of clinical supervision for mental health leaders.

2)    Perfectioneur: From Workaholic to Well-Balanced (2020) (English, Spanish, and Workbook)--offered 22 concrete tools to support driven professionals who struggle with self-care or burnout.

3)    Helpers with Hashimoto’s (2021)--explored an idea that professional helpers are more suspetible to thyroid conditions due to compassion fatigue, trauma, chronic stress, and the desire to help others at the risk of their own health.

4)    Estrangement Energy (2022, coming soon)—identified a clinical gap in representation of adult women who make the difficult choice to estrange from their mothers.

Tip 2: Create a book outline

I know, I know, this is reminiscent of high school English class where we groaned at the extra work of an outline. However, an outline helps you organize themes or concepts you want to highlight within your book by making them into chapters, allowing an easier flow to your writing. An outline serves as a roadmap to your writing process while taking readers on a journey with a cohesive beginning, middle and end.

Tip 3: Set a time to write, preferably daily

This can feel daunting but necessary. As a new mom in 2022, I knew if I didn’t carve out the time (after putting baby to bed) the book wouldn’t be written within the deadline that was set. Think about a 1-2 hour chunk of time at most. I gave myself weekend nights off to rest my brain, but felt it was important to at least revisit what I last wrote or complete a few sentences every night to keep a sense of momentum. Consider designating a place to write in order to condition your body to recognize that being in that space means it’s time to focus and get to work!

Tip 4: Embrace strategies for writer’s block

When feeling stuck in your writing, consider any of the following strategies:

1)    Revisit what you wrote and revise as desired. Sometimes just re-reading a section gives you a new idea or helps flush out a concept that previously had you feeling stuck.

2)    Brainstorm with a family member, friend or colleague to see what they’d want to know about your topic. This is immensely helpful in adding more content to your book or outline.

3)    Read other books on the subject to generate ideas and/or formulate possible new perspectives regarding their content. You may have a different spin or perspective to offer in your own book that is revealed by reading what others have to say.

4)    Pace as you brainstorm. The movement helps get creative juices flowing.

5)    Sleep on it and take notes if you wake up with a new idea, allowing yourself to capture the idea before resuming your sleep cycle.

Tip 5: Talk about your book

Just the act of talking about what you are writing can hold you accountable to getting the book done because sharing it with others keeps it fresh in your mind. Not only can talking about it keep you emotionally invested in your writing, it can help you identify a list of folks who want to know when the book is published because they’re excited to read it!

So there you have it! Five tips that have worked for me as a published author who averages one new book a year. Additionally, check out my on-demand self-paced course Professional & Published, which takes you through the process of writing, publishing, and marketing your first book. I hope these tips can help you on your journey to becoming a published author!