Being an Author

I published my first book, “Finley Finds Her Way” on March 25, 2024.

Throughout my publishing journey, I heard over and over again, how difficult marketing is. “How hard can it be?” I thought. Said the journalism major turned social worker. Who knows absolutely NOTHING about marketing.

If I thought getting the book into print was tough, I wasn’t fully prepared for what came next.

I outreached my little local newspaper (Stone Oak Highlights), asking if I could buy ad space or if they’d be willing to do an article on the release of my book.  Enthusiastically, they agreed to do a small article to coincide with the release of the book.

Upon release of said article, the owner of a darling children’s boutique outreached me to see if I’d be interested in doing story time in her store. It was an opportunity I hadn’t thought of exploring. And it opened up for me, a whole ‘nother set of stores which I could hopefully tap into! Yes!

I researched local children’s boutiques. I stopped into some. Emailed others. Some asked to carry my book. Some asked me to do story time. And others never responded.

Surprisingly, I was able to *not* take the rejection personally.  My motto became,

“Throw it out there and see what sticks”

Phrased another way …

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”

So I continued to take those shots and found a little success.  For my first book, which I self-published, success was loosely defined as someone saying “yes”.

A friend from high school owns an adorable little shop in the town where my parents retired and she readily agreed to put my books in store. And another friend put me in contact with a friend of hers who also owns a little boutique; she also agreed to put my books in store.

Other ever-so-supportive friends connected me with people they knew.

That led to readings at pre-schools, Hemisfair, the Will Smith Zoo School, and the crème de la crème: the San Antonio Zoo! What better place to read my little book about a tree frog who goes on an adventure In. The. Zoo. ?!?!?

The real joy comes in sharing Finley with the youngest of readers. I often tell people some of my best days have been those where I get to read Finley!

At my very first reading, there was the cutest little girl, with precious blonde curls. She sat in the front row, her eyes twinkling with every turn of the page. As she was leaving to go back to class, she inched closer and closer to me. Slowly. Slowly. Slowly. Until she was standing right next to me. Standing at all of 3 feet tall, she scrunched down, and slowly leaned in, hugging my knees!

And my heart melted!

When I visited the pre-school where a friend’s daughter attended, I was very much looking forward to seeing my sweet Addie.  Addie, who knows me as Auntie Sharon, came into the room, her eyes flickered with recognition and a shy smile came across her face.  I invited her to come up for a hug and she plopped herself down right in front.  Throughout the reading, she inched her way closer and closer until she placed her feet on top of mine and tapped gently throughout the reading.

At my grandchildren’s school and pre-school, it was great to see them, of course. And even more fun to share my story with their friends.  Personally, I think they looked pretty proud as their very own Grams was a VIP visitor that day.

I had a rough week leading up to my reading at the Zoo School. A week when nothing seemed to go right. And I was grumpy. After reading to three different groups, the energy of which was palpable, the sun shone brighter and the weight, from whatever had been bothering me, was completely lifted.

Funny, I still can’t recall what had me in knots that week.  I just remember the feeling I had when I walked out of the Zoo School.

Leading up to my series of readings at the Zoo, the zoo’s marketing team, who actually knows how to do marketing, asked for different images to use in their promotion. When they sent the email out to their members, announcing my first reading, they noted I was a “beloved children’s author”.

Keith says he’s known that all along.  That I was beloved. And now the rest of San Antonio will know too. Every now and then, he reminds me that I’m a beloved author. He cracks me up!

When the San Antonio Zoo informed me they were going to have me read in the zoo’s Hippo Overlook, I was a little sheepish. I had been in that (events) room before and knew how large it was.  Imagine my surprise when, for the first of four readings, there was standing-room only! So many faces. So many smiles. What a pleasant surprise it was.

There were people taking pictures. And videos. And those who wanted me to pose for pictures with their kiddos. I kinda-sorta felt like a celebrity. I won’t soon forget a little boy named Hendrix (whose ultra-hip parents named him after Jimmy Hendrix!)

Attendance at the zoo readings became less and less with each one. But …

As a result of our collaboration, the zoo plans to institute story time as a regular feature, and they called me a trail blazer! Me! Imagine that!

Even better … they invited me back to read my next book even though it doesn’t have anything to do with animals. We’ll see how that goes!

Every Tuesday during the summer, Hemisfair hosts story time. They agreed to let me come read Finley and in exchange, they purchased 15 books to give away to the families who attended.  How cool is that?

Held outdoors, under the live oaks at Hemisfair Park, a small crowd (13 families, to be exact) gathered to hear my story. The parents smiled throughout, and the children seemed to enjoy the story, but seemed to enjoy coloring (a page out of the book) even more! The staff and parents were all so very appreciative and the staff even wrote a glowing review of my story telling.

My heart grew three sizes that day!

On a Friday morning in July, I joined the resident storyteller at The Twig Bookshop, Miss Anastasia, for her weekly story time. And yet again, more and more families heard the story of a little frog who wanted to be a puffer fish and so much more.

It’s still surprising to me when quite unexpectedly, a royalty check shows up in my mailbox from books sold at The Twig.

One sunny Sunday afternoon, while I was doing a book signing at The Twig, a title for a new book came to mind, “The Grumpus Among Us”. When I sat down to write it just a couple of days later, it turned into a rhyming book (and has absolutely nothing to do with Finley). I giggled and chuckled with every rhyming stanza I wrote. I had the BEST time!

You never know when you’re going to be inspired!

I’ve done story time at a couple of Barnes & Nobles stores in town. They weren’t well-attended, and I try not to be deterred. The staff have been phenomenal!

Conversely, the book signings at Barnes & Noble stores were a blast!

I’ve met teachers buying the book for their classroom – including one who teaches in Korea! Aunts buying for their nieces. Cousins buying for their younger cousins. A high school friend of mine bought a 2^nd copy. Other authors buying it for themselves. Pastors buying it for children in their congregation.  And one little girl named Havyn who was the epitome of pure joy; it simply radiated from her little body. And I was honored that she would take my book home.

At one location, I signed every single copy they had in-store. How exciting!

At some of the children’s boutiques, there were zero attendees. But when they invited me back, more people showed.

Keep taking those shots.

The local magazine from the area where I grew up (Stroll Garden Ridge) agreed to do an article on me leading up to my reading at the Garden Ridge Library.  A reading where no one showed up.

And the alumni magazine from the University of Texas (The Alcalde) agreed to include a tidbit about my book. When it arrived in the Winter edition, I couldn’t have been more proud.

In exchange for promoting the book throughout the summer (and boy! Looking back, I was REALLY busy!), I promised my husband we could take an extended vacation. And so we did. A month-long cruise in the Mediterranean was relaxing, but I needed to get home to Finley!

Then began the task of introducing myself and my book to the public schools in the area.

I carefully crafted what’s called a “sell sheet” and later opted to hire a professional to put together a professionally designed sheet. I’m legit now!

I found every elementary school librarian’s email address on three different school districts websites. Having sent no less than 175 emails, I’ve been able to schedule 13 school visits so far and an additional 5 schools have shown interest but haven’t yet committed.

And I keep trying.

Having been crippled by public speaking for the entirety of my career, I find my book to be energizing; I’m happy to report that I am completely nerve-free when I read Finley. The largest group of kiddos I've read to was 300 in one setting! 300 little faces, enjoying my book!

Although … there was that one time that a little girl who, during a Q&A session, asked why I was so nervous. The truth of the matter was that it was freezing cold in the school’s library!

You see, you never know what you’re going to get during a Q&A session!

I’ve been asked multiple times how old I was when I wrote my book. I expect the kiddos to be shocked when I tell them I was 56, but they aren’t at all. My husband always tells me I’m making an impact on those kiddos’ lives; perhaps they understand that it’s never too late to follow your dreams.

Of course, I’ve been asked how to publish a book, how I came up with the idea for my book, and how many books I’ve written.

But I’ve also been asked if I have any kids, what my favorite color is AND WHY, and what my favorite food is. When I speak to larger groups, I use a PowerPoint presentation. In it, I share pictures of my family, including mine and Keith’s children, our Grands, and our dogs (which is always met with “AWWWWWW”).

I’m still trying to figure out WHY green is my favorite color. As for my favorite food? Well … let’s just say that the palette of a 2^nd grader is not ready for shrimp (if the cacophony of “EWWWW”s I heard was any indication).

There was one little boy who came up to me after a reading and hugged me. And wouldn’t let go. He practically drug me with him all the way to the door of the library. He kept telling me he loved me. How sweet is that?

A lot of kiddos want a high five. And at one school, when I opened it up for questions, one little girl asked if she could give me a hug. That started a series of requests for hugs, that lasted until the end of the Q&A session.

Why do I do all of this? I think getting hugs from adorable children is certainly one of the many reasons.

There was one little girl who asked if I thought she could be an author (if you love to write, of course you can!) And one little girl who left the library, only to return from her classroom to show me the book she was writing and illustrating! She was so proud and I was very proud of her!

And in several schools, the 2^nd graders are putting together their own picture book. Each child writes and illustrates one page of the book and at the end of the year, the class has an entire book that they can call their own. They will officially be published!

Personally, I think this is an incredible activity for students!

I’ve recently done the math and believe it or not, I’ve sold over 500 copies of my debut children’s book! I know! I can’t believe it!

I’ve learned the importance of having an attractive table set-up (you won’t believe the number of people who come up and want to pet the stuffed sloth I have on my table!) I’ve got my very own banner, and business cards. I’m planning ahead for my new book and had a life-size cut-out of Gracie, the main character, made. Recently, I launched a state-of-the-art, fancy-dancy website that I’m super proud of!

I’ve always said I’m not going to work the farmer’s market market. And I’m not.

But … after being encouraged by a friend and the librarians that I’ve read for, I am going to be an exhibitor at the Texas Librarian Association annual conference and expo! Over 10,000 librarians from public and private schools, as well as public and private libraries will be there.  I can only hope that it turns into even more opportunities.

I recently shared the cover for my upcoming book with one of the Children’s Book Author and Illustrator facebook groups I’m in. The response was overwhelmingly positive! So many of my fellow creatives loved the cover and can’t wait to read it! And a couple of authors who I highly respect reacted positively!

I told Ashleigh (who illustrated Finley and is also illustrating Grumpus), that it’s all her. “No,” she said, “it’s because you’ve given me a beautiful story to create.” LOVE!

And do you know what else happened? Someone who runs an online bookshop in the UK wants to carry my new book in her store! And … a YouTuber who reads children’s books on her channel and whose videos consistently get over 20,000 views, outreached me about reading “The Grumpus Among Us” on her channel. Of course, I said “YES!”

My son tells me this is the book he expects is going to really take off.  I kinda hope he’s right. Because wouldn’t that be FUN?

Here we are … nearly one year later after the release of Finley and Grumpus will be published soon.  I cannot believe how fortunate I am to be living out my dream as an author.

And What. A. Dream. It. Is.