About ten years ago I decided to extend my illustrating hobby and explore the idea of writing children's books. I spent a year working on a middle-grade book (Solving Damian Dermite) while working part time as an educational assistant and attending McMaster University.
Unfortunately, I was rejected by many literary agents simply because my story (at the time) was too 'telling' and wasn't what the publishing houses were looking for.
No worries, I was lucky enough to find some success in Newspapers in Education and Solving Damian Dermite and the next two sequels landed in the hands of thousands of children all over North America.
Yay me.
But there were still the 'rejections' lingering over me and it took a while to realize this was just another invitation to explore other genres and age groups.
And then it happened--
One day, I decided to create a DIY children's book titled, "How to Sneak your Monster into School."I created a book trailer on Youtube and linked it to my website. Somehow, the video reached thousands of viewers and it wasn't long before I started making sales through my website. As months went by, I realized my target audience were teachers, looking to launch a language unit on procedural writing. At this point, I changed the title of my YouTube video to "Procedural Writing." I then created a private full video of the book that can be ordered along with a PDF/Ebook.
I also published the book on Blurb and TeachersPayTeachers, where sales continued to increase.
At this point, I'm selling roughly 40 books/month, which may not sound like a lot, but for me, it is a success.
What is your success story?
