Cashing In On Kids Books

These past two and a half years have proven that you can teach an old dog new tricks. I began writing a memoir in 2022, sending it off to a publisher for a tidy sum to format and design the book for me. With the next book, I found a publisher who could do everything the first did but also would promote my work. That publisher ended up being a royal pain where I sit.

They were only interested in making more money off me. Every day, they would challenge me to spend just a little more on things they were sure I needed. Their editor had no idea what my story was about, although they claimed to have found several dozen errors in my manuscript.

I would correct their corrections, only to find that they reintroduced their version of my sentences later. Even the cover image had to be designed repeatedly because they had no idea what the book's concept was.

In the end, they left me with an unfinished manuscript that I had to re-edit myself. I was furious when, even after all this, they called to ask me to purchase a separate promotional add-on for a website, promising that it would bring in at least $3,000. in revenue the first year. The cost? Only $4,500. if purchased within twenty-four hours.

That frustration forced me to learn how to format and upload my own manuscripts. I'm not saying that was easy to do. I struggled daily and was often tempted to throw my computer out the window or take up day drinking. Wait-- I already do that. The drinking part.

Eventually, after hundreds of trial and error efforts to properly marginalize, apply headings and page numbers, pick out the right size layout, figure out what the heck a TOC was, make chapter separations and titles, and do all the other minutia that we pay those "vanity presses" to do for us, I uploaded my first totally self-published book.

Oddly enough, there were fewer errors in that book than in the other two, which the so-called professionals put together for me. My editor has been a friend of mine for fifty years. She is a genealogist by profession and a picky taskmaster who is merciless and doesn't care if she hurts my feelings.

Thank you, Katie!

Then, we tackled the next book, which was shared on Vocal in its entirety in Chapters. I love sharing my WIPs here. Other writers help me fine-tune my work as I create. You can't pay for that kind of advice.

While working on my fifth novel, I discovered a new love affair with writing—children's books. I began putting together children's coloring books for Christmas time and did quite well with them on Amazon.

Then, I decided to dive in and start writing storybooks. They are laid out on Canva and then uploaded onto Amazon. The interfaces between the two sites work well with one another. There is no limit to the imaginative work you can create for children on Canva.

I've just finished uploading several Valentine's Day card books onto Amazon. These coloring books are designed for children to create their own cards for friends.

I cannot live without Canva and Grammarly, two writing applications that are both worth the money. Canva can help you create ads for your books, and Grammarly can help you sort your words out. I have trouble with syntax, and Grammarly corrects my errors before my editor gets them.

2025 is going to be an exciting year of discovery and creativity for me. Along with the children's books and coloring books,I have two more parts of a series to finish and two new books waiting to be completed. I'll give you a sneak peek at the working covers.

Carve Your Name into My Heart is the story of a missing person call that changes everything for two lonely patrol partners. The missing nursing home resident is not found alive, but the two officers find each other and realize that sometimes love is right under your nose if you open your eyes.

Smitty and Tucker try and fail a dozen times before they actually get together successfully. Romance, disappointment, broken hearts, crossed wires, tragedy, and a deep love that overcomes it all in the end.

Then, my last installments of G-Is for String are being worked on. G-Is for String: Oh, Baby, and G-Is for String: No Regrets are safely tucked away on my cloud. Oh, Baby tells of my time working in Canada and meeting my oldest son's father. Heartbreak set to music. Jake was married and always making promises he couldn't keep. I was still ridiculously naive and wanted to believe every lie he told.

I worked for four years to become a featured dancer, but after I met Jake, that meant nothing to me. We would split up, makeup, break up again, and try to walk away from each other. Somehow, it never took until I left the country entirely.

The next book to be published is It's a Dirty Job, some of which was shared here on Vocal first. In it, a young wife is abandoned with her two daughters. Her husband sells their house out from under them, leaving her at the mercy of Social Services to house and feed them. She finds work cleaning at a local Campground and quickly becomes one of the Camp Honey Pot family.

Peeping Toms, wildlife scares, and murderers chase her and her girls. Finally, she must return to her hometown for her father's funeral, and she is caught on the road without her Camp Honey Pot family to protect her. She is on her own to protect herself and her girls. The murderer finds her quite by accident and tries to prevent her and her youngest daughter from identifying him.

The story is pulse-racing action as the young mother and her girls tumble from one frightening scene to the following: car chases, murders, and blackmail interspersed with mom's awkward romantic longings and sassy little girls.

Step into 2025 with me! It's going to be a wild ride.