An update for the Kickstarter supporters
Sharing some updates and self publishing successes and struggles
Suzy Cato read my book on her YouTube channel, Treehut TV.
Hi all,
A bit of a different musing today. I have decided to write this update for the Kickstarter supporters who helped bring my book to reality. This is because someone has asked me for an update on the book’s progress, and I figure I may as well do it here. So, feel free to ignore this one if you were not a Kickstarter supporter and don’t give a damn about my children’s book. (Fair enough!) Otherwise… read on for the highs and lows of a newbie self-publisher. ☺
In all honesty, progress has *felt* slow.
But when I look back at what I have achieved thus far, I recognise that things have gone pretty darn well. Frankly, launching a self-published book in the middle of a pandemic and at the start of a recession would always have its challenges. So, I think I need to celebrate my successes more. Don’t we all? In some ways, this exercise has been quite useful.
The self-publishing successes
I was a guest on The Word (Kupu) podcast with fellow Substacker and brilliant writer,
I got the book featured in several magazines: Tots To Teens, Thrive and OHBaby! (I am sure there was another magazine, but my peri-menopausal memory is a little bit like a sieve.)
I enjoyed writing two articles for Tots To Teens:
Mindful Meltdowns and Is Your Child An Empath?New Zealand’s beloved children’s entertainer Suzy Cato read my book for her Treehut TV show and listed it in her ‘Helpful Books’ segment. Suzy has also requested to use my book for something else she currently has in the works (I can’t wait to see what that is!). I believe she will also read it on her radio show, which is exciting.
The book has had incredible feedback from people that bought the book, as well as some pretty impressive psychologists, children’s therapists and parenting coaches.
I was a guest on Lauren Parson’s Thrive TV show.
I did book readings and mini mindfulness sessions at Pakuranga and Tititrangi Libraries.
I taught a class of children at a primary school about mindfulness and breathing techniques.
My meditations on Insight Timer have been well received, and I can’t wait to do more.
I had a wonderful review on The Mental Health Foundation website, and the reviewer really *got* how the book works for caregivers and kids. (This one means a lot because I am hoping it will reach the people that need the tools in my book.)
I got the book onto Amazon, which was x136578 harder than I had thought it would be navigating formatting issues and finding a designer in New Zealand that knew how to help me.
I have already drafted three more children’s picture books (WHY would I do this to myself!? 🤣) and am tinkering with ideas for a fourth, aimed at 10-13 year olds.
Renowned book reviewer, The Phantom Paragrapher has just listed my book as one of her Top 10 of 2022.
There are 10 copies of the book in distribution around New Zealand libraries.
My passion for educating children on mental health has flourished. I realised that mindfulness has been so helpful to me, but moving on from there, ‘mindset’ and knowing what to do with our thoughts once we observe them is what I want to assist people with too. I have begun studying Neuro-Change and Positive Psychology, and my goal is to continue to work with young people in these areas. They need so much help, and no government or healthcare system can keep up.
AND now for the self-publishing struggles…
What comes next? What are my challenges? What are my goals? Do I regret this endeavour?I have realised that there is only so much I can do on my own without a huge social media following and a huge budget for influencers and advertising.
I know the book will do well selling direct to people at markets (I have had one market experience, which has already proved this theory) but there is such demand for market stalls now that they are all booked out, and I am waitlisted for them. ARGH. Some require three product minimum. (I plan to make mindfulness jars and sell printed ‘calm corner’ kits, which I have already created anyway). Other markets require leaving me the house at 4 am with no guarantee of even getting a stall once I arrive. That’s a bit crazy. And of course, on top of all that, I have little kids… so spending half the weekend at a market stall isn’t ideal. I can’t even put up a cabana by myself, so logistically, market stalls come with a few challenges. Ideally, I want to team up with someone who offers products in the children’s space.
My biggest challenge is getting a distributor, as getting the book into retail stores is my ultimate goal. It’s the only way to get it into the hands of as many families as possible, which is why I wrote it. However, meeting with individual store owners and making individual terms of trade arrangements with each store is a LOT of legwork. That’s where a distributor will come in so handy. Honestly, I have found the response from local distributors to be icy, so I can’t help but think it may be better to try overseas… even though that sounds daft.
I KNOW the book will sell well in-store. But as a self-published author, getting past the ‘gatekeepers’ is challenging. To be fair, many self-published books are of questionable quality, so there’s that ‘reputation’ to overcome. As a result, I am outright rejected by distributors that haven’t even seen a copy of the book. They tell me they ‘have no space for more books’ (Yeah, right). Or they say, ‘I don’t deal with self-published authors’. I’ve also been told ‘It’s not Kiwi enough’ (It’s not produced to look like a New Zealand book because there are hundreds of children’s books featuring our native birds and honestly, my kids have never had any interest in a book about a Kiwi.) More importantly, given the entire Western world is facing an anxiety epidemic, I wrote this for children of the world, not just New Zealand. I don’t think we can justify being small-minded about what is a global issue.
Perhaps naively, I had thought that the achievements I had made in terms of Kickstarter, media coverage and positive feedback would get the book over the line. Distribution to retailers is a challenge I am not sure how to overcome. But I won’t stop trying, so I am certain I will do it somehow. (If you’re popping into bookstores, feel free to ask if they have my book at the counter to help me spread the word.)
Another thing that has been so tricky is getting reviews. I have had tonnes of incredible messages over text, Messenger and Instagram DM from people telling me how much they love the book and how it has helped their family. Beautiful! But unless those reviews are on Amazon or my Shopify Store, they don’t promote the book to would-be buyers. Getting people to write reviews is a bit like getting blood from a stone, which wouldn’t be so frustrating if it were not for the fact my inbox is full of ones that aren’t seen by potential customers. 🤷🏻♀️ (So, if you have read this far and would like to help me out and haven’t yet done so, please do consider leaving me a review at one of the above links.) ☺
Another goal? I would love to get a copy of this book into every school and daycare centre in the country since I can’t get out and about enough to teach this stuff. I know it is already being used in several daycare centres that have recommended it to families.Do I regret doing this? Hell no. This book has led me to my soul purpose, and if it helps even just a few children and families learn to communicate lovingly with themselves and each other, I’m winning.
Anyway, enough self-publishing stories. It’s the school holidays, and as such, my goals are on pause for a bit while I entertain little boys and break up WW3 which is often the result of me leaving twin boys to entertain themselves. 🤣
Have a wonderful holiday with your families and stay safe and well!