If you fail to plan, plan to fail. One of the most sound pieces of advise I can give you is to plan, plan and plan some more. In the beginning, I failed to do this. Honestly, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. About 6 months before Champ and Nessie was published, I decided to watch a few Author Tube videos on Self Publishing and I had quite the 5 subject notebook filled with notes and “to-do’s” after that. I realized pretty fast that I was going to be a 1 woman show after that. Publishing, marketing, tax paperwork, ISBN’s, obtaining my trademark and copyright, hiring my beta and ARC team, writing my story, editing my story – again and again, formatting my manuscript and illustrations, setting up my social media outlets, creating content, setting up my website and blog, setting up and maintaining my Author Platform…and the list goes on! Spoiler – it can be done!

Some people like storyboarding, some don’t. Some people will rework a draft 10 times, others can knock out a good story in one sitting. Let your writing success be your only option. Don’t worry about making a fool of yourself, just get yourself out there! Ask 1000 questions until you figure it out. The writing community is absolutely amazing, if you can connect with other authors in your niche, you will have the best support team.

Any successful writer will tell you that they did not wake up one morning and decided “Today I will be a writer”, they simply are one. If you want to write, just do it! Write from your heart, because what you write becomes who you are.

Post Script…You are awesome!

The fear of the unknown can make any aspiring author run for the hills. I know this to be a fact, as I ran several times, as far away as I could away from Champ and Nessie’s unfinished manuscript. The question that hung over me day after day was, “What do I with this this story now that it is actually starting to feel like a real book?” There are many things I wish I knew at the beginning of this journey, hence my desire share my new found knowledge with the world!

One of the first, and most important things is figuring out what age range you are writing for, and then write within that word count.

Most writers think they are writing picture books for age 3-7, that is the most common category. If that’s you, then shoot for 750 words, that is the sweet spot. If you write a picture book more than 1000 words, you’re sunk. So don’t be afraid to take out that red pen and slash and dash until your word count is way down!

Another super important tip, is to make sure you start off your story quickly! Many books fail because they lose the attention of the child or parent in the first page. (Sad, but true.) In Champ and Nessie, I had written a long winded, beautiful story setting “deep in the heart of Pangea…” And after I realized my manuscript was 20 pages too long, my first 4 pages of text, turned into 1 paragraph.

In Champ and Nessie on first page, you are immediately introduced to the story setting, the main characters, and then right into a dramatic scene. So try and minimize the backstory as much as possible, don’t set the scene, just tell us what is happening.

You have such a short space to tell your story that you can’t waste any time. The pacing of children’s stories generally move very quickly. Launch your story on the first page, then introduce us to the main problem or “key” point of your story as soon as possible.

Click on my free Children’s Book Length printable for reference!

Check my other posts on Writing a Children’s Book and I hope you find some inspiration to Write Your Story!

If I ever have the opportunity to ask an author a question, I usually want to know about their very first idea. What was that first, tiny spark that turned into the massive flame that became their completed book or series? I know a lot of hard work went into writing that story in order for me to hold their book in my hands. How did it all begin? I am always fascinated when I hear stories about how a tiny spark, turned into a great flame. Most authors if you ask them will tell you it all started with a single spark of inspiration one random day. I know if you asked me, I would tell you my inspiration came from my husband, over the course of many random (this book is never going to happen) days. I don’t know where or how I came about writing again. It got lost somewhere in the struggle of life, work, and motherhood. I always wanted to feel a lightening strike, a lightbulb moment, where a story came to me in perfect glory. It took me a little while to realize it never happens like that. I finally reached a point in my life where I know, you just have to do what you love. And discovering writing again has made me realize that. Once you have your eyes open to stories and magic and mayhem and mischief, the sparks come from everywhere. I remain fascinated and thankful for these moments of inspiration, especially since I am now a published author.

What sparks will light your flame? Where will your next wave of inspiration flow from?