Notes from Chris

Episode 1555

When the first lockdown for COVID-19 hit, Valene [vah-leen] Campbell knew she needed a new plan to make money. Right around then, Valene went on a walk that would change her life.

She was taking her daughter out for a stroll when they noticed a young boy sitting on a porch facing a window and talking to someone. When she took a closer look, she saw that there was another little boy on the other side of the glass. They were playing cards—separated by the glass for the sake of social distancing, but still able to play!

Valene was impressed by how they were making the best out of a bad situation. It also made her wonder about how children were handling the pandemic.

That’s when she had her first big idea: to write a children’s book to explain epidemiology—and she wondered who her main character would be. At first she thought she’d choose an animal, a common technique of children’s books. Would it be a squirrel? A dog? Maybe an insect? Then, she looked down at her daughter and realized that there were no books on her shelf with a main character that looked like her.

I should mention that Valene is Black. As part of her research, she discovered that according to one study, only 23% of children’s books featured non-white characters.

With that insight, she opened her notes app on April 1st, 2020 and started writing The Amazing Zoe Defeats the Germie Gremlins.

The Amazing Zoe was published in May 2020, less than two months after Valene had the idea. She was able to reach her audience through social media, connecting with librarians and elementary school teachers, word of mouth and a newsletter. The best part? None of these options cost money.

At this point, Valene is basking in the story of her success (two stories, actually). She’s earning about $700 a month and is experimenting with Amazon ads to increase sales further. She has two more children’s books in the works and is planning to launch a media house to help other self-published authors. It’s a series of moves in the write direction.

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Check out Valene's The Amazing Zoe at her website, valenecampbell.com.

SEE ALSO:

• Children’s Book Author Turns Page to New Income: A successful children’s book author pivots from making book trailers to coaching other authors. Along the way she learns to grow her business and spend more time with family.
• Canadian Colleagues Publish Children’s Books About Real Life: Two Canadian mothers shake up the children’s book narrative by publishing stories that tell the truth about hard things in life.
• Kids’ Books Prove To Be More Than Child’s Play: When an uncle responds to a family tragedy by creating a children's book, he weaves a story that’s inspiring for both kids and adults.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work! Yours in the revolution,

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