Hi everyone, I’ve just published my first book, a Social-Emotional Learning story for children ages 4–8, though I’ve been surprised to hear from readers well into their teens who connected with it too. I’m 60 and very new to the writing community, very late by some standards, but very on time by others. I also live with dysgraphia, which means writing has never come easily for me in a technical sense, but ideas and stories have always come in abundance. For years they stayed in my head. Recently, something opened, and now they don’t seem to stop. I’m finding myself thinking in chapters, scenes, and entire books throughout the day, and I’ve started writing daily because not doing so feels harder than doing it. What I’m trying to understand now, and would really value insight on, is pacing. Not “how many books in total,” but how often is healthy or sustainable to self-publish? How do you balance momentum with craft, especially when the ideas keep coming? I’m grateful to be here and looking forward to learning from those further along the path.

I published my first children's book a month ago. I have a couple of book signings at Barnes and Nobles set up in the coming weeks. I slowly trying to get a hold of other bookstores and schools. I have my next children's book ready and wondering when is the right time to publish it? I heard that you should not publish your next book until your marketing plan is established and you are getting regular sales for your first book. But I also heard that multiple books market each other. My first book is called Seeing Me Is Loving Me and it's illustrated by my six year old son.

Getting ready for your first children’s book signing? In this video, I share everything you need to bring for a successful children’s book signing event, from table setup and inventory to free activities and promotional materials! I hope you find this useful for your future events!

Can anyone share their experience? 🙂 Did you write your book before creating your website, or create the website before writing the book? 🤔

Harleigh - thank you for the warm welcome. I do have a question. I am trying to figure out if I really need a Shopify, Wix or Woo?? platform to sell my books. I have Ingram & Amazon and will be printing through Bookvault as well. Can you give me any direction?