Kidlit Writer in Progress & Resource Blogger

I always said in the past how much I wanted to write picture books for children without really ever giving it a thought. I put the idea aside for a later time after sorting life out, and in that busy time I lost confidence. During Covid all I did was work and doom-scroll on TikTok. My for you page was riddled with side hustle content, and I learned that people were creating their own merchandise and businesses and selling their products on Etsy. I began doing research and watching videos on how people were creating t-shirts, mugs, birthday cards, etc., and I stumbled upon a site called Canva. Canva is a website that allows you to create designs and use them on print-on-demand platforms. Essentially, when you make an original product, you can use these platforms as your own shop where customers can buy and get the product shipped directly to them without you having to do a thing. The further I looked into this, the more I came across websites with designs that blew me away. I lost a bit of confidence as it all felt intimidating and fiercely competitive, so the idea was squashed. There was also a part of me that was not passionate enough about it.

YouTube was now suggesting videos all related to Canva, and I began to see some about using the platform to create and self-publish picture books. I will link at the end of this some of these videos that encouraged me to self-publish one picture book and a coloring book. I was very excited after watching a few videos and learning about Kindle Direct Publishing, which is Amazon’s self-publishing platform where you can upload and sell your book. After that I spent a lot of time writing a story and making sure I created something original to ensure I would not run into any copyright issues. I had read somewhere that your account could get banned, so I resorted to uploading a coloring book first. There is one wonderful video that I will also link that showed me how to create a coloring book and how to upload and publish it. I was nervous at first, but I followed the instructions, and about a day and a half later it was approved and published.

After that I was confident in uploading and publishing my picture book. Now, this is not the best picture book in the world, and this would definitely not end up on the shelves of Barnes & Noble, but I am very happy to have accomplished it! Reading it aloud is still a humbling experience but even still, I followed the rule of three and presented a problem to keep the story going. After that I dove deep into the realm of picture books. I have since read many creative books that I absolutely love, participated in writing classes, attended conventions in person and online, and dabbled in writing my own stories. I have more ideas written down than stories, and I sit and stare into the abyss and think for hours on end, but I suppose that’s the nature of trying to write something creative. There is so much more I have learned about and can’t wait to share here with you all! Please feel free to leave a comment and ask questions!