I’ve been thinking about writing a children’s book for the first time since last spring just before Beatrice was totally renovated.

I couldn’t help but think that her “rescue” story would make a great subject for the beginning of a series based on her adventures. Originally, I had thought that perhaps we could make this a mother/daughter project since my Megan is a budding Graphic Designer. We could work on it in summer when she was home from college.

Business got in the way. She was busy working her resort job and I was busy working my postal job, so it just didn’t work out. Before we knew it, it was time for Megan to head back to college for her 3rd year. My book project pretty much was put on the “back shelf” of my mind.

Fast forward to last month during my oracle card reading. After that, it was made clear to me that my writing future should definitely include books. One, a memoir about my first trip to Paris, and two, a series of children’s books based on Beatrice.

After a little family discussion, I knew that it was going to take me a long time to write the memoir, so I decided to dig in and write a children’s book for the first time. I had already written the first draft of the manuscript last spring.

I once again asked Megan if she would be willing to try the illustration and she declined. Siting inexperience and lack of time to put her all into it, plus she just wasn’t feeling the whole project. While a little disappointed, I really understood. This was going to be enough of a learning curve for me since I was going to self-publish. I wanted help from people that had done it before.

Fine tuning a rough manuscript

My first step was to dig out that old manuscript and do a little fine tuning. I knew I wanted to tell Beatrice’s rescue story in a way that would appeal to children. After a few rewrites, I was on the search for an editor. I had already begun reading articles and listening to podcasts on how to go about the whole process of writing and publishing a children’s book. Every outlet highly suggested using an editor, even for a little 700 word manuscript.

Through Reedsy, I found an excellent experienced book editor. I had sent out a job listing and got a bunch of replies. I found an editor that fit exactly what I was looking for. She responded right away and thought my book idea was excellent. Actually all the editors I replied to thought the whole synopsis of my story was a great idea! This gave me great encouragement.

Once I polished my manuscript, I sent it off for editing. It took about a week and a half (way under the deadline) for my editor to send her rewrite back. It was in tip top form. She made a few changes, mainly to make it sound more fitting to serve the young audience. I was happy with it. A painless first step completed!

Searching for an Illustrator

While the editing was going on, I needed to search for just the right person to illustrate my book within the budget that I had set. I knew I was going to need to be flexible, but I envisioned a series of books and if I spent way too much on this first book, there would be nothing left over for a second, or third.

This time I posted a job on Upwork. If you need something done, just try here.

Well let’s just say I got a couple replies!! I’m not gonna lie, I got a whole lot of replies. Most were so excited with my book idea! This process was so much harder than finding an editor. How do you know they will share your vision? You can get a feel for their basic style from their portfolios, but how do you know they are right for your book?

I got so dizzy from looking at dozens of children’s books from the library and from sifting through all my applicants, that I felt my head spinning. It seems I’d pick one and then second guess my choice. I’ll tell you, this was the hardest part so far.

I finally found an illustrator that shared my vision for what Beatrice should look like. Plus she came in under budget and that was a huge plus for me. She has experience, and was willing to do the book formatting also. Her illustration samples just had the cartoon like fun vibe that I was looking for.

Yesterday she sent me the first three pages for approval. They turned out excellent and just what I wanted for my first book. I will share previews with you soon over on my new website…speaking of which

Setting up an author website and Facebook page

I knew I needed to either set up a new author website or figure out a way to incorporate this new venture here on my blog. This took a whole lot of consideration. It kind of ties into the whole traveling theme. Lets face it, I have put countless hours and lots of blood, sweat, and tears into this blog. It’s my baby, my home base, I’ve put my whole heart into this. My identity is so wrapped up into lorilovesparis.

In the end, I decided to create a new author website. I plan on selling my books through there (along with public appearances). I will most likely move everything having to do with books over there. Book recommendations, book news, public appearances, and whatever else pertains to this new business. That’s right, I will be a sole proprietor. Perhaps moving over to an LLC at some point. That website represents a new beginning for me.

Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere as lorilovesparis. This place is my home and I will continue to write about travel. After all, travel is my first love and in a big way my Beatrice books and my memoir will all be tied into the spirit of travel.

What I’d love for you to do if you are interested in staying on top of my writing journey is go to lorihelke.com and subscribe to my list.

Anyway, I debated on building my website myself or hiring someone. I realized that even though it takes a lot of time, I enjoy the process of creating a website from the ground up. I built lorilovesparis.com all on my own, I could do this too. It took me a day to get my woo commerce site up. I’ll admit, it’s at the bare minimum right now, but it takes time. As with everything I learn as I go. The beauty is in the journey right?

Oh yeah, and I also set up a Facebook page too.

So hey, that’s what I’ve been up to lately. I am totally excited about this! Little did I know that way back in September of 2017 when Beatrice came to live with us, would she spark a fire within me that would take me on this whole new path. I was reminded in December with my mom’s sudden passing that you should never wait to do something that brings you joy. While I’m sad that she is no longer here, I’m excited and looking forward to the possibilities of the future!

All for now..

xxoo

Lori