Working hard on being that positive person that I think I am!

Yesterday I walked into Griffin Bay Bookstore all smiles and ready to do business! The owner wasn’t in but the woman I spoke with had…wait for it…sold WORDS! I couldn’t believe it! The thought of them selling a book hadn’t really crossed my mind! I was thrilled! Since the owner wasn’t in I said I would email her to see what she wanted to do…like how many copies she was going to NEED to buy! One had already sold in a matter of four days! I skipped out of the shop like a six-year-old girl with a huge lollipop!
My husband, a friend of ours, and myself went and had lunch and I couldn’t get the smile off my face, one of MY books was in someone’s house that I don’t know! They bought it because they thought it was good, not because they know me and feel a slight obligation to buy one. I was on cloud nine!

As we were walking back to the boat to leave Friday Harbor I got an email from the store. As I read it, I felt like I was a balloon loosing all of its air and buzzing in all directions until finally I hit the ground. She didn’t want to order more; she wanted to give me back my books. Wow, didn’t see that one coming. I walked back trying my best to not dwell on the fact that she didn’t want to keep my books and tried to focus on the fact that ONE HAD SOLD!

I walked in all smiles and she handed me the price sheet I had left her, an envelope and the two remaining books. Then I politely asked her why she didn’t want to keep them. She fumbled a bit and then asked if I had been in her children’s section of her store and said that she had lots of counting books and that mine is just like all the others. Then I said, NO THEY ARE NOT! There is not one counting book out there that has this concept built into it. Yes, there are tons of counting books but they have ABSOLUTLY NO educational value to them. They all have randomly placed pictures on a page counting from one to ten. I see you didn’t even look at my book or you must not have even read the back or you just don’t get the concept. Okay I didn’t say any of that but I wanted to. One day I’m going to be able to say all that in a way that doesn't come off so childlike! 

So I pulled myself together, I hope I wasn’t standing in front of her for a long time with a stupid expression on my face while all this played out in my mind! Finally I thanked her and with my head held high I walked out of her store.

People say that business is hard. I guess that’s a saying because it’s true. If it wasn’t true it probably wouldn’t be a saying!
So I’m going to keep the four dollars that she nicely folded into a triangle with two quarters inside and always remember my first sale. And when the day comes that I’m on the Ellen Show hopefully she’s watching so I can have the opportunity to explain to her why my books are DIFFERENT than all the counting books she has in her store. (I promise I’m not bitter!  I’m really working hard on being that upbeat, positive, can’t break me down person. Working hard on it!J)

small steps

I dropped my books at a bookstore on Orcas Island. She didn’t want to buy them but offered to take them on consignment and so did the resort where I’m staying. So far none have sold at the resort and I don’t know if any have sold at the bookstore. I am pretty sure that all of them haven’t sold because she hasn’t gotten a hold of me to order more. I really hope this isn’t a sign that they aren’t good books. I thought that they would fly off the shelves. Maybe I priced them too high. Maybe they aren’t as great as I thought. Maybe I should stop being a pessimist. (excuse me while I change out of my grumpy pants!)...I’m sure that she’ll be calling soon to order more! (that's better!) J 

This afternoon I’m going back to the first bookstore I left my books to see if she’s interested in purchasing them. I’m hopeful that she’ll want to but feel a bit less panicked because now I know I can offer her the option of having them on consignment. The more places they are the better, even if no one has paid me for them yet! At least it's a step in the right direction, a small step but a step!

And so it begins!

This afternoon I did something I’ve never done before. I walked into a bookstore on Friday Harbor and asked the owner if I could leave my books for a few days so she could look at them and see if she’d like to purchase some. It was overwhelmingly scary!

On the way to the store I was incrediably nervous. It was the same feeling I had before my first interview for a teaching job when I was right out of college. I remember my mom giving me a hug as I was getting into my car to leave and asking me, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” and I thought about it and replied with all honesty, “I could die.” Without hesitation she said, “That’s highly unlikely so you’ve got nothing to worry about!” As I walked into the store today that conversation was replaying in my head.

And then as I was waiting for the owner to be finished helping the lady in front of me, surprisingly a feeling of calmness washed over me. I was able to chat with her without completely falling all over my words. I’m sure I didn’t sound as eloquent as I would have like and hopefully I’ll get better with each go at it but I had done a good enough job for her to let me leave my books!

I walked out of Griffin Bay Bookstore with a smile on my face that touched both ears and tears in my eyes. My husband was waiting across the street with the same expression on his face! We hugged a huge hug and tears ran down my face. At that moment I thought this must be the feeling you get when you're living your dream! What an amazing feeling! I can’t imagine how I’m going to feel if she actually buys some! 

And so it begins, Shelley Sleeper the author and businesswoman, selling books!

When is enough enough?

I know that I am not a patient person. I must have been chatting when God was passing out patience because I sure didn’t get any! So I know this about myself and try to work on it but there is a point where I just can’t fake it any longer and I hate to say it, I might have reached that point.

I know that since I am just learning and starting out in this field that I don’t really carry any weight and I have to start at the bottom…but…I don’t like it!

My publishing company has tried my patience more than eleven years of teaching first and second graders combined! Here’s a quick recap, on February 27^th my husband and I drove to Victoria, BC to hand deliver my book…completely finished ready to go. All they needed to do was put my files into their template and we’d be ready to print! Publication date was tentatively schedule for the first of May. It was a long time for me to wait but I had no choice so I was okay with it. However that did not happen. One miscommunication after another happened in every step of the process. (My blood is starting to boil just writing about it!) Anyway to make a long, frustrating story short. The third revision was simply replacing one page with the file that we fixed…seriously it is a cut and paste issue, well they needed two weeks to complete this task. Unbelievable! So I waited as patiently as I am capable of and Friday morning at 8am I emailed my account manager asking for the good news…the two weeks were over and we were going to be moving closer to this never ending project. Well finally at 1:47 she emailed back saying, “Hang in there! Enjoy the sunshine today too... ! :) Cheers,” Are you kidding me!?! I responded back within seconds “So it's been two weeks. Are you really telling me that they haven't fixed this one simple cut and paste issue? Shelley.” I hope it’s obvious that I’m pissed. And guess what…she still has not responded! Unbelievable!

So to answer my own question…when is enough enough? TODAY! I’m done. I have found a new publisher and Monday morning at 7am I am calling them to see about getting my book published with them. 

why is she running?

My mom has a friend whose first thought when she sees someone running is they must really have to go to the bathroom because why else would you run?!

As a runner I always tell her that there are many reason why people go running and it's fair to say that 99% of them are not in pursuit of a bathroom!

I guess the same is true with authors. There are a lot of different reasons why people write and I think it’s safe to say 99.9% of us are not writing because we need to find a bathroom!

I became a teacher twelve years ago because I love children, I wanted to be a contributing member of my community, and I wanted to make a difference. Throughout my career education has changed dramatically. I started my career teaching in a multicultural and multi-economic school. It was amazing. The families, the teachers, the kids, the aids…all wanted to be there. Test scores were important, shrinking the achievement gap was on the top of our list, and making sure every child was cared for, nurtured, and was having fun learning were all our priorities. Slowly that began to change. I have taught in four schools since then, all public, all but one low economic and the shift from whole child to test scores has sung so far that teaching and unfortunately learning has becoming more and more boring, uninteresting, scripted, and not for me.

Okay, I’ll step down from my soapbox. But to go back to the reasons I wanted to become a children’s book author.

Helping children grow and learn is my passion. In the last few years of teaching I felt like I wasn’t giving my all because I was so bogged down with all the crap. (sorry I couldn’t think of a more fitting word that would be appropriate here!) I felt like if I stopped teaching and wrote books that I could still make a difference in children’s lives and be a happier person. So I thought about the lessons I taught my kids and the areas where so many first and second graders are lacking and wrote some books. I hope these books make a difference otherwise I’m going back to the classroom because teaching children is my passion and we should all live our lives driven by our passion.

So the reasons I run are to clear my head, to think, to pray, and to justify that big glass of red wine. The reasons I write are to make a difference in kids lives, to help parents educate their children (teachers can’t do it alone), and to bring some fun and hope into kids lives. 

who would have thought...

·      my husband would let me quit my career to purse my next dream?

·      I would be able to figure out how to find a publisher?

·      a girl from "south of Seattle and north of Tacoma" could become a published author?

·      3000 books would be on a boat from China heading to Seattle with MY address on them?

·      telling my Goddaughter that I was going to write a book about her would really happen?

·      the counting book I wrote with markers one evening in my kitchen would become the first of a series of board books?

Who would have thought...the answer is not me! But I was wrong.

My husband has been my biggest fan and supporter of me pursing my dream. 

I did find two self-publishers who agreed to publish my books.

That girl from Federal Way has become a published author.

There is a ship somewhere out in the Pacific Ocean with 3000 books, that I wrote, on their way to my house!

Telling a seven year old that she is going to be the main character in a book and then listening to her tell all her friends, relatives, teachers, and strangers...is a tremendous motivator to make you work even harder to make it happen.

A series that has 3 published and 5 more in the can!

I know that I have accomplished so much this year, yet some days I feel like I've accomplished nothing. Shelby's Imagination Station was suppose to be ready to buy in the beginning of May which I thought was crazy that it could take that long and now I'm hoping that it's ready by September. Learning to do something new, something I don't have a clue how to do, something that I've taught myself...well, I guess it shouldn’t be a big surprise to me that I’ve made some mistakes, haven't asked the right questions, haven't even known what the right questions to ask were. But I have learned a lot and know I still have a lot to learn.

I wish I would have started this blog at the beginning of this journey but social media is still on my list of things to learn and master. So hopefully this is the first of many blogs on my journey to become a successful children’s author.