Happy Anniversary, Cornelius!

One year ago I was anxiously awaiting my official first book release. I had signed off on the final draft of the book, and placed my first order of physical copies (which took forever and the wait was painful). And then I got the e-mail - Cornelius the Dragon is live! Dream come true - oh, but wait!

The biggest lesson of the year was how much time and effort marketing and promotion take. It's truly a full-time job, so it often falls to the wayside, you know, with all the parenting and other work we have to do on the daily. Being a self-published author is a lot of work, even if you have a publishing company doing the legwork on the physical book itself; typically they do not do any promotion for you. And with all the tricks of social media, the cost of ads and promotion, it sure can be stressful.

The best part over the year though has been sharing the story with families. With my teaching network I was able to visit several schools to share the story, and even an outdoor homeschooling group. The kids' questions and wonders were great, and they even made some very sweet suggestions for other books I am working on. The best bit - they were completely enchanted by Cornelius!

Tracking the book has been a lot of fun. Cornelius has flown to Vancouver Island, across the prairies, central Canada, all the way to Newfoundland. He has crossed the border to the south to some sweet families. Cornelius has crossed the ocean to England and Germany, and I am so excited to see where he goes next.

I have several other projects on the go, but the one I am most committed to is somewhat of a sequel to Cornelius the Dragon: an early chapter book based on the adventures of Princess Sam. I felt she deserved her very own book because we got to meet this feisty character only briefly, and in that brief interaction, she taught Cornelius a whole lot about being true to yourself and to question when something does not feel right.

Meeting other authors on the same journey has been so precious to me, especially since we share the same challenges and often help each other out. I have learned a lot for round two!

Ways to help indie authors:

• Buy their book

• Share their socials and content on your own socials

• Recommend their book to families you know

• Leave a kind review on any online distributor

• Ask local independent bookstores for local independent authors

Thanks for being with me (and Cornelius) on this journey!