Navigating Through the Process of Publishing: Author Interview with Shannon Savory

You’ve now published 3 picture books for kids, but what inspired you to write the first one? How long did it take you to write and publish it?

When my oldest son was young, I often travelled for work and felt extremely guilty for doing so. Ahead of one trip I told him not to worry, because “we’ll always share the moon” and that phrase stuck in my head. Over the next 10 years, I found myself building this phrase into scenarios, and trying to make the rhymes work in my head.

By this point I had two boys, so while driving them to school or activities, or as I waited for them to fall asleep at night, I’d be working out the rhythm. My problem was that by the time I got somewhere to put these ideas onto paper (or computer), I had forgotten a lot of what I came up with. This went on for years.

Finally, as I approached my 40^th birthday, I decided enough was enough and I was going to put in the work and make it happen. I tried to connect with publishing houses but didn’t have much luck. It was disheartening and led me to question if I should proceed or just give up. I thought, if they didn’t see the value in my story, maybe it had no value. One day, I saw a random ad on Facebook for Amazon KDP and self-publishing (perhaps not random, knowing Facebook’s insight into what we want!) and decided that I was going to do this myself, for no one other than me.

I tell people that it took me nearly a decade to publish We’ll Always Share the Moon – finding the time with small kids was nearly impossible, but the idea was always in the back of my mind. Then when I was rejected by traditional routes, I had to sit with that rejection for awhile and process that loss of something I had been daydreaming about for years.

Finally, when I decided I was going to do it for me, and really started to put forth a true effort, it took me less than a year to build out my ideas, find and hire a local illustrator, and figure out the complex world of self-publishing (the hardest part!).

I didn’t tell anyone I was doing it – not until it was completely finished did my husband, children, friends, or family know what Ari and I had created. I read it to my kids, messaged my friends “so… I did something…” and started to share it out to the world. Which was scary in and of itself! But all the firsts and the frustrations that got me there, those were mine. The first time I saw the illustrations from Ari, to the first time I saw it available for purchase on Amazon.

How did you find your illustrator? 

I had originally looked at various freelance illustrator services online where you can connect with artists from all around the world. I had found some possibilities, but I was nervous about working through these sites (even though other authors have had good results), and I kept coming back to wanting to support local. I searched online for illustrator / graphic arts programs in my city and looked for names of graduates, and then Googled their names hoping to find their websites so I could see their work and determine if it aligned with what I envisioned for a children’s book. (Yes, I should have been a private eye) At some point in the process, I came across Ari – I reached out, and here we are!

Each of your stories feature hidden characters. How did that come about?
I have read many books to my boys over the years, and I found consistently that when they were tasked with a “job” while reading, they were more likely to stay engaged with the book. Our cat is such an important family member that she was the perfect addition to each page, and Ari did a great job of hiding her in sneaky and obvious locations (to appeal to various children’s capabilities). When I would read the book at schools, the kids were OBSESSED with finding the cat and loved hearing that she’s a real (and mischievous) cat who lives in my own home. 

Their interest and love of hearing about her bad behaviour is what led me to write and publish my second book, Miss No Manners. Knowing what a hit the “search and find” was, we decided a mouse was the perfect character to hide. As this had now become “our thing,” hiding a character in HEY TEACHER! (You’re Pretty Great) was an obvious must. Ari came up with the iguana idea and to date, he’s my favourite mischievous addition.

You are an indie author. Other than writing, what other parts of the process do you personally do? 
I am not sure if my experience is reflective of most indie authors, but I believe it is likely reflective of most NEW indie authors. Aside from the illustrations, everything else falls onto my lap. I did all the research related to publishing through Amazon KDP, including what specs Ari had to build her design files to. Getting my first book onto their platform was trial and error, and error, and more trial, and some more error. I leaned heavily on Facebook self-publishing groups for answers and found a great community of people who were willing to point me in the right direction. It wasn’t for the faint of heart, and I had to read a lot of KDP tutorials, online tutorials from other writers, and I watched a lot of YouTube videos on how to meet their technical requirements. At the end of the day, I didn’t want to pay someone to do this step, so I had to figure it out.

Marketing is the biggest key to making sales. What is the best marketing source you've used that has produced more sales rather than just clicks?
Marketing is the largest time-sucker as it takes a lot of trial and error to figure out what works, what makes sense to spend money on, and what to not waste energy on. I post my books to free self-promotion sites on Facebook – they are mostly made up of authors also trying to promote their books, but I believe many likely have kids in their lives so perhaps my books would be of interest to them. I tried paying for advertising on Facebook and Instagram, but didn’t see a return on investment. I also set up a Facebook page, and tried TikTok. Both take a lot of time to maintain, and since I work a full-time job and have a family, they have fallen to the wayside. I paid to have my book read and designed into a YouTube video that turned out great, but it was expensive and it’s hard to know the direct impact that money spent had on my sales. 

Finally, I took a free Amazon ad course from Bryan Cohen that taught me how to advertise with success on Amazon, and that’s truly been where I’ve found success. He runs a free course a few times a year, and it took a lot of time, but it taught me how to correctly and effectively advertise my books on the Amazon platform. I don’t spend a lot of money on it, but at least I know that the money I am spending is resulting in sales. I strongly suggest his free course to anyone who asks!

What do you know now about publishing you wished you had known sooner?
When I look back to my first book, We’ll Always Share the Moon, I think back to how I knew absolutely nothing about what I was doing, but I was determined to figure it out. I failed at many tasks not because I am a failure, but because I was on my own navigating a process and platform that I knew nothing about. It was frustrating at times, but I just kept trying and reading and tweaking until it all came together. Miss No Manners went a bit smoother, but I had forgotten lots so I had to research a lot of the “how-tos” a second time. Hey Teacher! loaded successfully to Amazon on my first try.

With Hey Teacher! I was more prepared with the back-end tasks. I already had searched “key words” to start advertising on Amazon as soon as the page went live. I had already created my A+ content (which are the product images that you see when you search items on Amazon) – previously, those had always been loaded months later. I wanted to give anyone searching my book terms the best possible chance of landing on my page, and buying my product.

With my next, I hope to plan better on how to get reviews quicker as I think that will help with early sales. I haven’t done this for any of my three books, and I know it’s so important to have those reviews, so this will be a “what’s next to learn” task for me.

What is the best writing advice you’ve received or could give?
My best advice is that it’s never too early or too late to write and publish your book. When I read to classrooms there is inevitably a child who tells me they want to be an author too and I always encourage them to staple together white paper and write / illustrate their own books now, to enjoy being creative and telling a story, and to keep getting their ideas down on paper. I didn’t publish until I was in my early 40s, to check “published” off my bucket list as I hit that age milestone. I see people in the Facebook groups I’m part of who are in their 80s and even 90s who are publishing for the first time. If it’s a dream for you, then do it! Indie authors don’t publish to make money (it often costs us money!), we publish because it’s good for our hearts to share the stories that are rattling around in our brains.

Are there any other points about writing you would like to add?
I have found tremendous value in the previously mentioned groups I have joined on Facebook. There are several that are advice-only (no self-promotion). When I’m scrolling, I will see questions from other authors, and I’ll often read all the comments because there is so much knowledge being shared! I hope those tidbits (about how to get a character-themed stuffy created, or how to successfully read at schools, or how best to ship copies if you start your own website) stay in my brain until I need them.

What is the next book coming out? Can you give me a short synopsis?
Right now I will focus on promoting HEY TEACHER! but I have a folder on my computer with lots of sub-folders and story ideas. I honestly don’t know which will come next!

That's all for today's interview. I hope you have learned something new about writing and encourage you to improve your craft. Check out Shannon's books for the kids in your life. I'm sure they'll appreciate it.

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0BMXTBPWK
Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/stores/author/B0BMXTBPWK

And here's a bonus for my readers... leave a comment on this post and we'll pick one reader who'll receive a copy of one of  Shannon's book, HEY TEACHER! Giveaway only available to U.S. and Canada residents. So do that now. It can be as simple as I want to be in the giveaway. We'll chose a winner next Friday!