Becoming an Author
Ever since I was a single young woman working at a daycare I have dreamed of becoming a real children's author!
When I got married at age 22 I looked into making that happen. Back then we did not have all the information in the world at our fingertips as easy to find as we do today. Sure, we had the internet. I'm not that old! However, it was still in the process of becoming what it is today. Now, 2026, you can learn anything online. You have Youtube videos, websites, people's opinions and social media avenues to get information and education from!
When I first tried to become an author I learned that it would $...lots of $. As a typical American newlywed I did not have access to lots of $. I talked to someone at a publishing company via the phone and they said I needed to put down $1000+ to get started. I took that as a major red flag. Was I being scammed? Did authors really have to fork out that much to get started? I was clueless. I had nowhere to turn to educate myself. So, I put that dream on hold.
A few years ago I started writing children's stories just for fun. I needed that creative outlet. So, I began with characters I already knew and loved which did not belong to me. They were copyrighted and would never make me money. I also become a Storytime lady and made a Youtube channel. It was a lot of fun! I made many mistakes about recording and editing videos along the way. Inevitably it did not take long to realize I would not be able to make money from my Youtube channel. With Storytime copyright comes into play again. Legally to do storytime you need permission from each company you read a book from. Even libraries didn't want to allow me to read in their facilities. This was such a shock. Their main concern, I believe, was me advertising at all if I did volunteer to read at the library. Storytime with Tiffany was not going to be much of a benefit for me.
Truly, I loved making the videos and sharing them. Yet, with all the time and effort it took for just a hobby I had to slow that down and even take long breaks from it for real life. I had to get a real job and start bringing in money to help my family.
Then, a year and a half ago I started creating my own characters with stories. Potential for publication and income! I was so excited to finally have inspiration from scratch!
I began writing two series. One about military children because it is a much smaller category of books than other childrens books. Being a military wife and raising children in the military family life I figured it was perfect for me. And the other series about animals that are wild and creature creatures upon the earth today! This series providing fun stories about animals, lessons to learn and definitely photos and facts about the real creatures!
For about a year I have been on the journey to publish my first childrens books. I read a book about how to do it right then I watched many Youtube videos and read many aritcles. I went down many different avenues such as "Do authors need a website and if so what is the purpose of the website", "what are the copyright laws exactly" and "Should I publish through Amazon or other companies?" and MANY more.
Now here I am, SO close to publishing my first book! I believe it is ready and am waiting for a proof in the mail (this will be the 2nd attempt)! That physical copy to touch and read. To see if my many, many, many hours of work on this book have finally come to success.
IF it needs no more adjustments it will quickly become available to purchase at Amazon.com
It is already available in ebook form at Amazon.com . It has been for a little while now but the ebook has been improved! As I improved my book for publication I then went back and updated the ebook version.
My other two animal series ebooks are currently available as well. However, they are the first versions. I am about to start creating the publication versions for those books. As I do, I am certain the books will get much needed improvement and then the ebooks will get a major update.
I am super excited! The work has been far greater and more time consuming than I had imagined!
Will it all be worth it in the end? I think so. 1) It's making my dream come true 2) In the long run it should make me some money. Right now it's costing me money despite my efforts to save in any way possible. By doing my own illustrations and marketing and editing! I'm horrible at it, of course, as newbie. But someday! Someday I will know what I am doing through my experiences. Someday I will have made back the money I have spent on animal stock images and book proofs.
My expectation is that the more books I have out the more money I can make. Which is why I plan to keep this hobby for many, many years. I also plan to have success through my military childrens book series and maybe my other series' will sell because they are written by the same author.
Wish me luck as I push through and continue to work hard?! Thank you!
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