I recently received sales figures for my interactive touch book (ITB), My Crazy Purple Pen. They were a pleasant surprise! Much stronger sales than expected, outperforming my traditional book format despite significantly less marketing. This is definitely a market to develop further.

This was just the nudge I needed to get going on the next one! So, here I am recording the narration for the ITB version of The Day My Teacher Came to Tea.

My first foray into direct selling at the local school fayre, with friend Helen and son Jamie both helping out. 

Thankfully there were sales (beat my target of 10, even  if only just!) and lots of interest generated. We were giving out 'purple pen picture' stickers to anyone who walked by. By the end of the day lots of people were sporting them on their tops. It proved to be a good marketing technique as they drew people to the stall, curious as to what the stickers were all about.

Now, where to go next?

Read the children ‘My Crazy Purple Pen’, chatted about writing books and then finished off with a reading of ‘The Day My Teacher Came to Tea’. The kids were great and enjoyed themselves (I think!). I know I did.

The most fun though was probably when the children asked how a new character I am developing, ‘Captain Sillyvoice’, is going to speak. I had all the children standing up holding their noses, smiling and bending forwards saying “My name is Captain Sillyvoice.” They seemed to really enjoy this and it worked – they did sound squeaky. So, those instructions will be going in the book.

Most bizarre question of the session – “Have you written any books about toucans?” Sadly, the answer was no but I said it would be a good character to put in a jungle adventure so I would try to remember it.

When I read “There was absolutely nothing she could do”, (referring to the teacher about to be splattered with hot tea), one little boy piped up “Well she could move.” He was right of course and I was stumped for a moment. I think I managed to recover my position, explaining that everything was happening too fast for that. This seemed to satisfy him!

Best comment: “This book is actually really cool!”

I have been asked to supply 5 copies of each of my two books (My Crazy Purple Pen and The Day My Teacher Came to Tea) to the Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries. I have already supplied the British Library  (a legal requirement) but a request has been made to supply each of the following in addition:

• Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford
• Cambridge University Library
• The National Library of Scotland
• The Library of Trinity College, Dublin
• The National Library of Wales.

It is great to know that my books will be added these collections, although it is a shame that they do not offer to cover the costs of printing and postage. For a self-published author this is a considerable outlay. It seems too that by law, if the request is made, it must be met.

Yet another thing I have learned about the world of publishing.

My lovely husband surprised me with a bright yellow 'Crazy Purple Pen' t-shirt. It's brilliant! I shall be showing it off  in a few weeks time when I try direct selling my books at the local school fayre. My neighbour and good friend Helen will be helping me run the stall. She will also be sporting said yellow t-shirt design. Perhaps we can start a trend?! Feeling excited but am naturally also thinking, 'what if nobody buys my books?'

To quote Roald Dahl, “Bunkum and tummyrot! You'll never get anywhere if you go about what-iffing like that. Would Columbus have discovered America if he'd said 'What if I sink on the way over? What if I meet pirates? What if I never come back?' He wouldn't even have started.”

He is quite right, of course! I won't know unless I try. Wish me luck.

I was invited to my local primary school to meet some year 2 children, read 'My Crazy Purple Pen' and do a Q&A session. I admit it - I was nervous. Would the children enjoy my book? What questions would they ask? I needn't have worried. The children were fantastic and I soon felt at ease. It was so rewarding to see them all enjoying my book and to watch their enthusiasm for creating their own stories blossom as the session progressed. They all seemed to want to know what purple pen would be getting up to next, so I think I will need to give the idea of a sequel serious consideration. The cogs are definitely starting to turn on that one!

I have been invited to go back again in a few weeks time. Yippee!

A quick recap to bring you up to date. 

In September 2012 I embarked on a fantastic adventure as I entered the world of writing for children. That was about 8 months ago. There have been frustrations and obstacles to progress along the way but I have loved every minute of it and learned such a lot. Thinking up a story, bringing it to life on the page and then watching a young face light up with enjoyment at the words you've written must truly be one of the best feelings in the world.

So far I have published two traditional books and an Interactive Touch Book version of 'My Crazy Purple Pen' for use on Apple technologies (e.g. ipad).

Okay, I think that just about covers it!