From self pub'd to Big Five. How did children's author Beth Bacon do it?

Beth Bacon with her Big Five (HarperCollins) release, I Hate Reading.

Beth Bacon is the personification of Author as Business. Those of you who'd like to do this career-author thing should pay attention. Very few of us who are "authors" full time are really authors full time. Like Beth, we write, we teach, we edit, we speak. It's a self-generated career. You have to build it and chase it. And Beth has done exactly that.

When I first met Beth, she was a recent MFA graduate (Vermont College of Fine Arts). The next time our paths crossed, she was writing for Digital Book World, but her heart was still in creative writing, and her head was popping with ideas. Some of those found themselves onto paper and became The Book No One Wants to Read and The Worst Book Ever, which Beth brought out with her own press, Pixel Titles. From there, Beth made the great leap — the secret (or not so secret) hope of many who self publish: she was picked up by HarperCollins. Released on June 16th, her Big Five book, I Hate Reading, is an Amazon #1 New Release. 

Whatever genre you're writing in, an inside look at the self-pub'd to Big Five leap might prove informative and interesting. How did Beth pull it off? Was it with some genius in self promotion? (Possibly. Check out Beth's website and you'll see she edits, consults, does school visits: there's a whirlwind of savvy activity.) How do the two publishing paths compare? And what tips does she have for the rest of us?

Here’s the link to the recorded interview! It’s broken into a few chunks, so you can also listen to the whole playlist sequentially here.

If you missed my chat with Grant Faulkner last week, it was full of generous, kind encouragement and inspiration on how to keep those creative juices flowing at this stressful time. Here’s the link to the video.

Finally, if I don't see you on the 2nd, I wish you a happy Fourth of July. It's an interesting one. I'm sure we'll look back on these as historic times. So, on the nation's birthday, in good-ole Chinese fashion, I wish it a happy, healthy, peaceful, and prosperous year. And the same to each and every one of you.

Happy writing!

Shirin