LIVE BIG!! 02/19/2020

02/19/20

Wow! The past month has been extremely exciting! To begin, I’ve had two elementary school readings and this coming weekend, Feb 21 and 22nd, will be my first book signing/story-time at The Book Exchange, a local bookstore here in Lake Havasu City. The book readings at the schools have been beyond wonderful! Children are so smart and truly comprehend things better than we usually give them credit for. They amaze me!! They have been so kind and very receptive to the message that my book, "The Tiniest Little Star", teaches. I’m so grateful for them!! The community here in Lake Havasu City, has really gotten behind me too and I have felt their love and encouragement. Thank you all!

I've started receiving many questions about how I published my book, so I thought it might be good to include a little bit about my publishing adventure, and what I have learned along the way. Because this is my first book, I am by no means an expert of any sort on the matter, but I can tell you a thing or two about how I got to this point. I hope this will help any of you who might be considering writing and publishing a book. There is a lot to share, so in each blog I will share a little more on this topic.

First, I want to say that if you have a dream of writing and publishing a book, you should do it! Go for it!! Life is short and if you really want to do something, don’t put it off, go for it! Make your dream a reality!

Okay, now on to the nitty-gritty. If anyone ever tells you that writing, illustrating and publishing a book is easy, they are lying to you. The truth is it takes a lot of determination and hard work, but that’s how life is. “Anything in life worth having is worth working for.” quote by Andrew Carnegie. He also said, “You are what you think. So just think big, believe big, act big, work big, give big, forgive big, laugh big, love big and live big.” I feel these are great words to live by!

Step number one. Write a story you love!! Don’t just write any old story, write something that has meaning to you personally, something that you’re passionate about. You will be spending a huge chunk of your precious time devoted to this endeavor. Make it mean something!

Step number two. If you are going to illustrate your book or have someone else illustrate it for you, get started as soon as possible. Illustrating a children’s book is a long process and not something to be taken lightly. Quality illustrations are expensive, so if you like art consider doing it yourself, or with a friend or family member. 

Okay, I’m getting a little long-winded for the day and have many other things on my to-do list, so I’m going to leave you with those first two steps for now.

Have an extraordinary week and LIVE BIG!!
Cynthia Jensen