My Second Year as a Part-Time Author - Part One
2022 marks my second year as a part-time children's book author. If you had asked me if I would be "side-hustling" as an author/finance speaker, I probably would have "side-eyed" you.
This year was a record for me. Not in the number of books sold but in the youth impacted. I have a goal of educating 250K youth by 2030. This year, I educated close to 2,000 youth. I will re-cap my second year as a part-time author over three blog posts, from author visits to virtual workshops and other incredible partnerships.
What does it mean to be a part-time author anyways?
It means early mornings and late nights. It means prioritizing your full-time job and leaving some room for extracurricular activities. This season meant minimal time for being a part-time author. I took full advantage of my weekends, holidays, and nights.
Fundraising:
I'll start with the most extensive effort/campaign this year, successfully crowdfunding my Kickstarter campaign. Together with 195 backers, we raised $14K and donated 100 books to launch new books of The Wealth Playground Series.
Seven weeks before the campaign launch, I spent my “free” time automating emails, creating social media posts, creating thank you reels, and more. I could not believe how much work a Kickstarter campaign takes. I shared five lessons I learned during my campaign a few months ago. Learn from my mistakes here.
Once the campaign ended, I felt relief and a burden. I'll share what I mean in a future post.
Author Visits:
At the start of this year, I was invited by a Delaware school district to share my author journey and financial literacy. This multi-day event taught high school and elementary students financial literacy and authorship.
Virtual visits are also a fun treat. Even though I am not physically in the room, I try to create interactive presentations that spark learning, educate, and ultimately create fun moments for the youth.
Thank you to the incredible organizations that invited me to share with their students.
Kool Kidz Read™: Launched in February 2021 as a virtual entertainment solution for children ages 4-8. Kool Kidz Read™ offers a safe space for budding bookworms to encourage future leaders by acknowledging their love of learning and craving for community. The Annual 2023 Membership is now open. https://koolkidzread.com/
A youth book club located in Atlanta, GA.
Two Fourth Grade Classes at Woerner Elementary in St. Louis, MO.
I am so grateful for these organizations and many other organizations inviting me to share financial literacy with their students. I will discuss my time as a part-time author and other partnerships formed this year in the next couple of blog posts.
Would you ever become a part-time author? If so, let me know in the comments below.