Problem Solver Scientist with Sol Regwan

Ready to dive into the world of authoring and the importance of reviews? Brace yourselves as we navigate the convoluted process, the struggles, and the tactics to prompt your readers to articulate their thoughts about your book. With our special guest, acclaimed author Sol Regwan, we promise you an enlightening journey as he unravels his own experiences and strategies to coax his readers into leaving reviews.

The journey gets even more riveting as we explore Sol's heart-stirring Gizmo Girl series, with special emphasis on the third book, Geraldine and the Anti-Bullying Shield. Saul opens up about the real-life stories of bullying that inspired him, the vital role of self-discipline and self-defense, and how STEAM topics can enhance children's identity exploration. We do not shy away from the sensitive topic of the Holocaust, the challenge of explaining it to children, and the delicate balance between education and relatability.

Fasten your seatbelts as we venture into the complex terrains of traditional, self, and hybrid publishing, and explore the business aspect of writing. Sol generously shares his insights on writing for children, making a book saleable and sparking meaningful conversations through his works. As we wrap up season two, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to Sol, and invite you to embark on another exciting season with us in 2024. Buckle up for an insightful, inspirational, and thrilling ride through the world of authorship!

Buy Sol’s Books here:  https://www.amazon.com/stores/Sol-Regwan/author/B07ZYTVGNW

➡️ Connect with Sol Regwan here: ⬇️
➡️ Website:  https://solregwan.com
➡️ Facebook: https://facebook.com/solregwanauthor/
➡️ Instagram:  https://instagram.com/solregwanauthor/
➡️ TikTok:   https://TikTok.com/@solregwan
➡️ Goodreads  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16101176.Sol_Regwan

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Welcome back everyone to the writer's parachute, where we are guiding author and writer dreams to a perfect landing. We have with us today another very special guest. He's a children's author, optometrist, father and a frame and jewelry designer. I'm going to talk to him in a minute about several of his books, specifically Geraldine and the anti-bullying shield, but of course, we always start out with a housekeeping. We would love for you to go ahead and hit that subscribe button. Go ahead and hit the like button and share. Don't forget the bell so that you get reminders when new episodes are out every single week. If you would like to be notified directly to your email inbox, please go to sendfoxcom. Slash the writer's parachute and you can sign up for our weekly newsletter with updates on every episode into your inbox directly. Of course, you can go ahead and follow us on social media. We are on Facebook, instagram, twitter, which is now X threads, and TikTok at writer parachute, that is, writer parachute without an S. Of course. If you would love to reach out to the writer's parachute, you can reach us through the website at info at the writersperissuecom, and we love listening to you. So of course, we want to go ahead and get started here. Our topic of the week.

Speaker 1: 1:22

Here on season two, we have been focused on reviews. Reviews are the lifeblood. They are the critical mass that authors need to get their books out into the world. This is how we're seen, this is how we're recognized, this is how our books are graded, judged or whatever else you want to say about it. This is how the writer, the author, gets feedback about their books and the information contained in them. So next time that you read a book, go ahead and leave a review. But we're going to talk today about make some of the failures with reviews. I've talked to so many authors over the years. They have tried just about everything in the world to get people remind people to write reviews, one of the few things that someone could do for an author that cost them nothing.

Speaker 1: 2:16

There are options where, if you have purchased at least $50 in the last 12 months on Amazon, you can review any book on Amazon as long as you are finding it following their community guidelines. Also, you can go to Goodreadscom and leave a review for a book. Also, a lot of the other retailers do not have a strict review guidelines as Amazon, so you can often leave those there. Don't forget, in this day and age, we walk around with a computer in our hand. If you would like to do a audio or video recording of your review, you can certainly do that and post those also on Amazon, goodreads and most retailers. If you are concerned that you are not following the guidelines, then please go to community standards and guidelines on any of the retailer's websites and they will explain fully to you exactly what their guidelines are revolving around reviews of books and products. So I encourage you to do that.

Speaker 1: 3:15

So we talked to Saul a little bit here in the green room and he said that he's been having a difficult time with people following through on reviews. People will often offer their books in ebook format or something like this it's free in exchange for reviews. This is often what we mean when we say, hey, my book is free on Kendall or one of the other ebook platforms. However, given that what happens is you'll get a bunch of people and go and freely download your book and they'll read your book, but they don't leave reviews, so we're going to ask nicely and we're going to remind you nicely until it's time to not be nice. Right now, I'm getting a little close to that edge of not be nice If you are given a free book by an author, they are asking you to leave them a review.

Speaker 1: 4:12

Now I understand that not everybody's good at reviews and they're not complicated. A review can be something as simple as I liked this book. I didn't like this book. I recommend this book for this age group or this person or someone interested in this particular topic. It could be that simple or it could be as complex and in detail as you would like.

Speaker 1: 4:36

So, if you're concerned about how to write a review, all we're asking for is your opinion of the book and or the story. So make sure next time you pick up a book, next time you read one, and especially if you get a free copy of a book, to go back to the retailer where you receive the free book and leave a review. If you cannot recall the retailer, then please go to Goodreads and leave a review for the author. They will thank you so much. As I said, this is one of the few ways that they get a feedback or response from the readers, and I'm going to pull Saul in for just a moment, because he has some other thoughts about getting people to follow through on their reviews and get those reviews out to the readers and to the audience through the author website and through their purchase page on Amazon. So go ahead, saul. What have you got to say about this?

Speaker 2: 5:37

Well, first of all, I'm very, very excited to be here. This is, I think, my second time doing this. We did this over a year ago or two years ago, I think it's been a while.

Speaker 1: 5:46

It's been a while, yes.

Speaker 2: 5:48

Really, really excited to do this. I've been waiting for this podcast, and today is the day that I'm finally on, so thank you for bringing. My wife kept telling me that I have a mean resting face. I've been looking at the screen here. I don't have a mean resting face, do I? I mean I mean. So at least I got to learn something here.

Speaker 1: 6:11

There, you go.

Speaker 2: 6:14

What were we talking about? I'm just kidding. Where are you going? Review Okay, this is the thing I have like. As Donna said, I'm an optometrist and I have been practicing for 23 years and we thrive.

Speaker 2: 6:26

My private practice on reviews whether it's Google or Yale or whatever you know, that's basically the bread and butter of our business. Getting author reviews through my books is the same thing as getting patient reviews. They always tell you oh my God, this is great, I love it, I'm going to give you a review, and 90% you're not getting a review. It's just to make you happy for that instant and that's about it. So 10% will give you a review, but it's not enough.

Speaker 2: 6:55

So the problem here is I understand that they get free books on Amazon. We gift it to them, they can download it under Kindle and all that, and then, once they're done with it, they just move on. Either they forget they have to give a review, or either they have nothing good to say and they'd rather not give a review, or they're just lazy. It's got to be one of the three. So what I found here is that maybe by giving them some incentive, you know, we'll get ball rolling. So in my practice, I'll give them. Let's say, if you write a review, you'll get 20% off your next purchase, or you'll get a free this or a cleaning cloth with a cleaning kit or with a case or whatever. We do that. We're not giving money away, we're giving some discounts, some goodies, you know stuff that you know it's worth their while.

Speaker 2: 7:49

Same thing with the books. What do I do with the books? So, first off, I've started this Facebook group and we have over 30,000 members in there. These are all authors and illustrators and we tried. I know that you're not supposed to swap reviews and all that, but we tried maybe two a month, three a month. Like you know, it's kind of under the radar, it's just one or two reviews a month or something like that. Even with that, it was impossible. I ended up basically giving reviews after review and not getting anything back. So that didn't work.

Speaker 2: 8:22

Authors are not good at giving reviews to other authors that's what I find, unless, I don't know, you buy their book or you talk to them for a while. I cannot talk to hundreds and hundreds of authors. You know, we have a job, have kids. It's hard to get chummy with them to get a review. So what the best thing to do is when I go and do my school visits or when I do my book readings, I give them goody days for a review before they actually, you know, purchased the book, or before they read the book, not after.

Speaker 2: 8:59

So when we had the pandemic, I even designed these face masks with Geraldine, which is the main character of my book, and all her friends on this face mask, and it cost me about $8 to make this each and I would just hand them out to you know please give me a review, and you know that and that actually helped. But that was when the pandemic happened. Post pandemic it just went down again because people were not wearing face masks anymore. I mean pins and stickers and you know autograph, you know pictures of original pictures of Geraldine. I mean copies of that or, or puzzles, or word searches, coloring, whatever you can think of pencils, cups, and that would just draw very few reviews as well. So you get them in the beginning a lot, and then it just fizzles out. So that's what I found with found with reviews.

Speaker 1: 9:59

Right and I'm going to answer a few of those things that you're bringing up. So, number one, you know as he does with his business. Of course you know, on those reviews, you can give things after as an incentive. You cannot do that with books. Amazon does not allow that and most retailers do not allow that. You have to give it to them in advance, whether or not they leave your review or not.

Speaker 1: 10:21

But on the other side, what he spoke about is about authors are not good about leaving reviews, which I find fascinating, because the more you review books, the more likely the readers of those books are going to look to you for good recommendations and then, when they realize you're also an author, they're going to be a devoted fan because you speak to something that they need to know about. So you know any authors out there that are listening that don't write reviews. Number one, shame on you. Number two, you're missing a very vital way to connect with your audience in a new and unique way, so do go leave those reviews. And also, number three you're setting an example for your fans If they see you leaving reviews, and there is nothing more attractive to a new author than an author who leaves reviews of books because they want to get on your list, they want to be reviewed by you. And for those readers out there who are listening, same thing applies. Authors are very attracted to people who regularly leave reviews. If you go on Goodreads, you go on Amazon, and you see somebody who regularly leaves reviews, especially in a particular genre, trust me, those authors are going to start reaching out to you, going would you love a free copy of my book for a review? You know how about? I send you a t-shirt with that free book, and so you know reviews are cyclical. You have to be able to get. And thirdly, I think part of the reason that most readers forget or not necessarily forget, but just don't do it is because they feel like it's a complicated process Most of the time.

Speaker 1: 12:14

If you purchased a book, if you're reading it through your Kindle app or something like that, it will take you directly back. Usually, at the end of the book, you can go directly back and leave a review. If not, you can go to your Amazon account and look at your orders, especially your digital orders, go back to the receipt and it has a writer review button there. If that doesn't work for you, then you can always go back to where you purchased the book. Just look up the book listing by its title or author name and you can leave a review there as well. And here's the thing if you can't figure it out, I guarantee you can reach out to that author and say, hey, I wrote this review. I just couldn't figure out how to put it up there for you. They will love you for it and they will find a home for it for you. So don't hesitate.

Speaker 1: 13:01

Leave a review good, bad or indifferent, as he said. Some people think Well, I didn't particularly like the book, I don't want to leave a review. I'm going to say something about that right now. When I go to buy books or when I go to buy anything, I look at the good reviews and I look at the bad reviews and I look at the in between reviews, because sometimes the bad reviews tell me something important so that I can make a decision whether that bothers me or not, whether that interests me or not, and sometimes that's more valuable than all the glowing reports and reviews in the world. So don't hesitate if you feel like there's something that needed to be pointed out or something that needed to be mentioned On the other side of that, there's no need to be vicious or cruel.

Speaker 1: 13:50

When you're leaving a review. There's always a nice way to say it, so I don't want to get too deep in the weeds with this. As I said, we've been focusing entire season two here on reviews. If there's any more information that you would like to know about reviews, please reach out to us at info at thewritersperissuecom, or you can leave us a comment in the comment section wherever you're listening or watching the podcast episode. Also, go out and go back and check all the episodes for season two. Trust me, we covered a lot of topics about reviews, about getting reviews, what to do with reviews, the different kinds of reviews all of that for you in this season two.

Speaker 1: 14:33

So let's go ahead and get on with the show. Of course we want to welcome Saul. It's Saul Regwan. We are talking to him. He's an award-winning children's author, a father, optometrist and frame and jewelry designer. We're going to be talking to him about book three from his Gizmo Girl series Geraldine and the anti-bullying shield. Book one is Geraldine and the most spectacular science project. Book two is Geraldine and the space bees. Book four is Geraldine and the rainbow machine. He also has a Gizmo Girl four book collection available on Amazon. He also has a book out called Dylan and his magical robot. He has the Adventures of Pugly Bear in his newest book, which we're going to talk to him about next time when he comes back. He's going to show you those covers in just a second. I could be Josephine and the Steam toddler dreamers, which is a board book.

Speaker 1: 15:31

Saul Regwan is the author of the Gizmo Girl series featuring a feisty second grader named Geraldine, and has authored two other successful children's books. He has been featured on the cover of Story Monsters Inc magazine and was his finalist for the Forward Indie Award. Each of his stories teaches children a valuable lesson or moral. You can find him on Instagram at soulregwan. I am saying that right author. So welcome to the writers. Parachute Saul, how are you today?

Speaker 2: 16:07

I am great, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 16:10

Wow, what introduction, oh you're very, you're very well. Well, you and I have known each other for a while. We passed books back and forth, we've done reviews for each, you know, for each other's books, and I just love your Gizmo Girl series. I love Geraldine. She is such a precocious little second grader and some of the ideas she comes up with I often stop and think, hmm, I wonder what he was thinking when he decided to write this book. So it always gives me pause and I really do like it. So this third book in the series of four is Geraldine and the anti-bullying shield, which I have it here behind me, and it focuses on bullying and teamwork and I know why. But I want to hear what you have to say about why these are important topics to talk to children about.

Speaker 2: 17:07

Well, it's funny. So, like Donna said, there are four Gizmo Girl books in the series. I do a lot of school readings and I go to you know, first grade, second grade, up to fifth grade. 90% of the time. I always give them a choice and I introduce the four books and I ask them, which of these four would you like me to read to you? Because I read it in their class or in their library. 90% will choose this one, which is Geraldine and the anti-bullying shield, and at first I didn't understand. What is it about this book? What about? The other ones are really, you know, very adventurous, but they love this book and there is a huge, huge bullying problem until now.

Speaker 2: 17:49

It's always been there and still goes on today, and I think it's getting even more prevalent now. There's a lot of bullying problems in schools, especially middle schools, elementary schools, I mean. There's a lot of bullying. My kids I have three little kids all in elementary school. There hasn't been one kid from the three that has not gone through some sort of a bullying incident, so they can relate to this. It's a very, very, very needed topic of how we can prevent this, what we can do to teach our kids.

Speaker 2: 18:18

The first thing I did was I signed up all my kids in karate. That's the first thing I did and I wanted them, and in the beginning they were excited and then, once they got their yellow belt, which is a second degree after the white belt, they said okay, that's enough. Then no, no, you're going all the way. So I had to push them because I don't know what's going to happen in middle school or high school. You know, you hear all these stories and I want them to be armed and prepared. You know, not just about fighting or self-defense, it's also a mental thing. Here too, karate gives them that, that edge, that that you know, that, that strength and that discipline that they need. So I'm so for that. But I wrote this book because my kids being in elementary school and all going through bullying stuff like that, and I've and I kept hearing stories and it would just turn my insides upside down when I heard these things. You just want to strangle these kids that do this to your kids. So I wrote this book.

Speaker 2: 19:17

But I wanted to do something. Geraldine, basically, is a character that thinks outside the box. So this was something, and every book she has and she creates some sort of a solution through her gadgets and gizmos. So I was thinking how can I solve a bullying problem in her school and have it work through her gadgets and gizmos? This was not easy to write, but I came up with the idea.

Speaker 2: 19:44

My mom, basically when I was a kid, told me and when I would act up, you know I would go crazy or a hyper or ADD or whatever She'd say just look in the mirror, look at yourself for one second, look at you, look how you're behaving, and then, if you take a second and you're, let's say, you're raged and you're acting, you're just going crazy in your hyper and you take a good look in the mirror for just two seconds. Something happens there, something clicks, you know something's not right. That's how I got the idea for the anti-bullying shield. So this book over here had a lot of components of my childhood and you know, outside the box and STEM it's all STEM related. So you have to put incorporate all that together and that's how I came up with this book and this is the most read book that for me when I go to schools.

Speaker 1: 20:33

Right and I do love that. You know, and it's like, and what I do love about this book is because you use the reflection of the bully. I'm trying not to give away the whole story, but you're using the reflection of the bully to let them teach themselves the lesson of what it is they're doing. And I think I find that a lot of times in going to schools and seeing this bullying activity, a lot of it is a replication or a duplication of either an older sibling or a family member that is acting inappropriately and they're replicating that behavior, not understanding what is going on. And oftentimes, you know, I've gone into schools and talked to them and you know I do this one talk about. You know, are you the bully? And because we talk about different things, about what kids don't often consider bullying, like when they're excluding somebody, you know, when a new student comes into a class and they don't welcome them, that's a form of bullying. You know, when they won't let them sit with them in, you know, in the cafeteria or play with them on the playground, those are forms of bullying. And you know the ones we normally identify are more escalated forms of bullying. But I think we have to look at the root of it and again, I think you're right. If they see themselves behaving that way, I think it teaches them the lesson faster and deeper than all of the words and activities that we could do otherwise, and I think that was the brilliant part of your book.

Speaker 1: 22:17

This Gizmo Girl series does introduce STEM and STEAM subjects. Those are specifically science, art, engineering, technology, with a little bit of math thrown in. Don't want to scare the people away, but there is a little bit of math thrown in. But you know, that's kind of the Gizmo Girl series is. Geraldine is kind of an inventor. Again, she's thinking outside the box. So I want to know what kind of, or why do we think that these kind of critical subjects are going to be shaping the world in the future and why it's so important that we include them in children's books?

Speaker 2: 22:54

Well, I mean, it starts at an early age, whenever you hear stories of well, this is a whole different subject. But when you hear about transgendered in schools, and if a parent has a right to know, is it a good thing for a parent to know? Is it a dangerous thing? If a parent knows, maybe the kid becomes more depressed or suicidal, or so you hear all this and it's starting at a very, very young age.

Speaker 1: 23:22

I mean I used to think.

Speaker 2: 23:24

Probably in junior high or high, not anymore. It happens in elementary schools. Elementary schools, it happens in third grade, fourth grade, so you got to start now. And third graders or second graders, they read books or they're exposed to books through school. So these top. You know I wrote the Pugly Bear Home, sweet Home. That's my first book. That's a cookie cutter, cute little bear that ran away from home. They don't read that anymore. It's got to be now things that are very, very something that affects their life, something social and mental, anything that affects them, that they want to know about. So this is why I'm gearing towards. You know, my fourth book is generally in the Rainbow Machine and that has to do with diversity and kindness. That you know. We need a lot more kindness in this world today. And if we start with our young ones, hopefully, you know we start, you know spraying the seeds from then and having them, you know, grow and pass it on versus. I think it's too late to spread this to someone in high school or, you know, we got to start younger.

Speaker 1: 24:33

Right.

Speaker 2: 24:34

And.

Speaker 1: 24:34

I agree with you, and I think part of it is that they're exposed to more things than we were at that young age. But also, if you think about it, usually when they hit about second, third or fourth grade is when they're figuring out that they are separate from their parents and their siblings. They are a separate entity and they have to figure out who that person is going to be. You know, are they going to be a nice person, are they going to be an aggressive person? Or they, you know, are they going to be studious or are they going to be, you know, more of an athlete? Those sorts of decisions are crossing their mind on an hourly, daily basis, and so a lot of these topics and subjects do come up, and a lot of times it's just in a question or a quest for information. And I do like that. You are bringing forward the science that are at the engineering, the technology and the math, because these are critical to everyone. Going forward.

Speaker 1: 25:36

It's like there is no part of our lives that steam doesn't affect. You know, we're all using computers, which, what is that? Science, technology, math, little bit of art, because it's all visual, you know, and we also have some engineering, because then you're going to figure out how to work everything and how to make it work. So all of those things are involved in our daily lives as they were not before, and I think it's important to not only give them introductions to those things but, as you're doing with your series, you're giving them usable ideas for those topics and those subjects, how to pull them together, as with Geraldine in this particular book, where you know she sees a problem, she applies her skills and steam to create a solution, to invent something to solve the problem, which, again, problem solving is an important task for kids of this age. So now the main character we talked about her a little bit is Geraldine, and she's kind of a precocious, as I said, second grader. I don't know who inspired you to create Geraldine.

Speaker 2: 26:52

So Geraldine did not start out. When I wrote Geraldine, it didn't start off as a second grader, it actually started off as a penguin. When I had my kids were, I think, two years old or three years old, something like that I went into a clothing store. I was going to buy them something to wear. It was some kids' birthday we're going to go to. I walked in there and the entire store it was like a boutique was black and white. So they either sold white shirts or black pants, or there was no blue, or it was just a black and white boutique. And all the way in the very top I see this little doll of a penguin that's also in black and white. I felt like I walked into a scene of I don't know bonanza, when it was in black and white, it was just all from the 50s. I saw that penguin. The first thing I did was I looked at that penguin and I said that's Geraldine.

Speaker 1: 27:44

I don't know what.

Speaker 2: 27:45

I never, ever in my life, met a Geraldine. I never came across a Geraldine I never. I don't know how Geraldine came, but I looked at the penguin and that was the name and I asked the owner there can I please buy this penguin? And she said no, this is just for decoration, we don't sell this. And after a lot of persuasion and money he actually let me and I went home I didn't buy the clothes, by the way.

Speaker 2: 28:09

I went home and I wrote as much as I could and I wrote an entire story about this penguin who's such a troublemaker and that the penguins parents sent him to boarding school in Switzerland and I said I'm going to edit this and I'm going to submit it to the publisher. And I did and I got tons just rejections all over the place, rejection. And after so many rejections I finally decided maybe it shouldn't be a penguin. I'm going to change it into what my daughter is. I got inspired by my daughter. Her name is Olivia and it was funny Olivia's in second grade, so I wrote it after her. I made it into a second grade student who's a leader and she's feisty and she likes to invent things. She's a scientist, all that stuff and then it clicked because the stem and the steam thing I could link it with that.

Speaker 2: 29:01

And my publisher, schiffer Kids Publishing, loved that concept and right away I signed a four book deal with them and that was just amazing. So so I got inspired first by a boutique that I saw, a doll, and then by my daughter, olivia. I actually wanted to change the name to Olivia when I went, but then there's such a famous there's that famous pig book, olivia, you know, do that. So I just kept it at Geraldine, and I'm so happy I left it at Geraldine because I get, after writing this book, I get tons of women by the name of Geraldine writing me. Oh my God, I can't believe there's finally my names in Now. I know about 30 Geraldines.

Speaker 1: 29:43

There you go I know some Geraldines.

Speaker 2: 29:45

That's crazy, I didn't even know one.

Speaker 1: 29:47

Connecting the world through Geraldines. I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it. So in the series, geraldine invents solutions for her classmates. So I want to know how kids can connect with that message. What is it that you want them to take from Geraldine? Being able to solve the problem?

Speaker 2: 30:07

Well, kids like to also be entertained. Geraldine is very entertaining. She does things in a funny way. She speaks their language. She's not, doesn't watch what she says. You know, if something comes to her mind she'll just, you know, shout it out, sometimes not the best way. The teacher kind of tells her to relax a little bit, but she, you know she, when she gets excited and she has an idea, it just comes out. So she's not shy.

Speaker 2: 30:32

Kids can gravitate, they really relate to her and the way she solves because every book has a problem and there's a solution and the way, the way she solves it is not something that you would normally think of. You know, with bullying, let's say, you know, I used to think the best thing to do is just teach my kids how to fight and then if someone's touching them or hitting them, hit them back until they, you know, they, they, they give up and then they're not going to, there's not going to be any bullying. That's not the way to do this anymore. You got to think outside the box, you got to be smarter than them. You got to, you know, be ahead, all that. So that's the kids when they see, when they see that they see that sorry they see that that.

Speaker 2: 31:16

how is she going to get out of this problem? That's what keeps their minds pretty curious. They want to know, yeah.

Speaker 1: 31:24

Right. Well, and I like the idea, because what Geraldine does in effect in all these books is she's teaching them that even though they're only second graders and they're only at this, you know, seven or eight year olds they still have the ability, they have the reasoning skills to make a difference. And that's what I do love about the books it is teaching them that, you know, all is not lost. They don't need to go to the adults, they don't need to go to the teachers, they have the ability to solve their own problems, which I think is so valuable and, you know, especially for kids in their growth. It's like once they realize they have the skills and the tools to solve problems, then they flourish. They aren't dependent upon other people to solve their problems for them, which I so appreciate.

Speaker 1: 32:20

So I know that you've written so many books here, so I know this is going to be an interesting answer. So I want to know what has been the biggest obstacle or challenge that you've met in writing your books or the book series, and of those, what was the one that surprised you the most?

Speaker 2: 32:39

So let's see. Getting back to Geraldine, actually, the biggest obstacle right now in writing a book, and writing children's books, is what I'm going through right now actually.

Speaker 2: 32:49

So, I'm writing a. I don't think it's, it hasn't been done to this degree, but I'm actually writing a children's book on the Holocaust and it's going to be called Yellow Stars and it is the toughest book I've ever had to write in my entire life. It is tough. Try to explain the Holocaust to a six year old or seven year old. It's not easy but it's necessary. You know it's very necessary to because I try to research this.

Speaker 2: 33:21

There isn't a single children's book on the Holocaust. There is maybe. You know there's Anne Frank. There is a character that was in the Holocaust that you know. You'll hear about their story but not the actual event, what happened, the history of it, all that to a child.

Speaker 2: 33:37

So that's an obstacle by itself and you have to be absolutely correct and you cannot cause nightmares for kids. You know, because you don't want. You know parents are not going to. You know, read them this book, but you want to educate them. So that's a huge obstacle by itself. The majority in the obstacle that I had is you're always trying to up one. So every book that I come up with, the problem is easy. The problem is a big. There's so many problems, but the solution to a seven year old or six year old outside the box that they can relate, that they can do at home. That's the challenge, right? So the solution is tough. I always have the problem, but the solution takes a while for me to do that and has to be solved with whatever they have in their house. I don't want them to go and buy stuff. It's everything that you have in your house that you can go ahead and solve a major problem, whether it's environmental, social, anything.

Speaker 1: 34:35

Yeah, I know, I remember when we talked about your first book and Geraldine took a part a toaster and a pair of glasses and I'm thinking he's like I would not want to be the mother that comes in and finds her toaster and her glasses taken apart, but you do love the story because she is ingenious and inventive and also recycling. So I do love that about her, and I think that that is the tipping point for great children's books is figuring out that the books need to speak to the children. They don't need to speak to the adults who may be reading them to children. They need to speak to the children directly.

Speaker 1: 35:18

And I think this is part of what you're struggling with with this new book is how do you relate that information that a child is going to understand? And this is where I think there's sometimes a disconnect, where people think that children's books are easy because they're simple ideas, and I try to correct them. I'm like no, they're complicated ideas, simplified, which is an entirely different thing and a much, much harder to do. So I wish you the best of luck and going forward with that, so even you could talk to your younger self and go all the way back before you started this journey. What advice do you think you would give yourself today?

Speaker 2: 36:02

I wish I started this earlier, because I absolutely love writing. It was, I guess I discovered writing at age 44. And I always thought that, oh my God, I'm probably too old to write children's books at 44. Who writes, you know? Only not the case. It's because my kids, I was inspired and you get ideas and it's something that's inside you, that something brings it out, and in my case it was me reading my kids' books every single night, two, three books a night, seven days a week, and you get these ideas. So I tell my younger self to basically like these topics, that I wish I had these topics a little bit sooner than what I wrote now, so I'd be a little bit ahead of my time.

Speaker 2: 36:48

But, I'm glad I started it and I see that I love doing this and that's what keeps me going. So I would just tell myself, you know why don't you start younger? Why did you wait till 44? But that's about it.

Speaker 1: 37:01

Well, yeah, I know we all have that conversation with ourselves. But on the other side, conversely, you know sometimes that maturity has to develop before you can kind of separate the forest from the trees and see the actual solution to the problem. So you know that's, you know. But at any age, writing is a wonderful journey. I didn't publish my first book until I was in my 50s, even though I've been writing since I was like four or five years old, you know. But I just you know. It wasn't that I had a problem writing or coming up with the ideas. I just never thought anybody cared to read it.

Speaker 2: 37:39

So you know, I've read your books. Your books are great. Yeah, I appreciate that, thank you.

Speaker 1: 37:50

Well, I love doing it and it's like I said, I have no problem with my imagination. It kind of goes bananas and people ask me how I come up with the crazy ideas, and it's like, well, it just happened that way, you know. It's like create a character and let them run wild, you know. So that's kind of the way I approach it. So I want to know what it is that you wish that you had known, or that somebody had told you or shared with you before you started.

Speaker 2: 38:21

So I went through all of these trials and tribulations with basically finding out what's the best way for me to get my books out, and I started with hybrid publishing, which is a big mistake, but it was a learning experience. You know, a lot of money shelled out return on that. And then I went to self publishing, which was money wise. That was great. But it wasn't what I was looking for as far as quality of the book and distribution and all that. I had to do a lot of the stuff by myself. And then when I got to traditional publishing, which is what I'm doing now, it's a small. I'm very, very happy with shift for publishing. I mean, I've been with them for years and they're the ones that publish all the Geraldine books and they help out with distribution and all that, and so that's great. So I wish I just went straight to traditional publishing and bypassed the other two, but it took me the other two to learn what works and what doesn't work. So I mean I can't be upset with that. And when that leads me to try to you know, I'm looking now for an agent, a literature, to kind of help me, you know, with getting to the top five publishers like Simon and Schuster and Random House and Penguin and all that and that's. That's a whole world by itself. Not easy, but you know it takes time and perseverance to do that. So yeah, I mean I wish I bypass a lot of the stuff that I know now. I mean I know so much now about the publishing.

Speaker 2: 39:54

It's not about I used to think it's. If you. It's about the art and writing, it's great, but it's not about that. It's about how many books can you sell. The publishers look at that, agents look at that.

Speaker 2: 40:06

It's all about the money and how much. You know. How much potential does this have for a second book in the series? And could this be made into a movie? Can how much more? I mean you know merchandise and all that stuff. It's about how much money can you make with your book and it kind of takes away the art and the love of writing and all that. And I'm spending now most of my time marketing and publicizing the books and all that and less writing, which I wish it was the opposite. That's why I want an agent Once you're in the big five, even though you do have to promote, you don't have to promote as much as if you're not with them, and then you can continue with your writing and it can be a career. You know you can just write, write, write and you, just you know the advances come and then, hopefully, you know you can just focus on the art and then let them worry about the marketing.

Speaker 1: 40:58

Well, I have a follow up question to that, because I find that a lot of times you kind of have to go through these smaller presses and the self publishing and the hybrid publishing to build up your own catalog of books good, bad somewhere in there, to be able to even be attractive to one of the top five or to one of the literary agents.

Speaker 1: 41:21

Because I hear this a lot of times with new authors, especially with children's books, they're like well, you know, I've been querying my children's book, it's great, everybody says it's amazing, and I can't find an agent, I can't find a publisher, and I'm like well, how about if you write three books and go back and see if you get them to buy it? Because a lot of times children's books are very, very short and so it doesn't give them enough breath and width of your writing to see whether this is a one off or if you have more books in you or if there's more to develop here, as you said, into a series or multiple series and merchandising and things of that nature. So it is difficult, but I do find that the more books I write and the more books I publish, the more opportunities I have, because again, it makes me an established commodity.

Speaker 2: 42:10

Well, yes and no. My biggest advice to authors actually is okay, I know you love writing and I know it starts with the love of expressing yourself and the ideas and all of that, but you have to be realistic. The publishing I mean book writing and all that is a business. It's just a business, basically, and the thing that I want my author's friends to get out of this is don't write something that you feel that you. You got to research. What's what's selling? What topics sell out there? What's what's the hot trends? What do people relate to? What's what's in?

Speaker 2: 42:50

The look at the big five, what, what are the? There has to be some common thread between these books and then model yourselves after that With your own of your own ideas, your own crafts and all that. But you have to, you have to Think of it as a business. And what will attract, what will make this book sale? So that's the most important thing, which I wish it was. That's the most dumbest thing in my book, but that is the most important thing. That's what agents will tell you publishers, acquisition, editor, they will all say the same thing will this book sell? That's all they care.

Speaker 1: 43:25

They don't care about what it has to be like a product. You know it has to serve a need. There has to be a need for that subject, that topic, that story. You know the same way. You know it's like you know we talk about. You know independent films and you know independent Shows and stuff like that and they're generally not very good because the audience is so Narrow that it doesn't justify the cost involved. And this is a lot of times what you see With these books that you're talking about, that don't fit in with the you know, the agents and the Traditional publishers, is because they don't. They don't speak to enough people, they don't feel a need for enough people to make them saleable. So I want to go ahead and move on here a little bit and I want to know what keeps you motivated.

Speaker 2: 44:17

Oh, I love, I love, love, love writing. I I'll never not love writing. I love writing. I love my expressing ideas. I have so many ideas. They're just floating around and I and they have to come out. They need to come out. Such an imagination and I love to express myself, so it keeps me going on. And to see, when I go to schools and I read my books over there, to see their eyes just open and Like, oh, my god, this guy wrote Geraldine. Wow, he's the guy that role, joe. They just love Geraldine. It keeps me going. The love of my books is what keeps me going. Love of children's the children love my books. That's what keeps me going and I just can't get enough of it. It's like a drug. So you just want to give them more and more and more and that's, and I just I think it's infinite.

Speaker 1: 45:06

Right, I always feel like you know your job as a children's author is to bring forward the interesting thoughts and questions that spark conversation.

Speaker 2: 45:18

That's right and that's what it does it. It opens up a discussion With with author, with their parents, with their, with their counselors, and if I see that it's it's affecting their life, there's affecting, that's all I care about. That's the main, most important thing. It's giving them something, a tool.

Speaker 1: 45:37

It brings forward those things that they really need somebody to kind of start the conversation, and that's what children's books are they're just starting the conversation. So here on season 2, as we've talked about, we have been focusing on reviews. So I'm gonna put you on the spot and ask you to give us a review of Geraldine in the anti-bullying shield.

Speaker 2: 45:59

A Must read for any kid who likes to think outside the box, who has a wild imagination, who wants to learn something, who wants to experience something that they've never seen before. Highly recommend the gizmo girl series, geraldine. All four books, by the way, all in a box. I sound like a commercial here, but all in a box set, so you can get all four and one. You have to just get them individually and if you forget the names of which books, you can get all four and one. But a must read for any child in elementary school who wants to expand the horizons.

Speaker 1: 46:36

Absolutely wonderful. Five stars, see, and the reason we're putting our guests on the spot here on season 2 is we want you, the listeners and the audience to understand how simple it is. And if you think it's simple to review your own book that you've put your blood, sweat and tears into, I tell you it's not. It's like trying to review your child. It's very difficult, but they all sail through with flying colors and they're able to do it, which is why we're doing it to show you that it is something that can be done. It is simple, is based on your opinion about what you think or what you read in the book. So next time you pick up a copy of gizmo girl series or any of Sol's books or any books from any author, be sure to go back and leave a review again. It can be as simple as I like this book or I recommend this book for someone else, so thank you for that. We also know that you have more books coming up, and can you talk to us just a little bit about what's coming up?

Speaker 2: 47:38

So we have a spin-off to Geraldine, basically called Josephine. This is a Toddler Boardbook series. This is the first of the series. It's Joseph Josephine I could be, and it's about her Wanting to know what could I be when I grow up and she goes through all the different careers and what's relevant in her life. If she sees something you know, she sees plans oh, I could be a botanist. So she sees stars I could be an astronaut. So it's really cool and it's for a younger group, ages zero to four, and it's just a spin-off to Geraldine on the second book Hopefully will come out in 2024 and has to do with recycling, environmental. So this is for a younger Board, a younger audience.

Speaker 1: 48:23

Okay, yeah, great. So we'll have links to all of the books in all of Sol's books and where you can go and purchase those. As he said I could be, josephine and the steam toddler dreamers will is already out now. The second book coming out in 2024, are we gonna see Geraldine again?

Speaker 2: 48:43

The fifth book of Geraldine, I can. I can announce the title. I'm not to talk Geraldine and the green machine and it has to do with recycling.

Speaker 1: 48:54

All right, awesome. Well, we'll look forward to that. Is that coming in 2024, or we're not sure yet?

Speaker 2: 49:00

You don't know either 2024, 2025. We still don't know yet. All right, All right.

Speaker 1: 49:05

Well, we'll definitely have to have you come back when those two books are out and available. I know that you are in schools and talking to teachers and groups, so if anyone in the audience would like to reach out to you for that, where would they do that?

Speaker 2: 49:19

Best thing is Instagram, so. I'll write one author. Okay, so on this room, you know I have a. I have a Talk following as well. Actually, you can see I'm wearing the shirt. It's called an. I think we can all relate to the. Yeah, so if you contact me through that, but Instagram is the best, I would probably say Instagram.

Speaker 1: 49:42

All right, well, we'll have that in the show notes for you. And where can they purchase your books for the gizmo girl series and the other books that we listed here?

Speaker 2: 49:52

Everywhere Barnes and Noble Amazon, they're every. I've seen it everywhere. So any, any, all the websites, obviously Target comm and you can find them everywhere.

Speaker 1: 50:03

Okay, so anywhere books are sold, so we'll go ahead and link you to the most popular ones. And you said you're on social media, on Instagram, any other platforms that they can reach out and follow you on?

Speaker 2: 50:13

Take talk.

Speaker 1: 50:15

Okay, yeah, talk. You're not on Facebook, or?

Speaker 2: 50:18

Of course I'm on Facebook. I forgot about Facebook.

Speaker 1: 50:20

Yes, All right, again, we'll go ahead and link you to all of those in the show notes. Do you have any upcoming events, giveaways, blogs, newsletters or any sign-ups that you would like to share with the audience before we go?

Speaker 2: 50:36

Not this year, but I will have it next year for sure, because this year well, this year is almost over, but next year I'm gonna have a lot coming up.

Speaker 1: 50:43

Okay, all right. Well, again, we thank you for being here. Was there anything else that you wanted to include before we go do our tip of the week?

Speaker 2: 50:52

Keep reading, keep my foot the author of my author. Friends, keep writing, keep, keep. You know expressing yourselves and think of the your book as a business. You know and never, ever give up. Even you have to build a thick skin with this industry here. No matter how many rejections, it means nothing. You get to continue, continue until you'll get that one acceptance, and that's all it takes.

Speaker 1: 51:14

Right, all right. Well, thank you, saul. So of course we're gonna jump over and do our tip of the week. So our tip of the week. We talked a little bit about this in the green room with with Saul and he wanted it to be the tip about Quering and getting agents.

Speaker 1: 51:28

Querying is something very complicated and complex it's. You know, there are so many different ways to do that I would say the the most Profitable one, or the the most common one that I see is searching for either agents or publishers who, specifically, are looking for the type and style of book that you've written. And then, of course, you're going to be Quering them through letters with you know you can look on their websites. They'll have submission guidelines. They're always different. Be aware, sometimes they will trip you up in submission guidelines to see if you're paying attention or if you're just mass querying. So always go over those submission guidelines. Make sure you're following them to AT. It is a test. So, and if you are not finding a publisher, then again, like Saul, he's looking for a literary agent or agents who will help him get to some of the larger publishers. So again, there are many, many lists out there. Make sure that you are tracking those. When you're sending that out, what you're sending it out, any Kind of response you're getting, whether they're wanting you to do some changes or talk to you about other Books that you might have in your list or something of that. Make sure you are tracking all of those things, but also make sure that you are taking your time and doing good work. This is the one time that you have to do your best work To get in front of an agent or a traditional publisher, so you do not want to rush this. You want to make sure that you are giving you your best work. Make sure the query letter is well done and make sure your bio is well done. Make sure your proposal and your Query information is all correct. It is not the time when you want to rush to get it out. This is something that you want to take your time with. Again, it is your one chance in front of them and you don't want to blow that, so make sure that you're putting your best foot forward.

Speaker 1: 53:34

I want to thank Saul for being with us. I know he had to go. He is at work, so we were glad that he was able to join us today and we want to make sure that you guys come back week after week and visit with us. We are here at the end of season two, but we will be back for season three in 2024. We hope that you stick with us and bring your friends. As always, I'm so thankful to be the host here at the writers parachute, guiding author and writer dreams to a perfect landing, and we hope that you find this a safe and creative space for your dreams to land well, too. Until next time. Thank you very much. We'll see you again. Bye.