Hello readers! Although I had a blast being part of The Author’s in Bloom Blog Hop (winner announced here), I missed my almost daily blogging. We are back now with a special visitor, a new author friend of mine, Sheri Fink. Remember a few weeks ago I told you that I like to surround myself with people who have a positive vibe? Sheri is one of those people! She has a ton of energy to make a difference and I am sure she is out there inspring others through her children’s book and newest ereader. Today, Sheri will begin by telling you how she got started. For those of you who want to know MORE about becoming a best-selling children’s author, come back tomorrow for details on getting published, marketing and even more!
Hi, I’m Sheri Fink, the author of the #1 best-selling children’s books, The Little Rose and The Little Gnome. I write books that inspire and delight children while planting seeds of self-esteem that can have lifelong benefit. I am so happy and grateful to be living my dream!
Up until a few years ago, I was a Marketing Executive who enjoyed her job, but wasn’t feeling passionate and excited about it. My husband and I crafted a plan for me to leave Corporate America and I did it in July 2010. At the time, I wasn’t sure exactly what I’d be doing, I just knew that I needed to create massive space for a change in my life.
Then, I attended Jack Canfield’s Breakthrough to Success conference. Jack Canfield is best known as the co-creator of the wildly successful Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. I had read many of Jack’s other books and was delighted to learn directly from him at his 7-day conference. I came home full of new ideas and tools to enhance my life. I knew they would make a positive difference if I used them consistently.
Even though I’m very detail-oriented and motivated, I was having difficulty integrating his teachings into my daily life. So, I created a journal that consolidated everything onto one page per day and made it easy for me to take action, measure progress, and celebrate successes. Once I created it, my friends said that other people would benefit from using this powerful tool and so I published it as Dreams Come True: Your Daily Journal for Maximum Success & Well-Being. It was my first experience in self-publishing.
A few months later, I attended Jack’s Advanced Breakthrough to Success conference. He generously gave me the opportunity to share my story with the attendees and I sold out of my entire stock of journals.
One of the first people to buy the journal persistently asked me what else I had written and I reluctantly revealed that I had written a story about a little rose growing up in a weedbed who thinks that she’s the weed and learns to embrace her differences as gifts and to appreciate herself for the beautiful rose that she is. The woman said that she got goose bumps and that I HAD to do something with the story because her grandchildren needed that message. That’s when the light bulb went on for me and I thought maybe this can be a children’s book.
I was simultaneously excited and intimidated by the idea of publishing a children’s book. I had never done it before. I didn’t even know anyone who had. But, I felt so compelled to do it that I took action daily to make it a reality. My passion for the story and its message kids really enabled me to go for it.
Inspiration, Courage, and Determination
Sharing my writing was a very difficult thing for me. Up until then, I had only shared things that I had written that pertained to business, marketing, etc. The Little Rose was very personal to me because it poured from my heart at a time when I was really struggling. The idea for the story of The Little Rose came to me while I was driving to work one day. I was bawling because I didn’t want to go to the office. Although I was doing a great job and being consistently promoted, I had an embarrassing secret ¦ I was also being bullied by a person in my office.
I tried everything I could think of at the time to make it stop, but it just kept becoming worse. I was focusing on my job and doing the best I could while trying to minimize the big emotions I was feeling about the situation. That day in the car, I felt so desperate. I had given up the façade of knowing what to do. I just kept thinking ˜help me, I’ll try anything.’ The story downloaded to me so quickly. It was as if I wasn’t even writing it, I was just writing it down. I scrambled in the car to find any bits of paper I could to capture it. At stoplights, I wrote down as much as I could. It was a beautiful and surreal experience.
When I got home that night, I typed up the story, printed it out, and put it in a drawer. I didn’t even let my husband read it at the time. I learned a lot through my experience and realized that everyone has the right to shine brightly. It’s senseless to dim your light to blend in with the rest of the dim bulbs. It wasn’t until after the Advanced Breakthrough to Success conference years later that I unearthed it, read it again, and decided to share it with the world.
Initially, I was scared to tell my story. I worried what others would think of me. I’ve learned that the most important thing is to be your authentic self. Trust that others will get what they’re meant to get from their interactions with you. By telling my story, I give enable others to be brave and share theirs. And, I’ve found that almost everyone can relate to the experience. When I was honest about it, things really started happening for me and my book.
Come back tomorrow to learn more about writing children’s books. In the meantime, click on one of the links below to connect with Sheri online!
Where to Find Me Online
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/SheriFinkFan
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Sheri-Fink/e/B004T9ZJA4/
The Little Rose: http://www.TheLittleRoseBook.com
The Little Gnome: http://www.TheLittleGnome.com
The Whimsical World of Sheri Fink: http://www.SheriFink.com
Author Success Academy: http://www.AuthorSuccessAcademy.com
Dreams Come True Journal: http://www.DreamsComeTrueJournal.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Sheri_Fink