Read and Write with Natasha
This podcast discusses writing life, reviews books, and interviews authors and industry professionals.
Read and Write with Natasha
The Old-School Secret to Selling Books With Jean Alfieri
What if the secret to publishing success isn't TikTok or Instagram but good old-fashioned hustle and real-world connections?
In this episode, I chat with Jean Alfieri, author of the beloved Zuggy the Rescue Pug series and an advocate for shelter pets everywhere.
Jean’s journey into authorship began with one determined rescue pug and has blossomed into an impressive 11-book series (and counting!).
Jean's practical approach is a breath of fresh air, flipping conventional wisdom on its head. While many authors chase algorithms and digital ads, Jean packs auditoriums at school visits, often selling hundreds of books at once.
"Beer-drinking dog lovers are my people," she jokes, proving that knowing your audience—and meeting them face-to-face—can beat digital marketing every time.
Beyond book sales, Jean shares how her side hustle as a positivity coach helps fuel her creative career, offering listeners a realistic path toward sustainable, full-time creative work.
Her secret weapon?
A clear intention pinned to her fridge: "100,000 books sold, 100,000 pet parents inspired."
She reminds us all of the power of intentionality and the magic that happens when you leave space for your dreams.
Come hang out with us for this uplifting chat, where Jean Alfieri shares her down-to-earth tips for making the leap into full-time creative work, the surprising magic of connecting with readers in person, and why good old-fashioned hustle still beats algorithms every time.
****************************************************************************
➡️ P.S.: ☕ Love the show? Support it with a coffee!
If you enjoy the podcast and want to help keep it going, you can fuel it (and me!) with a cup of coffee at Buy Me a Coffee. Every sip counts—thank you! 💛
Yes, absolutely On my refrigerator. My paper says 100,000 books sold, 100,000 pet parents inspired. Because that's what I want to do. I want to inspire people and help them see how their lives are better with pets in them, and I believe we make that happen. If you leave the space for it, it will fill up with something. What do you want to fill it up with?
Speaker 2:Hi friends, this is Read and Write with Natasha podcast. My name is Natasha Tynes and I'm an author and a journalist. In this channel I talk about the writing life, review books and interview authors. Hope you enjoy the journey. Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of Read and Write with Natasha. I'm happy to have with me today author Jean Alfieri. I hope I pronounced your name right. It was beautifully done. Yes, thank you.
Speaker 2:So Jean's love for dogs began with her mischievous pug Zaghi, whose adventures inspired her first book. Her works, including Blessed to Be Me and Twisty and True Tales of a Shelter Dog Matchmaker, celebrate the special bond between people and their pets. A writer, speaker and advocate for rescue dogs, jean lives in Colorado with her husband and their beloved rescues. So, jean, welcome, so happy to hear from you and I'm so glad to talk to another dog lover. I love dogs and my dog is a rescue. She's sitting here right next to me. Her name is Fiona and Jean. Welcome to the podcast. So if, jean, you can start by telling me what inspired you to actually write a book about your love of dogs? What was the spark?
Speaker 1:Sure, and thank you for having me. I love your show, so it's just an honor to be on it, Thank you. I have to say I don't feel like I am a real typical creator, in that I love creating universes and worlds and things like that. I kind of live in my own and I like to share it, because there are a lot of blessings to be found if we just look, I believe and it's tough sometimes, especially as we move through different seasons in our lives that might be difficult, but if we truly look every day for those things that we can be thankful for. And that is when I compiled. So I have children's books and then I have Twisty and True Tales, which is a more it's a nonfiction, untraditional memoir, if you will about the work I do at the Humane Society and just the love I've found in people who work there, people who adopt dogs and just dog lovers in general and the dog stories. When you get that close and you get to work that closely with the animals, you get to see some fantastic things happen.
Speaker 2:So how did your love for dogs first begin? Was it like a childhood thing? It was a childhood thing.
Speaker 1:I begged and pleaded for a dog. I couldn't get one. My parents did not get me a dog until I was seven, but all the neighborhood dogs would come over because I would sneak treats. I would have my mom get dog treats at the store. So all the neighborhood dogs came over and finally they figured out if we're just going to have a house full of dogs anyway, we might as well get her one. So I got a dog and it's been that way ever since. I've just really enjoyed having that companionship, and so my stories just naturally flow. I had a very special pug that passed away in 2014. And when I lost him, my biggest concern was the memories. Right, how do you capture those memories? And so I journaled, and a year later, when I look back, they would still make me cry, but they made me laugh, and I'm like I think kids would get a kick out of this. And thus was born the series of Zoggy the Rescue Pug stories, because they were just too good not to share.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, okay, so you wrote the book, and then what was your publishing journey? Like Traditional self-published, so.
Speaker 1:I have gotten some works traditionally published in devotionals, and that was where I thought we could talk today about how do you get yourself out there as an author, right? What do you do? So? Traditionally published in different anthologies, devotionals, just short pieces like that, my own work in the children's books, are all indie published, and I started with creating coloring books because they're black and white and they're less expensive than the fully illustrated. But it gave me a sense of here's how the process worked, and so that was very helpful, because when you go traditional, you don't know what's happening behind the scenes. Right, they take it and they do their magic, and there it is. So I actually have enjoyed both and I will, as long as I can continue to do and contribute to other things as well.
Speaker 2:So did you do your own illustration as well.
Speaker 1:I did not. I have an illustrator. She is absolutely fantastic and she just totally makes the stories come to life. I wish I was that talented. She does a really nice job.
Speaker 2:Where did you find her? I mean, the reason I ask is because I hope you know this podcast can help aspiring authors too, because I always get asked these questions like how do I self publish, where do I find these people, how can I vet them, so, so where did you find your illustrator?
Speaker 1:I will tell you how I found my illustrator. I will also offer. It is very unusual how I found my illustrator, so there may be more typical routes to go. I started with Fiverr, um, so I went on Fiverr and asked for some illustration samples. There were people in my networking group so I belong to different authors groups and there are illustrators and authors and you can work with someone within that circle as well.
Speaker 1:I was very fortunate. I went hybrid publishing with my first book and the hybrid publisher I used I would get back my rights to my story in three years. So they took the story. They got me an illustrator. I was not allowed to meet that illustrator because it was through the company, but at the conclusion of my contract she reached out to me via Facebook I had just put up a Facebook page for the character, for my story's character and she said I really loved working on you and she said things you know that I knew it had to be her and so I reached out and I said hey, would you like to keep working together Because you did a fantastic job with us and we've been working together ever since. It's been seven years now, so I really got lucky. I got lucky, but there are other ways that you can go about finding somebody for sure.
Speaker 2:And you still, and you still work with her. So every week I put out a chapter which is a new experiment. So I'm all for it. I think the issue that many authors face is that they have to put a lot of money in advance out of their pocket and, you know, you have the image of the starving artist, whatever and the idea of, like you know, paying thousands of dollars in advance can be daunting for some, especially if they're starting. So the traditional route is really hard. The self-publishing route is really expensive. What is the solution?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a great point and that is the question, right, what is the solution? So I look, I look at this for myself as a serious side business, right, it is. I'm not in it to lose money. Um, I am. I am in it to make money when possible. I will tell you, I, I I am happy at the point that I break even, but I want to do better. I'm still striving to do better than that, but I have to balance it too, right, because illustrations are an expense. If I didn't have that, it would be something else. So, what is your budget? And there are many things you can do with that budget.
Speaker 1:I recently was studying up on Amazon ads and what I've always heard is, even if you have a Facebook following, don't put ads on Facebook, because people aren't there to shop. People are on Amazon to shop, which makes sense to me. But how do you reach that audience? And that's very important too. So I don't want to segue, because the question was the money. Right, it's an expense, and I believe that you have to put money forward in order to make money. If you're going to be noticed, right, you're going to have to get yourself out there and that is very daunting because you expect you're going to put a book up and everybody will come by it and poof, you're famous, right? But that isn't how it works. It's really consistency, Natasha, and I believe you'll agree with me on this.
Speaker 1:Are you being exposed to things? Are you learning new things? Are you trying new things? This Amazon thing, I'm going to try, but I haven't felt like I've gotten my head around it well enough yet to be willing to. And where am I budgeting my focus next year? Where am I going to go with that? I will offer there's a lot of things you can do that are less expensive. Where am I going to go with that? I will offer? There's a lot of things you can do that are less expensive, right? How do you get noticed?
Speaker 1:There is a local bookstore that's carrying my book right now, and they are part of a coffee and wine bar that, on Tuesday nights, has an open mic. People come and read. They read poetry, they read prose. Guess what I go and read? I read my book because it's being sold there, right? And so I do the little promo and say, hey, this is an excerpt from my book If you like it. It's right across the room, so look for those things in your community. Start small, because there are things you can do more inexpensively that will still get you exposure that you need in order to gain a following.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, interesting. So, okay, I'm going to play the devil's advocates here and talk about the sustainability of being a self-published author. And you know, we all have these like voices in our head that tell us no, you know, you can't make it. It's, it's really hard, it's like a pyramid scheme. Whatever people, whatever these voices in your head right tell you.
Speaker 2:But and I I've spoken with a number of authors um, and some of them say, yeah, it's, it's feasible, I can make a living, just, uh, off being a self-published author. And others tell me if, if you're in the business of writing, you have to expect not to make any money and you're just doing it for the love of writing. If you really wanted to make money, you should have been like working on wall street or something like you're. You're in the wrong, you're in the wrong. So, and I think my question is is kind of standard lifestyle, you know, paying your bills, maybe saving up for vacation, putting your kids in college I I'm not talking about buying an island or whatever. Yeah, so do you think it is feasible? Or do you think people are selling others kind of fake dreams by telling them you can actually make it on your own as a self-published author?
Speaker 1:I believe it depends on where you started. So the answer is yes to both of those things. If this has been your calling throughout your life and you are in a position to be writing pieces for people that they'll pay for you whether a magazine, newspaper you know there are there is a very viable way to go, um, that will allow you. Now, having said that, is it always what you want to write? I have a friend who's you know writing for a living and I got to tell you it's painful for her. She's like I want to write my stuff and I'm like, okay, well, there's the rub, right, you want to write. There are people who are willing to pay you to do that, but the subject may not be what you're most interested in. So, yes, you absolutely can If you're willing. I won't even say it's a sacrifice if you're willing to dedicate yourself to that, because it only makes you better.
Speaker 1:I look at writing as a muscle. If you don't use it, it isn't going to happen. But if you go over and pick up that barbell every day and do three curls, your muscle is going to get bigger. You can't help, but it get better. And so if you are dedicated to writing, you're going to get better. People are going to notice that. They're going to want your thing, and you have to put yourself out there, not only to dedicating to doing it however frequently you can, but to attending classes, trainings. Stay current, learn these things that are going to make you better, if that's truly what you want to do.
Speaker 2:What was your best marketing effort that worked, or like the highest ROI that you got from whether your time or money invested? What would your advice be?
Speaker 1:Easily. For me it's schools, and I've talked to other children's authors who have a better in, if you will, to get into schools. I haven't done it and I'm like you're there every day. Go introduce yourself, explain to them what it is. You want to do A nice author visit? So for me, on Amazon, I don't sell a lot, but when I can get into a school in front of kids and I talk about the work I do at the Humane Society and the books and we do a little reading, they're all over it. I send them home with that little note that says to the parents here's how you can buy some books, and I do fabulously. I sometimes have schools buy up to 300 copies in advance because they want to have the books to provide their students.
Speaker 1:If you're not writing children's, though, look around at what's going on, especially over the summer months. If you're in a cold state, right, I'm in Colorado. If you're in Arizona, it's probably the winter states. But what are they doing? Because local libraries will have festivals. There are farmer's markets. I never thought of that until I talked to a fellow children's author who said oh my gosh, people love and romance Farmer's markets. Who knew? Take your romance books to farmer's markets. They sell a ton, so it's just a matter of getting familiar. I would say the second best place that I sold was our local Pautoberfest. It's a festival fundraiser for dogs and there are vendors there. I'll tell you, beer drinking dog lovers are my people. I do very well at those. So really consider your audience right. What's your book about? Where are your people? There's a lot to be said for that.
Speaker 2:They're my people too, by the way. People, um, there's a lot to be said for that. They're my people too, by the way. Okay, oh, wow, okay, so, um, so you think, well, because people, like, sometimes they use social media, social media build an audience, build a newsletter, uh, create, and what you're advocating for is is is pretty much old school, you know, right now. Just go to to your local library, go to the festivals, and I think that's one of the things that is is sometimes missing from the marketing conversation, because people want, like, the perfect tiktok video or the perfect youtube channel, or, and we sort of forget about the traditional methods that actually people have been using for hundreds of years and this is how they sold books. But that's an yeah, it's an interesting perspective.
Speaker 1:And you meet people too. I mean, I wasn't expecting, when I went to our local rec center to sell books, that I'd meet somebody from a church organization that may want me to come and talk about how, um, how to grieve the loss of a pet, right, it's just these connections that you're not going to make on social media. That said, you can absolutely use it, do a short video, put it up, tell people where you're at and what you're doing. It's. It's really twofold because you're there, you can. You can make that video live and in person.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so you're doing this full time. I am, yes, oh, okay, good for you. So what would your advice be for someone who wants to write a children's book? So I'll give you a case study. We're going to do this on air. I have a children's book ready, I wrote it and I'm just sitting in a drawer right now. Part of me is like, I think, for my ego, I want a traditional publisher, but you know, ego is the enemy and uh, what, what where should I?
Speaker 1:what should I do with it? Now, tell me, what should I do. Yeah, so I won't. I won't discourage you from wanting to go traditional. I hear what you're saying, but I will share with you that I have one in the drawer that has been sitting there for eight years that I haven't published, because I do want it to be traditionally published too, and the reason for that for me is I feel like it deserves a broader audience than I can give it. I want it to be bigger than me. I want it to be bigger than me. Will that happen? I don't know, and at some point I'm going to have to decide if I'm simply just going to do that or not.
Speaker 1:There are places to pitch if you want to, and if you want to hold on to it, you can, and I'll tell you they do wonderful things with it. I wanted to go traditional with some of these things, just to see what they do. That's different from what I'm doing for it. Be mindful, though if you go with a small publisher, they're not likely going to do more than you've done already for your own published works. So I will say for children's, it does take a village, because if you are not an illustrator, then you need to locate that person, and for me, I needed someone to put together the book as well, because you got to have now the text laid over the illustration and you know, in some way formatted. So I have a print, layout and design person as well. So, beyond that, it's Amazon and I do IngramSpark, so that books can and I take it to the library. Our library allows us, if you're an indie publisher, to upload an e-copy of it, so I put my books in the library too, because I'm hoping that and I know it's worked, actually because I was invited to a school. When I asked them how they found out about me, they said the kids found me at the library and they wanted me to come visit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I there's a lot more involved in a children's story, in in creating a children's book, than in most. So if you don't have to start there, I'd suggest starting with a novel. A novella would be really nice, right? Something that might be a feeder, because when you talk about uploading and giving away, I want to learn more about that, because I love that idea. People are going to know who you are then and they're going to know if they like your style and your technique and if they want more. And what a great way to introduce yourself but to say, hey, here's what I got.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so what are you working on these days?
Speaker 1:I have got too much I'm working on these days. Actually I need to figure out what I'm focused on. I have a new Zuggie book that just released earlier this month. So this whole month has been, and it's a holiday book, so this whole month has been flooded with. How do I promote that?
Speaker 1:When I get to settle back down, there will be another twisty and true tales book that I'm compiling. So I've got the framework for that and I just got an idea for a coloring and activity book, for a new Zuggie off holiday themed book, because that sells really well for me, and so when I look at the coloring and activity books, I want to create another one of those and that's just very exciting. So then it's like that sparkly thing I get you know here, look over here, and it's funny because my friends are that's just where you're, that's where you shine, you know that's where your bright spot is and I'm like it really is, it's where my bright spot is. So I don't, I don't want to let that go. So usually I try not to be dabbling in more than one thing at a time, but that's where I am right now. So how does your day look like.
Speaker 2:Do you write all day or do you like? That's a great question.
Speaker 1:I can tell you what my day is going to look like come January, because I'm putting some things in order for how I want my new year to look, and that is a dedicated writing time in the morning. I am a morning person, but we have a number of dogs and they need walks and I try to put that throughout the day because, as you know, when you get tired, getting up, moving around, getting yourself to other places and I'm also a speaker, so I try to be very diligent about what days of the week I make myself available so that I can dedicate the other days to writing, and it's really a matter of keeping that routine. What do you speak about? Well, I've got a number of things. I'm a positivity coach, so I speak on the power of positive thinking, and when you talk about what are those things we tell ourselves? As a writer, I will offer to you you tell the truth and you put it on an index card Truth on an index card, right For me.
Speaker 1:I run out of time, so time spirals when I feel like I've overbooked myself and my card says there is plenty of time to do what needs to happen today, just today. That's as far as I need to look ahead and I don't have to worry about how full my calendar is tomorrow. There's plenty of time to do what needs to happen today. And I have that on my refrigerator, on my bathroom mirror. I keep one in my purse because it keeps you focused and it keeps those negative thoughts out of your way, because you don't need them through the course of a day. And I think that's true for any kind of writing ambition you have too. Right I'm. I'm writing because I love it. I'm writing because I love it and I think we sometimes lose that. Either we have a deadline or we feel like we're not good enough, or whatever that is. Then we're not loving it anymore. You gotta love it. You gotta love it.
Speaker 2:I love the idea of being a positive, uh, positivity coach, uh, and I think everyone needs that in their life, was it? I think it was seneca who once said that we suffer more in our imagination than in reality? And, uh, it's amazing, like what our head tells us and what the reality is, and their head builds all of these like doom scenarios and the reality is is, is really not that that terrible. Okay, so you spend your morning writing, then you work on other stuff, um, and we, we touched a bit on on on social media and I know that you sell more, uh, face to face social media, but where are you active the most and where do you think people are willing to buy your book on social media, if that ever happens?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I understand that TikTok is very popular. I'm not on TikTok, I'm on Insta, on Instagram, I'm on Facebook and I'm on YouTube. So the YouTube channel is specifically for kids because it's all about the pug, it's Zuggie. The pug is the channel, and so we just have fun on there. If you ask me what converts best for me, it's Facebook, and I think it's because it's where I'm most connected with people, um, and it's where I'm most frequent. You can most frequently find me there, plus the videos I make for um for YouTube. I put on Facebook as well, so I cross media, everything.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, facebook personal or Facebook, uh, like an author page, it's an author page. Okay, yeah, because I also have a Facebook author page and I'm sharing my pain with you and for anyone who's listening. I don't get much engagement and I get more engagement on my personal page because of my friends and family, but my author one is hardly gets any engagement. So I'm curious how did you manage to have this success on an author page?
Speaker 1:I have my friends and family on my author page so I, you can guilt them into it, natasha, by telling them to participate. And it's funny because my husband's like okay, what page do I have to like, where am I now? But it's it really, and Facebook doesn't make it easy. I got to say you're asking me, I'm telling you that's where I get. But it is not. It is not user-friendly for authors necessarily, and that's why I think there might be something to the TikTok thing. I just I don't care for it myself, but I believe, if people are getting finding success there, that there probably is something to be said for it.
Speaker 2:So you talk about the videos on YouTube, so you basically embed them natively on Facebook instead of linking to YouTube and saying hey, check out my YouTube, because no one is going to click on that and the algorithm is going to push it down. Okay, correct, yeah, yeah. And I noticed also that on LinkedIn and other platforms is always uploaded natively because, like you know, because the one part, you want more subscribers to YouTube or whatever, but that does not happen across platforms. Youtube has its own thing. If you want to do, posted natively.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do you agree with that? With you on that? And it's interesting for LinkedIn, because I wasn't participating in that for the longest time, expecting that the chat, that that platform was really what it was intending, which was work related. Right, this related. And I got to say, when I post something work related, business related, I get less impressions than when I put up something silly. I put up a short video with the plug and, oh my gosh, people love it and I'm like, well then, maybe I should just go with that, right, I don't know. I don't know that. I care whether it's intended for.
Speaker 2:If that's what's getting people to look, then get people to look yeah, yeah, and I noticed that as well on LinkedIn, like when I share personal updates. You know when I share like my failures and you know, and just being very raw and transparent and just a picture of me that gets more engagement, like then, how to be a good writer, you know, like tips, Because people, I think, are tired of tips and stuff. They want personal stories, even on a place like LinkedIn. Yes, and that, for me, really changed the social media game tremendously, when you realize that just yeah, less tips, more anecdotes, right.
Speaker 1:And they want to know what you're suffering. Too right, it isn't all good news because that's not life, right? What's going on?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so, okay. So let's do this. What are speaking of tips, what are your? Not for LinkedIn, that's just for the show. What are your top let's say top five or three tips for someone who wants to make it to be like you, to be a full-time author, and what are your top tips for someone who wants to make it to be?
Speaker 1:like you to be a full-time author and what are your top tips for doing it? So, yeah, if you're transitioning to this, so if it isn't something that you went to school for have been doing as a career, right, I would suggest not quitting your day job. And it's funny because people told me that originally and I'm like yep, I get it, because it takes a while to build up, but it's usually more than that. So you have to consider what you're willing to do. If you're just writing and I say just writing because there's a lot to that, right, so it isn't just writing, it's what quantity of work are you going to be able to produce? You need to be able to consider what you're following that up with, because right now, in order for me to sustain what I'm doing, I mentioned to you that I'm speaking that's really what's bringing in more money than my writing is at this point. And so is there a topic that you have that you could speak on that you'd be willing to go out there and get? Because, as we said, it is very old school when it comes to how do you get in front of people, how do you find your audience, what is the topic they want to hear what do they need, and that takes a lot of work.
Speaker 1:There were many years that I worked weekends to get this set up so that and you know how much more you can get done during a week than you can during the two day weekend. How do you make it sustainable? And so that's just the reality of it, right, how do you foot the bill? And it isn't that you can't do both. I mean, if this is truly your heart's desire, you can make that happen. And I started out working with. There was a local senior paper that comes out once a month and they needed someone to write certain things, and so I did that on the side, and I did it initially free, right, they didn't, they weren't going to pay you for it, they just wanted to see what kind of quality you had. So find your niche things.
Speaker 1:But again too, it's what are you willing to do? That's maybe outside of your heart's desire that you have. So it's really a matter of I think everybody has to find their own unique path. My tips would be be willing to do it on the side, be willing to do it for free, get yourself established, consider what else you can do in the community beyond writing, and I won't say besides writing, because writing is important. But beyond writing, what is your message and how do you get that out there and are you willing to speak and how big is your? Are you willing to speak to? Right, I have not done Ted. I have not done Ted talks, but that's very popular. That's a huge way to get yourself in front of you know, an audience. So really it's, it's not a little work, you know that.
Speaker 2:So how do people find you Like, how do you get all these speaking gigs? You know, find you like how do you get all these speaking gigs? You know, like I love to speak obviously I do it on my own, I do my own podcast but like how, how, how do you get all these speaking? I'm just, I'm asking for a friend.
Speaker 1:So I will offer that when I go into the open mic next time I'm going to say hey, here's my newest thing that I'm working on. I'd like to be able to present it at churches or other organizations. It's how to grieve the loss of a family pet. Here's my card, and I just have cards. Local coffee shops they always have little boards that you can put your information up. Have it on a little business card Even better if you can, and they have the space a postcard. I had somebody.
Speaker 1:I was in a bagel shop for lunch with a girlfriend the other week and somebody actually approached me with their card and said hey, we do air conditioning and furnace work. We're new in the area, just wanted to let you know we're family owned and we're right down the street Fantastic. I took their information. I'm like why don't I do that? And she's like I don't know You'd be working the whole place. I'm not beyond flyers on cars, on the windshield wipers. If I'm going to an event where I know my people are, you laugh at me. You're asking no.
Speaker 2:I'm not laughing. It's a laugh of joy, it's a laugh of admiration.
Speaker 1:Just a half sheet of paper. I'm not killing trees, right? I'm not in the business of killing trees. It could be even a quarter sheet of paper. Here's who I am. This is what I do. Here's how you can reach me, find out more here. You can look at my video there, right? Because what they want to see is that they're inviting somebody that actually can speak, that isn't going to embarrass them when they come and say hey, we want you to talk to our audience.
Speaker 1:And schools have great word of mouth. I ask every school I go to if I may quote them and I give them a sample of what I'd like them to say. Could you just, would it be okay if I used you as a testimonial? And and could you offer something like it was really easy to book, really easy to coordinate and the kids loved her. Yes, that sounds great. Say that and put my name to it. Great, I've got their title, I've got their name and I've've helped them. Give me a one-line reference or referral saying I make it easy to coordinate and the kids love me, something similar like that. So when you have a speaking gig, take advantage of it to its fullest and use them to get you and to launch you somewhere else.
Speaker 2:So more of your speaking gigs are again done traditionally, are again done traditionally so, and the whole kind of invest in social media, whatever is, is more of like a portfolio building rather than lead conversion.
Speaker 1:I would. I would say yes, and I hadn't considered that before. But you do need it in order to introduce yourself to other places. Go to our children's hospital and I offer a holiday presentation there and I take whatever pictures they'll allow me and say hey, st Jude, would you be interested in having me come there and I offer them a little clip. That's not to say I'll offer.
Speaker 1:During COVID, everything was online and I think people have moved back away from that, not because it didn't work, but because it's not as convenient or not as fun as having somebody there. I used to meet with schools. I got my furthest exposure back in Illinois. I had Illinois and Wisconsin schools reaching out to me and asking if I could join via video, and I'll tell you what I loved about that. Not only was it super convenient to do from my own home, but they got to meet the pug. I can't take the pug to the schools. There's allergies, there's issues, right, we can't. But when I'm sitting here and they say, hey, can we meet Zuggie? I can say, yes, you can. Here's the pug. So there's a lot to be taken advantage of that if you can market it that way.
Speaker 2:I don't necessarily market it that way, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. So you're a hustler. In a nutshell, You're a big hustler, and I think that's one of the reasons for your success. And do you? I'm going to get a bit in the woo-woo now do you believe in manifestation?
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely On my refrigerator. My paper says 100,000 books sold, 100,000 pet parents inspired. Because that's what I want to do. I want to inspire people and help them see how their lives are better with pets in them, and I believe we make that happen. If you leave the space for it, it will fill up with something. What do you want to fill it up with?
Speaker 2:Wow, amazing. So any last thoughts or advice for someone who want to get into the game and become a children's author or an author and do what you do.
Speaker 1:Decide how you want to tackle it. It's really important to stick with your why right? What's in your heart, what's what's pushing this out of you to want to share with other people? Cause, many people and I do write for myself. I write first for myself. But if you something that you want to share, remember your why, remember why it's important to you to do that and then define your path, because without steps, you're going to wander, and even with steps, you're going to wander, and some of it's not bad wandering. You got to explore different options, but if you have a path, at least you know what the next step is and you don't have to get lost in your day-to-day to know. Okay, I can circle back around. I did one, two and three Now. Now it's time for four, and if you need help with four, ask for it. Ask for help. It takes a village. It really does.
Speaker 2:Just find help, I think, before we go, I want to ask you about strategy, yeah, and like what is the importance of having a set strategy? Right, because what happens as well we sometimes is there's so many things going on and when, when, when you're like an entrepreneur and a hustler and focusing on the highest ROI or focusing on on something like do you actually have a written strategy of of where you're going, what you're doing, or or how important is having an actual written strategy for your writing business?
Speaker 1:It is greatly helpful. It is greatly helpful because you may not approach each book the same until you have a very strong comfort zone with. This is how this is going to work out, and even then you need to be open to things not going according to your plan. So, yes, a strategy so that you know where you're going right. You got to have not just the big picture goal, you got to have the steps that are going to get you there, but you also have to be willing to understand something might throw you off the path, and don't be angry with that thing that throws you off the path, because it might be just the thing. You need to develop something different to get you past it.
Speaker 1:I've not encountered the same experience with any book I've written and I've got 11 Zuggie, the Rescue Pug books. Now None of them have ever gone the same and I've always been grateful for that Something that I didn't anticipate. That got me going somewhere else, in whatever other direction I've been going. So be willing to learn. It's never going to be the same experience and that's a good thing. So just take it as it comes and be willing to learn with it, and the biggest benefit I've found in all, that is, I can help others in doing it, then right, because if I just said, oh, I don't know what you're going through, good luck with that. More times than not now, as time goes on, I'll be, oh yeah, been there. This might not be the same for you, but I can tell you what I was able to do that helped me. And flexibility. I can say overall just be willing to be flexible, go with it, just go with it. Fascinating.
Speaker 2:So, jean, for someone to reach you, how can they reach you? What's the best way to reach you? The social media, email, whatever? Yeah, how can they find you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm at dogauthorcom dogauthorcom, just as it spells D-O-G-A-U-T-H-O-R, and you can reach me if you want to email dogauthorjean J-E-A-N N at gmailcom. Great, and where can they find your books? They're actually on the dog author, on the dog author website. They're on Amazon, but you can get direct links to them there and that's all that has the children's books, that's the twisty and true tales, that's the guided journals, everything's there.
Speaker 2:This is great. Well, thank you so much for your time. It's been really inspiring and you really inspire me to get my act together and be more strategic and, you know, more focused, and I wish you the best of luck with everything and for anyone who's watching or listening. Thank you for joining us for another episode of Read and Write with Natasha and, until we meet again, thank you for tuning in to Read and Write with Natasha. I'm your host, natasha Times. If today's episode inspired you in any way, please take the time to review the podcast. Remember to subscribe and share this podcast with fellow book lovers. Until next time, happy reading, happy writing.
