[00:00:00] Speaker A: Love Australian history brought to life through powerful storytelling, then you must discover the works of Stephen Whiteside. Doctor by day, poet and storyteller by passion. A seasoned writer and lifelong adventurer of the Australian high country, Stephen masterfully blends fact with feeling in his historical narrative nonfiction. His novella Snowfire and Gold tells the remarkable true story of Bill Spargo and Evelyn Piper, pioneers whose lives unfolded amidst the isolation and beauty of Australia's alpine wilderness. Now his latest release, Perel Bradshaw, Princess of Hotham, shines a spotlight on another captivating figure from the mountains past, rich with heritage, heart and an unforgettable sense of place. With a poet's touch and a historian's eye, Stephen's books offer an intimate window into Australia's untold stories, perfect for lovers of history, nature and real life resilience. Grab your copy today and adventure into the soul of the Australian high country.
Hello authors, I'm Joanne Morrell, children's and young adult fiction writer and author of Short nonfiction for Authors. Thanks for joining me for the Hybrid Author podcast, sharing interviews from industry professionals to help you forge a career as a hybrid author both independently and traditionally publishing your books. You can show notes for each episode and sign up for your free author pass over at the Hybrid Author website to discover your writing process, get tips on how to publish productively and get comfortable promoting your
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let's crack on with the episode.
Hello authors. I hope you're all keeping well in whatever part of the world you reside and listen to the podcast in today's interview is with Sandy Parsons on self publishing children's fiction overseas and we chat Sandy's latest children's fiction book, Salty. Her self publishing author.
What motivated Sandy to take this route and how her experiences differed when navigating printing options overseas compared to publishing locally. Unique challenges making print books and having them shipped from China. Sandy's advice for aspiring children's authors looking to self publish internationally, her key advice in creating the best product and much more so in my author adventure this week I've been thinking about the term hybrid in works in the way that they don't fit a certain category or ideal. These works are trying to find their place in the world, a sentiment I connect with completely. We take our one year old Cavuto pup and yes, it will always be a pup in my eyes to the local dog park. On occasion there are two parks side by side. There's the big dog park for the big dogs and then there's the small dog park for the small dogs. But where do the medium dogs go? They appear slightly too big to be in the small park, although they come in there and it's just a thought I've had when I've seen them, I've just thought, oh, that's a big dog. What's that doing in here? But really it's a medium sized dog compared to the other big dogs. And then they're just that little bit too small to be amongst the big dogs. It's the thought that's reminded me of hybrid authorship. You've written your work and you just don't feel like it fits anywhere. So what do you do with it? It's almost being back at school feeling like you don't fit in. Your work might be completely different and you're struggling to find a place for it. So if you're going to look at the traditional route, are you going to listen to traditional publisher if they want to change it, are you going to change your story to suit everyone else? Or are you going to stay true to it and persevere yourself, even if that means starting a brand new category or going out there on your own with something no one's ever heard of before, which can be a good thing. But in the publishing industry, it's a scary thing to some. I think hybrid authorship and especially publishing is all about perseverance to keep going in the face of adversity and in the face of uncertainty, the unknown if what you're doing is right. And sometimes it won't always feel like it, won't always feel like it. Sometimes it will feel completely wrong, like you're struggling on through a losing battle. But when it clicks and all falls into place and you begin to find where you're supposed to be, or should I say the people find you. I had a recent purchase of my short nonfiction books, Shout Out Reads on the Road. They shared a picture of my books on Instagram, which was lovely. It was an extended bonus to them obviously buying it, but they were. What was fantastic was they were like me. And when I wrote these books I was a freelance writer and an author and I am still a freelance writer. I just don't do lots of it. So these two short nonfiction books, they're a series and I've just always felt, although writing related, the two are really different. Freelance writing, Quick tips for fast Success. You know, that is just a short 60 plus quick tips and it's more like a little business book. It gives the little snippets on mindset, business values, rates of pay, things like that. And that all came about from me starting a freelance writing business. But these, these elements are also what makes up a author business. And then I have author fears and how to overcome them. And that is a book about internal and external fears and things that have arisen since putting myself out there writing, writing a book. And so I grappled with between the two because they felt quite different, different kind of markets. Should I have changed the freelance writing book to be author business book that ties in with author fears? Because then you're sort of marketing to the one person. But I couldn't really extend my thinking to think about there is going to be other people out there like me who do freelance writing and are authors that these books effectively are for. And so when reads on a Road reached out and said exactly the same, they were a freelance writer and an author, it was amazing.
So when you find your people or they find you and your books are meant for them and you know your work's going to like the work was to and you know your work is going to aid them somehow, man, oh man, there is no better feeling. And in that instance, it wasn't that I knew, but it reaffirmed what I've already known, that hybrid authorship is what I'm supposed to be doing. And in the fact that hybridness can also be around the titles we produce, the audience we cater for. I've spoken about hybrid writing across genres, but I'll definitely ponder further with what it means to be hybrid in extension to your audience beyond the book. Further in my author adventure this week I have signed on and hired a part time VA where VA is virtual assistant for those who don't know if you're an avid listener of the podcast. I have spoken a lot about this last year, I think more towards the end of the year. And I'd hired a company to take on a project which succeeded in what I'd ask. So I'm now trialing my business and bringing on someone else part time. And I'm at the point in my writing and let's be honest, podcast business, because the podcast has taken center stage this year by monetizing it and it's going extremely well. So I am a writer who's not, but I am a writer who's not prioritizing why all of this started in the first place, which is writing. And that's really important to me to get back to that. So by bringing on this va, you know, I hope to send across to them the marketing and admin tasks and free myself up because my end goal at the end of all this is to just write the books or just write, do my speaking gigs. Just being the speaker and sharing my knowledge with others and hosting the podcast. I don't really want to continue with all the other bits that make up the business. The admin task, the marketing side. I have been doing it for years. I want to finally see that I need to pass it on. As a single parent, a mother of two.
Time is limited and precious and I'm finding for the things that I want to do here, this is my best way going forward. To be honest, my business isn't going to grow unless I make this move. But it's one that feels right and one that I'm super excited about. So stay tuned. I'm very excited this weekend to be getting back out into the writing community. I am going to a grant writing workshop on Saturday and yeah, I haven't ever applied for grants really. I know there's a bunch out there for creatives and stuff and I just think this is something different. I haven't. Yeah, I haven't really got any skills in or would like to know. I've got some friends that do this very well. I saw it and I thought, yeah, that looks great. I'm going to go for that. And through lovely Fremantle I think it is, which is another sort of town, West Australia. Lovely, very literature, culturally lovely sort of seafront. Don't know if it is a city so. And on Sunday I'm going to book launch Shout out HM Waugh for her latest middle grade book, the Surface Trials. I'm very excited to see some old friends at this book launch. It's children's fiction. As most of you know, I used to write children's fiction for a long time and it's still an aspiration to do young adult fiction. I've just pulled back since last year and decided to focus more on women's fiction and adult fiction.
So if you too are looking to get out and connect with community this weekend the Armadale Arts Festival kicks off. There's some amazing events. I'll put the links in the show notes. I'm also running a session Monday, May 5 at 6 till 7pm on Discover the Power of Podcasting, my forte. So tune into the world of podcasting with Joanne Zara Ellamorel, host and creator of the Hybrid Author Podcast. In this dynamic one hour session, you'll uncover how podcasting can be a turning point for your career, discover the secrets to expanding your reach, building a loyal audience and leveraging podcasting to boost your visibility, brand and sales. Whether you dream of launching your own podcast or maximizing guest appearance, this session will equip you with the basic strategies to make it happen. This session is for adults. Bookings are required, so I'll put the booking link in the show notes. If you fancy that session and want to come along, it's free, I believe so. This episode is sponsored by Sanguine Press, my imprint of Feel Good, Fast paced, emotionally charged women's contemporary fiction, the Writer, the Hairdresser, and the Nurse intertwines the struggles and dynamics of three women's working, family and romantic relationships, leaning on their longtime friendship to help get them through. And my short Nonfiction for Authors and Freelancers how many Author Fears and How to Overcome Them? How many times have you said your writing's crap or shied away from calling yourself an author? Take comfort in knowing your author fears are valid. Other writers feel the same way you do, but are not letting fear stop them from putting themselves out there. We are all feeling the fear, but doing what we love anyway, and you can too. And Freelance Writing Quick tips for our Fast Success Starting a freelance writing business or just a writing business? Place yourself in the pro position before you've met with your first client. Invest one hour gaining 60 plus quick tips to save yourself time, money and stress discovering the little but important factors previously unconsidered, having never worked directly with clients before. Books come in ebook, print and some audio and range from 1015 to $28 each. Now on with the episode.
Sandy Parsons lives and breathes stories as a reader, writer and storyteller. Sandy's creative nonfiction has been published in Mind Food, Frankie Chicken Soup, and the Growing Up Disabled in Australia anthology. She currently lives in Western Australia with her favorite husband and some problem puppies and many teetering stacks of books. Welcome to the Hybrid Author Podcast, Andy.
[00:12:30] Speaker B: Thanks for having me, John.
[00:12:31] Speaker A: We're really thrilled to have you. Can you tell us, you know, how did you come to be a writer and mainly gravitate towards the children's fiction genre?
[00:12:40] Speaker B: I wanted to write, but I didn't have a specified calling to write in any particular genre or age group. So I dabbled a little bit in this and that. In my day job. I was running what's essentially a library for teaching resources, and I noticed there was nothing suitable in the market to teach children about cystic fibrosis. Teachers are time poor. If the resources aren't there, they don't have the time to start making lessons from complete scratch. So I took A proposal to the Cystic Fibrosis association of Western Australia about how there was a need and that a picture book, a fiction picture book explaining cystic fibrosis would be a really great addition. I left that meeting with a publishing deal before I'd even written a word or had an idea for the story. It was my first foray and so it was an educational resource and I liked the experience. But I also wanted to focus more on reading for pleasure, and that desire is kind of what tumbled me down into the rabbit hole of kidlit.
[00:13:33] Speaker A: Amazing. Were you an avid reader as a kid yourself?
[00:13:36] Speaker B: Yes. So I read everything and anything I could get my hands on.
[00:13:40] Speaker A: Amazing.
[00:13:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:41] Speaker A: Oh, no, I love that. Well, Salty is your newest children's fiction book and explores themes close to your heart, relevant to children today. Can you tell us about the work and what messages you want readers, both young and old, to take from it?
[00:13:56] Speaker B: I thought after writing the mystery of 60 fibrosis that I was done writing about cystic fibrosis. But even after Pepsi the Problem Puppy was released, I would get feedback, sometimes random emails or serendipity, sitting next to a parent at an event. And when the conversation turned to books, as it usually does with me, I would find out that their child's favourite book was the mystery of the 65 roses. And I look back at that story and the writing is very clunky. But despite that, it was building a connection and it was finding breeders because it was giving them a character that was like them. And that was something that was missing from my childhood too. So I understood that as a school librarian, I'm aware of the books that have characters with cf and look, at best, they're very inaccurate or they strongly focus on the worst case scenario. There just wasn't anything that contained a child with CF as a character juggling school. The complexities of CF that didn't have a doomsday narrative, and that's the reality that most children with CF face is it's not the doomsday, not in this age. And there was definitely no kids with CF having adventures or solving mysteries, because when you're talking about sick kids stories, they're in hospital. Around that time, I had a critique with Erica Wagner from Ellen and Unlimited. And one of the things she told me was she said, I know your story and I strongly believe you need to write stories with characters that have cf. This is what you need to do. So I was sort of being bombarded by every side. So I thought, well, maybe I wasn't done writing about cf, I did want to steer very clear on the sick kid narrative and I wanted to concentrate on some universal themes like friendship and acceptance. With the main underlying message there being that salty is that friends should always accept you as you are. You shouldn't have to hide who you are with your friends. And Dara learns throughout the book that sometimes the friends you want are not the friends you need. And as adults, I think that's an important message as well, because we do. We're people pleasers. We spend a lot of time trying to please other people and forgetting about what makes us happy. And when we're with true friends, they enjoy the same things we do or they don't mind our quirky differences. In fact, sometimes they will enable our quirky differences. And that's what real friendship is about, supporting each other.
[00:16:06] Speaker A: Yeah, no, well said. Lots come to mind when you're speaking, especially my kids, my 9, soon to be 10 year old. It's around that age group, I think, sort of the year four. And they're all not getting along or this person's saying this and this person's doing that. And I notice how she is and her personalities with some of the friendships and I just think she's got to do her own thing and make her own judgments as well. And your book is gonna. It's just absolutely perfect for her. So I can't wait to put that in her hands. But in the same breath, I'm just like I say, you know, a friendship's not a friend. A real friend's not gonna be nice one minute to you and then not nice the next and then put you down like someone who is always quite. It's always going to be nice to you or be like an advocate. It's true for adult life as well. Except in adults, I think you're a little bit more aware that you can just say, oh, buggero.
[00:16:55] Speaker B: Say this to the kids at school. Sometimes the friends you have here at school, they might not be your friends long time because you're in this controlled environment, but there might be a kid in another school who loves the same things you do, has the same quirks you do. And when you're older, you'll find each other and you'll have your bestie then.
[00:17:13] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I love that. I think it's really good. So this book, Erica Wagner. So that was. How long has it taken you from writing this book to where to finished product, I guess to publishing.
[00:17:26] Speaker B: Like it might have been about Seven Year Journey, this one.
[00:17:30] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:31] Speaker B: Because it had A few knocks. This poor little book. So it did get picked up a couple of years ago by a UK publisher, and we had a cover, we had layout. And then there was an economic downturn in the market, and that ultimately saw the rights returned to me before it got published. So there was the writing, there was the waiting while it was in the contract stage, and then this bit before it finally got to publication. So, yeah, I think that's seven years.
[00:17:55] Speaker A: That's incredible. And you put this one out yourself and the one before, one before it. Pepsi, the Problem Puppy. That was printed here in Australia, wasn't it?
[00:18:03] Speaker B: No, that was printed in China as well.
[00:18:05] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:18:07] Speaker B: No, 65 roses was done here.
[00:18:09] Speaker A: Right.
[00:18:10] Speaker B: And that was through the CNF association, and I believe they got a grant to do that at the time.
[00:18:14] Speaker A: Do you know who they printed with in pair? Not sure. Okay. So how did you go about researching printing in China?
[00:18:21] Speaker B: Quite a bit. Experience with Pepsi. So Pepsi was.
I'd been in a Serenity Press anthology, and Karen, who is the owner and founder of Serenity Press, she regularly prints overseas. So I spoke to her. I ended up making contact with the printer. I paid for my print run directly to them in China.
But Pepsi piggybacked with a Serenity Press shipment for the shipping. And so that was a split invoice where Karen did all the organizing of that and I just had to pay my share when Pepsi left it. Yeah. So the first thing I did when I decided that I was going to do Salty myself was I went and got some Australian quotes because I kind of like the idea of doing an Australian print run, but the prices did not thrill me.
[00:19:08] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:19:09] Speaker B: So I thought, well, okay, we'll at least see what the difference is. Insurance. It's been a long time since I printed Pepsi. Maybe I was just out of touch. First thing I did was flick Karen a little email saying, are you still printing with KS Printing? She was. So I contacted them and got a print. I know there's lots of people who say they have nightmare experiences with printing through China, mainly around quality. But because I'd had a good experience with Pepsi, I didn't feel the need to shop around.
[00:19:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:35] Speaker B: The quote from ks, including shipping, was less than half of the cheapest Australian print quote. And that was including the shipping, the customs, the printing. And I just felt as an industry, we just couldn't compete because if I wanted to get distribution for Salty and reach a broader market, China was really the only viable financial option.
[00:19:57] Speaker A: Well, that's it. I mean, you know, when you're you're not at the beginning of your career by any means, but you know, a couple books in and maybe not earning lots from your books to be able to make choices such as printing locally. That doesn't mean that you can't do it down the line. And this is the way that you start Pepsi. The problem puppy. The quality of that book, I was astounded. Like not. I didn't even know that you printed that from China. But that's a quality book to me. You could look at a traditional publication and look at Pepsi and it's. It's on par. It's absolutely is. So you know, I'm sure soul.
[00:20:27] Speaker B: I think a lot of that to do was Ashka's illustrations which just make.
And I think that's the thing sometimes as self publishers they might try to skimp on cover art or interior art and if you get competing with the big boys.
[00:20:41] Speaker A: But even the pages, the book itself. Yeah, no, it all looks fantastic. And you've gone with another Western Australian illustrator, this time for Salty.
[00:20:49] Speaker B: Yes. So Jasmine did the COVID Jasmine Berry and she also did some of the. I've got tiny little decorative illustrations in there. So because it's a dual point of view novel, I've given some hints for the reader. When it's Dara's chapter, there's a book around the page numbers. And when Josh is telling the story, he's got a magnifying glass because he likes to sneak and spy.
[00:21:09] Speaker A: That's gorgeous. So how long, how long has the print run taken for Salty? Like does. Is it. Is it weeks? Months? And then how long to get across and what's the process?
[00:21:21] Speaker B: Chelsea actually was a little bit more challenging than Pepsi because Pepsi, I didn't really have a date in mind. It was just. Yep, we've got a print run. I had pre sold 200 copies. Where I'd sold most 200 copies. Were happy to wait. They didn't have a time frame for me. They wanted them to go into their bookthories over east. And I was just about ready to sign off on the print run for Salty when I got an email saying that Lamont Standing Lamont Books in Melbourne were interested in Salty for their October standing order, which is 650 copies.
[00:21:51] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:21:51] Speaker B: So I had to stop my print run, say, okay, now we need to do an extra 650, but we need to do a split shipment, meaning 650 go straight to Lamont and a thousand to me. Because I was on a timeline. There was no. They did tell me it Would be cheaper if it came to me. And then I shipped them from over here. But I didn't have that time to play with.
[00:22:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:11] Speaker B: Because it's about a two month delay between the printing, the shipping, the customs.
[00:22:16] Speaker A: So yeah, you forget customs. Forget customs, don't you?
[00:22:22] Speaker B: I had to. I lost the place on the first ship that was booked so we missed that deadline. But the books that went to Lamont went on an express ship and they landed mid September and got their books on time which was like a six years.
Whereas my books that were coming to Perth have traveled. Um, they've had a bit of a holiday. They've stopped in Singapore and a few other places they have been unloaded. They are clearing customs this week. So it was a delay but again for me that didn't matter so much so long as the copies were pre sold, got where they needed to go on time. That was my. And I made the printing company aware of that. Is this is my priority?
[00:22:59] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Amazing. So it sounds like it was all. Apart from obviously just getting into the schedule of the publishing. It was all quite smooth sailing. Was that between publishing from China or whatnot or did you hit any unforeseen issues?
[00:23:11] Speaker B: Print been really good keeping me involved every step of the way. I've had a couple of prints sent, proofs sent and they arrive express post within 2 or 3 days. The customs bit is a bit tricky. So instead of how I did Pexi was we paid the printer to print them and ship them and then pay customs here. I've done things a little bit differently because I wanted lemonts to go directly to their door. I have a direct to door process which I paid for to the company in China. They pay and organize the whole lot.
[00:23:41] Speaker A: That's great.
[00:23:42] Speaker B: So essentially once I've approved my files and paid the money, there's nothing more for me to do apart from wait for the books. But there's also that little bit of uncertainty. Just customs I suppose they're a feast of their own and you just never quite know when how things are going to go and if they're going to go smoothly.
[00:23:58] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And what like the fees to get through? Because I remember I think I bought my wedding dress overseas and I had to pay a fee. I think it was a couple hundred bucks to get it through customs. Is it quite pricey to get the books through or not so much like the fee you have to pay.
[00:24:11] Speaker B: I'm not 100% sure because my shipping and my customers and taxes together one one bulk price. So I had a price for the actual printing and a price for the shipping and taxes.
[00:24:23] Speaker A: So that there. Oh well that's good then.
[00:24:25] Speaker B: It's more than the printing. Yes.
[00:24:27] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:30] Speaker B: And then again even including both of those costs, still cheaper than doing it onshore in Australia, which is sad because you want to give your business to Australians.
[00:24:40] Speaker A: So I've printed my non fiction books with ingramspark over east and I've recently just done my women's fiction with a local printer. The prices are double. I love that he was able. Cause it was literally 10 minutes from me he was able to come to my door with the review copies and it was a very personal experience and it was very nice. But in terms of profit or anything else it's. You've got. Then you've got to mark up your book like higher and where does that then sit in the market and is it off turning especially in the current climate either? No.
[00:25:08] Speaker B: One of the things I did want to do because the postage is so high is I've discounted postage on my website.
I didn't want the total cost of the book to get ridiculous. If someone was buying one book. That was another factor to include in the decision too.
[00:25:23] Speaker A: Have you allocated the room in your home for all these books that are coming in the publishing system because you're a self publisher?
[00:25:31] Speaker B: I have a book room already and we call it book room even though I used to sell books from home years ago on the Internet. Secondhand books. So I have a room where they were stored and then over time as that business wound down and the writing started up is where I stored the copies of Pepsi. But it's also where I store a lot of my library displays. So I've got a lot of book related stuff in it. And yes there is a salty sized hole in the middle of the room now for when they arrive.
[00:25:59] Speaker A: No worries. And then do you. For people who are looking to self publish, do you have a certain system that you work from at home? I just have an Excel Sprint spreadsheet that I keep on top of with stocktake and stuff like that for when you're selling or do you have any.
[00:26:12] Speaker B: I've just got an Excel spreadsheet and I care. I've already marked who my review copies go to, who are my giveaways? For example, I've just given away two copies to children with C. I did a random draw for them so I had those postal addresses ready to go and a few others. But yeah, Excel spreadsheet. I think mine's a Google Docs but same sort of thing.
[00:26:34] Speaker A: Thanks.
[00:26:35] Speaker B: It's just tracking in a very basic way.
[00:26:38] Speaker A: Do you have part of a marketing plan for children with cf? Are they part of your target audience because the character is going to resonate with them the most?
[00:26:47] Speaker B: Yes, they are one of my target audiences and I suppose in a way the book is written for them, but also other people to understand a little bit what it's like to have cf. Which is one of the reasons why Dara's chapters are in the first person so you can hear directly. In this day and age, when you're coughing in public, it's a big thing. And when people are looking at you all the time when you're coughing doesn't help you stop coughing, it just makes you more conscious. I wanted them to be aware that there are reasons why people cough that might not have anything to do with COVID and the impact that that can have on other people too.
[00:27:22] Speaker A: And can you share some of your on CF journey with us?
[00:27:25] Speaker B: My son used to get very annoyed when I would cough in public because people would look at him like, aren't you going to do something to help your mother? And he's like, what can I do but let her cough? And that's one of the things I say in the book is just let her cough. Don't try to do anything. But I would cough in SARS and I would clear supermarket aisles because people would be that scared because I was coughing. Whereas with cf, for the majority of the infections that I carry, I wasn't infectious to the general public, just other people with CF and people undergoing certain cancer treatments. So it wasn't a risk. But you are looked at like you have the plague and it's probably gotten worse over Covid.
[00:28:04] Speaker A: Do you have any aspirations? I know that you've written about this in certain publications, but do you have any aspirations for writing about it from adult perspectives or anything like that in fiction?
[00:28:15] Speaker B: I'm working at the moment on a middle grade YA and I'm tackling a different issue. Even though I'm tackling this from a CF perspective, it's an issue that a lot of other illnesses face. The main thrust of the story is Kate, my main character, is really upset because her mum is oversharing on social media. So there's photos of her out there doing her treatments. And Kate just wants it to stop. She wants to be normal. And I think that's something that a lot of teenagers are going through now too. Not just the illness, but all these photos and videos that are out there. Without their consent. And they follow you.
[00:28:50] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:51] Speaker B: So that's my current project. I don't have any current plans to do anything adult, although I may at one point gather up all my collected essays and publish them as a semi memoir.
[00:29:02] Speaker A: It just sounds like your experience across the board would be beneficial to other people as well, of all ages.
[00:29:08] Speaker B: I think that's why I write is the CF community is a little bit different now from when I grew up. When I grew up, we were all together and I would look at other people with CF and I would know what my future was going to look like. Because of the way cross infection works, most of the children with CF have never met another person with CF in real life. And so they're a bit isolated. So I think hearing stories from people who've been there who've done that and have been able to achieve things is important.
[00:29:35] Speaker A: Absolutely. No, it's very, very powerful. So for aspiring authors, do you have any tips for writing self publishing, what you've been doing in your experience to help them get ahead or create the best product for putting it out there.
[00:29:50] Speaker B: In the market we're looking to self publish is do your research and find a printing company that's right for you. Because if you have any niggles as you're corresponding or maybe you're going in and meeting them in person, then maybe you haven't found the right company to print your book. Obviously with China, once you send your money off, there's no getting it back. So you've got to be really happy with the deal before you part with your cash and getting someone else to love your story as much that the same as when you're finding editors, is first editor you find might not be the right editor for you, it might be the second or the third editor who actually gets your story. You're. You've got to be like a mother hen and you're finding all the right people who are going to be the best person to look after your book.
[00:30:35] Speaker A: That's amazing advice. Did you get review copies from Pepsi and Salty? Did they do that or not?
[00:30:40] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:30:40] Speaker A: What like, so you, you've kind of sent that to them like your manuscript. And you know, working with Amazon and Ingrown Spark, they'll send you a proof copy so you can actually look at the layout and the thing and then you give the okay for the print run rather than the print run going ahead and you end up with a squint book, which has happened to me.
[00:30:57] Speaker B: What I do first is once I have my manuscript ready and Formatted I put it through Ingram Scrap. I get my print runs so I know well in advance before I've sent it to China.
[00:31:07] Speaker A: Right. Okay.
[00:31:08] Speaker B: The print files are all within margins. I'm happy with how the cover's sitting and they take the same files that I've sent to ingramspark. Rather than waiting for that first proof to come back from China, I get the IngramSpark copy and that's what I use for my, for my proofs to make sure I'm happy and then I send it.
[00:31:27] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:27] Speaker B: So essentially when the first proof comes back from China, I'm just checking that their machines are aligned correctly and it looks the same as the Ingram Spark proof.
[00:31:35] Speaker A: It's self publishing.
[00:31:37] Speaker B: It's a lot cheaper that way than continually getting proofs from China.
[00:31:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, I bet. How long is this? How long would that be? Like, how long is a standard shipping from China?
[00:31:48] Speaker B: I'm not sure. But the, the proofs, each time they would be with me within five days. I'm sure they've got it built into their model that they're going to send you X amount of proofs. And if you need more, I don't know if that model price, the contract price may change then.
[00:32:03] Speaker A: Oh, you're leading the way. And you know, we're all really excited to see Salty and everywh once it hits, can you share with our listeners where they can discover all your books and everything you're doing on and offline?
[00:32:16] Speaker B: The book's coming tomorrow.
Yay.
So the moment they can Pre order from SandyParsons.com and once the books are here and I finalise my distribution, they'll be able to order from their favorite bookstores.
[00:32:31] Speaker A: Fantastic. Well, thank you so much Sandy. You've shared so much. Real inspiration to everybody in this industry and we can't wait to see what happens in the future.
[00:32:40] Speaker B: Thanks for having me, Jo.
[00:32:48] Speaker A: So there you have it folks, the sensational Sandy Parsons. Sandy's books for kids are just absolutely fantastic. Please go and check out everything she does next time on the Hybrid Author podcast we have tackling tough topics. Children's author Christopher Chen on addressing big themes in children's literature with sensitivity. Christopher Chen dwells in an inner city Sydney Terrace and writes fiction and non fiction for children full time. He taught in city and Outback schools for a number of years and at Tarong Bazoo. He is co chair of the international advisory board for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Squibi and has a master of arts in Children's literature he presents to people of all ages at schools and festivals worldwide. His many picture books include Bear and Rat, lovingly written for his amazing wife, Binny, and illustrated by Stephen Michael King One Tree, illustrated by Bruce Whatley and that was shortlisted in the 2020 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards and is a CBCA Notable Book. That's coming up next week. So that's coming up. I wish you well in your author adventure. That's it from me. Bye for now. That's the end for now, authors. I hope you are further forward in your author adventure after listening, and I hope you'll listen next time. Remember to head on over to the Hybrid Author website at www.hybridauthor.com to get your free Author pass. It's Bye for now.
