{"id":2324,"date":"2019-09-12T13:13:51","date_gmt":"2019-09-12T02:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/?p=2324"},"modified":"2022-02-18T09:38:45","modified_gmt":"2022-02-18T09:38:45","slug":"tenielle-stoltenkamp-on-securing-stockists-and-reaching-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/articles\/2019\/09\/12\/2324\/tenielle-stoltenkamp-on-securing-stockists-and-reaching-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Tenielle Stoltenkamp on securing stockists and reaching schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

In June, Readings Kids assistant manager Dani Solomon named\u00a0<\/a>My Family Doesn\u2019t Look Like Your Family<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by Tenielle Stoltenkamp as \u2018hands down, the most popular\u2019 self-published title stocked at their store.<\/p>\n

Stoltenkamp spoke to\u00a0Independent Publishing\u00a0<\/em>about the motivation for her book, securing bricks-and-mortar stockists, reaching the schools and libraries market and treating self-publishing as a small business.<\/p>\n

Describe My Family Doesn\u2019t Look Like Your Family<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

My Family Doesn\u2019t Look Like Your Family<\/em> blends counting and inclusive questions with bold illustrations crafted to represent diverse families of all shapes and forms.<\/p>\n

My aim for the book was to ensure every child could see their own family on the pages and to know that\u2014even though every family looks and does things differently\u2014they have a place where they belong.<\/p>\n

What inspired you to create the book, and why did you decide to self-publish?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My Family Doesn\u2019t Look Like Your Family<\/em> was inspired by the time I spent volunteering with The Pyjama Foundation. I was paired with an incredible young girl and her foster family, who I\u2019m still close to today. Whenever I searched for new books to read with her I was struck by the number of children\u2019s books that depicted one-dimensional families that were so far from her reality. This opened my eyes to the number of children who aren\u2019t represented in the stories we tell about families.<\/p>\n

My Family Doesn\u2019t Look Like Your Family <\/em>is my first self-published book. It\u2019s a message I was passionate about bringing to life as I strongly believe in the importance of representation in children\u2019s content. Self-publishing gave me the freedom to choose the team I wanted to work with to make this book a reality. I was also keen to learn as much as I could about the publishing process and the industry.<\/p>\n

What has the response to the book been like from parents, booksellers and kids? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The positive response has been overwhelming. I have received heartwarming stories from parents, teachers and social workers alike across Australia. The book has been used as a resource in so many different settings. Mum bloggers and school teachers have been huge supporters. As a result of their online reviews and seeking out the book from their local bookstores, we\u2019ve had orders from independent bookstores in the USA, South Africa, Brazil and the UK. I\u2019m so thankful to have worked with the amazing Go Suga<\/a> on this book. Go\u2019s illustrations brought the heart and vision of the book to life. Every time I see kids engage with the book I see them drawn to different elements. It\u2019s beautiful to see how kids place themselves in the story and takeaway unique details from every page.<\/p>\n

You have secured stockists at bookstores in Queensland and Victoria. Can you describe how you went about this process? What advice would you give to other self-published authors wanting their titles in their local bookshop?
\n<\/strong>
\nI\u2019ve treated self-publishing like starting a small business. A lot of time went into building a database of local bookstores and reaching out one by one. There were a lot that never replied, but those who have are passionate about supporting independent authors and passionate about the themes of the book.<\/p>\n

You also have distribution to schools and libraries through James Bennett and ALS Library Services. Again, can you describe how you went about this process?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

My Family Doesn\u2019t Look Like Your Family <\/em>was written with the classroom in mind and I knew schools and libraries were essential. I reached out directly to both distributors through their websites but ensured we included strong marketing materials, pricing models and promotional images from that very first email.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

What would be your top tips for those starting out in self-publishing\u2014what lessons have you learned from publishing My Family Doesn\u2019t Look Like Your Family?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Have as many conversations as possible. Creating the book was the easy part. The majority of my time was spent researching the process and the industry from as many angles as possible. This meant meetings with bookstores, printers, self-published authors, childcare specialists and academics, PR professionals, digital marketers\u2014you name it! I soaked up every detail I could. Also\u2014be practical. Beyond the amazing stockists and distributors I work with, this is now an online business that requires a lot of time of attention (on top of full-time work and commitments). Think end to end about your operations, customer support and the personal time and financial investment required to see your book succeed in the long term.<\/p>\n

What will you publish next?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have the next few books (almost) ready to go. I\u2019ve always been passionate about children\u2019s content. As a society, we\u2019re speaking more openly about deep issues such as identity, diversity and acceptance. I want to be a part of those conversations and to translate these important concepts into art and literature that children love and enjoy. I\u2019m excited to partner with different creatives, bookstores and even publishers to bring these ideas to life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In June, Readings Kids assistant manager Dani Solomon named\u00a0My Family Doesn\u2019t Look Like Your Family\u00a0by Tenielle Stoltenkamp as \u2018hands down, the most popular\u2019 self-published title stocked at their store. Stoltenkamp spoke to\u00a0Independent Publishing\u00a0about the motivation for her book, securing bricks-and-mortar stockists, reaching the schools and libraries market and treating self-publishing as a small business. Describe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2324","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-newsletter-features"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2324"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2941,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2324\/revisions\/2941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}