Once in awhile someone catches our attention for a number of reasons: their story, unique sales and marketing strategies, personality, or product. Today’s spotlight shines on this Vervante author who checks off all those categories and more. Dulce Johnson dreamed of creating a planner and set out to accomplish that dream with no experience at all – and with a baby on the way. We’re excited to share her story here (and you won’t believe what happened on the day she launched her planner!).
Dulce's story
Q: Tell us the story of your planner
I had been using goal-setting vision boards at home for a few years, but couldn’t find a planner that had everything I wanted, like an accountability section, to go with them. So I decided to make my own.
I had no idea how to do this when I started. I just started Googling like crazy, reading everything I could, with a lot of trial and error along the way. That’s how I found resources I used for my planner, like Canva and Vervante.
Every step of creating this planner I’ve done on my own. I’m not a graphic designer, so that was a big learning curve for me. I reached out to Vervante and asked a lot of questions. I had no shame, figured I was just going to keep asking questions until I figured this thing out.
There was a lot of trial and error doing it this way. I had piles of printouts everywhere as I was developing it. I had to dig deep for creativity. I really had to step out of my comfort zone and push through.
Q: What else was going on in your life at that time?
When I began developing my planner, I found out I was pregnant. I’d already set a timeline/deadline, but now I had to speed that timeline up to get the planner done before my due date. In addition to that, I had a full-time job, active in church, husband and a busy toddler getting into everything. I had to set my priorities, decline a lot of social invitations and really focus.
When I finally launched the planner, I opened preorders on a Friday and gave birth to my son two days later – 3 weeks earlier than my due date!
Q: What advice would you give to someone else wanting to create a planner or product like this?
Ask lots of questions! Make a product that you’d be comfortable using yourself and you’re proud to put out there.
Also, don’t be afraid to go with your gut. In the process of making my planner I’d get feedback that just didn’t work for my vision. I’d thank them but did what felt right to me.
Q: What are your plans for this planner?
It’s an undated planner, so I can promote it all year long. I share images from the planner on my Instagram a lot, with ideas and motivation for using it. I’m having a live launch party in August at a local coffee shop and plans for workshops using the planners starting October. I also plan on creating a men’s version next. I’ve had men interested in goal setting and wanting to use something like this, but mine is too pink and girly!
About the Designed for Vision planner
The Designed for Vision Planner is for the dreamer, the visionary, the goal getter who is ready to build great habits while also being able to plan out their days! Each page was created with the intention to help you create lasting habits and a lifestyle that will help you conquer the goals in your life. This full color planner is not only pretty in color but made to inspire you to live your best life.
We're constantly amazed by the clever, unique, brilliant and beautiful books and products our customers create. Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharon Sayler. An accomplished author, speaker and expert in courageous, conscious communication skills, Sharon had already written several books about mindfullness, communication and leadership skills when she was inspired to follow her heart and write a children's book. As she continues to work with adults to enrich their lives as business leaders and entrepreneurs, she's enjoying this new path of life enriching the lives of young readers with the book and fun products she created to go along with it.
Sharon's story
Q: What inspired you to write a children's book?
Funny you ask, one might call it a brain download more than a brainstorm. Pinky Chenille(tm) and the land of Addendale came to me in a dream three months before my first grandchild was born. I jumped up out of a deep sleep at 2 a.m., and there was Pinky and Princess Adeline, and the Color Critters all in vivid color ‘talking to me’ about the first story ‘Pinky Chenille and the Rainbow Hunters’ in the Pinky Chenille series. I immediately began to write down what I was seeing and hearing. Crazy sounding, I know! It wasn’t in early-reader rhyme like it is now, yet the story was all there. It took five years to bring it to ‘life.’
Q: What advice would you give other authors when writing their first book?
GO FOR YOUR DREAM! I struggled five years to bring 'Pinky Chenille and the Rainbow Hunters' to life, even in the face of plenty of people saying “Why?” (And to be transparent, the last four years of the ‘Pinky Chenille and the Rainbow Hunters’ saga I was recovering from a severe medical condition.) So, don’t let anything or anyone stop you when you KNOW this is what you are meant to do. With Vervante being a wise and positive team member on the Pinky Chenille team, we made it to a #1 bestseller on Amazon, got a 5-star review from Readers Favorites, 33 very positive reviews on Amazon, and have a passionate social media community – it’s just amazing.
Q: What do you love most about this book?
Shamelessly, I'm saying everything! The fun way the story and illustrations go from black and white to full color, the attached audiobook on CD so kids can listen along, the hardcover - all making it a legacy book, one that can go through many grandkids. And for Rainbow Hunters, I wanted to impart in a playful and easy to understand way values such as compassion, empathy, teamwork and especially getting along, that I feel are missing these days in so many places. During the research phase of what is children’s-early-reader-fiction and now reading to my grandchildren, I’ve been shocked at how bad some children’s books are. I've found topics that aren’t appropriate, words that little ones don’t need to hear, illustrations that are scary, etc. ‘Pinky Chenille and the Rainbow Hunters’ is a positive, fun message about getting along and how our differences are what make us stronger. Playful and easy to follow were as vital to me as the values because the book is for the 3-to-8-year-old crowd and honestly, I think regardless of age we all enjoy a book that is playful and easy to read.
About Pinky Chenille and the Rainbow Hunters
When all the Color Critters decide to hide their color, Addendale becomes a very sad and drab place indeed… Headlines everywhere read: Addendale’s been reduced to monochromatic by Color Critters!
As Princess Adeline came rushing along,
By the look on her face, something was wrong . . .
“Pinky! Pinky! Where did the colors go?
I’ve been looking high and low!”
Can Pinky Chenille and Princess Adeline bring all the colors back together and make their world a colorful, happy place again?
Perfect for reading-together-memories for years to come, Pinky Chenille and the Rainbow Hunters is printed in beautiful full-color with a hardcover and audiobook CD. With whimsical art and playful rhyming verse the main characters, Pinky Chenille and Princess Adeline, weave a fantastical tale on the importance of friendship, teamwork and getting along. Just like the classic tale ‘Wizard of Oz’ Pinky Chenille and the Rainbow Hunters starts with delightful black and white illustrations and ends in a merriment of blazing full color.
Written by Sharon Sayler, her magical story is designed to entertain and inspire young minds, stimulate their imagination, and encourage a kinder, more compassionate world. Delightfully illustrated by Olivia Cole with black and white and full-color imaginative illustrations that enchant young and old alike.
PinkyChenille.com offers free coloring and activity sheets available in PDF format so that you can download and print them over and over again. Children love repetition, and in a printable form, you never run out of their favorite activities.
Learn more
You can learn more at www.pinkychenille.com (use secret code "Friends" to save 15% if purchasing from website), and join the Pinky Chenille community on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/PinkyChenille; and via Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram at @PinkyChenille.
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Your creativity inspires us and your success deserves to be shared!
Choosing the right category for your book when you list it on Amazon is one of the best ways you can boost its visibility on Amazon. Selecting a category is like choosing where your book will be displayed in your local bookstore. Put it in the wrong place, and readers will miss it entirely. In the right place, and you'll get seen by people who may not know you, but are searching for the exact topic you're writing about.
I bet you've done some book shopping on Amazon where you searched by category, trying to find something new and exciting. You're not the only one! Many readers who shop on Amazon discover books by browsing by category. And, another bonus, if your title is assigned correctly, you'll increase the chances of it appearing in Amazon's automated marketing campaigns.
How to add Amazon book categories
Categories are added during the process of adding your book listing to Amazon. If you already have a book on Amazon, you can change or update listings as well. For full instructions and more information check out this page on Amazon's Author Central. And if you need help, one tool we've heard Vervante authors praise is called KDSpy. It's a unique software application that reverse-engineers the Kindle Marketplace to reveal lucrative Kindle keyword category niches. After all, when it comes to categories, the more specific, the better your results.
Once in awhile someone catches our attention for a number of reasons: their story, unique sales and marketing strategies, personality, or product. Today’s spotlight shines on this Vervante author who checks off all those categories and more. Dulce Johnson dreamed of creating a planner and set out to accomplish that dream with no experience at all – and with a baby on the way. We’re excited to share her story here (and you won’t believe what happened on the day she launched her planner!).
Q: What else was going on in your life at that time?
Funny you ask, one might call it a brain download more than a brainstorm. Pinky Chenille(tm) and the land of Addendale came to me in a dream three months before my first grandchild was born. I jumped up out of a deep sleep at 2 a.m., and there was Pinky and Princess Adeline, and the Color Critters all in vivid color ‘talking to me’ about the first story ‘Pinky Chenille and the Rainbow Hunters’ in the Pinky Chenille series. I immediately began to write down what I was seeing and hearing. Crazy sounding, I know! It wasn’t in early-reader rhyme like it is now, yet the story was all there. It took five years to bring it to ‘life.’
About Pinky Chenille and the Rainbow Hunters
Choosing the right category for your book when you list it on Amazon is one of the best ways you can boost its visibility on Amazon. Selecting a category is like choosing where your book will be displayed in your local bookstore. Put it in the wrong place, and readers will miss it entirely. In the right place, and you'll get seen by people who may not know you, but are searching for the exact topic you're writing about.