My guest this week is Edward Trayer, but many schoolchildren, parents and teachers know him by the name Billy Bob Buttons.

Edward went through a few incarnations before he settled on this persona, from a teacher to a pilot, but he found his life's calling when he brought the joy of reading and writing to children.

Edward is also a fierce advocate for indie authors, launching an award that recognizes self-published authors in a way that does not just take their money.

So, here's the story of Billy Bob Buttons.

Every week I interview a member of ALLi to talk about their writing and what inspires them, and why they are inspiring to other authors.

Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need.

And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org.

About the Host

Howard Lovy has been a journalist for more than 30 years, and has spent the last six years amplifying the voices of independent publishers and authors. He works with authors as a book editor to prepare their work to be published. Howard is also a freelance writer specializing in Jewish issues whose work appears regularly in Publishers Weekly, the Jewish Daily Forward, and Longreads. Find Howard at howardlovy.com, LinkedIn and Twitter.