Writing And Marketing Diverse Books For Children With Ada-Ari

How can you create an ecosystem of children's books around a central idea? How can you market books for children? Ada-Ari talks about how she writes, publishes and markets her children's books based on African folk tales and African languages in the USA.

In the intro, Court blocks the PRH S&S; merger [PublishersWeekly]; Spoken Word Audio report; Amazon Prime includes 100m songs [TechCrunch]; Spotify pulls audiobook purchases on Apple [The Verge]; Changes to Twitter Blue [The Verge]; Facebook and Instagram are introducing digital collectibles – yes, NFTs. [FB] Join me for Your Author Business Plan Live.

This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. 

Ada-Ari is the author of books for children, including The Spider's Thin Legs, and The Turtle's Cracked Shell, as well as language learning books for African languages.

You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. 

Show Notes

* Creating books for children as a connection to African cultural heritage* Finding an illustrator outside the usual freelance platforms* Working with a printer and distributor vs. print-on-demand* On book sales expectations vs. reality* Marketing books for children in schools and stores* What keeps us going when the going gets tough* Turning a book idea into a much bigger vision for a creative business with a mission

You can find Ada-Ari at Ada-Ari.com.

Header image generated by Joanna Penn with DALL-E2.

Transcript of Interview with Ada Ari

Joanna: Ada-Ari is the author of books for children, including The Spider's Thin Legs, and The Turtle's Cracked Shell, as well as language learning books for African languages. Welcome, Ada.