My family and I self-published a children’s book
Introducing "Terra The Turtle: A Journey Through The Waves"
Happy Friday everyone! This has been a big week for my family! We have self-published our first children's book, Terra The Turtle: A Journey Through The Waves. You can read and support us on Amazon, Etsy, and Shopify!
If you're surprised that I haven't mentioned it before, I understand. I'm also surprised at the timing. I'm usually a planner (I plan 5 years, 1 year, 1 month, every morning), but this wasn't the plan for summer 2023 (I shared about my plans in earlier blog posts. I honestly changed it up.) I genuinely thought it would be years before I could call myself a published children's author.
Let me backtrack.
I have always wanted to write children's books.
I love children. Seeing them smile is the best feeling in the world.
As a child, I learned how to speak English by reading and annotating every single book that came my way. I would look up words in my dictionary. I was a shy kid, especially when I needed to speak in English, and books really helped me.
I believe mental health tools need to be taught at a much younger age than when I learned them.
And I already know which topics I will write about. A few include:
The refugee experience
Dealing with chronic pain
Helping kids with ADHD tendencies
Helping kids with OCD tendencies
Searching for joy
Still, I imagined this happening way later in my life, after I grew my following as a writer and people stopped referring to me as a "little girl."
Life is constantly changing, and when change happens, you need to adjust your expectations accordingly.
Recently, a big change happened in my family when my father was laid off. Fortunately, it was not a personal decision, as there was a large layoff at his company. However, since he had worked there for over 20 years, it was still a difficult adjustment and a sad situation for our whole family. In fact, his manager was sobbing and could barely get the words out.
On a positive note, my dad is an expert at publishing, with over 20 years of design experience, focusing on internationalization and accessibility, which is very important. He is currently taking coding classes to become even more technical and is eager to find his next full-time role. If you have any advice or can help him in any way, I would greatly appreciate it.
My family is quite resilient; we know how to stick together when things get tough. When faced with challenges, we ask ourselves, "What can we do now to add positive energy back into the world?"
In this case, we decided to create and publish a children's book.
Despite my dad's busy schedule of learning new skills and building his portfolio, he still has more free time than when he worked his full-time job. So, for once, we had the opportunity to work on a project together as a family. We created something that holds a special place in our hearts.
Terra The Turtle: A Journey Through The Waves tells the story of a sea turtle who must leave her home to find safety in a new place. Terra is a refugee, just like my family.
Let me go back even further. For generations, my family has been forced to leave one place or another. As for myself, I came to America as a refugee with nothing but my family – no English, no belongings, nothing. Most of our possessions and money remained in Russia. Although it has been difficult to save money and build a good life here, it is still better than where we came from. I used to simplify things by saying that I moved from Russia, but now I speak the truth: "I escaped a place that was harmful to me and my family.”
Unfortunately, there are not enough children's books available to help kids who are either children of refugees or refugees themselves. Growing up, I had none. As a result, I couldn't relate to many characters in stories.
Our goal is to change this and help these children feel less isolated in their experiences.
We also aim to teach them emotional resilience during times of change and the importance of being open-minded about new communities.
We have completed the first two steps:
We created the first version of the book.
We have received approval for this version of the book on Amazon. Additionally, we have made it available on Etsy and Shopify for those who prefer to shop smaller.
So that’s the update! I’m a published author now. I even have an Amazon author page.
What's next?
One plan is to use the proceeds from book sales to provide books for those who cannot afford them. We aim to distribute books to refugee children, stock free libraries found on the streets, and support schools and libraries.
We also have a few more exciting plans in progress, but I won't reveal them just yet. 🤫
How can you help 🙏?
First and foremost, you can support me by subscribing or staying subscribed to this newsletter and being a part of my community. Thank you so much for being here.
I will continue to write about my usual topics here, and occasionally update you on the progress of my book. I will go back to being funnier, I promise! Turns out, layoffs aren’t very funny. Anyways,
There are several ways to support my family and our mission:
Purchase the paperback or Kindle version of the book on Amazon. It's the fastest way to introduce new readers to the book. You can also share a copy with a child or add it to a free library near you!
I can’t ask for reviews so I will not be doing that.
Buy merchandise created by my little sister, such as stickers and puzzles, on Etsy.
Follow our Instagram account, Talk to Terra, for cute content and behind-the-scenes glimpses of us working on the book.
Provide advice on self-publishing or book marketing!
Check out updates to my website, Katya Cares, and let me know if you have any feedback. Does it scream “I’m a children’s author?”.
Let me know if you come across any remote job openings related to internationalization, localization, or accessibility.
Reply with any ideas relating to our mission of helping children, especially refugee children.
If nothing else, I appreciate you sending good vibes my way! Fortunately, I still have my job, so I have been working on Terra during early mornings and late nights, which has resulted in sleep deprivation. However, it's worth it as I believe in spending time with family and our mission to help communities like ours. After all, people are more important than jobs, places, and things.
With gratitude,
Katya and the Kats family
I am very proud :)