Today, we’d like to introduce you to Renee Hayes.
Hi Renee, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Before becoming a business owner and author, I was an elementary teacher for 15 years. During that time, my travels worldwide inspired The Teacher Tourist, LLC brand. This is my brand of teacher resources where literacy and travel meet.
An extension of that brand is my author brand, Renee Hayes Books. This came after years of saying, “I wish I had a book for that!” when teaching. I finally took a leap of faith and wrote my first book, The Gingerbread Twins, in 2020.
It was released in 2022, along with one new book a year since then. I love being able to excite children about reading and writing at school author visits or book events. That’s really the best part of my job!
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I always try to repeat the phrase “If it was easy, then everyone would do it” on days when things are hard. And yes, there are days when it feels like I am permanently on the struggle bus!
I joke with people that my job feels like 5% writing and 95% business. That means I wear a lot of hats, and most people don’t realize all that goes into being an indie author. In addition to learning how to form a business, I’ve had to learn how to market, advertise, promote, seek out events and opportunities that align with my goals, hire the right people (such as illustrators), and so on.
The biggest hurdle was learning how to find the best offset printing company for my hardcover print run. Not only is that an upfront investment, but the quality has to be superior. I’m not someone who cuts corners and will research things for hours until I get an answer. I guess being a perfectionist has its perks sometimes!
However, I can say that these hurdles and learning curves have helped me immensely and I’m honored to now be coaching other authors through these same things!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Absolutely! In addition to being a self-proclaimed book nerd, I’m also a sucker for awesome children’s books. I guess that’s one of the reasons that motivated me to write my own books. I have probably read over 1,000 children’s picture books in my career. I think I’m the most proud of writing books that haven’t been done before.
I wanted to put a new spin on what my books represented and spread cheer to readers of all ages. And I’ll admit, I wrote these with my “teacher brain,” so there are a lot of skills sprinkled in that will help teachers teach their curriculum in one book. That’s what sets me apart from others, in addition to writing book companions for each of my books.
Something fun that I’ve been working on lately is a product line of teacher humor journals. They have been a blast to make, and watching teachers chuckle at the shared inside joke phrases has been the best feeling ever. These bring some much-needed levity to their day!
My books have been featured in Kirkus Reviews magazine and won a handful of awards, but those pale in comparison to meeting a young reader at an event and watching them hug your book as they walk away. That is the reason I continue to write!
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I think people would be surprised to know that I’m an introvert or maybe more of an ambivert. Oh, and that I don’t drink coffee… that one always surprises many people!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.reneehayesbooks.com
- Instagram: @reneehayesbooks
- Other: @the.teacher.tourist
