Today we’d like to introduce you to JoAnn Wagner.
JoAnn, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My author journey started in May 2014 when a little pink stress ball pig was given to us by Pastor Aaron Escamilla at New Community Church in Mesquite. We were asked to take the little pig around with us over the summer and post pictures of our travels… sort of like Flat Stanley! I asked people if I could take their picture with the pig and post it to Facebook. No one turned me down! They loved my pig, who by then I had named Sir Pigglesworth. I posted the pictures on Facebook and added a short funny sentence or two about what he was doing. Strangers on Facebook started telling me their kids were following Sir Pigglesworth’s adventures around Texas and couldn’t wait to hear more. And a STAR WAS BORN!
One day, an idea popped into my head… this story would make a great book with Sir Pigglesworth as the star. Next thing I know, I’m writing my first book, looking for an illustrator, figuring out how to get it published and wondering if anyone would even buy it. My little pink friend became an unstoppable force and changed my life. I fast-tracked my retirement after being in the medical field for 35 years and became a full-time author. It has certainly been an exciting change of lifestyle for me.
My series of eight books (so far) for children ages 6-10 have delighted kids at schools, libraries, churches, etc. where I do readings and talk to the students about my author journey and do creative writing workshops for older classes.
All eight of my books have won major local and national first-place awards and I’ve been featured in Story Monsters, Ink magazine and on various radio shows, podcasts, and YouTube videos.
My journey is continuing for more books in the works and I’m looking forward to creating another series of picture books for younger kids. Stay tuned!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Definitely not a smooth road. Many mistakes were made along the way and lots of them very expensive. My husband decided he was going to be my publisher and taught himself everything he knows. He’s done a great job of publishing and marketing my books.
My first issue involved finding the right illustrator for my books. After trying eight different ones, I found David Darchicourt. David understood my vision for Sir Pigglesworth right away and is a very creative, superb illustrator. Kids just love the illustrations as they are very captivating and engaging. They can almost make up their own story about Sir Pigglesworth just by looking at the pictures.
Another issue was marketing. An author doesn’t just write the book and expect it to sell itself. We need to get the word out. That’s where my husband comes in. He spent days and weeks doing the research and attending marketing conferences to learn what it takes to market a book. We joined the Texas Authors Association and also attended their many excellent marketing conferences. The struggle is real and ongoing to this day but we’re definitely getting the hang of it now.
We’d love to hear more about your company.
Sir Pigglesworth Publishing, Inc. is the guiding hand behind me, the author. The company does the branding for me and also helps other authors put their foot in the publishing world.
Part of publishing is doing the layout for the printers… they are very specific and have to fit within their footprint for the pages. My husband taught himself everything he needs to know to bring my books to print… and he’s done an amazing job!
We had to research to find the best printer for us at a decent price so each book sale can make a profit. So, we help other authors by sharing what we’ve learned… there’s no competition among self-published authors, we’re here to support and encourage each other.
What were you like growing up?
From a young age, I was a reader. I was very shy (have since gotten over that!) and didn’t like to be around a lot of people. So, I was always sitting in a corner curled up with a book when I wasn’t outside riding my bike or playing dodge ball or hopscotch with the neighborhood kids.
Unfortunately (or very fortunately) for me, I had a very large, loud Italian family who were extroverted and very touchy… always hugging and kissing. So thankfully, I eventually got over being shy but always kept my love for books and the written word. Books were my escape. Reading, English and creative writing were my favorite subjects but still, I never considered I would become an author. Imagine my surprise when I found out writing for a living was something I could do. All thanks to a little pink pig.
Pricing:
- Individual signed book ordered from my website www.sirpigglesworth.com $8.95
- Boxed set of all 8 books from my website $45.00
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sirpigglesworth.com
- Phone: 214-476-1065
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: jojo51251
- Facebook: facebook.com/joann.g.wagner or facebook.com/sirpigglesworth
- Twitter: @AuthorJ_Wagner
- Other: www.joannwagner.com
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