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Writer's pictureIsabel Pfister

Back to School, Back to Busy

I love summer. No school means I get to sleep a little more, and work in my studio a lot more. Combining back to school with launching a new book makes things even more busy.

A lot of work goes into my chosen career (well both of them). An author plans, writes, and revises in cycle until the manuscript is ready to send to publishers. An illustrator turns the author's visions into reality, and hopefully they match. That gets a little less complicated but a lot more work when the author and the illustrator are the same person. I can't illustrate as fast as I used to, because of my disability. So, my own pace isn't very fast - one or two pages of illustration per day. There is nothing like the feeling, though, of seeing a new book put to bed, as the saying goes.

A tricky balancing act is treating an author's work like a business. Something that I do to monetize my imprint is selling and promoting all my books at local farmers markets. This year I got my dream of having two markets going in a season. I am blessed with a family who helps me set up and take down the booth materials. Summer is my husband's busy season, as he works in a casino not far from here. But he makes time to help with my market booth, because the canopy, tables and everything else are a bit heavier than I can manage by myself. I enjoy the time outside, meeting young readers and giving out coloring pages to those children that want them. I have to reassure a few parents when their kids come running up to hug me because they know me from school. This season I have also seen a few teacher friends who I haven't seen in a while. All in all, I have had a very enjoyable farmers market season.

In between markets, I educate myself with online courses in writing, marketing, editing. Using things that I learn to improve my business gives me a feeling of hope and accomplishment. This past week I attended an online summit that gave me something more valuable - it gave me the encouragement to keep going with how I have been doing things.

Now that school has begun again, market season is drawing to a close. The cool thing there is that I will get to see all my young friends again. And this year, when the kids ask if I have written any new books, I can tell them I have, as well as starting another one. Nine titles on the bookshelf, soon to be ten - not bad for a summer's work. My schedule is going to be fuller than ever, but it's full of the people I love to be with and the places I love to go.

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