A huge part of small business ownership is taking the leap of faith and starting the small business. That is exactly what Jill Fanning did. Jill is the mom of Palmer and wife to Bret and they live in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Jill took a leap of faith in 2023 and turned a children’s book idea into a reality. Jill and I connected in 2023 because she had asked me about the book writing process my mom and I went through a few years before. We loved connecting over children’s book writing and all of the possibilities that go along with that.
Jill credits her daughter Palmer for implanting the idea of an unlikely friendship between a bear and a giraffe as the inspiration for the book. One day she was watching her daughter play with two stuffed animals: a bear and a giraffe. Jill’s mind began thinking of what an unlikely friendship that would be. A bear who lives in the forest and a giraffe who lives in the savanna.
From there she began drafting A Giraffe in the Forest story. When it was written she sent it off to an editor to review. The editor completely marked red all over it and left Jill feeling very discouraged. She didn’t touch the book for three months.
Her prior elementary teaching experience reminded her that she used to do a similar thing to her student’s writing. Going through the editing process is part of writing a story, even though it is a harsh hit to the ego sometimes. Eventually Jill made the corrections and sent it back to the same editor who then said, “you have your book!”
Jill was excited and began the long and tedious process of self-publishing. She found an illustrator from England and several other helpful sources to help her complete the process.
Interested in writing a book? Jill recommends:
- Getting your words down on paper. Changes will come later, but it’s important to get the ideas down on the page first.
- Set a budget for yourself and prepare to supply the front-end costs.
- Talk to other authors and educate yourself on the process through podcasts, research and publishing sources.
Jill’s book A Giraffe in the Forest will be available early February 2024. She is excited to take this book to elementary schools and around Wyoming. This book will also be the start of a larger series related to unlikely friendships. The next book in the series will come out in June 2024.
Jill can be found at jillianfanningbooks.com and on Instagram @jillianfanningbooks.
Want to learn more? Here is a list of more book related posts from Murphy:
Our Journey to Writing a Children’s Book
10 Things I Learned from writing a Children’s Book
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