Over a decade ago, Aviva decided to self-publish children’s stories she had written far in the past. One called Chloe and the Belly Beast which is still unpublished. Another, Mort the Fly, was published with illustrations by one artist, then republished with illustrations by another artist.
Aviva had been a fast food worker, a data entry clerk, a secretary, a project manager, a real estate agent, a day trader, a mom, a grandma — everything but a publisher. She decided she had enough work and life experience to publish children’s books. How hard could it be?
A lot harder than thousands of people annually pumping out children’s books understand. Early on (2013), Aviva began hosting a contest, The Gittle List, for self-published children’s picture book authors. The idea was to run the contest and offer free advertising on social media. She tried to get other authors to understand the power of cross-marketing. Many just didn’t get how it worked. Ultimately, she closed down the The Gittle List.
Aviva still dreams that her books will somehow land on Oprah’s desk and the world will know how wonderful her books truly are. How she hired multiple professional editors to review each book and true artists to illustrate them. Meanwhile, she tries to help other indie children’s picture book authors publish high-quality children’s books by providing honest critiques of their work. (Learn more: https://gotogittle.com/free-kids-book-reviews/.)
Aviva is proud of the books she has published. Especially the Kitten and Friends storybooks. There are a total of seven stories in the series — and most are also available in Spanish. (Professionally translated, of course.) She’s still working on the last two stories — written over 10 years ago. Kitten & Monkey and Kitten & Kin. They are edited and illustrated, but still don’t feel ready. When she’s happy with them, she will publish them.
Finally, Aviva is working on a middle-grade novel with the working title Quentin and the Quantum Quilt. Someday…
You can find all of Aviva’s books on Amazon.
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