Welcome to SCBWI-MI's Book Birthday Blog!

Where we celebrate new books from Michigan's authors, illustrators and translators.

Congratulations to Pria Dee on the release of Sport It! Stay Fit!

This is your second book to release this year and another one is on the way. How do you stay organized with several books scheduled to launch the same year?

It is complex to coordinate multiple books, especially with my second book Sport It! Stay Fit! is self-published, which means I am responsible for getting the edits, illustrations, cover, and interior design for Epub, Print, ISBN, and set up on Amazon KDP, and Ingram and any marketing done. I credit my awesome editor Sandy Fuller, creative illustrator David Lock and designer Michael Hercock for keeping me on task and schedule. Couldn’t do it without them.

You seem to generate many story ideas. What method do you use to gather ideas and how do you decide which ones are worth pursuing?

I try to work off my observations. Many times, things I see or that inspire me, register during the day and will develop into an idea at night. I keep a notepad handy and write them down. I am strongly inspired by nature and very often a rhyme or story develops during my 4-mile walks in the summer. I come back and write it down. I don’t develop them into a book right away, however. I let the ideas germinate for a few weeks and if I still feel strongly about them, I flesh out the story and develop it into a book.

Your love of animals and children inspire many of your books. Is there a particular author who has inspired you or influenced your craft?

I loved both A.A. Milne and Beatrix Potter growing up and both wrote about nature. I remember reading them to my children and still own copies of their work that I read now and again.

What are your marketing plans for the book and where can we find your books?

I plan to get reviews through Kirkus Reviews and Reedsy Discovery. I have used Next Step PR once before and may do so if they have availability to do a book launch. In addition, I plan to do a Goodreads giveaway for Father’s Day to generate reviews. I may also run Father’s Day ads on Facebook and Amazon as this book is a great one for dads to read to their kids as it’s all about sports. Of course, I will try to spread the word on social media as well.

What's next for you?

I hope to release one more book in the fall about a little gosling who needs to migrate before Winter. I am working on illustration ideas with a new illustrator for this book and am very excited about it. I am also working on the third book in my Billy and Molly series.

I have a Fantasy Young Adult book in the works, which is progressing very slowly.

A little bit about the book . . .

A read-aloud rhyming book on all the sports you can play to stay active and fit features very active dinosaurs in action.

Publisher: Boomi LLC

A little bit about the author . . .

Pria Dee is an Indian American author, who lives in Michigan. She has published several children’s books based on her own experiences and observations. Her love of animals and children is the focus of many of her books. Learn more about Pria at: https://www.priadee.com/

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