“What’s Your Story?” is a guest post feature on BCBA’s blog. Indie/Self-Published authors are invited to write about their books, writing journey, creative process, inspiration, rewards and challenges of publishing, etc. They can go in whatever direction they choose. We are excited and grateful for their willingness to share, and we hope you enjoy R. Anderson’s story. Go here for more WYS? posts.
It was the end of an exhausting day. I am the mother of four children, my youngest being a boy named Sammy, who was two years old at the time. I was beginning the potty-training stage all over again. Fun, right?? Maybe not so much fun at all. Thoughts of the day raced through my mind, so I grabbed my pen and notebook and wrote them down. I documented everything that happened that day with regards to my quest to potty train my two-year-old. Once my thoughts were complete, I laid down for a goodnight’s rest. A thought came to my mind: what if I documented all the “major” events that would happen in Sammy’s life? I always take photographs or videos, but I never wrote them down. From that moment forward, I would carry a pen and my notebook with me everywhere we went.
My notebook was filled with so many memories regarding my children’s daily life moments.
Then I began to think to myself, “Ok, I have all of these memories, but what do I do with them?” Writing was always a passion of mine, but I could never pinpoint what I wanted to write about. It was the moment I was reading a bedtime story to Sammy, and my best idea came to me. I can write children’s books centered around these events I have documented. This would be really cool because not only do I get to do what I love, but the characters in the book will also be my family, inspirational, and Black characters. I wrote the book, edited it, had it illustrated, and named it Sammy Goes to the Potty.
“Now what? Where do I go from here?” Then life happened.
You know life, right? The “working mother of four” life! The “procrastination” life! The “doubting yourself” life! Yes, that was all me. Through the years, I would read about the steps to self-publishing and put some of what I learned into action, but I still did not have that focal point. I was very unmotivated and kept thinking to myself, “it will eventually happen.” There were people in my life who read the book and thought it was awesome, and from time to time, would ask me about it. I always had excuses until eventually, Sammy Goes to the Potty was nothing more than a document housed on my computer, never to see the light of day. Fast forward eight years later, and everything would come together.
It was December 27, 2020, and my family and I were celebrating my daughter’s 15th birthday. We had our normal ice cream and cake at my house. When the festivities began to wind down, we started talking about our lives and what we had planned going into the new year. My brother, who is my biggest motivator, started two companies, Won Management and Anderson Investments. The family couldn’t have been prouder of him. When asked about my book, my response was, “I am almost there.” I asked him if he knew anyone who was into publishing. His words were, “Yes, actually I do.” He called someone who would change my life forever, J. Cerrone of Paper-Chase Publications. J. Cerrone has a program called “Do for Self.” This is a mentor program, where J. Cerrone teaches, mentors, and motivates you on how to start your own publishing company and self-publish your book(s). This was all new and moving really fast, but I was ready for the challenge.
I started the program in January 2021, and by the end of January, my publishing company was born—SFW Publishing LLC. I was ecstatic, to say the least, but we had to keep moving forward. By March 2021, I published my first book Sammy Goes to the Potty, through my very own publishing company. In April 2021, I hosted my book launch. As you can imagine, I was very nervous and filled with anxiety, but I had a great deal of support which ultimately made me feel at ease. Sammy Goes to the Potty was no longer a document to be housed on my computer; it is now an amazing book to be shared in households all over the world.
R. Anderson is a native of the city of Philadelphia and a proud mother of four. Her children’s books are inspired by her personal experiences rearing her own children, and Sammy Goes to the Potty is the debut story in her children’s books series. The second book in the Sammy series, A New Puppy for Sammy, will be released in August 2021 by SFW Publishing LLC, which was founded to accurately represent the experiences of Black and brown children. R. Anderson has big aspirations for her company and for the culture, including an entire line of children’s books and an animated series.
Connect with R. Anderson & SFW Publishing LLC
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