Let me start with the number, because it’s mindblowing: thirty-one children’s books, written in a creative sprint, published within months.
Twenty-seven of them came in fourteen days. Oh, my!
When I first read that in Kelly Anne Manuel’s bio, I assumed it was a typo, or some generous rounding, or maybe a “books in progress” situation. It was not. It’s real, and the story behind it is even more astounding.
I asked Kelly the question I think every writer secretly wants the answer to: where do the ideas actually come from?
She said she hears them. While walking the dog in her rain boots, lying awake at night, unable to sleep, moving through a hard moment.
The poems just arrive uninvited, and then she pulls out her phone and types.
One night, sleepless, she heard a line come to her: "Come to me, night quiet,” and realized the poetry was the very thing lulling her toward sleep. Her next thought: if it can settle me, why couldn’t it settle a child?
That became one of her books.
You can listen to the whole conversation on Spotify below:
Kelly has an innovative way of writing her sentences. Kelly doesn’t write “Rain Boots.” She writes The Boots Rain. Not “Good Morning” — The Morning Good. Not “Dream Catcher” — The Catcher Dream.
She flips the familiar phrase on purpose, to nudge a young mind to look at the world a little differently. It’s a tiny mechanical move with an outsized effect, and it’s the kind of thing that separates a cute children’s book from one a kid carries around the room asking every adult to read to them. (Which, she told me, actually happened with The Catcher Dream: a book about boundaries, dressed up as a nursery rhyme.)
The poems came “as easy as breathing,” Kelly said. The hard part? The synopses.
For every single book, she had to explain — in writing, to a buyer or librarian or teacher or grandparent — what the book does. The developmental work is happening under the fun. She submitted synopses for 30 books in about three weeks, and she credits her years working in preschool administration (where she had to understand early childhood development cold) for making it possible.
This is the section I’d bookmark if you’re an “unknown author” (Kelly’s words, said with zero shame, and she’s right to claim it).
A few things she’s leaned on:
Audiobooks for all 31 titles, narrated by Phil Shane, recorded through Becky Parker Geist’ s Pro Audio Voices. (Becky’s been on this very podcast — go listen!) Digital libraries around the world are picking up the audio, and Kelly’s hope is that it becomes the on-ramp that leads families to physical books.
A YouTube channel where she reads the books aloud — “try before you buy.” Decision-makers get to watch a child’s actual reaction.
Focused PR through a firm she found (Black Chateau), partly because they listed their prices publicly, which gave an unknown author the confidence to even reach out. That decision led to the LA Festival of Books (twice!) and a pre–Golden Globes gifting suite where she signed 100 books for people at the top of their game.
I asked Kelly for her one tip for aspiring authors, especially anyone eyeing children’s books. Her answer:
Silence the inner critic. Send it on a coffee break.
Clear it away, and the creativity that’s been waiting there finally gets to breathe.
And then, follow your intuition for the next step. As Kelly puts it, the roadmap is usually already there. You just can’t see it under everything piled on top.
Children’s book authors. Writers who are stuck between self-publishing and hybrid. And honestly, anyone who’s been letting their inner critic run the show long enough to keep their words off the page.
You’ll walk away with practical ideas and a mindset reset.
You can watch the whole conversation on YouTube below (If you can subscribe to my channel, I would be grateful).
The Lonely Cucumber — my latest children’s book — is now available on Amazon. It’s a multicultural illustrated story that teaches kids about healthy eating in a way that’s fun and heartwarming. Perfect for elementary-age readers, gift-giving, and classroom read-alouds.
And if you read it and love it, a quick review goes a long way toward helping more kids find it. ⭐
Until we meet again,
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