Let’s take a look back at some of the highlights from our journey!!
July 15, 2021 - I took the incredible leap of faith (after contemplating for a very long time) to register Aspenne’s Library as a business with the State of Connecticut! Thanks a ton to the motivation from @shesbasically who put together an all female entrepreneur (and aspiring entrepreneur) event called She Brings the Table!! Yall the anticipation of inspiration in that room was enough to push me forward!!
August 2021 - I hired my first illustrator!! Then my second and third immediately after!! I actually hired Anastasiya Rudyk who has done the artwork for all four of my books … 👀 Yes TWO new books soon come … before I even hired the artist for my logo. Thats how passionate I was about releasing “Down South for the Summer” to the world!
September 2021 - My logo artist submitted not 1 but 4 mockups for the young girl character I wanted to represent Aspenne’s Library. From there, I actually did the remainder of the work to create my own logos. Canva has been critical to Aspenne’s Library performance!
October 2021 - Though I initially invested in August and started the process in September, in October 2021 I was knee deep into a course, affectionately known as PAB or the Publishing Agency Blueprint. This course was my investment into the education I needed to help others become published authors under the guidance of Aspenne’s Library. Remember, a pillar of our mission is to provide Black and brown stories…but that doesn’t mean they all need to come from me!!
November 2021 - I released my first book baby to the world “Down South for the Summer” and yall rocked my launch!! You all helped me surpass my goal of 100 books pre-ordered in one month!! It was heartwarming to say the least!!
December 2021 - It wasn’t all glitz and glam yall!! Amazon KDP cancelled my bulk book order without notification on THE DAY I expected to receive the order. I was devastated!! I had customers who specifically placed orders for the holidays and I couldn’t deliver. This first failure made me shut down and doubt myself and this business.
January 2022 - The bulk order was delayed and not denied!! Aspenne and I received the order right at the beginning of January and we were both elated to have physical copies in hand and finally get the books out to our customers!!
February 2022 - I did my first IG live with @leapforwardbooks and yall the nerves almost took me out! Deborah is a pro interviewer though and meeting with her just before the live really helped me loosen up. This first IG live really sparked something in me to start putting myself and my business out there!! I’m nervous every time, but the nerves subside much more quickly with each business engagement.
March 2022 - I had my very first IN-PERSON book signing for Black Children’s Book Week, thank you to @bekeasy!! For real the support has been unreal and Bekah has been amazing at highlighting our people in her role as the Program Director for the Arts Council of Greater New Haven. She has literally been cherry picking the talented and artistic people right from my hometown (New Haven) and spotlighting us!!! Makes me so proud to see it!
April 2022 - I released the pairing Activity & Coloring book to Down South for the Summer and again, the support was amazing!! Returning customers! Bulk orders! Donations to my graduating 5th graders! You all outdid yourselves!! 🤎🤎
May 2022 - My illustrator started submitting artwork for our upcoming children’s book titled - “Aspenne Colors the Neighborhood” ❤️🧡💛💙💚💜 Surprise!! That’s the title of our new children’s book which will be released late summer/early fall. This is a book about colors made specifically for the tots who, like Aspenne, are learning to identify colors in real life!! Stay tuned for the pre-order to come very soon!!
June 2022 - In addition to fulfilling end of the year bulk orders for my 5th graders, kindergarteners, and second graders (ahhh the joy 🥰) - I secured my very first publishing client for Aspenne’s Library!! My first client has an amazing story to tell and she, like me, was inspired to write this story about her child! We are underway in the process and my team of illustrators, designers and formatters are already getting to work!!
I’d say we’ve had a very full and fulfilling year!! Excited to see what year two brings!!
Head over to the Shop to grab something from our ONE YEAR birthday sale!