July 17, 2024 • 22 mins
What happens when a voiceover artist for beloved children's shows like Barbie, Paw Patrol, and Dora the Explorer channels her creativity into writing? Meet Sharon Leya, our inspiring guest on the Zoomers to Boomers Business Show, who transitioned from lending her voice to iconic characters to authoring a groundbreaking 30-book series, "My Donor Story." Sharon shares her incredible journey of becoming a single mother through donor conception during the COVID-19 pandemic and how this unique experience ignited her passion for creating educational and humorous content for children. With her candid and authentic writing style, Sharon is committed to making complex topics accessible and engaging for young minds.
Join us as we unpack the evolving landscape of self-publishing, especially for niche topics and children's literature. Sharon provides invaluable insights into the importance of maintaining professional quality in self-published works to build a credible brand identity. We also discuss her other creative projects, such as "It's Not EWWWWW, It's YOU" and "Gabriel's Tooth Fairy Tale," the latter celebrating neurodiversity by featuring a child with autism. Whether you're an aspiring author or a parent eager to find innovative ways to educate your children, this episode offers a treasure trove of perspectives on creativity, publishing, and breaking stereotypes.
https://www.instagram.com/sharonleyabooks/
https://www.instagram.com/mydonorstory/
Be sure to visit BizRadio.US to discover hundreds more engaging conversations, local events and more.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Hank (00:10):
This is the Zoomers to Boomers Business Show and you're
listening to bizradious allentrepreneurs all the time.
Welcome everyone.
I'm Hank Eder, also known asHank the PR Guy, host of the
(00:31):
Zoomers to Boomers Business Show, the show formerly known as the
Home Business Success Show.
You're listening to bizradiousall entrepreneurs all the time.
Last week I spoke a little bitmore about rebranding of our
show.
I mentioned broadening ourscope to speak to entrepreneurs
(00:52):
from across all facets of thegenerational spectrum.
We'll be breaking stereotypes,encouraging genuine dialogue and
breaking through barriers toreal communication.
We'll discourage the practiceof pointing fingers of blame
across generations.
That's so yesterday and willcontinue to tread on roads less
traveled for most business shows.
(01:12):
Today's show might be one ofthose roads a little bit less
traveled.
Our guest today, sharon Lea, isa creative tinkerer and
entertainment industryprofessional with a special
focus on children's content.
For over two decades, she'slent her voice to promotions for
beloved children's shows likeBarbie, paw Patrol, Blue's Clues
(01:36):
and Dora the Explorer.
She's trained in comedic improvand the creator of two
award-winning comedy short films.
Sharon's passion for creativewriting has taken center stage
since becoming a new mom.
Notably, she's authored thegroundbreaking 30-book series my
Donor Story, designed toeducate donor-conceived children
(02:01):
about genetics, conception andfamily.
Sharon's candid writing styleeffectively engages young minds
on complex and sometimes awkwardtopics, earning her admiration
for educating while blendinghumor and authenticity.
Welcome to the show, sharon.
Sharon (02:20):
Thank you, it's so nice to be here.
Hank (02:22):
Oh, you're welcome.
It's a pleasure to have youhere.
I'm really excited about thetopic of donor-conceived
children, so you know, I'm surewe're going to be speaking a
little bit more about that, butif you would tell our listeners
what you do.
Sharon (02:38):
Well, I do a combination of different things.
If you can tell from my bio ofdifferent things.
If you can tell from my bio,I've had a career in voiceover.
I have an MBA, but I'm really Iam a creative tinkerer.
I, instead of using my money togo out and party, I've always
used it to further creativeprojects that I'm interested in,
(02:59):
even if I don't know if they'regoing anywhere.
It's a compulsion and anaddiction to for me to write, to
design ideas, to createprojects, to take roles that
spice up life in a just a moreout of the box kind of way.
(03:19):
So, oh, I had thought that Igot all of that.
I thought I got all the dingsoff my computer.
Sorry about that.
Hank (03:26):
I didn't hear that, so it's all right.
Sharon (03:27):
Okay, good, good, good, um so, um, yeah, so that is uh,
I kind of depending on the hour, I'm either working on
voiceovers or working on mybooks, or working on other
things like short films andthings like that.
Things like short films andthings like that.
Hank (03:43):
That's very cool.
I did a short film with allvolunteers about 12 years ago
for the Asheville what is thatcalled the Fringe Fest?
The Fringe Fest, but they had afamily category and we did this
little short film.
I came in at third place Nice.
But it was definitely a laborof love and it was definitely a
(04:04):
labor of all amateur people onthe production.
But man did, we have a goodtime.
It was the smallest sleuth.
Sharon (04:14):
Yes, okay, I did the 48-hour film festival when I was
living in Asheville for acouple years and, yeah, you
learn a lot about how patientyou have to be in an often time
crunched environment.
Hank (04:28):
You do, you do.
Now see, you have thecreativity addiction, which is
so much better than other typesof addictions that you could
have.
Sharon (04:37):
So, yeah, Well, I mean, depending on your account, you
know.
Hank (04:43):
Yeah, what you're accomplishing with it.
I mean, that's, that's theamazing part, anyway.
What inspired you to writechildren's books about donor
conception?
Sharon (04:53):
What inspired me is my path that I took in life.
I.
So I've always been some, likeI said, a creative tinker.
I've always been somebody who'swritten things, whether it was
like the musical in high schoolor short stories, and I remember
when I was in like fifth grade,I had written some poetry for a
local newspaper.
Like you know, just, I'vealways been sort of a writer and
(05:16):
I hadn't done much with thatother than writing some short
films.
I was mostly focused onvoiceover.
And then I hit a dead end withmy age and dating and where that
intersection comes togetherwhen you're looking to start a
family.
And I decided to use donorconception to start my own
family and had a little girl in2020 during COVID on my own,
(05:48):
during COVID on my own, andsuddenly started thinking about
how I was going to explain herlife and help her build her
identity around the idea thatshe did not know her genetics
fully.
So there wasn't really a lotout there.
As far as donor conceptionbooks for kids, there are some
beautiful books.
They were a little more floweryand I don't mean that in a
(06:11):
negative way, I just mean thatin a stylistic way.
Very beautiful stories.
Some of them wereanthropomorphic, you know some
of them are, you know, like ananimal needs an egg or a sperm
or you know things like that.
But there wasn't really likethe book that my mom read to me
when I was little, about justthe birds and the bees, like how
are babies made?
You know, like, give it to mestraight in an embarrassing way,
(06:31):
let's knock it out, get it overwith.
And I really wanted her tounderstand, like, how babies get
made and what genetics reallyare.
So trying to whittle all thatdown into a story took a lot of
focused energy, a lot of supportfrom friends and family who
were my feedback, as well aspeople across the spectrum of
(06:55):
family types.
So I consulted with two momfamilies using a sperm donor.
I consulted with two dadfamilies using an egg donor and
a surrogate, consulted with twodad families using an egg donor
and a surrogate.
You know I it was a processobviously like I started with
just my daughter, you know,single, we call ourselves single
moms by choice.
So I started with just thesingle moms by choice, getting
(07:16):
their feedback and then, youknow, spread to all these
different families andeventually it really evolved
into a story that I thought was,you know, a bite-sized lesson
for bite-sized kids inunderstanding what conception is
all about.
The good news with conceptionfor donor-conceived kids is we
never have to talk about whathappens between a man and a
woman, because everything prettymuch happens in a doctor's
(07:39):
office or a lab.
So it wasn't obviously thegraphic books from my youth, so
I it wasn't obviously thegraphic books from my youth, but
it is.
You know, it is an egg and asperm that come together,
whether that happens in a lab orwhether that happens through,
you know, an IUI.
It is life.
Is the conception happening thesame way in a different place?
(08:01):
Or I would say in a differentway in the same place, kind of
depending on how you look at it?
So yeah, once we whittled itdown, it grew and now there are
like close to 30 different booksfor all those permutations of
family.
Hank (08:15):
That's pretty amazing 30 children's books on donor
conception for the kids.
Which would bring me back to mynext question, which is who is
your primary audience for thesebooks?
Sharon (08:28):
It's really five family types, and the way that you
decide which book is yours isyou pick your family type first.
So family types would be singlemoms by choice, single dads by
choice, which is a new trend too.
There are plenty of men who aresaying you know, I haven't
found the right woman.
I want to have a child, and sothey embark on the same journey.
There's mom and dad familieswho use an egg donor or a sperm
(08:50):
donor or an embryo donor, andlet's see what else do?
We have Two moms, two dads, soI think I got them all.
So you start with the familytype and then we whittled it
down to boy and girl characterso it can be closer to the child
you're reading it to, and thenyou pick the conception type.
So some people use only an eggdonor, some people use only a
(09:11):
sperm donor and some use both,and some use embryos that are
left over from other people'sIVF journeys.
So, that being said, I thinkit's a read-together kind of
thing.
I think the target audience isthe parents, but also the kids.
It's meant to be read togetherkind of thing.
I think the target audience isthe parents, but also the kids.
It's meant to be read togetherand to open up a discussion that
(09:32):
is generally and possibly seenas uncomfortable, but giving a
child what they need to formtheir identity around donor
conception, which historicallyhas been very covered up, very
ignored and very denied.
Covered up, very ignored andvery denied.
So, story-wise it's for youngkids it's, you know, I mean,
once you're past, probably,first grade, it's not quite your
(09:55):
audience, but you know it's foryoung preschoolers, I would say
, and their parents.
Hank (10:03):
That's interesting at that age, because I see the concepts
must be a little bit out therefor them.
Sharon (10:07):
They are.
Hank (10:08):
They are.
Sharon (10:10):
I would agree with that .
But I think what we've learnedfrom speaking to donor conceived
adults because we now have thisfirst generation of donor
conceived adults is that younever want there to be a time
when a child had to learn thatthey were donor conceived.
So there's a phrase used oftenwhich is you know early and
(10:40):
often talk about it early andtalk about it often being read
to at three than when they'rebeing read to at five.
But it's planting the seed ofthem never having to find out
and always understanding thattheir genetics may not be fully
from one or both their parents.
Hank (10:54):
I see, well, you know, it kind of reminds me of how I
might have taken something likethat way back in the day.
I mean, I think I got all theway to fifth grade before I
actually came to the realizationthat storks don't really have
anything to do with babies.
Those times, I think, were alittle bit more carefully
guarded and they were probablyin some areas a little more
(11:17):
innocent and in some areas alittle more repressed.
I would absolutely agree.
Sharon (11:22):
And look, there are still people who don't believe
that, they don't want to telltheir kids that their donor
conceived and I don't makejudgments on that because
everybody has their path.
But the evidence that seems tobe coming out from the few
studies we have and fromcertainly from like what's the
word?
Not observational data butanecdotal- but anecdotal
(11:43):
anecdotal yeah, from anecdotaldata from people who are donor
conceived, I felt that it wasprobably best to follow that
lead.
For now.
It seems to be that this iswhat's best for donor conceived
kids.
Secrecy is different thanprivacy.
It's still okay to keep mattersin a family private, but
keeping secrets implies shame,and shame is never good for a
(12:04):
child or for a family.
Hank (12:06):
You got that right.
For sure, for sure.
Why did you choose toself-publish these books?
Sharon (12:12):
So publishing has taken a really interesting turn in
recent years.
Self-publishing used to kind oflike, have a sort of
connotation of like, oh, oh, youhave to self-publish, oh,
nobody's interested in yourworks, or whatever.
It's really really changed.
As you know, the economy is sointernet-based now.
(12:32):
There's so many entry points,there's so many freelancers out
there that you, if you have abusiness sense about you, you
can hire the same freelancersand use the same systems that
publishers are using.
And I felt like, well, with thisparticular book because I have
(12:53):
gone on to write more mainstreambooks but starting with this,
it made no sense for me tosearch for a publisher or an
agent because it's so niche,they know they're not going to
be looking.
Generally speaking, I mean, I'msure there are some niche
publishers but they're notlooking.
I mean, money is the bottomline for any kind of business to
thrive.
So I thought you know why?
(13:15):
Why, if I can do it myself,would I spend time trying to get
somebody interested insomething that's so niche and is
only for a very specificaudience?
And with Amazon, amazon has aservice called Kindle Direct
Publishing that allows you toupload your book and they will
print it for you on demand.
So that was my first entry pointand then, when it came to my
(13:38):
more mainstream titles, I justkind of felt like, well, I know
how to do this, I know how toprint books in China.
I have a distributor who canget them out to bookstores and
get them in the catalogs forbookstores to order them.
So I guess because, maybebecause I have an MBA and maybe
because I want to have morecontrol this is the route that
for now made the most sense tome.
(13:58):
But I do have a very firmalmost irritating to my
freelancers goal of not lookingwhat you would consider
self-published.
I want to look as good and asprofessional as any other book
on the shelf in Barnes Noble.
So that's my goal.
Hank (14:14):
I would think that's very important.
I don't know what yourfreelancer says, but I would
find that very, very, veryimportant, because the quality
that is portrayed even bysomething as obvious as the
front cover, or even the wholecover, the back cover, the spine
when you've got something thatlooks sharp and professional,
(14:34):
people are going to take it alot more seriously than if it
looks like something that wasslapped together.
So that, to me, would bestrange advice.
If somebody is telling you thatyou don't need to be as
professional as you're, asyou're wanting to be, I think we
all need to be moreprofessional, even than we
ourselves believe that we shouldbe.
Sharon (14:52):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I'm sure that there are things that
I could learn, you know, thingsthat I might need to tweak, or
I might one day look back, likeright now I'm redoing my donor
story covers because they justweren't quite professional
enough.
Looking for me, you know.
So, you know, and it's aninvestment, it's a decision Will
the book sell without, you know, a fancier cover?
(15:15):
Maybe, but do I feel good aboutit?
No, not if I'm reallyestablishing myself as a
publishing company, even if I'monly publishing right now my own
books.
So, you know, it's an aestheticdecision and a business
decision.
I'm sure there are some booksthat are shoddily done that just
sell really well, becausethere's always that.
(15:35):
There's always sort of, youknow, those statistical
anomalies where the messaging isgood and maybe it's not done so
well, but it's just verypopular.
But that's not a brand that Iwant to.
You know, that's not my brandidentity, I guess.
Hank (15:51):
You must be faithful to yourself and to your brand
identity.
Now, if you would tell us alittle about your mainstream
children books, one, I think,has a pretty funny title it's
not EW, it's EW.
Yeah, you did a great job,thank you.
Sharon (16:05):
Maybe you should read the audio book for me.
Hank (16:07):
There you go and Gabriel's Tooth Fairy Tale.
Sharon (16:11):
Yeah, so Gabriel's Tooth Fairy Tale.
I started working on that like20 years ago when I was stuck
explaining to my little nephewswhat the tooth fairy does with
all the teeth, and at the timethere weren't really a lot of
books about it.
Now there's like a zillion, butI just never got anywhere with
it.
And, as you know, I used tolive in Asheville and I got to
(16:34):
know, I got to serve as aco-content creator on the TEDx
Asheville conference with awoman named Jennifer Saylor and
Jennifer, and I found thespeakers and helped, you know,
create the TED conference.
And one day I said to her canyou help me finish this Tooth
Fairy book?
And that was in 2011.
And it sat and it stagnated fora while.
(16:56):
We put it on YouTube.
I made like a sort of like avideo, you know version of it
where you just, you know,panning through the Ken Burns
effect through the pages, but Inever really felt like it was
complete.
So we actually, once I learnedhow to do all this, then I
understood that we could finishit.
So we actually just finishedGabriel's Tooth Fairy Tale years
(17:17):
later and we made some veryspecific changes to it.
We Gabriel is the first that weknow of child with autism to
grace a Tooth Fairy book and heuses his very unique focus and
mind to help the Tooth Fairy andwe have really emphasized the
gift of the NeuroSpicy mind andspectrum that you know, that it
(17:43):
can be a key to exploring theuniverse in different ways and
we've tied that into the.
You know the concept of growingup and what it means to lose a
tooth.
So Gabriel's Tooth Fairy Taleis on Amazon and soon to be.
I will soon be publishing it,or printing it, rather, through
my Chinese printers and sendingit to my distributor and
(18:05):
starting to make contact withbookstores.
And yeah, so that's Gabriel'sTooth Fairy Tale.
We're really proud of it.
Hank (18:11):
Very, very cool.
And the other one it's Not you,it's you.
Is that right?
What is that about?
Sharon (18:18):
So it's Not you, it's you is a hopefully hilarious to
my readers, hopefully hilariousbook told by a professor, a
female sheep professor, whosomewhat resembles Einstein, who
loves Einstein.
She is a you, and peoplecommonly mispronounce her name
(18:40):
as you, people commonlymispronounce her name as ooh,
and she has a lesson to tell,which is it's not ooh, it's you,
which is a very nicecoincidental double entendre,
because the book is about allthe gross things that your body
spews and drips Cool, very cool.
And the phrase comes from mydad's experience as a science
(19:01):
teacher to young children.
He was a doctor for 30 yearsand then got into teaching with
my nephews when he was younger.
He used to volunteer and thenhe you know his little science
classes turned into like a fullcurriculum, and when the kids
were grossed out by something inthe body, he would say it's not
you, it's just who you are,it's you.
(19:21):
So I've sort of adapted mydad's classroom catchphrase to
this character Professor you,who just geeks out on all the
things related to the body.
And so this book is abouteverything from mucus to earwax
to blood, to poop and pee andall the stuff kids love.
Hank (19:41):
Very, very cool.
Yeah, kids would really getinto that.
You know it's amazing.
Time has been flying by andwe're almost out of time.
If you could give one bit ofadvice to somebody who wanted to
be a children's book author,what would you tell them?
Sharon (19:55):
Oh gosh, let me see.
Well, it's easier than ever,but try to learn as much as you
can about doing it in a way thatgives dignity to the tradition
of high quality children's bookpublishing.
And really, you know, learn asmuch as you can about the
business.
Learn as much as you can and Isay this as someone who's
(20:17):
continuing to learn and does nothave all the information or the
knowledge and won't for manyyears learn and does not have
all the information or theknowledge and won't for many
years, and you know, really diginto the process.
Join organizations that helpfurther professional development
writing skills, understandinghow to work with your
freelancers and, you know, makeit a professional endeavor.
Hank (20:35):
Very, very cool If you would please tell our listeners
the best way to get in touchwith you and if they'd like to
buy your books.
Where do they go?
How do they find them?
Sharon (20:45):
Right now all the books are on Amazon.
Soon to be in bookstores,hopefully by the fall.
You know it's pretty easy tofind.
You know the books for DonorConception are under my Donor
Story.
If you search you'll see thatseries and Gabriel's Tooth Fairy
Tale, and it's Not you whichhas four W's.
They're all up there.
If anyone has any questions,they can email me.
(21:06):
Is there a place for you to putthat on your page or do I need
to speak it out loud?
Hank (21:11):
We'll speak it and we're going to put it in the show
notes anyway.
Sharon (21:14):
Okay, Right now mail at SharonLeacom will work M-A-I-L
at SharonLea, L-E-Y-Acom.
Hank (21:20):
All right, well, thank you so much for being here with us
today.
I wish we had more.
Yeah, I wish we had more time,because this subject to me is
very, very fascinating.
And to our listeners, join usnext Wednesday on the Zoomers to
Boomers Business Show righthere on bizradious.
(21:41):
As you go about your day, Iwant to remind you practice
kindness, it's the greatestuniter this world has ever known
.
I'll see you again next week.
This is Hank Eder, wishing allof you a fabulous and productive
day.
This is the Zoomers to Boomers Business Show and you're
listening to bizradious allentrepreneurs all the time.
Welcome everyone.
I'm Hank Eder, also known asHank the PR Guy, host of the
(00:31):
Zoomers to Boomers Business Show, the show formerly known as the
Home Business Success Show.
You're listening to bizradiousall entrepreneurs all the time.
Last week I spoke a little bitmore about rebranding of our
show.
I mentioned broadening ourscope to speak to entrepreneurs
(00:52):
from across all facets of thegenerational spectrum.
We'll be breaking stereotypes,encouraging genuine dialogue and
breaking through barriers toreal communication.
We'll discourage the practiceof pointing fingers of blame
across generations.
That's so yesterday and willcontinue to tread on roads less
traveled for most business shows.
(01:12):
Today's show might be one ofthose roads a little bit less
traveled.
Our guest today, sharon Lea, isa creative tinkerer and
entertainment industryprofessional with a special
focus on children's content.
For over two decades, she'slent her voice to promotions for
beloved children's shows likeBarbie, paw Patrol, Blue's Clues
(01:36):
and Dora the Explorer.
She's trained in comedic improvand the creator of two
award-winning comedy short films.
Sharon's passion for creativewriting has taken center stage
since becoming a new mom.
Notably, she's authored thegroundbreaking 30-book series my
Donor Story, designed toeducate donor-conceived children
(02:01):
about genetics, conception andfamily.
Sharon's candid writing styleeffectively engages young minds
on complex and sometimes awkwardtopics, earning her admiration
for educating while blendinghumor and authenticity.
Welcome to the show, sharon.
Sharon (02:20):
Thank you, it's so nice to be here.
Hank (02:22):
Oh, you're welcome.
It's a pleasure to have youhere.
I'm really excited about thetopic of donor-conceived
children, so you know, I'm surewe're going to be speaking a
little bit more about that, butif you would tell our listeners
what you do.
Sharon (02:38):
Well, I do a combination of different things.
If you can tell from my bio ofdifferent things.
If you can tell from my bio,I've had a career in voiceover.
I have an MBA, but I'm really Iam a creative tinkerer.
I, instead of using my money togo out and party, I've always
used it to further creativeprojects that I'm interested in,
(02:59):
even if I don't know if they'regoing anywhere.
It's a compulsion and anaddiction to for me to write, to
design ideas, to createprojects, to take roles that
spice up life in a just a moreout of the box kind of way.
(03:19):
So, oh, I had thought that Igot all of that.
I thought I got all the dingsoff my computer.
Sorry about that.
Hank (03:26):
I didn't hear that, so it's all right.
Sharon (03:27):
Okay, good, good, good, um so, um, yeah, so that is uh,
I kind of depending on the hour, I'm either working on
voiceovers or working on mybooks, or working on other
things like short films andthings like that.
Things like short films andthings like that.
Hank (03:43):
That's very cool.
I did a short film with allvolunteers about 12 years ago
for the Asheville what is thatcalled the Fringe Fest?
The Fringe Fest, but they had afamily category and we did this
little short film.
I came in at third place Nice.
But it was definitely a laborof love and it was definitely a
(04:04):
labor of all amateur people onthe production.
But man did, we have a goodtime.
It was the smallest sleuth.
Sharon (04:14):
Yes, okay, I did the 48-hour film festival when I was
living in Asheville for acouple years and, yeah, you
learn a lot about how patientyou have to be in an often time
crunched environment.
Hank (04:28):
You do, you do.
Now see, you have thecreativity addiction, which is
so much better than other typesof addictions that you could
have.
Sharon (04:37):
So, yeah, Well, I mean, depending on your account, you
know.
Hank (04:43):
Yeah, what you're accomplishing with it.
I mean, that's, that's theamazing part, anyway.
What inspired you to writechildren's books about donor
conception?
Sharon (04:53):
What inspired me is my path that I took in life.
I.
So I've always been some, likeI said, a creative tinker.
I've always been somebody who'swritten things, whether it was
like the musical in high schoolor short stories, and I remember
when I was in like fifth grade,I had written some poetry for a
local newspaper.
Like you know, just, I'vealways been sort of a writer and
(05:16):
I hadn't done much with thatother than writing some short
films.
I was mostly focused onvoiceover.
And then I hit a dead end withmy age and dating and where that
intersection comes togetherwhen you're looking to start a
family.
And I decided to use donorconception to start my own
family and had a little girl in2020 during COVID on my own,
(05:48):
during COVID on my own, andsuddenly started thinking about
how I was going to explain herlife and help her build her
identity around the idea thatshe did not know her genetics
fully.
So there wasn't really a lotout there.
As far as donor conceptionbooks for kids, there are some
beautiful books.
They were a little more floweryand I don't mean that in a
(06:11):
negative way, I just mean thatin a stylistic way.
Very beautiful stories.
Some of them wereanthropomorphic, you know some
of them are, you know, like ananimal needs an egg or a sperm
or you know things like that.
But there wasn't really likethe book that my mom read to me
when I was little, about justthe birds and the bees, like how
are babies made?
You know, like, give it to mestraight in an embarrassing way,
(06:31):
let's knock it out, get it overwith.
And I really wanted her tounderstand, like, how babies get
made and what genetics reallyare.
So trying to whittle all thatdown into a story took a lot of
focused energy, a lot of supportfrom friends and family who
were my feedback, as well aspeople across the spectrum of
(06:55):
family types.
So I consulted with two momfamilies using a sperm donor.
I consulted with two dadfamilies using an egg donor and
a surrogate, consulted with twodad families using an egg donor
and a surrogate.
You know I it was a processobviously like I started with
just my daughter, you know,single, we call ourselves single
moms by choice.
So I started with just thesingle moms by choice, getting
(07:16):
their feedback and then, youknow, spread to all these
different families andeventually it really evolved
into a story that I thought was,you know, a bite-sized lesson
for bite-sized kids inunderstanding what conception is
all about.
The good news with conceptionfor donor-conceived kids is we
never have to talk about whathappens between a man and a
woman, because everything prettymuch happens in a doctor's
(07:39):
office or a lab.
So it wasn't obviously thegraphic books from my youth, so
I it wasn't obviously thegraphic books from my youth, but
it is.
You know, it is an egg and asperm that come together,
whether that happens in a lab orwhether that happens through,
you know, an IUI.
It is life.
Is the conception happening thesame way in a different place?
(08:01):
Or I would say in a differentway in the same place, kind of
depending on how you look at it?
So yeah, once we whittled itdown, it grew and now there are
like close to 30 different booksfor all those permutations of
family.
Hank (08:15):
That's pretty amazing 30 children's books on donor
conception for the kids.
Which would bring me back to mynext question, which is who is
your primary audience for thesebooks?
Sharon (08:28):
It's really five family types, and the way that you
decide which book is yours isyou pick your family type first.
So family types would be singlemoms by choice, single dads by
choice, which is a new trend too.
There are plenty of men who aresaying you know, I haven't
found the right woman.
I want to have a child, and sothey embark on the same journey.
There's mom and dad familieswho use an egg donor or a sperm
(08:50):
donor or an embryo donor, andlet's see what else do?
We have Two moms, two dads, soI think I got them all.
So you start with the familytype and then we whittled it
down to boy and girl characterso it can be closer to the child
you're reading it to, and thenyou pick the conception type.
So some people use only an eggdonor, some people use only a
(09:11):
sperm donor and some use both,and some use embryos that are
left over from other people'sIVF journeys.
So, that being said, I thinkit's a read-together kind of
thing.
I think the target audience isthe parents, but also the kids.
It's meant to be read togetherkind of thing.
I think the target audience isthe parents, but also the kids.
It's meant to be read togetherand to open up a discussion that
(09:32):
is generally and possibly seenas uncomfortable, but giving a
child what they need to formtheir identity around donor
conception, which historicallyhas been very covered up, very
ignored and very denied.
Covered up, very ignored andvery denied.
So, story-wise it's for youngkids it's, you know, I mean,
once you're past, probably,first grade, it's not quite your
(09:55):
audience, but you know it's foryoung preschoolers, I would say
, and their parents.
Hank (10:03):
That's interesting at that age, because I see the concepts
must be a little bit out therefor them.
Sharon (10:07):
They are.
Hank (10:08):
They are.
Sharon (10:10):
I would agree with that .
But I think what we've learnedfrom speaking to donor conceived
adults because we now have thisfirst generation of donor
conceived adults is that younever want there to be a time
when a child had to learn thatthey were donor conceived.
So there's a phrase used oftenwhich is you know early and
(10:40):
often talk about it early andtalk about it often being read
to at three than when they'rebeing read to at five.
But it's planting the seed ofthem never having to find out
and always understanding thattheir genetics may not be fully
from one or both their parents.
Hank (10:54):
I see, well, you know, it kind of reminds me of how I
might have taken something likethat way back in the day.
I mean, I think I got all theway to fifth grade before I
actually came to the realizationthat storks don't really have
anything to do with babies.
Those times, I think, were alittle bit more carefully
guarded and they were probablyin some areas a little more
(11:17):
innocent and in some areas alittle more repressed.
I would absolutely agree.
Sharon (11:22):
And look, there are still people who don't believe
that, they don't want to telltheir kids that their donor
conceived and I don't makejudgments on that because
everybody has their path.
But the evidence that seems tobe coming out from the few
studies we have and fromcertainly from like what's the
word?
Not observational data butanecdotal- but anecdotal
(11:43):
anecdotal yeah, from anecdotaldata from people who are donor
conceived, I felt that it wasprobably best to follow that
lead.
For now.
It seems to be that this iswhat's best for donor conceived
kids.
Secrecy is different thanprivacy.
It's still okay to keep mattersin a family private, but
keeping secrets implies shame,and shame is never good for a
(12:04):
child or for a family.
Hank (12:06):
You got that right.
For sure, for sure.
Why did you choose toself-publish these books?
Sharon (12:12):
So publishing has taken a really interesting turn in
recent years.
Self-publishing used to kind oflike, have a sort of
connotation of like, oh, oh, youhave to self-publish, oh,
nobody's interested in yourworks, or whatever.
It's really really changed.
As you know, the economy is sointernet-based now.
(12:32):
There's so many entry points,there's so many freelancers out
there that you, if you have abusiness sense about you, you
can hire the same freelancersand use the same systems that
publishers are using.
And I felt like, well, with thisparticular book because I have
(12:53):
gone on to write more mainstreambooks but starting with this,
it made no sense for me tosearch for a publisher or an
agent because it's so niche,they know they're not going to
be looking.
Generally speaking, I mean, I'msure there are some niche
publishers but they're notlooking.
I mean, money is the bottomline for any kind of business to
thrive.
So I thought you know why?
(13:15):
Why, if I can do it myself,would I spend time trying to get
somebody interested insomething that's so niche and is
only for a very specificaudience?
And with Amazon, amazon has aservice called Kindle Direct
Publishing that allows you toupload your book and they will
print it for you on demand.
So that was my first entry pointand then, when it came to my
(13:38):
more mainstream titles, I justkind of felt like, well, I know
how to do this, I know how toprint books in China.
I have a distributor who canget them out to bookstores and
get them in the catalogs forbookstores to order them.
So I guess because, maybebecause I have an MBA and maybe
because I want to have morecontrol this is the route that
for now made the most sense tome.
(13:58):
But I do have a very firmalmost irritating to my
freelancers goal of not lookingwhat you would consider
self-published.
I want to look as good and asprofessional as any other book
on the shelf in Barnes Noble.
So that's my goal.
Hank (14:14):
I would think that's very important.
I don't know what yourfreelancer says, but I would
find that very, very, veryimportant, because the quality
that is portrayed even bysomething as obvious as the
front cover, or even the wholecover, the back cover, the spine
when you've got something thatlooks sharp and professional,
(14:34):
people are going to take it alot more seriously than if it
looks like something that wasslapped together.
So that, to me, would bestrange advice.
If somebody is telling you thatyou don't need to be as
professional as you're, asyou're wanting to be, I think we
all need to be moreprofessional, even than we
ourselves believe that we shouldbe.
Sharon (14:52):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I'm sure that there are things that
I could learn, you know, thingsthat I might need to tweak, or
I might one day look back, likeright now I'm redoing my donor
story covers because they justweren't quite professional
enough.
Looking for me, you know.
So, you know, and it's aninvestment, it's a decision Will
the book sell without, you know, a fancier cover?
(15:15):
Maybe, but do I feel good aboutit?
No, not if I'm reallyestablishing myself as a
publishing company, even if I'monly publishing right now my own
books.
So, you know, it's an aestheticdecision and a business
decision.
I'm sure there are some booksthat are shoddily done that just
sell really well, becausethere's always that.
(15:35):
There's always sort of, youknow, those statistical
anomalies where the messaging isgood and maybe it's not done so
well, but it's just verypopular.
But that's not a brand that Iwant to.
You know, that's not my brandidentity, I guess.
Hank (15:51):
You must be faithful to yourself and to your brand
identity.
Now, if you would tell us alittle about your mainstream
children books, one, I think,has a pretty funny title it's
not EW, it's EW.
Yeah, you did a great job,thank you.
Sharon (16:05):
Maybe you should read the audio book for me.
Hank (16:07):
There you go and Gabriel's Tooth Fairy Tale.
Sharon (16:11):
Yeah, so Gabriel's Tooth Fairy Tale.
I started working on that like20 years ago when I was stuck
explaining to my little nephewswhat the tooth fairy does with
all the teeth, and at the timethere weren't really a lot of
books about it.
Now there's like a zillion, butI just never got anywhere with
it.
And, as you know, I used tolive in Asheville and I got to
(16:34):
know, I got to serve as aco-content creator on the TEDx
Asheville conference with awoman named Jennifer Saylor and
Jennifer, and I found thespeakers and helped, you know,
create the TED conference.
And one day I said to her canyou help me finish this Tooth
Fairy book?
And that was in 2011.
And it sat and it stagnated fora while.
(16:56):
We put it on YouTube.
I made like a sort of like avideo, you know version of it
where you just, you know,panning through the Ken Burns
effect through the pages, but Inever really felt like it was
complete.
So we actually, once I learnedhow to do all this, then I
understood that we could finishit.
So we actually just finishedGabriel's Tooth Fairy Tale years
(17:17):
later and we made some veryspecific changes to it.
We Gabriel is the first that weknow of child with autism to
grace a Tooth Fairy book and heuses his very unique focus and
mind to help the Tooth Fairy andwe have really emphasized the
gift of the NeuroSpicy mind andspectrum that you know, that it
(17:43):
can be a key to exploring theuniverse in different ways and
we've tied that into the.
You know the concept of growingup and what it means to lose a
tooth.
So Gabriel's Tooth Fairy Taleis on Amazon and soon to be.
I will soon be publishing it,or printing it, rather, through
my Chinese printers and sendingit to my distributor and
(18:05):
starting to make contact withbookstores.
And yeah, so that's Gabriel'sTooth Fairy Tale.
We're really proud of it.
Hank (18:11):
Very, very cool.
And the other one it's Not you,it's you.
Is that right?
What is that about?
Sharon (18:18):
So it's Not you, it's you is a hopefully hilarious to
my readers, hopefully hilariousbook told by a professor, a
female sheep professor, whosomewhat resembles Einstein, who
loves Einstein.
She is a you, and peoplecommonly mispronounce her name
(18:40):
as you, people commonlymispronounce her name as ooh,
and she has a lesson to tell,which is it's not ooh, it's you,
which is a very nicecoincidental double entendre,
because the book is about allthe gross things that your body
spews and drips Cool, very cool.
And the phrase comes from mydad's experience as a science
(19:01):
teacher to young children.
He was a doctor for 30 yearsand then got into teaching with
my nephews when he was younger.
He used to volunteer and thenhe you know his little science
classes turned into like a fullcurriculum, and when the kids
were grossed out by something inthe body, he would say it's not
you, it's just who you are,it's you.
(19:21):
So I've sort of adapted mydad's classroom catchphrase to
this character Professor you,who just geeks out on all the
things related to the body.
And so this book is abouteverything from mucus to earwax
to blood, to poop and pee andall the stuff kids love.
Hank (19:41):
Very, very cool.
Yeah, kids would really getinto that.
You know it's amazing.
Time has been flying by andwe're almost out of time.
If you could give one bit ofadvice to somebody who wanted to
be a children's book author,what would you tell them?
Sharon (19:55):
Oh gosh, let me see.
Well, it's easier than ever,but try to learn as much as you
can about doing it in a way thatgives dignity to the tradition
of high quality children's bookpublishing.
And really, you know, learn asmuch as you can about the
business.
Learn as much as you can and Isay this as someone who's
(20:17):
continuing to learn and does nothave all the information or the
knowledge and won't for manyyears learn and does not have
all the information or theknowledge and won't for many
years, and you know, really diginto the process.
Join organizations that helpfurther professional development
writing skills, understandinghow to work with your
freelancers and, you know, makeit a professional endeavor.
Hank (20:35):
Very, very cool If you would please tell our listeners
the best way to get in touchwith you and if they'd like to
buy your books.
Where do they go?
How do they find them?
Sharon (20:45):
Right now all the books are on Amazon.
Soon to be in bookstores,hopefully by the fall.
You know it's pretty easy tofind.
You know the books for DonorConception are under my Donor
Story.
If you search you'll see thatseries and Gabriel's Tooth Fairy
Tale, and it's Not you whichhas four W's.
They're all up there.
If anyone has any questions,they can email me.
(21:06):
Is there a place for you to putthat on your page or do I need
to speak it out loud?
Hank (21:11):
We'll speak it and we're going to put it in the show
notes anyway.
Sharon (21:14):
Okay, Right now mail at SharonLeacom will work M-A-I-L
at SharonLea, L-E-Y-Acom.
Hank (21:20):
All right, well, thank you so much for being here with us
today.
I wish we had more.
Yeah, I wish we had more time,because this subject to me is
very, very fascinating.
And to our listeners, join usnext Wednesday on the Zoomers to
Boomers Business Show righthere on bizradious.
(21:41):
As you go about your day, Iwant to remind you practice
kindness, it's the greatestuniter this world has ever known
.
I'll see you again next week.
This is Hank Eder, wishing allof you a fabulous and productive
day.
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