Award-winning author Kristin Pierce’s children’s books are full of empowering messages about finding our real-life super powers of creativity, imagination and intuition. And it’s that message the author, herself, has fully embraced by not only writing a series of children’s books, but taking the lessons learned in self-publishing and coaching others on how to bring their own story ideas to life.
“It has been a lot of work and a ton of learning, but it has been so much fun,” said Saskatchewan-based author and mother of two.
The inspiration to write a children’s story first came a few years ago when she was putting together a rhyming scrapbook for her son about his first six-months of life. The rhymes began flowing and the book ended with some empowering verses.
“I looked at those last couple pages and said to my husband, “Wouldn’t it be neat to turn these lines into an empowering children’s book?”
Pierce says she couldn’t believe she had said those words aloud. “For almost my whole life, I didn’t believe I was creative, so this idea didn’t align with who I thought I was, so I dismissed it,” she said.
But the rhymes wouldn’t stop flowing, and several months later, while her son was napping, she wrote the first draft of her first book, Your Inner Compass That Could, in an hour and a half.
You are the one who knows your true self the best
You have an Inner Compass inside of your chest
If you learn how to listen, it will be your best guide
On life’s wonderful, magical, adventurous ride
Your Inner Compass That Could was published by Tellwell in early 2018. The story encourages children to connect to and trust their inner self to guide them in life. It teaches children that there are no limits to what they can achieve and to pursue their passions and share their unique gifts with the world.
“I saw the need for children’s books with real, empowering messages about the inner self. I wanted to create a book with these lessons that I try to instill in my children, so that we could read it again and again at bedtime,” said the author.
Later on that year, Pierce published her second book, Mayva O’Meere, Creationeer which won the prestigious 2018 Nautilus Book Award!
“It felt pretty empowering and encouraging to receive this award and it is pretty surreal to see the award sticker on one of my very own books! It was reassurance that I am on the right path.”
Pierce says while winning the award is very exciting and humbling, she has no plans on slowing down.
And indeed, in this past school year alone, Pierce has visited 33 schools, presenting to 87 teachers and over 1,500 students. Recently, she drove two and half hours to visit the Kinistin Saulteaux Nation School. For most of the students, it was the first time they had ever met an author.
“I left that school visit with a full heart and felt so honoured to have been a part of it,” she said. “It is pretty incredible to empower kids through the messages in my books, while also showing them that if I can become an author out of the blue at almost 30 years of age, then they can do absolutely anything!”
Pierce’s third book, Magnus O’Meere, Mind Pioneers will be out in October, and her fourth book, Hazel Mist, Hypnotist will launch in spring 2010. She’s built a full launch team of ambassadors, mommy bloggers, influencers and fans of the Inner Compass books to help spread the word and build buzz online about her new books.
And just like in the writing and publishing of her book, her marketing skills are self-taught.
“People can’t buy your book if they don’t know it exists. You have to tell people why it matters, you have to show them the value of your books.”
“The coaching and upcoming online author courses began because I had so many aspiring authors asking for advice. Whether it was at book signings, events, or on social media, I found there are a lot of people who want to write a book but get stuck on where to begin,” said the self-publishing success.
Right now, Pierce is developing her online author courses, The Author Atlas, to give aspiring authors who want to self-publish a step-by-step
roadmap to help take them through every step from research, to writing, to editing, to planning illustrations, to setting up distribution, and beyond.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun and at the same time full of value!” she said.
It started out a mission to empower young minds to listen to their intuition and chase their dreams, and now Kristin Pierce’s inner compass is leading her to also help adults who may have lost their way and forgotten to listen to their inner voice.
Connect with Kristin on her website, Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads and Amazon!
