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Hello and welcome to the Little Pixie Publishing blog! Here I am hoping to write about all sorts of things to do with self-publishing, children’s books, crafts, activities, writing tips and more. Whether you’re a published author already, have a story you’d love to share with the world or are just interested in what goes on behind the scenes in the life of an indie author, I hope you’ll enjoy reading my blog posts.
For my first blog, I’m going to answer five questions - Who? How? Why? What? and Where? - about Little Pixie Publishing, so let’s jump in!
Who am I?
My name is Rosie Pickering and I am the founder of Little Pixie Publishing. I’m 28 and currently based in Leamington Spa in the UK. I have a cat called Pudding and live with my partner, Nuno, in a lovely little cottage on a farm in the Warwickshire countryside. I’m the youngest of three siblings (I have an older brother and an older sister), and as my family, including my parents, are all on the small side, we were affectionately nicknamed The Pixies years ago by other family members, and over the years it caught on! (Hence my publishing imprint - as the youngest, I am Little Pixie!).
How did I get started?
During the Summer 2020 lockdown I suddenly found myself with a lot more time on my hands than usual. I had previously been travelling all over the Midlands for work, spending hours driving to and from various locations. When all my work moved online, all of those hours were suddenly empty and, being someone who loves to keep her mind and hands busy, I had an urge to fill them with some kind of creative project. Years before, I had an idea to write a children’s story about what happens to our socks when they go missing in the washing machine (back then, I was imagining a Sock Monster!). I decided to sit down and write that story and I came up with The Socktopus. I shared the story with some friends and family and they all told me I needed to get it published! After a lot of research, I discovered the world of self-publishing and was immediately hooked. The idea of having total freedom over writing, editing, illustrating, designing and publishing a book exactly the way I wanted to was so thrilling and I jumped in head first (and in hindsight probably a little too rashly!). I published The Socktopus in October that year, and Little Pixie Publishing was born.
Why do I like being a children’s author?
I have always loved stories ever since I was a small child. Growing up, our house was full to the brim with books and I was always given the freedom to explore the shelves and choose which world I wanted to dive into next. Despite my life-long love of stories, I had never imagined myself to be a writer. I have always been quite introverted and shy, and was a little afraid of sharing my ideas with others. If I didn’t have such a supportive network of family and friends offering words of encouragement, I probably wouldn’t have been brave enough to publish The Socktopus at all! Now that I have started though, I’m hooked. I love the excitement of having a new idea, and rushing to grab my laptop or notebook or even my phone at the first opportunity to start writing it all down. But I think the highlight has got to be seeing or hearing about children enjoying my stories. Nothing beats receiving a message to say that a child has reached for my book from the shelf or requested it as a bedtime story. I even had someone write to me to say that one of their child’s first words was ‘octopus’ because of reading The Socktopus so much! It truly makes all of the hard work worthwhile and it’s what keeps me going!
What do I do when I’m not writing?
I would love to be a full-time author, and that is ultimately my dream for the future *crosses fingers*. However, I’m not quite at the stage yet where I’m making enough money from writing to pay the bills so I do have other work too. I work as a drama workshop facilitator for an organisation called SpOt Drama. We run drama workshops for people of all ages and abilities, but specialise in non-verbal workshops for people with learning disabilities and special needs. Since lockdown we’ve expanded our services so I also often do 1:1 sessions and some Makaton Singing workshops and Quizzes on Zoom. I also work one day a week at a local swimming school, Swim Works, as a Baby & Pre-school swimming teacher! When I’m not working, I love to go exploring with Nuno. Last year we bought a van which we are converting to a mini camper, so I’m looking forward to getting out and about for some trips later in the year!
Where is Little Pixie headed for the future?
Honestly? I don’t really know, and I love that! I fell into the world of self-publishing totally unexpectedly and it’s been a rollercoaster ever since. For years I had been floating between different jobs and hobbies and projects and not really feeling 100% committed to any of them. I love a lot of the work I do, but I always knew I would love to start a business from the ground up - I always wanted to create something I could call my own. Now, completely out of the blue, I’ve found it and I’m loving every second. I don’t know exactly what’s around the corner, but I know I’ve got lots more stories to share with the world and I hope that you will join me on my adventure!
Thanks for reading and see you in my next post!
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