You can see the book on Amazon:
The text of the eBook was written about two years ago. It tells the story of a visit the Pismo Beach Monarch Grove at Pismo State Beach, a California State Park. Rocko teaches Joy all about monarch butterflies, their amazing migration, and what we can do to help them survive.
It took forever to get the book done. I ended up using DALL-E for some of the illustrations, along with photos taken by me and our lovely family friend and talented photographer, Cari Addy. Amazon allows people to self-publish using KDP.
The process to publish was interesting to navigate. My goal is to have several Joy Discovers books about nature and science. Hopefully this blog post can help others follow their dreams as well!
In Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) you can early royalties for each book sold. Amazon takes a large cut (much more that you make) because they have the audience and the ability to print on demand. Interestingly, the book went live and my mother received her first copies before I received my author's proof. In the future, I will delay publishing until I've received and reviewed the print version! I still don't have it in hand - it just shipped yesterday.
Payment of the royalties is strange as well. They are paid 60 days after the month ends - so any royalties earned in July (now) are paid out at the end of September - but only if they meet the minimum threshold of $100 (as of this blog post - July 2023).
Now the book is out there - and so is my name. It feels a little exposed, but I guess is only fair, since Rocko and Joy are named often in this blog!
If you want to read the blog post about Monarch Butterflies, check it out here.