We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lulu Buck. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lulu below.
Lulu, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?
I do wish I had believed in myself earlier. I wished that I believed that I truly was creative and that I am a writer. I had a manuscript 23 years ago that finally came to life this past year. “Magical Golden Whistle” was born from a childhood dream of mine. As a little girl, I would sit by my window and imagine a magical pegasus coming to carry me wherever I wanted to go. Flying in my imagination was freedom. It was possibility. It was joy. That story became my escape then, and now it’s a joyful escape for children today. It’s fun to read it and do all the magical activities with kids. In that sense, yes, I sometimes wish I had released it sooner.
But I also deeply trust the process and the timing of my journey.
My identity as a children’s book author truly was solidified during COVID, when writing once again became my escape. This time, as an adult, navigating grief, uncertainty, and isolation was heavy. What began as survival turned into purpose. The years I spent as an educator, as a mother, as a woman navigating the loss of her spouse, and as someone committed to equity all shaped the writer I eventually became. Had I started earlier, I might not have had the depth, perspective, and courage that now live inside my stories.
So while part of me wishes I had stepped into this sooner, I also know I arrived exactly when I was meant to. And now, I write with confidence, clarity, and a deep understanding of the children I hope to serve.
Lulu, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
For those who may not know me, my name is Lulu Buck. I am a children’s book author, public educator, and the owner of Buck’s Books Consulting. I am also a first-generation American, a mother of two incredible sons, and someone who came to this industry not through a traditional publishing pipeline, but through lived experience, courage, and a deep belief in children.
I spent over 25 years in education, serving schools and districts across Colorado and working deeply in equity, family engagement, and student belonging. Long before I officially called myself an author, I was writing curriculum, training content, reflections, and state-wide documents. My debut book, “Sue’s Sky”, and its Spanish counterpart, “El Cielo de Susana”, was a story I had imagined for educators. It finally came to life during one of the most difficult seasons of my life. Writing became my healing space. It became my way to process grief, identity, and hope, and in doing so, I realized I wasn’t just writing stories. I was building bridges for children.
Through Buck’s Books Consulting, I provide author visits, professional development, equity-centered training, and curriculum-connected literacy experiences for schools. My books are not just read-alouds. My books are tools. They open conversations about acceptance, identity, bias, kindness, belonging, and emotional intelligence. I also create companion lesson plans and interactive activities that give educators tangible ways to extend the learning beyond the page.
This year is especially meaningful for me. I am releasing “Sue’s Sky Second Edition”, which continues to center acceptance and community, and is a book that builds on the original release. It will contain all the lesson plans that are written for parents to understand and will include more skies. The additional skies will be a deep conversation about the diversity of children. But wait!, There is more! The second book I am releasing this year is called “The Boy with the Black Heart”. This is a story about a mean little boy whose heart turns black from unkind choices, and how, with the guidance of his mother, he learns that apologizing, repairing harm, and choosing kindness are what keep his heart warm and happy. That story is deeply rooted in the social-emotional work I’ve done with children. It addresses behavior in a way that is honest, compassionate, and growth-centered rather than shame-based. Both books will have activities and discussion questions to explore with children.
What sets me apart is that I have been the educator in the classroom, the district leader in hard conversations, the grieving widow navigating her kids parenting during a pandemic, and the mother advocating for children to feel seen. My books are layered because my life has been layered. Children feel that authenticity they connect with it, and I connect with children.
I am most proud of the fact that children genuinely love my stories. Adults sometimes underestimate books that are simple, imaginative, and heartfelt, but children don’t. They see themselves in my characters. They engage. They open up. And when a child tells me, “I felt what you wrote,” I know I am doing exactly what I am meant to do.
I want potential clients, followers, and families to know that my brand is rooted in heart, courage, and action. I believe in helping children become thoughtful, kind, self-aware human beings. I believe stories can shape culture inside classrooms and homes. And I believe that when we give children language for their emotions and tools for repair, we are strengthening entire communities.
I am not just selling books. I am cultivating conversations. I am creating spaces where children feel valued. And I am building a body of work that helps bring out the very best in them because that has always been my mission. It is truly an honor to be part of a classroom or a child’s library at home.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
No, my side hustle has not turned into my full-time gig… yet.
Right now, I am still deeply rooted in education, and that work continues to shape me and inform everything I write. But writing and building Buck’s Books Consulting is absolutely the work I want to be doing full-time. It’s not just a hobby or a passion project, it’s my calling.
I’m intentionally building it with the hope that, when I retire from public education, this will be my full-time focus. I want my days to be spent writing stories, creating meaningful lessons for children, visiting schools and libraries, and developing tools that help educators build classrooms rooted in belonging and emotional intelligence. I want the freedom to imagine more, publish more, and expand the impact of my books without the limitations of time.
In many ways, my “side hustle” is really my heart’s work. It may not yet be my primary source of income, but it is absolutely my primary source of creative energy and long-term vision. I believe with consistency, growth, and community support, it can become what I see so clearly in my future.
Either way, I will keep writing. I will keep creating. And I will keep building toward that full-time dream because this is the work I am meant to do. Someday…
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
I know I need to leverage social media more. A student once told me that I needed to start reading and sharing my books on YouTube. She said she follows a variety of authors and that she would absolutely follow me. It was such a simple comment, but it stopped me in my tracks. Here was a child, my actual audience, giving me better marketing advice than any workshop I had attended. It’s still one of my favorite pieces of feedback I’ve ever received.
Being self-published and self-made means I wear every hat of author, marketer, event coordinator, curriculum designer, invoice writer, and website updater. There isn’t a big publishing house behind me managing campaigns or securing shelf space. Sometimes it feels like I’m building the plane while flying it. Social media has always felt vulnerable to me. Writing a book feels brave, but promoting yourself publicly? That’s a different kind of courage.
That student’s YouTube comment still lingers in my mind. It represents the next risk I need to take, showing up more visibly, trusting that children and families want to hear directly from me. Marketing, for me, isn’t about selling copies. It’s about connection. It’s about letting kids see the author behind the story and realize their ideas matter too.
As a self-made author, I’m still learning. I don’t always know the “right” strategy. But I do know this: every time I’ve taken a risk rooted in authenticity, it has led to growth. And sometimes the best marketing advice comes from the very children I write for.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lulubuck.org/
- Instagram: @suessky
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BucksBooksConsulting
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lourdes-lulu-buck-84372910a?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fr.search.yahoo.com%2F
- Twitter: @C_lu_lu
