Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharmilla Fassbender

Hi Sharmilla, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

Before having children of my own, I used to work in the Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) field with kids on the autism spectrum. The focus of this therapy was to help children with skills, emotions and behaviour necessary for their development. However, when I become a mother, I wanted to be home with my children during their formative years. As the years went by, I found myself missing some of the aspects of the line of work I was in. This is when I decided I wanted to write children’s stories. It gave me the opportunity to flex those muscles! Books for Growing Minds is a collaborative effort between my sister Sharminey, and myself.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

As a self publishing author, I have found the writing process to be the easiest part. There is definitely a learning curve when it comes to figuring out the technical side of things, post writing.
From marketing strategies, publishing platforms, content creation for social media and everything in between, it takes a lot of research and time. Having said that, I’m now that much more knowledgeable. It is really fascinating to know the ins and outs of the writing industry in its entirety, and I’m still learning everyday. Learning equals growth and that is always exciting!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

We knew we wanted to have social emotional learning (SEL) and growth mindset themes in our stories. It is really important that our stories empower children especially in different social scenarios they might find themselves in. We also believe in the power of read alouds and hope our stories creates strong bonds between children and their grownups.
We published our debut book Making Friends Together – a board book themed around making someone new feel welcomed, in 2023. It won the Golden Wizard Book Prize and was also Finalist for Book of the Year in the 0-5 age category.
We have just launched our 2nd book titled Fantastically Me!, a receipient of the Golden Wizard Book Prize 2024, award. It is targeted towards 4-10yo age range and is themed around believing in your own abilities. We think this is an important topic given the information age we’re living. It has never been easier to compare oneself to others. This book hopefully reminds them (and grownups too) that we are enough exactly as we are.
We have done numerous readings in USA, Australia and Malaysia in schools, daycares, libraries and bookstores. This is a very enjoyable part of being an author as we get to see first hand how our target audience takes to the book and it has always been a lot of fun!
We post on our socials regular. Besides updates on our books, we share read aloud tips and feature books from other authors that we enjoy with our children too.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?

I believe the self publishing route is getting more and more popular especially with Print on Demand (POD) services available now. There are advantages and disadvantages with everything of course, but I do think the advantages outweigh the latter. Having said that, a lot of time and work goes into it. Self publishing gives me opportunity to be in charge of all aspects of the book, including the timeline of its release. Through research, networking, webinars and YouTube videos, I have been able to gather all sorts of information to help with my self publishing journey. I do believe more and more authors will choose this route in the years to come.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bfgminds.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bfgminds?igsh=MXI4bzNqbmM3bmdw
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bfgminds?mibextid=ZbWKwL