We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jennifer Morhaime. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jennifer below.

Hi Jennifer, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Facing your fear is the biggest success you can have. Our fear holds us back from our dreams and goals reaching success. The fear of what is on the other side? Marketing or selling ourselves and opening us up to judgment and criticism. This is something I talk about when I share my story. I have suffered from severe anxiety for most of my life. I hid behind my smile and sports and later jobs, but my writing was my escape. It helped me face fears I had deep down. The world faced a huge fear when the pandemic hit and many of us realized how thankful we are for our lives and our families and friends. Life is short and living in fear is a dark place. If we go after our dreams and goals we’ll feel the success within us and hopefully will see it in other too.

Jennifer, 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?

My name is Jennifer and I’m a children’s book author. I’ve been writing creatively for over 30 years. I started writing as a way to cope with my anxiety. An emotional release for things that I couldn’t otherwise articulate. As a mother of two young boys I was reading tons of picture books and started noticing some flaws. Dark imagery with dark font, swirling fonts that made it hard to decipher the letters and just overall topics that were missing. I had writing Effie Goes to School back in 2008 before being a mom, but after a few years trying to find a way to publish it I put it to the side. After losing my brother in 2019 and then having the pandemic struck, I realized that life is short. I realized that if I never faced my fear of putting myself out there, I’d never reach my dream of being a published author. So I set a goal to find an illustrator, and finally publish this first book. After seeing sales rise, I was flooded with inspiration and J Morhaime Books was born. In 2.5 years, I now have 5 published books, 1 coloring book and 3 toy items selling on a daily basis. My Effie’s Adventures series help kids learn problem solving, inclusion, and include kid friendly characters, bright colors, easy fonts and a few recipes too. Sweet Halloween was written when I was in high school and when I re-discovered it in an old writing journal, I knew it would be a great book for kids and parents alike. It also gave me a vehicle to support a charity that is very important to so many. The book is now endorsed by JDRF and 10% of sales go back to JDRF to help find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

As a published author, I get to help kids open their eyes to creativity, facing struggles and teaching literacy. I love visiting schools and having the kids ask questions about the journey. The reactions as I read to them make all the hard work worth it. If you have a dream, go after it and make it happen.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

When I first set out to become a published author, I just wanted to realize a dream, and so I started the Independent journey using my personal funds. I was hesitant about spending a lot because I just didn’t know what would happen. But I owed it to myself and my brother (who was a dreamer, risk taker and entrepreneur) to make it happen. I found my illustrator online and within 4 months I had a book up on Amazon. After seeing the first book sell fairly well I decided I needed more and knew this was going to take more. When I decided to print offset in China I knew the financing would be a little more difficult. I ended up running a Kickstarter Funding Campaign to help fund this larger investment. Something I learned from my father is that if you want a successful business you have to put your blood, sweat and tears into it. Take ownership and take risks. And with losing my brother I look to him as my “Angel” investor helping me live out my dreams. The books are selling and my assortment is growing but in this industry it can take 3-5 years to see a profit (2-3 if you only have 1 or 2 books). But you got to spend money to make it and illustrations, printing, advertising, selling/promoting all cost money. Just keep looking forward and the profits will come in.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Honestly face to face events. When I visit a school, do a book fair, have a booth at a vendor market, that’s when I make the most. Hearing my story and connecting it to my end consumers truly is the most rewarding. When a child lights up from an illustration, or wants to take a photo with my Effie cutout, I know I have a captive audience. Independent authors get lost in the sea of Amazon and Celebrity turned authors. We get lost on a shelf at a library. But when you can do an in person event that is the best form of growth. It is even sweeter when a customer already knows about your product too. I also do a lot on social media and have grown a great following there.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jmorhaimebooks.com
• Instagram: effies_books
• Facebook: Jennifer Morhaime Author
• Linkedin: Jennifer Morhaime
• Youtube: jmorhaimebooks

Image Credits
Kristina Pearl Photography