Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sarah Allison. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sarah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success looks and sounds differently for everyone. In order to be truly successful at something I believe you have to be passionate about it. You must have a drive to continue to grow and improve, and care about the quality and impact of what you are doing.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am an author, elementary school teacher, and a “big goal” person. I grew up in Southern California and currently live in Houston, Texas with my husband and 2 daughters.

I began my teaching journey in 2005, and accomplished my first big goal in 2010 when I taught in a rural village in Ghana, West Africa. I wanted to see and experience the realities of education in a community and culture unlike my own. The experience changed me, to say the least. I will always hold that place, and those students, in my heart. I now have over a decade of teaching experience and hold an M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction.

Fast forward 10 years to summer 2020, in the heart of a global pandemic, and I found myself ready to tackle my next “big goal”- becoming an author. I always knew I wanted to write children’s picture books, but the ideas that came and went never seemed quite right. During those months at home when the world seemed closed, it all came together. My first book poured out of me, and I found myself jotting, writing, and typing in a blur of ideas of inspiration. I was inspired to write my first book, Each of Us, by the unique friendship between one of my daughters and her 4 friends. I find that most of my writing is inspired by my work as a teacher and by being a mother.

After writing I began to explore the world of publishing. There are many paths to becoming a published author, but for me, maintaining creative freedom over the characters and illustrations in my books was immensely important. I ultimately decided to start my own publishing company to maintain that creative freedom over my work. The characters and stories are deeply personal to me, and I wasn’t willing to risk having them changed just to have my stories published. Now that I have my own publishing company I am able to hire editors, illustrators, and designers that make the most sense for each individual project.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

B+A Stories began as a love of picture books. I truly believe that children’s books provide a unique opportunity to expose our youngest readers to big ideas, life lessons, and new topics in an age appropriate way. They can be an entry point for incredible lessons and discussion, and because I firmly believe this, I was willing to invest in publishing stories that matter to me. My belief in the impact children’s books have is what continues to drive me.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media has become a central part of my marketing and sales plan and I’ve had to learn a lot of things very quickly! My inspiration for writing was a love for picture books, so I started building my network by sharing both my writing journey and many of my favorite picture books. This opened the door to connections with other book lovers – parents, teachers, childcare providers, and grandparents. As a children’s book author these are also people who are purchasing and reading books to the children in their lives. I also spent time making connections with other children’s authors – which has served as a great community for sharing information and supporting each other’s work. I’ve found that the biggest factor in authentically growing your social media presence is engagement with the content that others are posting. I’ve met some incredible parents, small business owners, teachers, authors, and illustrators by engaging with my audience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://authorsarahallison.us/
• Instagram: @Author.Sarah.Allison