Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been married for over 30 years and raised 3 children, all of whom we adopted. I am an entrepreneur with a love for starting and growing businesses. My current career is developing websites for a print company. On the side, I also run a website business providing online ordering for restaurants and liquor stores.
For the last few years, my wife and I have been running a small business selling Bigfoot products. Though 2020 has been a crazy year due to COVID19, we just published our first book about a young Sasquatch named Sammie and we are working on the next one in the series.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Our first book is titled “Sammie Squatch – When I Grow Up”.
While running a business creating and selling Bigfoot products, we hired a couple of artists to draw Bigfoot pictures that we could use on our products. After we had a few pictures of Sasquatches dressed as various career professionals, my wife said “Hey – we should make a children’s book about all of the things kids can be when they grow up.”
I thought that was a great idea to help kids think about all of the things they can do with their life and inspire them from a young age. Kids need to know that they can truly be anything they want to be, if they put their mind to it.
So we immediately started having more pictures designed and put them together for our first book, just published in June 2020.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I think it’s too early to tell what my writing habits are, as I’ve only written one simple children’s book so far and I think the process has been fairly typical for new writers. The kids go to bed, my wife and I sit down to relax in front of the TV and I pull out my laptop to do a little work before bedtime. We all have day jobs and just fit in writing where we can.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
My wife grew up with David LaRochelle, a locally known children’s book author and illustrator. He is well respected and has many books that he has released over the last several years. I like the idea of having some influence on shaping young minds.
What are you working on now?
My wife and I are working on story lines for the next 4-5 Sammie Squatch books and we expect to release book number two, “Sammie Squatch Gets A Pet”, before the end of the year.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I don’t know that we have the promotion down to an art yet. It definitely requires as much promotion as possible, but the best promotion takes time and money. As new authors, we’ll have to find out more as we go.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
It’s important not to think that you are going to publish one book and become wealthy off of it. While that may happen, it is not the norm. Write books because you enjoy it or because you have a story to tell. Only a small percentage of writers become famous or wealthy, so writing for those reasons is only setting yourself up for failure.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I’ve ever heard is a very well known slogan. “Just Do It”
I have thought about doing so many things in my life and the only time I get anything done is when I stop thinking about it and just do it.
What are you reading now?
I’m not currently reading any books, but I am actively researching book promotion. There is a vast library of knowledge on the internet and it is a lot to get through.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m going to keep putting in time to release the next few Sammie Squatch books and continue trying to find the best ways to promote them. It’s awesome to have one book done, but there is a lot more to do to build brand awareness.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
As a kid, I was really fond of the Alfred Hitchcock series, The Three Investigators. While not really adult level books, I have always wanted to find the time to read them again and remember all of the stories I loved as a kid.
Author Websites and Profiles
Andy Picton Website
Andy Picton Amazon Profile
Andy Picton’s Social Media Links
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