How to Become an Astronaut for Kids! Author Interview

Title: How to Become an Astronaut for Kids! (Space Books For Kids Age 9-12)

by Eric Z

January 23, 2020

What do you do when your little girl or boy says, “I wanna be an Astronaut when I grow up!” and you don’t know yourself!? Here it is, you can put this in her or his little hands and say “This is it kid, your handbook for becoming an astronaut!”
ENGAGING pics with just the right amount of words helps your child learn, and at their own pace, because they want to!
We should never make the mistake of “dumbing down” our material for what we “perceive” as the right difficulty level for a certain age.

Let your kid decide.

This book is a “visual encyclopedia” on how to become an astronaut … with links/QR codes to videos and more! This is also dyslexic friendly: that means large print and easy-to-read fonts.

 

 

Author Interview

At what point did you decide to be an author, and what was your path to publication?

In 2015 when my son asked me “Daddy, how do you become a Navy SEAL?” There were no books about this for his age group–so I made one!

Then I published it on Amazon’s KDP. 

That was a huge learning experience to say the least. I actually made courses for other authors back then “How to format your manuscript for Kindle” etc.

 

What do you do when a new idea jumps out at you while you’re still working on a book? Do you chase the squirrel (aka “UP syndrome”) or do you finish your current project first?

This happens to me ALL the time! I might make the rough draft and then go back to what I was supposed to be doing. However, you know how it is, when you get that “itch” and you just gotta follow a hot lead!

 

Describe your writing process. Do you outline, plot, and plan, or is your writing more organic?

I have an outline in my head, then I “dump” it out on a googledoc.

Then I gather materials and research and make the first draft.

If the book is dialogue heavy I start dictating with google docs now to finish the first draft.

The gathering and researching can take a long time as I draw my own graphics and some of the books I write for kids have technical stuff in them (like how to fly to the moon) and the facts have to be  right. I learned so much writing the “How to Become an Astronaut” book and the “How to Get to Mars” books!

 

What are some books or authors that you would recommend to our readers?

“Great Battles for Boys” is an awesome series from Joe Ghiorelli which is specially designed to get boys into reading–a lot like my books.

I also recommend the old classics like anything from Oscar Wilde, he was an amazing writer. Also very enjoyable for kids, and can be considered classics are the Sherlock Holmes series by Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Tarzan and John Carter of Mars books by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

 

Tell us what you enjoy most about writing.

The creative process is so awesome! It is much more immersive than reading a book. You can “get lost in a story” – but when you are the creator…you may never come back!

World building, character arcs, and just adding suspense to a “normal” hero story are so tough AND complicated–it’s enough to keep you busy for a lifetime.

I’m moving away from non-fiction books now and more into story driven books. So my immediate goal now is to learn how to write amazing and captivating stories!

So I enjoy the creation of a new character very much, and… 

 

What have you found to be most challenging about writing in Mythology for Kids?

…after that, how to structure a suspenseful story is also very challenging and rewarding.

 

Have you been able to incorporate your previous experience in your jobs/education in your writing?

Yes, a little bit. I was in Technical Publications “TechPub” for many years. I learned the basics like “blocking information” and writing clearly. It helped a lot for my non-fiction books. But little or not at all for my fiction books.

 

Describe the book/series in 10 words or less for people just learning about it.

I have several series:

Navy SEALs for Kids!

Air Force Pilot for Kids!

Combat Dogs for Kids!

Astronauts for Kids!

And soon to come “Greek Mythology” … for kids–of course 🙂

(I think the titles are self explanatory?)

 

What has been the toughest criticism you have received as an author? What has been the best compliment?

The best compliments have been the awesome reviews on Amazon from my readers.

The worst criticisms are the reviews that address something else totally not related to the book, e.g. late delivery by Amazon, or even a defective book! Not long ago there was a comment system on Amazon and you could actually talk to your readers/reviewers in the comments. I would offer them new books. I have turned 1-2 star reviews into 4 star reviews this way! Unfortunately Amazon has removed the comment system and now you just gotta “sit in it”. Not good at all. I have had many many exchanges with -Zon’s customer service about this, but the comment system is not coming back.

 

Share some advice for aspiring authors. What advice would you give to your younger self?

JUST START!

Grow your partnerships–focus on them first then:

Your email list.

There’s a fortune to be made–start now and “retire” early!

 

What is your favorite line from your book?

Can YOU do 100 push-ups? (pic of Uncle Sam pointing right at you!)

 

Have you ever experienced writer’s block? How did you deal with it?

Nope! I have over 20 published books and am always working on at least 3 projects simultaneously. So if I ever get writer’s block–I just move to another project that I’m more motivated about.

 

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

My youngest has recently discovered bowling, so we’ve been doing a lot of that. I think my right arm is now a whole foot longer than my left!

 

Share some of your journey to publishing your children’s book.

It all started when my 5 year old wanted to be a Navy SEAL. Of course I didn’t know a darned thing about ‘em. I was in the Air Force, so please ask me about planes 🙂

When I looked on Amazon for any age appropriate books about the Navy SEALs for him–there were none. So I quickly went about writing my very first book.

There were A LOT of mistakes along the way.

I thought it was going to be a successful Kindle ebook, because back then “Kindle Millionaire” was all the rage. 

However, when I went to publish the book, Amazon blocked it!

Turns out I used the wrong images for the cover and had my first (and only) copyright infringement. 

I pivoted to CreateSpace to make the paperback version of the book.

It worked!

The book didn’t quite take off, but it did build up to slow boil. It is still one of my “top runners” and one of my top 5 most profitable books. I learned that kids books as paperbacks/print sell much better than Kindle ebooks. As a matter of fact, 99% of my profit is from paperback kids books, with 5% being Kindle and audio. Although, I have just made the plunge with audio and not dedicated too much time to that yet (it does look promising though).

 

How did you select your topic?

My sons are my “validators and focus group” all in one! At the time my first son was only 5 years old when HE selected the topic for me: Navy SEALs!

Now my sons are 8 and 15 so I will have to pivot into the YA genre very soon–but I look forward to this new challenge. I’m really excited about learning how to write fiction and making an amazing captivating story 🙂

 

Did you get to pick your illustrator? How do you feel about illustrations in children’s books?

I LoOove making my own illustrations! I used to be a graphic artist and even had some art shows of my own, so this is in my wheelhouse. Right now the rise of AI is concerning–so I am experimenting with this new technology to see if it is usable at all. I myself get disappointed when I read a book that has AI generated images. However, we are going to have to get acquainted with AI sooner or later. Right now it is still in the experimental stage.

 

What do you hope to teach or inspire in children reading your book?

I want them to enjoy the learning process and become proficient readers!

At the same time I stress discipline and leadership in almost all of my books HOWEVER, without preaching!

 

Describe the child that is your target reader.

My ideal reader is 9 to 12 years old and interested in things boys love: Rockets, astronauts, soldiers, and jet fighter pilots!

There are 1 or 2 books that are suitable for 5 and up, but most are at the 9 to 12 year old reading level.

 

How do your children enjoy the book(s) you published?

Yes 🙂 One problem though–they grow up too fast and you have to keep writing new books for them!

 

About the Author

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