Local author Vicky Weber always wanted to write children’s books but thought that dream was unrealistic. One day, she decided to dive headfirst into the industry to see what happened. Within 9 months, Weber became a bestseller, even writing a Step Into Reading book for Disney’s Encanto.
After a hard year of teaching virtually, Weber resigned from her job as an elementary teacher to spend more time with her family and to keep pursuing her author career.
“I found more success and joy working than I’d felt in a long time,” Weber stated. “I knew it was the best decision for myself and my family.”
Vicky launched At Home Author and partnered with two other successful teacher-authors, Brittany Plumeri and Chelsea Tornetto, to start the coaching and consulting business.
She has successfully coached clients all around the world at various stages in their author journey. She is a successful self-published author but has also been published by Disney and Penguin Random House and is represented by East West Literary Agency. If you are feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, her services aim to prepare you to make the best decisions for yourself and set you up for success. As a Puerto Rican author of Taíno descent, she strives to create picture books that are fun, engaging, and educational. All her current titles are based on her background in music education or her heritage. While she has taught a variety of grade levels, primary level education is where her passion lies. It has long been a dream of hers to teach children through the magic of books and she hopes you love reading her works as much as she loved writing them.
FWM: You’ve had a love for children’s literature for years. You left the classroom to publish picture books. Share your story.
As a little girl, I loved to read but when I became a teacher, I found that many of my students did not. They did love coming to music class though and that’s what inspired my musical picture books. After a lot of research (and mistakes) I made Amazon’s bestseller list within 9 months of publication. Just a few months later, Disney reached out to me to pen the Level 3 Step Into Reading book for Disney’s Encanto. By April 2021, I’d published 8 books and gave birth to my daughter. That changed everything for me. During the 2020-2021 school year, I was writing, publishing, and teaching full-time in the middle of a pandemic…while pregnant. So when my daughter was born, I knew that I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing. She deserved me at my best and unfortunately, I couldn’t be at my best with the weight of public school teaching on my shoulders.
I didn’t return for the 2021-2022 school year and the difference was night and day. I made more money with fewer hours, all while doing something I loved. My stress levels were at an all time low and in March of 2022, I was able to bring my husband home as well. Becoming an author completely changed my family’s life for the better.
FWM: Tell us about At Home Author. How are you helping authors who feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start?
I made a lot of mistakes at the beginning of my journey. The internet had lots of conflicting information, there were SO many publishing scams, and it was hard to know what to do, how to do it, and when. That’s when I partnered with Brittany Plumeri and Chelsea Tornetto – two other successful teachers turned children’s book authors, to form At Home Author. As educators, customizing content to students not only comes second nature, we’re great at it.
While other publishing coaches only teach traditional or self publishing, At Home Author teaches both. The fact is, there is more than one path to publishing success so no matter what a student’s goals, preferences, budget, or timeline is, we have resources to guide them.
FWM: You have successfully coached clients around the world at various stages in their author journeys. Share a few memorable clients.
As any teacher knows, your student’s success is your success. Maybe it’s the teacher in me, but I have memorable moments from all the authors I’ve worked with! Rebekah Borucki is now the CEO of Row House Publishing, a publisher committed to amplifying marginalized voices. Julia Inserro has published over 10 children’s books with more in the works and Katie Weaver has one well-loved picture book and three bookstore locations across the US. No matter how big or small an aspiring author’s goals are, I’m just happy to be part of that journey.
FWM: Why was launching At Home Author the best decision you have made?
Despite leaving the classroom, I’m still an educator. When I first started, I honestly thought publishing my ideas would be borderline impossible – there are so many people out there who believe the same. Of course, getting a book published is work but it’s far from a pipedream. You just have to know where to start and that’s exactly what I help others do.
FWM: What will people notice when working with you?
People like to call me “the Google of children’s book publishing” Chances are if you have a question, I have an answer and if I don’t know, I will find out. I’m dedicated to my students because I want them to succeed. At Home Author’s goal is for our students to not need us eventually. That means we don’t hold our knowledge back – we work at each student’s pace, customized to how they’re publishing and their individual learning style.
FWM: Are you currently writing a book? What advice do you have for new authors to market their books?
Only always! I publish about 3-5+ children’s books per year. Right now, I have three being illustrated and my agent is pitching more to traditional publishers. Right now, I have two non-fiction children’s books being written as well as sequels to my musical picture books.
As far as marketing, it’s important to remember that people can’t buy your book if they don’t know it exists. Lots of new authors only try a few strategies to get their books noticed but the real secret is to build a solid marketing plan made up of many strategies to get visibility for your book. If you get the right book in front of the right people, it will naturally convert to sales.
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