Interview with Author Jimmy Price
Author Jim Price was born and raised in Springfield Massachusetts. The same town as where children’s book author Dr. Suess was born and where the NBA hall of fame resides. Jim is a former basketball player who was a member of a high school basketball state championship team at Springfield Central High School which was ranked in USA today’s top 25 rankings. Jim also was nominated Junior College All American for basketball at Springfield Technical Community College and was selected New England Regional MVP prior to playing in the National Junior College Athletic Association Basketball National Tournament. Jim’s basketball jersey number was retired at Springfield Technical Community College. In 2017 he was inducted into the Springfield Public Schools Sports Hall of Fame.
Jim earned his Associates Degree in Liberal Arts from Springfield Technical Community College where he also made the National Deans List Publication while enrolled for two years. Jim earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Western New England University. He also earned both his master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counselling and his Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in School counselling from Springfield College. Jim Currently is a candidate for Doctor of Education at American International College.
When not writing and generating new ideas and concepts for future children’s books, Jim enjoys helping mentor the youth through coaching basketball and counselling students within the Public-School Systems. Jim children’s books focus on social skills building to help cultivate healthy and unbiased connections with others and to teach valuable social interactive skills.
Tell me more about your latest book
The latest book is related to the lesson of having children understand that is okay for them to like different indoor and outdoor activities and encourages children to engage in activities that are disconnected from the world of technology which so many of the youth are so heavily dependent upon.
What was the most challenging aspect of writing this book?
The most challenging aspect of writing a book is to understand that while ideas often do shape and grow, in many situations’ writers block can be a very challenging aspect to handle which can lead to many revisions of created works. Through overcoming these obstacles, we can openly show ourselves that we can face adversity and move forward to succeed.
What is your normal procedure to get your books published?
The normal Procedure that I used to get my books published included first working on and coming up with a main idea that can be slowly fleshed out with more concepts. Having a great imagination also contributes to developing core ideas that can be further fleshed out. Once the ideas and concepts begin to come together you format it to be able to make revisions.
It took me a while to find a publisher that would work with me. Sometimes independent publishers can be of great help in this process. Illustrators are also a part of the dynamics which in most cases can add on expenses. Once these parts are in place may samples of possible work will be sifted through to fit your vision till you eventually get to a final draft. Then once the book goes to print it can be some time before everything is set to become an official published author.
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
One type of research I investigate is the social emotional needs of the students I have the privilege of working with as a counsellor in one of my areas inner-city schools. Then I experiment with various concepts in order to fulfil the needs of the children. Some concepts take weeks to develop, while others take months. However, because I am determined to reach as many young people as possible, I have not set a time limit for my research.
Another approach is looking into what colors that children are drawn too. Through documented research there are certain colors that children are drawn too which is connected to the stage of development that a child may be in. By having this knowledge, it helps with developing color schemes which will help children to be able to be more focused on the pages of the books despite if they only maintain small bits of the actual social lesson connected to the book.
I also get inspiration from other authors such as Dr. Suess and study the dynamics of how these authors incorporate color within their children’s books.
How many books have you written so far?
I have written and published two children’s social skill building books. My first book is titled the adventures of Harold from the hood a trip to the park which is about accepting other’s differences. My second book is titled the adventures of Harold from the hood friends like different things and is about engaging in fun activities that does not include technology.
What’s the best way to market your books?
The best way to market your book is to join as many book clubs online as you can to begin to promote your book. It is also good to try to get a book video trailer to go along with all the other promotional tasks. Social media is also an important tool to help you reach a broad audience for promotion. I prefer Twitter myself as you can pitch book promotional stuff on celebrity threads and if you’re lucky you can get a like or two through that medium from celebrities. I would also recommend having a author website created where you can have all traffic come to one location to learn more about your book and yourself. Also see if you can connect with podcast interviews about your book. That can help introduce you to an audience that you may never had normally been introduced too.
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
On average it takes me 4 or 5 months to write what I feel is a decent finalized version of a children’s book. All this time incudes revisions before reaching the point of the book moving forward for publishing.
What is your advice for aspiring writers?
My advice for aspiring writers is to understand that whatever you write does not have to be absolutely perfect. It is good to do research on your genre and look at the work of established authors that have become best sellers. Always utilize the book clubs that you join online as a venue to seek out advice and guidance. Most importantly never give up on your dreams, incorporate pray into your daily routine and be humble and grateful within all aspects of your life and doors will open that you never thought possible.
Visit Author Jimmy Price book links:-
Link to the first book: The adventures of Harold from the hood a Trip to the park on Amazon
Link to the second book: The adventures of Harold from the Hood friends like different things on Amazon
Link to my Facebook social media page
https://facebook.com/jim.price.9822
Link to Author Website
link to my twitter social media page
Jimmy Price @JimmyPr74639009
Link to my Instagram social media page
Instagram.com/childbookauthor
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