Meet Kristina VanAtta! (Author Success Stories)
Welcome to our latest Author Success Story! This month we're featuring children's book author, Kristina VanAtta.
Meet Kristina VanAtta:
Kristina VanAtta is a children's book author who loves bringing movement to reading through playful stories and heartfelt characters. She lives in Michigan with her husband, two kids, and their goldendoodle. She recently became an autism mom and is very passionate about spreading awareness and advocating for the autism community. When she is not jotting down ideas for picture books, she enjoys traveling with her family, sipping on an iced coffee, and getting lost in a good book.
Website: https://www.kristinavanatta.com/
AHA: Kristina has two self-published children's books called Ice Cream Kindness and Kindness Lemonade, and she is going to talk to us today about her publishing journey. Hi, Kristina!
Kristina: Hi, Chelsea, thank you so much for having me. Like Chelsea said, my name is Kristina VanAtta. I am a mom of two, I have a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old, and I published my debut picture book, Ice Cream Kindness, last summer, and then Kindness Lemonade just came out a couple weeks ago.
AHA: That's so fun! The first question is, what made you want to become an author in the first place? Is this a childhood dream? Was there something that inspired you? How did this all start?
Kristina: This started with reading books with my son. My son had a speech delay, but he's always loved reading books, and so that has been a way for us to bond ever since he was little. He's always loved books. But since reading along was difficult for him, I started to make the books more interactive. So if a book we were reading said hug, I'd give them a hug. If a book said something about a high five, I'd give him a high five, and I noticed that he would go back to reading those specific pages of books, and then look at me and wait for me to do the little action, so that was kind of my inspiration.
I decided to write my own book with actions, and I was also trying to figure out how to teach him kindness, since he was going to be going into school. So my first book, it is for a younger audience, but, if you kind of read between the lines, it is based on a non-speaking character. So, it is about teaching kindness through actions rather than words. So, that is, in general, the inspiration!
AHA: So many of our At Home Author clients are moms who, exactly like you, were inspired by some specific need of their own children, or a specific experience in their family, so that's amazing. Did you have a background in writing or publishing at all, or was this your first foray into that?
Kristina: My degree is more so in the PR marketing world, so my writing experience has mostly been social media and blogging. I worked for a marketing firm and a visitor's bureau…I've managed social media for the college I went to. I've worked for a somewhat local company that ended up being on Shark Tank. But I have always been a writing person. Math and science were not my subjects growing up. I was much better at writing papers!
AHA: In the creative world, I think that's pretty common. Ha! So, you decided to self-publish. What factored into that decision, and was it difficult to make?
Kristina: To be honest, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, and I want to be honest about that, because I think other people might also feel that way, too.
AHA: Absolutely, yeah.
Kristina: So, I really had to look into what traditional publishing vs self-publishing entailed, and after writing the manuscript for my first book, I wasn't really sure where to go from there; I didn't even know that it needed to be professionally edited! So I ended up joining, At Home Author, because, you know, the internet can only take you so far! That is going to be one of my biggest recommendations!
So, for my first book, I did send a few query letters and just… either not hearing back or not having much luck, I decided to publish on my own. I'm proud of myself, because that querying process got me down a little bit! You can kind of start having that imposter syndrome, like, maybe this isn't a good idea.
AHA: Those rejections can be brutal.
Kristina: Yes, but thankfully they were kind and reassuring! So that’s primarily what sent me into the independently published world, rather than being traditionally published.
AHA: We have tons of new authors who, just like you, just don't know the options that are out there. They don't even know that there's multiple ways to publish a book. We're glad that you found us, and were able to pick the route that works best for you.
Now, that being said, self-publishing is tough. It is a lot of work. There's a lot more to it than a lot of people expect. Were there any specific parts of the process that surprised you? Was it easier than you expected, or was it harder than you thought?
Kristina: I chose the print-on-demand method, and I think the hardest part was going through the upload process. Using Publisher Rocket, which I didn't know about…all of those steps. I feel like I'd get through one page and then move on to the next page, and then I'm like, “I don't know what this is!” or “I don't know what that is!”
And then I thought I knew what to price my book at, and so I put the numbers in there, and then it starts getting in the red, and I'm like, okay, I need to be profitable!
AHA: It's so interesting that you say that, because so many gurus online are like, “Oh, just write a book and upload it to Amazon, and then you're done!” But sometimes that back-end of Amazon or IngramSpark, that's where the details really fall into place, and sometimes that can be a little bit difficult.
How long did it take you to publish your first book?
Kristina: I would say between 6 months to a year, that's how long from start to finish, all the processes took.
AHA: So, you hired an illustrator, correct?
Kristina: Yes.
AHA: So, I assume that might have been a big chunk of the time that it took to get the book produced? How long did that take? Tell us a little bit about the process of working with the illustrator.
Kristina: I knew what I wanted for illustrations. I knew I wanted anthropomorphic images, so I focused very heavily on illustrators who kind of specialized in those, and then I just, sent out little questionnaires. I basically interviewed a few illustrators that fit that mold, and so I got different quotes, compared portfolios. I ended up going with Mariana, my illustrator, and she has been just… a joy to work with. I used her for my second book as well.
But, it did take a while to hear back, compare quotes. I got just an absolutely astronomical quote back from one artist, and also, I was learning the difference between illustrators who are represented by agents, and illustrators that are not, and so that was new to me, too. It's all been such a learning process, and I'm still learning.
AHA: Okay. Let's get into some of the financial side of things. Funding a self-published book project is one of the big challenges, because you have to cover all those upfront costs. So, how did you fund your first project? Did you run a Kickstarter? Did you just use savings that you had?
Kristina: I did use money from my savings. I am much more of a saver than a spender. So, I had some money set aside that I decided to invest. I didn't feel like my personality was outgoing enough to use a Kickstarter.
AHA: And are you willing to share with us how much you invested in that first book project?
Kristina: I would say, a ballpark was between $4,000-8,000. Everything wrapped up in a bow.
AHA: Do you have a favorite marketing strategy, or, some particular part of marketing that you focus on, or that you feel like really works well?
Kristina: I primarily use Instagram. I realized that pouring into one strategy is better than being half done at other strategies. So, I've kind of decided to pour my marketing into my Instagram. I share a little bit about lifestyle things as well, and things that I'm passionate about. I also didn't know how much I was gonna love getting out in the community! I'm realizing that that's something that I'm passionate about, so, working with local businesses and doing marketing, joint marketing together, I've really enjoyed doing that as well.
AHA: And your background in PR probably helps you with that! Okay. So, we're gonna start wrapping up here. If we have a bunch of new, hopeful authors listening, what piece of advice would you give them?
Kristina: I think that they should go for it, and believe in themselves. I think the number one thing that people tell me at all of these events is that they have an idea, they've had an idea for the past 10 years, or they really want to do it, and like you said, they just… They don't do it for this, that, and the other reason.
I kept giving myself excuses, like, you know, what if no one likes it? What if no one buys it? What if people don't understand the concept I'm trying to get across? What if… you know, all the what-ifs! Think about those reasons…and do it for the opposite reasons! You know, what if this book brings joy into the four walls of someone's home? What if my book is the first time a baby claps, or the first time a mom high-fives her daughter or son? Do it for those reasons, instead of being afraid!
AHA: Thanks so much, Kristina!
Kristina's Stats:
Title: | Kindness Lemonade |
Release Date: | August 4th, 2026 |
Printer: | IngramSpark |
POD or offset print run? | Print-on-Demand |
Formats Available: | Hardcover, Paperback |
Total Investment: (All amounts are rough estimates provided by the author and should not be considered 100% accurate or used as estimates for your own project. Do your own research!) | Approximately $6,000-8,000 |
Total Number of Books Sold To Date: | Approaching 400 |
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