Meet Tricia Dellanno

We recently connected with Tricia Dellanno and have shared our conversation below.

Tricia, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

Keeping creativity alive is critical for growing my business. It’s knowing your competition and analyzing their strengths and opportunities, then doing something they’re not or trying to do it better. To accomplish this, you have to be creative. So, I set clear goals and document a plan to achieve those goals. I research, collaborate, listen to feedback, and embrace change. I’m constantly asking myself, “How can I improve this?” which leads to thinking outside the box and being creative.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I left my 26-year career in Human Resources to become a children’s book author. In 2022, I published two books – ‘No Dog in my Yard’ and ‘A Dog in my Yard.’ Both books landed on Amazon’s #1 Best Sellers List and are recipients of the Literary Titan Book Award, the UK’s Wishing Shelf Award Finalist, and Readers’ Favorite – 5 Star Review.

When writing the books, I wanted to encourage a love of reading by making children laugh while weaving in subtle lessons like responsibility, decision-making, working hard, patience, and understanding. As I travel to schools and events for book readings, the children love that all the dogs from the books are from my neighborhood. They love seeing photos of the real-life characters and how they’ve been illustrated.

I was very fortunate to have the books illustrated by the talented Jim Pearson. He is formerly of Pixar and his work includes creating characters for Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo. He went on to become the Art Director for the Cartoon Network and then the illustrator for my books. His ability to bring a story to life whether on screen or in the pages of a book is amazing.

But writing books isn’t where my journey ends. I learned so much about the publishing world through research, joining local and online writing and publishing groups, trial, and error that I wanted to share what I learned. I wanted to help people avoid mistakes I made because, in any business, mistakes can be costly. So, I proposed an Introduction to Book Publishing workshop at several local community centers and started instructing in early 2024. From the classes, I have been coaching writers one-on-one as they navigate the ever-changing publishing world. It’s been some of the most rewarding work I’ve done – to see someone else hold their published book in their hands for the first time.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

As far as knowledge, the first thing I focused on was the publishing world in general. For me, writing was the easy part. I knew I needed to write and find an editor and illustrator, but then came the “now what?” I had to learn about the different publishing routes (traditional, hybrid, and self) and educate myself on the pros and cons of each.

Marketing was another area of knowledge that I needed to learn more about. Whether you are traditionally or self-published, you need to know how to market your book and get it in front of your target audience. You need to know where they are both digitally and non-digitally and how to reach and keep them.

Lastly, being creative has led me down paths and ways to grow my business that I wouldn’t have dreamed of. The “watch out” with “creatives” is difficulty focusing. I’m speaking from daily experience. I have many ideas and I’m not afraid to try things. Though I hate when things don’t work, I tell myself, “Well, I’ll never do that again” or “Now I know how to do it better.”

As far as advice, learn as much as you can upfront and begin marketing very early on. Marketing is not a one-and-done, yet ongoing. Know your customers, where they are, and how to reach them. As you develop your website and social media platforms, and sell your product digitally, use analytic tools to determine the impact of your content and identify opportunities for improvement. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to consider are Reach (follower count, impressions), Engagement (likes, comments, shares), Return on Investment (lead conversions, sales), and Retention and Loyalty (reviews, ratings). There is so much to learn when it comes to marketing your business. Start with YouTube videos, research articles, take a course, etc. Hire for what you don’t know how or don’t want to do.

This same philosophy applies to the creative aspects of your business. Not everyone is creative naturally so build a team that compliments each other. I believe analytics will guide creativity when the numbers tell us what’s not working with our business.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

The number one obstacle I am facing is competition. As of this interview, more than 4,000 new books are uploaded to Amazon every day and there are more than 22,000,000 books in their “bookstore.” Because anyone can self-publish a book, the market is very overcrowded. The most important way to compete is to ensure you have a great story, that it’s professionally edited, has a great cover (and illustrations), and a strategic marketing plan – whether you are traditionally or self-published. The focus has to be on quality when all too often the focus is on speed with no plan to promote the book.

It’s been just over two years since “No Dog in my Yard” was published and I’m continuing to build my brand. My business is more than selling books. It’s also about connecting personally with my target audience and entertaining them. School visits include my books on the big screen, animated with moving parts – dogs jumping, tennis balls rolling, etc. I provide schools with free worksheets and activities related to the books to support reading comprehension and writing. And as I mentioned, instructing workshops and coaching one-on-one has been rewarding. So, I’m doing my best to compete by building a brand, differentiating myself, offering multiple services related to my books, and helping others publish theirs.

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