It was a marvelous May at Tonya Duncan Ellis books! From reaching sales milestones to meeting authors and illustrators I admire, the month was chock full of memorable moments.
Here are some of the highlights:
Sales Milestone – Over 10,000 Sophie Washington books were sold on Amazon, and I held a ten book giveaway for Sophie Washington fans to celebrate. Since then we have surpassed that sales target. I’ll be having special summer promotions that should, hopefully, get even more books in the hands of readers.
7th Annual African American Book Fair– I was so busy at this lively festival I didn’t have time to stop for lunch. Throngs of young readers and their parents filled Baltimore’s Reginald F. Lewis museum for the event, whose mission is to connect families with high quality books about and for African American children. I connected with Kelly Starling Lyons, author of the super cute, Jada Jones book series, and a reporter from the Baltimore Sun interviewed me about my life as an author and featured my comments in their follow up article, which was pretty neat.
Vashti Harrison and Matthew A. Cherry – I’ve been in love with Vashti Harrison’s work ever since I bought her book Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History a couple of years ago, and I was over the moon when I was featured on a local radio show, The Joyful Life, with Vashti (piped in from New York) so I rushed to meet her in person when she came to Houston’s Blue Willow Bookshop. It was super cool to hear about how she and author Matthew A. Cherry collaborated on his New York Times Bestseller Hair Love, and shared their journey to fame.
Summer Festivals – The ending of Houston’s rainy season means the beginning of weekly outdoor festivals and markets. I plan to participate in as many as possible to connect with area fans and encourage kids to read to prevent summer learning slide! I’m also working on the 9th book in the Sophie Washington series, scheduled to be released sometime in August. That means Sophie Washington fans can continue with the series until school starts.
Until then, enjoy your summer, and keep reading!
Tonya Duncan Ellis is author of the Amazon Best Selling, Readers’ Favorite “Five Star†rated Sophie Washington children’s book series, geared toward readers ages 8-12 and is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).
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