“Greenlight Your Own Projects:” Self-Publishing without Apology with Dr. Tamara Pizzoli

On episode #20 of the podcast, my guest is Dr. Tamara Pizzoli, who shares her unconventional success story as an independent children’s book author and publisher.

Dr. Pizzoli is an African-American author, curator, producer and publisher. Originally from Texas, she is the mother of four children and has resided in Rome, Italy for over fifteen years. In 2013, she opened a boutique English-language school for kids in Rome called The English Schoolhouse, which she later converted into an independent publishing house after a family tragedy.

In just under a decade, Dr. Pizzoli has published over sixty books, with many more currently in development. Her most popular books include The Ghanaian Goldilocks, Tallulah the Tooth Fairy CEO, and K is for Kahlo. After gaining international attention in print and media for her diverse children’s books, Dr. Pizzoli was approached by Farrar Straus and Giroux in early 2017 and offered a book deal for Tallulah the Tooth Fairy CEO which was then released in 2019. Film rights for Tallulah the Tooth Fairy were later acquired by the actress, Gabrielle Union.

During our conversation she shares her unconventional path to literary success, self publishing her own books, finding her own illustrators and fielding publishing deals with major publishers, on her own terms. Not to mention the movies and licensing agreements she’s also negotiating.

Dr. Pizzoli shares the story of how a family tragedy made her push play on getting her first book out into the world, how Kickstarter showed her what was possible with self publishing, and why she thinks everyone should be self publishing already.

It’s a super inspiring interview, and Dr. Pizzoli shares some truly actionable advice for writers who are considering self-publishing.

Listen to the Episode on Apple Podcasts| Spotify| Audible |

How to Be Successful at Self-Publishing

You should listen to the full podcast episode to hear of all Dr. Pizzoli’s advice on how to be successful in the world of self-publishing, but here are some key takeaways from our conversation:

Greenlight your own projects. You don’t have to wait for traditional gatekeepers to get your work out into the world.
Outsource the parts that you don’t like or you’re not good at. Don’t let pesky details derail your stories. Ask for help or pay for help so your work can make it into the world.
When the spirit of a story hits you, write it down right away, don’t wait.
Surround yourself with other creative people and use their energy and ideas to ignite your own.
You don’t have to play the game if you own the rights to your work. Nobody is saying self publishing is always the way to go, but be mindful of who is holding the rights to your work and what power you wield when you own the rights to your intellectual property. At the end of the day though, the most important thing is that the work has to be good.

Learn More about Self-Publishing and Dr. Tamara Pizzoli

If you want to learn more about Dr. Tamara Pizzoli or to purchase her books, visit TheEnglishSchoolhouse.com

If you want to follow Dr. Pizzoli on Instagram, follow her @tamarapizzoli and learn more about her books @theenglishschoolhouse.

Check out the original Kickstarter campaign that launched The Ghanaian Goldilocks.

Dr. Pizzoli referenced KDP as the platform she uses for self-publishing, that is Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing.

And speaking of The Ghanaian Goldilocks and how successful one independently published book can go, after our interview the book was selected by The Tate museum in London as their Story Space Book of the Month for the month of November!

If you are enjoying the Reed, Write, & Create podcast, don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the show on Apple podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform.