✈️ From Flight Schedules & Facetimes…to Publishing Children’s Books in My Pajamas

10 minutes read...

From the desk of Emilia & Daniel:

(aka: the coffee table in our living room) And YES... that's a hawk 🦅

Let’s be honest — this wasn’t some overnight success story.

We weren’t “authors.” We weren’t designers.

And we definitely weren’t digital marketers.

We were just two tired parents trying to figure out how to spend more time together — and less time chasing someone else’s schedule.

I (Emilia) was working as a cabin crew, constantly flying across time zones, FaceTiming my daughter from hotel rooms and airport lounges.

And every time I hung up that call, I’d feel the same thing:

“There has to be a better way to make a living than this.”

The job paid the bills, sure — but I was missing bedtime stories, morning cuddles, and all the small moments in between.

And in those few hours I was home, I’d sit with my husband (Daniel), exhausted but hopeful, and ask the same question over and over:

“What could we build — something real, something ours — that could give us more freedom… and maybe even a bit of fun?”

We tried Googling ideas.

We watched endless YouTube videos.

At one point I seriously considered opening an Etsy shop… even though I can’t draw a straight line and glitter gives me anxiety.

💡 “That’s how the idea came…”

One night — I think it was somewhere between folding tiny socks and trying not to fall asleep on the couch — I had an idea.

Not a business idea...A mom idea.

I wanted to make something just for my daughter — a little story with her name in it, a character that reminded her of us, something she could look at when I wasn’t home and know:

“Mom made this for me.” 🥹

That’s how it started.

Not with Amazon KDP or passive income in mind.

Just a bedtime story from a mom who missed her kid.

I opened Canva, Googled “how to make a children’s book,” and dove headfirst into what I thought would be a simple project.

‼️ Spoiler alert: it was not.

😵‍💫 “It was supposed to be simple…”

I thought I’d just drag a few cute images into Canva, write a sweet little story, click “upload,” and boom — done.

Reality?

More like:

20+ hours of YouTube tutorials (each one contradicting the last)
3 emotional meltdowns over “trim size” and “bleed” settings
Canva crashing at least 5 times mid-project
Accidentally uploading a draft to Amazon where Page 1 was blank… and Page 2 had my shopping list on it

And don’t even get me started on the forums.

Reddit threads, Quora rants, obscure blog posts from 2016 — all arguing about DPI, margins, or some rule I didn’t even know existed.

I kept asking myself:

“Why does it feel like you need a publishing degree just to make a picture book?”

But the hardest part wasn’t the tech.

It was realizing that even after I figured it all out and got a book uploaded…

Nobody was going to see it.

Not unless I brought the traffic myself.

And I hadn’t even started thinking about that yet.

I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and 3 Canva crashes away from quitting.

But one thing kept me going…

❤️ "THE REASON I KEPT GOING..."

There were so many nights I wanted to give up.

I'd close my laptop at 2 AM, totally drained, eyes sore from Googling things like “how to fix weird spacing on KDP” or “what does bleed even mean??” 🤔

My husband had no idea how those nights were spent. I didn’t want to worry him.

He thought I was just exploring a new hobby.

And I let him think that — because honestly, I wasn’t even sure if this crazy idea would work.

But deep down, I was fighting for something.

I was fighting to be home.

To stop missing goodnight kisses, school mornings, and lazy Sundays on the couch.

I was fighting to build a small income stream — something that could grow quietly in the background while I poured more time into my family.

And at the same time…

I was creating something my daughter could hold in her hands and say,

"Mom was thinking of you, even when she was flying over the Atlantic.”

That combination — love and freedom — became my fuel.

Even when Canva crashed.

Even when the formatting made no sense.

Even when the fear of “what if this is a waste of time?” crept in.

I kept going — because this wasn’t just about a children’s book.

It was about building a way out.

😩 “I Had No More Time, So I Let Someone Else Do It”

Eventually, I hit a wall.

Between work, mom life, and a growing pile of unfinished story ideas, I realized something:

“I don’t have time for this anymore.”

So I did what a lot of overwhelmed people do:

I decided to outsource.

I found an illustrator on Fiverr, sent her my story, gave her detailed notes (probably more than she asked for), and paid upfront, full of hope… and possibly a bit too much optimism.

Then came the waiting.

A few days turned into a few weeks.

Weeks turned into “maybe she’s drawing it by candlelight in a forest.”

And when I finally got the illustrations back?

Let’s just say — it looked like a kindergartener and a fever dream teamed up for a group project.

The main character had three fingers. The house had no doors.

At one point I genuinely wondered if this was her revenge for giving too many instructions.

Honestly? I think she just wanted my money and my sanity — and she nearly got both.

I was disappointed, out of time, and now more stuck than before.

At least my daughter liked it.

She curled up in her little cozy chair, reading it out loud to our cat like it was a literary masterpiece — and honestly? That moment almost made it worth it.

💬 “This is When I Finally Shared Everything with My Husband”

Up until that point, I had kept the whole project mostly to myself.

It was my little mission — something I was doing for our family, in the cracks of the day and the dead of night.

I didn’t want to stress him out with my Canva dramas or Fiverr misadventures.

And to be honest… I wasn’t sure I had anything worth showing yet.

But when the illustrations finally came back — even though they weren’t what I hoped — it felt like something had been completed.

Like a chapter had closed.

Like I had started something and followed it through (even if the dragon still looked permanently confused).

And in that moment, I couldn’t keep it a secret anymore.

I showed him everything — the story, the process, the late nights, the Fiverr flop, and how much I wanted this to work.

He listened.

He laughed at the artwork (as expected). 😆

And then he said something I didn’t expect:

“Okay… let’s do it together.”

From that day on, we became a team.

He jumped into the journey with me — not just as my husband, but as my co-creator, my tech support, and my “does this font look weird?” advisor.

It wasn’t just my project anymore...It became ours.

🧩 “And Then… We Found a Better Way”

Once we were both in, we decided to go back to basics and follow all the classic steps.

You know the ones:

Write the story

Design the book in Canva

Format it “properly” (whatever that meant)

Watch more YouTube tutorials than I’d care to admit

Ask ChatGPT for help

Ask Reddit what ChatGPT meant

Cry 😭

We were trying everything — and getting nowhere fast.

Until one night, Daniel found… something.

He came across a platform — a kind of all-in-one creative tool specifically for children’s books.

It wasn’t a random hack or a Google doc full of tricks.

It was a dedicated platform that actually worked — like it was built for people exactly like us.

Suddenly, we weren’t juggling five tools anymore.

❌ No more Canva headaches.

❌ No more formatting disasters.

❌ No more uploading and praying Amazon doesn’t reject the file over some hidden margin error.

With this platform, we could create, illustrate, format, and even publish to Amazon KDP (and other platforms) in literally one click.

It felt like cheating — in the best way.

😩 "When Progress Still Wasn’t Enough"

Things Finally Started to Click.

From the moment we started using that platform, everything changed.

It wasn’t just easier — it was actually fun.

For the first time, I wasn’t dreading the formatting.

I wasn’t fighting with design tools or second-guessing the book layout.

We could focus on the stories — the creativity — the reason we started this in the first place.

We went from struggling for weeks to finishing books in days.

But even with everything finally working — The books finished, the process streamlined, the little sales trickling in…

It still wasn’t enough. 😔

We didn’t come this far to sell one or two copies a week.

Yes, we had built something we were proud of.

But we weren’t at the place we needed to be yet — the place where this could actually give us real time freedom.

Or help replace my job. Or take the pressure off.

We knew the books were good. But something was missing.

Visibility.

So we did what everyone said to do next:

We ran Amazon ads (and saw our royalties vanish)

We tried Facebook ads (confusing setup + zero return)

We begged for support in every Facebook group imaginable

We even went to offline book fairs, printing posters and business cards — and mostly ended up talking to people who wanted free bookmarks

We were doing everything right — and still felt like no one was seeing our books.

And honestly?

We weren’t alone.

Everywhere we looked, other self-published authors were saying the same thing:

“If you don’t drive your own traffic… your book is invisible.” 😶‍🌫️

And that’s when we started looking for something different.

A way to get found without going broke or burning out.

🧠 “We Tried All the ‘Expert’ Advice Too…”

At one point, we figured:

“Okay, maybe we just don’t know how to market.”

So we did what most people do when they feel lost — We went looking for experts.

We signed up for webinars.

Bought a few shiny courses.

Listened to “gurus” promising secret strategies for building traffic, growing an audience, turning ourselves into a “personal brand” or an “authority in the space.”

You name it — we probably watched it.

99% of it? A complete waste of time and money.

❌ Outdated tactics.

❌ Complicated funnels.

❌ Post 5 times a day.

❌ Start a blog.

❌ Cold DM strangers on Instagram.

We were exhausted just trying to keep up with the advice.

But at that point, we didn’t feel like we had much of a choice.

We were in too deep — and we wanted this to work. So we kept going.

And eventually…

We came across something that didn’t just sound smart — it actually made sense.

A method that was simple, doable, and didn’t involve reinventing our personalities or spending $500/month on ads.

It showed us how to turn our own social media presence — the profiles we already had — into quiet magnets that could attract the right readers, organically.

Not by going viral.

Not by “building a brand.”

Just by making a few strategic changes that actually matter.

🌱 “Then Everything Started to Work”

Once we implemented those strategies, everything started to change.

No more guessing.

No more wasting money on ads that went nowhere.

No more praying someone would magically discover our books in the Amazon abyss.

We started getting messages like:

“Hey, I saw your book and just bought a copy for my niece!”

“This popped up on my Explore page — so cute!”

“How did you publish this? I want to do one too!”

Little by little, the traffic came. The visibility came. The sales followed. 😮‍💨

We weren’t hustling. We weren’t launching. We weren’t “marketing” the way everyone else told us to.

Our books were finally doing what they were meant to do:

Being found. Being bought. Being read.

And for the first time, we realized something:

It’s not just about having a good book.

It’s about knowing how to quietly attract the people who need it.

That changed everything for us — and we knew we had to help others figure it out too.

🎓 “People Started Asking How We Did It…”

As our books started gaining traction — Not viral overnight success, but steady, meaningful results — Something unexpected began to happen.

People started reaching out.

Not just readers, but other creators.

Moms. Teachers. Side hustlers. Writers.

People like us, who had story ideas and dreams, but no clue where to start.

They’d message things like:

“How did you publish your book?”

“Wait… you made this with no design background?”

“What tools are you using?”

“Can you teach me how you did it?”

At first, we just answered in DMs, voice notes, comments.

We’d share screenshots, walk people through our steps, even hop on the occasional Zoom.

But eventually…

We realized we were repeating the same things over and over.

We had built a process — a system that actually worked — from scratch.

And now, other people wanted it too.

That’s when we decided:

“Let’s put it all together, step by step, and share it properly — in one place.”

So we took everything we learned —

All the trial-and-error, the wins, the failures, the shortcuts, the secret platform, the organic traffic method…

And we turned it into something anyone could follow.

🌟 “That’s Why We Created This”

We didn’t build a course to “monetize our knowledge.”

We built it because we wished something like this had existed when we were starting.

Something clear.

Something human.

Something that didn’t assume you already had design skills, a following, or 30 hours a week to burn on YouTube tutorials.

So we created:

"The StoryBook Formula" (Cool name, right?)

It’s the exact process we use — from story idea to finished book, fully published and ready to sell — without needing to be a designer, a writer, or a tech person.

We made it for:

✔️ Parents with ideas and no time

✔️ Beginners with big dreams and zero clue where to start

✔️ Creators who’ve already tried, but got lost in Canva and KDP rules

✔️ Anyone who’s thinking “I know I have a story… I just need a way to bring it to life”

📦 Here’s What You’ll Learn Inside the Course:

We’ve broken the training into simple, step-by-step video lessons — no fluff, no jargon, no wasted time.

Whether you’re starting from zero or you’ve already published a book (and hated the process), this course will guide you through exactly what we do to create beautiful, fully illustrated children’s books — fast.

🔮 MODULE 1: The Secret Magic Platform (no more Canva headaches)

✔️ Discover the exact site we use to create, illustrate, and publish books — all in one place

✔️ See how the dashboard works and why it saves you hours (and your sanity)

✔️ Understand what it can and can’t do — and how to get the most out of it even as a beginner

🤖 MODULE 2: Write Your Story with Help From AI (No, It’s Not Cheating)

✔️ Learn how to generate creative, original stories — even if writing isn’t “your thing”

✔️ Confirm and customize characters that fit your exact vision

✔️ Use storyboarding and page-by-page planning so everything flows like a pro

🎨 MODULE 3: Turn Words Into Stunning Illustrations

✔️ Generate images using the “magic site’s” built-in tools (no drawing, no Canva, no stress)

✔️ Finalize character styles and settings that bring your book to life

✔️ Troubleshoot image credits, costs, and exports — so you're never stuck mid-project

📖 MODULE 4: Put It All Together – Build Your Book Step-by-Step

✔️ Add text, pages, and layouts in a way that’s clean, readable, and ready for publishing

✔️ Install Kindle Create and format your book like a real author — without hiring anyone

✔️ Navigate tricky formatting options like bleed, trim size, and resolution with confidence

🚀 MODULE 5: Publish to Amazon KDP — and Beyond

✔️ Walk through the full Kindle Create + KDP publishing process with screen-by-screen guidance

✔️ Get tips on what info to enter, what mistakes to avoid, and how to publish with one click

✔️ Create a digital story version you can share instantly — for marketing, family, or extra reach

💬 Bonus? You Don’t Have to Do This Alone.

This course was designed by people who’ve actually been in your shoes (us!)

And it’s been tested with students who had zero experience — and still published beautiful, real books.

This is the step-by-step guide we never had — built from everything we learned the hard way.

If you're tired of the guesswork, the overwhelm, and the feeling that you're not creative enough...We’re here to show you that you absolutely are.

🌴 “What This Did For Us”

We didn’t build an empire.

We didn’t go viral.

And we didn’t become millionaire authors overnight (still working on that, to be honest)

But what we did create… was freedom.

A few months after publishing consistently, we were waking up to sales notifications.

We had extra income — real, passive income — coming in from books we had already created.

We took our daughter on her first real vacation — not because it was extravagant, but because we didn’t have to ask for time off.

More than anything, we had something of our own — something we built together, with our stories, our time, and our heart.

That’s what this system gave us.

Not just extra money.

But confidence.

Momentum.

And most of all… time.

Time to be more present.

Time to dream a little bigger.

Time to feel proud of what we were creating — not just for our daughter, but for ourselves.

🎯 Ready to Create Something That Lasts?

If you’ve read this far, maybe you're where we once were:

📚 Full of ideas, but unsure where to start

⏳ Tired of wasting hours on tutorials that overcomplicate everything

💸 Spending money on tools or ads that don’t work

💭 Dreaming of building something of your own — something that matters

We created this course for you.

Whether you’re a busy parent, a dreamer with a story in your head, or someone who just wants to build a simple, creative income stream from home...

...this is your step-by-step guide to finally doing it.

❌ You don’t need to be a writer.

❌ You don’t need design skills.

❌ You don’t even need a big idea yet.

👍 You just need a process that works.

💥 Enroll Now — Start Creating Your First Children’s Book Today

✅ One-time payment: $37

✅ Instant lifetime access

✅ Step-by-step video lessons

✅ Bonus support & resources to make it easy

✅ Real results from real people — including us

📌 No subscriptions, no hidden fees. Just the roadmap we wish we had when we started.

We want you to feel confident and excited to start this journey.

If you go through the course and feel like it’s not the right fit — for any reason — just email us within 14 days, and we’ll refund you.

No stress. No hard feelings. No weird forms to fill out.

We stand behind this because we’ve lived it — and we believe you can too.

🗣️ "What Others Are Saying"

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🫶 Final Thought from Us

We know what it feels like to want something more — more time, more freedom, more meaning — but not know where to start.

We also know what it feels like to take that first, uncertain step.

If you have even the smallest spark of a story inside you…

If you dream of building something of your own…

If you’re ready to stop watching tutorials and finally create something real...

And we’d be honored to walk this path with you.

With love,

Emilia & Daniel Sørensen

🔔 Just a quick reminder of what’s included:

✅ Full access to How to Create & Sell Children’s Books from Scratch

✅ Step-by-step video lessons — clear, simple, and beginner-friendly

✅ Our complete process using the “magic platform” (no Canva, no chaos)

✅ Lifetime access + all future updates

✅ 14-day money-back guarantee — no pressure, no risk

✅ One-time payment: $37

If you feel ready, we’d love to welcome you in.

👉 Click below to get started.

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