Local Author Profile: Katie Mullaly on Self-Publishing Children's Books

Katie Mullaly is a local author whose writing projects led her down a business path. In order to produce her first books, she started Faceted Press which allowed her to publish her own work including a “How To” book on self-publishing children's books, and a coloring book.

Katie then had the idea of assisting others in getting their books published. With that goal in mind, she created an LLC called Surrogate Press, which is an imprint of Faceted Press. “In looking at so many of the existing publishing houses, I found they only paid the authors small royalties and kept all of the rights. So I figured, why not try a new model where I ‘birth’ your baby (your book) and you take it from there.” Through this service she charges a one-time flat fee for the publishing and layout of a book, and then the client keeps all the profits and retains all the rights. As of now she has published six books for other people this year, with more lined up.

The writing and the business end of the publishing companies has turned into a full time job for Katie at this point. “It is terrifying at times to not get that steady paycheck, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I have had the ‘real job’ and it almost killed me. To be able to do work I love, and that is my real purpose and doesn’t involve sitting in an office all day doing work I don’t care that much about far outweighs the unknowns of entrepreneurship. I do still sit at a computer most of the day, but this time it’s in my house.”  

Katie also teaches classes at the University of Utah and Park City Community Education Center. “The classes are on Self-Publishing Your Children’s Book. The class in Park City is 2 nights and will be on March 13 and 20.”  To learn more and sign up for the class, visit the PCSD Compass/Leisure Learning website. The class will be held at the Park City high school from 6:30 - 8:30pm.

To learn more about Katie's books and companies check out these links: 

The Land of… Children’s Books Series: 
https://landofchildrensbooks.com/ 

Faceted Press: 
http://www.facetedpress.com/ 

Surrogate Press: 
https://surrogatepress.com/ 

Self-Publish Your Children’s Book (link to Amazon): 
https://www.amazon.com/Self-Publishing-Your-Childrens-Book-Practical/dp/1947459074