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frequently asked questions
1. What's the best way to contact you?
2. When does it release? How do I place an order?
3. What is a soft launch? What is a retail launch?
4. What is a custom signature and how do I place an order with one?
5. How will I receive my bundle purchase?
6. What are the shipping options and turnaround time?
7. Why are the prices for your books different across different purchasing venues?
8. What other merchandise will be available?
9. What if we're unhappy with our order? :(
1. How do I book an author event?
2. What kind of events do you offer?
3. Do you charge for author events?
4. How long does an author event last?
5. How can we order books for an event?
6. What materials or supplies are needed for an author event?
7. Do you do non-school or campus related events?
1. Who is Blooming Rose?
2. Where is Blooming Rose Farm?
3. How many books are in the series?
4. How can I stay in the loop for upcoming release info?
1. Who is your publisher? How do you publish a book?
2. How can we support authors and series we love?
3. What if I have a more critical review?
4. What is a launch team?
5. What additional services did you use to promote your series?
6. Where can we find your media kit and previous media appearances?
placing orders
1. What's the best way to contact you?
The easiest way to get in touch is by sending a message via email to lauren@bloomingrosekids.com or by shooting us a DM on Facebook or Insta!
2. How do I place an order?
Blooming Rose Blasts Off is available NOW! Visit our "for books" page to place your order!
3. What is a soft launch? What is a retail launch?
Our first book became available as of our October 2022 soft launch! This simply means that I have a certain amount of books-in-hand to sign + sell directly to you via our shop here or at in-person events.
Our retail launch date was January 10, 2023, and means that the printed books have reached the Mascot warehouse and have had time to be distributed and stocked into our retail partners linked here: Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Target, Books-a-Million & GoodReads.
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4. What is a custom signature and how do I place an order with one?
If placing an order through our site, all purchases include a signed copy from the author and a small note addressed to the person or entity of your choice. When placing an order in our shop, there will be an area with a Notes section to add in the name of your child/children, students, class, campus or library to address by name. This will be handwritten in the inside cover along with a little note and signature from the author.
Examples include: to Avery & Owens; to Mrs. Piland's class; to the students of Kingwood Elementary, etc...
5. How will I receive my bundle purchase?
Beyond the Text Bundle purchases are available here and soon on our TeachersPayTeachers page. There is an option in our shop that includes the bundle, but they are not included with purchases from our retail partners such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble. If you purchase your book from a retailer and want to add the bundle, a separate listing will be available here and on TpT.
Choose the bundle grade levels of your choice, (either for PreK-K, 1st-2nd or 3rd-4th grades) and after checkout you will receive an email to the address provided that includes a link to download the pdf which includes a bundle guide, all the exercises and activities listed, an info sheet for parents, whole group project instructions and templates, and a sheet with correlating learning objectives suggestions. If you don't receive your link within 24 hours of purchase, please contact us at lauren@bloomingrosekids.com.
6. What are the shipping options and turnaround time?
When purchasing from our site, the delivery options and turnaround times are listed below. If purchasing from our retail partners, they will provide shipping estimates within their systems.
In our shop, you'll see the following shipping option:
USPS Media Mail - this ships via their discounted program, is subject to inspection,
and can only include books, not any other merchandise; this rate is
pre-calculated based on weight
Free Delivery Code - this is a pre-arranged and pre-planned event delivery only, this
includes upcoming Author Visits to your student's campus or select
vendor events. If this option is applicable, you will receive additional
instructions with your event program information
Turnaround times will vary depending on the shipping schedule, but our books + goodies will ship within 3 business days of placing the order, and an email with the tracking information will be provided. Our orders ship from Houston, with USPS shipping times usually within 2-4 business days.
*We currently do not ship internationally from here, but visit our international Amazon
listings for purchases outside of the US, or try our E-Book option!
7. Why are the prices for your books different across different purchasing venues?
The only pricing we can control are the prices listed on our website, since we handle the distribution in house, literally! ;) This pricing is based on the publisher's suggested retail price and industry standards.
All other retailers make their profit by purchasing the books in bulk at a heavy discount rate from our inventory through Mascot's warehouse, and then whatever they decide to mark up on any given day is up to them, including sales and discount days.
For Amazon Prime members, that's probably your cheapest bet with free shipping included, but...if you want to support small business, and include a custom signature and bundle link at a huge discount, and directly support a small business, you can purchase here! ;)
8. What other merchandise options will be available?
We are excited to add character merchandise to our shop offerings in the near future including:
character shirts: Rose emblem shirts in youth and adult sizes are available at in person events only for now due to high shipping charges for online orders; if you're interested
please contact me directly
character plush dolls: Rose character plush dolls will also be available here soon, but also currently affected by high domestic and international shipping charges and schedules
local + handcrafted accessories: we have multiple upcoming Blooming Rose inspired collaborations in the works including book-themed sensory kits, stacked bracelet sets, hair accessories, blast off body glitter and hand drawn decals; more information on each of these will be posted on our social pages and linked from our shop once ready to purchase!
9. What if we're unhappy with our order? :(
Please, please, please reach out to us at lauren@bloomingrosekids.com if you're unhappy with your order in any way, including shipping delays or damaged goods, and we will do our best to leave every customer with the most positive experience with Blooming Rose!
orders
booking author events
1. How do I book an author event?
We would love to visit your school or event, or via Zoom if not local to Houston, to anyone who wants to learn more about our series! Shoot me an email at lauren@bloomingrosekids.com to tell me what you have in mind, and visit our author page for event ideas!
Our school visit info sheet to download can be found here.
2. What kind of events do you offer?
Check out our author page for event ideas and estimated time frames, or shoot us a message for an idea of your own!
3. Do you charge for author events?
I currently do not charge for local author events, but I do appreciate when a campus will send out our custom order form 1 week prior to the event date. This form will have instructions for parents & staff on pre-ordering online or returning the hard copy form the morning of our visit to receive a custom-signed copy to those who are interested. School campuses that can account for ten or more orders from staff, campus and students will receive a complimentary signed copy for the campus library! Event requests outside of the Houston area might have additional travel fees if necessary.
4. How long does an author event last?
Estimated time frames are listed with each of our available author visit options on our author page. Visit options can be broken up among different groups or classes as needed, but I suggest at least 20 minutes for read-alouds, 30 minutes for read alouds + activities, & 45 minutes for presentations.
5. How can we order books for an event?
Upon booking, I can send you a customized pdf order form to be printed out and distributed to each student at least one week prior to your scheduled campus visit. This order form provides details on the date Blooming Rose will be visiting your school, as well as instructions for turning in the printed order form on the day of the event with a cash payment, or to pre-order online. All orders include a custom signature from the author. If pre-ordering online, purchasers will enter a discount code at checkout to credit shipping charges, as well as add their custom signature notes to be signed ahead of time and delivered the day of. We can also accept orders via credit card payments on the day of the event for adults in attendance. If a campus is interested in ordering multiple copies, which includes campus-wide academic bundle access, just email me to discuss our bulk discounts.
6. What materials or supplies are needed for an author event?
It depends on your event of choice, but for a simple, small group read aloud I will provide the book to read; for digital small or large group read-alouds, I will need access to a computer and presentation screen; for activities & presentations, students will need to be seated at tables or desks, or provided clipboards, & pencils to follow along with the guided activity, plus access to a computer and presentation screen.
7. Do you do non-school or campus related events?
Absolutely! I love the chance to meet kids, parents, teachers and our community in non-academic settings as well, like local artisan markets and small business partnership events. If you're hosting a special event like a grand opening, Parent's Day Out or a Sip & Shop, please reach out to see if Blooming Rose might be a good fit for your patrons - we're even open to private events for kids, parents or teachers who love Blooming Rose! And, we also love supporting our non-profit friends via raffle items & event appearances!
events
the series
1. Who is Blooming Rose?
Rose is a fictional character designed in the likeness of my daughter, Avery Rose. Her little brother Rex, is in the likeness of my son Owens, who Avery lovingly named T-Rex before his arrival! Although the characters' feelings and antics are similar to a lot of kids their age, the experiences and stories are just that - made up! Another fun fact: Avery Rose is named after my paternal grandmother, Audrey Rose, who passed in 2017.
2. Where is Blooming Rose Farm?
Rose's Texan family farm depicted in the series is designed off of a combination of our first farm house on the east side of Houston, and our small cattle ranch property on the west side of Houston where we live now!
The animals are also based off of our real life pets including our two horses Boudreaux & Thibodaux, our first fur babies: dogs Cali & Sam who have since passed, Avery's kitty CeeCee, our small herd of black angus cows + calves, three naughty dwarf goats, our sweet chickens and two new donkey friends! You can meet everyone in our BR Farm highlight on our Instagram!
3. How many books are in the series?
When I first came up with the series concept, I came up with the characters and summaries for 3 collections of 7 titles each! It has since been refined a bit to currently include 7 titles in Blooming Rose's Feelings Collection, and 7 more titles in the follow up: Adventure Rex's Doing Collection. The third collection, Blooming Rose Kids' People Collection, I'm warily considering as an early chapter reader series. We shall see. ;)
Following our Blooming Rose Blasts Off! release in 2023, is Blooming Rose Finds Her Jam, about the power music has to influence your moods, and Blooming Rose Chills Out follows suit, highlighting breathing and movement (yoga) techniques in sticky situations. More on these titles can be found on our home page.
4. How can I stay in the loop for upcoming release info?
Make sure you are following our Facebook and/or Instagram pages below where I share a lot about our process updates, release dates and author event info!
series
the publishing process
1. Who is your publisher? How do you publish a book?
We are excited to be working with Mascot Kids, an imprint of Amplify Publishing Group, to publish our first title! While there is a whole spectrum of publishing options from traditional to self-published, we landed in the middle, hence the term hybrid publishing. This means there is a contracted mix of investment on the author's part and the publisher's part. While it's mostly personal preference, I like that I retain creative freedom and copyright to all the materials, while having a production team to help guide me along the process, including retail sales & distribution.
But, there's a whole lot more to the process from writing to publishing to marketing, that I cover in greater detail in our Blooming Journey vlog series on YouTube! I can talk about this all day, so feel free to reach out if you have any additional or specific questions about our experience so far!
2. How can we support authors and series we love?
Review + Share!!!!! Especially with self-published and hybrid-published authors who don't have high dollar marketing & press budgets to get their names + titles out there, we often rely on word of mouth.
Writing a review doesn't have to be intimidating, but just 2-3 sentences on things you genuinely liked/disliked and might recommend about the book, the story, the characters, the lesson, the supplemental materials, etc...and you can easily submit your thoughts using our REVIEW link on our home page or by using the direct links to our retail partners below (the Amazon Algorithm beast LOVES reviews ;)
Amazon Barnes&Noble Target Books-a-Million GoodReads
3. What if I have a more critical review?
Even if you have a more critical review you'd rather not share publicly, chances are the author still would welcome constructive criticism via private message, (not nasty, but truthful) I know I would! I'm always open to growing and improving as a writer, especially for future titles! But even less than stellar reviews help prove the validity and credibility of not only our listings but the review process as a whole!
4. What is a launch team?
A launch team is a limited group of supporters who volunteer to receive a FREE advanced, signed copy of a book in return for leaving a review with the provided list of retailers. These supporters are also encouraged to share their review and any photos with their social media and email friends far and wide - so basically, a hype team!
The team for Blooming Rose Blasts Off! is now closed, but we will be doing another launch team for our next title, Blooming Rose Finds Her Jam ahead of its release, which is open to all supporters to join, so email lauren@bloomingrosekids.com if you want in!
5. What additional services did you use to promote your series?
Even with a degree in advertising, I know enough to know I don't know enough about certain aspects of running and promoting a business, especially as a newbie!
As a business owner, surround yourself with people you can learn from, get great advice from, and then one day you'll hopefully be able to pass along a valuable mentorship to another owner in your shoes.
It takes a village to run a successful business, and here is ours:
- amazing illustrations by Kristen Humphrey represented by Astound, Inc.
- professional editing, formatting, printing + retail distribution by Mascot Books
- logo + promotional design materials by STUN Design
- public relations by author duo Alysson Bourque + Lori Orlinsky of Foreword Publicity
- brand photography by Jillian Reed Photography
6. Where can we find your media kit and previous media appearances?
A link to download our media kit is available here! All of our media appearances will be posted on our "for Fun" page as well as on our YouTube!
All media inquiries please email lauren@bloomingrosekids.com!
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publishing
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