Thank you a million podcasts naming our show one of the best children's literature podcasts on the web.

Enjoy episode 42.

Our words can't express our appreciation for everyone's support of our podcast show.

Adventures in the Heart of Children's Book Authors I'm dedicated to introducing children's book authors to readers and aspiring children's book authors.

Part of our goal in starting this podcast show is to give back and support the incredible community of indie and self published children's book authors.

I've had the distinct pleasure of using my grandchildren as early guests in our podcast introduction.

My grandkids are involved in our indie publishing journey as either co authors, editors, narrators, or inspiration.

The most gratifying gift I can receive is watching our monthly listenership grow thanks to you.

A Growing, Loyal Audience Building a listening audience takes time.

Even though the questions we ask our guests for each podcast may sometimes sound familiar, the answers are as different as the children's books we discuss.

The subject matter of children's books is very diverse.

By listening to our podcast show, you learn how each children's book author brings their unique perspective and how they bring their children's book to life.

Adventures in the Heart of Children's Book Authors Podcast has listeners in over 25 countries worldwide and based on our show's analytics, it is a real treat to see we have a trend of loyal followers growing every month.

Again, I can't thank these listeners enough.

Our podcast guests have been incredible and at the end of every episode, our guests thank me for having them on as a guest.

However, as a podcast host, you're never sure of the value that you're bringing to your guests and listeners.

This is not a call for you to leave a review, although it'd be nice if you did.

I understand we all live busy lives.

There are two great thrills in my podcast life as a host.

First is to receive an unsolicited review or award and the other is is a children's book author who reaches out and wants to be a guest on our podcast show.

I've had the honor of several children's book authors reaching out to be a guest.

The other incredible honor is that our podcast show recently received some astonishing news.

Millions Podcasts, a podcast media service named Adventures in the Heart of Children's Book Authors Podcast as one of the top 90 children's literature podcasts on the web.

This is a special honor because it was unexpected.

We had not applied for this award.

We were selected because of our listeners.

The list is the most comprehensive ranking of Children's Literature podcasts online and this only honor features Adventures in the Heart of Children's Book Authors Podcast.

Among the best.

It is an excellent feeling to receive accolades from an independent media group.

We would be humbled if you shared our great news and encouraged others to listen to our podcast.

However, we would never receive this recognition without our podcast guests.

Our guests bring much value by sharing their experiences and insights on how they become published children's Book authors in episode 34, I challenged children's book authors to reach out and become a guest on our show.

Recently I received this e message from a listener and it was the icing on the cake and it goes as follows.

I wanted to reach out to you.

I'm a huge fan of your podcast.

I've been listening to all the episodes while I taught myself how to use Procreate.

I finished my final page for my first book today.

I want to be considered as a guest for later in the fall.

I am going to self publish on IngramSpark and or KDP.

I hope to finish everything with the setup by the end of August.

My book concerns a Thanksgiving balloon parade and the mishap with Joy and her cat Sunny.

I want you to know that I've been taking the advice from every episode.

I have planned the addition to my website.

After loading my book and making it public, I will update my headings on Facebook and Instagram like you suggested and I will make a download and a business plan just like you ask each guest.

I want to thank you for the inside look at the self publishing world.

I love hearing about the adventures of Caboose aspiring children's book author Shannon Tursky.

Receiving such kind words and validation makes everything that I'm doing with Adventures in the Heart of Children's Book Authors very rewarding.

Shannon and I have chosen October 7, 2025 as the date for her to be a guest and discuss her journey as a children's book author and her upcoming book launch about Joy and her cat Sunny.

Before I end today's episode, I want to give you a glimpse into our future guests being released in the next couple of months.

First, Alison Cornwell, her children's book Where Do Grownups Come from or Shawna Greer, the Boy in the Wheelchair Cody Burke, Take Me Back to Oklahoma Laura Strachan Pickles, the Mermaid, Rainy's Journey, Lori Orolinski Being Middle Wendy Shaktanzi, My Blues, Greatest Pumpkin Playhouse, Judy McGee, Penny Girls Rescue, Sue Merle, Shirley Merle and Clever Trevor, just to name a few.

We are very excited about these upcoming guests and we look forward to welcoming more children's book authors over the days, months and years that follow.

We are excited that we are on track to offer a new episode every week as I had promised when we began the podcast show Adventures in the Heart of Children's Book Authors.

As a listener you might ask, how can we help you continue to give a platform for children's book authors to introduce themselves and their books?

The biggest benefit would be to purchase one of our children children's books, the Adventures of Caboose, the Rocky Mountain Bear book series.

There are links in the show notes and if you could give us if you could purchase our books and give us a five star review, that would be unbelievably generous.

We also have a donate button in our podcast bar online with each episode so you could go there and actually make a donation if you so kindly choose to thank you again for listening and enjoy our upcoming episodes.