Check Out Sonja Wendt’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sonja Wendt.

Sonja, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
It is interesting where life leads us. I never would have foreseen that today, I would be a published children’s book author.

I am the youngest of four girls raised in Eau Claire (EC), Wisconsin, a quaint small university city. I always loved little kids and as soon as I turned twelve, I took the Red Cross babysitting class and started babysitting making a whole fifty cents an hour!

Mountain Bell moved me to Denver, Colorado in 1981 after I received a BBA degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Wisconsin – EC. My professional career during that time included working as a programmer, systems analyst, people manager, project manager and trainer.

I was then outsourced to IBM and worked there for a couple of years. IBM offered training to those leaving the company. I took children’s book writing and publishing classes online through Gotham out of New York. And there, the journey to where I am today progresses.

I had written a story many years ago, more of a journaling exercise when an ad popped up on my computer selling a wrinkle cream. The story talked about a little boy who distinguished his two grandmas as the pretty grandma and the ugly grandma. I was appalled! Who would label their grandma ugly! The story went on about how the pretty grandma was using the wrinkle cream, of course. This bothered me immensely, how social media puts so much emphasis on beauty and that only youth is beautiful. I wrote the beginning of the story, Can Old Be Beautiful, the first book in my series which obtained Amazon Best Seller in four categories in February of 2021. The categories were:

#1 Children’s Self Esteem & Self Respect
#1 Children’s Book on Peer Pressure
#1 Children’s Book on Values
#1 Children’s Girls and Women Books

I was so excited since these categories addressed exactly what this book was intended to do.

My husband and I have two daughters and all of us love the outdoors and are very physically active. We are fortunate to have several acres of land and live by  the Big Dry Creek Trail bike path. We husband prompted us to raise for meat, cows, and pigs, and we even had an adorable goat and lamb. I have a watercolor mural on our family room wall of these farm animals. A large vegetable garden keeps us busy especially from spring planting to harvesting in late summer and fall. 

After I completed working for IBM, I did some project management and training consulting work. I also was getting prompted by what I consider a higher power to write and publish some children’s books to get the messages out. There were a couple of child suicides not far from home and I felt this compelling need to reach out.

I talked to Denver radio host Dom Testa, and he connected me with Judith Briles, the Book Shepherd. I learned it was good to have a book theme. All the stories in my head were different with unique characters like a caterpillar, a sunflower, a little girl, a little boy, a grandma, and a grandpa. But then I realized they all had to do with one especially important component, compassion. I knew what it was like to garden and saw the similarities of growing plants to growing children, so I created the theme, Cultivating Compassion in Children.

The two characters that are consistent in each story are Serina and Seymour Seed. They are brother and sister and the seeds to compassion that introduce and conclude each story.

February in 2020, my first two books were out for publication. I read to first grade children in our neighborhood elementary school, Jefferson Academy, the school my girls had attended. I had book launches, signings, and fairs set up for the summer. Then COVID-19 appeared putting everything to a halt. Instead of the focus on marketing, I wrote two more children’s books in 2020 that were published in December of that year.

The last book that was published is a story of a monarch caterpillar who doesn’t feel he belongs. It’s a story of inclusion, acceptance, and becoming who you are really meant to be. It also follows the scientific metamorphosis cycle. I especially like the illustrations in this book with all the cute, little bugs. The illustrator for my four children’s books is Manuel Nieto and he lives in Venezuela. This book is called BaBa-Balu Belongs, Too.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There were and continue to be obstacles and challenges along the road. One challenge is the cost needed to independently publish and market a book. Fortunately, my top priority isn’t to make millions of dollars on publishing a book, although I would like to at least break even. Instead, my drive is to get the messages of compassion out. That I have been able to do, but not as quickly to the extent as desired.

Marketing is also a struggle. I’m not a famous actor, reporter, talk show host or comedian so I don’t have that notoriety to get my messages out. I dream of Oprah or Ellen or even my local news stations to hear my story so I can get my messages of compassion more easily out to the public. I haven’t given up.

I do follow Corey Rose from 9News in Denver and her It Takes a Village to keep in touch with the current child issues. If there is a question I can answer, I jump in to contribute.

I had to get out of my comfort zone into the world of social media and marketing. I’m still not comfortable there but in my mind, I preface it with my intent of getting the messages of compassion out to the world. That does motivate me.

The month after I got my first books published, the world shut down with COVID-19. This caused all my in-person events to shut down. I knew my messages of compassion would always be around, so I stopped stressing about marketing and ended up writing during this time, the last two books in the series, published in December of 2020.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am currently a published children’s book author of four children’s books under the theme, Cultivating Compassion in Children. I am in the process of writing a parenting books on the Steps to Cultivate a Compassionate Child.

Book writing and especially publishing and marketing is still very new to me and I am learning every day. This job, unlike my professional career in the past, is driven more by passion. I write blogs related to children and compassion regularly and have been blogging on the steps to Cultivate a Compassionate Child. These steps are a free Opt into my website. I am expanding on each of the steps in my blogs. Also, on my website are coloring pages related to the books that can be downloaded for free.

The ongoing process of marketing continues. I am always thinking of ways of how to connect my books to children and parents.

One wonderful opportunity came up with an amazing person I connected with in my author world who has started a non-profit called Imagination Videobooks. Richard Rieman is the Founder and CEO of this organization that transforms children’s books to audiobooks with captions so visually and hearing-impaired children have access to books they can enjoy, also. The multiple professionally speaking voices and descriptions of the illustrations and narrative in the books are outstanding! Two of my books will be available on his site by June 2021 with the other two children’s books following. I am grateful that my goal of continuing to spread the word of compassion to all children, one child at a time, continues in different forms such as this. 

What’s next?
I hope to publish a cute and fun parenting book on the Steps to Cultivate a Compassionate Child. Each step also includes a poem and adorable little pictures. I’m excited to get it published this summer. The step are blogs that I post to my website as I progress. I would love for you to read them and provide input. Also, by opting into my website, you will be notified of the status of this little baby reveal, baby shower, stocking stuffer type book, and any in person events that I hope to be a part of soon.

Here is a poem on the third Step in Cultivating a Compassion Child, watering a child with knowledge. The steps build on each other.

Water the seed
With knowledge, they will gain
They will succeed
In compassion, they sustain

One of my most exciting plans I have is to implement my Reading & Seeding program. It is an Intergenerational activity between preschools/daycares and Retirement Facilities in my community. We had hoped to start this in the spring but due to COVID-19, it is looking like this won’t be implemented until the fall since we are bringing together small children and the elderly. 

We plan to bus the children to the senior facilities where a senior will adopt a grandchild for an hour, I will read one of my books, have fun making a related to the book craft, mingle and have a snack. My desire is that each child will leave with one of my books on compassion in their hand and the craft they made with their adopted grandparent.

Outside of the book business, I plan to continue to travel with my husband with a trip that will hopefully happen this fall to Greece and Italy. I also enjoy playing pickleball, golfing, hiking, cross country skiing and snow shoeing. I am involved in a book club and bible studies.

I love the beauty of the outdoors. These pictures include wild floors in Crested Butte and peach blossoms on the Western Slope in Palisade. All my books have something to do with nature. My books and the outdoors fill my heart and my soul.

Also, one of the best parts of this journey are the connections and friendships I have made with other authors. I talk to several of them weekly and we help and support each other as we move along life’s path.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sonjawendt.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skwendt/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sonja.k.wendt
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sonjalangewendt
• Other: https://bit.ly/SonjaLangeWendt