Susan Stoderl
- 4 days ago
- 2 min
What I Would Do Differently | Part 3: Who is Your Audience
My answer was “Uhhh…,” followed by some generalized answers based on why I wrote the story I did. It quickly turned into “I don’t know.” And that is something I should have known before I began writing my Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers series. I didn’t even question it until I began marketing the book. Hence, what I would do differently. Now, who is my audience? When you self-publish, you must submit the categories (genre and sub-genre) your book fits into. Booksellers use
Susan Stoderl
- Oct 26, 2022
- 1 min
Pre-Order Your eBook Today
This link will take you to my author's page at the publisher. The various stores that have it in stock can be found there to pre-order. It goes live on November 10. The print edition and audiobook are in the works. I am unsure of the exact date they will be available, but I will let you know as soon as possible. Please tell all your friends. #middlegradedetectivebooks, #kidsbookstagram, #kidsbookstagrammer, #readersofinstagram, #indieauthor
Susan Stoderl
- Oct 19, 2022
- 1 min
Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers | Book 1 Coming on or before November 10, 2023
Life’s full of adventure! Right? Sophia thinks so. Especially when you are telepathic and speak multiple animal languages! Being brilliant ten-year-olds in a competitive eighth-grade honors class is a minute-by-minute challenge. Outside school even more challenges abound. When Jack the Polar Bear’s regular zookeeper is the victim of a mysterious hit-and-run accident, Super Sleuths Sophia and Pedro find themselves investigating his replacement. A replacement whom Jack and the
Susan Stoderl
- Oct 7, 2022
- 1 min
Writer's Life Update
#middlegradedetectivefiction, #middlegradefiction, #middlegradezoobooks, #indieauthor
Susan Stoderl
- Oct 5, 2022
- 2 min
Why Middle-Grade Books are Important to Adults and Kids
Many people find middle school difficult since it encompasses the pre-pubescent years through puberty. Most of us don’t even want to remember that. Remembering that you survived it, and can laugh about it now, makes being an adult that much easier. You can escape into a world where the cringe-worthy news cycles are simpler and solvable. Children who are the oldest may not get to be children. Single-parent homes need extra help to make ends meet or provide childcare for younge
Susan Stoderl
- Sep 30, 2022
- 1 min
Chapter 16 | Where is Vlad? | Excerpt
Super Sleuths Pedro and Sophia hopped off the bus at the 50th Street stop and walked back to 51st. The buildings became increasingly run down as they walked toward the river. Sophia, as Lead Investigator, presented her plan. “We’ll hit the Mister Creamy truck on the corner, then eat our cones on that bench while we watch Vlad’s apartment.” “Excellent! Since ice cream is a key food group, if we add strawberries, we’ll get total nutrition!” She paid for the cones, and the two s
Susan Stoderl
- Sep 28, 2022
- 1 min
An Excerpt from Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers | Sophia & Pedro vs. THEM
From Mission 1: All in a Day's Work, Chapter 1 Sophia and Pedro were outsiders at the fashionable James Samuel Calder Academy on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Each formed its own small minority. Pedro was a scholarship student and Hispanic. Sophia was outspokenly individual and feminist, whereas her classmates were devotees of Teen Vogue and the New York Times society pages. The fashionistas thought Sophia’s unruly, curly red hair and high-top red sneakers with striped laces a
Susan Stoderl
- Sep 24, 2022
- 2 min
Sophia Autobiographic? Nah... Well Maybe a Little
Several weeks ago, I scribbled a brief article on an interview by Writers Cooperative with the author, Amy Tan. She spoke about the autobiographical aspects of her writing: “Readers of The Joy Luck Club often suspect Tan wrote herself into the story as a single character (a woman named Jing-mei), but she says, ‘The truth is that every character has a bit of me.’” This caused me to question this regarding my middle-grade series, Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers. Guilty as ch
Susan Stoderl
- Sep 22, 2022
- 1 min
Self-Publishing = Chaos
#selfpublishing, #indieauthor, #sophiaofthebrightredsneakers, #middlegradefiction, #middlegradeadventure
Susan Stoderl
- Sep 14, 2022
- 1 min
More Work Done | More to Do
#WritersLife, #Update, #IndieAuthor, #SelfPublishing
Susan Stoderl
- Sep 2, 2022
- 1 min
Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers | Zelda Screech Cat | Chapter 14 Excerpt
#middlegradefiction, #middlegradebooks, #indieauthor, #storytelling, #sophiaofthebrightredsneakersseries, #writerscommunity , #womenwriters
Susan Stoderl
- Aug 19, 2022
- 1 min
Bad Guys | Mikhail and Dimitri
Today, we're going to start meeting the Bad Guys in the first book of Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers Series | Mission 1: All in a Day's Work. This will be in two parts, with the second part coming next Friday. #SophiaoftheBrightRedSneakers, #childrensbooks, #middlegradebooks, #indieauthor
Susan Stoderl
- Aug 3, 2022
- 1 min
Self-Publishing | A Merger of Two Biggest Publishers
As many of you may know, the U.S. Department of Justice is suing to block a merger between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster. If the merger goes through, it is likely that the “Big Five Publishers” will become “Primo Behemoth Publisher” with three small “Fight-for-Their-Lives” publishers. The two potentially merging companies control fifty percent of the top 100 selling books. Most of the remaining fifty percent will go to the three remaining publishers, leaving littl
Susan Stoderl
- Aug 2, 2022
- 1 min
Late Bloomer | Erma Bombeck
Erma Bombeck (1927-1996) knew at age twenty that she would die from the same inherited polycystic kidney disease as her father did when she was nine. Perhaps this was her motivation to always look on the bright side. She is one of the most beloved humorists of all time. Erma published thousands of newspaper columns over forty years, besides fifteen books. At sixteen Erma was off to a tremendous start when she became a copywriter for the Dayton Herald. However, the next two de
Susan Stoderl
- Jul 22, 2022
- 1 min
Meet Zelda Screech Cat
Meet Zelda Screech Cat
Susan Stoderl
- Jul 15, 2022
- 1 min
Today Meet Wahoo the Raven, a very Dapper Dude
From Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers Series | Mission 1: All in a Day's Work He looked around his home with pride. “My, my, my, I have an eye for décor.” The shelves held his prized shiny objects, such as an antique French parquetry and gilt clock. It was a surprise gift from Christie’s Auction House. As it was being unloaded, the antique had attached itself to his talons as he flew away. What was a gentleman raven to do if he liked pretty objects? Birds, no matter how dapp
Susan Stoderl
- Jul 8, 2022
- 1 min
Introducing the Cru Crew
From Sophia and the Bright Red Sneakers, Mission 1: All in a Day's Work. Meet Ella Cru "As if to remind Sophia of her status, standing in front of the door to Mrs. Dumfries’s classroom was Ella Cru, a.k.a., Cruella the Creep. Ella was the prettiest and the richest. Her highlighted chestnut locks always glistened. The ugly bag dress even looked elegant on her. Though Ella instigated her share of evil, she always appeared to be one step from sainthood." Meet Suzy Snodgrass "Suz
Susan Stoderl
- Jul 1, 2022
- 2 min
Meet Pedro Gonzalez
Pedro Gonzalez is Sophia’s best friend and co-conspirator in sleuthing and improving the world one mission at a time. He is ten years old, almost eleven, and a scholarship student at the James Samuel Calder Academy. He has two strikes against him—low income and he’s Brown. But this does not stop him from always being positive and kind. Plus, he’s about as smart as Sophia, which also does not go over very well with the reigning Cru Crew in the eighth-grade honors class. Sophia
Susan Stoderl
- Jun 24, 2022
- 2 min
Meet Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers
Sophia MacGregor, a.k.a., Boss-In-Chief, is a precocious ten-year-old who is in the eighth-grade honors class at the posh James Samuel Calder Academy on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Her best friend and co-conspirator is Pedro Gonzalez, who lives in the building next door and who also attends JSCA. In my Friday posts, I am going to be writing about different aspects of my upcoming books. Today’s blog introduces the main character on a typical day at school. In an encounter wi