Here at LLBR, we love to hear success stories from self-published authors and from writers who are using Lulu.com to their advantage. Recently, we were introduced to a website called Theo-Saurus. They provide specialized children’s books for their customers and use Lulu mainly as their printer. We contacted Leah Herde, writer and owner of Theo-Saurus, to learn about about her business and how it works.
1. Tell us a little about Theo-Saurus. How did you come up with the name? What inspired this idea?
Several years ago, as a gift for my cousin’s two little boys, I wrote and illustrated a book for each child. Their books were hand written and actual water color and coloring pencil art work. I am not sure what inspired me at the time but I loved being able to give them their very own book featuring them in the written story and art work. From there I started making other books as gifts for the various people in my life. I learned how to use various computer programs and improved my binding skills. This seemed to be a project that stayed with me and the more I enjoyed giving the gift, the more I learned about how to make a better book.
It was shortly after the birth of my daughter that I had the idea to try and make a business that produced custom children’s books. My husband, who is in the marketing field, was able to share his extensive knowledge on getting a product launched. He informed me that branding is important and the first step is the name.
I was looking for a name that would capture the desire to make products that defined the owner’s character. I searched my creative mind. I tried references to favorite childhood items. I was trying to find that perfect simple name that would be cute, childish but sophisticated. It seemed like I spent months of doing research on my laptop. Many evening were spent cuddled up on my couch, googling away on my computer. One evening, my husband leaned over while I was viewing an online thesaurus, looking up words like personalized or individual and he simple said “hmm, what about Theo Saurus. This is why I love him (and the name).
2. Who came up with the idea for your first book?
For my first product, I wanted a way to tell any child that received the book that each unique quality about them is wonderful. I wanted to be able to list the special things that made them exactly who they are. It occurred to me that a recipe is just that, a listing of specific things that make up our favorite food, an exciting product or an idea. A recipe for soup kept coming to mind but a cake seemed much more fun. So from there, two brothers appeared…
3. Tell us about Your Special Recipeep?
The vision behind Your Special Recipeep is to have a book that mom and dad don’t mind reading over and over again. And that a child who was given the gift at age 4 will pick it up at age 12 and have the same warm feeling that comes with someone tell you that think you are special. With a fun rhythm and colorful language we put together a storybook style setting with a whimsical message tailored for each child. We wanted our characters to be fun and slightly odd (as we see ourselves.)
4. Who writes the story? Who draws the illustrations?
I write the stories. I usually shape the concept that I want and then pass them on to my husband to edit and tell me what is lacking or needs to be developed. He is a brave man. My brother-in-law, Jay Herde, took a special liking to the characters of Your Special Recipeep and added a lot of wonderful touches to the writing. The illustrations for Your Special Recipeep were done by Jay, who is an incredibly talented artist and a big kid at heart.
5. Are you currently working on another book that can also be specialized? If so, can you tell us about it?
Our current project is customized coloring books for a child’s birthday party. And our next book will be another personalized book for children that are expecting a new addition to their family soon. I am writing and illustrating it myself. Since I have had a second child I am able to pull from personal experience but, as you might expect, am also slowed down just a little bit.
6. How many more books to you plan to offer?
We have two more books in the works after the coloring books. It seems that we are always coming up with ideas for other projects. In the future we hope to collaborate with other writers and continue to grow the Theo-Saurus collection.
7. How has your experience working with Lulu been so far?
We have enjoyed working with Lulu and have been impressed with the quality of the finished product. The customer service has been wonderful with any questions or concerns that we have had. Around the busy holiday season we had a printing issue with an order and they were right on top of getting out a corrected book.
8. How long does it take for a customer to receive their book after ordering through your website? Tell us what specifications you have to receive from the customer to create their book.
With the help of Lulu we are meeting a 4 to 6 week window for someone to have the book in their hands. Our website allows us to capture the child’s name, any dedication that is requested in the front of the book, and then an attribute for each letter of the name. The positive attributes are listed on the website and they are used to create the “recipeep” for the child. Our customers have had a lot of fun using the words to describe their son, daughter, grandchild, friend, niece or nephew.
9. What process do you go through to specialize the book once an order is placed?
Once we receive the order, we change the text on the first page for the dedication. The child’s name is then added to the story. Finally, we change the art work for each letter of the child’s name. So for a name like Kim, she will have three full-color pages for each letter of her name and the corresponding attribute is incorporated into the art work. We are capable of names up to 10 characters and welcome specific orders if more letters are needed.
10. What’s next for you and for Theo-Saurus?
We are enjoying completing our current products and meeting lots of wonderful people along the way. We are launching a new website soon and will be ready to offer the custom coloring books for birthday parties.
Theo-Saurus donates a portion of the proceeds to help find a cure for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). This is a strong motivating factor in making Theo-Saurus a successful business as I have watched my life long friend’s daughter, Chloe, live with SMA. Currently there is not a cure, but this 5 year old little girl is a tremendous inspiration in my life. It has always been a factor in planning for Theo-Saurus that we would donate a portion of our profits to help Chloe and other children with SMA. So on the immediate horizon for Theo-Saurus, is to be a successful business, that has wonderful books for children and can help financially in the search for a cure for SMA
Visit Theo-Saurus to learn more or to place an order today!
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[...] They provide specialized children’s books for their customers and use Lulu mainly as their printer. We contacted Leah Herde, writer and owner of Theo-Saurus, to learn about about her business and how it works. …Read the full story [...]