by Helena Ku Rhee, Author

Helena with her muse Sherwin
EDITOR’S NOTE: Helena Ku Rhee grew up in Los Angeles, but has also lived in various parts of the U.S., Asia and Europe. Currently, Helena works at a movie studio by day and as a writer by night and weekends. Her debut picture book, The Turtle Ship (Lee and Low), is available now! Today, she shares seven things she learned after publishing her book and you’re going to want to learn them, too!
I’ve always loved learning about a writer’s journey — especially about the path of a debut author, with his or her very first book out in the world. Now that almost a year has gone by since the release of my debut picture book, I wanted to share seven learnings to help writers who are journeying towards their own exhilarating debut.
- Your dream will keep expanding and evolving.
During what I refer to as the “Rejection Years,” I used to think I’d be so happy to get just one book published. Continue reading

If you’re like me, your main problem with books is that there are never enough of them. Libraries and bookstores are nice, but can’t there be more books? Lots, lots more? Well, prepare yourself, because there’s a place where squijillions of words will surround you in a warm, wonderful embrace that will satisfy all your literary cravings.
Editor’s Note: Award-winning author/illustrator 





Peacocks have lived on the Palos Verdes Peninsula since 1924, but no one ever wrote a book about them until I did in 2010. Since then, The Peacocks of Palos Verdes has sold over 4,000 copies — identify a niche market and you can do it too! Read on for my road map on how it worked for me.