“I think a lot of us have been socialized to think we aren’t that creative, that there is limited value to creative indulgences as an adult. We worry that our ideas outside of our 9-5 day jobs may be nothing special, and that we’re either being narcissistic or impractical if we put them out in the world. In my experience we can get past that by acknowledging that this fear of failure exists and working with it. “ — Neha Shah
Neha Shah, software product manager by day, on what it took to claim her creative confidence and publish a children’s book
When you meet Neha, she will greet you with a cheery, effusive smile and a big hug that reminds you of a visit with your favorite auntie. So it was no surprise to those who know her when she decided to write and publish a children’s book this year titled Meet Buckley: Buckley Sey Millo!, a book about the adventures of a fun-loving dog named Buckley who lives in Austin, Texas. But as she will admit, writing a book is as much a creative endeavor as it is an endeavor to overcome fear and channel your creative confidence.
Thankfully for kids around the world, Neha conquered her fear and published her book at the end of 2019. What started as a gift for her nieces and nephews has quickly gained the attention and affection of book lovers from Seattle to Singapore. Since its publication, she’s been invited to read at several local community centers and coffee shops, is getting calls for potential collaborations, and has already started four more storylines for future Buckley books. Neha shared with me about how writing her book has helped open up a new and unexpected world of creative opportunities and connections.
Neha, you’re a software product manager with an MBA. What inspired you to write a children’s book?
I was born in Delhi, India but went to school here in the U.S. I spent my life going back and forth between both places and I wanted to share my multi-cultural experience and love of language and learning with the kids in my life. I love reading to them and had seen a lot of bilingual English-Spanish, English-French, and other children’s books, and thought it was a great way to share and teach basic words. But when I started to look for kid-friendly English-Hindi books, I found that they virtually didn’t exist, so I had the idea that I should just write my own! Now that the book is a real thing, I’m obsessed with spreading the word that this is a real necessity in modern American families so that publishers start to pay serious attention to this genre and market.
How did you get started and what advice can you share with anyone else thinking about publishing a book?
Everyone should know about Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing arm that has a print-on-demand component. All you have to do is upload a formatted manuscript and cover to self-publish your book. Printing, inventory, and shipping are all handled through the site, so it’s relatively simple. While the story-line and visual concepts were mine, I hired a digital illustrator through a freelancer service called Fiverr to produce the illustrations faster than I could myself.
What has been the most unexpected surprise after publishing Buckley?
When I wrote the book, I knew my immediate family and friends would be fully supportive – in fact many of them helped me draft and review it. I knew they would tell me they liked the book because after all, they know Buckley, and they are also rooting for me. What took me by surprise was re-connecting with old friends and distant family members who not only bought the book, but told me how much their kids enjoyed reading it. So in many ways, it reminded me that our community truly goes beyond what’s on the surface and what we assume it may be. Another angle to this - although I’m from India, I have not actually been that connected to the South Asian community in the U.S. so it’s been really great to start meeting more people in the diaspora who have clicked with the book and have been helping me spread the word through collaborations. It’s apparent that everyone is really excited sharing our language and culture with kids through a fun and engaging book. One of my favorite emails I’ve received is from a mixed Indian and American couple who are reading the book together with their child; the book has provided a special bonding experience for their family.
What were some of the challenges you had to overcome when writing and publishing the book?
After figuring out the logistics of self-publishing, my biggest challenge was finding the confidence to publish something with MY name on it and send it out into the world. This surprised me because I didn’t think I would be so daunted by potential criticism. I am used to giving presentations, writing reports, and meeting with clients with difficult demands all of the time as part of my day job. But to create something that is all my own, and to put it before everyone to scrutinize, was a lot scarier than I expected.
What advice do you have for people who might feel similarly intimidated about sharing their creative ideas?
I think a lot of us have been socialized to think we aren’t that creative, that there is limited value to creative indulgences as an adult. We worry that our ideas outside of our 9-5 day jobs may be nothing special, and that we’re either being narcissistic or impractical if we put them out in the world. In my experience we can get past that by acknowledging that this fear of failure exists and working with it. Believe it or not, I actually use the advice from the character Jack on the show LOST – his anecdote about how he overcame his fear by counting to five and then dealing with letting the fear go has stuck with me. It does gets easier once we just take a deep breath, trust in our own creativity, and act on it.
Many thanks to Neha for sharing her story!
If you’d like to read more about Buckley, you can find the book on Amazon and find him adventuring around the parks of Austin on Instagram and Facebook. 5% of any Buckley book proceeds benefit “Austin Pets Alive!”, Austin’s local animal shelter.
To learn more about claiming your own creative confidence, I highly recommend one of my favorite books on this topic: Creative Confidence by Tom and David Kelley, the founders of design firm IDEO. You can also read more about this topic in this Career Charters blog post about cultivating creativity.