My journey to self-publish my first children’s book ‘We Are One’
An account of my rewarding journey

Check out the video of the book.
“Mommy, why is my food different than others in my class? I’ve never seen paratha in anyone’s lunch.”
My son, Param, was three years old at the time and surprised me with his sharp observation. I told him everyone likes different food, so everyone brings what they like the best. He agreed but admitted he didn’t want to be different.
Food wasn’t the only difference he noticed. When he mentioned that no one at his school could speak Gujarati — the Indian language we speak at home — I said, “Different people speak different languages at home, but English is the common language at school. That way, it’s just one language for everyone to learn.”
As Param grew older, he observed that his skin color and even his size were different from some of his friends. He wanted to be one of them and didn’t want to be different. The reality was this: He was different than his friends. The challenge was to make him realize that it’s okay to be different and yet still be friends with others.
I wanted to help my son find a way to resolve this conflict in his mind. An inspiring thought about what unites us despite our differences came to me in the shower one morning. When I shared it with my son, he said he understood but found the conversation boring. I decided to add characters with funny names to make it interesting for him. This was the beginning of We Are One.
I discussed my idea with a few friends, and everyone liked the concept. The timing was perfect. I was taking a break from work and thought about publishing it. I started researching and soon realized that it’s difficult to self-publish without any prior experience. I thought about alternatives, like print on demand, but without any prior experience, I worried it would be too difficult.
After my first illustrator didn’t work out, I started looking around for local artists. Most were too busy to take on new work, and one came back with feedback that she didn’t think the script was print ready. She recommended I spend more time on it.
That was a big moment for me. I suddenly realized I wasn’t a writer. I had been working with numbers and computers my entire life! I also realized that writing for children was even tougher. I decided I needed professional help to publish the book. I needed a company who could help me with everything from editing to illustrating to graphic design and would help me make the right decisions.
Soon, I found Mascot Books. I read their reviews and decided to submit my writing, which they accepted. After doing a detailed study of their proposal, I decided to work with them.
In the meantime, I had been working on several different versions of the story. My son liked some but found others harder to understand. Sometimes I felt exhausted and frustrated. I often wondered why I embarked on book publishing journey at all.
Finally, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. After detailed discussions with editors and reworking the versions, the script was finally ready. It was great relief, even though I continued changing the script here and there after reading it to the children. Here’s what else I learned: Feedback from everyone and anyone is important. I read the story to children, parents, and teachers, and each person had new opinions and ideas. It couldn’t have been more helpful.
Just when I thought the script would be the biggest challenge, we began illustrations. I imagined unconventional illustrations that would be exciting for children and wrote my descriptions accordingly. The initial feedback I got was: “Really?!” But the illustrator did a wonderful job giving life to my story, and the feedback soon turned into: “What a visual surprise!” and “It’s beautiful!” There was so much to learn about composition, color combination, and spacing.
While I had reviewers read the early layout, I continued finalizing the book design with my team. I printed my first copy in color, which was a happy feeling. But at the same time, I started noticing additional things I wanted to fix. They hadn’t been visible on the computer screen! It’s important to take the time for a detailed review. You have to be patient to publish a good book, even though you feel so close to finally having a copy in hand.
Publishing a book is an incredibly rewarding journey. Marketing my creation is thrilling, and there are so many opportunities ahead. I’m thrilled to share my story with the world. My hope is that readers learn just what my son did — that it’s okay to be different, and there is something that makes you one with friends despite your differences.
Pinky Mukhi has written a children’s book called We Are One, inspired by questions of her six-year-old son Param. We Are One is registered with the American Wholesale Book Company, Baker & Taylor, Follett Library Resources, and Ingram and is available online at www.MascotBooks.com and will soon be available on www.Amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and www.booksamillion.com.
Before you go…
If you enjoyed this post, you will love the page of the book ‘We are one’ .