Darryl Harvey is a man to know on Chicago’s literary scene.
Some know him through his beautifully illustrated children’s books. A certified Illinois Child Welfare Specialist, he created The Sunflower Series books for children. Poetry aficionados know him by his sensual poetry, published in the hot tome, Aphrodisiac.
The self-published author and poet, who is also the founder of the Chicago Black Authors Network, has had a bustling summer so far. Fresh from the children’s book fair and Waukegan Ethnic Festival, Harvey is now focused on the upcoming Urban Arts Expo that will take place in Chicago on October 15.
These are tough times in publishing for the self-published author, but Harvey has found a formula that works, and he shares his winning strategy with rolling out. –zondra hughes
Why become an author now?
I have a love of language. There is so much power in words and so many things that you can do with words. Writing became my thing. I use my imagination to write [everything] from poetry to educational books for children.
When did you discover writing?
I began writing in my senior year of high school. I liked poetry and, from that moment, I began writing.
After graduation, I went to Northern Illinois University, where I wrote for a quarterly magazine, Lifeline, put together by NIU students.
While there, I studied journalism, and I wrote for the college newspaper, the Northern Star. I graduated with a degree in journalism and a minor in English.
How did you write an adult book of poetry, Aphrodisiac, and then follow up with a children’s book series?
Poetry was my first love. After I graduated out of college, I began attending poetry readings and listening to the different styles and the way people wrote, from social to romantic poetry, and that’s how I cultivated my poetry.
Also, after I graduated from college, I became a social worker, and I worked with children. I was mentoring a young boy. He was like 5 or 6 years old, and our contract was ending, and I wasn’t going to be working with him anymore. I wanted to give him something that would make him remember me, and so I put together a self-esteem book for children, I Can Do Anything.
But the thing is, it became very popular. It’s in the Chicago Public Library. It’s in Dolton, Markham and a few other different libraries, and so I was like, “Wow, this is really catching on. I can do anything.” From there, I just kept it going. Right now, there are three books in the series, I Can Do Anything, Alicia’s Big Test, which focuses on science, elementary science, and Amigo Means Friend, which introduces elementary Spanish.
What is your advice for today’s self-published author?
I am a self-published author and, when you start off as a self-published author, you really don’t know a lot. You know you have something that you want to write. You have it in book form, and you know that you want to sell it, but you don’t know how to go about it.
You’re looking for how much you should pay for a book to get printed, how much to sell your book for, and I learned the hard way, so to speak; I went to the first printer that I could find, and I paid an enormous price.
Continue to write, do research, research whatever it is that you’re writing about and see how it’s actually doing on the market because even though I write poetry, poetry in bookstores isn’t selling very well. That’s something that the bookstores will tell you. Poetry doesn’t sell very well. You like it, and people have all these poetry clubs, but they are in there to listen, have a drink and have a good time. You put a book in front of their face, and people clam up. My best advice is to research your market.
Darryl Harvey is among a growing list of authors who ignore Twitter, but he can be found on www.darrylharvey-author.com.
Photos by Bernard Williams.
