Armstrong credits cash flow with providing the chance to pursue his dream
By Judy Arndt
Jeff Armstrong likes to write. He’s already written two books for the cash flow industry.
Jeff Armstrong also loves kids. “I’ve done the Mr. Mom thing,” he says, taking care of his daughters while he works his cash flow business from home. “I’ve always been involved with kids. I love to make them laugh. It’s all about the kids.”
Now, he says, his success in cash flow and the freedom it affords him have provided him with the wherewithal to pursue his lifelong dream of writing children’s books. “I would not have had the money to do things like this if it hadn’t been for cash flow,” he says.
Armstrong says his wife, Natalie, provided the extra push he needed to get started. “I was always talking about it, and my wife said, ‘Why don’t you stop talking and just do it?’ So I did.”
Like any other literary market, the children’s book market requires certain elements besides a good story. A writer of children’s books, particularly for the pre-school to grade 2 market, always needs an illustrator, and every writer needs a literary agent to attract the attention of the publishers
Having experienced the benefits of self-publishing through his cash flow books, Armstrong decided to self-publish his children’s books as well. Then he would be able to find out if they were as appealing to children as he believed they would be.
He wrote his two first books then went in search of an illustrator. He didn’t have to go very far. His wife’s friend’s husband, John Eslick, it turns out, went to college to learn to be a book illustrator. “He did a wonderful job,” Armstrong says. “The pictures make the books.” It doesn’t hurt that John’s aunt owns a bookstore, and she has quite cheerfully agreed to sell the books.
So far, Armstrong has written two books, Red Noah and Two Rocks that Poop. He acknowledges that the second book with the unforgettable title is the better seller, although the first book probably teaches better lessons.
The teaching of those lessons is all part of why Armstrong writes the books.
He says his nephew, Noah, inspired him to write the first book. Armstrong was visiting Noah’s family and had the opportunity to watch Noah play in a soccer game. He says Noah was pretty nonchalant about the game during the first half and wasn’t playing all that well, so Armstrong went to him and told him what he tells his own daughters, that it’s the Red Noah inside that should play the game. To bring the Red Noah out, you have to huff and puff and hold your breath until you turn red, then the Red You takes control. Or, as the publicity on the book explains it: Noah loved to play soccer with his friends. He had a lot of fun but was never able to do much more than run back and forth. Until one day, his father helped him discover his inner strength. Follow along with Noah as he joins a soccer team and discovers his “Red Noah”. *Reinforcing self-confidence, determination, courage and a can do attitude.
Armstrong says his nephew did better during the second half.
Two Rocks that Poop was inspired by his family’s two California Desert Tortoises. He says the tortoises spend eight months of the year in the backyard. During the other four months, they hibernate in a box in the garage. When they come out of hibernation, all they do, he says, is “eat and poop, eat and poop.” But, they look like two rocks.
The publicity for that book reads: Have you ever wanted a pet rock? What if your pet rock could be more like a real pet? Follow along in this cute children’s story as a pet rock is slowly transformed into a California Desert Tortoise. Wouldn’t that be great! *Reinforcing the use of imagination and creativity.
Armstrong says the books have been well received. He has read them to children through his local schools and has made them available for purchase through his own Web site and through the publishers website at www.Xlibris.com, Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com, but he still wants to find a publisher. In fact, he hopes to submit the to the Scholastic Press once he’s found his literary agent. To date, he’s sold about 750 books, and that should help.
He looks forward to the day, however, when he’s sitting across from Ellen DeGeneres on a television talk show explaining why he wrote a book about two rocks that poop.
“I’m having a great time, and none of it would have been possible if it weren’t for cash flow,” he says.
Children’s books written by Jeff Armstrong, your favorite Master Buyer are available on this site here as well as amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. They make nice gifts for pre-school children. Give him a call at 818-865-2322. He may even autograph them if you ask.