Our Story

A few months before my son's first birthday I searched for a book to celebrate it and I couldn't find one that I thought did the milestone justice - so I decided to create my own.  I wasn't an author (I'm a Kindergarten teacher by day) or a professional artist (painting is something I loved growing up but fell by the wayside when I became a "grown up") but I did it anyway.  I wrote from my own experience as a first time mom and I painted the illustrations during nap time.  

I had one copy printed as his first birthday gift but I had such a positive reaction from others who read it that I started researching how to get it published.

I had no idea how but I figured it out one step at a time.  I Googled, watched You Tube videos, took consultation calls, tried, failed, wanted to quit and started over again.  Finally, after months of trial and error, I found a path that worked for me and independently published One: A Birthday Book in December 2018. 

Now, almost four years later I have a full life as a mom of two young kids and I haven't quit my day job (at least not yet).  Now that I've got my road map figured out, the process is something fun that I have been able to do in my spare time.

I have grown my collection to include five books (and counting), celebrating the birth of a new baby all the way through to their fourth birthday.  Writing, illustrating and self-publishing my own children's books has given me a creative outlet and allows me to generate passive income daily to support my family.  It allows me to be an example to my kids that, just because you don't know how, doesn't mean you can't figure it out (with a little help).                        Over the past several years I've often heard, "I've always wanted to write a book" or "I gave up because I didn't know how to get it published".  

Enough people have asked me how I got my books published that I knew there was a need to fill.  So many other parents, teachers and creatives have great ideas for children's books but just don't know where to start.  So, I decided to help others get their stories and magic into the world by sharing what's worked for me.

If you're an aspiring children's book author you can find resources to get your book out into the world here on my website.  Everything from my free guide "5 Paths to Publish Your Own Children's Book" to my online course "Independently Published Children's Books" are designed to show you, step by step, exactly what I did to get my books published and available for sale online. 

Colour and Joy Co. was created in the summer of 2022 as a way for me to bring all of my creative endeavors into one place.

Here you'll find:

• Children's Books to celebrate your little one's big milestones
• Resources to help get your stories and magic into the world
• Any other creative projects that develop now that there's a space for them

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope we can add a little more colour and joy to your day.

~ Melanie