About Author

Sherry Ellis

Sherry Ellis
BIOGRAPHY

Sherry Ellis is an award-winning author and professional musician who plays and teaches the violin, viola, and piano. When she is not writing or engaged in musical activities, she can be found doing household chores, hiking, or exploring the world. Her books include Don't Feed the Elephant, Ten Zany Birds, That Mama is a Grouch, That Baby Woke Me Up, AGAIN, Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China, Bubba and Squirt's Mayan Adventure, Bubba and Squirt's City of Bones, Bubba and Squirt's Shield of Athena. and Bubba and Squirt's Legend of the Lost Pearls. Ellis lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Sherry Ellis's Books

Stay in the loop on books by Sherry Ellis. See upcoming and best-selling books by the author here. You'll also find the deals on books by Sherry Ellis.
** Please note that the information or price displayed here may not be the updated. Make sure to double-check the latest book price before buying books.
** Also, there might be other books by Sherry Ellis not listed on AllAuthor.

Book
$3.99 kindleeBook,
Bubba and Squirt's Legend of the Lost Pearlsby Sherry EllisPublish: Oct 01, 2024Series: The Adventures of Bubba and SquirtChildren's
$3.99 kindleeBook, Paperback,
Bubba and Squirt's Shield of Athenaby Sherry EllisPublish: May 07, 2024Series: The Adventures of Bubba and SquirtChildren's
(1) $2.99 kindleeBook, Paperback,
Ten Zany Birdsby Sherry EllisPublish: May 15, 2015Children's
Bubba and Squirt's City of Bones
$3.99 kindleeBook, Paperback, Signed Paperback,
Bubba and Squirt's City of Bonesby Sherry EllisPublish: Jan 16, 2024Series: The Adventures of Bubba and SquirtChildren's
Bubba and Squirt's Mayan Adventure
(3) $3.99 kindleeBook, Paperback, Signed Paperback,
Bubba and Squirt's Mayan Adventureby Sherry EllisPublish: Sep 15, 2020Series: The Adventures of Bubba and SquirtChildren's
That Baby Woke Me Up, AGAIN
(2) Paperback,
That Baby Woke Me Up, AGAINby Sherry EllisPublish: Jun 06, 2005Children's
That Mama is a Grouch
(3) Paperback,
That Mama is a Grouchby Sherry EllisPublish: Apr 30, 2010Children's
Don't Feed the Elephant!
(2) Paperback,
Don't Feed the Elephant!by Sherry EllisPublish: Jan 12, 2018Children's
Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China
(9) (1) $2.99 kindleeBook, Paperback, Audio, Signed Paperback,
Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to Chinaby Sherry EllisPublish: Sep 04, 2018Series: The Adventures of Bubba and SquirtChildren's

Sherry Ellis's Series in Order

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Sherry Ellis's Awards and Achievements

    Sherry Ellis has earned excellence awards over time. Here is the glimpse of the accolades clinched by the author.

  • LitPick Five Star Book Review Award
    2024

    Bubba and Squirt's City of Bones

    award
  • LitPick Five-star Book Review Award
    2024

    Bubba and Squirt's Shield of Athena

    award
  • Maincrest Media Award for Children's Fiction
    2024

    Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China

    award
  • Purple Dragonfly Book Award, 2nd Place, Chapter Book
    2024

    Bubba and Squirt's City of Bones

    award
  • Book Excellence Award Finalist
    2019

    Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China

    award
  • LitPick Five Star Book Review
    2019

    Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China

    award
  • Purple Dragonfly Second Place Winner
    2019

    Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China

    award
  • Readers Favorite Silver Medal
    2019

    Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China

    award
  • Pinnacle Achievement Award: First Place
    2018

    Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China

    award
  • Pinnacle Achievement Award: First Place
    2016

    That Mama is a Grouch

    award
  • Purple Dragonfly Award: First Place
    2016

    That Mama is a Grouch

    award

Sherry Ellis Interview On 28, Mar 2019

"Most of Sherry's childhood was spent in Cleveland, Ohio. For as long as she can remember, she has been interested in music. Her favorite musician is Itzhak Perlman, a classical violinist. Her first book was not a struggle. That Baby Woke Me Up, AGAIN was the easiest of them all. Writing an alphabet book was on her author bucket list. Most of her writing activities take place during the day, between all the regular household things she takes care of. Since becoming an author, she has done numerous library and school visits. In the next five years, the author hopes to continue writing and doing school and library visits."
Where did you grow up? What were your favorite TV shows as a child?

Most of my childhood was spent in Cleveland, Ohio. Sesame Street and Mister Rogers were my two favorite shows. Basically, those were the only two I was permitted to watch. My parents didn’t believe in letting my brother and I sit in front of the television for more than an hour a day.

What caught your interest in music? Who is your favorite musician?

For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in music. There are pictures of me as a three-year-old sitting on my dad’s lap, playing a guitar. If I had my choice of toys to play with, I’d always gravitate to the musical ones. I think I’ve always been wired to be a musician. My favorite musician is Itzhak Perlman, a classical violinist. He was my inspiration to practice and achieve a high level of playing. I also think he’s a great role model in that he did not let having polio get in the way of achieving his dreams.

Was writing your first book a struggle? What kept you motivated?

My first book was not a struggle. That Baby Woke Me Up, AGAIN was the easiest of them all. It was composed in my head in the middle of the night while I sat in a rocking chair with my infant son. Sleep deprivation must have helped my creative flow! The hardest was Bubba and Squirt’s Big Dig to China. It took ten years and countless revisions to see it published. What kept me going? The belief that it was a book worth publishing because of its educational value.

What inspired you to write the book "Don't Feed the Elephant?" What is this book about?

Writing an alphabet book was on my author bucket list. I don’t know why an elephant character popped into my head, but it did. I must’ve been hungry, too, because I started thinking about food. I wondered if I could come up with a food item for every letter of the alphabet. I did. Then I imagined what the elephant would do with each food item. The result is a comical story about a very silly elephant playing with food.

What is the biggest challenge of being a children's books author? Why did you choose this genre?

As a picture book writer, I must choose my words carefully. It’s important to convey the story in a concise way. The illustrations take care of a lot of the scenes that are not described with words. I enjoy writing children’s books, mostly because I’m a kid at heart, but also because I like collaborating with illustrators, and meeting the kids who read my books.

Do you like to focus more on dialogue or scene and character descriptions?

I tend to focus on dialog because the interaction between the characters gives the reader a good sense of their personalities. It’s a show and not tell thing.

Which scene in "That Mama is a Grouch" was the most fun to write? Which scene was the hardest and why?

Describing any of the chaotic, messy scenes was great fun. I let my imagination go wild in creating scenarios that would make Mama grouchy. The hardest was imparting the message of the importance cleaning up and following household rules. I didn’t want to be too preachy, but I still wanted that to be a learning feature of the book.

What does a normal day in the life of Sherry Ellis look like? On a normal Friday or Saturday night, what do you prefer doing - writing a story or playing violin, viola, and piano?

Most of my writing activities take place during the day, between all the regular household things I take care of. My evenings are generally spent teaching violin, viola, and piano, or performing. My preference? Music. That’s my passion. Playing the viola is my favorite thing to do.

What is the best review you received for "Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China"? What was the worst and how did you deal with it?

I have been fortunate to receive a lot of excellent reviews for Big Dig to China praising it for its educational value. It’s hard to pick the best, but I received a nice one from Readers Favorite which called it, “a pulsating adventure with great appeal to young readers, cinematic, and littered with humor.” Recently, I read a review from a student who was older than the intended audience. She didn’t feel it was well-written, said the problems were resolved too quickly, and that at times the humor was not respectful of Chinese culture. The first two didn’t concern me that much, because I felt what I wrote was appropriate for the age it was intended for. Other reviewers seem to agree. But the latter bothered me a lot. I would never write anything intentionally disrespecting any culture. I write to teach about different cultures. This review is not published anywhere, but it made me think that I need to be extremely cautious with the humor I use so as not to offend anyone.

In what ways has becoming an author changed your life in ways you didn't expect? Since becoming an author, I have done numerous library and school visits. I never imagined myself leading story times or standing in front of groups of more than one hundred kids giving PowerPoint presentations! It’s been a lot of fun meeting and interacting with these kids.

When did you publish your book "That Baby Woke Me Up, AGAIN"? What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

That Baby Woke Me Up, AGAIN was published in 2005. It wasn’t a book I sat down to write. As I mentioned before, it was composed while I was sitting in a rocking chair in the middle of the night. It probably would have stayed in my head if I hadn’t decided to share it with my daughter who was three years old at the time. She liked it and suggested that it should be a book. The rest is history.

A lot of authors have a distinct writing style that sets them apart from the rest. What would you say characterizes your writing?

I think all my writing contains some element of humor, whether it’s in the scenes I set, or the character dialog. I also tend to be fast-paced, not having needless conversation, backstories, or elaborate descriptions. The action moves quickly.

Where do you see yourself as a writer in five years? What are some goals you hope to accomplish by then?

I hope to continue writing and doing school and library visits. I’d like to see more books of the Bubba and Squirt adventures published. In my head, I have an entire series planned: a total of eight books with a plot thread connecting them. I’ve already written the second and am working on the third. Whether or not these come to fruition depends on book sales.

Being an award-winning author, what are your top five marketing and writing tips?

1. Submit only your best work. This means a lot of revision. If you can, join a critique group or find beta readers who can help you polish your work. Spend the money to have your manuscript professionally edited before you submit it. It’s worth every penny!
2. Be patient. Writing is a process. It takes time to write, time to revise, and time to find a publisher who is interested in your work. Things don’t happen in weeks or months. Expect years.
3. Don’t give up. It can be frustrating when the rejection letters keep piling up. Take the time to reassess your manuscript and make sure it is the best you can do. Then continue submitting. It took ten years for Bubba and Squirt’s Big Dig to China to be published. I’m glad I didn’t give up!
4. Be part of an online writing community. It’s important to have an online presence. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are all good ways to market your book, but I think even more importantly, you should be part of an online writing community. I’m a blogger. I’ve been doing it for over ten years. The friendships I have made with other bloggers have been instrumental in helping get the word out about my books. Most bloggers are also writers, so they understand the challenges of being an author. They are very supportive, both in purchasing and reviewing your books, and in spreading the word. I am extremely grateful for my blogger friends! I would also suggest joining Goodreads and participating in groups there.
5. Go out and meet your intended audience. I’m a children’s writer. The best way I have found to market my books, is to go and do school author visits and library visits. I have sold more copies by going out and getting in front of the kids who read my books.

Could you offer us some of your thoughts on AllAuthor and how it has benefited you? What are some things you think we could change to help it cater better to other authors?

I have been very happy with my experience with AllAuthor. I love the automated Twitter scheduler! I also appreciate the Twitter posts, mock-up banners, and the author interview which have been provided as part of the pro- author/featured book experience. All are great marketing tools! I’m not sure there’s much that can be improved upon. The only thing I can think of is maybe having an optional giveaway feature where authors can have a monthly giveaway of their book to generate more attention. The author would get a gift code from Amazon for their ebook, submit it to AllAuthor, and winners would be selected by an automated system.

Ask Sherry Ellis a Question

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    • AllAuthor AllAuthor 6 years ago
      Allauthor
    • Have you ever experienced "Writer's Block"? Any tips you would like to share to overcome it?
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      • Sherry Ellis Sherry Ellis 6 years ago
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      • I think all writers at some point experience "writer's block." It's more about being empty than a block. When this happens to me, I find something else to do, like go for a walk or read a book. Eventually, the creative juices start flowing again.
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      • Sherry Ellis Sherry Ellis 6 years ago
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      • I never imagined I'd be an author. When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut or opera singer. I'm neither. When I was a kid, I enjoyed reading, and coming up with stories. My three-year-old daughter was the one who prompted me to become an author.
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