Amy Maurer graduated from Iowa State in 2002 with majors in speech communication and Spanish. She recently published “A Purple Hippopotamus Pillow and Pink Penguin Sheets,” a children’s book inspired from her experiences working with children. FYI recently had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Maurer about the publishing world, life on the road and what her next move is.

Q: What goes into writing a children’s book?

A: Wow, there are a lot of different aspects that go into writing a book like this. I had to set standards for page range, age level and more. But I learned most of this through other educators and my aunt who is a librarian.

Q: Tell me a little about why you decided to write the book in the first place.

A: I was working with a boy who was diagnosed with autism. We were doing language training and I just got the idea to write.

Q: So your books are mainly for children with similar needs?

A: Exactly, I try to write literature that is relatable for young toddlers and children with special needs. I did this by taking academic theory from my undergraduate/graduate school and implemented my personal experience from working in Chicago Public Schools.

Q: How hard was it to get your book published?

A: Well, starting out I thought that a large publisher would be a great help, but I finally realized that no matter how many copies I would send, I just wasn’t being recognized. So that’s when I switched over to a smaller publisher, and the difference in attention they gave me was amazing, which eventually led me to get published.

Q: Speaking of the publishing world, what type of competition is there in the children’s book market?

A: I didn’t really want to acknowledge the competition as competition. All the other authors out there had a purpose in mind and I support that completely.

Q: So what’s next?

A: Well besides basically living out of my car (laughs), I’m going to book readings in San Diego and Phoenix soon. So I just plan on promoting the book constantly.