Ashburn children’s book author makes it in the big leagues

For Thanksgiving, we thought we would share this sweet story from Ashburn Magazine about a local children’s book author who has made it to the big leagues. In a recent cover story, the magazine profiled Ashburn resident Sue Fliess who has seen dozens of her books published by the major publishing houses.

Congrats to her and enjoy the story.

(Photo above by Jessie Salas Photography)

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It’s the rare author who has even one book published. So, what to make of an author who has dozens of books published and another dozen or more in the works? Such is the life of Ashburn resident Sue Fliess — an amazingly creative children’s book writer who is in demand by many of the country’s leading publishers.

Her start was simply a stray thought, an itch to scratch — an itch probably shared by millions of moms and dads — that maybe she could write a book like the ones she had been reading to her child.

“My son was about 2,” Fliess recalled. “I started writing him a story — just to see if I could write a story for kids. I got some encouragement from a neighbor across the street who was a children’s librarian.”

Fliess kept writing, finishing several manuscripts and sending them to publishers while simultaneously searching for an agent. Several fruitless years passed, but she kept trying, attending writers’ conferences, making contacts, following leads.

And then lightning struck. A publisher in upstate New York signed Fliess to a book deal for “Shoes for Me.” That became her first published book, released in 2011.

“Since then, things have taken off,” she said.

Have they ever.

In her eight years as a published author, more than 30 of her manuscripts have been turned into books. Another eight are done and in the publishing process. She’s under contract for five future books and continues to work on several personal projects she hasn’t tried to sell yet. On top of that, one of her current titles and another book series she hasn’t published are being considered for animated television series.

To read the rest of the story, including the secrets to her success, where she gets her ideas and her dreams for the future — head over to the Ashburn Magazine website by clicking here.

You can check out Sue’s website here as well.