Meet Rob Baddorf | Author, Middle-Grade Fiction

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rob Baddorf and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rob, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Wow, I wrestled with that one. I could have gone to a traditional publisher and continued to submit my activity books and my middle-grade fiction, but to what end? My literary agent wasn’t able to get traction with the large publishing companies. They don’t want to risk much on a new, un-proven author. And can I blame them? With readership down, and computer games up, who wants to gamble on a writer who loves to combine action and comedy? So, when it came to opening my own business, I thought about myself the same way that the big publishing companies did. Why take a chance on me? On my own creations? Why not just go the safe route and find another small independent publisher who might take a chance on me?
But it was through the council of a good friend that I changed my mind. I don’t know why it surprised me, but their advice was to go the safe route. To take another few years and find someone else to publish my work. For the first time, I really heard what they said. All that to say, I heard my own voice in what they were saying. If I wasn’t afraid, what would I do? I knew immediately.
The next day, I applied for the LLC license to start my publishing company, Jar of Lightning. Sure, I’ve second guessed it. And third guessed it. But for the first time, I truly love what I am doing!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I like to push my middle-grade readers! Having three children who have all survived the middle-school years, children can understand more than is commonly offered to them. Why not challenge them with the wit of dry humor? Give them stories that are more than your average after-school special? In my Kimberly the Cat series, for example, I wanted to present readers with a lead character that is, at times, less than admirable. I want my audience to discern what is right and wrong without hitting them over the head with it. Let them pick what they want from my stories. Do they only want entertainment? Hopefully, they will find that. Laughs? A little bit more of something? Something that transcends where they are? I hope they can find some of that in my writing.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My, oh my. Where do you even start?! There are the fabulous eats at Valley Bistro, in Mechanicsburg. The beauty of Hershey Gardens, along with the thrills and spills of Hershey Park itself. Midtown Cinema for the showing of a lost art film. And to finish the week with appetizers at Lancaster Brewing Company like their homemade reuben eggrolls, or a slice at Tomato Pie Cafe.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I joined a fabulous and supportive writers’ group! The SCBWI has a group that meets in the humble New Cumberland, PA library. They are the most creative group of writers who have helped me on so many steps along the way. I love them like my family! Having come from a screenwriting background, they patiently helped me with all the nuanced differences within fiction writing. Without their support, I wouldn’t be half the writer that I am.

Website: https://www.Jaroflightning.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robbaddorf/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-baddorf-84838911/

Twitter: @aforetaste

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RobBaddorfAuthor