When Kat Beaulieu found a feather on a retreat four years ago, he did not set out to become an author. He is, by profession, an IT person. What he is, by nature, is someone who listens.
That feather told him a story.
The story became Owl Music, published under the collective name Plumo del Buho, a hardcover, cloth-bound, foil-embossed, numbered, and signed first-edition picture book with illustrations by Melissa Crowley, produced by Kirsten Holland and Sandis Alaska. It is the kind of book that makes you remember why physical books exist.
“I produced an antique that is brand new.”
Kat is not a publisher. He is not a marketer. He is someone who used his background in warehousing and logistics to produce 1,000 books and then walked, somewhat unexpectedly, into the International Owl Center in Houston, Minnesota, the only owl education center in the country, and asked for seven to ten minutes.
Executive Director Karla Bloom told him not to get his hopes up. Everyone with a cute little owl book shows up eventually.
Owl Music sold more than 100 copies there in five weeks.
What followed: a booth at an ornithologist convention. A sponsorship of the International Festival of Owls. And an email from Jennifer Ackerman, author of What an Owl Knows, calling Owl Music “pure magic.”
“It shows us how to be in the world and what we can learn just by listening.”
In this episode of Jolene’s Book and Writers Talk, Kat reads Owl Music aloud from start to finish, and it is worth every minute. We also talked about creative control, the “dumb tax” of doing something new, why he ordered 5,000 more copies, and what it means to build something you genuinely believe in even when you are still figuring out how to sell it.
If you have a story you keep putting off because it is not in your lane, this episode is for you.
Episode Summary
• Kat Beaulieu is an IT professional who self-published a children’s picture book called Owl Music after a story came to him on a meditation retreat
• The book is published under the collective name Plumo del Buho, with Kirsten Holland, Sandis Alaska, and illustrator Melissa Crowley
• The first edition is a hand-numbered, signed, foil-embossed, cloth-bound hardcover, offset lithography printed, with certificates of authenticity
• The International Owl Center in Houston, Minnesota, the only owl education center in the country, has sold more than 100 copies in five weeks
• Jennifer Ackerman, author of What an Owl Knows, called Owl Music “pure magic”
• Kat reads the full text of Owl Music aloud during the episode
• The conversation touches on self-publishing logistics, IngramSpark, and the challenge of transitioning from artist to salesperson
• 5,000 additional copies are already printed and waiting
Guest Links
Owl Music Website: owlmusic.net
Buy Owl Music (Owl Center Store): Owl Center Store
Buy Owl Music (Amazon): amzn.to/4akSwS2
Until next time, keep writing, keep listening, and keep showing up for your story.
Jolene MacFadden,Host, Jolene’s Book & Writers Talk
