An Interview with Kelly Perotti, Author of Crib Notes
Crib Notes, a candid look at conception, pregnancy and parenthood, is a terrific manual for any pregnant mom, new mom, or frankly, any woman thinking about becoming a mom. KellyPerotti writes about all subjects pregnant and new motherhood from her experience and research, in a lighthearted, honest, and most generously non-judgmental way. The result gives women a darned clear picture of what pregnancy and new motherhood is all about, alleviating the fear of the unknown and offering suggestions that may make the ride a bit easier.
I am all about honesty and help for new moms, no judgment and humor, so I practically devoured the book. Perotti’s fast facts were especially entertaining. For example, did you know that “there is a higher chance for conception if the woman has an orgasm” p.15 Woo-Hoo! or that some pregnant women have a “craving for dirt or metal signaling an iron deficiency?” p.27 In addition to these interesting tidbits, the real-life examples and advice are the book’s strong point.Perotti’s chapter entitled “Baby Blues and Lasagna” was particularly good on this front, my favorite chapter of the book.
Perotti was gracious enough to answer a couple of my nosy questions. Please enjoy her insights.
Kelly, you mentioned in the book that you weren’t happy with the selection of “mom” books out there on the book shelves, what does your book have that the other books lacked?
I really tried to mix personal experience and facts. I didn’t want it to just be “Kelly’s story.” Each pregnancy is so different and I wanted that to come through. As I said in the book, I found a lot of other books to be too textbook-y, too preachy or (oppositely) to have such a carefree and life-as-usual approach. I didn’t really need the clinical information, and didn’t care for the almost regretful tone of the others. That being said, there are some great books out there…they just weren’t the ones I initially chose.
Honesty is a very popular tool that mom- writers and mombloggers are using these days. How do you think this honesty is going to help new moms?
Being a mom is hard! Although I doubt any of us would permanently trade it, I’d be surprised to hear of a mom who hasn’t- at least momentarily- longed for the simplicity of their pre-mommy days. If presented with picture perfect images of motherhood during her entire pregnancy, a new mom will feel like a failure the first time breastfeeding doesn’t work or the baby doesn’t instantly adapt to the schedule imposed upon him. Having a realistic impression, and the understanding that other moms feel the same way will help much more than being spoon-fed idealistic scenarios. I personally love the direction that we’re moving in- let’s get real!
Can you tell us a bit about your publishing experience? Do you have any advice for those interested in publishing?
I actually didn’t really start out intending to write a book. Although I haven’t kept a journal since about 6th grade, I did jot down little notes, feelings, and happenings during each of my pregnancies. When my younger son was about 9 months old, I started to organize and expand on these little notes and, before I knew it, I had pages and pages. I did some research to validate my beliefs and experiences, and it magically turned into a book-length file. (In order to keep the price down - based on page count-I actually took out several pages!)
Due to time, money, and patience (actually the lack of those), I went the self-publishing route. I worked with Xlibris, a company that I knew a little about before starting my project. We consistently beat the standard timeliness they had laid out and, due to monthly specials that they offer, I was able to upgrade to a much higher package than I thought I could afford. The distribution is a little slow (for my impatient self) but that’s the nature of on-demand printing.
I’d recommend self-publishing to anyone interested in getting their book out there. In addition to the satisfaction and pride you feel, it gives you an idea of how your book will sell, and possibly some qualified experience and quantified success that you can add to your resume or your bid to a publisher. It’s surely not a get-rich-quick plan, but the relative affordability makes it hard to find an argument against just going for it.
Thanks for you insights, Kelly. Best of luck with Crib Notes!


