Can you
give us a brief overview of your latest book?
This book is the story of a little girl who
through a childhood full of struggles, hardships and pain had a dream. That
dream was to someday become a hairdresser. Follow her as she trades her dollies
in for the real thing. This is the diary of a hairdresser who had a calling and
a great memory. It is filled with stories of pain, sadness, gossip, angst,
triumph, challenge and most of all, humor. This is more than just an ordinary
book of hairdressing stories. There are times I will jog our memory and lessons
to be learned. You will read things about hairdressing you may have never
imagined. You might even look at your hairdresser in a whole new light after
reading this book. Come sit in my virtual chair and enjoy the ride.
Did you
try the traditional route to publishing, i.e. querying agents/publishers?
No I didn't go that route. I did have the opportunity to use
two self, vanity publishers but decided after further investigation not to. I
do have a query letter ready but have not used it.
What
factors influenced your decision to self-publish to Amazon?
I decided to use Amazon for financial and time reasons. Most
of my family had gadgets to download from the internet to read and used Amazon
to do that. Also I didn't want to wait years to try to find a traditional
publisher. I had read so many stories of great authors being rejected time and
time again. I felt I had a story everyone should read and I wanted it available
for that reason.
What is
your writing process?
My book is about me so there was not much preparing to do.
Other than making sure the dates and places were correct. I just wrote my
experiences from memory. It was amazing how things flooded back to me as I started
typing. Some things I had thought I had forgotten.
Did you
hire an editor to review your manuscript before publishing?
One of the problems with being a first time author is not
knowing what you must do or to what extent. I had my book edited 5 times and
was sure it was perfect. I was out of school and working by the time I was
sixteen I had no reason to worry about grammar or punctuation. So I had others
do that portion for me.
What have
you’ve learned during your self-publishing journey?
I have learned to edit, edit and edit again. That there are
many wonderful people out there in the writing world that are willing to share
their talents, advice and help. That the only way to get your book known is to
market yourself. I have over my 67 years sold a lot of home based products and was
exceptional at it but selling myself was a lot harder. It is worth all the
trouble and work though. I was under the impression that if you told people you
self published they would shy away from your book I have found the opposite is
true. They shy away from the vanity published authors at least that is my
finding.
Besides
Amazon, are there any other sites where your books are for sale?
My books are also available at LULU.com. and Facebook e book
store.
What
advice would you give a new author just entering into the self-publishing
arena?
I would tell these new authors that they must be willing to
market. I make business cards, bookmarks, posters, and do book signings. I go
to the local book stores and ask to have my books featured in their store. As a
matter of fact I talk to everyone who will listen. I am lucky I have a book
that everyone no matter who they are can relate to. There are several salons
that carry my book as well. With a title 'A Hairdresser's Diary' you can see
why.
I would tell new authors that the experience is amazing and
well worth the time and effort.
Besides
writing, do you have any other passions?
I am also a self-taught artist. I taught myself to paint as
a way to deal with daily chronic pain. I also am a poet and have a book
'Versify' on Amazon
What’s
next for you?
I am now writing the sequel to 'A Hairdresser's Diary'. It is
amazing how many people I know are asking if they will be in this book . I am
honored to have them ask.
Buy links:
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