Monday, February 29, 2016

Book Publishing Secrets with Romance Novelist Anna del Mar

Book Title: The Asset
Genre: Romantic suspense, Contemporary romance, Military romance, SEAL romance
Publisher: Carina Press
Thank you for your time in answering our questions about getting published.  Let’s begin by having you explain to us why you decided to become an author and pen this book?
Anna del Mar: I love writing. I always have. I think I’ve lived with these stories in my head all my life. A few years ago, I had the chance to devote myself to writing full time. It was a risk, but I took it. The stories pretty much wrote themselves. I talked to a very experienced romance editor, Nancy Cassidy, from The Red Pen Coach and asked her if she thought my stories deserved publication. She pushed me full steam ahead, not just to write more stories, but to submit them to Carina Press. And…here we are!
Is this your first book?
Anna del Mar: The Asset is my first novel in the romance genre and I’m delighted to say that it will be followed by three more novels, all scheduled for publication this year.
With this particular book, how did you publish – traditional, small press, Indie, etc. – and why did you choose this method?
Anna del Mar: I’m published by Carina Press, an imprint of Harlequin which is also an imprint of Harper Collins. There are a lot of great publishing houses out there, but Carina Press is particularly known for great romance. Carina is an incredible place to be right now, cutting edge, innovative, staffed with amazing talent and publishing an impressive list of authors. It’s the perfect home for my stories.
Can you tell us a little about your publishing journey?  The pros and cons?
Anna del Mar: My publishing journey with these romances began with me, staring at these completed novels and having only a murky idea of what to do next. I think one of the best things I did was to reach out to an experienced romance editor—Nancy Cassidy for The Red Pen Coach—who had a lot of experience not just with romance writing but with the romance publishing industry as well. She knew what to do, how to prepare a novel for market, which publishers were looking for what and which publishers were a good fit for my stories.
I submitted to a very small, selected group of publishers and immediately generated some interest. Then came the waiting. The selection process at Carina Press, for example, is very, very rigorous. If you’re being considered, a team of twenty people have to read your manuscript and agree, unanimously, that your novel is a good fit for Carina. That’s a lot of scrutiny. And it takes a long time. But I actually liked that. They were being as picky about me as I was being about them. 
What lessons do you feel you learned about your particular publishing journey and about the publishing industry as a whole?
Anna del Mar: Hmm. Let me think. Lessons. Patience is a big one. The publishing industry moves at its own pace and as an author, there’s very little you can do to change that. I also learned that it’s a very competitive environment out there, with lots of great authors presenting polished manuscripts and amazing serial concepts. You’ve got to bring your best game on. And finally I learned that it’s about more than one book. Publishers today are looking for productive authors who’ll be capable of enduring the rigor of professional writing, create a brand, and deliver a steady stream of quality novels over the years to come. If you can show that you’ve got depth, you’ve got a chance.
Would you recommend this method of publishing to other authors?
Anna del Mar: Yes.
What’s the best advice you can give to aspiring authors?

Anna del Mar: What I just said about having depth as an author, being prepared with professionally polished manuscripts and creating a brand and a concept are all right up there in terms of my best advice. Write with purpose, power and passion and keep writing all the way to The End.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Book Publishing Secrets with Rocco Lo Bosco, Author of 'Ninety Nine'

Name: Rocco Lo Bosco
Book Title: Ninety Nine
Genre: Literary Novel
Publisher: LettersAt3amPress
Purchase on Amazon

Thank you for your time in answering our questions about getting published.  Let’s begin by having you explain to us why you decided to become an author and pen this book?

I don’t think I have much choice about writing. Once I started, I knew I’d probably never stop. It’s my causa sui, my reason for being; it is one of the major ways I create meaning in my life—by writing stories. I use my memory, desire, imagination and craft to carve out artful stories from the roiling, shapeless mass that is life. Writing stories is a way of seeking and positing meaning for myself and the world I experience. Naturally, it’s probably true that existence is empty of meaning, meaning-neutral if you will, but that’s what makes life so pliable to story. Existence allows human consciousness to play at divinity.
Is this your first book?
No. My first novel is Buddha Wept (GreyCore Press). I have just completed a third novel, Midnight at the Red Flamingo, and have a non-fiction title coming out next year, co-written with Dr. Danielle Knafo and titled Love Machines: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on the Age of Techno-Perversion (Routledge).
With this particular book, how did you publish—traditional, small press, Indie, etc.—and why did you choose this method?
I published with an independent small press, LettersAt3amPress, because the publisher, Michael Ventura, whose fiction and nonfiction writing I have followed and greatly admired for decades, read my novel, loved it and wanted to publish it.
Can you tell us a little about your publishing journey?  The pros and cons?
I began writing seriously in my twenties. I received dozens of rejection letters before my first poem was published. I went from writing poetry to short stories, and eventually I wrote novels. Though I published in literary magazines, I never put the kind of work into publishing and self-promotion that I did into writing. Writing has been a turbocharged compulsion, while publishing merely a desire. The agony-laced joy of being a writer wanes for me once the work is finished, and I must begin the drudge-riddled quest for publication. By then I have started to write something new, and this keeps me afloat while I deal with the grind of seeking representation and/or publication. The “pro” is writing. Still, if one “decides” to write, one had better be prepared for great bouts of solitude. The “con” is publishing. Yet, with the publication of both of my novels, I have found publishers in each case that made the process almost pleasant, because they truly appreciated my work and supported it. My first novel was published by GreyCore Press, and publisher Joan Schweighhardt put a lot of time and effort into get my book, Buddha Wept, into the hands of readers.
What lessons do you feel you learned about your particular publishing journey and about the publishing industry as a whole?
I have learned that many good books get published as well as many bad ones. I have also learned that many good books never find a publisher. I have learned that finding the right agent is very difficult. I have learned that the general decline into a “selfie” culture marked by narcissism, existential confusion, obsession with name, game and fame and the unending worship of the profit god has negatively affected every aspect of our society, including the publishing industry. Though we still see some great novels being published, mainstream publishing has become more about turning a quick buck and moving onto the next thing that momentarily excites. It’s about playing the odds (Will they buy this?), finding the right angles (How do we get them to buy this?), and manufacturing consent (This is really worth buying because everybody is buying it!).
The good news is that technology and social media have allowed non-traditional avenues for writers to publish their work, though of course it makes it easier for a good book to get lost in the mountains of books pouring through the wire.
Would you recommend this method of publishing to other authors?
I have no recommendations about how to go about publishing. It’s easy enough to find hundreds of books and even more links to websites that offer tons of advice.
What’s the best advice you can give to aspiring authors?
If only death can end your aspiration to write, then you will be a fully committed writer. That doesn’t mean you will be good, only committed. Then read the kind of stuff you like to write. Pick books that are really special to you and study them closely, trying to deeply understand how they are put together. If it’s a novel, ask yourself what makes its characters interesting? How are their individual situations and development part of a larger story?  How is the narration and dialogue woven together?  What insights, themes and existential murmurs emerge from the events that unfold? Beneath the story being told, what else is being said?  What keeps you reading with salivating interest? Ask yourself, “What kinds of questions should I be asking myself to better learn why the books I love work so well to make me love them?”  Of course, there are many books available that try to teach one how to write. These can be helpful, though I will not recommend any specific “how to” book because I think each writer will, through research, gravitate toward the texts that best suit his or her own psychological idiom. 
Now comes the hard part. When you sit down to write you must put everything you’ve read out of your awareness. There can be no imagined critic standing over your shoulder, otherwise you will become paralyzed. Even if you do sketches and outlines and make copious notes, the time must come when you must boldly leap into the bottomless void of the blank page and hope you find your wings.
That being said, write every day at least two hours. Research time does not count as writing time. If you get stuck, put what you are writing aside and write something else. It doesn’t matter what: letters, poems, journal entries, another book, whatever. This gives your mind time to work on what you’re stuck on without you being in the way.
Learn to like spending a great deal of time by yourself. 




Friday, February 19, 2016

Book Publishing Secrets with Vasudev Murthy, Author of 'Sherlock Holmes, the Missing Years: Timbuktu'

Name: Vasudev Murthy
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Thank you for your time in answering our questions about getting published.  Let’s begin by having you explain to us why you decided to become an author and pen this book?
Author: I didn’t decide. It happened to me. My first book was about Classical Music. As life happened, I had new ideas and inspirations and was impelled to write. Sherlock Holmes in Japan was first published in India by HarperCollins. It has now been published in Portuguese, Korean and Japanese and was published by Poisoned Pen Press in the US. I was encouraged by the editor, Barbara Peters, to write another Missing Years book. It had to be based in Africa. Timbuktu was the most interesting place I could think of from many angles – geography, popular perception, history, culture, music and more. And so, Sherlock Holmes, the Missing Years: Timbuktu happened. I had to learn two different scripts and immerse myself as best as I could in the culture of the Tuaregs.
Is this your first book?
Author: No, my sixth. Here is the list
What the Raags told me – a novel based on Indian Classical Music – Rupa
Effective Proposal Writing – Sage
The Time Merchants – LiFi
Sherlock Holmes, the Missing Years: Japan – HarperCollins, Poisoned Pen Press, Editora Vestigio and a Korean and Japanese Publisher
How Organizations Really Work – Bloomsbury
Sherlock Holmes, the Missing Years: Timbuktu – Poisoned Pen Press
With this particular book, how did you publish – traditional, small press, Indie, etc. – and why did you choose this method?
Author: I went with the best publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, and I have no regrets. I don’t know or care what box they are considered to be in. They had done so well with the Japan book that there was nothing to consider.
Can you tell us a little about your publishing journey?  The pros and cons?
Author: Over the past ten years or so, I have been lucky to be published by several well known publishers – Rupa, Bloomsbury, HarperCollins, Editora Vestigio, Poisoned Pen Press, Gamesman (Korea), Kokusho Kankokai (Japan) and LiFi. But as I write across genres, the journey has restarted often, with new twists and turns. I don’t mind that. I don’t wish to be boxed as I have numerous interests in fiction (Crime, Humor, NOT romance!) and nonfiction (Management, Classical Music) and am not particularly interested in becoming a brand. Yes, at this moment, Sherlock Holmes is my muse. I suspect a book on Animal Rights is around the corner.
What lessons do you feel you learned about your particular publishing journey and about the publishing industry as a whole?
Author: Ultimately, it seems that the brand of the publisher contributes less to the author’s satisfaction than the health of the relationship with the editor. Find an editor who understands you, and never let go or him or her. If she switches publishers, switch too.
Would you recommend this method of publishing to other authors?
Author: Yes. Find an editor, not the publisher. If your book got published really fast with no challenges, you must be a genius or there is a problem somewhere else. Good writing that passes muster is a result of hard work. He who likes short cuts will be cut short.
What’s the best advice you can give to aspiring authors?
Author: Words are fickle lovers and will leave you without notice.



Thursday, February 11, 2016

Book Publishing Secrets with Chris Karlsen, Author of 'In Time for You'

Name: Chris Karlsen         
Book Title: In Time For You
Genre: Historical Romance (with time travel element)
Publisher: Books to Go Now
Thank you for your time in answering our questions about getting published.  Let’s begin by having you explain to us why you decided to become an author and pen this book?
Author: I was always an avid reader. I often thought how I'd change a story. When I retired I didn't know what to do with myself and my husband suggested that I write the book I always talked about writing. Yes, there was one book I had in my head for years that I especially wanted a different ending for. That turned out to be my first book, Heroes Live Forever.

As for In Time For You, my latest, this is the fourth in my Knights in Time series, which is part of the series that Heroes is from. I liked the hero in it. He was the antagonist in the previous book but not a villain and I thought he deserved a book of his own. The heroine in that book, Knight Blindness had two sisters and that gave me the opportunity to include two heroines. For the second hero, I brought back a knight from Journey in Time, Simon. In that book, Simon was a gruff somber knight. Putting him in In Time For You as a hero gave me a chance to round him out and show a romantic, fun side to him.

Is this your first book?
Author: No.
With this particular book, how did you publish – traditional, small press, Indie, etc. – and why did you choose this method?
Author: Small press. Books to Go Now was started by a dear friend of mine who is also a writer. She began the company a few years ago and now has over one hundred authors and three hundred titles published. I was having no luck with the big NY houses wanting to publish my first book and she asked if I’d give her company an opportunity. I said yes and we’ve been together ever since. In Time For You is my seventh book.
Can you tell us a little about your publishing journey?  The pros and cons?
Author: I’ll start with the pros: the best is the feeling of accomplishment when you finish a story. An idea for a story pops into your head or maybe it’s been hovering there begging to be told for ages and you finally commit to telling it. The fact that you sat down and put did the job is a huge pro. Many, many people you meet as an author will say, I always wanted to write a book. To achieve it is major whether you get published or not. Another huge pro is getting published and hearing from readers. I love it when readers contact me and say what they liked or even what bothered them. I recently published a book in a different series where half the book you’re in the mind of the murderer and the other half you’re in the mind of the detective. I loved to have readers react to being in the mind of the killer. Another pro is personal pride in that I was able to tell a story that held a readers interest. I have no painting skill or singing skill or dancing skill so to tell a story in an artful way makes me proud.
The cons are: you need a tough skin. Most everyone tries to get the big publishing houses of NY to take notice of their stories first. It’s painfully hard and more often than not you don’t even get a boiler plate reject letter anymore. You just get ignored. Or, you pitch an agent or editor at a conference and they “seem” very interested in your story and you send them the partial they request and you never hear a peep from them again. There’s a lot of rejection in the business. Another con is bad reviews. You just have to get past those. Not everyone will love your story. That’s the nature of the beast. You can’t get too discouraged.
What lessons do you feel you learned about your particular publishing journey and about the publishing industry as a whole?
Author: No one system is perfect for everyone. I believe, for many of us in the beginning, there is a tendency to think we must find a way to get a big NY house to notice our work.  We can stay with that thought for years and years and for the vast majority, fail to find success. I found after about five years that it wasn’t true for me. I was one that success seemed just out of reach. But I also found there were other avenues to get my stories out to the public. I have been very satisfied with going with a small press publisher. For me that works.
There are five writers in my critique group. Three of us are with a small publisher and happy with that. We have a lot of input and creative say with our covers and we have help with editing. One writer is self-published. That requires her to be cyber savvy, which I am not. She has to know how to upload a variety of systems to the different platforms but if a person is capable in this way, she finds this is good for her. She keeps all her royalties and has complete control of her product. One is with a NY house. She doesn’t mind having deadlines and editors “suggesting” storylines etc. That would irritate me. But, they also help her with promotion.
Would you recommend this method of publishing to other authors?
Author: Yes. If you like having more freedom.
What’s the best advice you can give to aspiring authors?
Author: The first thing we all have to learn is: your first draft is terrible. Accept that fact. I don’t care who you are. When we started as writers, most of us were delusional enough to believe the first draft of our first stories were perfect and we were shocked when other people shot them down. Even Stephen King says never let anyone see your first draft. That’s something we all have to get over. He offers great advice and I’d repeat it and I follow it. When you finish your first draft, stick it in a drawer and walk away for a few weeks, let it “marinate.” Then, come back to it, read it over, and start your rewrite. I probably do an average of 5 rewrites per story.
About the Author

Chris Karlsen is a Chicago native. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was in her late teens where she later studied at UCLA. She graduated with a Business Degree. The daughter of a history professor and a mother who was a voracious reader, she grew up with a love of history and books.
Her parents were also passionate about traveling and passed their passion onto Chris. Once bitten with the travel bug, Chris spent most of her adult life visiting the places she'd read about and that fascinated her. Her travels have taken her Europe, the Near East, and North Africa, in addition to most of the United States. She most frequently visited England and France, where several of her books are set.

After college, Chris spent the next twenty-five years in law enforcement with two agencies. Harboring a strong desire to write since her teens, upon retiring from police work, Chris decided to pursue her writing career. She writes three different series. Her historical romance series is called, Knights in Time. Her romantic thriller series is Dangerous Waters, and he latest book, Silk, is book one in her mystery/suspense series, The Bloodstone series.

She currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and five wild and crazy rescue dogs.

My website is: http://chriskarlsen.com/





ABOUT THE BOOK



While horseback riding in the English countryside, sisters Electra and Emily Crippen find themselves trapped in a tear in time. Thrown back to 1357 England and caught by a local noble, they are in a place that is home but as frightening and unfamiliar as an alien world would be. With no idea how the tear in time came about, the one thing they do know is: they must stay together and stay near to where the event took place in hopes of discovering the way back to their modern life. That certain need to stay together is the first certainty taken from them when one sister is forced to remain in England and one is sent miles away to Wales by royal order.

There is one other hope for help the sisters don’t know exists. It’s Electra’s lover, Roger Marchand. A time traveler himself, he never told her of his past. When he realizes what has happened to the sisters, he enlists the help of a scientist friend to help him open the suspected passageway through time. Any effort to save Electra and Emily will likely cost him his life. This was the time Roger came from, a time when his country, France, was at war with England. If he is discovered on English soil while searching for the sisters, he will either be killed or taken prisoner of war. Any risk is worth saving the life of the woman he loves. 


Saturday, February 6, 2016

Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
Thank you for your time in answering our questions about getting published.  Let’s begin by having you explain to us why you decided to become an author and pen this book?
Leif and Jason: We have both written throughout our lives. Poetry, short stories, tales, etc., have always been part of the fabric of our family. To be quite frank, we can't imagine a day that would be possible without writing. Like breathing, eating, brushing your teeth, writing is good hygiene for the creative soul. We decided in particular to write this book as we saw a paucity in the genre for well-written literature that is reminiscent of Gulliver's Travels, The Jungle Book, etc. We also have a strong passion for satire (think Swift) and world culture and lore. All this comes together in this first novel of a four-part series.
Is this your first book?
Leif and Jason: Yes, this is our first book, and we want to continue the series and continue writing together! This is the first book in a tetralogy.

With this particular book, how did you publish – traditional, small press, Indie, etc. – and why did you choose this method?
Leif and Jason: We went with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing to get our book out to the world. We hope for traditional publishing and feel that this book shows our capabilities as writers. Our goal is to have the entire series published traditionally. 
Can you tell us a little about your publishing journey?  The pros and cons?
Leif and Jason: Like any publishing endeavor, it can be broken down into three steps: 1.) the releasing of the material; 2.) the publicity of the product; and 3.) the tenacity to continue forward no matter what the obstacle.

I feel that the publishing process is rife with pros and cons. One pro is releasing your manuscript to the world. This is a birthing process, a subtle catharsis of letting this creative child out of your safe and warm domicile and into a world that at times can be cold and indifferent. The con for this pro is articulated in the last sentence. Your creative work is your gift, your internal process worked out with your muse; then carefully, slowly, edited, and refined along the way. When the process is complete, your wings unfold, and your gestation is revealed in the published form. To have this child go into an indifferent world can be maddening at times. We cannot escape the fact that new children are born to this world (new ways of thinking in the creative arts) and then not supported. Thelonious Monk felt this and became quite reclusive. We scratch our heads now and ask how is it that people did not see the beauty he created!

What lessons do you feel you learned about your particular publishing journey and about the publishing industry as a whole?
Leif and Jason: It is hard not to be somewhat skeptical of an industry that has produced so many overly commercial products over the last twenty years and has a demand for fixed formulas. Publishing is such a sacred craft, bringing forth fresh, new and dynamic ways of seeing the world via book form. For instance when you think about what it was in classic literature that first captivated you, you may answer, 'It had me thinking in ways I had not thought before. It was subtly troubling, and with this troubling, a new process of thought enfolded and enabled me to think in a relevant and clear way about the theme presented.'
Would you recommend this method of publishing to other authors?
Leif and Jason: I believe it is a good start. I also feel that self-publishing and indie publishing apply some pressure to more the traditional publishing industry. It is roughly akin to the survey they did in the 1990's when they found out a huge portion of the American population used alternative medicine in their approach to wellness. Look at the implications of that survey and subsequent studies! Now they offer acupuncture, yoga, qigong, meditation, and indigenous herbology in several medical schools. The pressure from the populace created that change. I am in hopes that the publishing I have listed above will change the traditional publishing to go back to its roots in being pliant and open to new ways of thinking and styles of writing.
What’s the best advice you can give to aspiring authors?
Leif and Jason: We impart this advice to aspiring authors: Take your art seriously; refine your abilities, hone your skills and develop a habit of writing on a quotidian basis; not necessarily a piece of art that inspires the pneuma and rattles the firmament but something that is at least adequate or decent. Practicing your craft plays a crucial role in maintaining the well-being and the liveliness of your mental character as well as improving your writing abilities. Let the sensitive fabric of your psyche become pachydermatous and persevere through all the vicissitudes that adversity can muster.  


ABOUT THE BOOK
The Hidden Chalice of the Cloud People is a young adult fantasy comedy novel written by a father and son writing duo for an intelligent general audience. It is the first book in an upcoming tetralogy. It is a darkly humorous, fast-paced, action-packed celebratory unification of the world’s rich cultural lore through the lens of an inventive fantasy concept that stands both as an occasionally subversive satire that satirizes the YA genre and an anachronistic experiment on the fusion of storyline narratives (differing stylistically and compositionally).
When Tommy Dana is abducted into a fantastical realm called Lethia, where the worthy stories of humanity are granted a physical reality, the social media-averse thirteen year old must plunge through a multi-varied meta-fictional adventure in order to save his, and the entire human world’s, imagination from falling into the thieving clutches of the witty supernatural villain Facinorous.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Book Publishing Secrets with Leif and Jason Grundstrom-Whitney, authors of 'The Hidden Chalice of the Cloud People'

Name: Leif and Jason Grundstrom-Whitney
Book Title: The Hidden Chalice of the Cloud People
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
LinksWebsiteFacebookTwitter and Amazon page
Thank you for your time in answering our questions about getting published.  Let’s begin by having you explain to us why you decided to become an author and pen this book?
Leif and Jason: We have both written throughout our lives. Poetry, short stories, tales, etc., have always been part of the fabric of our family. To be quite frank, we can't imagine a day that would be possible without writing. Like breathing, eating, brushing your teeth, writing is good hygiene for the creative soul. We decided in particular to write this book as we saw a paucity in the genre for well-written literature that is reminiscent of Gulliver's Travels, The Jungle Book, etc. We also have a strong passion for satire (think Swift) and world culture and lore. All this comes together in this first novel of a four-part series.
Is this your first book?
Leif and Jason: Yes, this is our first book, and we want to continue the series and continue writing together! This is the first book in a tetralogy.

With this particular book, how did you publish – traditional, small press, Indie, etc. – and why did you choose this method?
Leif and Jason: We went with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing to get our book out to the world. We hope for traditional publishing and feel that this book shows our capabilities as writers. Our goal is to have the entire series published traditionally. 
Can you tell us a little about your publishing journey?  The pros and cons?
Leif and Jason: Like any publishing endeavor, it can be broken down into three steps: 1.) the releasing of the material; 2.) the publicity of the product;
 and 3.) the tenacity to continue forward no matter what the obstacle.

I feel that the publishing process is rife with pros and cons. One pro is releasing your manuscript to the world. This is a birthing process, a subtle catharsis of letting this creative child out of your safe and warm domicile and into a world that at times can be cold and indifferent. The con for this pro is articulated in the last sentence. Your creative work is your gift, your internal process worked out with your muse; then carefully, slowly, edited, and refined along the way. When the process is complete, your wings unfold, and your gestation is revealed in the published form. To have this child go into an indifferent world can be maddening at times. We cannot escape the fact that new children are born to this world (new ways of thinking in the creative arts) and then not supported. Thelonious Monk felt this and became quite reclusive. We scratch our heads now and ask how is it that people did not see the beauty he created!

What lessons do you feel you learned about your particular publishing journey and about the publishing industry as a whole?
Leif and Jason: It is hard not to be somewhat skeptical of an industry that has produced so many overly commercial products over the last twenty years and has a demand for fixed formulas. Publishing is such a sacred craft, bringing forth fresh, new and dynamic ways of seeing the world via book form. For instance when you think about what it was in classic literature that first captivated you, you may answer, 'It had me thinking in ways I had not thought before. It was subtly troubling, and with this troubling, a new process of thought enfolded and enabled me to think in a relevant and clear way about the theme presented.'
Would you recommend this method of publishing to other authors?
Leif and Jason: I believe it is a good start. I also feel that self-publishing and indie publishing apply some pressure to more the traditional publishing industry. It is roughly akin to the survey they did in the 1990's when they found out a huge portion of the American population used alternative medicine in their approach to wellness. Look at the implications of that survey and subsequent studies! Now they offer acupuncture, yoga, qigong, meditation, and indigenous herbology in several medical schools. The pressure from the populace created that change. I am in hopes that the publishing I have listed above will change the traditional publishing to go back to its roots in being pliant and open to new ways of thinking and styles of writing.
What’s the best advice you can give to aspiring authors?
Leif and Jason: We impart this advice to aspiring authors: Take your art seriously; refine your abilities, hone your skills and develop a habit of writing on a quotidian basis; not necessarily a piece of art that inspires the pneuma and rattles the firmament but something that is at least adequate or decent. Practicing your craft plays a crucial role in maintaining the well-being and the liveliness of your mental character as well as improving your writing abilities. Let the sensitive fabric of your psyche become pachydermatous and persevere through all the vicissitudes that adversity can muster.