Name: Anne K. Edwards
Book Title: Changing Places
Genre: Children's
Find out more 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?
Anne: I didn’t really decide to
be an author. I write because I must. There is no peace until I settle at the
keyboard and begin. It is that part of the mind that never ceases to produce
new ideas, stories that I simply must tell. Changing Places is one such tale. I
had several other books published in different genres before the idea for this
story took hold of my imagination. It proved irresistible and I felt I had to
tell the tale of a cat and a snake that met one summer day. My cat loved to
roll around on the cement floor of our front porch and he rolled off the edge
to land on a sunning blacksnake. I knew I shouldn’t laugh as each raced away in
a different direction, but it was a bit of funny business that kept me giggling
for days as the idea for a story formed.
Is this your first book?
Anne: No, but it is only my second venture into
writing for children. My first was about
a little boy who outsmarted a hungry dragon.
With this particular book,
how did you publish – traditional, small press, Indie, etc. – and why did you
choose this method?
Anne: I’ve had the good luck to be published by a
very successful small press called Twilight Times Books in the traditional
format. However, they don’t publish the
type of children’s books I write.
Instead of spending time looking for a publisher that does put out this
genre, I chose to try self-publishing. There were other reasons for this decision
as well, such as the shortness of the books. If you look into submission
guidelines of children’s publishers, you will find a certain length is desired
and to reach that number of words, I’d have to pad the story with unnecessary
sentences and I do think it would not improve the story. Often, there is a
demand for breaking a book into chapters and the length of time used in telling
the story makes that an unrealistic requirement. The action only lasts a little while and the
padding to make it longer would ruin the pacing. I enjoyed writing the story in its short form
and believe children would also prefer it this way.
Can you tell us a little
about your publishing journey? The pros
and cons?
Anne: Having published other books after searching
for an agent and/or the print houses as a new writer and learning the sad truth
that most new writers do not find success in that way, I decided not to waste
the time in repeating that process. I
admit, I did look into a few Internet small presses that accept children’s book
submissions, but their requirements were not compatible with what I write. I do not mean their requirements are a bad
thing, not at all. But my writing style of a short story showed me that I did
not write to meet their specifications and I had no desire or intention to try
rewriting to meet them. As someone I admire once said about a book, it is what
it is, and that was what helped me decide to try the self-publishing route. I
was extremely fortunate to have a dear friend who got me moving in the right
direction and making the final decision on how to publish when I procrastinated.
She guided me all the way on my first and second children’s books, told me what
steps to follow in getting the book ready to post. Because I am a big chicken
when it comes to new technology, she had a lot of hard work to do. I hope she
reads this and knows how much she is appreciated.
What lessons do you feel you
learned about your particular publishing journey and about the publishing
industry as a whole?
Anne: Since being a writer is a continuous learning
journey, I can truthfully say that I learned how much more I have to
learn. My ignorance of the changing publishing
scene and technology is abysmal. I’m like a first grader trying to learn to
read and understand Shakespeare’s plays. Coming from the days when writing was
done on a manual typewriter into the days of computers, I have some real
problems with understanding the lack of instructions in most phases of usage on
the social media sites. I’ve learned that joining some promotion groups and
advertising on many websites that claim to promote one’s book is also a waste
of promo funds. The writer seeking
publication must be aware of how much they will be able to spend on promotion.
There are too many places willing to take your precious cash and give nothing
in return. In the end, I find the old
ways are most productive while searching out new sites that are recommended by
other writers I know. It is a process
that also takes a lot of time.
Would you recommend this
method of publishing to other authors?
Anne: Absolutely.
It is another chance to learn about one’s writing and one’s willingness
to tackle the experience of new technology, even if you fail the first hundred
times. You will learn to separate the
good from the bad and how things work. But bear in mind this is a constantly
changing workplace so we must be willing to change with it. The more we learn,
the better a writer we will become.
What’s the best advice you
can give to aspiring authors?
Anne: Don’t give up. The temptation to quit is
always present when we run into a problem that seems insurmountable, but it
isn’t. Consider it like a plot that
needs reworking and try to look at your work with a different viewpoint. Don’t spend years and years rewriting the
same book. Finish that first book if you
haven’t. Don’t keep rewriting those
first chapters to make them prefect.
There is no such thing as a perfect book. Join a writers group. Find like minds on the
social media if your ego needs bolstering. Don’t continue to bask in the
limelight of family’s and friends’ compliments, ask people in that writers
group to read your work and keep moving forward on the story.
About the book:
Changing Places is a humorous
story about a cat and a snake whose meeting was accidental and leads each into
an adventure that does not turn out the way they though it would. The idea came
from the day my cat rolled off the porch onto a basking blacksnake. They both
fled the scene in different directions, and gave me the idea of what if they
stopped to talk about their meeting. The
book is available in ebook form at Amazon Kindle.
Find out more on Amazon
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