Her latest book is Love Never
Quits: Surviving & Thriving After Infertility, Adoption, and Reactive
Attachment Disorder.
WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:
Website Link: www.ginaheumann.com
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/loveneverquits
BOOK BLURB:
WHACK…
At three in the morning Gina was sound asleep, yet somehow she was smacked in
the head. She looked over at her husband, thinking perhaps he accidentally
rolled over and flopped his
arm on top of her, but he was sleeping soundly and
facing the opposite direction. She turned to the other side and glaring back at
her was her eight-year-old child.
“Did
you just hit me?”
“Yes,
and I’d do it again.”
“Whyyyy?”
“Because
you took away my video games.”
“That
was EIGHT HOURS AGO. And you’re still mad about it?”
“I
wish I could kill you.”
This
is the true story of the hell one family lived through parenting a child with
reactive attachment disorder, a severe diagnosis related to children who
experienced early-childhood trauma.
This
inspirational story covers over a decade of daily struggles until they finally
found resolution and made it to the other side. The family remained intact, and
this once challenging son is now achieving things never thought possible.
ORDER YOUR COPY:
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?
Gina: It’s a funny story, but I
actually saw a woman who was a hand analyst – not a palm reader who foretells
the future, but a scientific hand analyst who works with Fortune 500 companies
to help them customize jobs according to the strengths and weaknesses of the
employee. Apparently the lines in your hand mimic the neural pathways in the
brain and can give clues to what you’re destined to do. This lady insisted I
was meant to be a writer. At the time, I didn’t consider myself a writer, as I
wasn’t an English major and didn’t even keep a diary, but she insisted I give
it a try. I had this idea of sharing our story once my son was in a better
place so we could highlight our success after struggling with such a rare and
serious condition, and I wanted to inspire others. The timing was right so I
just went for it!
Gina: Yes, it is… but now that
I see how easily I am able to tell stories, I have ideas for more.
With this particular book,
how did you publish – traditional, small press, Indie, etc. – and why did you
choose this method?
Gina: I self-published this
book, because I am a designer and wanted to have full control over the cover
design, interior layout, and editing process. I also wanted to maintain rights
to my own story, in case I wanted to use it for other things in the future.
Can you tell us a little
about your publishing journey? The pros
and cons?
Gina: I self-published through
a consulting firm called “My Word Publishing” and highly recommend them. They
assigned a project manager to my book, who helped connect me to three different
editors, each of whom provided a sample edit and a proposal. I was able to
choose the one who spoke to me. We went through three rounds of editing and
then a round of proofreading, so I know it was a thorough job.
My project manager also walked
me through the bookstore to get ideas for cover design, and sent me to several
different cover designers’ websites to view their portfolios and choose one
that seemed to fit what I was looking for. I had actually designed my own
cover, so I just needed someone to pull it together and make it look
professional. I liked working with my cover designer so much that I kept her on
to do the interior layout as well.
I really liked having ultimate control over the look and feel of my book, and it was important to me to maintain the rights to my story. I was also able to somewhat control the schedule and complete the project faster than I would with a traditional publisher. I would say the only “con” to self-publishing is that I had to pay for it up front, rather than getting an advance check.
I really liked having ultimate control over the look and feel of my book, and it was important to me to maintain the rights to my story. I was also able to somewhat control the schedule and complete the project faster than I would with a traditional publisher. I would say the only “con” to self-publishing is that I had to pay for it up front, rather than getting an advance check.
Gina: I learned that there are
so many steps to creating a published book. I never knew there were so many
decisions involved! When my designer asked me where to put the page numbers, I
was a little taken aback – that’s a thing? I also didn’t realize that an editor
and proofreader were different people looking for different things in the
story.
Would you recommend this
method of publishing to other authors?
Gina: Absolutely. I really
enjoyed the entire process.
What’s the best advice you
can give to aspiring authors?
Gina: I would say if you have
an idea and you like to write, just do it! And if you have a consultant like My
Word, someone will guide you through the entire process and help make it a
professional job, teach you how to market the book, and more.
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