Write What You Wish You Could Have Read: An Interview with Kristin Pierce

What inspired you to write your first children’s book?
It was most definitely my own children, along with the fact that young minds are so impressionable. I wanted to create a book with the empowering messages that I try to instill in my children so that we could read it again and again at bedtime. I saw the need for children’s books with real, empowering messages about the inner self, and our real-life superpowers of creativity, imagination, and intuition.

In unraveling my own experiences, I uncovered a powerful message that I felt a strong urge to share, which fueled the birth of my first book. Since then, the inspiration just kept flowing. Now, I have fallen in love with the process and have no plans to stop anytime soon. 

When did you actually start writing your first book? How long did it take to write your first draft?
I began writing my first book in December 2016. I wrote the initial draft in an hour and a half. This isn’t always normal for me, but I had an idea, got in a flow, and the words just poured out on to the page. 

Prior to writing your children’s books, what was your publishing and writing background? 

I had absolutely zero experience or knowledge about the publishing world. Writing-wise, I wrote for my own blog, email newsletters, and social media, but it felt like it was out of necessity from a business perspective. I have been an entrepreneur for almost a decade, so I did write, but I didn’t have the spark for writing like I do now.

Describe what you mean about finding your inner compass.
Each and every one of us has an Inner Compass. It is an inborn guidance that sends quiet signals to help navigate life with inner alignment. Your Inner Compass is your intuition. As really little kids, we are great at listening to it.

As we grow up, often our intuition can get shut down and overpowered by logic. Then, the whispers from our inner wisdom become harder to hear. The process of finding your Inner Compass is about getting reconnected with yourself and establishing trust in your inner knowing. 

I wanted to introduce the concept of an Inner Compass to children to encourage them to find and follow their inner compass, to stay connected with themselves, to understand how it works, and to see the benefits of trusting their inner knowing throughout their lives in order to stay true to who they are. 

Your books are self-published. What made you decide to go that route?
I decided to go the self-publishing route for two main reasons. I wanted to have creative control over my book, and I didn’t want to wait. Like I mentioned, I didn’t have any experience in the publishing realm, so I did my research and ended up using an assisted self-publishing company to help me through the process.

Because I was fresh into creativity, I felt pretty vulnerable jumping into this new arena and knew that if I had my manuscript rejected multiple times, I probably would have given up on my book. I also did not want my message to get skewed or lost along the way if I had gone with a traditional publisher. It was nice to know that I would have the final say. 

What has frustrated you the most in the process of putting together the books?
It’s how long the whole process takes and not knowing what was coming next when I first started. I felt like I was always flying blind, unsure of what was around the next bend. This is the exact reason that I was inspired to create an online course for authors.

Coming this fall, The Author Atlas online courses will give aspiring authors a step-by-step self-publishing roadmap to help take them through every step from research, to writing, to editing, to planning illustrations, to setting up distribution, and beyond.

There will even be courses for supercharging your creativity, author mindset makeover, routine revamp, and finding your author special sauce. It’s going to pack a ton of value while taking the confusion and guesswork out of the process, which I’m sure will alleviate frustration for new authors. It is going to be very impactful and I am really excited about it. 

What has pleasantly surprised you in the process?
I’d have to say how much I truly enjoy envisioning and planning the art direction. When I dove into self-publishing, I had no clue that I was going to need to come up with descriptions for every single illustration, but the process has really grown on me and now I actually look forward to it! I look forward to sharing my experience in The Author Atlas course.

What are some of the promotions that you’ve done for your books that have been the most successful?
That would be my book launch events and media interviews. I’ve been fortunate to be interviewed on CTV Saskatoon Morning Live, CTV News at Noon, Global Saskatoon, and Lit Happens with ShawTV. My team and I are currently working on building an ambassador program, so I am hopeful that program will be very successful as well.

What advice would you give someone who wants to write children’s stories?
My advice would be to write children’s books you wish you could have read as a child. What would have made an impact on you? Read lots of children’s books and pay attention to what you like and don’t like. What resonates with you and what doesn’t.

 
My next best advice is to edit, edit, edit! See the editing process as an evolution of your story. Allow your story to grow, change, and release the parts that aren’t working to make space for new, improved ideas to come in. 

What is the best writing advice you’ve been given?
Write something every day. This advice has been instrumental in expanding my writing, encouraging me to try new things, helping me get out of my own way and getting my pen on to paper. 

How much time daily do you have for writing?
During the week, I am an early riser to write before the kids get up. I usually write for 30-60 minutes just for fun. Sometimes those ideas turn into something more, but sometimes they don’t and that’s okay, too. For me, it’s all about exercising that writing muscle. Every Friday, I have a full writing day. That is my best way to head into the weekend feeling like a million bucks!

What message would you like parents and children to take away from your books?
It is my mission to create mindfully crafted children's books that help children ignite their passions, think outside the box, and create a life full of purpose, impact, and fulfillment. I believe that books can open a door in the mind and that is precisely my goal—to open minds to the potential that already exists within them. We all possess the real-life superpowers of intuition, creativity, and imagination and it is my goal to allow readers to see how incredible they already are.

Through my books, I hope readers will feel inspired and empowered to connect with their inner selves and harness the (often untapped) potential of their minds. By sharing empowering messages within my books, I hope that readers realize they are powerful beyond measure, that their passions can reveal their purpose, and sharing their gifts with the world can help others in more ways than they can imagine.

What’s coming next for your writing?

I have two new books coming out, and I’m very excited about them! Magnus O’Meere, Mind Pioneer is releasing October 2019, and Hazel Mist, Hypnotist is coming out Spring 2020.

Can you give my readers a short blurb about them?
Magnus O’Meere is always off in another dimension, building epic ideas with his full-blown attention. But when Magnus’ inventive passion becomes disruptive and distracting at school, he lands himself in the principal’s office. As Magnus begins to question the things he has created, a stroke of fate delivers an eye-opening message that leads him to discover just how powerful his mind really is. Follow Magnus on an incredible learning adventure that highlights some of the most magnificent Mind Pioneers of our time, including da Vinci, Einstein, Tesla, Mozart, and many more. 

When Hazel Mist watches a famous hypnotist perform on TV, she is completely mesmerized. Following her inner compass, Hazel uncovers a new passion that takes her on an unexpected learning adventure deep into the workings of the mind. As she commits her summer to learning the ins and outs of hypnotism, she discovers an incredible understanding worth sharing.

However, each time Hazel gets up on stage to perform, her stomach is in knots as she faced with stage fright. Will she let her fears stop her from creating her dreams? Follow Hazel on an entertaining and intriguing venture that will open your mind, broaden your perspective, and evoke curious questions. 

If those storylines intrigue you, here’s how you can learn more about Kristin’s writing and buy her books.

www.InnerCompassBooks.com

For more information about The Author Atlas, please visit:
www.InnerCompassBooks.com/author-serv...

To join the launch team for Magnus O’Meere, Mind Pioneer, visit: www.InnerCompassBooks.com/launch-team 

Writng from the Heart: Author Interview with Michelle J. Bever

You write about a variety of topics. When did you decide to put your writing out there for others to read? What was the first book you published? What drew you to write on that topic?
The answer to all three of these questions is the same. My son had multiple learning and behavioral disorders that prescription drugs could not address. His symptoms kept getting worse, and I did not give birth to watch my child suffer, so I started researching.

Long story short is I got funded to do my research, and I balanced my son with megavitamin therapy, antispasmodic herbs, herbal drops, diet change, and good parenting. I wrote ADD, ADHD, Autism, OCD, and More! as my first book and put in all the information for those dealing with these issues in a format that they could easily understand. I did not want others to feel like they had no options. 

How long did it take you to write your first book? How many rewrites did you do on it?

It took years to write and rewrite my book. I paid others in the business to help with the editing. 

You've written numerous books on funny stories about animals. What animals do you have at home? 

I have a hundred-pound Doberman Pincher and a five-pound long-haired golden apple head Chihuahua at home.

Where do all those funny stories come from?
My family and friends love animals, so there is never a shortage of stories! What's funny right now is Alexander my Doberman is having a bromance with the dog next door, and they have playdates. 

How do you write? Do you start with an outline and plot it out? Or are you more of a "pantser"?
For my non-fiction books, I write with an outline. For the faith-based fictional series, I pray for direction. After I pray, it practically writes itself, and I am happy with that. 

I've reviewed statistics on word counts on Kindle pages, and it averages under 190 words per page. Several of your Kindle reads show as having 20-50 pages, which by writing standards would be considered a short story. How well do those shorter reads sell compared to the one you have at 100 or more pages?
My short stories sell very well as all of them are meant to make your day brighter, and the audiobooks sell the best as I have lovely people narrating them.

My best sellers are the ADD book and Vitamins, Minerals, and More! as they contain incredible information.

As an indie writer, how much of the book design do you do yourself?

I do my own formatting and try to design most of my books, but I have branched out and paid for a few covers to bring the story to the cover for the reader. I always have readers who will search for errors. It can be very expensive to hire editors. Fortunately, there is a multitude of editing programs available. I recently upgraded to one that checks spelling, sentence structure, and more for my latest book. It's pricey, but it brings more to my attention. I continue to educate myself in the process.

What has surprised you the most in writing/publishing?

What surprised me is the fact it’s always evolving.

What frustrates you the most?

My first faith-based novel has so much warmth, love, and inspiration. It has received mostly excellent reviews, while others don’t say a word about the story but berate me as an author. I am continually updating and uploading newer edited versions for errors and fixes to make them read better.

I wish reviewers would be helpful when they find a few corrections. I would highly recommend focusing on the merits of the story, then adding your editing suggestions. Instead, some critics berate you and appear to think they are going to win the critics award for being mean. They are so busy looking for errors, they aren’t reading the story.

It's not easy to put your work in front of everyone. Each book is valued. Please give an author the chance to make corrections. I am in the process of doing that with my latest book. It’s very dear to my heart and others have thanked me for writing.

What do you know now about writing you wished you had known sooner? 

I wish I had known about the programs for editing that help writers improve and are not expensive.

What is the best writing advice you've received or could give?

I would tell new authors that you cannot please everyone and to be thankful for those you can.

What is the next book coming out? Can you give me a short synopsis?
My next book is The Coffee Shop 2: Love Beyond Sight. I have been praying about it. The book will have heartwarming stories about the misconception of thinking a person is one thing then finding out they are something so much more. 

In today's society, that goes on a lot, and I feel this is important to change. It will be a blessing. :-)

That’s all for today’s interview. If you’d like to learn more about Michelle’s writing, here are some ways to get started.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=michelle+b...
http://michellebeverbooks.com/