Feature Friday – Author Bernadette Marie

MY JOURNEY INTO INDEPENDENT PUBLISHING

By Bestselling Author Bernadette Marie

I suppose my journey into independent publication and the formation of my own publishing house was something I should have seen coming. After all, much like my father, I’m an entrepreneur at heart, and I see opportunity in everything I do.

As it turns out, the publishing industry seemed to play right into my hand in 2009 when I began my journey. It was the dawning of the ebook and the digital book reader. The mass distribution opportunities for independently published authors were becoming a reality, and somehow my timing was just right. I took that plunge to publish my books.

I have been writing stories as long as I can remember. It just so happens that in 2007 I also decided to call myself an author, and things got real. I began to attending conferences and getting involved in writer associations. I got my first bad contract, and that taught me everything I needed to know. I decided from there that I could do everything on my own, and thus my business was born.

I opened my publishing house with the firm belief that I was only “hiding” under a professional name. I took it all seriously and built the business that I knew I needed to publish my books. What I didn’t anticipate was that others would want to have their books published by a smaller house that gave them the individual attention that all authors crave. Gratefully, that all worked out and seven years later, my publishing house is thriving.

The best part about diving into the publishing aspect, it has allowed me to put out over 33 of my own books in the past seven years. I don’t have to go through the process other authors have to to get my books to market.

Writing is my heart beat, literally. The creative process gives me purpose everyday. I feel as if this is my calling, as I never am at a loss for words. At all times, I’m working on at least three projects, which helps me keep my mind fresh and I don’t get stuck on a story. And, anything inspires me–for which I’m super grateful. I can’t imagine not spilling my creativity on the pages of a book. The hardest part is carving the time to write, and this is where I have found the glory of dictation! Talk about the opportunity to get thousands of words out a day–look into that!

Aside from writing and publishing, I also spend a great deal of time educating authors who are looking to break into the market. Though the independent route was the right path for me, what I understand is that it’s not the right path for everyone. Sharing my expertise through workshops, seminars, blog posts, and events is my way of helping each author find their niche in the market. (The industry is big enough for everyone.)

Writing has been in my blood all my life, and the business side, well, I suppose that was in there as well. Growing up, I wanted to be a teacher, so this encompasses that as well.

One of the questions I get all the time is how do I write so many books in a year? My answer isn’t very pretty, but to get words on the page you have to puke them out. Get them out of your head and don’t look back. As authors we always strive for perfection. Well, that’s just not going to happen. So the best lesson I can share with an author looking to get that first manuscript done is to work until it’s done. Don’t go back and edit as your write. It might lose some sense in the middle, but when you have it all out, you can go back and find that. Trust me, it’s a good thing I began writing my first book when I was thirteen, because it took me twenty-two years to finish it. Imagine what I could have accomplished had I learned to puke it out from an early age.

The journey into being a published author is just that, an epic journey. Each person is going to take a different route to get to the destination, and they’re going to reach it by different means. What a glorious opportunity all authors have right now as the industry evolves.

BIO

Bestselling Author Bernadette Marie is known for building families readers want to be part of. Her series The Keller Family has graced bestseller charts since its release in 2011. Since then she has published over thirty-five books. As owner of 5 Prince Publishing and Illumination Author Events, Bernadette enjoys sharing her knowledge of writing and publishing with those who aspire to be part of the literary community.

SOCIAL MEDIA/CONTACT

Email: info@bernadettemarie.com

Website: www.bernadettemarie.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorbernadettemarie

Twitter: www.twitter.com/writesromance

Instagram: www.instagram.com/authorbernadettemarie

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/writerofromance

Family and Lifestyle blog: www.thishouseofboys.com

NovelRama or 25k in 4 days

So on Friday afternoon, also known as day one of NovelRama, I found out about the event and decided to go ahead and jump in. After all, I’m a writer, so how hard could it really be? Of course, I’ve had writer’s block on my novel for three weeks, but no big deal, right?

 

Day one: Because I joined late, I only reached 1,500 words. But that’s ok, because I had three more days to make it up. I’d be more prepared for the next day.

Day two: The morning was spent hanging with family, but I spent the afternoon and evening writing. There were hilarious llama memes and hourly sprints (where you type as much as you can as fast as you can and everyone posts their word count at the end of the hour). It was a good day and I managed to get about 8k words written. Woohoo, bye bye writer’s block!

Day three: This was a harder day for me as I had to get up earlier than normal for me for the second day in a row. I am one of those types of people that needs her eight hours of beauty sleep. So I hang with my family in the morning and then head for my computer in the afternoon. However, writing can be extremely mentally and emotionally tiring, so I called it a day after roughly 5k words. But hey, it’s better than nothing, right?

Day four: I have 10.5k words left to do to reach my goal of 25k. I can do this! Right? At least I think I can. After warning my family not to disturb me or risk psycho writer wrath (We’re a strange kind of people, especially when abruptly pulled from our train of thought). However, alas and alack, it was not to be. Due to multiple interruptions due to animals and family members in true need as well as technical problems, my day did not go to plan. Add in a man hunt in our area for a man considered armed and dangerous and all of my finger joints aching from all the typing I was doing, it just wasn’t meant to be. The event ended at midnight MDT, but I called the end of NovelRama at 10 p.m. with a word count of a little over 23k total (8.5k for the day) and I was truly ecstatic. Did I hit 25k? Not quite. But I made such incredible progress on my novel over four days as well as getting to connect with several fabulous people. I truly do not regret a thing.

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers is having another NovelRama in August. I seriously recommend if you are a writer that you check it out. It’s free and no matter if you do 2 words or 25k words, the experience is extraordinary.
So what is the craziest challenge that you’ve ever done spur of the moment?