hello and welcome to the army to be sure up close and personal i'm your host venus and i'm here to help you make it through this musical dance we call life and to do that you know i always bring on noted people in the community that can help us make it through today now i've got to read this because it's alive today my guest is a self published author who has written seven books three of which are amazon's best seller the founder c e o and chief editor of the rain publishing a christian based publishing company she's a speaker she's a book coach who has a passion for helping people discover pursue and she their dreams i am so delighted and so he's been so honored to have a great children a grace all right well that's good i'm glad it's in your name because sometimes you know people do change their names for stage purposes or whatever but the problem with that is if you change it you can change a bit because then you know you know no so let's let's let's get into how things started let's get into the beginning ok so did you always want to write books and publish on your own publishing company well i always wanted to write from a child i always wanted to write i love to read our direct every book in the children's section of the library my mother's a gifted writer so that was just a dream that i always had but as i got older you know lost sight of that and it was actually my six year old son who challenge me to go ahead and start writing out of the mouth of babes exactly it really has a would he say to get you going well we would always have these conversations what do you want to be when you grow up so he does wonder he always changes answer so this one particular time he asked me the question and i was caught completely off and i'm like i want to write books and he said ok so some weeks went by and out of nowhere he said mommy did you start writing your quote and then i remembered the conversation and he's like you said you wanted to write books did you start writing yet and i felt so ashamed because it hadn't even crossed my mind and i'm like how can i encourage him to follow his dream if i'm not doing it right so i started blogging and then it just grew from there keep that in m we have to come back to blogging because i know the subject i want to answer so what were you doing before then were you in corporate america or anything yes and i stayed there for several years after buddy i was managing a client operations unit up in parsippany new jersey you know but yes exactly the time for creative people to do those things i mean you do them well but you can't even feel like you're in a cage and i'm like what am i doing here is kind of like a out of body experience you're watching you're so yeah all right so now i know you have an a yeah you have a b s in communications and i know that that prepared you for the passage in one so would you suggest that someone who wants to do what you do have that type of education or getting any education i think any less you're trying to specifically become an editor i don't really think education matters in terms of if you want to become a published author everyone has a story so i encourage everyone to tell their story even if you don't consider yourself a writer you can always get help and you know so i just encourage people to go ahead and pursue that dream because someone needs to hear your story that's true it's true i have some people in the studio with us today i'm not going mention any names right now but we know who she is  you know so we're probably going to do that now are all of your books published to your publishing company except my first one they were not on because actually before i became a publisher i worked with close friends of mine hassani and danielle pettifor they had a publishing company and i was first book the rain won't hide these tears ok and devotional the way i do see it so i look that one up and it looks like i need to read because this some see is i've had that you're right the rain doesn't either and when i saw that title asked what's this about you know so i will have to get that book and so she was there which is good i think you can check that out so they publish that one yeah all right now before we talk about rain publishing which we know is a self publishing agency can you shed some light on route what is the difference between self publishing and going through a large publishing company like simon slusher or harper's you know tell us the difference absolutely well self publishing you as the author you take on the risk the cost the marketing every aspect of the book it doesn't mean you can't partner with someone and you know other vendors to help you accomplish the goal of producing a book but you're taking on all the risk in the cost and the duties and responsibilities and all that with a tradition you also retain all the rights to your work so you have creative control and ownership and you receive all the royalty payments and all that so that's the definite plus you know to that to self publish yes to self publishing traditional publishing that a company owns the rights but they also assume all the cost and the risk but they also you know they own the copyright which means they can change things so they can change things creatively they can change your vision like if you had a vision for the cover and things like that they can totally do what they want to do with it they can change the content if they want you know really they don't want to yeah they can sell your story yeah and they can change it around like it was like that why people like to you know also publish you know they can retain control and also it's it can be difficult to obtain you know traditional publishing contract you know and even these days traditional publishing is changed because everything is so in your face and people want so much interaction so really like where before traditional publishing companies would take on all the marketing today's authors all need to really be involved in their own marketing you know they need to really interact with their audience and get out there and you know get their face in message you know right right yeah wow i mean it it sounds like it's a very intricate process and it is but it's easier so you're coming back up your company kind of does a lot of those things you have very various departments and your company actually that so that even though they're self publishing there's really a lot of hand holding is it true tell us about it well i mean most of my clients don't really want to get involved in the details i mean it's very technical so you know we're able to handle the formatting of their books so it prints properly the cover design like they give us their vision for it and you know we work with them to create that and you know i partner with other designers and editors and things like that to make sure it all comes together and they are all a part of your team as i think you have five members are getting their part of my team and there's other companies that are partnering with as well awesome now i know there is one part of the process yeah ok yeah right before it's but that's why i couldn't do it you know adding you know what the name numbers call them where you so why did you is probably evident already but you know i like to make things really clear for people because the show was about information motivation and inspiration and it was put together to help and so i'm so glad that you're here to kind of smooth this process over for people so why did you create ray well i really just intended to publish my own books but as i started to do that i had some clients that i was coaching through the writing process and they saw me publishing my own book so they said hey can you help me so he just grew from there like the process was very organic i never set out to be a and although we didn't set out to do it you know he did it just makes us fall into that we have free will but he makes us fall into that effort and so where do the name rain come from rain it's so funny when i was writing that devote devotional the rain will hide these t it was like raining constantly like for several months and seemingly you know that every soul that rain was just speaking to me and it's like that woven throughout that devotional and then there was a scripture that was speaking to me in deuteronomy about the lord will bring the rain in due season to cause you to basically to produce you know so that scripture is actually inscribed in the book and it's just a blessing that i feel like i've taken on this journey with me because writing has opened so many doors for me like before i started writing i was just so envious of other people like they seem so passionate about things in their life and like i want something to be passionate about so it's like that is open those doors and connect me to so many amazing people so it's just a blessing i feel like you know the lord is showered blessings on me through you know this process of writing yeah the spiritual i'm sitting there last night i'm writing your but it begs the question witted just come from yeah and i love love love the explanation so you just say it was inscribed in there have you ever told anybody with the name with a nickel yeah i get that question a lot and you know what's so amazing one of my clients and now partners in the company more so anderson he's a national recording artist he actually wrote osogd inspired by the company called rain on me is going to be on his cut upcoming album recovery  he so more so yes need to come on the army and tell us all about yeah ok all right so you have five members and each of them have different roles yet he's a part of it yes so what are some of the other roles that people do well marcelle he's a marketing coach so he helps people basically do what he's done because he's launching self as a national speaker his book was a best seller for many months and i have another marketing coach who she's very savvy in social media marketing and coach she helps people actually identified their purpose their dreams you know that the things that's implanted in their heart in propels them into that it helps them find the path to start stepping into that sometimes people get so overwhelmed by weight i can really pursue my dreams i can really you know tap into my purpose and potential you know so she hopes people on lock that in actually pursue that ninety's and now my next question i'm going to change around a bit because you covered some of it it but it's going to be about how anybody can basically publish a book right they can do so lovingly but if they don't have the savvy the know how and the education and the wherewithal to do the pieces that you do in your company then it's probably going to be pretty hard for them and then if they go to the major publishers they're not going to do those things right are you familiar with what what the major companies do well the traditional poetically traditional publishers will do everything for you the thing that people don't know there are so many companies that do self publishing but they don't do it equally so that's where it becomes difficult for for people to navigate ok who do i work with where do i go the costs vary so much you can be so expensive so i just encourage people to make sure that the basics are covered what you need to have a book that's acceptable in the industry and it's not so par because it's so public right you know so you want to make sure your book is edited there many self publishing companies that will just take whatever you hand them printed up in push it out are you kidding yes they won't even look at it no they don't look at any spelling you're kidding me you give it to them they printed on it and you consider your fault you know you agreed to it yeah oh yeah if you don't know that and you know you're just thinking oh this is this is how you publish a book so you want to make sure that that whatever package or whatever you select wherever you go with that they're editing your book that they're formatting it according to the principessa vacations that it's a professionally designed cover you know not all covers are designed equally  want it to be visually appealing because if it's not you know people in even care would i let you know and i know your bio says that you do some designing is that designing the covers yes i do that as well as as well as work with others you suppose somebody comes to you and they say this is the cover i want them in love speak the truth and love like look you know your message deserves to be professionally represented and i don't think this cover really visually represents what you're trying to do and then give them so much suggestions in pull more things out of them about their message and you know which is work with them to create something more appealing now you talked about packages so tell us about want to package is that ok if you do well sure i actually have one package and it's just the basics you know people can add things on as they would like but in that package is editing your cover design your your i a speech and registry with the library of congress so that the control number so you put your book can be included in the is that different from the eyes for him absolutely and also included is the the coaching so you get sessions with two marketing coaches as marcella anderson and linda dominique grover holland user two amazing experts in getting your book out there because that's something that is so necessary in another misconception like people think ok i published a book ok it's going to sell going to sell and they just waited for me and it doesn't happen you know because we have to do something we have to do the work so they basically show people how to do it here's what we did it worked it was excessive and you know they want people to that process now i don't know you guys listening if you would want to go the route with with rain rather do it yourself but if i was to because my question is should writers take the self publishing route you know so now this is the third piece should they take this self publishing route and do with themselves should they go with  the major companies or the traditional companies which they come to ring which to me sounds like a combination of the two well for the traditional route i think if you have a large following i think it will make it a little bit easier for you to get that contract with a traditional publishing company because they want to know that your book is going to so if you're just starting out and you don't really have like two followers on instagram you know you may want to build for wired first before you do that and as far as you know doing it yourself or self publishing i'm the type of person i'm a very do it yourself person like to be hands on i like to learn things that you're not afraid of technical things in learning new things and dealing with different software and stuff like that then i say try it because there's a lot of information out there to help people you know i also coach people in how to publish their own book so i don't have to do it i can show you how to do it and you know but if that's not you and you're not your books you've written seven now i'm just going to give a couple of titles the rain we talked about the rain one had these tears while the sun still shines the relationship back there and before we get to dear husband let's go to this one here oh yes story about this had this come up and there is this is actually a workbook and this is all out of the years that i've had of working with different writers so the different advice the different exercises and things that i've shared with my writers over the years is in this book that like sixteen you know exercises in their space to write that's why it's so big i don't want people to be intimidated you don't have to read all that there's space for you to actually work inside a space in here we're not going to show you but trust us yourself going how to overcome writer's block like the different things that jam people up in the writing process it's all in there and even a checklist of the process from start to finish like from writing your book through publishing of the different things you need to be aware of that you need to do wow such a wealth of information where and when do you write do you have to get up on a clear a needle clear day over any day and you know lock yourself in a closet or what you know what kind of setting do you need to write i need  pencil what i'm doing but i do need i often need it to be quiet but for me i'm often writing in my head way before i ever type or write anything down like i'm constantly meditating on you know a subject or something that's inspiring and then when i feel like it's just kind of bubbling over then i just got oh you know or if it's something i'm afraid i'm going to forget i have i have notes everywhere i have like five journals i have notes into different  jam like this no i have to remember you know but the ideas just keep coming to use and it's like i have to you know get him down so i just totally you know automated you either write it down all day or you're typing to so would you do it you go straight to the computer will you hand write and then put on most often i'm either putting a memo in my phone arm if actually physically writing in my journal those are my to go to use but other than that i find the morning is like the best time for me to write you're going to get married yet yeah so now what's in here and then this is a collection of love letters to my future husband i did not know this is all like and it's so amazing how this came about and no wow so i'm in the process of divorce last summer i found out that first there were just a lot of lies that my ex was caught in and then i had a dream that he was cheating on me with a man and i said ok you know what is this dream mean and i had been asking god for answers what's going on in my marriage wise it's not working and when i asked him ok what does this symbolize he said oh no you asked me what it was and i just showed you and i was devastated when i said well i need some proof because like you proceed from a dream and i was able to find an old cell phone and there was  extensive just evidence of just this behavior that i couldn't even believe so you know it was a very hard time but immediately god was talking to me like you are going to help people through difficult marriages and even while you're in your own healing process you're going to start talking to people about what you're dealing with you're going to walk out you're healing in front of people and one thing that people know about me i'm very transparent and they're used me kind of sharing you know but you know a lot of people close to me were kind of like wow like when they heard i was writing their husband i like you know they knew i was writing a book say are you sure you're ready to write about this and i'm like isn't that what you think so i actually just became inspired about my future it's like i just had this glimmer of hope because during the process of being married to this man for six years i learned how to be faithful committed i learned how to submit to him even when he was hard to deal with you know i learned how to pray for him even when it was hard to get along with you so i'm like why would god bring me through this process of becoming this faithful committed wife for my marriage to not work so i just believe because he process me that way that he has something better for me that gave me hope so i wrote this book full of love for my future husband and it's about the different things that you know i want for our marriage you know just mutual respect communication god puts you through things you just you just confirmed what i say to people all the time yeah god put you through things so that you can help other people through and if you keep it to yourself then you're not doing what he wants you to do but it's so true and that's another reason to say i'm glad that you're here again because it's so important to give to people we are blessed to be a blessing yeah we're here to help other people yes when i have us that we ma and somebody else have these difficulties why do i have to have it but we just have to hold that that focus wall is kind of door soul rain publishing that focuses on the faith based books and what's your story is all about the stories because we all have stories they may not all fit into the you know era because i want the real n'est because that's what helps people you know those raw details like me sharing my story is not to you know is not a vindictive thing at all you know i wouldn't even want to necessarily share but i know people need to hear it and i know even since i've been chairman sharing on facebook why every thursday i do dear husband and facebook live and people have been reaching out to me about you know the things that they're going through and i'm like this is not about me at all and that's why i'm so passionate about what your story so if people bring a book that they publish to say themselves and then they want to try to distribute it through you can you do that or it has everything has to go through here during no well i can't promote like through my what your story platform i can promote you know and i'm actually interviewing different authors and things like that about their journey they don't necessarily have to have worked with me i just want to highlight the story so yeah i can help promote their titles i wouldn't be distributing it you know as a publisher but i will definitely help promote other stories is there anything else that you want people to take away from your books that we didn't cover in this emotional session where we both got to catch my voice well i just really work with there has been this is a book it's for singles and couples you know and there's actually reflective questions at the end of each letter that you can work through as an individual or together as a couple and i really want people to just you know do the work reflect and try to honor each other but you know that can be so difficult but i don't have to i'm so delighted that you're here thank you so much for coming to us this is been the army up close and personal you can find me on facebook being as true today on twitter venus nine and seven and on instagram being as ninety seven underscored ninety seven remember it's never too late to live your dreams