By Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing, on April 25th, 2013
I recently heard of an expat author, publisher and illustrator of children’s books. Her name is Sophie Kittredge and her books about dogs are quite beautiful. I asked Sophie to share some of what she has learned from her experience with you here. Over to you, Sophie:
I work as a freelance illustrator. It has, therefore, been a natural progression for me to write and illustrate my own children’s books. I use my childhood travels and family pets as inspiration.
I was born in France, and I grew up in Europe, Southeast Asia, the Far East, and the Middle East. I graduated from Art College in England with a BA in Illustration, then moved to New York City where I worked in the publishing and animation businesses. I now live in coastal South Carolina with my family.
My book series is called ‘Tails around the World’. I have two self-published books in this series and I’m working on the third.
The ten lessons I’ve learned along the writing road are:
·Writing children’s books is harder than I thought.
·It’s important to make every word and sentence count when you’re limited to 1000 words.
·Read your children’s story out loud, because that’s the way it will often be read.
·Rewrite and get many pairs of eyes to proof your text.
·Don’t use text to describe an illustration, that’s been done, presumably by the picture.
·When incorporating foreign words be sure to get a native speaker to proof read. This can avoid embarrassing mistakes!!
·Although I’ve set my books in the past, I have not attempted to be slavishly historically accurate. That has given me more creative freedom, and fewer headaches!
·I will probably get a professional picture book editor to look at my next manuscript before I publish it.
·I did not research the market before making my books, they were made purely for fun and creative pleasure. Next time, I might attempt a more commercial idea.
·Next time, I will spend more time on the plot. I tend to be very focused on the illustrations, and assume they will carry the weight of the story.
By Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing, on April 16th, 2013
Colleen Reichrath-Smith and I have set aside April and May as the months we really promote our newly released book A Career in Your Suitcase. We are so determined to make sure that more people get to hear about it than ever before (this is its 4th edition) that we share here our top six methods. Feel free to copy our ideas. We’d be flattered.
Make a book trailer. We use Camtasia to make ours, combining not only recordings of we authors speaking about the book, but also book jackets, our photos and some music. I pay my son to make them for me and it takes him about five hours. Videos are the most shared items sent out via social media, so it was no-brainer that we made one too, sending the link to all our supporters so they can share it too. Here is the link to our book trailer.
Create a website just for the book. If you only plan to publish a few books then it can make sense to give each their own unique website, using the book name as its URL. Colleen is a career counsellor so it makes sense that she manage our site. Be sure to keep your site dynamic with an active blog, a call for contributions (we want your portable career stories) and links where people can buy the book in print and kindle format. Here is the link towww.careerinyoursuitcase.com.
Create and send a press release. As the publisher at Summertime Publishing, it was vital that I create a database of expatriate clubs, organisations, websites, magazines and journalists, who were interested in my niche – books by and for people living abroad. My list so far has about 400 names on it and so, as soon as a Summertime book is available on all the Amazons worldwide in print and kindle format, I prepare a release that inlcudes all the relevant information about the book, written in a way that people could lift the text and use it as it is. I offer review copies and add contact details, suggesting the authors may be available for interview or to write articles for their publication. Our press release will go out in April.
Run a worldwide book tour. Grab every opportunity to present the book, at book signings, by giving workshops and by donating books to libraries. Take photos of every event so you have more stuff to share on the website and via social media. But a book tour does not simply work if it includes you in person. Additionally, create a proof PDF of your book (put the word ‘proof’ on the pages so folk can’t copy it), create a Facebook event and invite everyone you know to do a review of the book on Amazon, or Goodreads or on their blog or in a magazine in exchange for a free PDF/kindle copy. If you see folk in person then you can give them a ‘real’ book to review. A review is a great way to get the word about your book out there. The official date of our book tour is 19th April. On that day we will be sure to have a Google Alert set up for Career in Your Suitcase to be sure we ‘catch’ every mention of our book out there and then, in turn we will share that with our networks too. We have also set the #careerinyoursuitcase4 hashtag on Twitter for people to use so we can track all tweets. You can link to our Facebook event here.
Do a live book launch where you live. We always encourage authors to run a book launch event for their book once it is freely available on Amazon worldwide. We usually run the Hague events at the American Book Centre, because they have a room upstairs for just this kind of event and we can do our own catering. In addition, ABC, advertise the event to a database of book lovers and buy a stock of the book too, so it is win-win-win. They often even put a display of the book in the window too for a few days! We invite all our local supporters, the press and even ExpatTV along as well as all those who have helped with the book – editors, designers, proof-readers and so on. It’s a bit of a celebration. We run ours from 6-8pm on a Friday usually, and have drinks and a few nibbles on offer. During the launch, we have an MC who supports the work of the book. We will have Canadian Deborah Valentine, who is executive director of a local expatriate support network called Access. Then Colleen and I will read extracts from the book for 10-15 minutes before we open for questions. You can find a link to our event here.
Join Kindle KDP select. When you produce a kindle version of a book, you are encouraged to enrol in KDP select. This means that you can select a five day period in which the book will be available on Kindle for FREE. We have set our KDP days for just before our live launch (12-16 May) but after the worldwide virtual book tour. This will allow us to give promotion another boost and keep momentum going. You can link to the book on Kindle here.
As part of our promotional efforts, my co-author, Colleen Reichrath-Smith and I, have done a few things that we hope will guarantee we not only sell books but that we share the news of the book as far and wide as possible.
One of the things we have done, is to get ourselves a speaking engagement or opportunity to present the book everywhere we go. Colleen has already been doing this in Washington DC and The Hague. I have done so in Miri, Sarawak and next week I go to Singapore to run workshops for Shell Outpost, CRCE and a private writing workshop too.
Donating a copy of Career in Your Suitcase to the library at Outpost Miri, with Annie Irlapati
When CRCE asked me to make a short promotional video with them, to promote the workshop Jacinta Noonan and I are running called Passionate About Your Portable Career on 15 May, I jumped at the chance. Using Google Hangout, we recorded this interview by webcam, though I was in Brunei, and they in Singapore.
When you produce a video you get the chance to embed it on your website and share it on social media platforms. CRCE want people to book to attend my workshop. I want to sell more books.
Do you think you should consider creating a video too?
By Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing, on April 5th, 2013
Just over a month ago, Brit in the Dominican Republic, Lindsay de Feliz, saw the publication of her first book, a memoir, What About Your Saucepans? With no previous experience but a determination that can be seen leaping from the pages of a story that includes attempted homicide, bankruptcy and politics, de Feliz leapt into action. Today I learned that What About Your Saucepans was Summertime Publishing’s bestseller on in both kindle and printed formats for the month of March. Here, Lindsay shares her success story:
I wasn’t a writer but I knew I had a good story to tell, so I wrote it down, got in touch with Jo and she and my editor Jane Dean helped me to turn my pedestrian account of the last 10 years of my life into a real book. Jo told me the publication date would be February 27 and a few days before then I checked on Amazon.com and there it was. A truly amazing feeling. The next stage was to get people to buy it, although I was somewhat apprehensive in case they didn’t like it, and I really had no idea what I should be doing, never having written or sold a book before. I decided on a staged approach, and I have just finished stage one.
Setting up details on author central for Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
Finding people to be local distributors. I used friends and family and asked Jo to send them 50 -100 copies of the book each. My mother for the UK, me, a friend in the east of the DR and a friend in Canada.
I sent an advance PDF to a couple of friends to write reviews on Amazon.com as soon as the book appeared.
One of them also posted a review on the main DR expat forum with details of how to buy the book.
I posted on Facebook, not only my page but relevant group pages such as Dominican spouses and my blog/book page.
I emailed everyone who has contacted me via the blog in the last 18 months, some 100 or so people.
I carried on blogging and blogged about the book. I put a picture of it on the main page of the blog, linked through to Amazon, expanded the page about the book. I carry on blogging a couple of times a week and mention the book every other time.
Once people posted on FB or on the forum that they had read the book and enjoyed it, saying they could not put it down, and when would the next one come out, I hassled and badgered them to write a review on the forum or FB so more people would buy it, and also on the place they had bought the book from.
Stage one results
I checked Amazon.com sales on a weekly basis and it appears that since launch at the end of February up to the end of March I have sold 50 books on that site. The site has sixteen 5 star reviews and one 4 star review.
The book is regularly in the top 10 on the Canadian Amazon site in the Caribbean section, and has been number one in Kindle sales, Caribbean too. Every time it is number one I tweet it and put it on Facebook. I don’t know sales numbers yet.
A week after launch, the book was number one in kindle sales and number two in book sales, both Caribbean section, on the UK Amazon site. It has dropped back a bit now though.
My mother has sold 30 of her 50 to friends and family, many of whom have written reviews on Amazon.co.uk which has thirteen 5 star reviews and one 4 star. Friend in Canada has sold 22 of her 75 and is about to go to the national book store chains to ask them to stock it.
Friend on the east coast of the DR has sold 7 of her 18, and has taken 10 to a local gift shop to sell.
I had a sales and signing session at a north coast bar, as a lot of expats live there, and I sold 25 and two people took 15 to sell on for me.
I have been asked to represent British writers in the DR at the Annual Book Fair in the capital city Santo Domingo
As the reviews were so good, my confidence began to grow and I am now carrying out the next stage.
I contacted the newspaper where I grew up and they interviewed my mother face to face and me via Skype. I sent them a picture of me and one of the book cover and the article will be published on March 3. Readers will be told they can by the book on Amazon.co.uk, or via my mother while her stocks last. I will reorder more for her from Jo if she needs them.
I have written articles for www.expatsblog.com, entered a writing competition there (didn’t win but had 500 FB shares) , article for www.expatfocus.com and www.britishexpats.com all of which have links to the Amazon sites at the bottom of my article. I haven’t heard if the British expat site will publish the article yet. I will keep on with the articles for as many sites as I can.
I have contacted a friend who has a PR agency in the UK and she is getting in touch with the BBC and Woman’s Hour to see if we can set up some interviews.
I have been interviewed by Claudia of www.expatclic.com and that will be published in May. The book is now featured in the expatclic blog. That was thanks to the press release organised by Jo and Renata at www.expatbookshop.com .
I have also been contacted by www.theculturetrip.com who want me to write articles on the DR and have agreed to sell the book via their website.
I am going to get in touch with national press in Canada, the US and the UK and see if I can get them to review the book. That will not be easy but in order to make the next leap in sales I need national press exposure. They can only ignore me and I will nag until they say yes if needs be.
I am going to send free copies/pdf/kindle version to fellow bloggers to see if they will read and review for me.
My goal is for the book to be a best seller and then a film. Oscars here we come!
By Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing, on April 3rd, 2013
I have just finished reading Jonathan Franzen’s novel, Freedom. Here, Walter Bergland owns a simple house beside a lake that is so small and insignificant that it has no name. He and his wife end up calling it Nameless Lake. However, towards the end of the novel, developers move in and build a row of smart properties on the shore facing Walter’s house. They name it Canterbridge Estates Lake. It is as if the moment the place has a name its allure disappears; the very naming of the lake cheapens it.
Here in Brunei as we enjoy a three month sojourn that will be over too soon, we have found ourselves drawn to the rainforest again and again. Under the canopy of trees so tall that even if I tip my head back I cannot see their tops I am overwhelmed by the beautiful, majestic, towering plants and trees. They stretch as far as I can see in a magnificent tangle of trees, ferns, palms and vines that all squeeze together, sharing space. A crook of a branch is spare? Then, whoopee a bird’s nest fern will squish into the space and then a few other creeping, swirling ‘things’ will join the party. Wait. Did I just write ‘things’?
In the seven weeks we have been here I started off hungrily searching books and websites in an attempt to be able to find out what all the strange fruits were in the markets, the plantlife in the jungle and the birds and insects we saw on our walks. I was not being difficult I just wanted to know what they are called.
I felt that, while I was unable to label each new thing I saw, tasted, smelled and heard, I could not truly capture it. I believed that once I could hang a name onto something I would be able to stop worrying about not being able to call it by name and tidy it away in a drawer, ready to really absorb the next experience.
In his poem, The Betrayal, Brian Patten writes of his childhood and how he failed to write anything about the ordinary but important people who had lived in his street. He writes:
“Now they have become the air I breathe.
Not to have marked their passing seems such a betrayal.”
For me, not recording the very things that are currently feeding my soul with a banquet of delights would be a travesty.
Now I have discovered that two most delicious fruits I had never eaten before are called soursop and mangosteen and that the tall buttressed trees are dipterocarps I can relax a little. But I have learned that in the very naming of a ‘thing’ it loses a little bit of its lustre.
I have realised that if I can’t name something I can describe it instead. Alighting on the perfect simile or metaphor is hugely rewarding and, rather than a dictionary term, will succeed in conjuring up a much more satisfying and vivid memory later.
As we wandered back in the dark from the Niah cave on Saturday, no longer able to be blindsided by the cacophony of colour and flora we could only listen and smell.
“It sounds like a Trimfone… a chromatic scale… a wolf whistle…a chain saw… someone who can’t start his moped.”
“It smells of roasted sweet potato….porcini mushrooms…. a sweaty adolescent male… sweetened green tea… a late August Sunday.”
And in daylight again, I find I am giving trees names of my own invention – a blowsy pink hibiscusy, bougainvilleay, hydrangery flower has become a ‘lovelorn’, an almond blossom tree with green fruit, the ‘cannonball’ tree. The lianas I cannot name have become skipping ropes, Scalextrics, helterskelters and even Dentustix.
Not being able to name things has forced me out of complacency. Names have become such a shorthand that we no longer really ‘see’ things for what they are and how they look or smell, but instead we ‘see’ their label. Names make us lazy, for wrapped up in them are preconceived ideas.
And so, I am with Brian Patten every step of the way – to not write about all my experiences would be a betrayal. Does it matter that I don’t know their names? I don’t think so. If anything it makes me a more creative writer.
By Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing, on March 27th, 2013
Today, I am delighted to welcome Rawia Liverpool to guestpost for me. Rawia is an NLP practitioner and blogs over at Recipes4Change.
I was one of the candidates who took Jo Parfitt’s “The Naked Writer” course in October 2012. The course was made of six two and half hour sessions where we learn how to write from a place of pain. Incidentally, or perhaps this was orchestrated by my unconscious mind, two weeks prior to the start of the course I saw my eldest daughter through her move to the University in London. The experience of having to let go of a child to the care of the universe knocked me out of balance. I came back home and discovered that my mental/spiritual/emotional system was paralysed. I was able to carry out the basics but nothing more. My creative mind was at a standstill and I felt like an engine that had suddenly ran out of fuel, and no matter how many times I turned on the ignition, I couldn’t get it functioning again.
On my first session at “The Naked Writer”, I was raw with emotion. There were about 10 or 12 of us who made it to the first session. As fate would have it, Jo shared a poem she had written as part of her introduction to what it really means to write nakedly, from a place of pain. The poem was to do with how she felt when her son left home and went away to University. On hearing it I was so overcome with emotion that I had to rush to the powder room and compose myself. Since my experience was still so fresh, Jo suggested I write about this very thing that hurts as my homework for the next session. So I did. It was not easy and I started and stopped on many occasions, as sobbing sometimes made it impossible for me to continue writing. Somehow I persisted and finally I was able to finish my piece just in time to share with the class on our next session. Then something interesting happened. I turned the ignition on my life and I was able to function again! I felt peaceful and re-charged after being able to write about my experience. I was healed. This was the second time that I feel a sudden surge of energy and a feeling of peace within me after writing about a painful experience. It got me thinking about writing as a tool for healing, and how that tool is applied within NLP.
In NLP the first task we assign clients is ask that they write a personal history related to their issue at hand. We ask clients to write anything and everything that comes to mind in relation to their problem and when done to look at what they had written and see if they can see any patterns there. It is amazing how this exercise already makes a huge difference on the mental and emotional states of the clients, and how certain things they did not see before suddenly come to their awareness. In other words writing their personal history becomes the first step towards the positive change they are seeking — the first step towards healing.
Again, In NLP, we encourage clients to write down their goals. It has been proven time and again that you are more likely to achieve your goal if you have it written down.
Some lines of therapy suggest writing a letter in which you put down experiences or words that for one reason or another you weren’t able to say. In “Letters Never Sent”, Ruth Van Reken did just that, and she did admit to the fact that writing the book was extremely healing.
Niamh Ni Bhroin is another example of someone who experienced healing as a result of writing “The Singing Warrior” which tells her life story.
‘When people are given the opportunity to write about emotional upheavals, they often experience improved health” says Dr James Pennbaker of the University of Texas at Austin.
Dr Pennebaker has conducted studies for 20 years about the effect of writing as a healing tool. He gave people assignments to do with writing about an emotional upheaval in their lives for 15-20 minutes a day for 4 consecutive days. Those that did experienced positive changes such as a strengthened immune system, improved grades or even a total life change.
Mr Ron Capps, a war veteran used writing to make sense of his ten-year war experiences and used it to heal himself from PTSD. He was so inspired that he used what he learnt to help others by starting The Veterans Writing Project to help other Veterans transition into civilian life.
In order to write as a form of self-healing, grammar and punctuation is not important. What is important is using words that truly express your emotions.
Here are some tips on how to write to heal:
Set a time daily where you can have 20 minutes in which to write uninterruptedly.
Practice free writing, writing anything that comes to mind regardless of the grammar or sentence structure.
Sometimes sharing can help in the process of healing. Share your writing with a trusted person or persons. Your writing can help inspire and heal others.
If, however, you do not want to share then perhaps take your piece of writing and burn it and scatter the ashes in nature during a forest or beach walk as a final step to healing.
So why not start now? Pick up a pen and write your way into a happier and healthier you.
By Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing, on March 20th, 2013
Meeting The Engineers Wife
It is hard to believe that 15 years have passed since the first edition of Career in Your Suitcase was published. And way back then one of my top tips for anyone wanting a ‘portable career’ was ‘always have something to hand out’.
I still stand by this rule, that if you run your own business, you simply must ensure you always have a business card, postcard, flyer or bookmark on you, so that if you meet someone while you are out and about you can give them something to take away with them in case they want to get in touch.
But today, I popped a brand new, fresh off the press, copy of the 4th edition of Career in Your Suitcase in my bag and headed off to Marilyn’s cafe to meet someone I can only think of as The Engineer’s Wife.
You see, before I came to Brunei for our mini-posting, I Googled the words Brunei blogger and up popped The Engineer’s Wife, a blog about a Kiwi who was heading for the same town as me. I got in touch, and sorry to say, completely forgot about her! Then, last week she popped a comment on my BrieflyBrunei blog to tell me she was in town, and sitting most days in a cafe with wifi near me. So today, we met and I took along a copy of my book just in case.
Well knock me down with a feather, but whaddayaknow – Jenn (The Engineer’s Wife) is a career consultant! Just the person who might like a free copy of the book in exchange for a review!
Colleen, my co-author, and I are planning a virtual book tour to celebrate publication next month and are looking for bloggers to write a few words about the book around 19th April in exchange for a free book. So, today, I was able to hand over my first review copy to the perfect blogger – an expat partner and a career consultant!
Nothing helps to spread the word about a new book better than a review online – on blogs, online magazines, on Facebook pages, via Twitter, and of course on Amazon. Sometimes authors are reluctant to give away copies of their precious book when really they would rather exchange them for hard cash. But, I believe that if a review is going to be seen by at least one other potential purchaser, then it is always worth handing over a book. Of course, with the high cost of postage not everyone can be given a real book, like Jenn, but Colleen and I are armed with proof PDF copies (that means they are lower resolution and have a little PROOF watermark on the pages) and Kindle and Epub versions that we are more than happy to give away to anyone who promises to write about our book online.
If you would like a free book please let Colleen @suitcasecareer or me @JoParfitt know or just write us a comment below. Providing you can do the review around 19 April we will be delighted to GIVE you a copy.
By Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing, on March 15th, 2013
A few weeks before last Christmas, Summertime author, Tina Quick, told me that she had met a dynamic group of expat women at a conference who had produced a superb activity book for expat kids. They had printed the book locally, and had just about sold out. They needed to get the book out there and available via Amazon worldwide. Was I interested? You bet! There is such a need for a book like this and Slurping Soup is tremendous fun – even for a grown-up. Here I talk to the six authors, Lucinda, Maryam, Cherie, Ulrike, Kathryn and Barbara. Slurping Soup was published by Summertime in March 2013.
JP: Tell us about your book. What is it about? Can you describe it in just a few sentences?
SS: Slurping Soup and Other Confusions is a collection of 23 real-life stories created around our own children’s experiences. Each story is followed by related activities in order to actively engage the third culture kid reading the book.
We hope the reading and interaction will allow TCKs and their parents the opportunity to begin dealing with their own issues from transitions. The book is for children aged three to 12 and the activities (e.g. brainstorming, feeling finder, ‘weirdometer’) were designed keeping the age group in mind.
JP: Why did you write it?
SS: The six of us used to meet regularly as follow up to our taking a Parent Effectiveness Training course in 2008, and we would discuss the challenges our kids faced. By the third meeting we realized that many of their challenges were stemming from their experiences as third culture kids.
We’re all book lovers and we looked for books that may help. When we couldn’t find such a book someone said: “Wouldn’t it be great if we wrote one?” And that’s how it began.
JP: Why do you think your book needed to be written?
SS: Many experiences of our 12 children revealed common themes continually faced by expatriate families. We could not find a book that addressed younger children directly.
Now a book provides solace in so many ways. By reading of others who have also faced the same problems, a TCK will feel less alone to begin with.
The stories and activities inspire discussions among parents and children. Additionally, as so many of us know, writing about our experiences is an extremely helpful exercise.
Over time, through the activities children record their memorable experiences; work out their fears or negative emotions; also hopefully figure out solutions. The book eventually becomes a journal for the child.
We’ve seen the book being used in this way by own children, who with every move are enjoying scribbling their thoughts into the pages.
Jasmine Keel, a consultant and amother of three TCKs said: “My nine-year-old daughter kept asking me to sit with her and go through some of the stories and activities and was reassured to see her challenges had been shared by other children.”
JP: Who do you think will read your book? Or who would you like to read your book?
SS: Slurping Soup and Other Confusions is a perfect story and workbook for expat and third culture kids from three to 12 years old; and for the adults that are helping them through those transitions.
Our book has been bought and enjoyed by parents, children, teachers and schools alike.
JP: What steps have you taken or do you plan to take to promote your book? Which methods have been successful?
SS: We’ve used our networks in marketing our books. We’ve held events and talks at various schools and organisations. We plan to work on our blog and collaborate on social media to promote the book. Work is also underway on releasing an e-book version of Slurping Soup and Other confusions.
We plan to promote the second edition of Slurping Soup globally now that the six of us are all in different countries i.e. Australia, Brazil, US East and West Coast, as well as China. So many more people to share our book with!
We couldn’t have made it thus far without the generous help of a multitude of expatriates. And we look forward to meeting and collaborating with more fellow ‘nomads’ to promote our book further.
JP: How did you choose your publisher and publishing method? Why did you decide to go down this route?
SS: We initially self published and marketed the book through our own networks with a limited first edition. The amazingly encouraging feedback to the book has been an affirmation for our efforts. It has been called: “…nothing short of a miracle” by parents of children dealing with moves.
Then late in 2012, Ulrike Gemmer met Tina Quick of International Family Transitions, who put us in touch with Jo Parfitt of Summertime Publishing. We had already heard of Jo as an esteemed publisher of books for expats and we were delighted when she loved our book!
Jo is now publishing the second edition and we’re excited about finding a wider audience through Expat Bookshop.
JP: What was your biggest challenge regarding the writing of your book? How have you overcome that?
SS: Finding mutually agreeable times to suit six co-authors during our two years of working on the book. Many cups of tea and lots of delicious snacks helped make our meetings fun and delicious! We have really missed meeting face to face ever since four of our co-authors have moved from Beijing.
Another challenge is to keep momentum going. We’ve been very lucky that our team works well with each other and we all bring something to the group.
For instance, Kathryn Tonges kept us coordinated and motivated throughout, while also spearheading the promotional effort. Ulrike helped promote the book in Beijing and is working on getting the second edition off to the presses; Cherie is similarly currently taking the lead in working on the e-book.
The great thing about a team like ours is that at different stages, someone was always ready to take responsibility and run with the ball. Barbara was focal in organizing the essential graphic design of the manuscript. Lucinda brought her positive enthusiasm to the creative process and kept us believing in the book. Maryam kept contributing via Skype and is now handling our Facebook page.
Everyone’s energy kept us going.
JP: Now you have written this book, what has writing it done for you, your family, your self-esteem or your business?
SS: We worked together on all stories and activities for nearly two years and the result was cathartic for all of us – this resource brought us together, deepened our friendships, helped us work out our own challenges and above all was lots of fun.
Our children were delighted to share their personal stories and contributed with artwork, pictures, ideas for activities.
We have now been rewarded with wonderful feedback from families who have shared the benefits of Slurping Soup for their children’s and families’ transition. On our journey, we’ve connected with so many other proactive expats, who have inspired and motivated us.
Best of all, there’s still so much more to learn and connect to.
JP: If you were to give advice to someone else who is thinking about writing a book, what would be your number one tip?
SS: There are two that worked for us:
1. Announce the idea to as many people as you can. It helps keep you accountable!
2. Create a group of people with whom you can share the book as it is written and invite constructive criticism.
For more info on Slurping Soup and Other Confusions, see:
By Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing, on March 15th, 2013
I first met Elka Ray via Twitter I think and since then we have conducted a radio interview, I have read and reviewed her expat novel and soon plan to read her two expat kids’s books as well. She is an inspiring role model for any expat who wants to really make a living as a writer. If you want to find out how to do it too, read on.
1) Tell me about your book. What is it about? Can you describe it in just a few sentences?
After moving to Hanoi with her fiancé, the book’s main character, a young American reporter named Jane, is dumped for another woman. What starts as a desperate bid to discredit her romantic rival and win back her fiancé ends up with Jane embarking on a wild adventure in the mountains of northern Vietnam. By the end, as well as getting revenge, she’s learned to appreciate her life in Hanoi and has found real happiness.
2) Why did you write it?
I’d spent years writing a serious novel, which various editors claimed to love, yet ultimately rejected as “too complicated”. To cheer myself up, and because I had a newborn and lacked the energy for serious thinking, I wrote “Hanoi Jane” to amuse myself. My “ah-ha moment” came in a room full of smart, successful professional women. When I outlined the plot of my serious novel they all listened politely. And then I quietly admitted that I was writing chick lit and they all lit up and started begging to read it. So it turned out that I wasn’t the only one looking for light entertainment.
3) What qualifies you to write this book?
Having lived in Vietnam for 16 years, nine of them in Hanoi, I probably know Hanoi better than I know any other place on earth. I also remember what it’s like to be a young, single woman living far from home. While the plot and all of the characters are made up, I think that many of the emotions that Jane feels – loneliness, a sense of alienation, uncertainty – will be familiar to expats, and to everyone who’s ever felt out of place.
4) Who do you think will read your book?
“Hanoi Jane” was published as part of Marshall Cavendish’s “Asian chic” series, which clearly targets young women. While I expect that most of the readers are women, I’ve gotten some emails from guys who claim to have enjoyed it too. Bless them! I think that the book makes good holiday reading for anyone with an interest in Asia or a love of travel.
5) It does not matter how good a book is, or how good your writing is if no one knows about it. What steps have you taken or do you plan to take to promote your book?
I’ve been profiled in some local magazines and on expat websites, which is lucky. I have an author’s site and blog at elkaray.com, and readers can sign up to receive emailed blog updates. Facebook is handy too.
6) How did you publish your book? Did you find an agent, a publisher or did you publish it yourself?
I have an agent, who handled my first (unsold) novel. She deals in literary fiction and had no enthusiasm for “Hanoi Jane”, which is classed as commercial fiction. I sent a query to Marshall Cavendish and was surprised when they took it. For years, I’d thought that it was impossible to publish any fiction without an agent, but obviously that’s not true. That being said, since I write in different genres, I am glad to have an agent, since I’d rather focus on writing than sending out queries.
7) Please describe your process and tell us how you found the experience. Is there anything you would definitely do again or never do again?
I think that there’s still some stigma attached to being a self-published author. But while being published by a traditional publisher might be good for one’s reputation and self-esteem, I’m not sure that it’s always the best option financially. If a publisher is willing to give you a big advance and commit a large marketing budget to your book, go with them. But if you’re going to have to do all of the marketing yourself – and share the profits – self-publishing might work out better for you.
What was your biggest challenge regarding the writing of your book? How have you overcome that?
“Hanoi Jane” pretty much wrote itself, in less than six months, during which I also had a new baby and a half-time job as an editor. But that being said, I’ve been writing fiction since I left university, where I studied Journalism and Asian Studies. Writing this book was easy because I’d made such a mess of my first one. I started that one with no plot and it just grew and grew to include about ten different books. One day I will pull them apart and tug one decent novel out of the crazy tangle.
9) Now you have written this book, what has writing it done for you, your family, your self-esteem or your business?
Publishing “Hanoi Jane” boosted my confidence. I’ve gotten great feedback on it, which has encouraged me to keep writing. After 15 years I am finally okay with letting people read what I write. In the past I would have been crushed if someone didn’t like something – now I think: “Fine, they didn’t like that one, but maybe they’ll like this one.” My prose is strong enough that I can write in a range of genres.
10) If you were to give advice to someone else who is thinking about writing a book, what would be your number one tip?
If traditional publication is your goal, before you start writing think of the blurb that will go on the book’s back cover. Publishers want a book for which there is a simple answer to the question: “What’s it about?” My four main tips are: 1) Have one strong central character and a single point of view. 2) Know this person and his/her story inside out before you sit down to write. 3) Write the way that you – or your main character – talks. 4) Tell your story as simply as possible.
11) And finally, how can people buy your book, in what formats, and what does it cost? Please include any links if you have them.
At the moment “Hanoi Jane” is only available in paperback. If you go to Amazon, please click the button asking my publisher to release it for Kindle!
By Jo Parfitt, Summertime Publishing, on March 13th, 2013
I first met Emmanuelle Payot Karpathakis at the Families in Global Transition Conference in Washington DC last March. I knew she was writing books for 5-7 year old expat children about a little donkey called Pixie. What I did not realise was that she was publishing them in six languages. Emmanuelle is mother to four TCKs of her own and she has seen first hand how normal things like moving house and going ‘back home’ on holiday have affected them. This is why she invented Pixie.
During 2012 Pixie’s New Home was published in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian. This year it’s the turn of Pixie’s Holidays. So far, just the English version is available, but soon after Easter all six languages will be ready to buy on Amazon. Here I talk to the woman I know as Emma, about why she has taken on such a mammoth challenge.
Emmanuelle Payot Karpathakis
JP: Tell us about your book. What is it about? Can you describe it in just a few sentences?
EPK: Pixie’s Holidays is about old and new friendships. Pixie, who moved from her home (see the first book in the series: Pixie’s New Home), goes back to visit her old house for the first time. Unfortunately she does not recognize the place and her best friend does not know her anymore. Pixie has to find a way to adjust to this and enjoy her holiday.
JP: Why did you write it?
EPK:I noticed how difficult it was for my two eldest children to see how their best friends had changed and had new friends. It was a big challenge for them to understand and accept it.
JP: Why do you think your book needed to be written?
EPK:There is little literature to help expatriate children during a transition and this problem of old versus new friendships is rarely mentioned.
JP: Who do you think will read your book? Or who would you like to read your book?
EPK:I would like expatriate families to read it, as well as teachers in internationals schools and coaches for expatriates.
JP: What steps have you taken or do you plan to take to promote your book?
EPK:I’m a relocation trainer so my business is in helping familes in transition. I have a blog (www.expatskids.com/editorial), a website (www.expatskids.com), Facebook page (‘PixieNewHome’), Twitter profile (@PixieNewHome) and can also be found on LinkedIn. I’ve sent free copies to relevant persons and emails to people I know. I still need to send articles to publications though and make a file to send directly to big companies (who have expatriate employees).
JP: How did you choose your publisher and publishing method? Why did you decide to go down this route?
EPK:Anne Claude Lambelet introduced me to Jo Parfitt of Summertime Publishing. I decided to do this because I don’t know anything about press releases, publicity and distribution. She does everything I cannot do!
JP: What was your biggest challenge regarding the writing of your book? How have you overcome that?
EPK:Correcting the mistakes and translating it into six languages. I am not sure that I overcame this, but I am getting better. Translating takes time and we needed to proof it many times. Jo helped me with finding people who could do this.
JP: Now you have written this book, what has writing it done for you, your family, your self-esteem or your business?
EPK:My self-esteem is soaring! For my family seems to understand that Mommy is more busy but happier, so they are happier too. My children are proud; it is very cute. They all want to participate and the eldest two give me ideas and even advice sometimes.
JP: If you were to give advice to someone else who is thinking about writing a memoir, what would be your number one tip?
EPK:Take time to dream, think about it, then write slowly because there are new ideas which come slowly. Take time to correct it and reread it. Share it with close friends and listen to some of their advice. Patience is my word.
What was your biggest challenge regarding the writing of your book? How have you overcome that?
