- How were you involved in the publishing industry before you joined the faculty at Taylor University?
I began work in the publishing industry way back in 1981 for a small company (Evangelical Training Association), then I moved on to Youth for Christ where I worked with their publishing arm. While I was there, we partnered with Tyndale House to create the best-selling Life Application Study Bible, writing and editing all of the notes and ancillary material. The team that worked on that Bible moved on to start The Livingstone Corporation, where I worked as an editor and eventually as editorial director. We were a book packager, working for all the Christian publishers to create books and Bibles, so I wrote and edited thousands of pieces across my decades with them. It has been wonderful to be able to take that experience and bring it to the Professional Writing major at Taylor University.
- How do you think your new book Pathway to Publication will help writers?
Oh my goodness, I’m so excited to put this book into the world. I wrote it after being on faculty at writers’ conferences and hearing over and over: “I finished writing my manuscript. What do I do next?” In fact, in one of the writers groups I’m in on Facebook, a member asked, “I finished writing my manuscript! Do I just send it to publishers now?” All of these interactions made me realize how much I have learned over my decades in publishing and how little the average writer knows. There’s a prescribed pathway to getting published, and writers need to follow it. I hope the book lays out the path and helps writers take the appropriate steps to present themselves well and to create products they can be proud of—and hopefully will reach their readers!
- What is your best advice to a new writer?
I love this question because I deal with new writers every day in my teaching. They all come in as aspiring book authors, many with several WIPs. From day one, I try to help them find their unique voice (and own it) and understand how the publishing world works. My best advice to a new writer is always keep learning your craft and crafting your voice. Then, learn the various pathways to publication and follow the steps to put your best foot forward.
- How can a writer who has written a few books build their career?
I teach in my classes that much about building a writing career is connecting with and supporting other writers, reading their works, celebrating their successes. Never stop working on the craft. And keep learning about the publishing world for as much as it stays the same, it also changes.
- What makes you smile when you read what a new writer has written?
I so enjoy reading my students’ writing from when they first arrive on campus to four years later when they leave. I smile when I see that they’ve taken to heart my suggestions along the way, built on their strengths, and improved their weaknesses. And discovered their unique voices.
- Tell us about what you like to do in your spare time and about your family.
I have been married to my husband Tom for 40 years. We have three grown children and six grandchildren ranging in age from 6 months to 13. My husband and I bought an old Victorian home in our small town in Indiana several years ago and, honestly, it feels like all our spare time is in doing work to improve and maintain it. But it’s a labor of love that we get to do together. I also love to read (of course), my favorite genres being memoirs and historical fiction. My teaching, lesson planning, and grading take up most of my time, but those things, too, are a labor of love.
Interview conducted via Bold Vision Books
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