In a recent 2012 book titled The Power of Small by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval, it mentioned that individuals should start small so as to change their lives and power through uncertain times.
Being an author is not a ‘get rich quick’ scheme. Many authors have to wait years before they are published let alone before they start getting recognised and can then call themselves a success.
Kia Garriques a.k.a Kia Storm was no different.
“Even though I was very young when I thought of my first book idea, I knew exactly how I wanted to see it in print. I was not put off by my lack of experience and I carried on doing what I thought best; pitching my book proposal to prospective book publishers and agents and believe me, it’s not an easy thing to do.”
Whatever the case, Kia knew that she would have to try a different strategy.
However, time after time, publishers failed to see the potential in her idea. Her book proposal did not fit in with the publishing company’s criteria or it did not fit in with the editor’s mindset.
“The rejection slips kept pouring in one after the other and I remember feeling worthless. I was ready to give up. I mean it was easy for me when I was sending off my work to short story magazine editors because they loved it.
Although I had got many rejections from editors, I was sending other editors so many proposals that I found that when one editor rejected a story idea, another editor would accept that same story. Before long all of my stories were published,” she says.
“However, my book was a different matter. The rejections really knocked my confidence and honestly if it wasn’t for my mother taking action into her own hands and physically seeking out my agent, I probably would have stop sending them out for a while. My mother found my current agent and begged him to have a look at my work. Thankfully he did and here I am today getting ready for the launch of my debut novel in October.”
“I am an extremist and I am always thinking of how I can get better. I wasn’t content with writing a book; I wanted to write the next big thing. I also wanted it to be seen and heard and so I knew that I had to get involved in every single process. This included the branding, packaging and marketing of not only my book but also myself as an artist.
I don’t think many authors view themselves as an artist. Too often they separate their book from themselves but I strongly believe that I must become my product and that’s what I set out to do.”
So how did Kia make the jump from young writer to marketing professional/ published author?
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