For the month of March, I'm happy to share a Q&A with another of my dearest friends, Venita V. Johnson. We have shared many a journey together, including co-founding a sorority, with Jennine Carella called Zeta Phi Alpha. She has always had an unwavering perseverance, boldness, and drive to create what she would like to see. It was such a thrill for me to find out that she had published a book of poetry called, Musings of a Lovesick Rabbit, accounts of her journey which covers love, loss, and discovery, with rawness and transparency.
Name: Venita Johnson
Vocation (s): Writer | Self-Publisher
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.- Ambrose Redmoon
In you're own words, I am a DreamCatcher because:... I followed my heart and self-published a compilation of poems titled Musings of a Lovesick Rabbit. I'd always been writing poetry when I felt frustrated, keeping them in word documents and not quite sure what to do with them. My mom originally wanted to publish a book exposing customer service, which she is still writing and when talking to the Xlibris publishing company she told them her daughter had things already written and ready to be published.
Tell us about your book of poetry, Musings of a Lovesick Rabbit, and how you decided it was the right time to take charge of your writing life by self-publishing: I was apprehensive at first because my poems were semi-autobiographical, and I felt I would be exposing too much of myself. I also felt that traditional publishing would be the better bet long term. Thinking about that for a while I realized that my point in writing has been to express myself, and if I wanted to be a professional writer my work had to always come from an honest place. In addition to the fact that nothing about me or my life is traditional, so who really cares? I could self-publish now, learn from the experience and pursue traditional publishing later. Like most decisions in life, I did it simply because it felt right. Remember that every step you take in your writing career is simply that: a step up from before.
Self-Publishing is, in many ways, a visionary concept, because it means that you do not need the validation of other, more traditional, modes. What assured you that this was the right step to take?: In December of '10, I was working at a dead end job with hostile employees that made me silently go insane. I felt like a prisoner in my work situation. Like many recent college graduates, I wasn’t doing what I wanted to be doing for a living and I wanted to make my own success instead of waiting for it to be handed to me.
What challenges arise with being a writer, and better, what are the rewards?: Musings ended up being the biggest learning experience and springboard for my now infant writing career, because it forced me to learn everything at once. I consider the book to be my post teenage diary on display. Everything from galleys, press releases, copy editing, distribution — I learned at once. I had done all the steps backwards and it felt great. Self-publishing is a rebellion that I appreciate. I feel like self-publishing is the right thing to do if you don’t expect a ton of money from it, you want to use your work to further your career and you really have a message that can't wait, you must tell it!
I doubted things once I saw the book sales not coming in as I would have liked, and realized that for a commercially successful book you need a huge, aggressive marketing campaign. I didn’t know that, now I do. But those doubts were thwarted once I talked to people who read the book and loved it, related to it etc. I loved the emails I got from people. Just one person or 90, it didn’t matter. I felt like a success. See, self-publishing gave me the opportunity to be a professional writer, not just an aspiring one, and that gave me the confidence to continually work at what I’m doing. For me I truly look at it as a start. A small but leaping beginning. Even a $10 royalty check is a royalty check, you personally made that happen, and for that you should be grateful.
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers/Self-publishers?: My advice for aspiring self-publishing writers is to define your goals. If you are going this route, it presents its own challenges. How will you market? Will you use a self publishing company or an e-book company that will distribute your work, but not for print? How much time can you dedicate to self-promotion per week? And ultimately what will be your next step? Research for 3 months I say. Really figure out what it is you are doing before you do it.
What are some of your other aspirations?: Right now along with a 9-5 job, I am a greeting card writer for an upcoming site that drops in May 2012. I am writing my first novel and submitting my poems for E-magazines. You can keep up with me at VenitaVJohnson.com, and email me at VenitaVJ@gmail.com
Loved reading this! It's wonderful to see writers working so hard in the self-publishing field. It really is an art, and I have tremendous respect for those who are willing to devote everything to it that self-publishing involves.
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