Two local Rossland authors are hoping they can use their knowledge of book writing and being published to help others along the way.
Darcy O’Hearn and Yolanda Ridge are both local authors of children’s books. O’Hearn self-published the first of a series of books about the forest called Leonard the Larch, while Ridge wrote Trouble in the Trees, which she published in the more traditional way.
Ridge moved to Rossland over the summer with her husband, and coincidentally the place they moved into was right across the street from O’Hearn.
O’Hearn was introduced to her and was astonished to find that she was also a writer.
She said despite their different personalities, they hit it off right from the start.
The two took very different paths to publishing their stories though.
“I’m traditional published, by a big publisher,” said Ridge. “But (O’Hearn) is self published. It’s just such a different experience.”
So, Ridge explained, together they have “two pieces of the puzzle” on different ways to get published, with the pros and cons of each path.
For O’Hearn, continuing self-publication wasn’t the original goal, but she is now comfortable in that stream.
“I thought, in the beginning, it was my ultimate goal and dream to be picked up by a standard or traditional publisher, but as I go along in this world, it’s not so bad,” O’Hearn says of her self-publishing path. “And I’m not sure, even if I was asked, I’d go that route.”
She said the problem is that she would have to make a lot of concessions at this point, and lose the freedom to tell the story the way she wants to tell it.
“For Darcy, self-publishing allows her to maintain control, make a little bit more money,” Ridge said.
“Whereas I could not have self-published because I would be no good at marketing. That’s just what worked for me, I don’t make much money for each book, but I don’t have to do as much work.”
They got to talking and decided that they could teach people how to write and publish their own books, and cover both sides of the question whether to go through a traditional publisher or self-publish.
“It’s surprising the number of people that want to write books and have always wanted to write books, but don’t know where to start,” O’Hearn said. “So this course is to get people motivated.”
To get more info on the seminars conatact O’Hearn at darceeo@telus.net or 362-5559.