I met Stephanie Walker before she became Stephanie Walker. She was Stephanie Weinert, engaged to Bob Walker. We were both in the USC Master’s of Professional Writing program, struggling to keep up with deadlines, churning out plays, short stories, novel ideas. She was also planning a wedding. Over a year or two, I became good friends with Steph and Bob (and Pablo, their adorable pug). I consider it a privilege to have kept in touch with them all these years. They’ve had quite a journey and now Steph has ePublished her book, Love in the Time of Foreclosure. I asked her a few questions about ePublishing and here’s what she had to say.
What is Love in the Time of Foreclosure about?
It is about two people who created the life of their dreams while losing their dream home. It’s about my husband and my experience trying to save our house from foreclosure after having just saved our marriage. It’s about how a crisis can serve as a wonderful turning point in life. We were determined to create a happy ending for our foreclosure story. We did. And like all good stories, it wasn’t the ending we expected.
How did your story evolve into a book?
Well, the telling of the story began as a blog. Actually, it really began as a play. As a writer, I draw heavily from my life. Writing is an act of therapy for me in many ways. So, when we were facing losing everything, and had no idea where we’d end up, I wrote. It was the best way to breathe through the unknown. And since I’m a playwright, I began this therapy writing with a play. I called it “American Home.” It was my worst-case scenario play. I put all of my fears into it. I put everything I was seeing in the headlines about foreclosure nightmares into this play. It helped.
And I think it opened the flood gates. Because I decided to start a blog where I would write openly and honestly about our situation. Our determination to turn our crisis into an opportunity and focus on our marriage had a huge impact in our lives. We began noticing that we were actually happy. In foreclosure, yes. Not happy about that particular circumstance. But happy. Happy as people. With life in general. With each other. We were in communication with the bank, not burying our heads in the sand. We were looking for any way to save our house, not trashing it and walking away. The stories dominating the news at the time were about people setting fire to their homes, killing themselves rather than losing their houses, etc. So Love in the Time of Foreclosure began as a response to all of the negative stories in the news. I wrote what I desperately wanted to read: a first-person account from someone committed to a happy ending.
The blog got a lot of attention. The more attention the blog got, the more I received e-mails from people thanking me for writing. I got e-mails asking for advice but mostly people just venting. Sharing with someone they knew understood what they were going through. That gave me more of a purpose with the blog. It wasn’t just for me, it was to help others in the same situation.
Early on with the blog, I also got a lot of encouragement from friends. One of my friends who is a fellow playwright sent the blog to her agent. Her agent was interested and thought the blog could be a book so we began to work together. That was in 2009. I wrote a proposal for a memoir version of our story. Different than the blog. I was trying to emulate an Eat, Pray, Love style memoir. My agent tried several times to sell Love in the Time of Foreclosure without any success. At first the fear was that the foreclosure crisis wouldn’t be relevant by the time the book was published. Then it was too similar to another book that had recently sold. Then the fear was that a title like this wouldn’t sell well because the one that was being held up for comparison hadn’t sold well. We finally put the project to rest in the Spring of 2011.
Out of the blue I was contacted by Jon Roemer of Outpost19. He said he had been following my blog and thought that it would be a great fit for his new digital publishing company. His idea was strictly a blog-to-book concept. To consider this, I had to throw out my visions of becoming the next Elizabeth Gilbert. I had to look at publishing in an entirely new way.
How did you decide to ePublish?
After considering Outpost19‘s proposal and shifting my thinking about the kind of book I wanted to publish, I decided that ultimately getting it out there was better than the project sitting forever in my mind as a failure. Prior to Jon’s proposal, I had only been thinking about traditional publishing, but then along came this digital publisher offering a route to publication.
My first phone call with Jon really sealed the deal for me. We just clicked. He’s a super smart guy and that came through immediately. What I found fascinating were his thoughts about publishing and why he and his partner decided to start a digital publishing house. He described digital publishing as the Wild West. That struck a chord. Everything and anything is possible in digital publishing. It occurred to me that eBooks aren’t the future, they’re the present. Publishing isn’t going to change, it already has. So, why stand in the way?
Fear. That would be the only reason. Fear of putting myself out there. Once I saw that the only thing standing in my way would be fear and preconceived notions, it was easy to decide to ePublish. Especially since I recently decided to stop listening to the sabotaging voice in my head that has held me back in the past by telling me, “That’s not how things are done.” I’m committed to making my own rules as an artist. That’s exciting to me. That breeds creativity. That annoying voice in my head concerned with how things are done? It causes writer’s block and frankly doesn’t know jack shit. I’m done with it.
I know that there are people that still consider eBooks to be somehow illegitimate, but that is a shifting concept. And it’s shifting rapidly. In only four years, Amazon’s digital sales surpassed print. And it was just announced that eBooks will be added to the Wall Street Journal Bestseller List. The paradigm has already shifted, it would seem.
What do you see as the pros and cons of traditional publishing?
As an author, my only experience with traditional publishing is with my ten-minute plays. I’ve had two published in two separate anthologies published by Smith & Kraus. One of the plays published by Smith & Kraus, “The Chocolate Affair,” is also published in another anthology by Black Box Press – outside of traditional publishing. Black Box Press is run by the same person who also runs www.10-minute-plays.com, which means that “The Chocolate Affair” is also on that site. I have never once had a query from the Smith & Kraus publication. All queries come through the website, 10-minute-plays.com. And I get a lot. This play has traveled all over the world thanks to it being published on this site. So, based on that experience, which I admit is highly limited, I see far more pros in ePublishing.
My dad asked me, “How will people know about your book if there are no physical copies?” It’s a great question. My publisher is working his butt off to make sure that people know about it. I’m working my butt off to make sure that people know about it. On days where it seems like an uphill battle, I remind myself that it only takes one story in the New York Times or one mention on an A-List blog to really launch this thing.
But my dad’s point is one that we have to address. Not everyone has an eReader. That’s true. But eBooks can be read on any computer and even on many smart phones.
And what about that bookstore point of sale that we’re missing without a hard copy? Well, how many first time authors really even get prominent book store positioning? In that case, a buyer still has to walk into a book store knowing what they’re looking for because most likely that first time author’s book will be buried in the stacks with only a couple of copies.
At a big publishing house, a small first-time author isn’t going to get a huge budget for publicity and marketing. And they’ll be competing with a slew of authors and titles for support. What has been so amazing working with a new indie digital publisher is that they always have time for me. Yes, they have other titles they’re promoting at the same time, but nothing like a traditional publisher. They have four published titles including mine and three on their way. Though resources are limited, we are working together like a team to divide and conquer the digital world. I feel totally supported.
It has me wonder. If I were at a big, traditional publisher would I wonder if my publisher even knew I existed? I don’t know. I can’t answer that from experience. But still. I wonder.
What do you see as the pros and cons of ePublishing?
Did you hear about novelist Jennifer Weiner’s short story, “Recalculating?” Apparently, on October 25th she was struck with a Halloween-themed short story idea. She sat down and wrote it in a 2 or 3 day frenzy. Then she spent a few days editing and hashing out details with her agent, editor and publisher to get the story ready for “print.” On October 31st “Recalculating” was published as an eBook and made available for 99 cents. That story demonstrates what is possible for writers in ePublishing. Speed. Getting the work out there. Limiting the “thinking about it” time. I think that’s a great thing. I believe that breeds more creativity. I love the raw element. Think about the traditional publishing trajectory for a short story. It takes forever for most. Most sit in drawers, right?
To me, eBooks offer an exciting immediacy to writing and publishing. The danger is putting out inferior work. That’s why editors are still so important. Jon, my publisher, is also an amazing editor. Could I have self-published my eBook? Yes. Amazon makes that much easier now. But, I would have had to hire an outside editor. And a good one. I believe this to be critical. In playwriting, my plays don’t see the light of day without the director and actors. I edit so much during the rehearsal process. It’s my favorite part of the entire creation. So, the danger with ePublishing is skipping this part. Actually, that’s not accurate. That is a danger in self-publishing (whether in a hard back or as an eBook.) It’s not inherent to ePublishing. If you ePublish with a traditional publisher or a new indie digital-only publisher, editing is still inherent and key in the publishing process.
What has the response been to your book so far?
Well, in the first week “Love in the Time of Foreclosure” reached the TOP 5 on Amazon’s Kindle Top Sellers in the Real Estate category. Something to note about that is that my book was the only one in the five authored by a woman. It was also the only real estate book about love.
What are your next writing/publishing goals?
First and foremost, my goal is to make Love in the Time of Foreclosure a bestseller. I know how lofty a goal this is. And I also believe in the possibility of the impossible. So I’m out to make that happen.
I’m tossing around a sequel to Love in the Time of Foreclosure. I also have a screenplay I’ve been working on that I’m beginning to think wants to be a novel. That would be a huge transition for me as I’ve never even attempted to write a novel. (I bow down to you, Kim.)
My playwriting is a huge priority. Being in the theater in rehearsal on one of my plays is one of my favorite places to be. I’m working on a revision of “American Home,” getting it ready for a reading here in Chicago by American Blues Theatre in December. I’m also working on a new play about an American exchange student in Spain who becomes a magician’s assistant, called “The Box Jumper.”
I’m tossing around some “out of the box” ideas around plays and digital publishing. We shall see. I’ll keep you posted.
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Thanks, Steph!
>> Buy her book! Now, damn it!
I really enjoyed reading about the epub and Stephanie’s take on it. I realize, after reading this, that a benefit (a major benefit) of how she published is that her creative process was extended another step (which is great). On anther note, it seems the timing of the subject matter of the book couldn’t be more perfect. Such an interesting interview. Thanks, Kim!
Hey, I was one of the first to read the book and in my estimation it’s already a best seller. It’s funny, it’s sad (but not too sad), but most of all it’s true. The book and blog have been lifesavers to many people that are/were in the same situation as Steph and Bob. It shows when life gives you lemons it’s up to you to do with them what you want.
Go Steph. You are a life changer!!
Kim, thanks for giving me the opportunity to share the road to publishing my book!
I agree that my creative process was extended. This whole experience has had me thinking way outside my normal “box.”
Thanks, Tom! I’ll keep going!
Steph
Wonderful interview. It was honest and so motivating! Wish you all the best with the book.
Congrats on your book my sister came across it whilst googling my name and found your picture very
spookily not only do we share the same name but we are almost identical…