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Welcome to My Bookish Pleasures. We would love to get to know you and your book!
Thank you so much for having me. I am honored to appear on your blog. It’s clear you spend a lot of time manicuring it.
When did you begin writing?
I wrote my first book when I was three. Scratch that! I filled a pad of paper with what I thought were words, but, according to my mother, my “prose” didn’t make the cut. I recently learned that I also attempted to write on the foyer floor. My mother also panned that “book” too. However, I must have gotten better because my first bio, complete with spelling errors and overstrikes, appeared in my baby book, kept for posterity.
I guess I always knew I would be a writer. I know I couldn’t wait to be old enough to take typing classes (yes, this was before word processors and computers), but started penning stories while still in school. I know I wrote my first “novel” during Spanish II my junior year in high school. (I did not get good grades in that class for some reason.) I also attempted to write stories for children I babysat for. The kids weren’t entertained.
After I met my husband-to-be, I wrote stories for him. He seemed to appreciate my stories, and for a while, we would write letters to each other in a blank book. We broke up several months into our early relationship and even though we got back together (and have been married for forty-forty years) we no longer shared writing in that way. He does, however, read every book I’ve published, offering unique insights I would have missed.
In my early years of writing, I dreamed of attending one of the mail-in writing schools, but couldn’t afford it. I tried selling some magazine articles. Nothing sold. You’d think I should have given up, but writing flowed from my pen into journals all the time. I couldn’t stop. Then I finally got the chance to take a course with an instructor who had a small group that met around his dining room table. I joined that group, and for the first time, I learned the professional way to submit a manuscript to an agent or editor. Not long after, I sold my first book, which was a collaboration between myself and my husband. I did the writing and he did the photos for a book about vintage pottery.
Describe your writing process.
I always wrote in journals, so my early books began in that way. Then, after working with a mentor, I would work on large poster boards. Those were an awesome way to free write, but awkward to use. I eventually switched to large art pads. I prefer the smoother paper pads, and usually, at that stage, use colored, fine-point markers. I also sometimes use mini sticky notes or cut 3x5 index cards into 3 slices (about business card size). I use those to write down early ideas. However, nowadays, I usually do a lot of brainstorming in a mind map on the art pad, then move those tidbits to a phone app (Evernote, at the moment). Once I have enough notes for a book, I will begin transferring my ideas into layout software as I design and format my own books (something that became a twenty-year career for me).
What advice would you offer to new or aspiring authors?
I’ve been helping authors for over twenty years in a variety of capacities. I spent a lot of time volunteering for a writer’s organization. I learned a lot by doing that and met a lot of published authors, agents, and editors, some of whom became long-time friends. Then I became a book designer (from which I am now semi-retired). I walked countless authors through the process of self-publishing. Because of all my experiences, it’s impossible to fully offer advice. (I’d have to write a book!) But here are my top five tips.
1. Don’t skip having your book edited by a professional, and really listen to what they are saying about readability. So many authors I work with are so focused on their “vision” for their book that they often forget that, yes, it’s cool that you can self-publish and break all the rules, but some of those rules equate to sales.
2. When it comes to designing a cover, most authors make two mistakes. The first is they become too attached to their first idea. They go to a cover designer and say, “Do it exactly like this.” They lose out on the tremendous potential they have tapped into. A seasoned designer knows what sells, what pops, and what attracts attention. Authors need to let their designer take their idea and enhance it (not change it, but kick it up a notch). If you let them, they can take it to a higher level. Does this mean you can’t make suggestions, ask for changes, or let them know that something isn’t working for you? Absolutely you should do these things, but don’t make them stay in the closed box you have presented them. You’ll likely have a better cover if you let them use their imagination and expertise. Secondly, I can’t tell you how many authors find a single photo or image and then tell me they have a “cover.” Uh, no, you don’t. You have an image. The font that makes the title, the other layered items that make that image pop, and the rest of the cover items (spine, logo, barcode, company info, blurb, and more) all combined, make a cover. No, it’s not “simple.” It’s not something your cover artist spits out in five minutes. Respect the work they have to do to make this all come together. A good designer can make a world of difference in the amount of your sales and is worth their weight in gold.
3. Buy Publisher Rocket and learn how to use it. This is a tool I use with every book. It’s invaluable and costs way less than it is worth.
4. Learn how to market your book cost-effectively. Stop dreaming of sitting in a mall bookstore where you will sell five books and waste your day. By far, I’ve learned the most from Bryan Cohen’s ad challenge (offered free several times a year) and I don’t regret spending what I did for his ad school as well as Mark Dawson’s Self-Publishing Formula course. You will spend (and waste) far more money trying to do any number of low-dollar courses than you will gain by going straight to one of those.
5. After you’ve spent all your time and effort creating this piece of your heart, don’t stop. Firstly, you will likely need multiple books to really see them earn their worth. And secondly, these books don’t sell themselves. Stop worrying if you have the right color on your website and spend your effort on number four above and in writing your next book. I see so many authors spend countless dollars on their book, then believe it failed to sell, when in truth, they didn’t really understand it takes more than a book and a website to create a bestseller.
Can you tell us about your most recent release?
Hatch – A Change Your Life Guide, is for fiercely independent, misfit, square pegs trapped in an unfulfilling life. It’s a self-help, step-by-step guide helping readers reignite their hearts and answer their soul's calling. In this book, I share stories and methods for deeper self-exploration teaching how to “Hatch a life worth loving” by listening to your body groan and your soul weep.
How did you get the idea for the book?
By age thirty, I’d experienced a lot of grief. Both my parents had passed. Many other loved ones too. I’d been through a lot of health issues, including cancer. I had a lot of problems fitting in. I didn’t seem to think like other people or like the same things. I had trouble finding where I fit in life. Even though I had a great husband and two wonderful boys, I felt like there should be more to life. I knew I should be grateful to even be alive, I knew I should be happy to just settle. Yet, I still had an empty feeling. I didn’t know how to change that without losing all the good things I had. Over the passing years, I found my way to that “more” my heart had been looking for and I wanted to help others like me find their “more” too.
What message are you trying to get across with your book?
“Whoever you are, whatever you’ve been through, you are a being with tremendous potential.” Some periods in our lives are difficult. We may feel stuck. We may feel there’s no way it can get any better. When I look back at the different times in my life when I felt like that, if I would have stopped there, I would have missed so much. I still am amazed at all I have accomplished, experienced, and enjoyed. My hope is to show others how to ignite this type of potential in their lives as well.
What projects are you currently working on?
I am working on a gift book called Hatch-ette (or in other words, the mini version of Hatch), which I intend to give away. It will be a quick jumpstart for those who want to “hatch a life worth loving.” When that is done, I am working on my Marvelous Messages series of books. The next one to be launched is Marvelous Messages from Your Ancestry. I have a deck of cards that goes with that one. After that, I want to create a video course, a community where I can interact with others, and an incubator program where I can privately mentor others.
How can our readers reach out to you?
My new favorite saying is that I don’t live on the Internet. I have stopped trolling social media sites as if my life depended on it. The best place to find me is to write me via my website www.MarvelousMessages.com or to simply email me at jamie@MarvelousMessages.com. I love, love, love hearing from readers and answer all that I can.
Author: Jamie Saloff
Publisher: Sent Books
Publication Date: June 25, 2023
Pages: 384
Genre: Self-Help/Motivational, Religion/Spirituality, Personal Growth/Personal Transformation
If you could, how would you change your life?
While bravely facing the motherlode of difficult life challenges, you never dreamt the result would be a soul-sucking, heart-crushing existence.
Although you try to ignore the emptiness, detachment, and feeling that you don’t belong, you rarely make changes. It just seems too impossible for so many reasons. Instead, you silenced your heart’s nagging with self-sacrifice, food stuffing, or by becoming a workaholic.
Contemplating ending her life, Jamie Saloff chose instead to hatch a new one. She knows how self-doubt and unworthiness can cloud our ability to move forward after the darkness of illness, grief, trauma, or tragedy – because she’s faced it too.
In Hatch – A Change Your Life Guide, Saloff walks readers through her step-by-step method to:
• Awaken your soul’s purpose by listening to your heart’s voice
• Find confidence in your next forward step by hearing your body speak
•See messages of guidance everywhere by learning where to look
• Uncover your future in your past by examining your ancestral heritage
• And much, much more…
“It’s a simple question “Do you wish you could change your life for the better” while the answer is an easy one – do you have any idea of how to accomplish the task? “Hatch – A Change Your Life Guide” gives you a systematic process that will take you on a journey of physical, emotional, and spiritual healing…I highly recommend this wonderful and enlightening book” – Yolanda Renee
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