Welcome Writers, Creatives, Readers and Bookish People. This interview is a second one for Savannah on Teazurs Blog. We first met back in 2014 when she was writing a book for early childhood development. She's been writing for sometime, now, and has inside takes on the publishing world. Please welcome her and enjoy getting to know this multi-talented author.
Savannah, I first interviewed you back in 2014 -
on your book Child Genius 101- What has happened since then?
Thanks so much for having me back! Gosh, 2014 seems like 100 years ago. The biggest change since then is expanding from the children’s book world and into the coming of age/women’s fiction and romance world. From there it was a terrifying leap to start up Grand Bayou Press in 2020, my self-publishing venture.
What keeps you writing, even with a full-time job and life outside of words? What keeps you going?
This is the part I struggle with the most: balance. There is a lot of juggling to keep burnout from work at bay while practicing a healthy lifestyle, being a dog mom and navigating the author world from everything to marketing, book cover design, and writing.
I love to create a story that feels like a warm blanket on a chilly night or
a pleasant breeze on a summer morning.
I want to bring that into the world. That, as well as my readers, keep me going. It’s really that simple. Without their love of my books, it would take me years to finish my next one.
Are you traditionally published, self-published, or a mixture of both?
And what do you think about these different ways of publishing for writers?
I used to be one-hundred percent traditionally published, but after too many hiccups and marks in the negative column, I learned and grew, taking that leap to self-publishing. It’s a lot of work to make it professional and I treat each book as though it was traditionally published, all the checks and balances, so that my book is not just another one on the shelf.
You write in multiple genres. Which is your favorite, easiest, toughest, and most lucrative?
Yes, I love to write children’s books, but those are the toughest, not only to write but also to sell. Television and games are far more important to kids than a picture book. I enjoy writing wholesome romance but my genuine love is with coming of age/women’s fiction. They are both equally difficult to write. I don’t think any writing is easier than the other, but some genres flow better from the mind to the page.
The book world is not what it was when I started back in 2006, so sadly, books are not lucrative.
Art, in general is struggling.
I hope this changes back to what it once was, but we will have to wait and see.
That’s a loaded question to answer as what I think is individual and my response will surely upset half. The question to ask is why is a book censored and who censored it? Is it because it’s not age appropriate or is it going against what is popular and status quo at the moment?
We can’t erase history, it’s how we learn.
We need to take off the kid gloves instead of putting them on. As a writer of wholesome and clean, I would say that yes, books should have an age-appropriate label that mirror movies and TV. Doesn’t mean kids won’t read them. We all know kids watch movies that are not rated for them. But guidance is important, and then parents or a reader can make an informed decision.
Back in 2014, you had a blog - Seashells of Life - what happened to it? Do you blog elsewhere now?
I ended up letting the blog fizzle. Blogs were popular at the time and now people like quick and to the point. When you have limited time spread far and wide, you need to lessen the burdens you have that don’t work and focus on how you fit in what works. Every author and publisher I’ve ever spoken to told me that without a newsletter I’ll never make it. Turns out no one cared about my newsletter, so you really have to do what works for you, make your own way, figure out what you have to offer. My “newsletter” is now a quarterly blog post.
You just had a release day for The Album, where proceeds go to AKC Canine Health Foundation - tell us about that book and the foundation and why you support it.
The Album, a book I started writing in 2004, took a fresh path in 2019. Having over three-thousand assessment with older adults under my belt at work, I wanted to highlight Dementia and those caring for patients with it. And in 2022, I took in a very tiny Doberman puppy, maybe about four weeks old. There was nothing know about his past and sadly after clearing all his health checks for three months he, MacGyver, began having seizures one morning and by mid-day he passed away. While I have a good deal of canine knowledge from my other dogs, seizures was an entirely unfamiliar territory. And for it to come out of nowhere was shocking and utterly heartbreaking.
Originally, The Album had a dog in it but I wanted to bring awareness to the issue and had recently seen several Dementia patients with animals and how they remember the dog's name but not the daughter’s name.
I have a habit of highlighting important
health matters in my novels,
such as Grounded in January and Grounded in July, with multiple sclerosis (which my mom had) and Winston Versus the Snow (sensory processing). But for me it’s more than words, it’s actions, and that’s why I wanted to support the AKC Canine Health Foundation with The Album.
You also have a long list of articles you’ve written over the years.
Do you find writing articles is helpful for your books?
I gained levels of understanding the writing world by submitting to magazines and articles when I first started. It got my name out there as well has helped me manage my time and work with editors with little at stake. A book is vastly different once it’s out in the world. It’s out to such a wide platform. With magazines it’s smaller, less scary to learn the ropes.
On the other hand, I don’t know how much of an audience it helped me gain. It’s a different group of readers for genres and formats and it was a different time. Almost all the places I had stories and articles in are no longer in publication. But the experience and the drive I had to have to land a piece taught me about the writing world and helped shape me – like an internship.
I once belonged to a few writers' communities that specialized in children's and romance writing. But with paying the yearly dues and the high-priced conferences for countless years, I stepped down from them. They weren’t providing me with anything to help my career. I was hesitant to part from them because we hear how important they were, but for me, they kept me stagnant. I think they were a crutch, waiting a year on a submission because of an “in” at a conference prevented me from taking the next step (spoiler alert: I never heard back).
I picked up books on the craft, checked out library videos, had one-to-one talks with artists of all different levels in the industry...
and THAT is what helped me grow in my career.
What do you think about the publishing industry?
How has it changed for the good or bad since you first became a published author?
Goodness, the industry is night and day from when I started. I used to have to mail submissions in! I had a sheet that told me how many stamps I needed depending on my page count. I used to get handwritten rejections! I think with the popularity of Harry Potter, everyone and anyone jumped into the writing boat, which flooded every publishing house and magazine editor’s mailbox/inbox, causing form rejections by the truckload. With that, the self-publishing world exploded and now traditional publishers are rushing to keep up, producing books that lack on many levels. There are so many books on the market that are rushed, in both self and traditionally published venues, and then pirating novels and now with AI, it’s a tower of cards ready to fall.
I don’t think the publishing world is a good place anymore because of these changes. I think that is what ultimately led me to start The Old Book Book Club. Yes, even as an author creating and publishing new work (and trying to sell it), I’m all about the quality books that once were way back when.
Because dogs love unconditionally. They teach us about ourselves and bring joy without even knowing or trying. Other than flowers, what else can bring such love and light just by being?
It's so good to have you back on the blog again after all these years, Savannah! I'm glad to know you're still writing and sharing your POV with the world.
If you would like to connect with Savannah Hendricks:
Savannah Facebook The Old Book Book Club
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