We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gail Hulnick. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gail below.

Alright, Gail thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later?

I finally finished my first novel when I was 55. After decades as a broadcast journalist, a child caregiver, and a media consultant, I stopped circling the runway on the first goal I’d ever had. I studied writing, and made it a priority to put the final period on everything I started: a chapter, a scene, a page of dialogue, a short story. Then, I shipped. I sent pieces out, asking to be published.
After five years, and many hours of learning how publishing works, I decided to go indie.
I think, all in all, the timing was the right timing, for me. I wasn’t ready any sooner, and I had a lot of experiences along the way that I wouldn’t have missed. But I’m glad I didn’t wait any longer. Always be a beginner at something.

Gail, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have a micro company called The WindWord Group Publishing & Media. We have produced 35 titles, in print, eBook, and audiobook, for four authors. Eighteen of the books have my name on them. I am an award-winning author of six mystery novels, four cozy crime novels, a short story collection, and a series of travel memoir/photography books.

The mysteries are in a series called Media Mysteries. Each one takes place in a media setting: TV news, movies, newspapers, social media, book publishing, and radio. I gave each one a title that is a play on a saying about an animal: The Lion’s Share of the Air Time; A Bird in the Sand; Sleeping Dogs Lie; Kangaroo Court; Monkey Me Monkey You; and Red Herrings Radio.

The crime novels are in a collection called Resorting. Resorting to Arson, Resorting to Murder, Resorting to Larceny, and Resorting to Fraud. Each is a standalone, with a new group of characters and a new resort setting: Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Georgia/Florida; and half a dozen hotels, all over the world. The collection also includes a book of vignettes called Resorting to Short Stories. Some are cozy crime, some romance, some paranormal, some comedy, some drama.

Rumble Strip is the name of the travel books collection. A rumble strip is that stretch of bumpy pavement on the side of a highway makes you slow down and take a good look at what you’re driving through. What the books have in common are road trips, interesting cars, and dozens of photographs I’ve taken. Rumble Strip Canada 150 is about a road trip that I took with my driving buddy, the Zig, in honor of Canada’s 150th anniversary. Rumble Strip USA Off the Interstate pulls in on 25 of the states. Rumble Strip Europe was a road trip through France, Italy, and Switzerland, while we contemplated moving across the Atlantic; and Rumble Strip Benelux (and a boat) showcases Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and the Queen Mary II.

This (plus a few other titles) is the accumulated work of ten years. No rapid release, no writing with AI. All of the books are available in most of the bookstores, and some of them I’ve narrated as an audiobook. I also have a podcast called The Brainwave, which is available on Apple, Spotify, I HeartRadio, and other platforms. I’m not making any new episodes or looking for any new guests now, but the original episodes are still online.

I’m also not looking for any new authors to publish. One of the wonderful things about the way the indie publishing world has evolved in the past ten years is that it is totally possible for a writer to take control of her own material (and life).

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Even after all this time, it still gives me a thrill when a reader/customer chooses to buy one of my books. I’m grateful for every purchase, every comment, every review. Thanks to whoever it was who invented email, I’m able to communicate with people directly through a regular newsletter. They sign up on my website or the WindWord website and they get a (usually) monthly letter about my writing, reading, publishing work, and dog.

Sometimes the workload becomes overwhelming, or I lose my momentum, but I try never to cut corners on putting out the newsletter. It reminds me, repeatedly, not to forget the reader.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

This is a tough one to answer because it’s difficult to identify THE most rewarding aspect. I want to highlight two, but I don’t think that’s fudging because they’re related. One is that you have a strong, resilient, and foundational sense of purpose, when you write, design, compose, or create. You have something to say and this is your channel for saying it.
The second rewarding aspect is that being a creative gives you an outlet for all your thoughts, ideas and urges … the stories that swirl around in your head.
And those are related because the purpose can be as simple as ‘this is a story that needs to be told’.
And a third aspect! You will never have to retire until it’s your choice.
And a fourth! It’s never too late to start.

Contact Info:

• Website: www,gailhulnick.com. www.windwordgroup.com
• Instagram: @windwordpandm
• Youtube: Rumble Strip Travel TV. Author Gail Hulnick