We were lucky to catch up with Alison Woods recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alison, appreciate you joining us today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your business and how did you resolve those issues?

The most unexpected issues: I couldn’t do everything and I didn’t know everything!. I didn’t know that the book size I was committed to wasn’t one that ingramSpark and Amazon KDP would print. It was too big (10.25 inches square), hardback and had a dust cover. That meant I’d have to get my own printer. That meant I’d have to do all of the formatting. That meant I had to set the book up in Adobe InDesign. That meant I had to learn Adobe InDesign! It was like peeling an onion.

I took one InDesign class and decided I could do it. WRONG! InDesign is more than PowerPoint on steroids. It’s a complex tool that you have to use all of the time. That reality hit home when feedback from the printer presented several major errors. I was crushed but knew I had to do something else.

I had to admit that I was not going to become an InDesign expert. My brain didn’t work that way I did some research and found Upwork – a marketplace of freelance experts. I found an InDesign pro there. Without her, I never would’ve published my first book.

She has formatted all 5 of my books and each file was error free!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I spent 30+ years working in corporate America. I started as a trainee at IBM and retired as an IT executive at PepsiCo. When I retired I wasn’t interested in doing anything else in that field. I wasn’t never passionate about IT. I didn’t really enjoy it.

But I loved reading. I loved telling stories. And I had my first granddaughter and became keenly aware that there were very few books/book series that featured a little black girl as the main character. I wrote My Name is Kayla in 2010 when Kayla was 3. But that was it. I was too busy working to focus on the book.

I retired in 2017 and decided to get serious about publishing. I dusted off my notebook and to my horror – Kayla sounded like a corporate baby! I had to sit with her for awhile and find her voice. Once I did that – I was set. I have self-published three books in the KaylaKay series since My Name Is Kayla was released in 2019. I have also published two more books: My Name is Kash and We Are Happy. A second book in the KashEEE Series will be out next year.

I am proud that I was open to learning new things, open to making course corrections, open to feedback and open to all of the possibilities that are out there. I started later and so I’m moving as fast as I can, without compromising quality, to get my books done. Each book has been better than the last one and that makes my heart smile.

I’ve grown as a writer (my next book is a rhyming one – a real challenge I took on). I’ve grown as a marketer – kicking and screaming – but getting there! I’ve grown as a business person after I accepted the fact that as a writer – I am a business!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I not only self-publish but I actually print, warehouse and ship my books. For my first book the printer was located in Canada. I was cutting it pretty close with the delivery and the planned launch event – but had about a week’s cushion. The Launch Party was December 7th. On Thanksgiving Day I happened to check my emails and saw that the books were being held up in customs because the EIN for my business was incorrect! I emailed the printer and they had somehow put in the wrong EIN and the books could be held up in Customs for 2-3 weeks.

There went my one week cushion. I was pretty firm that they had to fix it because the EIN they supplied was not even close to mine and the paperwork I sent them had the correct number. I’m thinking how do I fix this. I decided I would still have the event – invites and posts were all out and all of the deposits had been made. I would take orders and then send purchasers a copy as soon as the books arrived. I was pretty upset – but i had to move on.

But the books got here on the 5th!

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I may not be typical of most indie writers – but I funded my business from my personal savings. My first two expenses were with an editor and a formatter. The editing was straight forward. The formatting was definiteIy a challenge. I thought I would do that myself and took one class on Adobe’s InDesign and decided I was an expert. WRONG! The printer sent back my ‘test’ version with so many errors I rushed to upwork.com and found a formatter. She has formatted all of my books and they have all be error free.

had every intention of using Amazon KDP or IngramSpark for doing the printing using their Print-On-Demand models. But the size (1o.25 inches square) and the format (hardback with a dustcover) wasn’t something that either service provided. I didn’t want to change the size and that resulted in my biggest expense: printing, warehousing and shipping. It was a costly choice – but one I don’t regret.

Contact Info:

• Website: alisonwoodswrites.com / mirrorimagebooks.com
• Instagram: @alisonwoodswrites
• Facebook: @alisonwoodswrites
• Linkedin: alisonwoodswrites
• Youtube: @alisonwoodswrites

Image Credits

Willie & Kim Photography