We recently connected with Cori Wamsley and have shared our conversation below.

Cori, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

One of my favorite unexpected issues, because I just love the name of it, is “scope creep.”

Yes, it sounds funny, but it’s not at all when you experience it.

This is when you have a project that starts out as maybe three small parts, and it ends up as five or six or seven big parts. In our case, because we are a publishing house, it usually starts out as a manuscript that just needs some tweaks and tightening, what we call a basic copy edit, and ends up with a lot of ghost writing, rearranging of text, additions of entire chapters, maybe throwing in a foreword, … how about some graphics (can you create those?), maybe you can reach out to your colleagues to review my book, oh and also take my books with you when you do that event.

Maybe not that bad, but I’ve seen a variety of different things tacked onto a basic package that started out as a small ask, with me responding, “no problem,” that turned into a lot more hours of my time and, sometimes, additional payments that came out of my pocket.

One of the first instances that we dealt with was where an author paid us for a copy edit of their manuscript as part of their publishing package, but after the first round of edits, the author then added five more chapters. The issue with something like this is that I pay my editors based on the initial word count of the manuscript with the assumption that the author is already happy with it and considers it to be complete when they hand it to us. Because the author added those chapters, I then needed to pay for more editing. And those chapters needed an additional round (because we only do two rounds of editing). So by the time the author had gone through the second and third round, even though I told them that we really couldn’t add more because it would lengthen the amount of time it would take to edit, the author just had to add a few more mantras and checklists, etc.

When you have a specific process like editing that takes a certain amount of time based on the initial product you are handed, you have to have caveats outlined in your contract. We ended up adding in that any additional verbiage that pushes the manuscript beyond the 50,000 word word count would be charged to the author at a certain rate (cents/word). This lets the author know that if they add extra chapters, they will be paying for it. It’s not to keep them from adding more to their books, it’s to help them see that they need to be happy with the book when they turn it over to the editor and that the editor will absolutely be compensated for their time if the author chooses to use more of it.

As we’ve experienced challenges, I’ve added rules to our contract. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have something in place to protect you for the next time it shows up!

Cori, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I run a publishing house, Aurora Corialis Publishing, where I help leaders share their transformational stories. I came from ten years of work as a government writer and editor, and when I started my company, I was a freelancer who wrote web copy, press releases, and blogs. Because I had written several novels at that point, business owners always asked about how they could write a book for their business, which led me to create my writing coaching and book editing services. From there, I opened my publishing house in March of 2021.

Today we offer ghost writing, book coaching, editing, and publishing services that culminate with a launch and PR and marketing surrounding that. We meet our authors wherever they are in the book process and allow them to stop worrying about how to write the book, make it look professional, and get it out into the world. Our books have a heavy emphasis on storytelling, which means that our authors go deep to connect with their ideal audience. This is something that I, as a fiction writer, have been able to bring to the nonfiction side of writing. I believe that stories are powerful, and our own stories are here for us to share so we can help others heal and overcome their challenges faster. It’s also how we connect. When we share our stories, we feel heard and help others feel heard, which is really important, especially for those who want to be coaches, speakers, and authors.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Because I’m a fiction writer, I have a unique spin to put on nonfiction. And I think it’s interesting how many people come to me needing to write a book and tell me that they aren’t creative.

There is a huge misconception about being a creative and that’s that we are special, gifted people who just burst with ideas in our genre. Which puts “noncreatives” off from trying what we do. I always encourage my authors to dig into what lights them up because THAT is where the creativity lies. When you’re lit up, when you’re excited about sharing something, it lets your words flow. And when the words flow, you get more flow. Flow begets flow. And that’s how a book comes to fruition. If you don’t open up that tap and just let it run, instead of judging what’s coming out, then you don’t have a book to work with.

Often, “noncreatives” believe that whatever is coming out of that tap isn’t worthy, but if you really think about it, you’ve probably seen all sorts of things in every creative field that you would consider … not to belong in that field. Just as an example, we’ve ALL seen a painting in a gallery or museum that looks like a five-year-old did it. Is that not creative? When we let ourselves open up and stop judging, we are being creative. We are creating.

In my industry in particular, all you have to do is look back through human history. Has there been a time when people weren’t telling stories? We are natural storytellers. It’s our gift. And it’s our birthright to share our personal stories. You may need help doing it–we all do the first time we do anything, but that doesn’t mean you “aren’t creative.” It means you’re growing.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Most of my business is from referrals. I’ve worked with a lot of people who have successfully created books with us, and they share that with their colleagues. We have a reputation for helping people get their stories out in a way that connects, and I love that. Because of that, we’re spreading the word about the power of story. I have worked with several clients recently who were referrals from people who were referrals, which really lights me up.

Aside from referrals, I’ve met some of my clients through LinkedIn and through speaking events. I find that, in my industry, I need to be open to wherever they come from instead of having a main focus. I keep a constant social media presence, and I also connect locally and through speaking.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.auroracorialispublishing.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coriwamsley/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cori.smithwamsley/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cori-wamsley/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/coriwamsley
• Other: Page-Turner’s Studio with Cori livestream show – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ_j89qkNkk6B4BfHou8AJp5ttLypdF5N

Image Credits
Headshot (sitting on bed with books ) by MEDIA – The Creative Agency