We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Karen Riley. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Karen below.
Karen, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?
In high school, I had taken photography as my first art class, then I moved into painting, and finally into interior design in college. I eventually became an art teacher. During the pandemic, a friend of mine, Linda Nickell, started a weekly zoom meet-up called The Happiness Hour, with various people teaching a new concept in photography each week. I dusted off my camera and began taking pictures based on what I had learned that week. After a while I began to be interested in composition, how a subject is arranged in a piece of art, and started researching all of the different “rules.” I could recognize a piece of artwork with outstanding composition, but I was unable to explain it to the art students I was teaching. I realized two more things: I was not taught about composition in college, even though I have a fine arts degree, and most books and articles only deal with 5-7 concepts about composition. In my research I compiled 15 different ideas that students could use to improve their artwork and photography. My friend suggested that I write a book, so I did a bit more research about self-publishing, learned how to use Canva (which I love!), and co-authored a book on Amazon called: Composition: 15 Photography Tips to Creating Captivating Images. I spent about a year gathering information, setting goals, making an outline, and writing for about 5-10 hours a week. I then started moving the content over to Canva to publish an e-book on Gumroad.com. Because Linda Nickell had such an enormous collection of photographs from her travels and because my photographs were somewhat limited (since the bulk of my photographs were during lock-down), I asked her to co-author the book with me. After looking into publishing on Amazon, I was pleasantly surprised that the format I had used on Canva for Gumroad.com could be easily uploaded onto Amazon’s self-publishing platform. Next I asked another friend to edit the book, uploaded it, and ordered the first color copy in paperback! It was so exciting, but I also found some errors that needed to be corrected. Four or five proof copies later, the book was finally done and available for sale! I learned so many things from that process: how to have a goal/task list and the importance of other people for accountability, encouragement, collaboration, and editing.
Karen, 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?
As an art teacher, I focus on teaching art skills. It was incredibly frustrating to me as a young adult to have what I thought was an amazing idea and not be able to implement it properly because I did not have the skills. I want my students to be able to have successes quickly. Writing a book was a way to organize the concepts of composition, provide examples, and present clear instructions so readers could improve their photography and artwork. Everyone takes pictures. Why not learn to take interesting ones?
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to encourage and teach others. My role might be to help my students have the discipline to practice, to provide tips that will help them advance more quickly, or to create a peaceful environment where they can work on their projects. It is so exciting to watch my students progress and excel in their artwork!
How’d you meet your business partner?
I started college pursuing an accounting degree because I liked math and I knew I could always get a job in accounting. After interning my senior year in college, I was not thrilled about filing other people’s taxes for the rest of my life. When I went back to school, I completed a fine arts degree, along with my accounting degree. Finding a job in the arts was difficult, so I obtained a position as a financial analyst after I got married. I met Linda Nickell while working at this job. Even after changing careers to be an art teacher, we remained friends and I told her about my idea to write the book. Once I told some friends and family, I felt like I had to follow through…so I started writing. I wanted to provide multiple examples for each concept and discovered that I did not have enough photographs, but Linda did because she had been photographing during her travels and honing her skills for quite a few years. So I asked her if she would co-author the book and she agreed. Coincidentally we met years ago at a totally unrelated job!
Contact Info:
- Website: Homeplate101.com
- Instagram: HomePlate_101
- Other: https://www.
teacherspayteachers.com/Store/ Karen-Riley-9680 - Gumroad: https://
homeplate101.gumroad.com/ - Vero: homeplate101
Image Credits
Karen Riley