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

Kelly, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Not all authors are able to share their journey of the entire process between writing chapter one and holding their published book in their hands. The journey is just as important as the end result, if not more so. I want to let you in on some of the behind the scenes in hopes of inspiring any aspiring authors reading this to show just how possible it is for your dreams to become a published reality!

The minute I wrote the satisfying words “the end” of my first book, Audrey’s Sunrise in 2008, the next question I asked myself was, “Now what?” There was this website where you could pay to have your book on where several publishers could possibly take interest in it. I had my book out there for two years and heard nothing. I knew God didn’t inspire me with this amazing story for it to sit under my bed, collecting dust. I knew it was for a purpose, much bigger than just making money, becoming famous, or people reading what I wrote. This book was bigger than me. I heard it perfectly said by the author of the amazing book, The Shack. He said he wrote the book to reach one person’s heart. He wasn’t focused on the fame or the masses. He was focused on the one. He got this idea from Jesus, who spoke of the shepherd leaving the ninety-nine sheep and going after the one. This way, nothing could disappoint him. Because this was his focus, he found joy in his writing and never saw it as just a way to make a living. I purposed to make this my focus as well. That’s why I just knew deep down, my book was going to be published, but how? As the months passed, I felt stuck and hopeless at times. The process of writing the book was the most exciting adventure I’d ever been on. But the publishing part felt like a vast, impassible mountain.

As the weeks passed, my mom kept encouraging me that I should just publish it myself, but I had no idea where to start. It was only a few days later that my grandma sent me a newspaper story of a woman who is a famous author. It told of how she chose to self-publish her book instead of going with a publisher because there was more freedom and she could write from her heart. This was what urged me into the search to publish my book myself. In my research, I found out that even if you come together with a large publishing company to publish your book, the majority of the marketing still falls on the author and that self-publishing isn’t looked down on now as it might have been years ago.

Up to this point, I had been making all the flyers, PowerPoints, marketing videos, websites, and short films for my church for years. I thought, surely, if I can make those things, I can figure out how to publish a book. It was a risk to take the leap, but it was well worth it. God brought the info I needed each step of the way at the perfect time as I started on the journey of self-publishing.

Who knew that 19 years later, I would have published 12 books for myself, created my own publishing company where I’ve published over 77 books for others, making their own writing dreams come true? It all started with taking a risk and taking the leap.

Now, it’s such a joy to watch authors realize how easy and affordable it can be to publish a book. I want my clients to feel excited and hopeful, unlike how I felt when I stood before that impossible mountain in my way, telling me I would never be able to publish a book.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi, I’m Kelly. I grew up in rural Minnesota with my parents, younger brother, and sister. We were homeschooled and are still a very close family, best friends in fact. I had the greatest childhood and a very vibrant imagination. My siblings and I would play tornado outside if it was windy or blizzard if it was snowing outside. Some days, we were spies on a secret mission, and other days, we were building a cabin out of Lincoln logs and drawing characters from Little House on the Prairie to cut out and play with outside for hours. I first became intrigued with history with my American Girl Doll and books. I always came up with new games or storylines for our dolls or drew stories of mermaids or damsels in distress.

One day, while my sister and I were fully enthralled with playing with our dolls, my sister turned to me and said, “You should write a book!” We were just kids, but that was the first notion I ever had of writing. During the next several years, my interest in history only increased. I enjoyed Christian Historical fiction novels but was often disappointed in how boring the plots were or the inappropriate content. I wanted to read books that took me on an adventure, were filled with mystery and romance, books that moved and inspired me, got me emotionally attached to the characters, were God glorifying, and free of explicit content of any kind. Sadly, those kinds of books were becoming harder and harder to find.

In the winter of 2006, I was bored one evening. I pulled out a notebook and wrote a seemingly random first chapter of a book. I had no plot or storyline for it yet, but after finishing the first chapter, I was immediately hooked! Where had writing been all my life? I could think of nothing else after this and quickly figured out the rest of the story. I felt like the Olympic runner, Eric Liddel. His sister was pressuring him to become a missionary, but he said, “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.” When I wrote, I could feel God’s pleasure and that this was what I was supposed to do. So much so, that sometimes I couldn’t write fast enough. I have handwritten all of my novels so I could cross words out and draw circles and poured my heart into the book. The process of writing that first chapter to the finished published book has been one amazing adventure filled with unknowns, learning processes, research, and so rewarding at each step.

Since then, I have written and published six Christian Historical Novels, three Rescued from Food Addiction Devotionals, two Ultimate Planners, and the book entitled Rescued from Worry, which is my personal story. My books are available on my website (kellyaulnovels.com), Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
In 2017, I launched my digital design business, which includes graphic design, video production, custom artwork, writer’s workshop classes, and Purebooks Publishing Company. After seeing how my writing dreams had been successfully brought into reality, I knew I couldn’t keep this to myself. There were so many authors I’ve met who had the same dream of publishing their works but thought it was too expensive or difficult. I even met some who did get their books published by a large professional company but had to jump through so many hoops, they hardly recognized their original writings anymore, while they had to leave the manuscript they wrote from their heart to the side. I wanted to help those authors and show them they could write what was on their hearts and make their publishing dreams come true. That’s what urged me onward in creating my Purebooks Publishing Company. I’m so grateful for every one of my clients who have trusted me with their heart’s work and let me come along on their book’s journey. I’ve published over 77 books now and am continually excited for more.

Besides working part-time as a Certified Pharmacy Technician, my biggest passion is being in full-time ministry as an Associate Pastor at Love of God Family Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, pastored by my family, my mother being the Senior Pastor. I love doing the media for my church, singing in my family worship band, and helping head up the children, teens, and many other ministries. I really enjoy variety and am so thankful for how my writing, publishing, digital design business, and the pharmacy all work around my passion for ministry. All those years ago, playing dolls and letting my imagination create other adventurous worlds, I never could have imagined how wonderful the future could be. That I would be living my dream and helping others to live theirs as well.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Have you ever done or said something that changed someone’s life? It could be a simple encouraging word or an offer to help. How about going the extra mile for someone without looking for anything in return? Have you ever read a book that made its mark on your life forever? Writing can be like this. Words are powerful. What we read is powerful. We can cry, laugh, be overcome with inspiration, and be forever changed by what we read! It’s really amazing when you think about it. The power of writing from your heart is, you connect with your reader’s heart.

Writing can change someone’s life. This is the mission driving my creative journey. I’ve seen people helped and reinvigorated, and inspired because they read my Rescued from Food Addiction Devotionals. I’ve been told that my book, Rescued from Worry, taught someone how they could have peace and break free from the bondage of life-long fear. Even from my fiction novels, people have shared with me how they were moved and touched in various ways. There’s nothing sweeter than impacting someone’s life. It can actually get somewhat addicting.

Because I couldn’t help but want to impact in a larger scale, I started my Purebooks Publishing Company. As I went to different libraries, schools, and other venues with my book presentations and writer’s workshop classes, I would come across people who had a book either on paper or on their minds but never took the next step because of how impossible the writing and publishing process looked. Some would tell me, “I heard it takes $10,000 to publish. My writing would never be good enough. I’m not techy enough.” What’s exciting is, I know exactly how they feel because that’s exactly how I felt when I stood before the mountain of doubts when I finished writing my first book. This is all the more reason I love expanding my journey to help others make their publishing dreams come true.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of my books and publishing company is inspiring those around me, whether it be a homeschooling group where a young lady’s eyes light up with excitement to read an adventurous book that is appropriate for them and, at the same time, captivating. When people of all ages at the library get inspired as I share my story of how I got started, and if I can write and publish a book, they can too. Or at one of my writer’s workshop classes when an author, who may have been in doubt of their writing being good enough, catch on and get more confident and at ease to be themselves in their writing and not strive to be like someone else. They can write what’s on their heart and captivate their readers. Or a reader who couldn’t put down my novel because they had to find out what happens. All of those things are so rewarding!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kellyaulnovels.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellyaul
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KellyAulNovels/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/kellyanne