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

Keri, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

Two things: My parents read to me, which is a small but highly significant thing for any child. I loved books and words, and I ended up in a career in publishing. I think in part that’s because books and literature were valued in my home as a child.

The other thing my dad, who was an entrepreneur, used to tell me was: “You can do anything, but whatever you do, I hope that when you get up in the morning, you are excited to go to work. Every day, I tell myself, ‘I get to go to work today!’ I hope you love what you do as much as I do.”

That has absolutely been the case. I loved being a newspaper reporter. I loved starting my own writing, editing and publishing services company. I love being an author and collaborative writer. I love helping cients achieve their dream of writing and publishing a book. My work brings me joy–my parents let me know that was even possible.

Keri, 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’ve been an author for nearly 25 years, and written or cowritten 25 books and about 70 small group study guides, along with dozens of magazine and online articles. My newest book, cowritten with Michael Hingson, is Live Like a Guide Dog: True Stories from a Blind Man and his Dogs about Being Brave, Overcoming Adversity, and Moving Forward in Faith. It released with Tyndale Publishers this month.
About ten years ago, I saw the self-publishing growing exponentially. Writers had discovered Amazon’s CreateSpace, which later became Kindle Direct Publishing. Everyone could publish now! But I saw a need: smart businesspeople who wanted to put a book out needed help navigating the self-publishing adventure. Some needed a collaborator to help them write their book. So I started A Powerful Story to provide collaborative writing, editing, design and self-publishing assistance to folks who wanted to get a book out but didn’t know where to even start.
Some authors come to me with a manuscript. Others come with just an idea and need my help writing. I provide custom solutions to help them go from wherever they’re starting to published book–whether that’s self-published or with a traditional royalty publisher.
The steps between idea and published book include writing, editing, page design, cover design, finding a distributor, and more. I guide my clients along each step.
There are a lot of vanity publishers out there who are taking advantage of people who want to publish. I help my clients avoid needless costs while creating a quality product and retaining control of their copyright and content.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

In today’s market, everyone has a short attention span. Clients need multiple touches to keep you front of mind. While I do post regularly on social media, I’ve found an email newsletter to me the most effective way to make sure my message is actually reaching my clients and potential clients. The algorithms on most social platforms means that even if someone is following you they might not come across your content.
A variety of platforms are available for email newsletters. I am currently using Substack, which I love. You create a newsletter which can include links, photos, whatever. It goes directly into your client’s inbox, but also is hosted on Substack.com where it can be discovered and recommended. Folks can comment on each issue like they would a blog post. It fosters great conversations.
Because my business is writing and publishing, my newsletter offers valuable content for my readers. Topics like: what do book editors do, how to get the most out of a writers’ conference, what is a coauthor, three questions writers ask me. Things like that. It’s not a hard-sell ad, it’s helpful to them, so they see me as an expert willing to give them free advice.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I first started out as a freelance writer and author, I wrote articles for a ton of print magazines, and created content for companies that had their own magazine or newsletter–again, these were printed resources. In depth, interview-based articles that took weeks to produce.

The internet quickly replaced print media (although it still exists) with online content. Everyone wanted short, pithy, quick-turn content. And as everyone was figuring out how to convert magazine readers to online content consumers, a number of magazines just folded. Others went entirely online, but drastically reduced the amount they would pay writers to write an article. Many asked writers to write without compensation, claiming that the “exposure” of being on the internet would help them.
I had to pivot, first to blogging. That helped me build a following and connect directly with readers, and though it was not easy for me to monetize that. it did lead to other opportunities to speak, lead and write for online publications.
Eventually that online presence led me to start A Powerful Story, since most of the questions I seemed to be getting were about how to write and publish a book.
When you are an entrepreneur, especially when your business is just you (freelancer, coach, etc.) you have to flex enough to see and grab new opportunities. The good news is, the smaller the company, the more nimble it can be.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://keriwyattkent.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/keriwyattkent
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keriwyattkent
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keri-wyatt-kent-328b2810/
• Other: Substack
  A Powerful Story newsletter on writing and publishing: https://keriwyattkent.substack.com/

  Welcoming & Wandering newsletter on hospitality and travel: https://welcomingandwandering.substack.com/