We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kim Wells Eley. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kim below.
Kim , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?
“Guess what? I published a book!” Excitedly I could not contain myself when I spoke to everyone I encountered. Whether I was in line at the post office, waiting for my drink at a coffee shop, or meeting new people while networking, I kept gushing about my book. I’d spent years working in IT but my heart always lead me to writing. And now I had written my first book! Sharing my enthusiasm, people would light up. “Wow!” they would say. “How did you do that?”
I’d turn to them and exclaim, “Well, I just followed these fifty easy steps!” And then my once-excited audience of one would visibly withdraw, overwhelmed with the stream of details I shared. At the time, I didn’t realize my IT background made “fifty easy steps” sound like a cakewalk to me, but it made writing and publishing a book sound like a nightmare to the person with whom I was sharing.
Then one day at a networking meeting, I met Shirley. A life coach and a consummate giver, she had always wanted to write her story. She was an incredible storyteller but didn’t know how to start her own book. When we spoke and I shared about my book, her eyes lit up. And as I unknowingly rattled off the multiple steps to publishing, she gently stopped me. “Kim, I don’t need to know all of that about creating a book.” I stopped, embarrassed. She continued, “But I would pay you to help me.”
Stunned, I paused for a beat, and then smiled. “You would?”
That day, Shirley changed my life. We worked together on her incredible book, an anthology of stories she had published in an online magazine. When we published her book, she was on cloud 9. The person who gave so much for others received the assistance she needed to get her book into the world. What she gave me when I received the first payment as a newly minted book coach was so much more. I felt immensely connected to who I truly am, and I have been absolutely, deliriously excited about what I do with awesome authors ever since.
Little did we all know Shirley would pass away too soon from a complication from surgery a few years later. Grieving, we in my community still reel from her loss. I am grateful that Shirley took a chance on me and gave me a career, and I am thankful Shirley was able to achieve her goal of writing and publishing her book before leaving this earth.
Kim , 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?
When I was in my forties, I did the scariest thing I’ve ever done—I left my career in IT to became an entrepreneur. I graduated from college with a degree in English, so of course, I pursued a career in IT! When I couldn’t find a job as a writer after graduation, I settled so I could pay my bills. I put my head down and worked like hell.
After nearly twenty years in IT, I climbed from computer technician to becoming a project manager. Then, in 2014, we had layoffs at my office. My position was spared, but most of my team members were laid off. It was shocking because I had grown close to my team and had mentored several of them. Jolted from my complacency, I realized I had been sleepwalking through my life.
Seeking solace, I began wondering what people did who actually enjoyed their work. Knowing my family wouldn’t understand, I turned to books for the answers. However, I couldn’t find a book that explained the secrets of loving what you do
for a living. That’s when I realized I needed to write that book. After I self-published my book in 2016, my experience turned me inside out. The experience of writing my book was cathartic. That’s when I realized a terrifying and thrilling truth: there was no way I could continue to work in a job that fed my bank account but drained my soul.
Through writing my book, I made relationships with entrepreneurs. I consulted with other women who decided they would rather work for themselves than be a part of corporate America. Through
their guidance, I realized that my real passion was writing, sharing stories, and publishing books. I knew I wanted to change careers, but how?
Preparing for my transition, I turned once more to books. I read books about how books are published. With this knowledge, plus my experience from self-publishing my own book, I was ready to start. I was still afraid, however. Who would work with an inexperienced publisher?
My chance arrived when one of the kind women with whom I consulted shared that she always wanted to write her book but never knew how to start. We formed a partnership. I charged her a tiny amount and in exchange, she and I would learn together as we wrote and published her book. She took a chance on me and became my first client. There was no way I was going to let her down.
When my first client’s book was published, she was delighted. She shared our achievement with her many friends and colleagues, helping me to create my reputation. I put in many hours of hard work and was often frustrated. After working as a publisher as a side hustle for two years, I was ready to make the leap and become a full-time book coach and publisher in November of 2017.
And since that time, my company, KWE Publishing, is on a mission to discover and market authors whose works inform, inspire, and make a positive impact on the Universe! We specialize in personal development and children’s books, and selectively create books in other genres. As a a full spectrum, award-winning publishing company, we empower new and established authors to share their stories. Our team is a small but mighty collaborative of publishing experts, ready to meet writers where they are at in the creative process.
What I’m most proud of is the impact on our clients when they achieve their dreams of writing and publishing their book. It’s incredibly meaningful when an author says that working with me and my team has been one of the best experiences of their life. I love celebrating with writers at their book launch. We form powerful connections with our clients and often they publish their second and third books with us as well. I’m grateful I pushed through my fear to come out the other side as a book coach and publisher and love what I do for a living.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
People can sense when you are being real with them. Even on social media, everyone has a sense for when a person is telling the truth, and when they are trying to impress. The way I’ve built my audience on social media has been to strive to be TAO: Transparent, Authentic and Open. I learned the phrase “TAO” when I took life coaching from Martha Beck in 2017, now called Wayfinding, which I love! Being TAO means you post the everyday aspects of who you are on social media. I carefully crafted all of the posts I shared for a number of years. And I had developed a decent following on Instagram when I was knocked sideways.
My Instagram account was hacked.
Tears and rage ensued, but to no avail. I tried every Youtube video recommendation I could. Contacting Instagram’s parent company proved useless. I couldn’t even get my account shut down. All I could do was sit in agony and receive message after message from clients, friends and family who said, “Hey, I think you got hacked?”
That’s when I asked myself the crucial question: What can I learn from this?
This was the question that turned around my mindset. From getting my account hacked, I learned patience. After facing the reality that I was never going to recover my account, I learned to accept that getting hacked is bad but life moves on. And so I moved on. I created a new Instagram account as I know social media is important for marketing my business. And I had a chance to reflect as I created a new account about what I did well the first time, and what I could improve upon. Obviously the first step was to put in security measures to prevent my new account from being hacked. Next, I thought about what I was posting, and how much time I was spending on social media. I had a realization that I actually spent proportionally too much time creating posts and reels instead of working on other revenue-generating activities. I vowed to spend less time creating posts and instead focus on making the content I did share matter.
Over a year later, I am still building my list of followers back to where it used to be before I was hacked. However, I spend less time on social media and my business and peace of mind have been better as a result.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
The best source of new clients for me for KWE Publishing has been networking. Whenever I attend a networking meeting, I keep this expression in mind: Do not plant a seed today and expect to eat the harvest tomorrow. What I mean by this is I play the long game with networking. Instead of expecting to “land” clients after a meeting, I anticipate creating new relationships. I talk with people in industries related to mine but also make a point to meet other people with whom I may never do business. Why? Connecting with a wide range of people makes me more valuable to my clients. I know people in multiple industries whom I can refer to others and genuinely say I know, like and trust them. Also, some of my best clients have come from referrals from people I connected with weeks, months and sometimes years earlier. I create a relationship with people and so they remember me when they meet someone who wants to write a book.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kwepub.com
- Instagram: @kwepub804
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kwepub
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%F0%9F%A5%9D-kim-eley-ma-pmp-47a5793/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCogc6vvfGu535le4pL_5wxA
- Other: Threads @kwepub804
Image Credits
Headshot by Kim Brundage