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

Hi Maria , thanks for joining us today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

In 2005, I entered public education because I believed that every person holds unique value and perspective that can enhance our culture. I saw public school as a powerful opportunity to level the playing field and increase the equality of opportunities individuals have from very early on in life.

While I quickly recognized the vast chasm between ideology and reality, I refused to give up hope. In 2013, I began working with a professor at Washington & Lee University to find better ways to provide students with writing experience that was supported by my instruction. Our work was eventually published in the peer-reviewed professional journal, Voices from the Middle. We also presented at the Virginia State Literacy Association’s annual conference. Shortly after that, our state Department of Education invited me to present my real-world-focused integration of reading, writing, speaking & listening instruction to other teachers from around the state. I was proud of the contribution I was making to improve the system from inside it and felt great about the legacy I was leaving.

That made it easier to ignore the financial hardship my family faced as a consequence of a public teacher salary. Working a second job was just part of my life. Shifting from waiting tables to freelance writing made sense, and my family was wonderfully tolerant of my need to write 20,000-25,000 words per week.

Then the world stopped.

For the first time in fifteen years, I was not working two jobs while raising a child. I was able to take a breath, go on bike rides with my son, and join family game night (even though we’d shifted to playing via Zoom).

I entered the fall of 2020 rejuvenated and excited to see what opportunities for progress this new landscape offered, but the classroom I returned to was not the same. My students were struggling with issues so much bigger than getting excited about reading and writing. It felt like I was playing a game of “Sorry” and had just been sent back to start.

But none of that changed the legacy I want to leave behind. I still believed that every person holds unique value and perspective that can enhance our culture, and I still wanted to be a part of something that increased equality of opportunities and opened a path for all voices to be heard and considered. In the post-pandemic world of public education, I couldn’t see a way to achieve that anymore. Call it burn-out, disillusionment, or weakness on my part, but every day felt like a fight to keep all of my students alive. So many of them returned with such severe mental health issues, I remember writing the time down whenever a student went to the bathroom – not because I worried they play or waste time, but because if they were gone for too long, I was terrified they would engage in self-harm.

I quit my second job, but it wasn’t enough. My emotional well was drier than our family bank account.

I’d love to say that my first novel was written with my legacy in mind, but that would be a lie. The first book I wrote and published under my own name was the product of my fight to remain whole as I finished my last year in the classroom. It was the seed that blossomed into All Write Well, though. And my legacy quest is now at the core of my company’s mission.

I’d been reading romance novels to escape, offer security, and calm anxiety for years. Knowing, from page 1, that there would be a happily ever after was reassuring. The predictable path through the story brought me comfort during an uncertain time in my life. So when I started writing my first novel to publish under my own name, I followed that same structure. I created a main character who could do and be all the things I dreamed about, and I wrote her the happiest of endings.

Then I sat up, looked around, and realized the self-publishing explosion that had other people hiring me to write words they could publish (a lot of my freelance writing work was ghostwriting), offered a similarly level playing field that had drawn me to public education.

If I could publish my own book, so could anyone and everyone else. Between my teaching background, my writing background, and my own growing experience as an author, I realized I could help others publish their dreams, share their culture, write their HEAs, and immortalize their own voice and perspective in their books.

Now, I sit in front of shelves covered with books written by authors with whom I’ve had the honor of working. Many of them would never make it through the traditional publishing gatekeepers. Most of them publish under pen names to protect their day jobs. But all of them have one thing in common with me: Their romance novels offer subtle insight into lives, dreams, and possibilities we’d often shove into the shadows and force into silence. Encased in the comfort of predictable romance novels are carefully coded glimpses of daily life history often ignores and imagined futures we dream about our children creating. Even the darkest of romance novels peels back layers of shame and silence to reveal secrets society doesn’t like us discussing openly.

Now, when I think about the legacy I’m leaving behind, I only have to turn my chair around to see the books and authors whose words will live far longer than me.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

All Write Well helps indie romance authors build sustainable and profitable author businesses.

Our mission is to empower ALL people to use their experiences and imagination to create something that will live longer than them while providing income for the rest of their life.

Writing offers a powerfully opportunity. It can be done while lying in a bed, using dictation, sitting in a school pick-up line, or hiding in the bathroom to get a five minute break from screaming children. While the first book is unlikely to be profitable, some basic structure to the process can almost guarantee the tenth book will be. Once forty books are published, bringing in a full salary from book sales is a question of “how,” not “if.”

All Write Well can’t help you get rich today, tomorrow, or this year. But if you’re looking a few years down the line and wondering how you’ll cover the cost of braces, post-secondary education/training, or your own retirement, we CAN help you make that happen.

We specialize in helping new authors write and publish four books each year while only working 10=15 hours per week on author stuff. It’s a slow process, but royalty growth looks more exponential than linear. Out authors keep their day jobs, enjoy vacations with their family, and still take consistent steps toward their financial goals while enjoying writing books they love.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

My values do not change.

I believe people should be paid for the work they do. I had to end a relationship with a contractor over a large breach of our contract, but I still paid them for the work I know they did. It hurt me financially, but I sleep well at night.

I have ended sales calls by saying, “Let’s set this goal for you using the free support in my Facebook group. When you hit a specific point, we’ll revisit and discuss options to pay for support.” The thought of taking money from someone who can’t afford it and/or is guaranteed to be successful feels a bit like running a cheese grater across my stretch-mark-covered stomach. I won’t do it.

My grandmother taught me to serve others first and give myself the “funny cookies” that were misshapen, ill-sized, or from the end of the batch when the ratio of ingredients wasn’t quite right. Today, that means I pay my people first. I’ve never missed one of their payments, but I have come up short on my own. As the owner, it’s my responsibility to care for my people.

If achieving my goals requires giving up these and other values, I’ll change my goals and keep my values. I’d rather die poor than an asshole.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Fish! by Stephen C. Lundin

I read it as a teacher with the goal of using the same strategies to manage a more autonomous and engaged classroom. It worked there, and it works in my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.allwritewell.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allwritewell/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MSecoyWriter