We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nicole Zamlout. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nicole below.
Nicole, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Have you signed with an agent or manager? Why or why not?
I met my publisher on a field trip, actually. I was at a poetry festival for my poetry class in college. It was the end of the day and we were waiting for the bus when I overheard some girls and Samantha (my publisher), who was a chaperone on the trip, chatting about how she owned a publishing company with her husband.
I decided to take a chance and walked over. I introduced myself and told her “you must get this a lot, but I am a young writer looking for a publisher. Would I be able to send over some of my pieces to you?” She said yes and gave me her card. After emailing a few of my works over, she asked if I would be interested in doing a book with her company. I, of course, said yes and the rest is history.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’ve been obsessed with storytelling since I was little, but I truly fell in love with writing when I was in 6th grade. I had been watching the film ‘Bridge to Terabithia’ for the millionth time and had gotten to the scene where Leslie presented her essay on scuba diving to the class. I decided that I wanted to try my hand at something similar, so I found a blank notebook and wrote something.
The next day, I went up to my English teacher, Mrs. Santos, and asked if I could read something to the class. She said yes and I did, though I was supremely nervous. The class loved it though, awakening a desire to not just write stories but share them and, hopefully, make people’s days brighter because of them.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
For me, its being able to create and share my work. Writing is something organic to me. It’s a lot like breathing, I can’t go without it. But what makes it even more rewarding beyond the satisfaction of getting a story down is seeing people interact with it, see how they perceive it. It opens the story beyond what I dreamed for it and lets it truly grow as more people think on it and let it impact their lives, which drives me to keep going and creating in a wonderful feedback loop.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
The best way to support an artist, to me, is to let them explore. People sometimes think they need the next Great American novel or art piece in order to be worthy of creating, but that’s not true. We need to foster the idea that art in any form is valid as long as it is done with passion, no matter what medium it is in.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @nicole.zamlout
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolezamlout/
