Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nisha Ladlee. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Nisha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risk taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
In 2020, the pandemic hit the world and I was working a corporate job as a Vice President when we were told we had to work from home. Little did I know how life changing that would be for me. I’ve always loved reading but my corporate life didn’t allow much time for it. The pandemic allowed me to slow down and and rekindled my passion for reading. All genres interest me, from horror, to thriller, and historical, but I really gravitated toward romance books during this time. There was something about the feel good of a happily ever after during a time of chaos in the world that brought me comfort. I soon found there was an entire community of romance readers when I stumbled on the hashtag #bookstagram. A short time later, I created a #bookstagram account myself so that I could keep track of what I’d read and write creative reviews and graphics to share with the community. I also shared different coffee recommendations and posted about life.
About 7 months into my #bookstagram journey, I met a writer and instantly clicked with her over our love of music and books. Then, another writer sent me a direct message asking me if I’d read her book, too. I did, fell in love with it, and then couldn’t run fast enough to tell the book community about this new book I had read. Before I knew it, these two authors were asking me if I would help them with proofreading and promotion. They soon became my biggest cheerleaders and encouraged me to offer Author Services to the community.
After my account grew and working with a few more authors, I felt like I was ready to officially start my own business, even though it came with financial and career risks. In October 2021, I took the leap and quit my Vice President role to pursue Nisha’s Books and Coffee PR. That’s how it was born. Has it always been easy? No, but it has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Would I do it all over again? In a heartbeat!
One of the things that the pandemic showed me, and many others, was how important it is to slow down, hold your loved ones close, and re-evaluate our lives from time to time. I realized that what I wanted more of, was enjoying the extra time with my husband and a greater sense of self-actualization. I used to work so much and was gone most of the time, so I’m grateful for a supportive husband. The ability to work from home while doing what I love, and spending more time with my him, that’s the dream for me.
After three years, Nisha’s Books and Coffee PR has grown tremendously and is thriving with a combined following of over 10,000 people to date, and I’ve had the privilege of working with many incredibly talented authors and voracious readers. My passion lies in continuing those relationships and welcoming new authors and readers to the Nisha’s Books and Coffee family to help them discover and grow.
Risks are hard, but taking them can lead to the best things that ever happen to you. I’m glad I took the risk to succeed and I will always be grateful for the people that believed in me.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Nisha’s Books and Coffee offers a variety of services which include beta reading, proofreading, graphics creation, promotion packages, Advanced Reader Copy sign ups, newsletter promotions, and consultations. While my current book release packages focus on Romance books, my other author services are for any genre. I’m currently building a list to be able to offer promotion packages to other genres in the future. The reader interest is there.
One of the main things that I hear from authors when we work together is that they feel seen and heard. They don’t feel like just another number. While I work with both big and small authors, I take pride in my services being built with small authors in mind. The debut author trying to navigate this massive industry and figuring out where to turn next. The mid-level author who pretty much knows what they’re doing but they need a little more care from their service provider. And yes, the advanced author, who needs someone to take some things off their plate or kick the promotion up a notch.
Every single author, no matter what stage they’re at, is important to me. Whether they’re a seasoned writer or new to the community, they need someone they can trust and lean on to get the work done while they write their amazing story! That’s where I come in. We work together every step of the way to make sure they’re happy with the final outcome of their release.
I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with more than 70 authors in the last three years and making their journey as enjoyable and successful as possible has always been my number one goal. Seeing some of those authors reach the Amazon Top 100 Bestseller list in their categories and seeing how happy they are has brought me an indescribable amount of joy.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
One of the main ways I’ve built my audience was by being consistent and staying authentic when networking with other readers and authors. Even if an author never signs with me, I’m still genuinely interested in their work and rooting for their success. There’s no magic way to build your following, but maintaining who you are and being authentic in your communication and connections is so helpful.
We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.
I work one-on-one with each of my clients. When they sign with Nisha’s Books and Coffee, they’re working with Nisha. Whether it’s through email, WhatsApp, IG Messenger, or texting, we stay in communication based on their preference. Everyone communicates differently and I want to meet authors where they are and how it works best for them.
Throughout the process of their release (or if they’ve hired me to do a different service), we are in near constant communication so they’re never wondering what’s happening with their project. I create timelines and promotion plans as guides and we go from there. If I’m sending promotion emails with their book information, they’re getting copied on those emails so they know what’s going out to readers. I think that trust, genuine caring, organization, and constant communication helps foster brand loyalty more than anything else.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nishasbooksandcoffeepr.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/nishasbooksandcoffeepr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nishasbooksandcoffeepr
