We recently connected with Starr Himmel and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Starr, thanks for joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

I started with a few Facebook posts and then moved to doing a blog each day. after two or three weeks of blog posts, I got some really positive feedback. Then, I committed to writing every day for a year. Soon I considered turning it into a book and was able to publish my first book, Songs in the Morning, the following year. I formed my business, Starrgazers Creations,LLC to handle the book sales with room for expansion going forward. The first 3 books I wrote were self-publish projects. With this 4th book, Look Up and Kiss the Rain, I needed to go to the next level by going through a professional publishing company. The product is so much better and was worth the investment.

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

I love family, church, writing, and consulting. I am married to Steve (since 1985) and we have 2 amazing sons and 2 wonderful daughters in law. We have been part of Church on the Rock, St. Louis since 1985. There I serve in many areas including Celebrate Recovery (Biblical 12 step Program) I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion and Philosophy with an emphasis in Christian education. My desire is to help others in their spiritual walk. Part of what sets me apart is my style of writing is easy to read. I write like I speak and I am authentic and encouraging. The devotionals include songs that inspired each writing, real life stories and scriptures. The newest project is written as my journal of the experience I had seeing God walk me through a time of adversity. It’s not sugar coated, an honest look at what I went through and God’s presence at each step. I want people to be encouraged by reading my books and experience their own victories in life situations.

How did you build your audience on social media?

To build my audience on social media I have done a series of Facebook live segments based on my devotional books. I do a related devotion each morning during the season, such as right now I do live videos, incorporating my Songs in the Morning, a Season of Inspiration. It’s the Christmas devotional. When Covid hit, I did a continuous live daily devotion spot through Lent with my Easter devotional, Songs in the Morning A Season of Renewal then I transferred to using the Songs in the Morning yearbook. I made these live videos for over 100 days. I also used social media to gain reserve orders of the new book which boosted my sales dramatically..

I created a Songs in the Morning page for updates and book orders.

I also use Instagram to promote my new and seasonal books.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Each time I’ve written a book, I question myself, thinking “Will someone really want to read this?“ I read, and re-read each book before it goes to print. I do this, not just for the editing, but for the content, and to be assured that it, indeed, is something that will help people. I think one of the most difficult things is waiting for the book to be printed once it’s been submitted. Thankfully, the books have come out in good timing. I especially wanted this new book to be on the market before the Christmas season. It was delayed for over a month past the original release date. I have another project in process, and recently experienced a hard drive fail on my computer and thought that I had lost the manuscript. Thankfully I checked and found that I had emailed myself a copy several months prior. The lesson here is to always have a back up.

Contact Info:

• Website: Songsinthemorning .com
• Instagram: @Starr1492
• Facebook: Starr Himmel
• Other: Facebook page Songs in the Morning

Image Credits
Sean Himmel