Paying it forward

This week, I received a lovely bouquet of flowers. It was a heartfelt thanks from another writer. I had shown her how to e-publish her fantasy trilogy, from registering with the e-stores and e-distributors to seeing the finished product for sale online. It was thrilling for her, and for me.

It also took me away from my own writing, and I didn’t mind. Why? It was my chance to pay it forward.

When I started on this publishing journey, with my first Carina novel, On Her Trail, I realized I was going to have to up my game and develop an online presence. Everything from learning about Twitter and Facebook to setting up my own web site. It was daunting, but with the help of my friends, I did it.

Then I decided to start publishing under my own imprint. That was a whole other order of headache. I took in-person and online courses, used Lynda.com, learned about cover design, learned about e-stores and e-distributors… the whole shebang. And that’s before I decided to publish my novels in print. Learning InDesign just about killed me.

But I did it, thanks to a supportive online community and my friend Karen Abrahamson who talked me off the ledge more than once. I have her to thank for the survival of my computer monitor, if not my sanity.

I also got a lot of financial support from the Government of Yukon, which is very supportive of its artists. There are many in-person workshops I couldn’t have attended but for the grants from the Arts Section.

In return for all this financial aid, I’ve held talks to share what I learned with local writers, but I have no idea if I was of any use to anyone. I responded happily to phone calls and emails from writers asking this or that question about the new publishing world. But it seemed like so little in return for all the help I’d received.

Then last year a respected, traditionally-published writer from my community contacted me, asking if I would help him get his memoir out. We spent the next few months working on it. And yes, it took a lot of my time, but I knew he would never have done it alone. He comes from a generation where he simply handed over his manuscript and the publishing house took care of everything. So this was an education for him, and frankly, a lot of fun for both of us.

There is no way I can ever repay all the people who helped me on my journey. But I can help others. Now, I’m no saint. At one point I will say no, regretfully. But for now, it feels right to help others on their own journey. It’s good karma.

How about you? Do you find yourself mentoring other writers? Do you wish there was someone around to help you?

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