Interview with Carol J. Alexander

As part of the Good Friends Old and New Blogoversary theme, I'm pleased to share an interview with Carol J. Alexander. Carol is a talented author and blogger, and one of the first people I met through blogging. She's been a wonderful inspiration and all around supportive friend.

Carol is the author of several ebooks, so I thought it would be nice to hear about her experience with this process.

Karen: Welcome to Write Now, Carol, so glad you could stop by!

Carol: Thanks so much for asking me, Karen. I don’t think I’ve been interviewed before so this is a bit exciting for me.

Karen: I'm glad to host your first interview! It IS exciting. :) You have several ebooks under your belt. What made you choose this format?

Carol: First, I want to say that I am still finding my way in all this. I know what I know, but I definitely don’t consider myself an e-publishing expert.

That said, I chose electronic format for my books for several reasons. First, I was looking for something I could put together quickly to sell on my site to make money. Last year I made about $37; so this is not my idea of a get-rich-quick scheme. :) Secondly, my e-books are not full-length books, but booklets or workbooks; so I didn’t think the traditional publishing route made a lot of sense. 

Karen: It sounds like a smart move, given your circumstances and the popularity of ebooks now. Did you use any special format or software to create the ebooks?

Carol: Not really. I simply laid them out in OpenOffice and then converted them to PDF format. I used OpenOffice because the version of Word that I had last year said in big, ugly letters at the top of the screen “Non-Commercial Use” and that intimidated me. (As an aside, I found OpenOffice slow and cumbersome and do not recommend it for large files that include graphics and pictures.)

I have not gone the Kindle route so far for a couple reasons. Planning a Homeschool Graduation is a workbook with worksheets for a parent to print out and use in their planning process. When I put it together, I was told you could not print from a Kindle. More recently, I learned that you can, so I will explore that option more fully this year.

Lessons from the Seed Catalog and Lessons from the Hen House are booklets in their own right; but I have plans to make them chapters, or sections, of a larger work called Lessons from the Homestead. Just a few months ago I started the Lessons from the Homestead e-newsletter for parents that have trouble getting the chores and the homeschooling done. It is full of ideas and encouragement for them to use life on the farm as part of their schooling; integrating both lifestyles into one. I also set up a website for this product which includes a blog. The larger work Lessons from the Homestead will include chapters or sections titled Lessons from the Hen House, Lessons from the Dairy Barn, Lessons from the Tree House, Lessons from the Wood Pile, etc.

Each of these booklets will include at least 50 lessons that a parent can use in their schooling centered on the given topic. For instance, in Tree House: “Research the toxicity of different types of wood—pressure treated, oak, etc.—and the relative precautions for each.” And for younger children, “Take a trip to a hardware store and introduce them to hammers, screwdrivers, hand saws, etc. Ask an employee to explain the difference between a coping saw and a hacksaw, and a Philip’s-head and a flat-head screw driver for instance.” I envision a parent being able to purchase the appropriate chapters for their family, print them out, hole punch, and store in a 3-ring binder.

Karen: That Kindle info is good to know - I hadn't thought about that. As a former homeschool mom, your books sound like my kind of resource. (Note: I read Carol's Planning a Homeschool Graduation. I highly recommend it!) How long, on average, did your books take to write from start to finish?

Carol: I spent the greater part of a year writing Planning a Homeschool Graduation. I interviewed a lot of parents that held graduation ceremonies for their children, or those that coordinated large events for their homeschool support groups. This booklet can be used by either the single family, or a group coordinator, and has worksheets and ideas appropriate for both. I also had several parents read it over and offer their feedback. This whole process took a lot of time.

I wrote the rough draft of Lessons from the Seed Catalog from my recliner with my family sitting around me in about two evenings. Many of the lesson ideas in this book came from my husband and kids. However, I took several weeks after that editing, tweaking, and doing the layout.

Karen: There's a lot more that goes on behind the scenes in the writing process, isn't there? What advice do you have for someone who is considering writing an ebook?

Carol: While working on both of these books, I was taking classes from Christina Katz and she gave me the best advice: pay for professional editing. I did, and I am so glad. My editor found little inconsistencies that I missed and had me looking at things at angles I had not thought of. I wouldn’t put out another book without her.

Also, marketing your book is a key to its success. I attribute my $37 profit last year to lack of marketing skills. Also, after spring both of those books were no longer “in season;” so I spent the rest of the year reading up on marketing techniques. Now, I’m timing my social networking posts and article writing to correspond with the season for these books. For instance, this spring I have an article coming out in regional parenting magazines about the learning opportunities found in your seed catalogs. In the bio after the article is a link to my blog where they can purchase their own copy.

Karen: I wonder if marketing isn't most writers' weakest area. Thanks so much for the insight and tips; I appreciate you sharing your experience with us. It's been a pleasure, Carol!

Carol: Thanks for asking me, Karen. I’m glad to have the opportunity to share what I’ve learned.

More About Carol: 

http://everythinghomewithcarol.com/

Freelance writer Carol J. Alexander has been homeschooling her children for 18 years, homesteading for 10, and still has enough energy left over to tell you about it. She has served as the leader of her local homeschooling support group and hosted homeschooling co-ops in her home. Her family has kept milk goats, chickens for eggs and meat, and pigs on their modest acreage in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. When she isn’t in the garden, Carol can be found writing on homeschooling and homesteading topics. Her articles have appeared in Home Education Magazine, The Old Schoolhouse, BackHome Magazine, Grit, Urban Farm, Hobby Farms, and various regional parenting publications. She is also a regular contributor to NaturalHealthEzine.com and ChristianPF.com.

In an effort to help homeschooling parents that struggle to juggle the farm and the family, Carol recently started a free e-newsletter, Lessons from the Homestead. This newsletter (with a blog of the same title) contains encouragement and tips to help parents find the learning opportunities a homestead has to offer so that they can spend less time in the textbooks. She’s also written a couple e-booklets with more than 50 lessons for math, language, art, science, and more—Lessons from the Seed Catalog and Lessons from the Hen House. Other titles in the series will follow.

You can read more of Carol's tips and encouragement on growing children and food naturally at her blog Everything Home with Carol.

Don't forget to enter the Blogoversary Giveaway - the prize includes chocolate! Need I say more? Check out Monday's post for details.

Quick reminder: The Coffeehouse for Writers classes begin March 26. Lots of great offerings including - Blogging for Profit, Basic Boot Camp for Writers, Character Development, SEO Savvy, Social Media, and more. Click here for more details.

Do you have any questions for Carol? Have you published an e-book? Have you considered it?

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,
Karen