I’m sure most of you have heard the news by now, but if you haven’t, Amazon has announced some major changes to its KDP Print program. Only two days after I was telling people in this blog’s comments that I wouldn’t even consider moving to KDP Print from CreateSpace until Amazon addressed its two most glaring issues, the company announced it had. On top of that, it addressed my major problem with CreateSpace, thus making it a whole lot more likely that I will soon be moving over.
Problem #1: No Physical Proofs (Solved)
The first problem with KDP Print concerned its means of proofing your manuscript. Well, you can now order printed proofs from KDP. Proofs allow you to review a physical copy of your draft paperback prior to publication.
Note, however, that the process is a bit more cumbersome than the one CreateSpace uses. Specifically, here’s how you…
“Child, when do you think is the time to love somebody the most? When they done good and made things easy for everybody? Well then, you ain’t through learning—because that ain’t the time at all. It’s when he is at his lowest and can’t believe in himself. When you starts measuring somebody, measure him right, child. Measure him right. Make sure you done taken into account what hills and valley’s he come through before he got to wherever he is.”
Today I’d like to extend a warm welcome to K.E. Garland. Welcome to The PBS Blog! Let’s get started.
What is your name and where are you from?
My name is Katherin Elizabeth Garland and I was born and raised on the west side of Chicago. I currently live in Florida.
Uh oh, another Chicago native in the building. I’m from the South Side myself. How long have you been in Florida? That weather must be feeling lovely.
I know right! Chi-town stand up! I’ve been here for about 20 years. We moved back to a suburb one year (Naperville), but found it was a little colder than we remembered lol, so we moved back. The weather here is WONDERFUL, when there’s not a category five hurricane coming towards us 😉
What is the most annoying habit that you have?
People “claim” <insert air quotes> that I eat very loud. I mean I don’t know if I believe them or not, but several friends and family members have complained.
Several loll. Siblings?
I have one sister who is five years older than I am. We weren’t raised together because I was adopted out of the family. Consequently, we’re not very close. I consider myself an only child; however, I use the phrase, “I was raised as an only child,” out of respect for the situation.
Aww. Let’s get back to writing. I met you through the blog, does blogging help you to write?
Blogging does help me write. It helps me maintain consistency with my purpose and writing. For example, my blog is focused on nonfiction, inspirational stories, so no matter my topic or thought, I always intentionally try to see the “good” in real situations and inspire readers to think a little differently about common issues.
That’s what’s up. Your comment section always popping lol. Do you have any blogging advice for author bloggers?
L…O…L Just be yourself. In all things, be yourself. You can’t be like the blogger who posts every day because you have a day job. You can’t talk about relationships because you don’t want to open up. And that’s FINE! Be yourself and do what you do best.
I get the feeling I already know the answer to this question but, what’s your favorite color?
My favorite color is red. I have a red purse, red laptop cover, and red clothing (in every style, including several red pairs of shoes). I also have red sheets, red silverware, and a red dish holder thing for when the dishes dry (whatever it’s called).
Kwoted is available now on Amazon.
Oh my goodness lol. You are obsessed! When did you publish your first book? What was that like?
I actually published my first book in 2015. It is called Kwoted and included 100 original quotes created by me. As simple as the book was, I was ecstatic to have even gone through the self-publishing process. People didn’t really buy that book, but it inspired me to know that my next book, The Unhappy Wife (2016) was possible.
Kwoted sounds lovely. I like the spin on the title and I just finished The Unhappy Wife. Are you married Kathy?
I have been married for 21 years now.
That’s awesome. Children?
I have two beautiful and polar opposite daughters. They are eighteen and sixteen.
The Unhappy Wife is available now on Amazon.
Let’s go back to The Unhappy Wife for a moment. You’ve been married for over 20 years which I think is amazing. What advice can you give to young women out there on being happier in marriage?
Thank youuuu! I had this advice made up on a t-shirt when I was promoting the book:
Know yourself.
Love yourself.
Be yourself.
That’s it. If you do one or all of those things, then your marriage will go smoothly. You’ll take ownership for who you are in the relationship and you’ll stop blaming others for your happiness or unhappiness.
Nice. Write that down people. OK, let’s switch it up a bit. What are your thoughts on Race?
Here in the States, we’ve spent too much time creating racial constructs and fighting against them. It’s an exhausting conversation and way of life. Quite honestly, I know that once we focus on the real divide, socioeconomic inequality, then we’ll be making some headway. Once we realize that most of us are in the same boat financially, while wealthy people control our entire existence, then a true shift will occur. Race (and racial inequality) is just something to keep us distracted from real issues. I hope I’m clear. Racial inequality does exist, but we have to move the conversation beyond race and into financial insecurity.
Interesting. What takes up too much of your time?
Nothing takes up too much of my time. I say this because I’ve spent much of my life getting to a place where most of my time is my own; therefore, I don’t think anything takes up “too much of” it. In most moments, I’m doing exactly what I want to be doing, which I know is creating each future moment of my life. That’s a great feeling.
Thank you Kathy for spending this time with us. We enjoyed you!
K.E. Garland. Photo used with permission.
Katherin is a First Place Royal Palms Literary Award winning writer for Creative Nonfiction. Her work has been featured in the South Florida Times, Talking Soup and For Harriet. She typically writes in order to inspire social change. Other examples of her work can be found on her personalblog.
Although I am a happy wife, this book is essential for all women because it gives insightful advice about the many ways that women can be unhappy in marriage beyond the relationship itself. The Unhappy Wife is a collection of twelve women’s testimonies on their marriages, expectations, and the reality that they didn’t. Marriage is labor, as this book demonstrates.
While couples can be deeply in love, and understand their roles as husband and wife, marriage is a constant commitment. As men and women navigate how to become one flesh, we must strive to have an unwavering capacity for self-love so that abuse may not reign.
The Unhappy Wife is a good cautionary tale for married couples as well as the ideal manual for ladies regardless of their circumstances. The lesson I took up from the women’s experiences is that marriages do not end abruptly; rather, it happens gradually. May we take a cue from these women who so bravely let us into their lives and be alert to any and all warning signs.
“Marriage is a sacred commitment. You can never fully prepare yourself for marriage but what you can do is work on yourself, your choices in men and a good understanding of what will feed your heart before entering into nuptials.”
No, not that kind of lusting. Stay focused people.
I’m watching The Real before heading out to my part-time (which means I better hurry this post up) and I loved how Adrienne gave the story about the dress she wore and posted to IG, and how it was actually a Forever 21 Dress she paid $17 for. I appreciated this because so many young people look at the lives of celebrities and want what they have without a clue of what it actually means. I say all of that to say to my young people:
Don’t fall into the trap of ingratitude by subconsciously lusting for what you don’t have. Learn to admire from a distance, remembering that what you see is not always reflective of what actually is. You don’t know the pain behind the smile or the storms that person has endured to get to where they are. Sometimes you’ll see people with amazing strength but you don’t know what it took or what it will take for you to have the same kind of resolve. You also don’t know if that person’s possessions are honest or if they actually sold out to get it. If you log into Instagram or Twitter for instance, you will see a lot of inspirational advice from celebrities on the importance of working hard and how they acquired their success. While celebrities are real people, it’s not that simple. Not every celebrity worked hard and overcame trials and worked their way to the top. Some of them sold out. (And no, I am not saying Adrienne sold out. I don’t know her personally and I don’t know what her life is like privately. Her post is just motivation for this message. If she never said she bought the dress at Forever 21, ya’ll would be secretly wishing you had lots of money so you can buy that dress.) My point is this:
You are already in such a great place even if you’re struggling than many of the people whose lives you wish you had. The grass is only as green as your mindset to quote Meggan Roxanne. If you stop focusing on other people and instead nourish where you are it will be fruitful. Just because your cup is not overflowing does not mean that it is empty. You just have to appreciate what you have now and be content knowing there is water in the cup and it is enough. Now, I gotta go but for those of you following celebs online and secretly feeling some kind of way, don’t lust after what you don’t understand. Remember that spoiled milk can still be white. Stay woke.
Many of you know that I have pushed my two bigger projects back but I’ve been low-key working on another one and yesterday, I revealed the news to my email list.
I have wanted to publish many of the poems featured on this blog (by featured I am referring to my own poems) in a book for a long time. I tried it with my third collection but since then I’ve written a lot more poetry. To make a long story short, I’ve finally submitted the final copy of I AM SOUL in to be edited last week and we’re looking at a release date as early as December 20th, my mother’s birthday.
COVER REVEAL – I AM SOUL
Inspiration Behind the Title
“You have an old soul.”
I don’t particularly like this phrase and I cringe when people tell me this. But, it is a fact that I’ve heard this many times over the course of my life, disguised in many different ways.
“You act older than you are.”
“You’re mature for your age.”
Or as my big sister so elegantly put it: “You old.”
So, I decided to drop the “Old” (because I’m young shooo lol) and just go with Soul.
Personal
I read something once that said, “The best writing is vulnerable.” I kept rolling this around in my head. It’s so true. I am extremely shy when it comes to my own personal feelings and I admit I am embarrassed to reveal too much of myself because, well, I think it will be too much. I’m too much yall (lol tee hee). But, the person was right. We connect deeper with people who we can relate to. People who are just as human as we are. People who make mistakes and are dripping with flaws. They may not always be this way, but they help us to see there is still hope. Their testimonies make redemption real. They are not somewhere in heaven while the rest of us are here on Earth. Their mistakes are a bridge of commonality that connects them to the rest of mankind. It is why we connect with people who are real.
This book is also a compilation of the Black History poems published to this blog which is another inspiration for the title. We have always had a unique way about us from our rich history to our style of dress to the way that we speak. We are the salt of the Earth. We are flavoring. We are Soul Train and Soul Brothers. We are soul.
I AM SOUL is personal in more ways than one and seeks to tell the truth. To be honest. To be vulnerable. To be weak and in that weakness, to be strong. ( 2 Co 12:10) This book is all things personal. This book is all things, soul.
So, there you have it. I’ll have more details and developments as we get closer to release but I am excited and I hope you will enjoy this collection just as much as you enjoy the poetry on this blog.
Check out this article by Angela Ford on giving away your books for free. I’ve never been comfortable giving away my books except to my ARC / Beta Readers so I find her perspective interesting. I would love to hear other’s opinion on it though and to be provided with more resources to support the article. The comment left on the post poses a good question too.
What about you? Do you think authors should give their books away for free? Why or why not?
“In the indie author community, there’s a false mindset you have to give your books away for free before people will be willing to purchase them. If the first book in your series is free, someone will pay $0.99, $2.99 and even $5.99 for your full priced books. In truth, I’ve been seeing the opposite effect and heard from indie authors who have had the same experience. Here are some examples…”
I’m sure most of you have heard the news by now, but if you haven’t, Amazon has announced some major changes to its KDP Print program. Only two days after I was telling people in this blog’s comments that I wouldn’t even consider moving to KDP Print from CreateSpace until Amazon addressed its two most glaring issues, the company announced it had. On top of that, it addressed my major problem with CreateSpace, thus making it a whole lot more likely that I will soon be moving over.
The PBS Blog 