Chit Chatting with Claudine Wolk

 Chit Chatting with Claudine Wolk

Interviewed by:  Jill Sheets

Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?

Hi there, and thanks for the interview, Jill.  

I’m probably like every other writer in that I’ve always liked writing and kept journals from the time I was a kid.  As an adult, I was an accountant.  I threw myself into it, became a CPA, worked for many small businesses in the Philadelphia area and then, whammo…. I became a mother.  Heck, I thought creating a cash flow statement was hard! Being a mother knocked my socks off.  

The new mom phenomena that really surprised me was that no one was talking about how hard newborn care is.  I quickly learned that moms were supposed to say things like, “I’m blessed, I’m lucky, motherhood is the best thing that ever happened to me.”  Of course, in a sense, all of those things were true, but it was far from the entire story.  I loved my baby, but the hard work that went along with him, not so much.   

So… I did what I do. I researched and wrote about motherhood after interviewing moms, young and old, from all over the country. Their advice (and humor) helped me. Their practical advice on baby care and the transition into motherhood was invaluable to me.  Those interviews and the fun, practical advice I learned as a result, became my first non-fiction book, It Get Easier and Other Lies We Tell New Mothers, and I caught the writing bug.  I loved writing it, editing it, marketing it, and promoting it. 

Tell Us About Your New Book Get Your Book Seen and Sold: The Essential Book Marketing and Publishing Guide?

Julie and I have learned that authors find book marketing and promotion scary - it’s a whole new language - and with all the time and energy it takes to write a book, authors may feel too intimidated to market their book.

So… Julie and I had an idea. We set out to help authors get excited about book marketing with a new, fun guide.

Get Your Book Seen and Sold is a pithy, colorful, fun guide that provides authors with an easy, doable process - a roadmap - with a starting point and an end point. 

We started by simply describing book publishing options today and then provided an easy-to-understand overview of book marketing - all the things that are possible to do to promote your book. We then describe book marketing fundamentals with exercises for the author to complete to identify their book’s message, audience, and hook.

Suddenly book marketing is more understandable and less scary.  It’s something that authors will actually take the time to do and do it they must!

How much research went into this book?

Years of experience on both my part and Julie’s part plus updating our understanding of the publishing market as it is today including the changing options for book publishing and book distribution.  It is pretty sweet that Julie is a publisher in her own right as well as a great editor and interior designer.  She made sure that everything I included about the publishing industry and distribution was industry current and accurate.  

We had a few goals with the guide  – to keep things as simple as possible so as not to lose the reader. Plus, keep the reader motivated through color, exercise and example to give them more control over their book marketing.  If they have a bit of control, we figured, they would be motivated to keep doing it.

Do you outline your book or do you just start to write?

With this book, I outlined it first and worked it through with Julie to make sure that the flow made sense and that we were keeping it simple but including the essential elements of book marketing.  As a non-fiction book, the outline worked well. 

Tell us about your first book?

As I mentioned in your previous question, my first book, It Gets Easier and Other Lies We Tell New Mothers, was something that came from my passion to help new moms with the huge life change that is motherhood.  I felt that honesty and humor along with practical tips could make a difference for new moms.  I created a publishing company to release that title.  In essence, I traditionally published a self-published book.  The book was then picked up by an agent who sold it to a larger publishing company.  I wrote three more chapters and the publisher re-released the book.  Just this past November, I recorded the audiobook version of that book, so I have seen the publishing process as a self-published, traditionally published, and audiobook voice actor author.  Quite the experience and one that I can share with the authors and aspiring authors who I reach through my Substack newsletter and podcast.

What are you currently working on?

I definitely have a couple of non-fiction book ideas brewing but may latest upcoming project is a new video class to help aspiring writers called, Begin to Write the Right Way, with a business colleague, Kate Brenton.  It’s a reasonably priced, standalone, video course to help writers to complete their writing projects while learning the basics of book marketing as they write so that when they are ready to birth their book, their book will be seen and sold.  Begin to Write the Right Way will be available in November 2023 and we hope it will help writers to get their messages out into the world.

You are a writer, podcaster, and book marketing coach.  How do you find time to do it?

Time management is as tough for me as it is for everyone.  I take advantage of the time of day that is most productive for me to write which is in the morning hours and try to keep other tasks (reading, research, household chores..etc) for the afternoon.  I set aside one day a week for recording podcasts and then another day for audio editing.  I keep a notebook where I can jot down ideas so that they don’t sit in my head and I use physical folders to keep my projects organized.  I purge piles of paperwork and to-do lists to keep on track.  Finally, I constantly ask myself the following question, “Is this task going to further my goals of selling books, adding audience members, or adding clients.”  If the answer is no, I take a long hard look at it to decide if I should proceed with it.  It’s amazing how much time you can save when you take a minute to value a task.

What do you do in your spare time?

I love spending time with my family – my husband and kids, two of whom live in different states. I am blessed with two new grandsons who live close-by, who I love to visit.  I also love to go to used book sales, read for fun, and to surf the web for vintage clothes.  

Is there anything you like to add?

Yes. If you have a message or story that you feel you need to share with the world, take the time to write it and market the book that results.  The world needs it!

Claudine Wolk is co-author, with Julie Murkette, of the new book, Get Your Book Seen and Sold: The Essential Book Marketing and Publishing Guide. Find her writing/podcasts at ClaudineWolk.Substack.Com.