When did you first discover your love for writing?
I’ve loved writing since I was a little kid. Those tabloid papers that you can get, like the National Enquirer, I used to make my own up for my dad when I was six years old. Every week he would get a new copy from me with stories like, “Bigfoot attacks Madoc,” things like that. I continued writing all throughout school. I was awarded a writing award in Grade 8, and continued writing through high school and college. I planned to go to university for creative writing, but I wanted to make sure I could make a living afterwards, because it’s hard to make a good living off being a writer. I wanted some financial security, so I studied social work and psychology instead. I took writing courses as electives where I could, but my writing got pushed to the backburner once I got into university because it was hard to keep on top of all the assignments.
It wasn’t until years later when my grandmother got sick with cancer that it kind of hit home that she’s never going to be able to see my written works. So, at the beginning of 2019, I started doing a lot of research and outlining my book series. I’ve always wanted to write a book and I wanted to make sure that the people close to me would get to see it. Unfortunately, neither one of my grandmas were able to see it, but my parents have, and I’ve won a Feathered Quill Award, which was great for my parents to be able to see.
How did it feel to get that first printed copy of your book in hand?
It didn’t feel real when I had the first paperback copy. It wasn’t really until the hard copy came in with the fancy jacket that I was like, “Wow, I’ve written this. This is real.” And then when people were contacting me wanting me to mail them signed copies, that felt surreal. And then that scary feeling came, that self-doubt, asking myself, “Is my book really that good? They’re spending all this money on it. I hope they like it.”
How did you find moving from the writing side to the marketing side of independent publishing and getting out there in front of potential readers to showcase your fiction?
I didn’t realize when I was sitting down writing the book that there was so much marketing that I would have to do, too. I think it’s about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone to try different things to see if they work. Before Christmas in 2023, because I’m so new, I bought a Grinch suit and went down to the Toronto Santa Claus parade and was handing out flyers with my pre-order. I got more people taking pictures with me and my Grinch costume than wanting to take my flyers. I was really nervous about doing that, it was intimidating. But I went out and I did it, and then posted it on social media. It’s about putting myself out there, and sometimes the stuff works and sometimes it doesn’t. All my free time goes to marketing and writing.
How important was it for The Adventures of Izzy Adams series to have Canadian representation?
I always like to talk about the Canadian content because there isn’t enough literature out there that is based in Canada. I also kept it local with a young Canadian student attending Loyalist College, because I’m from Belleville and Madoc, Ontario.
Do you find that your experiences as a social worker have impacted how you write fiction?
Because of my background in social work, I include a lot of social issues within my fiction. I cover topics such as racism, immigration and child poverty in Canada. I guess I weave that through my stories to help people get an understanding of the impact that has on other people. I had a review come in on Amazon, and the person really liked my book. They thought it was excellent writing, but they hated that it was Canadian, and they hated that there were social justice issues throughout it, and how it portrayed white people. So, I said to my husband, “You know, it’s good feedback and a good review. It must have made them think, which is what I want my books to do. I especially want to make younger people think about how their actions impact other people.
With my background in social work, I’ve worked in child protection. I’ve worked in mental health. I’ve also dabbled in a whole bunch of other different areas of social work. I have my master’s degree in social work, so I wanted to still use all that knowledge, and I think it’s made me a better writer in the end. I’m glad I didn’t start shooting out books when I was 20, because I didn’t have all the life experience to put it into it that I have now.
What would you say are some of your biggest challenges as an author?
I used to think it was the writing part, but now that I’m almost done my second book, I think that’s the easier part. I would say having to develop my own website was very daunting. Also learning how to make a book trailer. Social media has also been a little bit tricky. I’m not too introverted, but I’m told you’re supposed to be putting up two to three posts a day. That’s insane. There’s no way. I did it while I was waiting for my book to come back from my editor, but you run out of stuff to put out, so I don’t do that anymore. I don’t have the time. So, I just post where I’m doing my next vendor event or when I got my award, that sort of thing. I was also a little discouraged with not being able to get books into bookstores. But I’m booked almost every single weekend this year all over Ontario. I’m selling my book at different spots and different festivals in Ontario. It was scary the first time I did a vendor sale, now it’s easy to do. You learn different sales techniques doing it.
What has been your favourite aspect of creating The Adventures of Izzy Adams?
The world-building is really fun, as is coming up with different spell names and different systems of how things work. It was a little tricky because it’s the spirit world. Physically, you have to really wrap your mind around things sometimes. Like, they’re a ghost. Can they touch things? Can they sense things? How do I include all the five senses? What do you experience when you’re a ghost? I had to make my own rules and make sure they made sense to me, and they would make sense to the reader. That part was tricky. But I really enjoyed coming up with it, as well as working on character development. That was really interesting and fun.
What advice would you give to new authors starting out?
I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and ask questions. I always explain the difference between independent publishing and traditional publishing, and the pros and cons to both, so that they’re fully aware. I always make sure to warn them that there’s many scams I’ve encountered, and a lot of writers I’ve met have been taken advantage of. So, I always like to tell people to make sure they’re fully investigating everything… check to make sure anyone you plan on working with is legit.
What are some of your future goals as an author?
I’m going to develop a website that offers people free resources related to independent publishing. I want to put out a ton of helpful stuff on the website, like here’s the editor that I use, and here are other editors that I’m aware of that are legit. Here’s where I go to get formatting done. I want to help people. I want people to know they don’t have to go the traditional route. They just need to make sure they do it right and know the steps to take. I’m also taking a certificate course through Queen’s University for editing. I’m going to eventually get into doing some developmental editing for people in the future. I’m also planning on launching a blog after I finish Book 2 of The Adventures of Izzy Adams.
To read more about Jessica Lee Sheppard and her fiction, visit: www.jessicaleesheppard.com.
