Today I had the honor of interviewing author, Annette Smith. Annette spent the first part of her adult life as a full-time home health nurse. Her job was to travel to people's homes and give them the medical attention they needed. The more she got to know her patients, the more she desired to honor their lives, thus began her career as a writer. Today she's a well-respected author and part-time registered nurse. It's people like Annette that remind us that with a little work and a lot of juggling, "we can have our cake and eat it too". Discover how she promotes her books as an "introspective, behind-the-scenes", author.

What was your path towards publication like?

In 1997, I crossed paths with an established Christian author. She graciously read a few pages of my work, then passed it on to an editor at a major Christian house. That editor liked what he saw and I was offered a contract based on ten original short stories-about fifty pages of my work. In 1998, my first book, The Whispers of Angels, was published. It is my best seller and continues in print today.

When I began, I knew nothing about how the publishing business worked. I'd never attended a conference or taken a writing class. What I had done was read voraciously since childhood. For me, it was all about putting beautiful words to paper. That's still what it's about for me today.

Since that unlikely beginning, I've written a total of 12 contracted books, including the Coming Home to Ruby Prairie trilogy, and my latest novel, A Bigger Life.

It's said that publishers now want authors to do most of the promoting of one's book(s)--unless they're famous. How do you balance promoting your work and writing your next manuscript? And do you have any promotional tips you can share?

Promotion is a challenge. I am an introspective, behind-the-scenes person who prefers listening to talking. However, web promotion is as close to painless as it gets for someone like me. I invested in a top-notch web designer, Kelli Standish of PulsePoint Designs. She keeps my website updated and lovely. Several times a week, I post on a blog that's linked to my website.

I recently travelled to my current publishing house to meet with the hard-working people responsible for getting the words of my heart into the homes of my readers. Putting faces and personalities with names was extremely valuable. I met with people in editorial and marketing as well as with the sales crew. I believe this time spent was well worth it. I'd advice any author to consider such a trip.

Balance is tricky. While promotion is important, making my next deadline is vital. I try to work snippets of promotion work into large chunks of writing time. Somehow it all works.

What was the best writing-related advice you ever received?

Bottom line, it's not about tricks or formulas or even who you know. It's about good writing. Get that down and the rest will follow.

Visit her at http://annettesmithbooks.com/

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