Straight From the Mouth of 'My Whispers of Horror' Brine Publishing

We are an activist publishing company established as a partnership by a husband and wife in Ontario, Canada. The mission of this business is bring awareness for serious human rights issues around the world, while raising funds to expand our capabilities and to help fund non-profits and charities whose purpose is to better the world. Our main purpose as a company is to find ways to better the world. We feel that if we fail in this mission then we fail as a business, so we will not give up on our goal. The release of our books and the profits that we raise are meant for this very purpose. View their site at http://brinebooks.com  

Thanks for letting us interrogate interview you! Can you give us a go-for-the-gut answer as to why you wanted to be an author?

Actually my wish is to be a publisher. I cannot take credit as the author as these are letters written from real women in Ukraine and Russia not by myself. Although we had put together the foreword and two of the letters, here at Brine Books Publishing we had mainly done the editing and translation. The women that wrote their letters deserve most of the credit for their bravery in getting their stories out there.

Tell us (we won’t tell promise!) is it all it’s cracked up to be? I mean what are the perks and what are the demands?

Ask us again in a few years! Building up a new business takes time and often can take years to build up an audience and a profit. Plus our publishing house is focused on helping with human rights issues and raising funds for charities along with non-profits. To build up such an infrastructure will take time, hard work, and dedication. But honestly? I already think that it will be worth it and all that it is cracked up to be.

Which route did you take – traditional or self-published – and can you give us the nitty gritty low down on what’s that like?

Neither. We are setting up an entirely new publishing house with a focus on printer on demand and electronic books. We do lean toward the traditional side of things, but as the industry is fast changing it is hard to describe any new publishing house as simply “traditional”. It is in our opinion that the new form of publishing is printer on demand and electronic books, rather than the old expensive method of publishing hundreds or thousands of books while hoping that they will sell. Whereas printer on demand and electronic publishing allows for it to always be in stock, and you don't have to rely on the more expensive old methods. Don't get me wrong. Publishing is still not cheap. But it is far more accessible than it used to be.

Tell us for real what your family feels about you spending so much time getting your book written, polished, edited, formatted, published, what have you?

At first my family was supportive but skeptical. They had known of many people that had considered going down the publishing route, but had been scared away by the sheer amount of work involved in it. They are now proud of us for completing the process, and so are we. Just getting the book onto the market is a tremendous accomplishment. And we have more coming.

Do your pets actually get their food on time or do they have to wait until you type just one more word?

Of course they do. Our cats will never go without food. They are fat and happy.

In writing your book, how did you deal with the phone ringing, your family needing dinner or your boss calling you saying you’re late?

Never dealt with my boss saying I'm late. I am one of the bosses at the publishing house after all. So maybe I should tell myself this? Anyway. We get dinner on the table on time, and we still answer the phone when it rings. Life is about balance whether writing or publishing, and everyone needs to find said balance. Writing isn't an excuse to hide from the world. To get a decemt book out you need to experience it on some level.

What was the craziest or insane thing that happened to you in the book publishing process?

Getting published. It took so much energy and effort to get our premiere book onto the market that we found it absolutely crazy that we actually succeeded in this. And we hope to succeed many more times.

How about the social networks? Which ones do you believe help and which ones do you wish you could avoid?

We were surprised on this one, but truthfully it is different for everyone. We had found twitter to be a tremendous success even though we initially thought it wouldn't be much help. Facebook ended up being pretty good to us. Google+ started out being good, but it had fallen behind the other social networks over time. It is still important though. Honestly, we've learned that any social network can be good if you use it right. Some better than others, but which is better depends on the business or writer.

What is one thing you’d like to jump on the rooftop and scream about?

We got published. We started a publishing house. We are successfully helping the women in My Whispers of Horror be heard.

Pump Up Your Book and Brine Books are giving away a Kindle Fire HDX!

Terms & Conditions:

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash.
• This giveaway begins November 4 and ends January 31.
• Winners will be contacted via email on Monday, February, 2014.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.
• Only U.S. citizens can win the Kindle Fire.

Good luck everyone!

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