Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Morrow.
Kimberly, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My journey to becoming an author and establishing a publishing company began in 2017. Prior to March 2017, I considered myself a “Company Woman.” From the start of my career in 1996, all of my energy, creativity, mental and physical labor went towards a job, where I had to answer to others.
One summer, I earned extra money by tutoring students. As I was promoting my tutoring services to a group of mothers, I began sharing my knowledge of resources. What was supposed to be a 15-minute overview, turned into an hour-long question-answer session. The parents wanted to know study resources, teaching methodologies, accommodations for students with learning disabilities, and illnesses that could cause barriers to learning. Some of the parents even asked if I could work with them on becoming better advocates for their children. I spoke with a friend about my conversation with those parents and she suggested that I write a book. A few weeks later, I began to write ,8 Pearls of Wisdom A Parenting Guide: Empowering Children is the Way to Go!
My primary purpose in writing and self-publishing books is to share my experiences as a parent of a child with learning barriers and as an educator, who has worked with children of all types of educational, emotional and mental health needs. The challenges I’ve experienced along my journey led me to write and publish two books and create K.A.M.’s Publishing Company. As part of my company, I do speaking engagements, host vision board workshops and empower parents and students to follow their dreams – no matter how impossible it may seem.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Most certainly, there have been challenges along the way as the main person spearheading this publishing endeavor. I have an amazing village of family and friends who are very supportive of me. However, handling arduous tasks like determining the retail distribution, printing and marketing of the books has not been easy.
I also plan and organize Vision Board Workshops and I speak at conferences. There are so many more events I would like to attend, but sometimes it can be costly. Nonetheless, I enjoy attending because I am able to spread the word about my publishing company, meeting people and plant seeds, which helps me stay encouraged and committed to process.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
As I was creating K.A.M.’s Publishing, I chose to follow author and educator Ruby Payne and author Joylnn M. Ross’ business model. My company is more than just publishing books. I offer coaching, training, mentoring in the forms of professional development, parenting, and career/vision board workshops. I will also be providing online classes soon.
The coaching and mentoring classes are all designed to assist children, teens and adults in making their dreams a reality. My virtual store is also included under the K.A.M.’s Publishing umbrella. This is where I encourage authors to consider establishing multiple streams of income. I have T-shirts and accessories. I will also be adding my son and other authors to publish under me.
Moreover, I offer book publishing services that include project management, editing, cover creation, and all of the other important details required for book publishing. In addition, we will help with the marketing and sales and the retail distribution of books. I am so blessed to have a publicist Olivia Almagro, who has been there for me every step of the way. Due to my success, my publicist recommended that I create my company, encourage others to get their books published and in the hands of others.
I am most proud of the fact that I am striving to give voice to young people who are consistently overlooked, underestimated and at times completely dismissed. Unfortunately, there are many people who cannot wrap their minds around someone with Intellectual disabilities and other barriers to learning to write stories. I believe that sets my publishing company apart from the others. My goal is to empower young people to follow their dreams and share their stories with others.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, there are few things that I would most certainly do differently. I was so excited about sharing my knowledge with other parents that I raced through the process. When I say I raced through the process, I am not referring to the writing, I am referring to the marketing and sales. Most books take at least six months to promote and it took me six months to write and launch launch my book. I would seek out professional assistance on developing a website and administrative duties.
I was turned on about the concept of hiring a virtual assistants on websites like fiverr. Of course, when you’re starting out, finances can be a serious hindrance, but I later learned that using a virtual assistant and hiring a developer for my websites and graphic designer for brochures and other items that require certain skills can be found for at a descent rate.
For anyone out there who is starting a business or doing anything that is labor-intensive, I highly recommend taking your time to experience the process and seek help. Sometimes, if you just ask you will find there are people, who are willing to provide support.
Pricing:
- 8 Pearls of Wisdom Ebook $2.99 , Paperback $18.99
- Time to Take a Leap Faith Workbook $2.99 Ebook, Paperback $8.00
Contact Info:
- Website: kimamorrow.com
- Phone: (424) 341-4618
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: KimberlyAMorrow
- Facebook: Kimberly’s 8 Pearls of Wisdom
- Twitter: @KimberlyAMorro3
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