Kerrie Flanagan and Crave Books 

By Angelique Fawns

 

Kerrie Flanagan is an author, instructor, and consultant with some very fun novels out in the world. I just finished reading Back to the 80s, was a romantic pop-culture romp, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

You can check it out yourself here: https://books2read.com/b/3k6OOn

She’s also part of a service called “CraveBooks” which provides a platform for readers to find the content they love, and writers a place to get their work out in the world. 

I meet Kerrie at Superstars this February and loved her energy and passion.

AF: Tell us how you began your author career?

KF: I wasn’t someone who knew from a young age that I wanted to be a writer. I had always wanted to be a teacher and that’s exactly what I did. It was while teaching that I wrote a story for my class of second graders that centered around how to use a comma in a list. The kids loved it (and learned how to use a comma). I looked into what it would take to get it published so I could make it available to other teachers. After sending it out to all the educational publishers I could find, I received “no thank yous” back. Not one to give up, I decided to self-publish it (which was back in 1998—way before Amazon). I found an illustrator and Cornelius Comma Saves the Day was ready to go. We ended up selling about 1,000 copies (which was amazing considering it was all hand-selling (no Internet). This got me into the world of writing and publishing and things fell into place after that; I joined a writer’s group, learned how to write for magazines, got my first published piece in Better Homes & Gardens, continued to publish articles, and started teaching magazine writing classes. I eventually resigned from teaching to focus on my writing, I created a writing organization, hosted conferences, continued to teach writing classes and it just kept going from there to where I am today, 25+ years later, with hundreds of published articles, 23 published books (3 traditionally published, the rest self-published), consulting with writers, teaching at conferences and now also working with CraveBooks. It has been quite a journey, with some definite ups and downs, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. 

 

AF: You have a fun, easy-going style of writing. How did you develop your voice?

KF: Developing your voice can definitely be tricky as a new writer. It’s hard to read other writers and not think, “I wish I could write like that,” “I wish my writing sounded like that.” But every writer has their own unique voice that should be honored. Early on I “tried on” different writing styles. A woman in my writer’s group had a beautiful writing voice with amazing descriptions and rich language. I tried doing that for a while. Then I tried to be humorous, and then dramatic, and then eclectic….I tried many different styles until I finally found my true voice. It’s a very light, conversational style that fits me just right. 

 

AF: You wear many hats, which is your favorite, and which pays the bills?

KF: I do wear many hats! LOL I continue to be a freelance writer, I consult with other writers, I edit, I teach writing classes, I write and publish books with a coauthor AND I work  part-time for CraveBooks, an online book marketing platform. Regarding my favorite, it depends on the day! I love the variety and being involved in different aspects of writing and publishing. Sometimes I think, “I wish I could just write and publish books with my coauthor.” Then I think, well I would still teach writing and I sure do love working with other writers to help them and it’s fun to work on the marketing side with CraveBooks… and all this gets me right back to where I am now. Which is fine with me. All these different areas of my life, help pay the bills. The one that brings in the least right now are the books. The good news though is that the books sell well enough to where my coauthor and I no longer have to invest our own money into them. They bring in enough income to cover the costs of book covers, editing, promotion, plus a little profit… so I see that as a win. 

 

AF: How did you get involved with CraveBooks?

KF: I met Cary Bergeron, the cofounder at a writer’s conference. He showed me the platform, and then I set up a time to talk with him after the event to learn even more. I loved how easy it was to use and that I only had to add my book information one time and then could come back and run promotions without having to upload everything again (which many platforms require). I became a huge fan of CraveBooks, so I reached out to Cary again to find out if he needed someone to go to conferences to represent CraveBooks, since I learned it was just him doing that. He brought me on board for a few hours a week to help with conferences. That was 2 years ago and now I work 20 hours per week, the team is growing, we go to more conferences each year and the platform keeps getting better and better. 

 

AF: How can CraveBooks help a writer’s career?

KF: CraveBooks helps authors build their author brand by getting their books in front of new readers with book promotions, build their newsletter list with list-building giveaways, increase SEO (search engine optimization) through an author page on the site and allow them to connect with readers through the site. CraveBooks also helps authors stay up-to-date on marketing strategies with our Book Ninja Summit’s, our online book marketing conference held 3-4 times each year. 

 

AF: Do you have any advice for writer’s at the beginning of their journeys?

KF: My biggest advice for new writers is to be patient. It takes time build an author career. It’s not something that happens overnight. Just keep at it, try new things and by all means, have fun with it. 

 

AF: What’s up next for Kerrie Flanagan?

KF: So many things! LOL I have two new writing books I am launching in June; Word by Word which is on the craft of writing and Dollar by Dollar which is the business side of writing. My coauthor and I currently have 10 sci-fi and fantasy books published. By the end of the year we plan to re-launch and rebrand an early trilogy we did, in addition to launching a brand-new cyberpunk trilogy. I will be a presenter at Author Nation in November (and also there representing CraveBooks) and a few other conferences. I am never at a loss for things to work on and I wouldn’t want it any other way. 

https://www.kerrieflanagan.com

https://cravebooks.com/

https://www.cgharris.net (pen name with my coauthor)