Today, I’m joined by Wahida Clark, a New York Times Best Seller who has authored over a dozen books. She has created a successful fiction series and a raving fan base who read her books.
While living in Georgia, Wahida worked for an advertising firm. She was sent to the federal prison in Kentucky. While there, she taught computer classes in the evening and worked at the library in the morning. She picked up a magazine one day that talked about an author who wrote a book in prison. “I started looking at all the books in the library, and I started visualizing my name on all the spines of the books.” That is when she decided to write a book.
Wahida noticed a class on creative writing at the prison, and she decided to sign up. “We were in prison, so there were no computers. I had to hand-write my book on yellow legal paper. I had the inmates reading the chapters as I write them.” She sent out inquiry letters to publishers and agents, which ended up being rejected. One agent, however, reconnected with her when she was released from prison. She agreed to represent Wahida and is still her literary agent to this day.
She asked prison workers to make copies, so she had a transcript to send to a publisher. They agreed, as long as she put them in the acknowledgment in her book. Wahita started publishing in prison and sold over a million books before she left prison.
Listen in to find out how Wahita spread the word about her book throughout the prison system, sold books and became a popular author while in solitary confinement for writing a book, and how she inspired others in prison to become authors. Learn the two elements that keep her readers reading and engaged.
Show Notes
[01:52] Why Wahida decided to write her first book. [05:47] The writing process in prison. [07:55] Wahida reads books by Carl Weber. [09:06] Her first royalty check of $25,000 bounced. [10:09] The lieutenant's office at the prison wanted to know how she wrote a book. [12:30] She made flyers to send to other prisoners and her book started to take wing and fly. [14:04] Simon & Schuester signed Wahita after her release from prison. [16:20] Why she sold so many books while in prison. [17:59] Genres she considered when writing her book. [19:15] How she came to write a series of books. [23:04] Keeping her readers engaged and leaving reviews. [26:32] Why Wahita is moving out of her genre. [30:23] Top takeaways from Self Publishing School. [32:05] Advice for authors to write their first book. [3:11] What she would have done differently with her book and her channel.Links and Resources
Visit Self Publishing School Online SPS Free Training Course Wahida Clark Publishing Wahida on Fantastic FictionSPS 204: High Performance Author: Lessons Learned From Kobe, Durant & Steph with Alan Stein Jr.
SPS 203: Using Your Military Experience To Write A Great Book with General Mari K Eder
SPS 202: From Book To Entrepreneur & 8M+ TEDx Talk Views with Carrie Green (Female Author Association)
SPS 201: What I Learned Publishing 50 Fiction Novels In 22 Years with Tim Waggoner
SPS 200: To The Girl Who Wants To Write Books About Her Faith with Grace Valentine
SPS 199: Ten Ways to Sell Books Through Media Appearances with Steve Harrison
SPS 198: Successfully Self Publishing and Selling Books Through TikTok with Gabrielle Stone (Eat, Pray, #FML)
SPS 197: Worth It: Writing The Book You Want To Write (Not The One People Tell You To) with Brit Barron
SPS 196: Nice Girls Don’t Publish Books? - Empowering Female Authors & Executives with Dr. Lois Frankel
SPS 195: Lessons Learned Publishing 100+ Children & Young Adult Books with Kathryn Lasky (& Turning Your Book Into A Movie)
SPS 194: Building An Empire And Becoming Unbreakable with Elena Cardone
SPS 193: Buy Back Your Time Writing And Launching A Book (A Behind The Scenes Look) with Dan Martell
ANNOUNCEMENT: Self Publishing School Is Closed, The Future Of Publishing, And Funding 75 Libraries
SPS 192: Lessons Learned From 8 Years, 7,000+ Books Published, And $43M+ …And The Future Of Publishing with Chandler Bolt
SPS 191: Turning Your Book Into A Movie (From Book To Script) with Sara McDermott Jain
SPS 190: How To Launch A Book Successfully with Julie Broad
SPS 189: Go For Stupid & Being Authentic In Your Book with Steve Sims
SPS 188: Turning Your Book Into A Viral TED Talk & Speaking Career with Dr. Guy Winch
SPS 187: Affiliate Marketing For Authors with “The Affiliate Guy” Matt McWilliams
SPS 186: Contagious; How To Make Your Book Catch On & Go Viral with Jonah Berger
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