Irene Watson, author of award winning The Sitting Swing, was born and raised in a tiny hamlet of Reno in the northern area of the province of Alberta in Canada. It was a farming community, mostly settled by immigrants from Russia, Ukraine and Poland during the early 1900s.

Two books that had the deepest impact were Change me into Zeus’s Daughter by Barbara Robinette Moss, and, Lost and Found by Babette Hughes. Reading both books inspired Irene to write about her own life’s journey, from growing up in a semi- abusive home to finally accepting that experience as a path to a spiritual understanding of life. She now shares her story in The Sitting Swing.

Irene is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Irene received her Bachelor of Liberal Studies, Summa Cum Laude, in Psychology from Saint Edward’s University in Austin and her Master of Arts, with honors, in Liberal Studies: Psychology, from Regis University in Denver.

Today, Irene lives beside Barton Creek in Austin, Texas with her husband Robert of 42 years, and their Pomeranian, Tafton; their calico cat from a rescue shelter, Patches; and their rescued cockatiels, Clement and Elgin.

You can visit her website at www.irenewatson.com or her blog at www.irenewatson.typepad.com/irenes_weblog.

Welcome to Beyond the Books, Irene. Can you tell us whether you are published for the first time or multi-published?

The Sitting Swing: Finding Wisdom to Know the Difference is my first published book. I have also co-edited two other books: The Story That Must be Told, and, Authors Access: 30 Success Secrets for Authors and Publishers. I’m in the midst of co-authoring another book that should be published by the end of this year. It’s called: Rewriting Life Scripts: Transformational Recovery for Families.

For your first published book, how many rejections did you go through before you either found a mainstream publisher, self-published it, or paid a vanity press to publish it?

The first edition of The Sitting Swing was published by a vanity press. Needless to say, I learned a lot about publishing. The book had many flaws and I took it off the market when I found out the promised editing didn’t happen. In the meantime a traditional publisher offered to publish the book. We made some major changes – the first being editing. We also added the subtitle, a resource guide, a reader’s guide, and other major changes.

How did the rejections make you feel and what did you do to overcome the blows?

The first time round I attempted the traditional route before I settled on a vanity press. I got over a hundred rejections. I was disappointed at that time, but now I know why. I was going about it the wrong way.

When your first book was published, who published it and why did you choose them?

The book was first published in 2005 and I’d rather not say the publisher’s name. I chose them because they were the first ones that offered to publish it.

How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate?

It felt great! I had a huge launch at a local university with all the frills that go with a great party.

What was the first thing you did as for as promotion when you were published for the first time?

I have a marketing background so I was able to do a lot of my own promoting. I also hired a publicist to help me with some of the areas I didn’t have strength in.

If you had to do it over again, would you have chosen another route to be published?

OH YES! As I said before, I learned so much the first time round. Good grief…..my first choice is of course publishing through a traditional publisher. But, if that wouldn’t work out I would go the “self-publishing” route through a vanity press. There are a lot of good ones in the industry that support their authors.

Have you been published since then and how have you grown as an author?

Yes, I re-published The Sitting Swing with a traditional publisher and I co-edited two other books the same way.

Looking back since the early days when you were trying to get published, what do you think you could have done differently to speed things up?

Honestly, I don’t thing I would have done anything different to speed things up. When I got finished my manuscript the process went very quickly.

What kind of mistakes could you have avoided?

Ahhh…yes…I would have made sure my book was edited properly, and then double-checked it. I paid for editing and assumed it was done properly. I didn’t check the work. After the book was published I found out, from a national newspaper reviewer, the book had major editing issues. I started checking and sure enough, even the word “foreword” was spelled as “forward.” That was very upsetting to me. For someone that was in publishing for over 30 years should have picked that up. Yes, I’m still upset about it. However, that said, I make sure an encourage all authors to be sure they double-check the work after it is returned from an editor.

What has been the biggest accomplishment you have achieved since becoming published?

Notoriety I would say is the biggest. My grandkids now have a Nana that is an “author” and that’s a big deal to them. (Laughs) But, on a more serious note, I established a book review and author publicity service called Reader Views. I learned a lot during my formative years as an author and still learning. My mission is to pass on everything I know to prospective authors.

If you could have chosen another profession, what would that profession be?

None other at this time. I’ve been through six or seven career changes in my life. Each one has been a huge learning experience.

Would you give up being an author for that profession or have you combined the best of both worlds?

I’m combing both worlds.

How do you see yourself in ten years?

Semi-retired and traveling the world doing transformational retreats.

Any final words for writers who dream of being published one day?

Yes….never, ever, ever, ever, give up. There is someone out there that believes in you. And…be sure you double check the editing!