Naima B. Robert – Harnessing the power of social media Rahma Rodaah

Naima B. Robert
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss their process for creating and printing books, including personalization, shipping costs, and printing with a printer. They emphasize the importance of learning and being intentional in their writing process, creating clear messages and goals, and being clear about their message before trying to market their book. They also emphasize the importance of being clear and ready to act out, being prepared for anything, and finding value in the media. The speakers emphasize the importance of clear communication, being clear about their message, and being ready for anything. They also mention their success in promoting diversity and diversity in the writing community and their upcoming book.
AI: Transcript ©
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We are

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on the homestretch.

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We're in here. We're talking to published authors.

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We're talking to publishers. We're talking all about

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publishing

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on this day of the Muslimah Writers' Journey

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online summit. And this particular session is really

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exciting because it is

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with one of our up and coming independent,

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publishers and, you know, independent authors

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who are playing the game in a way

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that makes me really pleased,

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Because,

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when you see people,

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applying the knowledge that they have to their

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books, getting their books attention, getting

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people to know about their books and making

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an impact. Whether it's social media or PR

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or in the in the press in general,

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that gets me really excited.

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So it's with great pleasure that I will

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introduce you to sister Rahma Rodda

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who is the author of Muhamma's Quest

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and the author of a book that is

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coming out very soon. And she will tell

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you about that Insha'Allah

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in the process of this particular session. But

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today, we are gonna be speaking to sister

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Rahma all about

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self publishing, options in self publishing, and how

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to make that PR public relations work for

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you. Sister

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Rahma.

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I am so honored to be here and

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to be talking to you.

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In my journey as an author, I dreamt

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about,

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opportunities such as these to be talking to

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an experienced

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author such as yourself. So I'm really honored,

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and I am so eager to share the

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little knowledge that I've acquired

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throughout, my publishing,

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journey.

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I think that that spirit of generosity and

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sharing, I think, makes us all stronger.

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So I thank you for for making the

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time to, you know, to speak to us

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and to share

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what is happening with you in your

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part of the writing space.

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So you are a children's book author. That's

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correct. Right?

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That is correct. Yes. I do write, children's

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book,

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mainly focusing

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on, the representation

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of black Muslims,

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because I found that there was a lack

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in,

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the market for children Muslim children's book. So

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my main focus is to produce and to

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write stories featuring,

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black Muslims.

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Fantastic,

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And and we know that you're self published.

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Okay. So you're independently published. Tell us a

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little bit about

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your journey with self publishing, the choices that

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you made, why you made certain choices, and

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how you're running your business essentially at the

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moment.

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Okay. Yes. So I started my journey.

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My my first book, Mahima's Quest, has been

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published

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coming up to a year now.

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July 17th

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will be

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the poster anniversary of the book being, on

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the market.

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I'm very excited because it's been a long

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journey. Before that, it took me a year

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to bring this product to life. So,

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when I started out, I didn't really know

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how I was gonna do any of this.

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I didn't have the knowledge. I didn't have

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any

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of,

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the resources or anything like that, but I

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focused on producing

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something that will be

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able to compete on the market. So I

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knew that I wanted to self publish because

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I knew that from the little research that

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I've done to get a traditional publishing,

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deal would take either a long time, which

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I felt that I wanted my book to

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be on the market right away, so I

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didn't wanna go that route. So the first

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decision that I made was to go self

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publishing route. So

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I didn't know how I was gonna do

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that, but I focused on writing the the

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book,

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producing the book, and doing all of that

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part first, making sure that the end product

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was just as good as any book that

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was on the market that was, traditionally published.

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That was my main goal before I even

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thought about anything else. 2nd of all, I

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then decided to self publish.

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Therefore,

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the easiest route to self publish that I

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was able to find was to go with,

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CreateSpace with Amazon.

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You're able to upload your book as a

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PDF on their platform

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and have the book already ready for sale

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there,

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as well as the fact that it is

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a print on demand,

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company. So, basically, anytime that somebody makes an

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order, they ship it directly. So it was

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a lot of less,

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hardy for yourself to not worry about having

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to do with shipping or anything like that.

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And so since I'm also based in Canada,

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it's, the shipping cost is sometimes high for

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me to ship to to the US or

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other other countries. So that was, something that

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I started doing,

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in the beginning. So I uploaded my book

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to CreateSpace.

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I let people know,

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and, that's what I decided to do.

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Initially, when I did with Create

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Space, I requested a proof to come in

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the mail for me,

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and I found that the quality of Create

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Space

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was not as high as what I was

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expecting.

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The paper quality was not,

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the the best that I've seen,

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and,

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the cover was just not thick, although I

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didn't request. And they also don't do hard

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copies. They don't do,

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hard covers. They only do paper covers. So

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anyway, when I received the book, I found

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that the quality was lacking.

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So there, I continued to print with them

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until I was able to find a solution.

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And when I decided afterwards that I said,

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you know what? You've been focusing on quality

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this full time.

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What is the point of having something on

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the market that is not reflecting of the

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quality that you were after? So I've decided

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to pull my book off,

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CreateSpace or their Amazon platform.

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I then searched for a printing company,

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and,

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another issue with, CreateSpace was that shipping the

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books to me was a high cost.

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Just the shipping,

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the money conversion being Canadian, sometimes our Canadian

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dollar is very low,

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and bringing the books to Canada in large

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quantity, I would have to all do also

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deal with custom,

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fees,

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things like that. So it added up and

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the cost per book was going up, up,

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up, up to the point that I wasn't

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able to make a profit. Yeah.

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So then I decided, you know, this route

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is not good for me. It's not working.

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And I think that's one of the biggest

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things that you have to be able to

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shift.

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Because if you try something and it doesn't

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work, you have to be able to figure

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something else out. Even though you know what

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you don't know what the next step is,

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You have to be able to make that

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decision and say, I don't know what else

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am I gonna do right now, but this

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option is not working for me. So let

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me pull that and work, on finding another

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solution. So what I did was I found

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a printing company here within Canada that I

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was able to control

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the the quality of the of the book.

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So the quality was much better.

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The cover was

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in a format that it was harder cover

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for even though it was a paper copy.

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It was just the quality of paper was

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just excellent.

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And then I was able to print smaller

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amounts with them,

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deal with less shipping cost because with it

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is within Canada.

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I'm dealing with my own currency, so it's

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less money for me. And then I was

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able to personalize even when I'm shipping the

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the books. It is a added burden to

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be able to to ship the the books,

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but I think that the product that I

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am, providing the book that I'm providing

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looks way better than, what I was what

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what I was encountering with, creative space. So

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that's where I'm at in terms of,

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what I've done, where I've started,

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and where I'm at and what I'm doing

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right now in terms of,

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my my product. And and it's still on

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sale on Amazon. I'm working on a website

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where I'll be able to control that because

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you have to remember that Amazon will always

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take its share.

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So and then there's also the shipping cost.

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So you have to factor in all of

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those costs when you are,

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shipping your item. It's, the Amazon cost,

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your shipping cost,

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the envelope,

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that you're shipping with. All of those things

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cost money and are coming up from your

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profit. So all of those things are there.

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So I'm working on a website where I'm

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gonna be able to ship directly,

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which will be the best solutions.

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But for now, it's on Amazon and at

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least, people are able to purchase it.

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Fantastic.

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And for sharing that with us. It's I

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wish you really, really interesting because,

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you know, a lot of people feel,

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a little bit overwhelmed when they think of

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the idea of printing with a company and

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like actually having boxes of books in their

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garage or whatever. So, just to wanna say

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really brave of you and courageous,

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to take that step for the sake of

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the quality of your book. So for that.

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And another thing as well that I'd like

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the, the, the viewers to note as well

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is your ability to print

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smaller amounts

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if you find a printing company that will

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allow you to do that, which is, you

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know, it takes the fear factor out. Because

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I think many of us when we think

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of printing with a a printer, you're thinking

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a 1,000 copies. And then you're like, oh,

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woah, woah, woah, hey. So if you do

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find a printer that will allow you to

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print, I think you said that they allow

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you to print from 100

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up? Is that correct? Yes. It was, either

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100,

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units

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or,

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then it went up to 200, 300, and

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then up to 500.

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Okay. So I did the initial,

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you know, the initial print.

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I got a proof in the mail. I

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made sure everything was right. I was still

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working with my illustrator to make sure that

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we made,

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you know, decisions together, that it made it

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looked right. The paper quality was great because

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they were able to send me samples.

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And then I decided to print 200 copies.

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Yes, it's it's, it's a visual,

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kind of

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reminder that you have to sell these books.

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Right? But I knew that over time, however

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long it took me, because for me, it

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wasn't when I started this journey, it wasn't,

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some thing about that I was gonna, you

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know, quit my job and and do this

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full time. It was I started with the

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intention that I wanted to benefit

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our UMMA and,

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influence the children that were kind of growing

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up like me that didn't have this representation

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in the books that they read. So for

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me, it was not, about sales or anything

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like that. So I had 200 books, but,

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you know, I was doing small work, like,

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in my spare time. I was doing community

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work where I was, a cell.

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Sometimes I was going to schools or doing

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mosque events or and then selling slowly on

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my Amazon, you know.

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But it was really nice that I I

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had that small quantity that I didn't feel

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pressured because I even, considered,

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printing with China. A lot of people do

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that.

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But with that, you have to at least

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have a 1,000 copies.

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And then the

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the custom cost to to bring them here,

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and am I, where am I gonna store

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a 1,000 puppies? I live in a small,

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you know, bedroom apartment.

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They're big. That's just not gonna happen. Right?

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I'm glad that this worked out for me.

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No. We're all very, very glad that it

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worked out, and it is true. 1 of

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this one of one of those, motivating things

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is having the boxes of books there saying,

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tell me, please. So that's fantastic.

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So I can hear from you that obviously

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you you started out with a mission,

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but you've been very,

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very intentional about

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every part of your your your your your

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book journey so far.

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Are you naturally a business person? Like, you're

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talking about profit and customs costs and stuff

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like that. And I know for some people,

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all of that kind of gives them overwhelm.

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They just think, oh, no. No. No. No.

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No. No. No. Do I have to deal

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with all of that? Were you naturally

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sort of good with the figures, or is

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it something you learnt along the way?

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Honestly,

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it's something I just had to learn along

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the way. I'm the type of person that

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I have an objective. I then try

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to then figure out. I don't I think

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if you get

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too caught up in how

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and

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all of those type of details, you kinda

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get discouraged. Right? So even the self publishing,

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it's not something that's, straight cut. Like, when

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I first started researching that, I'm like, how

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am I gonna do this? Like but then

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I'm like, you know what?

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Forget about that. Let's focus on,

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you know, even writing something because people don't

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even get past that part of actually writing

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the book, because they are caught up on

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how are they gonna market, how are they

00:13:29 --> 00:13:31

gonna sell this, how are they gonna, you

00:13:31 --> 00:13:33

know, and I think you have to focus

00:13:33 --> 00:13:36

step by step on what it is that

00:13:36 --> 00:13:37

your intention is

00:13:38 --> 00:13:40

for what you're trying to do. So for

00:13:40 --> 00:13:43

me, it's every step I've learned it on

00:13:43 --> 00:13:45

the way. I've made plenty of mistakes, and

00:13:45 --> 00:13:47

I think that's how I've learned it because

00:13:47 --> 00:13:50

I've tried different things. Mhmm. I've tried shipping

00:13:50 --> 00:13:52

with this company and then comparing it. I've

00:13:52 --> 00:13:53

lost money because,

00:13:54 --> 00:13:56

obviously shipping with one company,

00:13:56 --> 00:13:59

and then not realizing the added cost of

00:13:59 --> 00:14:01

each, even the envelopes.

00:14:01 --> 00:14:03

Because I was buying envelopes sometimes from the

00:14:03 --> 00:14:05

dollar store thinking that,

00:14:05 --> 00:14:08

it was cheaper. But then now I realized,

00:14:08 --> 00:14:10

no. I have to buy my envelopes in

00:14:10 --> 00:14:10

bulk

00:14:11 --> 00:14:14

so that each envelope will cost me this

00:14:14 --> 00:14:16

much so that I know that when I'm

00:14:16 --> 00:14:17

shipping that book,

00:14:19 --> 00:14:22

65¢ of that is the envelope cost. You

00:14:22 --> 00:14:24

know, you have to know these numbers,

00:14:25 --> 00:14:27

in order to to do that. But you

00:14:27 --> 00:14:29

know what? It doesn't come in the beginning.

00:14:30 --> 00:14:32

It's it's you realize that over time, and

00:14:32 --> 00:14:34

I think that that's okay. You don't need

00:14:34 --> 00:14:37

to have everything figured out in the beginning.

00:14:38 --> 00:14:39

You just have to go along this journey

00:14:39 --> 00:14:42

with an open mind and be able to

00:14:42 --> 00:14:44

learn. And what I would do,

00:14:44 --> 00:14:46

because I had a full time job,

00:14:46 --> 00:14:48

I'm a mother of 2 kids,

00:14:48 --> 00:14:50

and I didn't have a lot of spare

00:14:50 --> 00:14:52

time. What I did was while I was

00:14:52 --> 00:14:54

working, anytime that I would have break, I

00:14:54 --> 00:14:56

would listen to YouTube videos on people that

00:14:56 --> 00:14:59

were self publishing. What were they doing? How

00:14:59 --> 00:14:59

were they,

00:15:00 --> 00:15:03

you know, resolving these issues of first shipping

00:15:03 --> 00:15:04

and things like that? I was researching on

00:15:04 --> 00:15:06

the site. Anytime that I had a spare

00:15:06 --> 00:15:08

moment, I would listen to podcasts.

00:15:08 --> 00:15:11

I would, just research a few things here

00:15:11 --> 00:15:13

and there while I'm still writing the book

00:15:13 --> 00:15:14

or while I'm still,

00:15:15 --> 00:15:18

maybe printing with a create space looking for

00:15:18 --> 00:15:21

solutions. Right? And then you learn from other

00:15:21 --> 00:15:22

people, and then you learn

00:15:23 --> 00:15:25

what when you do something, then that doesn't

00:15:25 --> 00:15:27

work, then you do something else. I think

00:15:27 --> 00:15:29

it's very important to be able to be

00:15:29 --> 00:15:32

shifting your strategy or shifting the way that

00:15:32 --> 00:15:34

you're doing things in order to accommodate

00:15:35 --> 00:15:37

the things that are happening. If you're noticing

00:15:37 --> 00:15:39

that something is not working out, to be

00:15:39 --> 00:15:40

able to do that. So for me, that's

00:15:40 --> 00:15:43

what I've been doing. I've never started,

00:15:44 --> 00:15:45

any type of business.

00:15:46 --> 00:15:46

My parents

00:15:47 --> 00:15:49

immigrated to Canada when I was very young,

00:15:49 --> 00:15:51

so I they did have numerous businesses and

00:15:51 --> 00:15:53

things like that. So I'm not unfamiliar

00:15:54 --> 00:15:56

with small business business mind,

00:15:56 --> 00:15:59

but, in this sphere is something that I've

00:15:59 --> 00:16:01

had to learn on on the job, basically.

00:16:01 --> 00:16:04

Fantastic. Michelle. Great. And, I know that you

00:16:05 --> 00:16:07

are a Twitter user and you're on Instagram

00:16:07 --> 00:16:08

as well.

00:16:09 --> 00:16:11

How which okay. Let me put it this

00:16:11 --> 00:16:14

way. Which two platforms have you found to

00:16:14 --> 00:16:15

be the most useful to you as an

00:16:15 --> 00:16:16

author?

00:16:19 --> 00:16:20

I really like Instagram.

00:16:21 --> 00:16:22

Mhmm. Instagram

00:16:23 --> 00:16:25

is my preferred method, but

00:16:26 --> 00:16:27

I think Instagram

00:16:29 --> 00:16:31

and Twitter has been the most valuable to

00:16:31 --> 00:16:32

me

00:16:32 --> 00:16:34

now. Even though I'm not that great at

00:16:34 --> 00:16:37

at Twitter, I have not mastered Twitter.

00:16:37 --> 00:16:40

I'm still researching it. I'm still trying different

00:16:40 --> 00:16:41

things.

00:16:41 --> 00:16:42

But I found that

00:16:43 --> 00:16:45

the connection that you're able to make on

00:16:45 --> 00:16:46

Twitter is amazing.

00:16:47 --> 00:16:49

The the type of, researchers that you're able

00:16:49 --> 00:16:51

to find in the community is just amazing

00:16:51 --> 00:16:53

on Twitter. And recently,

00:16:54 --> 00:16:56

with the publicity that I've had, I've had

00:16:56 --> 00:16:58

a lot of reach out through Twitter.

00:16:58 --> 00:17:00

So I'm now realizing

00:17:00 --> 00:17:02

the value of Twitter

00:17:02 --> 00:17:03

and,

00:17:04 --> 00:17:05

that I need to focus more on it

00:17:05 --> 00:17:06

and be more intentional

00:17:07 --> 00:17:08

and producing

00:17:08 --> 00:17:09

content

00:17:09 --> 00:17:12

for specifically Twitter because I find that when

00:17:12 --> 00:17:15

I I'm mainly on Instagram and I would

00:17:15 --> 00:17:16

share my my content

00:17:17 --> 00:17:20

with, Facebook and Twitter, and now I'm realizing,

00:17:20 --> 00:17:22

no, you have to have different strategies for

00:17:22 --> 00:17:24

each social media because the people that are

00:17:24 --> 00:17:27

there are different Yeah. On each social media

00:17:27 --> 00:17:29

platform. Right? So

00:17:29 --> 00:17:31

I've I've I've found that,

00:17:31 --> 00:17:33

Twitter is really,

00:17:33 --> 00:17:34

important.

00:17:34 --> 00:17:37

Some connections have come from there that I've

00:17:37 --> 00:17:38

never expected.

00:17:38 --> 00:17:39

I've had

00:17:39 --> 00:17:42

emails and and and things opportunities that came

00:17:42 --> 00:17:43

from that.

00:17:44 --> 00:17:45

Instagram is where I've started.

00:17:46 --> 00:17:48

It's where I'm most comfortable.

00:17:48 --> 00:17:50

It's where I'm more present.

00:17:51 --> 00:17:53

But I'm also working on other social media

00:17:53 --> 00:17:56

platforms. It's not always easy to kinda juggle

00:17:56 --> 00:17:56

all of these,

00:17:57 --> 00:17:57

medias,

00:17:58 --> 00:18:00

but I'm finding that, I think once you

00:18:00 --> 00:18:02

find your voice in each one of them,

00:18:02 --> 00:18:05

you could continue to do that. Yeah. Fantastic,

00:18:05 --> 00:18:07

Michelle. Yeah. I really like that your insight

00:18:07 --> 00:18:08

on Twitter there because,

00:18:09 --> 00:18:10

yeah, it is something that I think a

00:18:10 --> 00:18:13

lot of sisters in general are not really

00:18:13 --> 00:18:14

savvy with Twitter or they don't feel that

00:18:14 --> 00:18:17

comfortable in Twitter. But I agree with you

00:18:17 --> 00:18:21

that the writing community, particularly children's books, but

00:18:21 --> 00:18:22

just writing in general.

00:18:22 --> 00:18:24

The writing community on Twitter really is quite

00:18:24 --> 00:18:26

a special place and it's worth investing some

00:18:26 --> 00:18:28

time to connect with the right people in

00:18:28 --> 00:18:29

your niche,

00:18:30 --> 00:18:32

you know, on on Twitter, Moshe Omar. Fantastic.

00:18:32 --> 00:18:34

And then Instagram is more connect connecting with

00:18:34 --> 00:18:37

potential readers, isn't it? And building that community.

00:18:37 --> 00:18:38

Yeah.

00:18:38 --> 00:18:40

I'm good now. Okay. So tell us about

00:18:40 --> 00:18:42

publicity then because I do know

00:18:42 --> 00:18:44

that you were able to hook some very,

00:18:44 --> 00:18:47

very nice publicity for your books and for

00:18:47 --> 00:18:49

your message and your mission. And that is

00:18:49 --> 00:18:51

one of the reasons why I want to

00:18:51 --> 00:18:53

speak to you because as I was

00:18:53 --> 00:18:56

creating my latest trainings for social media training

00:18:56 --> 00:18:57

for authors and author branding,

00:18:58 --> 00:19:00

one of the things that I that I

00:19:00 --> 00:19:01

that I learned along the way was this

00:19:01 --> 00:19:03

whole thing of,

00:19:03 --> 00:19:06

as an author, you are almost bigger than

00:19:06 --> 00:19:07

your books.

00:19:08 --> 00:19:10

You are a person with a message and

00:19:10 --> 00:19:13

a mission. Your books are

00:19:14 --> 00:19:15

an expression

00:19:15 --> 00:19:18

of that message and that mission, but you

00:19:18 --> 00:19:20

yourself as an author, your brand stands for

00:19:20 --> 00:19:23

something. And I think I've seen you

00:19:23 --> 00:19:26

getting that message across in your publicity. Tell

00:19:26 --> 00:19:29

us about your PR and also kind of,

00:19:29 --> 00:19:31

you know, how you were able to get

00:19:31 --> 00:19:33

that PR and also your your perspective on

00:19:33 --> 00:19:35

making that work for you as an author.

00:19:36 --> 00:19:37

Absolutely. So

00:19:38 --> 00:19:40

before I even published my book, I started

00:19:40 --> 00:19:42

my Instagram account,

00:19:42 --> 00:19:45

and I started telling people that this is

00:19:45 --> 00:19:46

what I'm doing, and this is why I'm

00:19:46 --> 00:19:47

doing it.

00:19:48 --> 00:19:51

And for me, it started out as a

00:19:51 --> 00:19:52

mission, like you said. It wasn't I was

00:19:52 --> 00:19:53

not,

00:19:54 --> 00:19:56

aspiring to be an author

00:19:56 --> 00:20:00

beforehand, you know. I've always loved literature. I'm,

00:20:00 --> 00:20:02

you know, passionate about children's book when I

00:20:02 --> 00:20:03

had children, and

00:20:04 --> 00:20:06

and notice the this lack of,

00:20:06 --> 00:20:10

diversity within the children Muslim children's book. Right?

00:20:10 --> 00:20:13

But it's not something that it was, something

00:20:13 --> 00:20:15

that I was aspiring to do. So for

00:20:15 --> 00:20:16

me, it's why.

00:20:16 --> 00:20:19

The why was important for me. And when

00:20:19 --> 00:20:21

you're trying to market a book,

00:20:21 --> 00:20:24

it's not just buy my book because there's

00:20:24 --> 00:20:26

billions of books out there. Right? But why

00:20:26 --> 00:20:29

are we buying your book? What is your

00:20:29 --> 00:20:31

message? So I've started that

00:20:31 --> 00:20:33

before I even had the book on the

00:20:33 --> 00:20:36

market. Right? So that my audience knew this

00:20:36 --> 00:20:38

book is coming, and this is why we're

00:20:38 --> 00:20:40

writing this book. And this is my message,

00:20:40 --> 00:20:42

where I'm coming from. Why did I write

00:20:42 --> 00:20:44

it? I had a personal story attached to

00:20:44 --> 00:20:47

that. It was a story of my young

00:20:47 --> 00:20:47

daughter

00:20:48 --> 00:20:50

trying to identify and find herself

00:20:51 --> 00:20:51

and,

00:20:52 --> 00:20:54

me kind of reliving my childhood and seeing

00:20:54 --> 00:20:56

the gaps and the things that I could

00:20:56 --> 00:20:58

have benefited from

00:20:58 --> 00:21:01

if I had these type of books. I

00:21:01 --> 00:21:03

wanted books that reflected our culture,

00:21:04 --> 00:21:06

our heritage, as well as our faith. Why

00:21:06 --> 00:21:09

do children and Muslim children's book only in

00:21:09 --> 00:21:12

book one way? Islam is not just one

00:21:12 --> 00:21:15

umbrella of 1 nation. It's all nations. Right?

00:21:15 --> 00:21:17

There is a diversity within our faith, and

00:21:17 --> 00:21:20

it's important to showcase that. And when I

00:21:20 --> 00:21:21

started purchasing,

00:21:22 --> 00:21:23

Muslim children's book for my daughter,

00:21:24 --> 00:21:27

she wasn't represented. And when I was purchasing,

00:21:27 --> 00:21:28

you know,

00:21:28 --> 00:21:30

a book that were,

00:21:31 --> 00:21:35

focused on African features or African culture, her

00:21:35 --> 00:21:38

faith wasn't reflected. So I needed something that

00:21:38 --> 00:21:40

had both. That was my message. That was

00:21:40 --> 00:21:43

my story. Where was I coming from with

00:21:43 --> 00:21:45

that? So it's important to establish that. And

00:21:45 --> 00:21:47

then my brand and my message started from

00:21:47 --> 00:21:49

there. I said, you know, there is a

00:21:49 --> 00:21:51

problem with this. There's no representation

00:21:52 --> 00:21:53

of these two things,

00:21:54 --> 00:21:55

you know, together.

00:21:56 --> 00:21:58

This is why I'm producing this book. And

00:21:58 --> 00:22:00

the audience was able to follow me along

00:22:00 --> 00:22:03

the journey. I would provide samples of my,

00:22:04 --> 00:22:07

you know, the the sketches of my illustrator

00:22:07 --> 00:22:08

will send me. I would ask for feedback.

00:22:09 --> 00:22:10

I would say, you know, I'm getting ready

00:22:10 --> 00:22:12

to launch. I'm doing this. I'm doing that.

00:22:13 --> 00:22:15

So my message was present the whole time.

00:22:15 --> 00:22:18

I didn't it wasn't something that I developed

00:22:18 --> 00:22:20

afterwards. It was not an afterthought. I was

00:22:20 --> 00:22:22

very conscious of what my message was. I

00:22:22 --> 00:22:25

was very conscious of what I wanted, this

00:22:25 --> 00:22:26

book to do.

00:22:26 --> 00:22:28

It wasn't a book just to make profits

00:22:28 --> 00:22:31

or anything for me to kinda get out

00:22:31 --> 00:22:33

there for anything. It was actually

00:22:33 --> 00:22:35

it it was a representation

00:22:35 --> 00:22:36

of this,

00:22:37 --> 00:22:39

message and mission that I had personally.

00:22:40 --> 00:22:42

So that I was clear from that from

00:22:42 --> 00:22:42

the beginning,

00:22:43 --> 00:22:45

and I think that it's very important as

00:22:45 --> 00:22:47

an author to have that message,

00:22:48 --> 00:22:49

already clear in your mind

00:22:50 --> 00:22:52

before you try to

00:22:53 --> 00:22:55

market any of your book or anything like

00:22:55 --> 00:22:57

that. It's very important to have

00:22:58 --> 00:23:01

your message and your your your brand identified

00:23:01 --> 00:23:04

as what are you trying to accomplish? Why

00:23:04 --> 00:23:06

are we why do we need this? Yeah.

00:23:06 --> 00:23:09

Because there are 1,000, millions of books out

00:23:09 --> 00:23:11

there that are dealing maybe with the same

00:23:11 --> 00:23:14

subject, what sets you apart, and why have

00:23:14 --> 00:23:16

you come to produce such a book? So

00:23:16 --> 00:23:18

for me, I was clear from the beginning.

00:23:18 --> 00:23:21

So what I what happened was I was

00:23:21 --> 00:23:23

just telling my story to people. I would

00:23:23 --> 00:23:24

say, you know, guys, I have this book.

00:23:24 --> 00:23:26

This is why I wrote it. This is,

00:23:26 --> 00:23:27

you know, this is what I'm doing. This

00:23:27 --> 00:23:29

is, you know, in my social medias, I

00:23:29 --> 00:23:30

was always,

00:23:31 --> 00:23:32

preaching about it.

00:23:32 --> 00:23:33

And,

00:23:33 --> 00:23:35

one of the main things that I want

00:23:35 --> 00:23:37

to let people know in terms of PR

00:23:37 --> 00:23:39

and things like that is you have to

00:23:39 --> 00:23:40

be able to make connections.

00:23:42 --> 00:23:44

So don't be afraid to pitch yourself and

00:23:44 --> 00:23:46

pitch your story to people.

00:23:46 --> 00:23:48

The the way that it started for me

00:23:48 --> 00:23:50

was that I had someone

00:23:50 --> 00:23:53

locally that, I just kinda ran across from

00:23:53 --> 00:23:55

people that I knew on on Instagram.

00:23:55 --> 00:23:57

And I messaged her, and I said, hey.

00:23:57 --> 00:23:59

You know what? I really love what you're

00:23:59 --> 00:24:00

working on,

00:24:00 --> 00:24:02

and, you know, this is what I'm doing,

00:24:02 --> 00:24:04

and this is what I'm working on. Is

00:24:04 --> 00:24:08

there, maybe could we meet and talk? It

00:24:08 --> 00:24:09

wasn't like saying, you know, you should do

00:24:09 --> 00:24:11

something with me or something like that. Let's

00:24:11 --> 00:24:14

meet because I she was a host of

00:24:14 --> 00:24:15

this community,

00:24:16 --> 00:24:18

channel. And I said, you know what? I

00:24:18 --> 00:24:19

really like the kind of stories that you

00:24:19 --> 00:24:22

feature, and I'm working on certain things like

00:24:22 --> 00:24:24

this. You might might be interested. Let's meet

00:24:24 --> 00:24:26

up and have coffee and discuss this thing,

00:24:27 --> 00:24:29

something, you know. And she really loved my

00:24:29 --> 00:24:31

book. I provided her with a copy,

00:24:31 --> 00:24:33

and she did an interview with me

00:24:33 --> 00:24:36

with a small local channel. And, you know,

00:24:36 --> 00:24:38

we did that interview. It was great.

00:24:39 --> 00:24:42

And they broadcasted that. A few people saw

00:24:42 --> 00:24:43

it. It was okay.

00:24:43 --> 00:24:46

But what happened was is that while you

00:24:46 --> 00:24:48

have to cultivate these, you know, connections, so

00:24:48 --> 00:24:50

what happened is that months later, maybe 6

00:24:50 --> 00:24:52

months later, I'm not sure, one day out

00:24:52 --> 00:24:54

of the blue, she contacts me and she

00:24:54 --> 00:24:57

tells me, you know, I've I've spoken of

00:24:57 --> 00:25:00

you to this reporter from the Toronto Star,

00:25:00 --> 00:25:03

and she wants to potentially do an interview

00:25:03 --> 00:25:05

with you. I said, great. Okay. I'll contact

00:25:05 --> 00:25:07

her, and I did.

00:25:07 --> 00:25:09

And another tip is is that you have

00:25:09 --> 00:25:10

to be ready.

00:25:10 --> 00:25:13

Because these calls or these connections or these

00:25:13 --> 00:25:15

things can happen in time. So you have

00:25:15 --> 00:25:17

to be ready. You don't you can't scramble

00:25:17 --> 00:25:19

at the last minute. So

00:25:19 --> 00:25:21

either way, I knew what my message was.

00:25:21 --> 00:25:24

I knew what I was doing. I there's

00:25:24 --> 00:25:25

no need for me to be stressed about

00:25:25 --> 00:25:28

anything. Right? So I called the reporter. She

00:25:28 --> 00:25:30

actually did the interview right then and there

00:25:30 --> 00:25:33

on the phone with me that same day.

00:25:33 --> 00:25:35

I met up with their photographer

00:25:35 --> 00:25:36

that same day,

00:25:37 --> 00:25:38

after work,

00:25:39 --> 00:25:41

and that article was published the that same

00:25:41 --> 00:25:43

night, actually. Wow. Wow.

00:25:44 --> 00:25:45

Yes.

00:25:46 --> 00:25:48

So I was ready, and I was like,

00:25:48 --> 00:25:50

okay, yes, yes, yes. Because

00:25:51 --> 00:25:52

I believe that if you're ready,

00:25:53 --> 00:25:55

you should just when the opportunity comes, you

00:25:55 --> 00:25:56

say yes.

00:25:57 --> 00:26:00

And that happened. Once that happened, I felt

00:26:00 --> 00:26:02

like it was a floodgate because I then

00:26:02 --> 00:26:05

did a few other interviews,

00:26:05 --> 00:26:08

with local channels. I did an interview with,

00:26:09 --> 00:26:10

a radio station.

00:26:11 --> 00:26:14

And the fact that these that these articles

00:26:14 --> 00:26:17

and these these things are living on the

00:26:17 --> 00:26:18

Internet, I'm still getting residual,

00:26:19 --> 00:26:20

kind of

00:26:21 --> 00:26:24

contacts from them. You know? I got recently

00:26:24 --> 00:26:26

a call from a publishing company here in

00:26:26 --> 00:26:26

Canada,

00:26:27 --> 00:26:30

and that came from them seeing

00:26:31 --> 00:26:33

the articles that I did or those local

00:26:33 --> 00:26:34

channels. I

00:26:34 --> 00:26:36

got yeah. Really great. Mhmm.

00:26:36 --> 00:26:38

Absolutely. Can I just say can I just

00:26:38 --> 00:26:40

say one second? I

00:26:40 --> 00:26:42

have to jump in here because,

00:26:42 --> 00:26:45

my talk on, author you know, building your

00:26:45 --> 00:26:47

author platform. And one of the things I

00:26:47 --> 00:26:48

say in that training is

00:26:48 --> 00:26:50

when you have a platform,

00:26:50 --> 00:26:52

you're more attractive to publishers.

00:26:52 --> 00:26:54

Right? Because they see you. They see that,

00:26:54 --> 00:26:58

okay, this person is serious about making connections,

00:26:58 --> 00:27:01

about serving, and they have people who love

00:27:01 --> 00:27:03

and trust them. And basically,

00:27:04 --> 00:27:06

This is great. I'm so pleased to hear

00:27:06 --> 00:27:08

that. May Allah put in whatever it is,

00:27:08 --> 00:27:10

you know, that comes from that. But that's

00:27:10 --> 00:27:12

really great for us to know as well,

00:27:13 --> 00:27:14

that this can be one of the results

00:27:14 --> 00:27:17

of having that kind of attention and that

00:27:17 --> 00:27:17

kind of

00:27:18 --> 00:27:20

press. I mean, yes. Truly. And I feel

00:27:20 --> 00:27:24

like, of course, that added attention or that

00:27:24 --> 00:27:27

that that period of time of PR really

00:27:27 --> 00:27:29

boosted my sales. Like, my my book was

00:27:29 --> 00:27:31

everywhere. I wanna hear that. That's what I

00:27:31 --> 00:27:33

wanna do. Yeah. That's it. It was on

00:27:33 --> 00:27:36

the local channels. I was able to,

00:27:37 --> 00:27:39

finish out all the books that I had

00:27:39 --> 00:27:40

printed. I had I I did a second

00:27:40 --> 00:27:43

print of my book because I I sold

00:27:43 --> 00:27:43

out.

00:27:44 --> 00:27:46

So it was amazing because I had all

00:27:46 --> 00:27:47

this attention.

00:27:48 --> 00:27:50

But mainly for me was that I was

00:27:50 --> 00:27:53

able to reach more audience, you know. And

00:27:53 --> 00:27:55

it also adds to your credibility

00:27:55 --> 00:27:57

for any time that you wanna reach out

00:27:57 --> 00:27:59

to other PRs or to other,

00:28:00 --> 00:28:02

you know, news media or anything like that

00:28:02 --> 00:28:03

to let them know, hey,

00:28:04 --> 00:28:06

I've done this interview. This is what I'm

00:28:06 --> 00:28:07

about, you know,

00:28:07 --> 00:28:10

Would you be interested in doing something together?

00:28:10 --> 00:28:13

Yeah. So that's also an added bonus. And

00:28:13 --> 00:28:15

also the fact that any of these interviews,

00:28:15 --> 00:28:17

any of these, medias that you do live

00:28:17 --> 00:28:20

on the Internet forever. So people are able

00:28:20 --> 00:28:23

to find you, and that's what's happening is

00:28:23 --> 00:28:24

that I'm still able to get calls and

00:28:24 --> 00:28:26

things like that that,

00:28:26 --> 00:28:29

from just that, month of publicity that I

00:28:29 --> 00:28:30

got in April.

00:28:31 --> 00:28:32

Wonderful, Michelle. That's fantastic.

00:28:33 --> 00:28:35

In terms of the publicity, did you have

00:28:35 --> 00:28:37

a press release? Did you send a press

00:28:37 --> 00:28:40

release out to local media? Did you actually

00:28:40 --> 00:28:42

have that kind of system or was it

00:28:42 --> 00:28:43

just

00:28:43 --> 00:28:46

like, reaching people individually via Twitter and Instagram?

00:28:48 --> 00:28:50

I did I did have, like, you know,

00:28:50 --> 00:28:52

a small press. I didn't I I would

00:28:52 --> 00:28:53

just do kind of, like, emails where I

00:28:53 --> 00:28:56

would send, but I found that it was

00:28:56 --> 00:28:56

harder

00:28:57 --> 00:28:58

to get anyone

00:28:58 --> 00:29:00

unless you had, like you know, you kinda

00:29:00 --> 00:29:02

have to have connections. Yes. Because it's hard

00:29:02 --> 00:29:04

to do cold calls. It's hard to do

00:29:04 --> 00:29:07

cold pitches. Right? Yeah. But at least I've

00:29:07 --> 00:29:08

I've found,

00:29:09 --> 00:29:10

once I did that first article,

00:29:11 --> 00:29:13

I I I felt like they all saw

00:29:13 --> 00:29:15

it, and then they all wanted to interview

00:29:15 --> 00:29:17

me because they all did it within the

00:29:17 --> 00:29:20

same week. Right? Yes. So and and those

00:29:20 --> 00:29:21

were the the medias that I was pitching

00:29:21 --> 00:29:22

to before

00:29:22 --> 00:29:25

that I wasn't able to kinda get into.

00:29:25 --> 00:29:27

So I felt that once you had that

00:29:28 --> 00:29:29

crack of a door open,

00:29:29 --> 00:29:32

it was easier for me to get through

00:29:32 --> 00:29:33

to anyone. And I feel like now that

00:29:33 --> 00:29:36

I've done that, I still have those contacts.

00:29:36 --> 00:29:39

You know, they've invited me back on for,

00:29:39 --> 00:29:40

you know, when I have my next book

00:29:40 --> 00:29:42

and when I do my launches and things

00:29:42 --> 00:29:45

like that. So I think that it's it's

00:29:45 --> 00:29:48

a bit difficult at first when you're a

00:29:48 --> 00:29:49

known unknown author,

00:29:50 --> 00:29:51

but I would still do things like,

00:29:52 --> 00:29:53

they had,

00:29:54 --> 00:29:54

self publishing

00:29:55 --> 00:29:57

days at the library. I would go there.

00:29:57 --> 00:29:59

They took pictures of me. They put her

00:29:59 --> 00:30:01

on Twitter. Some people saw it. Like, you

00:30:01 --> 00:30:02

know, things like that. You still have to

00:30:02 --> 00:30:04

get out there and do something. Right?

00:30:05 --> 00:30:07

You never know the day that your break

00:30:07 --> 00:30:09

is gonna come. But if you stay ready

00:30:09 --> 00:30:11

and that you stay consistent,

00:30:11 --> 00:30:14

I believe that at that time, you're able

00:30:14 --> 00:30:15

to then,

00:30:15 --> 00:30:15

take,

00:30:16 --> 00:30:18

you know, take part of that opportunity

00:30:19 --> 00:30:21

and and and pounce on it. Because

00:30:22 --> 00:30:24

sometimes it doesn't come as easy as other

00:30:24 --> 00:30:25

people have it,

00:30:26 --> 00:30:28

but that's the reason why it's so important

00:30:28 --> 00:30:30

to cultivate these relationships

00:30:31 --> 00:30:31

and to,

00:30:32 --> 00:30:34

continue telling your message because you never know

00:30:34 --> 00:30:36

who's gonna hear it and who's gonna pass

00:30:36 --> 00:30:39

it on for you. Yeah. Masha'Allah, I I

00:30:39 --> 00:30:39

agree 100%.

00:30:40 --> 00:30:42

And I just have one last question for

00:30:42 --> 00:30:44

you. Do you feel that

00:30:44 --> 00:30:47

your identity as a Muslim, as a Muslim

00:30:47 --> 00:30:48

of color,

00:30:48 --> 00:30:51

as somebody who is standing for diversity and

00:30:51 --> 00:30:51

understanding,

00:30:51 --> 00:30:53

Do you think that that was an advantage

00:30:53 --> 00:30:55

for you in the current climate?

00:30:57 --> 00:31:00

An advantage? You know, it's not something that

00:31:00 --> 00:31:02

I thought about initially. Right? I didn't even

00:31:02 --> 00:31:05

know that there's after when I started writing

00:31:05 --> 00:31:06

and I got into

00:31:06 --> 00:31:08

following all of these accounts and being more

00:31:08 --> 00:31:11

aware of the space is when I found

00:31:11 --> 00:31:13

that there is now a greater push for

00:31:13 --> 00:31:14

diversity

00:31:14 --> 00:31:15

in general,

00:31:15 --> 00:31:16

not only,

00:31:17 --> 00:31:20

I just within children Muslim children's books or

00:31:20 --> 00:31:22

anything like that, there is a greater awareness.

00:31:22 --> 00:31:25

I am so happy to see that because

00:31:25 --> 00:31:28

for me diversity is, within the literature,

00:31:28 --> 00:31:31

community. It's so important, so vital, because I

00:31:31 --> 00:31:34

remember as a young child, I didn't have

00:31:34 --> 00:31:36

access to this. You know? And I hated

00:31:36 --> 00:31:38

seeing my daughter go through the same thing

00:31:38 --> 00:31:40

that I was going through where she's trying

00:31:40 --> 00:31:41

to identify

00:31:41 --> 00:31:41

her

00:31:42 --> 00:31:44

sense of belonging and and her sense of

00:31:44 --> 00:31:47

beauty being attached to these, all the things

00:31:47 --> 00:31:49

that are being pushed in the market right

00:31:49 --> 00:31:51

now. Right? So for me,

00:31:51 --> 00:31:53

to see that as an advantage,

00:31:54 --> 00:31:57

it's it wasn't part of my strategy. Right?

00:31:57 --> 00:31:58

It's who you are, isn't it?

00:32:00 --> 00:32:02

I didn't I didn't say, you know, let's

00:32:02 --> 00:32:04

write books because this, and it's gonna be

00:32:04 --> 00:32:06

an obnoxious stout. That was not it, actually.

00:32:06 --> 00:32:06

You know?

00:32:07 --> 00:32:09

I thought actually it would be harder because

00:32:10 --> 00:32:11

there are so many,

00:32:12 --> 00:32:13

great,

00:32:13 --> 00:32:16

Muslim children's book out there. Even though there

00:32:16 --> 00:32:19

isn't many that feature, black Muslims, there are

00:32:19 --> 00:32:20

so many good ones, and I do know

00:32:20 --> 00:32:23

how many people would resonate with the semesters

00:32:23 --> 00:32:25

that I'm pushing to say, you know, Islam

00:32:25 --> 00:32:28

is not just looking one way. It's it

00:32:28 --> 00:32:29

doesn't have to be only from one country.

00:32:29 --> 00:32:31

There's so much diversity in that.

00:32:32 --> 00:32:34

Let's maybe give our children that are black

00:32:34 --> 00:32:35

and

00:32:35 --> 00:32:37

Muslims. And for me, it's not even,

00:32:38 --> 00:32:40

from one country. Like, when I say people

00:32:40 --> 00:32:43

think that because I am from a Somali

00:32:43 --> 00:32:45

descent, that I'm writing books for Somali community.

00:32:45 --> 00:32:48

That's not it. For me, it's being of

00:32:48 --> 00:32:51

color and being Muslim. Where does that fit

00:32:51 --> 00:32:52

in? Because

00:32:52 --> 00:32:54

you have as a as a as a

00:32:54 --> 00:32:57

Muslim woman that is of color, that is

00:32:57 --> 00:32:59

wearing a hijab, and that is Muslim, that

00:32:59 --> 00:33:01

is wearing her faith on her face,

00:33:01 --> 00:33:02

I am,

00:33:03 --> 00:33:05

you know, totally aware of the attention

00:33:05 --> 00:33:08

that I am projecting out there. And one

00:33:08 --> 00:33:11

of the reasons that I'm producing these books

00:33:11 --> 00:33:12

is to give that confidence

00:33:12 --> 00:33:14

for my daughter and other kids

00:33:14 --> 00:33:17

to own not only their their their features

00:33:17 --> 00:33:20

as as people of color, but also their

00:33:20 --> 00:33:23

identity as Muslims. So for me, that's that's

00:33:23 --> 00:33:25

what I'm trying to accomplish.

00:33:26 --> 00:33:28

If it's, a bonus and that I have

00:33:28 --> 00:33:29

a space I know I have a space

00:33:29 --> 00:33:31

because I saw a lack of it. Right?

00:33:32 --> 00:33:34

So I have a space, and I'm doing

00:33:34 --> 00:33:35

what I, I need to do in order

00:33:35 --> 00:33:37

to fill that gap, and I'm hoping that

00:33:37 --> 00:33:39

people will resonate with that.

00:33:42 --> 00:33:45

It's really, really wonderful to hear, you know,

00:33:45 --> 00:33:47

the success of your endeavors.

00:33:48 --> 00:33:50

And, I believe your next book is coming

00:33:50 --> 00:33:51

out just after your baby is due. Is

00:33:51 --> 00:33:52

that correct?

00:33:53 --> 00:33:55

Well, I'm working on it. I was announcing

00:33:55 --> 00:33:58

on Instagram today that I did receive the

00:33:58 --> 00:34:01

the proof of it. So I'm finalizing.

00:34:01 --> 00:34:03

I'm in the midst of it. I'm hoping

00:34:03 --> 00:34:05

to have it done before I have this

00:34:05 --> 00:34:08

baby so that I can have some downtime

00:34:08 --> 00:34:11

afterwards. Alright. But, yeah, inshallah, it's gonna be

00:34:11 --> 00:34:12

out very soon.

00:34:13 --> 00:34:13

And,

00:34:14 --> 00:34:14

I'm so

00:34:15 --> 00:34:17

surprised that I was actually because it's my

00:34:17 --> 00:34:19

first book has only been on the market

00:34:19 --> 00:34:21

for a year, that that I was able

00:34:21 --> 00:34:23

to do this other book next

00:34:24 --> 00:34:24

year.

00:34:25 --> 00:34:26

It's I'm

00:34:27 --> 00:34:28

I'm trying to do this.

00:34:29 --> 00:34:29

That's wonderful,

00:34:30 --> 00:34:31

And,

00:34:31 --> 00:34:32

underneath this video,

00:34:33 --> 00:34:35

hopefully, we'll have a preorder link so that

00:34:35 --> 00:34:38

people can order the next book. Excuse me.

00:34:41 --> 00:34:42

Okay. Well, It's been fantastic listening to you

00:34:42 --> 00:34:43

and learning about your journey.

00:34:51 --> 00:34:53

May Allah give you success in all your

00:34:53 --> 00:34:53

affairs,

00:34:54 --> 00:34:54

and,

00:34:55 --> 00:34:57

we'll see you on hopefully in the chat

00:34:57 --> 00:34:59

section, Insha'Allah, as we discuss,

00:35:00 --> 00:35:00

your interview

00:35:01 --> 00:35:03

and, do some quizzes and see who was

00:35:03 --> 00:35:05

paying attention and who was not paying attention.

00:35:07 --> 00:35:08

We'll see you in the watch party,

00:35:14 --> 00:35:16

Thank you so much for the opportunity, and

00:35:16 --> 00:35:17

I'm so happy to be part of this

00:35:17 --> 00:35:19

community. Thank you. Alhamdulillah.

00:35:20 --> 00:35:23

Wa Alaikum, everyone. My name is Rahma Roda.

00:35:23 --> 00:35:25

I am the author of this book. It's

00:35:25 --> 00:35:26

called Muhammed's Quest,

00:35:26 --> 00:35:29

and I am so honored and happy to

00:35:29 --> 00:35:31

be part of the Muslimah Writers Summit.

00:35:31 --> 00:35:33

So I look forward to seeing all of

00:35:33 --> 00:35:35

you on July 6th.

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