SK Exclusive Interview with Library Journal Award Winner Anita M. Cal
Street Khemistry has the pleasure of sitting down with Library Journal Award Winner Anita M. Cal. We want to thank you for taking time out of your crazy schedule to talk to us.
Where are you from?
I’m from Seattle, Washington.
Where did you attend School?
I graduated high school from Chief Sealth. I have a B.A. from the University of Washington in Communications, an M.A. from Cal State University, Northridge in Screenwriting and I’m currently pursuing a double doctorate in Leadership at Pepperdine University.
What is Library Journal Award?
It’s an honor giving to independent authors by a panel of librarians. The self-publishing boom has led to so many books being published, the U.S. library system needed a way to jump in the game, but also to sift through the offerings and select work they feel is on par with traditionally published books.
Since you are Washingtonian is it safe to say you love your Seattle Seahawks and your Starbucks coffee?
Of course! There are a few things to say that are safe about me. I love God, family the Hawks, Starbucks instant coffee, the Supersonics, and real hip hop. Biggie, Tupac, The Roots, Talib, Mos Def, Kendrick, and Common. Of course I like Mix-a-lot and Macklemore too, because they’re 206.
How did you conduct your research for your book “The Eighth Wonder: the Thomas Bethune Story of the Black Mozart?
My research was exhaustive. When I started the journey, the internet wasn’t as accessible in terms of search engines, so I had to use libraries, actually go to the library, look through stacks, climb stairs and search shelves for books. As time went on, I used the internet, searching hundreds of old newspaper articles about Thomas and old medical journals that mentioned him. I also had to research everything possible about the 19th century and the antebellum, pre-Civil War south, from clothing, political figures, entertainers, to street names, vehicles, to the food they ate for breakfast, down to whether rubber bands were used or not.
What is the book about?
It’s a historical fiction tale based on the true story of a slave born blind, feeble, and left for dead who begins playing Mozart at the age of three.
What are some of the steps to publish a book?
Self-publishing is an intensive, but doable venture. Once you finish your book, you have to get several things in place. You have to have your book edited by a professional editor for anything from creative passes, story, theme, character, which may take two or three passes. You also have to have your book copyedited for grammar and punctuation. Then, once the book is the best it can be, you have to have your cover designed with a graphic artist or someone who is talented with photo shop. You can then get the process started with Createspace or Ingram Sparks. Createspace is Amazon’s indie arm and Ingram Sparks–which is the largest distributor of books and movies—is Ingram’s indie arm. The most difficult part of the process is the formatting of your manuscript for those distributors. The first time out, you need to give yourself at least 3 weeks, literally, to get it right, because the specs they have are tricky, sensitive, and hard to understand and their system will continually reject your manuscript and your book cover until they meet the specific trim specs for their book size. Once you finally get past that, you set your price for the book and voila, you’re in. The hard part comes with selling. Books, like music or any art, do not sell themselves. You have to have a marketing plan in place. Set up newspaper interviews, bloggers, author signings, etc. It’s a business. I’m utilizing my journalism background, producing background, and Beacon Hill hustle to figure it all out.
Where can we pick up the book, will there be physical copies or just digital copies?
Both. The book is available on Amazon right now as an Ebook, the paperback version of the book will be available November 15, 2015 on Amazon as well. You can also purchase directly from me from www.anitamcal.com through Paypal using my business email: [email protected]
Do you have any other books that you might be writing?
I’m working on a second biographical novel right now, about an African-American fashion designer to the wealthy from the 30s-70s, who owned a shop on fifth avenue in New York and was virtually unknown, except she was famous among the one percent. Dior was fascinated with her and they were great friends. Many times, he’d visit America from France and not associate with anyone but her.
Before I let you go I have to ask about your work with Tyler Perry’s House of Payne and Meet the Browns?
Writing for a show is exciting and terrifying at the same time. I’ve written for other shows, The Chin Chens and a pilot for Her T.V. It’s all the same. You have to break stories, meaning sit around a large conference table with other writers, comedians, and T.V executives, trying to produce clever pitches in front of everyone that are unique, funny, and pertain to character, story, theme, and plot. It’s not easy. I’m good at writing and writing my pitches, but on the spot-specific joke pitches or story themes can be difficult to produce. Sometimes you can prepare your pitches the night before for the next day, but writers also spend the evening preparing pitches, and joke punches for already written scripts! After 16 hours, it’s a challenge trying to be funny. Sitting across from Tyler Perry, who is about ten feet tall, leaning back with his hand on his chin, is intimidating, but he laughed a lot at my scripts. He wanted to be fair with the writing team and not play favorites, so he never allowed names on our scripts, only your episode number, and in the first season he set aside some of the best scripts and two of them were mine. The man moves one hundred miles per hour, he’d have us working on two shows, while he was finishing one script for a movie and rewriting another play. He was always brutally honest, in hurry, and expecting excellence, so you had to come correct.
With that being said, I would like to thank you again for sitting down with us here at Street Khemistry Anita M. Cal
SK Exclusive Interview with Library Journal Award Winner Anita M. Cal was originally published on Street Khemistry - Hip Hop Culture