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I recently had the pleasure of interviewing author/editor Natalie R. Collins, whose book, Wives and Sisters (St. Martin's Press) will be available fall, 2004. A writer of fiction and nonfiction, Collins shares her views on self-publishing and the business of book marketing.
I'd like to begin the interview with a non-writing question: For two years you were the editor for the Sundance Film Festival. What did that entail?
I was actually AN editor for the Sundance Film Festival, not THE editor. My good friend Linda Allen was chief editor. We worked on all the printed publications for the festival, including the catalogue and the film guide. It was an incredibly creative and fast-paced environment, with lots of pressure to get things done fast but right. I loved every minute of it. We had lots of late nights and intense deadlines, and also got to meet and speak to some of the most important people in the film world. The first year I also had the opportunity to work as a filmmaker liaison for the Salt Lake City venues, and I met some wonderful directors and actors.
How did you get your start as a writer?
I don't remember a time when I didn't write. My mother has brought out some books that I wrote when I was in elementary, junior high and high school. Of course, at that time, I thought I could do the illustrating, too. Scary. When I graduated from high school I attended the University of Utah and while there got a job working for The Salt Lake Tribune. Back then they allowed us to write even when we were copy clerks, and working your way up was encouraged. I also worked in advertising and did newsletter writing for quite a few years. I quit the newspaper to raise my two daughters, and when they were a little older [I] took a job at Barnes and Noble, which was just about the worst place imaginable for an avid reader to work. I never had much of a paycheck left after buying books. While working there, I finally decided to take the plunge and write the book "everyone knows they have in them." Once I started, I couldn't stop.
Besides writing fiction and researching and publishing a non-fiction book on finding an agent, (Buy This Book and I'll Wash Your Car) you are the managing partner of Readers Room.com, and the Editor in Chief of The Blue Iris Journal, a review site. In addition, you're a wife and mother. Being so busy, it must be very difficult to find time to work on your own writing. Do you have a writing schedule?
I had to resign as editor in chief of Blue Iris, although I dearly loved doing it, because I simply couldn't do it all anymore. And I am not THE managing partner, but a managing partner of ReadersRoom.com, which takes up a lot of time, and it is growing rapidly. My partner Rob Holden and I have had the opportunity to interview some of the biggest names in the business, and it's been interesting and inspiring to hear their stories. I have a very set schedule that I adhere to when I am writing: I start early in the morning, and don't stop until my kids need to be picked up from school. Right now, I am between novels, as I await edits on my book Wives and Sisters (formerly Outer Darkness) from St. Martin's Press. I'm busy writing reviews and a column for ReadersRoom, however, so the writing never stops.
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