Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Jochim.
Hi Lisa, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Born and raised in Plymouth, Michigan, I headed for Texas with my husband after graduating with a degree in Elementary Education from Iowa State University. I taught for 12 years before staying home to raise my three children. In 2011, my husband took a job in The Netherlands. We packed up our youngest daughter and our 2 labs and crossed the pond to Europe where we would live for the next five years. It was during this time that I found my love for writing. I began blogging about my adventures as an expat and the many exciting things that I was going through as an American Girl in Holland (the name of my blog).
After my husband retired in 2016, we moved back to Texas to be near our children, but having Michigan blood running through my veins, the pull home would always be there. My husband and I bought a small log cabin on Little Bear Lake in Michigan where I had spent my youth. This beautiful location would come as a welcome retreat from the Texas heat in the summer and allow me to spend many days writing. This writing led to my first children’s picture book. I started and opened my own independent publishing company called Blueberry Pancake Publishing. I would take the next few years to self-publish Excuse Me Sir, Do You Bark English?
I am currently working on my second children’s picture book that takes place on Little Bear Lake in Michigan during the 1950s. I’m also working on my memoirs of my time as an expat living in The Netherlands. In my spare time, I coach with other authors just beginning their process in order to help them on their way.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s been a smooth road with many twists and turns along the way. When I began my self-publishing journey, it was basically a new concept. Today, self-publishing has a lot more street cred, and also there are many companies that offer cookie-cutter approaches. I, myself, not liking to be part of the cookie approach like to barrel through with my own ideas. One thing I love about being self-published is that I have full control of my book from idea in my head to a child holding my book in his or her hands.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
What sets me apart from the majority of other authors of today is that I currently am not using Amazon. I love Amazon. I order other people’s books from Amazon. But at the moment, I am still not selling my book through their company. Amazon takes an enormous amount of money from the author. Let’s say for example that your book is priced at 15.00$. Amazon takes about 13.00 of that for their company, leaving the author with about a dollar or two. I do not do my own illustrations, so half of that would go to my illustrator. That would leave me, the author, with about a dollar or less. I am a small business and enjoy keeping it that way.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
I write for myself and for my children and grandchildren. If others enjoy my books, that is just icing on the cake.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.blueberrypancakepublishing.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blueberrypancakepublishing/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blueberrypancakepublishing
