On Writing and Publishing Woman Of Valor

When I started writing Woman of Valor in 2011, I titled it Unorthodox, before I knew there was a book by that name soon to become a TV series. Three years-divorced from my first husband, I was remarried to a man I loved, and I’d abandoned the Orthodox lifestyle I’d committed to in the late 1990s.

I was already the author of eight books, which had all been published by small independent presses, and it wasn’t the first time I’d tried to write a novel. I’ve always loved writing, and I’ve been published around the world. Yet I still yearned to be known as an author whose words people couldn’t wait to read.

As a journalist in New York, Washington, D.C., and Detroit, I was good at creating short pieces from research and interviews. After earning my MFA in creative writing, I’d written six nonfiction books and two collections of poetry that small presses eagerly published. But fiction was a bigger challenge.

I stalled after writing sixty pages. I didn’t know where the characters were going. Plus, I was annoyed with my main character, an Orthodox Jewish woman who lamented her life. There are plenty of books, movies and TV series about how hard it is to be religious.

So I left it alone and focused on the marketing company that I created when journalism went south during the economic crisis and I was becoming the single mother of three young children. I just didn’t have time to write a book.

I returned to the manuscript in 2021, a different person and a better writer. Plus, I was a long way from the Orthodox life I had lived. I had perspective. And I wanted to tell a story that no one was telling. That is, of a religious person who chooses to stay despite challenges she might face.

Sometimes I still miss the quiet of the weekly Sabbath, when I’d invite people to dine in my home and stay for hours in lively conversation. I still love the sensory rituals – lighting candles on Friday nights to wave in the Sabbath peace (using my great-grandmother’s brass candlesticks that came from Eastern Europe when she emigrated), making challah bread and smelling its sweetness as it rises in my oven, presiding over a full table during Passover, extracting meaning and thought from text.

This fall, Woman of Valor, will be published, my first novel and ninth book. On September 26, I’ll host a virtual launch party with giveaways and surprises and conversation with authors who glowingly endorsed my book, about how to write stories that people want to read. 

Way back when I started writing and getting published, I could never have imagined choosing to publish my first novel through my own hybrid press. This year, I founded Scotia Road Books, a publishing imprint for women over 40 with strong voices. I did this after querying for a hot minute and, despite great responses from agents and publishers, knowing that I wanted to publish my novel my way, on my timeline.

The publishing industry today has many valid paths for writers to choose. And that’s something I could not have imagined way back when: that an author could hold the power.

I was taught that I’d need someone else’s validation – someone else choosing me and my writing – in order to get published. I’d have to play a game to see my stories come to life.

Not anymore. Some of the most popular authors today choose to self-publish. Colleen Hoover. Kiersten Modglin. Zibby Owens. Beatrix Potter self-published The Tale of Peter Rabbit after being rejected by six publishers. Scottish author Nan Shepherd self-published The Living Mountain, and it’s become the epitome of nature writing posthumously. Mark Twain self-published Huck Finn because he wasn’t satisfied with the profit margin from his publisher. The list is long for a reason.

A decade ago, hybrid publishing or self-publishing just weren’t as respected as they are today. I’m so glad that has changed. Because publishing is a business. It’s about making decisions that will make money for the organization. You can be the organization, or you can help someone else make their money.

I’ve had others accept my work. And plenty have rejected it, too. It’s my time. Time to publish my way. 

I’ve set a goal of writing a book a year for the rest of my life. I could make a lucky publisher a lot of money at that pace, but I am so excited that the person who will reap the most from my hard work is me.

And, hopefully, my readers.

WOMAN OF VALOR

Woman of Valor features Sally, a young woman in Chicago who chooses to become religious in Judaism. She has a spicy, loving marriage – great sex scenes, if I don’t say so myself! – and loves being a mother and a member of her religious community. 

When her son is abused at his school, the community’s reaction surprises her. Just then, her college boyfriend comes back into her life, finding her online as old lovers do, apologizing for breaking her heart and wanting to rekindle their romance. The story follows Sally’s journey as she contends with challenges and obstacles and makes decisions she can live with.

Daring to believe my story is worth my time was the best move I’ve ever made. I love my life. I am building an author career, motivated by the knowledge that the bigger my body of work, the more opportunities to connect with my audience.

Showing up as my best self, doing work that I love, has transformed my days into vessels of meaning. And there’s no going back now.

BUY HERE

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Lynne Golodner is the author of nine books (two poetry collections, six nonfiction books and a novel) and thousands of articles as well as a marketing entrepreneur, writing coach and host of the Make Meaning Podcast, where she interviews authors and people in publishing. After working as a journalist in New York and Washington, D.C., Lynne returned to her native Detroit to pursue a freelance writing career and teach writing. In 2007, she created Your People, a marketing and public relations company with a focus on storytelling that guides authors in building their brands and marketing their work.

Lynne’s first novel, WOMAN OF VALOR, debuts on September 26, 2023. Her creative nonfiction writing has appeared in the Great Lakes Review, Saveur, the Chicago Tribune, Better Homes and Gardens, Midwest Living, the Detroit Free Press, Porridge Magazine, the Jewish Literary Journal, The Good Life Review, Hadassah Magazine, The Forward, Valiant Scribe, Story Unlikely, The Dillydoun Review, Quibble and YourTango, among many more publications. In addition to her signature Finding Your Voice writers workshop, Lynne leads writers retreats and The Writers Community as a way to bring writers together to develop their writing.

A former Fulbright Specialist, Lynne graduated from University of Michigan (BA, Communications/English) and Goddard College (MFA, Writing). She is the mother of four young adults and lives in Huntington Woods, Michigan.

Subscribe to Lynne’s Rebel Author Substack: https://lynnegolodnerauthor.substack.com

Find Lynne at https://lynnegolodner.com

 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing