Columbia author Karyn Rae is determined to accomplish anything she sets her mind to. Now, she has surprised everyone — even herself.
“Nobody, including myself, thought that I would be in the position I am today,” Rae says.
Since starting to write in 2010, Rae has self-published two books, “The Achilles Heel”
and “The Achilles Heart,” last year. Additionally, her self-publishing company, Karyn Rae Publishing, launches May 1.
Alli Ritchey, Rae’s close friend and trailer artist for Karyn Rae Publishing, describes Rae as “a straightforward, yet compassionate woman who does everything she says she’s going to do … she’s got the quickest wit, the kindest heart and the most darling laugh you’ll ever hear. She’s just an all-around amazing woman — well-rounded and ambitious.”
This ambition began as simply a lifelong love of writing. When asked why she loves it, Rae is quick to answer.
“Escape,” she says. “The escape of my everyday life and reality; not that it’s bad, but being able to lose myself in a completely different world.”
However, this passion never went further than that. It wasn’t until she was 35 that she realized she wanted to be an author. Her friends and family thought this was just a whim, but this doubt only fueled her to work harder.
“You know how some people say, ‘I’m gonna do that someday’?” Ritchey says. “Karyn never says ‘someday.’ She says, ‘I’m gonna do this,’ and then she actually goes and does it … Karyn doesn’t mess around.”
Rae began writing her first book in 2010, while also taking care of her two- and five-year-old kids. She used aspects of her life, such as living in the Midwest, for inspiration.
“I don’t think you can write a book without putting your own personal perspective and experience in it, because I think that’s what makes it organic and natural and real,” Rae says.
When it comes to her writing process, Rae has a mentor and friend to turn to, and a famous one at that: Gillian Flynn, the author of the best selling novel-turned-movie “Gone Girl.”
“I’m very grateful for her direction,” Rae says. “Her words of wisdom have truly been amazing. Her mantra, which is now my mantra — because if Gillian Flynn gives you a mantra you take it — is ‘butt in chair.’ The writing isn’t going to get done any other way.”
However, once she has her butt in the chair, Karyn looks to another famous author for reference: John Irving, who said to know your first sentence and your last sentence and then go from there.
Her writing style follows along these same lines.
“I would say my writing style is just real words and real people,” Rae says. “I don’t try to baffle readers with my superior knowledge of long words.”
When discussing her book, Rae continues to be refreshingly honest and down-to-earth.
“It’s not a book that will change your life, but it will certainly help you escape it,” Rae says.
The minute details came relatively quickly to Rae as she finished writing “The Achilles Heel” in less than a year.
“The minute details of things, they just happen while I’m writing,” she says.
The publishing process was another story.
She sent her manuscript to several agents and publishing companies, and received only feedback for the most part. Finally, she got a yes. However, it soon became clear to Rae that she and the agent did not see eye to eye.
“The things she wanted to change, that she said absolutely had to be changed, were the things I get the most compliments on,” Rae says.
So Rae turned the agent down— a risky decision— and began her journey to self-publishing.
After self-publishing her book, she received a contract offer from a traditional publishing company. Once again, Rae turned it down, feeling too invested in self-publishing already. This stressful decision was one she wrestled with for a while, but in the end, she followed her gut. Although the self-publishing route was difficult and discouraging at times, Rae doesn’t regret her decision.
“Usually the roads that are the most difficult to get down are the ones that are worth it in the end,” Rae says. “You just learn so much more about yourself.”
Her difficult experience with the world of self-publishing inspired Rae to help others.
“Self-publishing is an industry, and as a whole, it is a beast,” she says. “You will get swallowed up. That’s what happened to me. I was stolen from, I was jerked around ‘cause I didn’t know anything and they knew it. There are just bad people out in the world sometimes.”
Rae hopes she will be able to use her experiences and mistakes to make the self-publishing process easier for other writers. Her self-publishing company is set to launch May 1.
“Kind of like how the drive-thru window at fast food restaurants changed the entire industry, that’s essentially what I’m doing with my company,” Rae says. “It’s like drive-thru publishing, if you will.”
Her company will offer two different service packages. One she describes as an “à la carte menu,” where self-publishers can choose the service they need. For example, if they need a book cover, Rae will provide them with information on a reliable and talented cover artist for a flat rate fee of $99.
The second package Rae describes as a “full-service package,” which includes three rounds of editing, a formatter, a cover artist, a book blog tour, a book trailer and a permanent spot on the website.
Rae expects it will be difficult to balance her company with her writing; however, she is excited for the challenge.
In the meantime, she has halted work on a novel entitled “Terms of Surrender” to consider ghostwriting a book. She also recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the publication of her first book and her entrance into authorhood. As she reflects on the past year, there is one message she wants to impart to her readers.
“You are limitless,” Rae says. “Don’t let people tell you that you can’t, because if you buy into other people’s expectations of your life, that’s on you. You can do and write and be anything that you want to be. It really is completely and totally in your hands, all you have to do is start.”