Interview with Yasmin Shiraz: Author passionate about helping young people

I love hearing about authors who are into different genres and also people who have passionate causes.

Today's interview is with Yasmin Shiraz, an author who I met on Twitter, and she embodies both of these aspects in her work.

Can you tell us a bit about you and your books?

I’ve written six books, the 7^th book, The Hive, will be out during the summer or early fall. Most of my books deal with youth and the issues that surround young people.

My first book, The Blueprint for My Girls: How To Build A Life Full of Courage, Determination & Self Love (Simon & Schuster) came from my journals as a teen. I wanted to share with people what I had gone through and so I self-published it and then it was picked up by Simon & Schuster.

My latest book, Retaliation, is about a teen girl who is violently attacked by three girls that she doesn’t know. The story was inspired by a girl who attended one of my self-esteem workshops. Retaliation was selected as an ALA 2009 Top Ten Book for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.

You work with young people and your books are also aimed at them. Why is this cause so important to you?

I didn’t have a rough childhood, but so many things happened to me(self-doubting, bullied, fighting, peer pressure, boyfriend issues) that I feel destined to write about young people’s struggles. It seems to me that their struggles were my struggles.

How did you come to be published by Simon & Schuster? Did it take a long time and a lot of rejections to get there?

Prior to publishing with Simon & Schuster, I sent my manuscript to 100 agents. After the 100^th agent turned me down, I became a book publisher. It was one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made. 6 months after I published The Blueprint for My Girls- Simon & Schuster contacted me via email to distribute my book.

Your books are also a series. Did you deliberately plan it that way? Do publishers prefer to pick up a series?

When I created the first Blueprint book, I thought of it as a series. I had outlined 2 other Blueprint books when I was contacted by Simon & Schuster. I think Simon & Schuster liked the fact that I was thinking ahead, but I don’t know if all publishers are like that.

You are also a speaker. Why do authors need to be speakers these days?

Authors need to become experts in their subject matter-especially if they are non-fiction authors. Becoming a speaker gives you a platform to share your work.

Did your books make you into the expert commentator you are? Do experts need a book to make themselves heard by the media?

Books help validate who you are. Books say: “I’ve taken the time to research this and I’ve formulated an opinion.” Books give you credibility. We are a society that wants more information, so books are a way to feed the need. My books have helped position me as a youth expert and my continued work with youth has helped me as well.

Authors need good press releases and good marketing pitches. You are always the salesman, trying to get people to see your story/angle. I would recommend authors to try to connect within their local TV stations and network from there. TV stations are always interested in a homegrown story.

You are also CEO of a marketing firm, The Signals Agency. Did your marketing expertise come as a result of writing books or vice versa? i.e. did you learn as you went along how to market?

I owned a marketing company before I started writing books. So, I think my marketing expertise has helped me to continue to reinvent myself and stay relevant—think Madonna on books. Authors are such creative people, they often want to stay in one area which is writing. Marketing has taught me that I can still be the writer, but I can be an effective marketer as well.

How can people find you and your books?

www.yasminshiraz.com www.talkretaliation.net www.amazon.com My books are available wherever books are sold. Ask for them by their title or by my name.