Between the Covers with:
Sharolett Koenig

       Sharolett Koenig is a graduate of the Institute of Children's Writers and Illustrators, is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in numerous magazines and a poetry anthology. She is a member of the American Christian Writers Association and Mystery Writers of America and she is MMRWA's newly published author of the month...in a unique format. Her series of young adult mysteries will launch the debut of her small press publishing house, Koenisha! Shar bases her writing on experiences gained while homeschooling her five children. She also has a private collection of over 200 bonsai trees (some of which found new homes at the Retreat--Thanks, Shar!) PLIGHT OF THE CHILDREN is Koenisha's first hard cover release.

  When did your love of writing begin?

       From a very young age. Whenever a teacher announced that the class was supposed to write a paper and all the other kids groaned, I grabbed my pencil and started writing. In HS, my best friend and I became co-editors (by default, not talent) of our tiny school newspaper's feature (fiction) department. In college I discovered I could ace tests that had essay questions and I kept my grades up by writing papers for extra credit.

  When did you decide to write for publication?

       When I dropped out of college, I wrote A LOT. I sent my first book to a publisher and now that I look back, I realize just how close it came to publication. But I gave up with the first rejection, and settled down to raise a family. Twenty years later, I ran across an ad that led to my enrolling in the Institute of Children's Literature and that was the beginning of PLIGHT OF THE CHILDREN.

  What made you decide to start your own small press?

        I realized that Plight fits a small niche of readers--YA mystery. The big houses wouldn't publish it, and if they did, they wouldn't spend money to promote it. It's very frustrating, as all authors know, to work hard on a book proposal or query and have it returned, unopened and unread, especially when they advertise that they do accept "unagented" mss. I think the big NY publishers are just shooting themselves in the foot by not taking a risk with an unpublished writers. E-pubs and small presses are filling that void. And Koenisha will be one of them.

  You've home schooled your five children. How do you find the time to write? What adjustments will you have to make to run your new company?

        Since it's something I love to do, I don't find it hard to get up at 4:00 in the morning to begin my writing day. I'm a firm believer that the secret to accomplishing a lot is to stay organized. Everything has its own place and time slot, although family takes priority any time they need me. I tend to not stress out easily. And we eat a lot of "quick and easy" meals.

       Running the company has required some adjustments. The first 5 months have been devoted to start-up, and I had to sacrifice my morning writing. Hopefully once the first book has set the pace, the rest will fall into place as I learn the ropes.

   What kind of "homework" did you have to do before starting up Koenisha?

       Read the following: Jump Start Your Book Sales, a guide for authors and small presses by Marilyn and Tom Ross; How to Make Money Publishing from Home, Lisa Shaw and You Can Make it Big Writing Books by Jeff Herman, Deborah Levine Herman and Julia Devillers (2 are in our MMRWA library!)

       I was surprised that most government agencies could be dealt with over the internet, which makes filling out and sending apps simple and quick. But the Library of Congress caused a 2-month delay which cost me "pre-pub book sales."

       And of course, there were unknown expenses and everything took longer. My husband has been supportive. He became self-employed this year, which makes the risk of my venture even more scary.

  Will you be publishing books by other authors? Genres?

       I plan to break the ice with mine and my husband's books this year, but once I see how it goes, then I plan to take on others. I don't want to be a subsidy or vanity publisher so I'm developing a program of marketing and promotion. Books will be distributed through Ingrams, Baker & Taylor and Amazon.com. Koenisha is scheduled to release 3 titles [in 2000], 5 in 2001, and 6 in 2002. They run the gamut from YA mystery, romantic suspense, nonfiction spinoffs (a cookbook from Plight!) true crime and Christian self-help.

   What else will you be writing?

       I very much enjoy writing the YA mystery series. The characters of Tim and Rhonda are like my own children. I've started two others, one about a widowed homeschooling mother who writes true crime and another about an elderly woman who discovers the "Methuselah Effect" among her bonsai collection. I'm also doing research for a true crime novel.

  What's the most important element when writing to a YA audience?

       When writing to YA, or any audience for that matter, it's to identify with them, their age group and their unique situations. I'm very close to my children, meaning I'm with them all the time. When I wrote Plight, my oldest were teenagers, which gave me an advantage in getting into the heads of my characters.

  Have your children read your books? What do they think?

       My oldest and their friends have. I rely on their candid comments to make them realistic. I also read them to my younger children. I discover a lot of discrepancies and rough spots while reading aloud. And, believe it or not, small children are experts at critiquing. They especially enjoy the "titillating" scenes-- they snicker and giggle through the kissing part. I plan to grow my children into the business. My 12-year-old is official trouble shooter. My 8-year-old wants to be an artist. My 10-year-old dyslexic daughter is the "physical aspects" consultant, because she sees things differently than everybody else. I hesitate to give the impression that I'm running a "mom and pop" operation, but that's pretty much how it is for right now.

  What have you gotten out of RWA^®/MMRWA?

       I like RWA for its special interest chapters; I also belong to RomSusp, Kiss of Death and Scriptscene. I've learned the nuts and bolts from MMRWA. You can learn the skill of writing on your own or at a conference, but membership in a local chapter of professionals of the caliber of MMRWA lets you five it and breathe it and become a part of the writing profession.