Meet Our Authors

Dr. Jen Davis, PT, DPT. author of The Injury Journal

As a Doctor of Physical Therapy and competitive soccer player, Jen has experienced and treated a multitude of sports injuries. With her new book, she wants to share her wisdom and help other athletes recover from their injuries. 

1) How long were you working on your book?

I worked on my book for 9 months. It started as a very modified version offered as a “freebie” to prospective clients and ideal audiences. I then beefed it up and published it!

2) Why did you decide to self-publish?

I’m collaborating with another health professional who also has a passion for helping running athletes. She initiated the production of a Runner’s Toolbox and wanted to include my journal.

3) In searching for a publishing partner, what qualities were you looking for?

I needed clear communication, a client-centered vision, a team that would follow through, and accountability with a proposed timeline.

4) What did you appreciate about your collaboration with us?

The Aaxel team was friendly, and supportive, and communication was very clear! Everything flowed smoothly.

Neal Holtschulte, Author of Crew of Exiles

With short stories already appearing in Amazing Stories and other magazines and journals, Neal Holtschulte took the leap and published his first full-length novel.

1) How long were you working on your book?

Inception began sometime around the summer of 2018. I hadn’t been writing creatively during grad school and I wanted to get back into it. I had some characters floating around in my head, so I challenged myself to write 1,500 words per week in October 2018. One year later, I finished a novella-length draft, and then spent another two years doing major expansions and developments, fleshing out characters and plot lines. In early 2021, I had about 90K words and a relatively polished manuscript with some beta readers keeping my ego in check.

2) Why did you decide to self-publish?

I researched agents who I thought would be a fit for my book and queried them, but got rejected and also found that querying was eating up my free time and preventing me from writing my next project. I believed in my story and needed to move on mentally. So, I started researching self-publishing, and liked what I saw.

3) In searching for a publishing partner, what qualities were you looking for?

I was looking for a one-stop shop to help coordinate the disparate aspects of proofreading, cover art, layout, design, etcetera. I interviewed 5 such agencies. All were similar in terms of pricing and services, but Aaxel was the only one that made a point to ask me how long I’d been working on writing and particularly on revision. Aaxel made me feel like they cared about producing a quality product and weren’t just snaring me as a client.

4) What did you appreciate about your collaboration with us?

Responsiveness. I knew I could get questions answered via email with a decent turn around even though our time zones were a few hours off. I didn’t feel the need for extra meetings beyond the regularly scheduled ones, but I felt like I could request those, too. Other things like ensuring that I was happy with things like cover art were also vital. 

5) What advice or words of wisdom would you want to share with other authors?

Every author is in a different place in terms of time, experience, and finances! No two author journeys look the same. The most important thing is to keep writing, keep improving, and keep an open mind to both criticism and praise! I don’t want to say “You have to believe in yourself,” because there will be some days when you don’t and that’s okay and normal too.

Alysia and Michael Ssentamu, Authors of the Sticky Icky Vicky® series

Michael and Alysia Ssentamu wanted to write a book that inspired children to believe that, no matter what, they had the power to choose to overcome their fears. That book became Sticky Icky Vicky: Courage over Fear, and it’s been winning over readers and critics alike.

1) How long did you work on your book?

Our journey started in June 2019 and finished in January 2021. It has been a long journey of writing, editing and adding illustrations, and we are so thrilled that our debut children’s book has finally been published. Because we are both healthcare workers with full-time jobs and young children, we had to write in our spare time—which was mostly when the kids were asleep. You see a lot of authors writing books that only take months; we consider ourselves the glacial writers. Slow and steady. The whole process took a long time because we were looking for a good publishing partner and an illustrator that we liked and worked well with. Now we have both of these, the next book won’t take as long.

2) Why did you decide to self-publish?

We decided to self-publish because we felt it would be faster and we wanted to have the final say with our book. When deciding between self-publishing and traditionally publishing, we did a a lot of research. During our research we found that you needed an agent to pitch your story to a traditional publisher, and that you did not have complete control over the story or the illustrations in your story. It could also take months to years before someone accepts your manuscript (if they do at all).

3) In searching for a publishing partner, what qualities were you looking for?

We were looking for someone who was transparent in their business model, as we, the authors, were going to bear all the costs of publication. Someone whom we could trust to help us write the best book we could and not agree with everything we say. Good communication and someone we felt comfortable with were also key.

4) What did you appreciate about your collaboration with us?

The team at Aaxel are professional, honest, hard working with great attention to detail and fantastic communication skills. What originally drew us in was their motto, “We won’t let you publish crap.” That really spoke to us because we didn’t want to publish rubbish, and we haven’t looked back. They are not afraid to tell us what they really think about our writing—which was what we wanted. They made the whole process of publishing our first book a fun, enjoyable and rewarding experience.

5) What advice or words of wisdom would you want to share with other authors?

It is important for authors to know that it is doable. If you are sitting on the fence about whether you should or shouldn’t publish your work, we advise you to find someone you can work with to get your book out into the world. It is worth publishing your book for the amazing feeling you get knowing that your book is out there educating and entertaining people for many years to come. Make sure to do your research and find people that won’t just agree with everything you say. There are, unfortunately, many companies out there preying on authors that are not sure how to publish their work. They will say yes to everything you want and once you are signed up with them they may not do what you had hoped.

Bobbie Lord, Author of Without a Homeland and Reflections

It’s never too late to share your story with the world! With 2 books published within 6 months of each other, Bobbie Lord is a force of nature.

1) How long were you working on your books?

For years, I have been told I should write a book based on my refugee and humanitarian work. However, I never considered myself a writer but a good storyteller. I had all the emails I wrote to my son, which served as a guide, and started several times to write, but found the writing boring, so I stopped. I became motivated to tell the plight of refugees around 2016. But retiring and moving postponed the writing until the fall of 2019, when I started taking writing classes and going on writing retreats to learn the craft of writing. With the guidance of many at a retreat in January 2020, I wrote my first vignette. After many rewrites, and a professional editor, I began to search for a publisher in October 2021.

2) Why did you decide to self-publish?

The world of publishing was unknown to me, and the learning curve was great. I researched finding an agent, publishing houses and self-publishing. I had just turned 82 and decided self-publishing would work best.

3) What did you appreciate about your collaboration with us?

I found just what I was looking for with Aaxel Author Services, a “full-service publishing” option. They held my hand and guided me through the process with expertise and professionalism. Every step and option were laid out with an exact timetable and pricing structure. There were NO hidden surprises. I was so pleased with their services, they helped me republish a guided journal that I had written years earlier to help refugees heal from the trauma of war. Subsequently, I have recommended their services to other aspiring authors.

4) What advice or words of wisdom would you want to share with other authors?

I would recommend other authors to research editing and publishing options and to be clear about your needs and objectives. Talk to other authors. Personally, I highly recommend the Aaxel Author Group. If I ever wrote another book, I would use them. I can’t thank them enough for all they did to get my book launched.

Martine Therese, Author of The Art of Time

Martine and her daughter, Martina, love painting and writing together. The result of this special collaboration is The Art of Time, a unique and stunning coffee table book showcasing some of their artwork and poetry.

1) How long did you work on your book?

I spent most of the COVID-19 quarantine on my book. Including the time I spent drafting and researching publishing partners, I would estimate a full year.

2) Why did you decide to self-publish?

Ownership rights were very important to me, especially because of the artwork included in my book. I also enjoyed the control of making the final decisions and leading the project without external delays.

3) In searching for a publishing partner, what qualities were you looking for?

Availability, honesty, professionalism and adequate experience

4) What did you appreciate about your collaboration with us?

Aaxel went above and beyond by educating me every step of the way on the publishing process. No e-mail was left unanswered. Every question and concern of mine was addressed promptly. Aaxel rose to the challenge of partnering to publish a one-of-a-kind art book and certainly exceeded my expectations!

5) What advice or words of wisdom would you want to share with other authors?

Self-publishing takes devotion, passion, persistence and honest partners, such as Aaxel, but also avails one to accomplish a mark of their own, which is invaluable.

Babak Hodjat, Author of The Konar and the Apple and The Narrator

A Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Babak decided to take on the unknown world of publishing for his two books.

1) How long were you working on your books?

I worked on The Narrator for six months or so prior to starting the self-publication process. It was only after I started working with Aaxel that I realized this would be a great path for self-publishing my other book of autobiographical stories, The Konar and the Apple, as well. I’d been working on that book for six years and had given up on publishing it after a year of reaching out to various publishers.

2) Why did you decide to self-publish?

I am not a professional author, and I wanted my work to stand on its own merit with publishers, rather than activating my unrelated professional network. As a part-timer in this new field, breaking into the traditional publishing process proved difficult, and as an entrepreneur, the control and authority that self-publishing promised me was appealing. My biggest concern, however, was the quality and reach of the end product, so I needed a professional team to help me through the process.

3) In searching for a publishing partner, what qualities were you looking for?

The biggest considerations, in my mind, when hiring help for self-publishing, are professionalism and quality. Your publishing partner should treat the project as their own, and take pride in their work. As an author, it is often difficult to hear criticism of your work, but that should actually be an important yardstick in measuring the professionalism of your publishing partner: are they able to help with the quality by being honest and forthright about what it would take to get the work to the high standards you expect?

4) What did you appreciate about your collaboration with us?

Clear, frequent, proactive, and pleasant communications, honest and constructive feedback, timely delivery, and a holistic view of the project from start to publication, and the high quality and standard of work.

5) What advice or words of wisdom would you want to share with other authors?

In the tech startup world, we learn, often the hard way, not to dismiss feedback from clients, and to be agile in course corrections on how we package or sell our product. The same applies to your book: listen to the feedback from your first few readers. This doesn’t mean you should take their advice as to how to rewrite it; It is the implications of what they say that are critical. Think why the first readers of your book reacted in a certain way, and how you can modify or rewrite your book to get the reaction you were aiming for. Maybe you need to expand on some of the characters? Maybe you need to add a storyline? Maybe some of the chapters can be left out, or some of the stories belong in a different project? Your book, when you first write it, makes sense in your mind and your context. The journey you will take until the book is ready for the public is to iteratively modify it until it makes the same sense in the minds and context of your audience.

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