43. Behind-the-Scenes of Self-Publishing a Debut Novel with Saleema Ishq

Ever wish you could go behind-the-scenes and ask an author how they went from idea to finished manuscript, how they overcame writing challenges, and how they went about the business of self-publishing their first book? Good news, I'm doing that today with author Saleema Ishq.
Please join me as we dive into Saleema's journey from short story writer to debut novelist!
You can find more about Saleema and her book at fearlessphrases.com
To find Nicole:
Website | Instagram | Free Guide✨

Transcript

STEPS TO STORY - From Short Story to Shelf: A Behind-the-Scenes Journey of Self-Publishing a Debut Novel with Saleema Ishq

[00:00:00] Nicole Meier: Hey writers, ever wish you could go behind the scenes and ask an author how they went from idea to finished manuscript, how they overcame writing challenges, and how they went about the business of self publishing their first book? Good news, I'm doing that today with author Salima Ishq. Salimah is the best selling and award winning author of short thrillers.

[00:00:21] Nicole Meier: Known for captivating readers with her unique blend of imaginative storytelling, suspense, and psychological tension, Sister's Arcana marks her full-length novel debut. Welcome, Salima.

[00:00:40] Nicole Meier: Welcome to Steps to Story, a show that helps aspiring authors turn their ideas into action and transform their dream of writing a book into a reality. I'm your host, Nicole Meier, multi published author and certified book coach. I spent the first part of my fiction writing career desperate for guidance that was unavailable to me.

[00:01:02] Nicole Meier: I wrote draft after draft, flying by the seat of my pants, with lots of passion but little guidance. Thankfully, there was a writing community that opened its arms and welcomed me. This community sustained me. But when it came to strengthening my novel writing process, I was determined to find a better way.

[00:01:23] Nicole Meier: One that didn't involve piecemeal strategies and confusing courses. Now, more than a decade later, I'm serving my younger self, who yearned for support while writing a book. If you're an emerging author seeking guidance, this podcast is for you. Are you on the list to get my novel writing guide? I designed this workbook to take you through five essential strategies that will level up your novel writing process.

[00:01:53] Nicole Meier: Grab your free copy at nicolemeier. com forward slash crafting greatness. That's NicoleMeier. com forward slash crafting greatness or at the link in the show notes.

[00:02:14] Nicole Meier: Okay, welcome Salima. I am so thrilled to have you on Steps to Story and it's a little selfish because I have known you throughout your writing journey and I just adore everything that you do. So welcome. It's so good to have you. 

[00:02:27] Saleema Ishq: Uh, thanks, Nicole. It is so good to be here and see you. 

[00:02:32] Nicole Meier: Okay, so the reason why this is exciting is because this will air in December, and this is also the month of your first book release, which we're going to get all into today.

[00:02:42] Nicole Meier: And I hope that everyone listening will really tune in who are thinking about writing a book, feeling stuck in their writing, and also thinking about launching a book because you have some good insight. And I love learning from other people's experiences, so can you tell us, before we jump into all of that good stuff, the title of your book that's coming out and the release date?

[00:03:02] Saleema Ishq: Yeah, so my debut novel is Sisters Arcana. It is a psychological thriller, and it's coming out December 12th, 2024. 

[00:03:10] Nicole Meier: And it's good, y'all. I've read it. And I love all the twists and turns. It's so amazing. Can you, this is to put you on the spot, but if you had an elevator pitch or just kind of a log line, can you give us a couple sentences what the premise is?

[00:03:24] Saleema Ishq: Yeah. So the hook of Sisters Arcana is, can she trust the cards or anyone? And my protagonist, Aisha, she lives a very regimented life and she starts receiving tarot cards with cryptic, deeply personal messages on them. They start coming to her doorstep and so she reaches out to her estranged sister, who happens to be a spiritual Instagram influencer, for help decoding these messages.

[00:03:51] Nicole Meier: That was perfect. I love it. Okay, so now that we've jumped into the book, let's talk about your writing process. So I know that you started out writing flash fiction. That's kind of really where you got your start. So let's go back. Let's talk about when you began writing flash fiction. What was kind of your inspiration?

[00:04:10] Nicole Meier: Why did you love writing that? And then how did you make the leap to try writing your first novel? 

[00:04:16] Saleema Ishq: Well, even before flash fiction, I started out as a nonfiction writer. I was a copywriter, a content writer, and I had my sights set on writing a memoir. So the fact that I ventured into fiction was a little bit of a surprise to even me.

[00:04:32] Saleema Ishq: I decided to do a short story a thon, which is something that was put on by a local group Where you come up with an idea, start writing a novel, edit it, and then publish it within 48 hours, so just over a weekend. Wow. And it's my first story. 

[00:04:50] Nicole Meier: Okay, and how, you said you stumbled into this, you didn't intend to write fiction.

[00:04:55] Nicole Meier: What spurred that change was saying, well, I'm not going to focus on the memoir right now. I'm actually going to try doing a little bit of flash fiction. 

[00:05:02] Saleema Ishq: It's a really great question. I think that reading and getting back into reading fiction was the thing that spurred that. It was really hard for me to read fiction for a long time because I live with obsessive compulsive disorder and I always enjoyed reading mysteries and thrillers as a kid and into my teens.

[00:05:23] Saleema Ishq: But as an adult. I kind of ventured away from fiction because it was a little too triggering and difficult for me to read because of my existential OCD. So when I finally started venturing back into fiction, that's when I thought that reading this can be really therapeutic. I wonder how writing it would feel.

[00:05:44] Saleema Ishq: So because I had so many ideas of my own, I really wanted to apply those to my own characters and try it out. So 

[00:05:51] Nicole Meier: Oh gosh, I really appreciate knowing that backstory because first of all, I always say readers make the best writers, but also you approaching it from a sense that a lot of us do when it comes to our art.

[00:06:03] Nicole Meier: Whatever it is, if it's a hobby or a career, is that this is therapeutic. This is a way for me to understand the world better. This is a way for me to think about the questions I have about the human condition. And it sounds like you really followed your instinct, followed your curiosity, and That's amazing.

[00:06:21] Nicole Meier: So you had this sort of, I'm going to call it a writing prompt with a timeline of this competition and you did your first bit of flash fiction over the weekend. Did that sort of unlock the creative floodgates for you at that point? 

[00:06:34] Saleema Ishq: Yeah, definitely. It unlocked something and Things just started flowing.

[00:06:39] Saleema Ishq: I wrote from personal experience, but also applied it to this character and felt like I could control the narrative, which in my real life felt really good. It felt like I had a little bit more control over what was going on with me and in my head, and it also gave me the confidence that I needed having a published story out there.

[00:07:01] Saleema Ishq: Gave me the confidence that I needed to keep going and keep writing and keep publishing. 

[00:07:06] Nicole Meier: That's great. I love that journey. I've talked about this before on the podcast is that when I was first starting writing, I had an author say, if you want to start this, start small. And I didn't know what that meant, but it's exactly what you're demonstrating here with your experience is that you started with a bit of inspiration, trying your hand at flash fiction, and those were like baby steps, but you gain confidence, you gain insight into your own writing voice.

[00:07:29] Nicole Meier: And then. You decided to go for writing a full length novel, correct? Yes. Okay. So that is so exciting to me because I love knowing the journey of getting from point A to point B, but for the listeners out there, I would love for you to share a little bit about your creative process. So how do you typically go from idea to draft?

[00:07:53] Nicole Meier: What helps you stay consistent? What helps you move forward? Can you share a little bit of behind the scenes for us? 

[00:08:00] Saleema Ishq: Yeah, definitely. I used to call myself a plotter, and 

[00:08:04] Nicole Meier: for those 

[00:08:05] Saleema Ishq: that don't know, there's often people look at plotters or pantsers, and plotters plot out their stories pretty meticulously and follow these different plot points, and then pantsers will just right by the seat of their pants.

[00:08:20] Saleema Ishq: And I always thought of myself as a plotter, but I discovered that I really enjoyed having a little bit of flexibility. So throughout my process, I found that I'm actually more of a plancer, which is kind of in between. I like having an outline and knowing where I'm going, which is why the seven point story arc that you talk about so much is just so helpful for me.

[00:08:43] Saleema Ishq: And that's exactly what I use to plot out. But it gives me the creative flexibility to see where my characters are going and where my stories are going. So I'd say that's the first step in taking an idea, thinking about where is this story going. And I don't necessarily need to know exactly how it's going to end, but I have little plot points along the way that help guide me.

[00:09:09] Nicole Meier: Yeah, that's great. So I love the planster approach. I relate to that a hundred percent. Yeah. And can you talk a little bit about how that, I always call it container, right? The seven point story arc, if you choose to use that as your roadmap as a container, can you talk about how you allowed yourself to let that evolve over time?

[00:09:27] Nicole Meier: You didn't stay strict to what it was from the original draft, how you kind of discovered things as you went? 

[00:09:34] Saleema Ishq: Yeah, I was always kind of envious of authors who have said that their characters speak to them and that their characters take them places that they didn't know and that. always felt like it was something that was not within my reach.

[00:09:48] Saleema Ishq: But once I got to know my characters, so character development was a big part of my early process that helped guide the rest of my novel writing. And so getting to know my characters, they kind of led me through. And there were red herrings and characters that I hadn't planned for that popped up as I was doing brain dumps or as I was sprinting.

[00:10:11] Saleema Ishq: And for those that don't know, writing sprints. It's where you set a timer and just write as much as you can within that time container. And that was one of the big practices that really helped me come up with fun ideas and things that helped move my story along. 

[00:10:29] Nicole Meier: That's really helpful. And I do love that you brought up the idea of writing sprints because it just allows you to get everything out onto the page without that self editing, without the judging, because you don't have time for that.

[00:10:40] Nicole Meier: You're just writing until the timer dings. And again, it sounds like you were in the flow, you opened the creative floodgates, and I know that you're really good about being parts of writing communities and creative groups, so when you would do these big bursts of writing sprints or, you know, get a bunch of pages out, would you turn to writing partners or critique partners or groups to help give feedback, or would you wait and not show this to anyone until the very end?

[00:11:08] Nicole Meier: I mean, I know you and I kind of work together, but beyond that. 

[00:11:12] Saleema Ishq: Yeah, I have a handful of writers that I'm really close with that I would share early pages with, and that took a lot of confidence in order to share those early pages with someone else. It just took a lot to even put those words on the page, to be honest.

[00:11:30] Saleema Ishq: So this is something that I really struggled with initially, was worrying that somebody was looking over my shoulder. And I know that that wasn't the case. And I could delete anything that I wrote. I just needed to really get in that mindset that this was only for me, that I was the only one that needed to or would have to look at this, and I didn't need to show it to anyone.

[00:11:52] Saleema Ishq: So once I really wrapped my head around that in the early, early process, then I found a pair of writers that I really trusted. We write in the same genre. They have the same kind of writing style as I do, too, which I don't think is necessarily necessary for critique partners. But it was really helpful because they had a lot of great insight, too.

[00:12:17] Nicole Meier: That's great. Yeah, I agree with that. You don't need writing partners or critique partners who write in the same genre, but they at least need to read the genre so they are a fan. You know, you don't want someone who says, I would never read that genre in real life because they're not coming to it with sort of an openness.

[00:12:37] Nicole Meier: Okay, so I'm curious, the first time you decided to share your work with your partners. What was it like when you got the very first feedback? Was it unexpected? Was it freeing? How did that feel? 

[00:12:53] Saleema Ishq: It was really freeing. I was a bundle of nerves waiting for their comments in the Google Docs, but as soon as I got their feedback that these pages were really good, which I am still wrapping my head around.

[00:13:09] Saleema Ishq: It felt really, really good 

[00:13:11] Nicole Meier: to get 

[00:13:12] Saleema Ishq: feedback. 

[00:13:13] Nicole Meier: I love it. And it kind of, to me, in my experience, it reminds us that we're not alone as writers. It reminds us we all have strengths and weaknesses. We all feel vulnerable. No matter how many novel manuscripts we've written, it's very vulnerable to share the work.

[00:13:28] Nicole Meier: So Finding those trusted partners, and sometimes it takes a minute. I've personally have had critique groups in the past where I'm like, well, I don't really think I've found my people quite yet, but you just keep on reaching out and networking and connecting, and then you do kind of land with those trusted readers, those early readers or critique partners.

[00:13:48] Nicole Meier: So would you agree with that? Oh yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Okay, so we've talked about how you jumped from flash fiction to full length novel manuscript. We talked about how you kind of opened those creative floodgates, like I like to say, with the sprints, and then you began sharing your work for feedback.

[00:14:05] Nicole Meier: Somewhere along in there, there must have been some obstacles. So, what I would love to know from you, and I'm sure our listeners want to know too because we all face challenges when we're writing, is what were some of the biggest ones you encountered and maybe how did you figure out how to move through them?

[00:14:21] Saleema Ishq: Definitely. So, a lot of the roadblocks that I encountered throughout the process were figuring out where to place the twists and turns, filling these plot holes. And I know that I'm an overthinker just like my protagonist, so I really got in my head about these and just ruminated and spiraled a little bit.

[00:14:41] Saleema Ishq: So getting out of my head, either brainstorming and chatting with other people, my critique partners, even my husband, who is so wonderful and supportive, he helped me so much just talking through these ideas. movement. Movement is one of my favorite ways to really get the creative juices flowing. And so I work out several times a week, but even on days when I wasn't working out, I would go for a walk.

[00:15:06] Saleema Ishq: Being out in nature, moving my body and taking the dog for a walk really helped because then I could kind of talk through things, think through things a little more clearly. And that really, really helped. 

[00:15:18] Nicole Meier: Okay. I'm so happy you brought all of that up because So many writers get in their head and whether it's chasing perfectionism, you know, I can't tell you how many writers I've seen that keep rewriting those first three chapters and they don't allow themselves to move forward at all.

[00:15:32] Nicole Meier: And then they burn out, they get stuck, they have all this self doubt. So just something simple but powerful like movement is huge. I'm a huge fan of that. But also I love that you sort of. address that this is a thing, this is real, we all get stuck, and it can be very specific. Like, I know where I'm going, I know what my goals are for the story or the scene or the ending, but there are plot holes, and that's a real thing, and I don't know how to address that.

[00:16:00] Nicole Meier: So, I do love that you sort of found different ways to get out of your head. Were there any sort of, and this is for the listeners out there, are there any sort of tricks or tools or Anything you've learned that you could share that would help a writer get maybe out of a plot hole or enhance their character development or anything to sort of help you level up your writing?

[00:16:21] Saleema Ishq: Yeah, I love craft books. I think that in addition to reading fiction and reading within your genre, reading craft books is such a great way to gain new tools and skills. And I love the emotion thesaurus, that's one of my favorite things to look at and look up different emotions as I'm writing because I know that we all, when it comes to physical things.

[00:16:44] Saleema Ishq: the ways to describe what our character's feeling, what they're doing will stretch our shoulders, or I know that one of my big ones is widening their eyes. So, um, we'll find ourselves doing those, but it can be challenging to figure out how to describe what's going on inside of our character. So that's something that really, really helped me.

[00:17:03] Nicole Meier: Yeah, that's great. I love that you shared that. I'm sure people are taking notes right now. Okay, so we've talked about some things that you maybe struggled with and overcame. Let's go to the flip side of that and talk about some of the most rewarding parts about this whole process, all the way from coming up with your premise to actually writing the manuscript.

[00:17:25] Nicole Meier: to getting to thinking about your publishing path. And we're going to jump into your publishing path next. But before we do that, what were some of the most rewarding parts of this process for you? 

[00:17:36] Saleema Ishq: Writing the end was a huge deal. That was really exciting. Being done with draft one. I felt like it was a little bit like a race toward the finish line and just getting all of the words out there and that was a big thing because, again, I felt like I really paralyzed myself by getting in my head and self editing while I was writing so those writing sprints, towards the end especially, were so great in getting draft one out, so.

[00:18:06] Saleema Ishq: That was a huge milestone and a really big accomplishment because I didn't think, I never thought that I'd be able to write a full length manuscript. 

[00:18:14] Nicole Meier: Yeah, so good. And I need to know, did you know your ending all along or did you discover it while you're writing? 

[00:18:22] Saleema Ishq: I kind of knew how it was going to end.

[00:18:25] Saleema Ishq: So you had a huge impact on my ending. And I don't want to give away too much to, uh, listeners, but. I did shift things around based on your feedback, and I think it's so much more powerful now. I'm really, really excited for readers to read the end. 

[00:18:41] Nicole Meier: Oh, it's so good. I'm so inspired by you because I don't know how to do the red herrings and plot twists the way you do, because I'm not a thriller writer.

[00:18:51] Nicole Meier: It's so good. I'm so excited for people to read it. Okay, so now that is a perfect segue for me. Let's move on to talk about the release. Your book's coming out in December, and you made the decision to self publish. So I would love for you to share with listeners What led you to choose that route, how has it impacted your experience, what were kind of the pros and cons or thought processes that you went through in order to land on this decision?

[00:19:20] Saleema Ishq: I think timing was a really big factor for me. I know that querying and seeking an agent and then ultimately looking to getting traditionally published can take a very long time. for many people. So that was a big factor for me. I also really wanted to have control. I already had a cover that I had commissioned that I loved, and I really wanted to do things my way, at least for this first book.

[00:19:49] Saleema Ishq: And probably now that I've had this experience for future novels, I really am proud to be an indie author. I love having control over exactly What my book looks like, how I'm marketing it, and I have my release party plans, I'm already lined up for book signings, and all of that I did, which feels really good.

[00:20:09] Saleema Ishq: Yeah. 

[00:20:10] Nicole Meier: Yeah. 

[00:20:11] Saleema Ishq: Yeah. 

[00:20:12] Nicole Meier: That's great. And I totally applaud you for all of the hard work you've done and the commitment that it takes. I always tell people, if you decide to self publish, which is an amazing path. You must treat it like a small business and you have to have dedication and discipline. You can't just sort of say, Oh, I'm doing this, but then I don't really want to work on finding someone to do my cover.

[00:20:31] Nicole Meier: I don't really want to work on finding a way to get arcs done. All the things you have done. I've loved watching this journey for you. And I do think that self publishing, I've talked about this on other podcast episodes. I do think self publishing. is becoming the thing. Of course, traditional publishing will always be there, but I am meeting so many more writers who are really satisfied with having that creative control and taking their own creative endeavor into their own hands.

[00:21:00] Nicole Meier: And so that's what you're doing. It's very exciting. I know there are some people listening right now who are debating, what do I want for this book when it's done? Do I want to try and get a literary agent? Do I want to try and do hybrid or small press? Or do I want to go indie? So this is really important.

[00:21:17] Nicole Meier: I would love for you to share maybe some thoughts or tips for people thinking about self publishing or people who know they already want to self publish. What are some first steps they could do? in order to follow that path? 

[00:21:31] Saleema Ishq: Yeah, that's a great question. To echo what you said, it is a lot of work and you do need to look at it as a business.

[00:21:39] Saleema Ishq: So that would be my first piece of advice. And the second would be to lean on other indie authors. There's a whole community of indie authors out there who have made mistakes. I've made mistakes and I am not just willing but really eager to share that with other people who are thinking about taking this path because I want you to learn from my mistakes and learning about these things.

[00:22:04] Saleema Ishq: What to expect, what to do, maybe what not to do can be really helpful. 

[00:22:10] Nicole Meier: Yeah. I'm so glad you brought that up because I do have a lot of writers that ask me, is there a Facebook group or is there a workshop or is there a how to guide on first steps in order to self publish? So, can you speak to one of those specifically?

[00:22:25] Nicole Meier: Where would you point people if they're really hoping to learn from others? 

[00:22:29] Saleema Ishq: Yeah, I am a member of the Women's Fiction Writers Association, and they have an indie author subgroup on Facebook. And I have met so many people, local people as well, who are in the group who have just been such a wealth of knowledge and have shared so much with me.

[00:22:46] Nicole Meier: Awesome. And then which direction did you go in order to actually publish your book? So are you doing KDP? What are you doing? 

[00:22:55] Saleema Ishq: Yeah, I've been exploring all of that throughout the process. I went through IngramSpark because I really want to be in bookstores and libraries. That's really important to me.

[00:23:07] Saleema Ishq: Awesome. So, through Ingram, it is now on Barnes and Noble, and 

[00:23:13] Nicole Meier: They're on a lot of channels. I totally know that that distribution has grown, and it offers a lot more than just your average self published book. So I love that you're doing that. 

[00:23:25] Saleema Ishq: Yeah. And then I am on KDP as well. And I've been kind of going back and forth about whether to go wide.

[00:23:32] Saleema Ishq: Well, I guess it is wide if I went that way. I don't know. I can't scratch all of that. Yeah. 

[00:23:38] Nicole Meier: Yeah, and I think that that's one thing that many writers don't know enough about, whatever publishing path you choose, is it's not just about who is putting your work out there, but it's about the distribution channel.

[00:23:53] Nicole Meier: And that is something I talk about a lot. It's like, look. Some small presses are ebook only and you're never ever going to be in a bookstore. So just know what are my choices and then what are the options within those choices. Do they have a distribution channel? Do they ever get into brick and mortar?

[00:24:08] Nicole Meier: Is it ebook only? There's no wrong answer, but I would say the one discouraging thing is that authors and emerging authors don't have enough information. It's not out there for them to really know all the nooks and crannies of what each publishing path will offer. And I really want people to just sort of self educate themselves and just dig deep and ask a ton of questions before they decide what path to follow.

[00:24:34] Saleema Ishq: Yeah, absolutely. And to that point too, there is a lot of information out there too, which can be incredibly overwhelming. So I think that that's why going to the source and chatting with other indie authors can be really, really powerful. 

[00:24:47] Nicole Meier: Yes. Okay. So now that you've said that, I'm going to put you on the spot.

[00:24:50] Nicole Meier: If there's someone who wants to go indie, can they DM you on Instagram and ask a question? Oh, yes, please. We're going to do this at the end, but tell us really quickly what's your Instagram handle or is that the best place to find you? 

[00:25:03] Saleema Ishq: Yeah, I'm most active on Instagram. Selima ish is my handle. You can also email me selima at fearlessphrases.

[00:25:10] Saleema Ishq: com. 

[00:25:11] Nicole Meier: Which I love. Okay, and I'm going to put all that in the show notes. But before we wrap up, I do want to address something that is really fun to talk about. And that is the whole concept of being a debut author. Being a debut author is kind of its own thing, right? Whether you're talking about debut, getting to market, debut, trying to get your own ideal readers, debut on the pressure or maybe non pressure there is on the actual work itself.

[00:25:38] Nicole Meier: What kind of things are coming up for you when I talk about that whole concept? 

[00:25:42] Saleema Ishq: Yeah, this is something that's really been on my mind. So after going through the writing process and kind of fighting through imposter syndrome with the writing, the editing, the book itself, now the marketing and being a debut author, I'm still fighting imposter syndrome.

[00:25:57] Saleema Ishq: I think we all do at various points throughout the process, but something that I've heard quite a bit of with debut authors, I've heard people say, Oh, your debut doesn't read like a debut, and I really started noodling on that and kind of obsessing about that and worrying about it. Because I have a fear that my book will read like a debut.

[00:26:22] Saleema Ishq: And then I reminded myself, Selema, this is your debut novel, it's okay if it reads like a debut. And I will say that I look back at my early flash fiction pieces, the early short stories that I've published and cringe a little bit, which is okay, I feel like that's good because that means that I have improved in my writing and in my skills, so I hope that in 10 years or in 10 books, I will look back at this debut and go Well, it's my debut, but right now in this moment, I'm really, really proud of it.

[00:26:56] Saleema Ishq: I really love this story, and I'm really excited to share it with people. 

[00:27:01] Nicole Meier: Yeah. I'm so happy you brought that up. And first of all, kudos to you that people's response is, hey, this does not read like a debut, which is great. such a compliment to you and a testament to your talent, but I understand how that can completely get in your head and make you question a lot of different nuanced pieces of putting your work out there.

[00:27:20] Nicole Meier: I will tell you, I don't know if this is going to make you feel better or not, that I have four books out there. I definitely cringe at my debut because I had not grown enough as a writer and it was my most amateur writing style, but I have to tell you, and maybe I've told you this before, Selima, is that I still, to this day, have people tell me how much they love that book.

[00:27:39] Nicole Meier: And I know it has nothing to do with how amateur or pro my writing was. It was all of the joy and intention and excitement behind creating that. I was so in love with that story and all of that energy kind of poured into it. I was so excited to be an author. And I really do feel like that is a big reason why people love it is because they can see that sort of excitement and joy behind the work.

[00:28:02] Nicole Meier: So I think that's probably going to be the thing that happens for you, but I can't be sure. 

[00:28:08] Saleema Ishq: Well, we love that story. Thanks for sharing it, Nicole. 

[00:28:11] Nicole Meier: Yeah. So don't be too hard on yourself, but it's also very exciting. And I want to wrap it up with you maybe thinking about what's one thing you want to tell emerging authors out there?

[00:28:23] Nicole Meier: Maybe a tip or a piece of advice or encouragement. What's coming up for you when I ask you that? 

[00:28:29] Saleema Ishq: I want people to know that you should write the book that you want to read. That's something that I thought about frequently throughout this process, and I feel like I ultimately did write a book that is exactly what I love.

[00:28:43] Saleema Ishq: The characters, the themes, the twists, the turns. So that would be my advice. 

[00:28:49] Nicole Meier: That's great. I love it. Okay. Sisters Arcana is releasing December 12th. Everybody check it out. Where can they go to find you? Where can they buy the book, Selima? 

[00:28:59] Saleema Ishq: You can find me on Instagram, selimaish, or my website, fearlessphrases.

[00:29:04] Saleema Ishq: com. 

[00:29:04] Nicole Meier: Perfect. Thank you so much for being here. I'm thrilled for you. And thanks for sharing all the good insight about your writing journey. Thanks, Nicole. Okay, everyone. Hope you got some good nuggets of inspiration out of this. I know I did, and we'll see you next time.

[00:29:25] Nicole Meier: If you want to check out my coaching programs for fiction writers, visit NicoleMeier. com. That's M E I E R. And if you liked this episode, I'd love you to take a minute to leave a rating and review for this podcast. This will help more writers like you to discover the show and and to get going on their writing journey.

[00:29:45] Nicole Meier: Thanks so much for listening. Until next time, happy writing, everyone.