How I Published a Book about my Craft

I’ve been creative for as long as I can remember. Whether it was drawing, crafting, or redecorating my bedroom, I always needed to create things and make the spaces around me beautiful. It was and still is a huge part of who I am. 

My business, Natalie Ranae, started like most creative small businesses do, as a side hustle. I was working full time as a jeweler/goldsmith for a small Etsy business for 3 years. I loved working there, but over time felt the need to be creative and entrepreneurial for myself. In my spare time, I would always be working on home DIY’s, knitting, crocheting, or teaching myself a new craft. Then I discovered macramé. I taught myself to make a plant hanger and was hooked. I loved the intricate patterns you could make with so many different knots!  I knew I would run out of space in my home for everything I wanted to make, so I decided to start my own business, knowing that textiles as an art form were poised to be popularized again. I did my best to focus on my branding early on and dedicated time to growing my presence on Instagram.

A few months later, I unexpectedly got let go from my job and decided right then to go full time with this new passion. I started teaching workshops all over Ontario, Canada, selling my work online and at markets, creating custom large-scale orders for homes and businesses, and selling rope and macramé supplies. 

Getting Published

I honestly never thought that I would write a book, let alone two! It just wasn’t on my radar. It’s hard for me to say that when I know it’s a goal for so many, but it’s the truth.

One day I was going through my spam folder and found an email from Page Street Publishing explaining that they would love to discuss the possibility of writing a book with me. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if it was real! After Googling the company I was obviously excited and flattered, but before replying I really had to think about it. It was of course a great opportunity that doesn’t come around every day. When I thought about my goals for my business, a book started to make a lot of sense! It was another revenue stream, great exposure, and would give me the ability to teach people around the world. That’s how my first book, Macramé at Home, came to be. 

After that book was published, my husband, family, and friends would say things like, “For your next book...” and I would always reply with, “If I even want to write another book!” I wrote it on a really tight deadline (we’re talking a few months) and it took a lot out of me. I wasn’t sure that I would ever want to go through that process again. 

A few years went by and I received an email from my editor asking if I wanted to write another book! Luckily, just enough time had passed for me to feel open to discussing it. So here we are, around 2.5 years after getting that first email in my spam folder and my second book, Statement Macramé, was just released in August 2020.

Working with the Publisher

The experience of working with a publisher was so foreign to me with my first book! Going from being a self-employed artist to working with a large business and fitting into their processes was overwhelming at first.

There were also many unknowns as to exactly what’s involved in writing a book. Negotiating and agreeing on a contract, coming up with a concept, choosing a target audience, writing patterns that are easy to understand, creating skill level categories, going through rounds of editing, choosing a photographer, doing the step-by-step photography, approving design layouts, creating a marketing plan, working closely with a PR team and so much more!  One thing that helped me get ready for the process was setting up calls with friends I made through Instagram who had already published books. 

I also paid a lawyer to read through the contract since I had no experience with royalties and copyrights. I wanted to protect myself, and despite the hefty fee to pay a lawyer, I knew I would kick myself down the road if I didn’t have a professional look at it. Fortunately, I was advised that the contract was fairly standard and consisted of an advance that was paid out in parts leading up to the completion of the manuscript, as well as royalties based on sales.

What to Expect When You Publish a Book

After finalizing contracts and details about the concept, skill levels, types of projects in your book, and a rough table of contents, there is a lot of independent work designing and writing the projects. At that point, it’s up to you to make sure you’ve scheduled out your time to hit your manuscript deadline. 

You begin working closely with your editor again after sending them the manuscript. There’s a lot of back and forth while you both go over the manuscript with a fine-tooth comb.  The goal is to make it easy to follow and error-free. I won’t lie, this is probably my least favorite part of the process!

Everything was a little easier the second time around because I knew what to expect at each stage and was mentally prepared for how much work it was going to be. However, the concept of my second book was large scale macramé pieces, so I was not completely prepared for how much longer everything was going to take.

I’m sure things are a little different depending on the company you work with and who your editor is, but like almost anything, communication is key. It’s important to ask a lot of questions up front and to keep your editor updated along the way. They care about your well-being and are there to help you! Speak up for yourself and trust your instinct. It’s important your voice is heard and that you don’t let yourself get talked into anything you’re not comfortable with. A good example of this is the number of projects in your book. Publishers will always have a goal or idea of what will sell best and will push for that, but you are the one that has to physically create and write each project, so make sure you don’t overcommit and that you come to a good compromise that you’re comfortable with. 

Creating the Content

Coming up with all of the designs was a huge undertaking for both of my books. There’s a lot of pressure because you have to hit your manuscript deadline, but most creatives I know don’t like working under time constraints. Some days your creative juices just aren’t flowing as much!

This may seem obvious, but I think it’s important to choose a concept that you really love and are passionate about. When writing both books, there were definitely times where it felt like grueling work. What helped keep me going during those moments was having a clear concept that I was genuinely excited about. For my first book, the concept was “macramé pieces for your home” and my second book was “large scale, statement macramé.” Returning to those core concepts made everything worth it whenever the creation process felt challenging. 

Working with the right people is equally important. My best friend, Jenn, is a professional photographer and I was fortunate to be able to have her vetted and selected to shoot both of my books. Working with someone I’m so close to made everything easier. She even let me shoot all the step-by-step photos for my second book in her apartment!

When I was writing my first book, there were very few new macramé books on the market, so I found myself creating a brand new way to communicate step-by-step macramé instructions. It’s not like knitting or crocheting, where there is a well established, universal language with symbols understood by makers all over the world. It was challenging to make my instructions concise, yet detailed enough to follow. I was glad to have an editor who really made sure that everything was understandable from an outsider's perspective. At Page Street, there is a whole team that reads through your book to make sure that people of varying crafting skill levels can understand each step.

As someone who has the tendency to be a perfectionist about everything (shout out to all of my enneagram 1’s), something I found challenging was that after a certain stage in the editing process there is no going back to change anything. The pressure I put on myself to make sure it was as close to perfect as possible was overwhelming at times. Artists/creatives are generally quite critical of themselves, so it was something I was fighting against during the writing process and even after it was released.

When reflecting on projects, something that often gets left out of the discussion is burnout. After pushing myself too far on my first book I was badly burnt out. I put so much of myself into it in such a short timeframe that it took me quite a while to recover, both creatively and emotionally.  I was more prepared for that before I started writing my second book, so I was able to better protect myself from burnout by giving myself more time at each stage and communicating more with my publisher about how I was feeling. When it comes to burning out, my advice to any first-time author is to be kind to yourself, be your own advocate, and trust your instinct. 

Incorporating My Book into My Business

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