Daily Inspiration: Meet Gwendolyn Squires

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gwendolyn Squires.

Hi Gwendolyn, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
In 2010, I retired after a very successful career with Kansas City Public Schools, having served 28 years and spending 19 of those years as a K-8 principal. I was ready for a new challenge and embarked on wedding planning. I entered the wedding planning industry while planning weddings at my church.

A close friend of mine had recently self-published her first book and asked if I was interested in learning how to do the same. Under her guidance, I took my wedding planning notes and self-published my first book in 2004 entitled, The Bridesmaid, The Maid Who Plans Your Wedding. After self-publishing my first book and spending a year learning about the self-publishing business, and developing a business plan, I decided to pursue more.

I had tucked away a box of over 90 journals that I had used during my tenure as a K-8 principal. Many of the journals were kept to document various occurrences of the school day. In 2011, I took a few of the journals and turned them into fictional stories. I quickly decided to create a children’s books series and came up with, The School Day Series. The School Day Series was inspired by my position as a K-8 principal and consists of entertaining, funny, and imaginary stories of events that happened at Seaside Elementary School, placed on the main character, megaphone carrying, grumpy, and iron-fist Principal Squires. The stories are meant to be humorous, and the illustrations are drawn in bright colors and have a sense of playfulness.

In 2015, I was approached by several individuals to assist them in becoming self-published authors. I had self-published (5) books at this time and I enjoyed helping others succeed in doing the same. I soon launched Tea Time Self-Publishing Services where I support aspiring authors in producing, publishing, and marketing their passion from pen to paper. I enjoy inspiring individuals who have the interest to become self-aspiring authors. To date, I have self-published (21) books of my School Day Series.

During this time, I also became the publicist for my sorority, responsible for the execution of our communication strategy. This included newspapers, our chapter website, and various social media platforms. I developed a strategic media plan and media guide for members of my team, the “Ivy Reporters,” who were in place in order to surround chapter activities and to promote our international theme as determined by our national president.

I was quickly sought after by many organizations to write news articles. I became a freelance writer where today my publishing credits include contributions to several local newspapers, magazines, and national journals.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
You only get one chance to self-publish your book(s). The publishing industry, and book marketing, in particular, is a tough business. In order to stand any chance of publishing a successful story, self-help book, or nonfiction title, a new author must think like a traditional publisher.

Publishing companies go through a long process to prepare a book for release. The process and methods are the same for a self-publishing author, except that you have to do everything yourself.

As a new author, I found it easy to self-publish a book. But I quickly ran into self-publishing problems at the onset. I learned that writing and publishing my first (2) books too soon, caused me to miss a few steps in the production process. I quickly realized that I needed to take time to think about the demographics of potential readers and to check competitive titles in my genre in order to find out what readers liked.

The most important information I learned early on was that Amazon was not the only place available to distribute my books. Limiting my books to this one location was causing me to miss out on a huge chunk of the market. I researched and discovered many other platforms to sell my books and discovered that each platform appealed to a unique set of loyal customers. I continued to educate myself about the variety of options available. I sought a web designer who created my School Day Series website and I currently have all (21) of my books in various venues all over the United States.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I was born and raised in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1984 to teach. I reside in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

I had a successful career as a K-8 school principal before fulfilling my dream of becoming a writer. I am a former elementary and middle school principal having dedicated my entire career of over 40 plus years to public education. I hold a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, a Master of Science in Education, an Educational Specialist in School Administration, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Administration.

When not writing, or assisting aspiring authors, I can be found volunteering and serving in the Kansas City, Kansas community with my sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® – Mu Omega Chapter. I am dedicated to implementing programs of service that enhance the social, economic, and educational well-being of our local, national, and international communities. I have held numerous elected positions and currently serve as our Chapter’s Chaplain.

20 years ago, I became concerned about the many underprivileged students in need of college preparation and admissions services but whose families were unable to afford the cost for the assistance. And so, for the past 20 years, I have volunteered my time as a College Prep Coach, assisting prospective students and parents, by providing general information about college programs, HBCUs, and services to facilitate enrollment. My assistance prepares students for the ACT/SAT and helps with financial applications and admission processes. I work with students as early as eighth and ninth grades in order to enhance their personal growth through formative years leading up to college. I teach them to set aggressive, attainable, measurable goals, as I monitor their progress through established benchmarks. I then make absolutely certain to celebrate their individual accomplishments along the way with their families.

Since 2013, and presently, I am employed as an evaluator for Missouri AfterSchool Network where I provide an external review of all aspects of a program empowering the organization’s best practices for a child-development afterschool program. My current sites are in St. Joseph, Missouri, and Chillicothe, Missouri.

As a community activist, I continue to foster my leadership skills as an active member of the Greater Kansas City Chapter of Societas Docta, Incorporated (which means a “Society of Doctors” in Latin). As a member of the chartering group in 2006, our mission continues to be focused on our purpose of bringing together, motivating, and inspiring women to pursue and achieve doctoral degrees in their chosen field. I currently serve as the corresponding secretary for our local chapter, and the 1st National Vice President of Societas Docta National, Incorporated.

I am an active member of Sisters’ Circle Greater Kansas City, which is a philanthropy organization. Established in 2016, our mission is to increase charitable giving within African-American communities to benefit African– Americans in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area.

I serve on the policies committee of the Missouri State Teachers Association–Kansas City region. I mentor several school principals and teachers providing decisive and significant professional development so that all can flourish in an academic environment. I support them with current research, research-based best practices, data-driven results, and practical school-based experiences that work toward meeting state standards and summer program initiatives.

When not engaged in the activities listed above, I enjoy traveling with my beautiful nieces, Shakara and Sharese Jones, and attending a huge range of sporting events, especially our Kansas City Chiefs!

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Having a writing mentor is like having a guardian angel on your side, but one who may be pretty challenging! Any aspiring author can benefit from using editorial assessments and mentoring services to make their books the best they can be prior to publication. A self-publishing mentor–someone who’s gone through the process successfully and, preferably, repeatedly can offer the benefits of his or her experience by giving aspiring authors advice and pointing them in the right direction. It may even be possible for a mentor to open doors through professional contacts. Learning how to tell a page-turning narrative with the help of a professional writer and/or editor on your side can be invaluable and help save years of mistakes.

During the inception of self-publishing, I participated in an editorial assessment where I received market advice about the quality of my work. The professional editorial engagements helped me to improve my writing. I have a mentor, Dr. Grace LaJoy who always encourages me to keep writing and helps me talk through ideas I may have for upcoming books. Dr. LaJoy has been very successful in publishing her own books, and her books have always served as a model for me in attaining superb quality.

If you want to work with people in the self-publishing industry itself, make sure they have a proven track record for quality and experience with the process. Avoid companies that use hard-sell tactics to make pie-in-the-sky promises. A good mentor will be someone willing to give you advice and counsel and who’s prepared to direct and support your work. But just as important–once you know what you’re doing, a good mentor will let you move forward on your own.

Aspiring authors should remember that publishing a book is not an end in and of itself. With its ability to boost your name, reputation, and authority, not to mention, depending on your industry, land you more consulting clients and speaking gigs, writing a book can open up some pretty amazing doors. Always remember that a successfully published book is a marketing tool like no other. And a mentor is like hitting the lottery!

Pricing:

• The School Day Series books are priced at $12.00 each and are available on my website.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.gwendolynsquires.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/gweneg
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gwendolynsquires

Image Credits:
E. Danielle Photography