Writing about what you care about.
Janey Lee Grace
Radio presenter, turned author, Janey Lee Grace has been offering tips on natural living, to listeners of Steve Wright in the afternoon on Radio two for many years. She’s become well known for her knowledge of natural alternatives to just about anything; from what you put on your skin, to products used for cleaning the house. She has now written two books; ‘Imperfectly Natural Woman’ and ‘Imperfectly Natural Baby and Toddler’ which came out in April this year.
With a rising number of people thinking about their carbon footprints, and being concerned about what they put on and in their bodies, Janey found she was personally answering so many calls and emails resulting from her radio presenting, that when she was approached by Crown House publishers, she decided to put all her ideas down in a book.
Janey felt writing these books was the next step on from the work she was doing already to promote green living. She says;
“I want to make people aware of how much choice there is now, in totally natural, fair trade, eco alternatives that won’t cost you any more money but will help save your health, and will save the planet a little bit, its the small change big difference sort of principle.”
It’s clear she’s passionate about her subject area. Kurt Vonnegut the author of Slaughterhouse-five and Cat’s cradle who also taught on a Graduate Creative writing course, said that if you write about a subject you care about and feel other people should also care about, it will be evident in your writing and compel people to read on.
Janey wanted her book, to be a useful resource for anyone interested in a green lifestyle. By combining her personal experiences, including how she’s come to adopt all things natural, with information on products ‘Imperfectly Natural Woman’ is an interesting read which is so much more than a directory.
She came up with the title ‘Imperfectly Natural Woman’ as she says she’s by no means perfect. She recognises that while many people may want do everything they can for the planet, and to be as natural as they can, there’s only so much time, and everyone has their limits. She embraces the 80:20 principle, which is to do pretty much what she can 80% of the time. She hopes readers will do what they can, but not beat themselves up for not being ‘perfect.’
The whole process of writing the book, fitted in around her radio appearances and bringing up her four young children, took just over a year. Initially she produced a synopsis and the first chapter for the publishers, which was accepted, and she was left to get on with it apart from a few meetings with them. Towards the end she met with them another couple of times to decide on photographs and the design of the book.
Taking about 6 months after she had finished writing it the book came out in November 2005. Crown house however are a small publishing company and the book had little publicity. Janey says;
“This was my precious baby that I had put a lot of effort into, and I really wanted it to be successful, and I managed to get one interview on Johnny Walker’s show on radio two.”
The Johnny Walker interview was extremely successful, and the show had never had so many calls and emails on any other feature. After the interview her book shot to no 1 on Amazon. Janey said;
“It made me realise this wasn’t just me, and my funny little barking mad ideas, but this actually was becoming very mainstream and that’s great news.”
Although it’s generally the writer of the book who needs to study the market trends and decide if their book is likely to sell, in this case it was Crown House publisher’s who recognised Janey’s area of expertise was becoming very popular. Realising how mainstream green living has become, Janey felt there was also a market for a book about natural parenting, and ‘Imperfectly Natural Baby and Toddler’ came out on April 19th this year.
This book is a fast track to all the best natural products for children. It gives information on everything from what alternatives there are to sweets filled with E numbers, to buying cloth nappies and washing them without using harsh synthetic chemicals.
‘Imperfectly Natural Baby and Toddler’ was published by Orion books, which is a major publishing company. They’ve published books by Maeve Binchy, Ian Rankin and Terry Pratchett among others. This time around, again fitted around her busy life, Janey wrote the book in four months, delivering it in September last year.
Being with Orion meant the book would be available in all the major bookshops, as well as Amazon. Janey still found she needed to promote her book herself, if it was to be successful. She has her own press agent who organises interviews, and two weeks after the book has come out, she was still working hard on publicity with an interview with the Guardian newspaper and appearance on the Wright stuff on Channel five.
Janey has really enjoyed writing, saying it’s nice to be able to share information. She’s already working on the third book in the series ‘Imperfectly Natural home’ which will be out in 2008, and has an idea for another book about her take on child psychology. When asked if she could make a living out of writing, she answered;
“In my case I can’t make a living out of writing. I think I would have to supplement my income by writing articles maybe.”
Janey however seems to have a winning formula at the moment. Not only is she writing about a subject that she’s passionate and knowledgeable about, green living is also very mainstream at the moment. With more and more people becoming concerned about their carbon footprints, it’s likely this topic area will go from strength to strength.
With a rising number of people thinking about their carbon footprints, and being concerned about what they put on and in their bodies, Janey found she was personally answering so many calls and emails resulting from her radio presenting, that when she was approached by Crown House publishers, she decided to put all her ideas down in a book.
Janey felt writing these books was the next step on from the work she was doing already to promote green living. She says;
“I want to make people aware of how much choice there is now, in totally natural, fair trade, eco alternatives that won’t cost you any more money but will help save your health, and will save the planet a little bit, its the small change big difference sort of principle.”
It’s clear she’s passionate about her subject area. Kurt Vonnegut the author of Slaughterhouse-five and Cat’s cradle who also taught on a Graduate Creative writing course, said that if you write about a subject you care about and feel other people should also care about, it will be evident in your writing and compel people to read on.
Janey wanted her book, to be a useful resource for anyone interested in a green lifestyle. By combining her personal experiences, including how she’s come to adopt all things natural, with information on products ‘Imperfectly Natural Woman’ is an interesting read which is so much more than a directory.
She came up with the title ‘Imperfectly Natural Woman’ as she says she’s by no means perfect. She recognises that while many people may want do everything they can for the planet, and to be as natural as they can, there’s only so much time, and everyone has their limits. She embraces the 80:20 principle, which is to do pretty much what she can 80% of the time. She hopes readers will do what they can, but not beat themselves up for not being ‘perfect.’
The whole process of writing the book, fitted in around her radio appearances and bringing up her four young children, took just over a year. Initially she produced a synopsis and the first chapter for the publishers, which was accepted, and she was left to get on with it apart from a few meetings with them. Towards the end she met with them another couple of times to decide on photographs and the design of the book.
Taking about 6 months after she had finished writing it the book came out in November 2005. Crown house however are a small publishing company and the book had little publicity. Janey says;
“This was my precious baby that I had put a lot of effort into, and I really wanted it to be successful, and I managed to get one interview on Johnny Walker’s show on radio two.”
The Johnny Walker interview was extremely successful, and the show had never had so many calls and emails on any other feature. After the interview her book shot to no 1 on Amazon. Janey said;
“It made me realise this wasn’t just me, and my funny little barking mad ideas, but this actually was becoming very mainstream and that’s great news.”
Although it’s generally the writer of the book who needs to study the market trends and decide if their book is likely to sell, in this case it was Crown House publisher’s who recognised Janey’s area of expertise was becoming very popular. Realising how mainstream green living has become, Janey felt there was also a market for a book about natural parenting, and ‘Imperfectly Natural Baby and Toddler’ came out on April 19th this year.
This book is a fast track to all the best natural products for children. It gives information on everything from what alternatives there are to sweets filled with E numbers, to buying cloth nappies and washing them without using harsh synthetic chemicals.
‘Imperfectly Natural Baby and Toddler’ was published by Orion books, which is a major publishing company. They’ve published books by Maeve Binchy, Ian Rankin and Terry Pratchett among others. This time around, again fitted around her busy life, Janey wrote the book in four months, delivering it in September last year.
Being with Orion meant the book would be available in all the major bookshops, as well as Amazon. Janey still found she needed to promote her book herself, if it was to be successful. She has her own press agent who organises interviews, and two weeks after the book has come out, she was still working hard on publicity with an interview with the Guardian newspaper and appearance on the Wright stuff on Channel five.
Janey has really enjoyed writing, saying it’s nice to be able to share information. She’s already working on the third book in the series ‘Imperfectly Natural home’ which will be out in 2008, and has an idea for another book about her take on child psychology. When asked if she could make a living out of writing, she answered;
“In my case I can’t make a living out of writing. I think I would have to supplement my income by writing articles maybe.”
Janey however seems to have a winning formula at the moment. Not only is she writing about a subject that she’s passionate and knowledgeable about, green living is also very mainstream at the moment. With more and more people becoming concerned about their carbon footprints, it’s likely this topic area will go from strength to strength.
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