Read And Write With Natasha
This podcast discusses writing life, reviews books, and interviews authors and industry professionals. It's run by author, journalist, and ghostwriter Natasha Tynes, a Jordanian-American.
Read And Write With Natasha
From corporate career to children's book advocate with Deema Al Alami
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Deema Alalami is an educator-turned-author and reading advocate.
In this episode, we discuss the following:
- Transition to literary luminary: The transformation of Deema Al Alami from corporate life to a renowned author and reading advocate, along with the inception of her "Mother to Author" program.
- Embracing Arabic children's literature: An exploration of Deema's dedication to Arabic children's literature, detailing her journey through the writing world and the challenges and triumphs of career transition.
- The writing process: Deema's guidance on the essential steps of writing, from the germination of an idea to the joy of holding a published book.
- Mentorship in authorship: Insights into the "Mother to Author" program, crafted to assist mothers in becoming authors, covering the nuances of getting published and the shared successes of her mentees.
- Insights into boutique publishing: Deema's perspectives on boutique publishing, the strategic importance of pairing manuscripts with the right publishers, and the significance of nurturing female talent in the industry.
- Juggling professional and family life: A look into Deema's daily rituals that harmonize her professional passion with her family life.
- Entrepreneurship in writing: An intimate look at the realities of entrepreneurship in the writing sector, as shared by Deema.
- Inspiration for aspiring authors: Deema's wealth of experience serves as both a guide and an inspiration for those dreaming of crafting their stories in children's literature.
Don't miss this inspiring episode.
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Dima Alalami
Speaker 1So it's still new and you know the publishing process takes you two years on average , like a year and a half two years . So it's not like you finish the program and you're like , let me get published . But I have someone who actually published their book and it's a great book that's selling really , really well . I have many that have been accepted by traditional publishing houses , so they accepted their scripts , which is also amazing , the nicest thing for me . I have like two or three members who joined . They were so inspired because there's a module all about networking and the importance of networking when you become a self-published author . You know and like your presence on social media and so on . So I have three to five who started their own and I'm so grateful for that .
Speaker 2Hi friends , this is Read and Write with Natasha podcast . My name is Natasha Tynes and I'm an author and a journalist . In this channel , I talk about the writing life , review books and interview authors . Hope you enjoy the journey . Hi everyone , and welcome to another episode of Read and Write with Natasha .
Speaker 2We have with us today author Dima Alalami , whose mission is to turn every family into a reading family . She does so by recommending the best children's book on her Instagram pages and sharing literacy tips and tricks , in addition to conducting workshops on how to best nurture readers . She co-authored two bestselling children's book and she also founded Alalami Book Club , with over 750 members , to encourage adults to read . More recently , she launched a master program titled From Mother to Author to support aspiring children's book authors , in the hopes of transforming and enriching the Arabic children's literature in the region .
Speaker 2Wow , dima , you're joining me today . You're very busy . Thank you for having me . I'm so excited to have you on the show , dima . I've been following your work for a couple of years now and I'm one of the 750 members in your book club . You do actually amazing work on Instagram . I'm inspired . Thank you very much , I think . My first question , dima , is this your bread and butter . Is this what you do full time , or do you have other gigs going on , and how do you manage to handle all of that in addition to sustain a living in the creative field ?
Speaker 1So first , Natasha , thank you so much for having me and I'm so honored that someone like you is part of my community . I absolutely love that , A fellow reader and writer , so it really makes me so happy . The Alalemi book club I just want to mention it's co-founded by my cousin and myself , so Farah Alalemi and myself , and I'm so glad that you're part of it as well . So the question is so yes , the answer , the quick answer , is yes , I do this full time . So I've been working in the field of education for the past 16 years and just recently , I decided to leave my corporate job in the education field and focus 100% on my account Instagram account , let's say and the things I do on it .
Speaker 1So , as you mentioned , I focus on three main areas and I think that simplifies things . Simplifies things for me , which is there's a core function on my page , which is to recommend the best children's books in English or Arabic . And then there's another core pillar , which is the mother to author program , where I want to get as many and I focus on mothers . A lot of people like it's unfair , like there are fathers , there are mothers , yes , but most of my community is actually mothers . But anyone's welcome to join , but I want to transform the Arabic literature or Arab authored literature . It doesn't have to be using the Arabic language , so I do that through the mother to author program . So that's a big pillar .
Speaker 2And .
Speaker 1I have the other pillar , which is which has different projects , like Alalemi book club , where , because we start ? How did that start ? It's because a lot of people come to me and they message oh Dima , my son is so sexy , hates reading . My son , my daughter is , I don't know , 11 . She doesn't read and the first thing I ask is do you read in front of them ? Or you know what it is like to read for pleasure ? And most of the time is like no , I don't , I don't have time . Blah , blah , blah . So this is where Alalemi book club started . So I have , like these projects , like Alalemi book club is part of that .
Speaker 1I do , behind the scenes , a lot of consulting work for many publishing houses , edutainment , digital products that have anything to do with education , with Arabic . So I do a lot of things behind the scenes that obviously I don't post about , but most of most of all , like , these are the things that I do . Is it financially sustainable ? Definitely not as much as it was when I used to work in the corporate world and every 28th of every month I would get the message to take the data and then transfer it and be like oh my God , you know , this is worth the misery , you know , yeah , so it's definitely much more difficult . Luckily , I've worked super hard for 16 years , so I have a bit of saving the cushion to like rely on , and I have an incredible husband who's also supportive . I'm not one person to say , oh , I don't care what my partner says , I'm doing this for me . No , you had to sit . So , yeah , alhamdulillah . You know like , I'm happy with where I'm at and inshallah it will grow financially , because that's something very important for me as well .
Speaker 2This is . This is very inspiring , dima , because the fact that you're you're pursuing your own passion , you quit denying to five job which is the same case with me is something that needs courage , it needs a certain , it needs a certain mindset , and I'm sure you faced some struggles and you know negativity from friends and loved ones saying you know , are you crazy ? Why are you doing this ? And I was wondering if actually this , this was the case , and how did you handle it ? And do you ever feel , as a creative and a full time author and educator , that maybe now I can't do this anymore , I have to go back to nine to five ?
Speaker 1So , very , two , very good questions . So let me answer the first part . So I want everyone who is listening to know that it wasn't an overnight decision and let me quit my reliable nine to five job . I was super , super senior in one of the largest education companies in the world , if not the largest , and I was with them for eight years . So it was very like I had my routine , I had my system , I had my you know role . So it wasn't like , oh , I woke up one day and let me do this . So I had started my Instagram page five years ago .
Speaker 1So it was like after three years of joining that company and I was doing this on the side , but something inside of me was telling me like , just do what , dima , just do it , do it , do it . You know , you want to do this mother-to-author program . It's been something I've been thinking about for a long time , and for a long time I wanted to author books . But I authored the books while I was working . I was working over time . It was like I had two jobs , you know , yeah . So when I decided it took me a year and a half , like I want to like manage everyone's expectations , like , it took me a year and a half almost to to actually quit and be like . You know , they were putting all these temptations in front of me and I would take them , you know , and I'll be like , it wasn't an easy decision and for me , the person I cared the most about To agree with me was my husband . Like I'm , like we're a family unit , like , although , again , Alhamdulillah , like he has his job , etc . But like for me this was a family decision , you know , just like , if he Changed his job , it's like we need to discuss it . So for me , as long as he agreed and I feel like I felt like when my husband was like , okay , fine , go for it , I was ready to make them . So that took me a long time .
Speaker 1The next question is do I think of going back a hundred percent ? I'm not gonna lie that , oh , no , no , hey , I never . I don't shut doors and for me , I always like to explore what's out there . That's number one . Number two yes , when things get tough and I feel like , oh , like , because I'm a freelancer Technically , you know like I get different projects , I get different things .
Speaker 1So if , financially , I'm feeling like , oh , you know , like it's not going as fast as I would like it to or as productive , and I get an offer from a corporate entity , no , I give it to what it deserves like . I assess it , I see if this is what I want to do . So I'm not a person to say no 100% to the corporate job and the corporate world Especially . You know I'm not planning of having more kids and I have two boys and the youngest is three . So I feel like the older they get , the more independent they'll be and they would need me less . I don't know if I'm imagining this , but that's how I feel . So , yeah , the answer is yeah . Sometimes I play around with the idea . I'm not a person who says this is my decision and I stick to it .
Speaker 2So okay , okay . So all right , I want to ask a bit about the First . You know , I want to ask about all your projects . I want to ask about the author to mother program , so your clients , are they mostly from the , the Arab word , the Middle East region , or are they from , and do you run it in Arabic or English , or both ? How does it work ?
Speaker 1So the mother to author program is designed . Let me just start to why it was designed . So , basically , I'm an educator . I consider myself to be a reading advocate . I have two boys who I read
Transforming Arab Children's Literature Program
Speaker 1with consistently , and a lot . I have thousands of books at home .
Speaker 1I when I was a first grade teacher , what I loved the most was actually reading to children and seeing the reaction , and I'm Obsessed with children's books . My favorite subject in university was children's literature , like I just love . So I decided , before I launch a program like that , I want to first go through the experience to author books and see how it's like . What's the process , the process . So I did that , thank you . Now , with one of the you successfully a childhood friend . We wrote two books and it was great . And then I felt like , okay , I'm ready to launch this program . Why did I want to watch this program ?
Speaker 1Number one I was sick and tired of hearing people complain about children's literature . Either there isn't enough good Arabic quality children's books , or the books we're getting from the US or the UK are not aligned with our values . Or you know , I want a book about blah blah , blah , but I can't find like a find a book about it Like we can either sit and complain and complain or ban books which I'm against , and all of that or we say you know what , let's take control and let's start producing and publishing high quality books , whether they're in Arabic or they're authored by an Arab person , regardless of your ethnicity . Let's take control of the situation . You know , now you have option of self publishing , the option of going through traditional publishing , their Option of going through Amazon publishing like the options are out there , you know . So let's be proactive and this is why I started the mother to author program , which is an 11 module master program . Itself pays to join and we discuss Every single thing , from the idea to how to write the right the text , to how to select the right Illustrator , because even I believe , if you're , if you're going through traditional publishing , I think you need to understand how you select an illustrator , how , how does an illustrator best Compliment your book , you know , etc . So we go through all of these modules and by the end of it , you'll be able to make you an effective decision , an efficient decision and effective and an informed decision on how you want to get your book published . And I meet with you once every month where we discuss your script . We see what's what's happening with you , you know , as as a group . Now the answer is yes .
Speaker 1Most of the people who joined my programs are live in the Arab region , so some of them are ethnically Arab , some of them are not . How , what you write , you end up writing with which language , I don't care . You could write it in French , spanish , arabic , english , whatever .
Speaker 1I try to give a lot of examples of Arabic children's books . So the content or the language of instruction , in terms of the master program , it's in English . But I also do give examples of Arabic children's books , high quality , because that applies to many other languages . It could also be French , it could be Spanish , where , compared to English , there's minimal number of books , you know , and there's like , maybe the quality , or not necessarily the quality , as in the printing quality , but the overall book , you know , competing with my child doesn't want to read the French book , he wants to read an English book , he doesn't want to read Spanish . So the language of instruction is in English and I give a lot of examples of Arabic books with Arabic publishers , arab illustrators . So goal number one is to transform the Arab children's literature out there . Do you run it in English or in Arabic , so I run it in English , it's . I speak in English because that's easier for me , but I give examples of Arabic books as well .
Speaker 2And is it live or is it self based , or it's ?
Speaker 1self based , so we have their self based . But every last Monday of every month I meet with everyone who's in the program and I coach different individuals on different questions so that everyone can benefit .
Speaker 2Oh , it's great . So do you have any success stories from the problem ?
Speaker 1Yes , yeah , I would love to hear it Honestly like I get like goosebumps when I when I think about it .
Speaker 1So I have someone who had , so it's still new and you know , the publishing process takes you two years on average like a year and a half , two years . So it's not like you finished the program and let me get published . But I have someone who actually published their book and it's a great book that's selling really , really well . I have many that have been accepted by traditional publishing houses . So they accepted their scripts , which is also amazing . I have the nicest thing for me . I have like two or three members who joined . They were so inspired because there's a module all about networking and the importance of networking .
Speaker 1When you become a self published author , you know and like your presence on social media and so on . So I have three to five who started their own I'm so grateful for that their own pages where they promote the Arabic language . They're sharing their authoring journey and they're doing such an incredible job like such an incredible job that it was like an unplanned outcome of the program they won . One of them did a whole program on how to reconnect with children's literature , with Arab actors , so she went to Syria . She's a producer , she created this whole amazing getting old actors you know , like known , well known actors to read Arabic children's books that are newly published . Another one is documenting her journey in having like two children who are like ultimate bookworms . Like so amazing things are coming out of the program and that is why I decided to actually digitize it , because I saw that it's successful . So I'm like , yeah , we're onto something .
Speaker 2You know , oh , wow , so okay . So I want to talk a bit about the publishing journey First . You're publishing journey , so did you go with the traditional route or the self publishing tradition ? And how traditional ? So , in Arabic ? Well , I know , in the Arab world , you don't need an agent . You need an agent , you don't need an agent . No . So you wrote the script and you pitched it directly to the publishing house and they said yes .
Speaker 1Well , five of them said no and then one said yes .
Speaker 2Okay , yeah , of course rejection is part of the journey . Who's your current publisher ?
Speaker 1now . So the book had the jismillah , the Mithni and the men ballad Smoflisteen was published by Jabal Amman Publishing , who are based in Jordan .
Speaker 2Yeah , sinana , swiss was a friend of mine . Yeah , of course . Okay , yeah , it's a great place . I spoke with a number of authors who published with the same publishing house , all right , so ,
Publishing Strategies for Authors
Speaker 2and the authors that you you know that you mentioned their success stories . Are they getting an agent or are they going through the service Because they're based ?
Speaker 1in the Arab world . So I have a few . So I have some who are in the UK , some who are in the US that they went . So I suggested other publishers because they were writing in English , right , okay . So I recommended they reach out to other publishing houses , either through agents Now , agents is not an issue , honestly , you can just go online and you can .
Speaker 1There's like , at least in the UK , there's a list of agents . You see what they're like , what their focus is . You reach out . Obviously , you agree , and so on . So , and some of them went straight to publishing houses because I usually write to support like boutique publishing houses as well . Like my mission is beyond this program . Like I have a dream of like connecting illustrators , especially women illustrators , with like boutique publishing houses , with aspiring authors . You know , like that's my dream , you know , and I feel like I'm I want to pack myself in the back , but like getting people connecting with each other , I feel like this is working . So I have some of them in the US . They didn't go through an agent , they went through small boutique publishing houses that I love . I love their content and their . Her script also was agreed . Inshallah , it will be published 2024 . So , yeah , that's cool .
Speaker 2So let me ask you know , for the sake of anyone who's who's listening or watching ? So here's an example . I already have a script that's a true story , for children's book . You know , I publish fiction for adults , but I have one . It's written in English , it focuses on a girl who's a daughter of Arab parents and but it's it's not from her point of view . So anyways , so who would you tell me who would publish this book ? It's in English , it's not in Arabic . And if , just for the sake of example , would you tell me , just go try to publish it in the US it's in , you know , in English , or no , try to go to publish it in the Middle East , who would accept English book ? What would be your advice ?
Speaker 1So my advice would be a I can't give you advice now because I haven't read the script right , but my advice to you would be is you know your script . You need to research the publishers so much and not make my mistakes . So when we first authored our book , I had no idea we were just sending our script left , right and center and getting a rejection after rejection after rejection . Now , when I learned and understood the publishing process , if I had researched the publishing houses that I was approaching , I would have probably not sent our script to four out of the five who who rejected us , right ? So I would say look at your , the target , the target reader that you're you're writing for . Okay , what's the overall theme of your book ? Start going into publishing houses , their websites , look at their books , buy their books . Is it aligned with what you are trying to to publish ? You know ? So I get people saying , oh my God , I wrote a script and it's been rejected . And I'm like , for example , they wrote it in English . They're sending it to Arab publishing houses . And I'm like , like , why ? Like , did they ever publish in English ? Like never . So why are you disappointed that they rejected you ? You know , and for someone who's like , wrote something that's nonfiction and they're going to publishing houses . That's right in center . I'm like but but these publishing houses , they're they . They publish for a different target group and target reader group and they don't do nonfiction , for example , you know like they have one run fiction . So so what is it ?
Speaker 1So my starting point would be a researching , researching , researching , researching , because you need to find that alignment . Okay , that doesn't mean you will never get rejected , but the chances of you getting rejected is much lower . Number two I would really understand the expectations . So , again , a lot of people end up sending the script before making their script almost 100 percent perfect . They don't send it to an editor , they don't get the language checked , they don't get the email perfectly written . All of these things need to be done because eventually , the publisher might end up editing your script , etc . But the person who's making the judgment is the chief editor of this . Someone's looking at it and giving it an assessment . If you have typos , if the language is not perfect , if in Arabic , you might get rejected for these things . If the email of your body is not attractive , it doesn't show them that you understand their publishing house it might get rejected . So research , research , research , before you approach different publishing houses .
Speaker 1If you're publishing in English , the quick answer is definitely don't publish in the Arab world . You can self-publish , but there aren't any Arab English publishing houses , so do you also edit their script ? So that's a different service . So if you want me to go and look at your script and do a full script review and give you my feedback , that's an additional service that you need to book me . It's my consulting fee . You book me . It depends on the number of words , if you're going to send me images like the illustrations , or if you're going to send me the storyboard . It's like if each of it is different , but I can do that again based on my availability and , yeah , a lot of people do that .
Speaker 2And yeah , wow , just fast . I think like you're probably among the first in the Middle East that offers this kind of service . I know where . Well , yay , yeah , good for you , yeah .
Speaker 1It's just , I feel like you know , because my heart breaks . I can't tell you how often I get messages from people . Hi , Dima , I wrote this book , I want to send it to you and I have this message where it says you know , thank you so much for reaching out . No , you can send me your book , but I can't guarantee that I'll post about it . If it meets my community's expectations in terms of quality content , I will , but otherwise I won't . So out of every 10 books that are sent to me every month , I probably recommend one , because people unfortunately go through the process of writing , illustrating , printing , publishing and they missed out . It's just the quality is not up there . I'm sorry . The point is not to publish a book . It's so easy , to be honest , to publish .
Speaker 1So easy to publish a low quality children's books , the children's book , it's so easy . What's hard is to get a bestselling children's book , a book that's going to sell thousands of copies . You know , at the price point that you have , that people are going to message you and say , oh my God , I read this book with my son and oh my God , thank you so much for writing it . Like . There's nothing that's more rewarding than a message like that . So that's why Mother to Author came , because I want people before they think , oh , walla , yalla , I wrote a script and it's so .
Speaker 1And unfortunately , what people forget , writing a children's book or any script , you're emotionally attached to it , right ? So you're going to think , oh my God , it's the best thing that has been written ever . You know Like and you'd be like no , no , it's amazing . I don't understand why . Why , for example , it didn't sell well or whatever . And what people forget and I say that in the program is you , natasha , let's say you wrote , write the children's book . And then who do you get to review it ? Your husband , your sister , your mother , everyone who wants to see you succeed , right ? Everyone is like oh , it's amazing .
Speaker 2It's just amazing . Yeah , they're going to be nice yeah .
Speaker 1They're going to be nice , right . So , and I hate hate is a big word I hate when I see people thinking short term . Like I know the effort you put in writing and publishing a really good children's book , right , and it's a long process . It can be an easy process , but if you want to do it right , it's long and you need support and you need coaching and you need because it's a long process to get a really good quality one .
Speaker 1So if you're going to do that , I want you to invest in making sure that it's not only going to be sold to your friend and friends , friends and aunt and neighbor and like your typical Arab mentality . You know you have like a hundred people like you know , they know you , they're going to buy your book and you'll be like , yay , and then you'll have the 300 , whatever other copies that no one buys , which is often the case , unfortunately , you know . So make that investment . I don't know if there are other programs out there , but whatever , if there is Google , like find programs that will help you perfect your script , perfect how you select the publisher , perfect , so that you can have a book that's going to sell in the thousands and not in the hundreds .
Speaker 2So , Dima , I want to ask you about your marketing efforts and your Instagram accounts . Okay , so , like , you do an amazing job promoting your work and you have 27,000 followers on Instagram . Okay , and I noticed something that you do really well and I personally struggle is that you use both languages in one . Yes , Hala , I know what I used to do is I was like no , I'm going to confuse the audience , I'm going to start one in Arabic and one in English . So , in your case , are you losing followers Because , like , let's say , someone who doesn't speak Arabic sees like this quote , unquote foreign language and then they just stop following you and you might lose a potential client , for example ? How do you feel ?
Speaker 1about that . To be honest , the quick answer is I don't know and I don't care For me . I don't look at my community as followers For me and if you look at my growth , my growth
Community, Marketing, Book Club, and Recommendations
Speaker 1is very slow . I've had this account for seven years and I'm at 27K . I know people who had opened their accounts in COVID and three months ago . They have hundreds of thousands of followers , but for me , my account is me . My account is a reflection of me . This is not a business account . This is Dima and I'm a bilingual human being . I speak in Arabic , I speak in English . I mix both languages . My grammar in Arabic isn't great , neither is it in English , so I'm very natural on Instagram .
Speaker 1What I love about my community ? The 27,000 people following me they're genuinely , genuinely my community , my followers . I've built amazing friendships . They know about my struggle with my hair loss . They know about my miscarriages . They know about everything that I go through that I want to share . They're there . So for me , I can't tell you a lot about marketing because I don't think I'm good at it . To be honest , I feel like Yainina and the mother to author program . I worked on it for a year and , like three months , I died . I launched it , I had so many people join and stuff and then I left it . I'm not good at marketing , so now I made a promise to my 27,000 community members . I'm like guys , ladies , gents whoever is there , listen , I'm holding myself accountable in front of you that I'm going to promote my program because I know it's going to have an impact . So that's why I'm now trying to do that . So , in terms of everything , no , not the right person .
Speaker 2Okay , so the reason I also ask because you have nice production values , for example , your videos . They look professionally produced . Do you ? Yeah , do you outsource that ? What is your process ? Like you know , that's some of my questions .
Speaker 1So the first six years of having my account , I was doing them like I would sit on my bed . I would read an amazing book with my son , I would sit on my bed and I would start recording it with my hand and stuff .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1But some of my amazing community members who've been with me since the start . They started to message me and be like I have a very open relationship with them , like they tell me things respectfully . I'm totally open to feedback . They're like , honestly , dima , like la'aytina , like you were nauseous looking at your screen , like the lighting is crap . You read the book and you're like moving up and down and like you know , you know they're like I think you need to like fix that . So I started getting a lot of feedback like that , like , dima , we love your content . But like , honestly , the quality isn't great . And like I would video it horizontally , not vertically , and I don't know what , like it was a mess .
Speaker 1So when I quit my photo time job , I decided to use some of the money that I had to invest in a company that will . That was hard for me to find someone like that that will only support me in videoing and editing . So I did not want to work with what you call them social media . I guess what do you call them Social media agency ? Oh , like an agency to say like , oh , speak about this . Oh , write about this book . Oh , no , you have to recommend this book because it has a lot of work , so I didn't want that , anna . I just wanted someone to come video and then put the video , and this is what I found . I found a great arrangement where they just they don't tell me what to post , they don't tell me which books to recommend , whatever . I just go , I do my book review recommendations and then they edit them and then I post them , but I do miss the old stuff ?
Speaker 2Do they come to your house or do you go to their studio ? I go to their studio .
Speaker 1I think they can come to my house , but my house , honestly , is just too messy and noisy , so I go to their studio .
Speaker 2What are you based , by the way ? Dubai , dubai , okay . Yeah , that's a great city to be based as an entrepreneur . Yeah .
Speaker 1I'm grateful . I do count it as a blessing .
Speaker 2Yeah , it is . I was there in last year . It's amazing , I was there for work . So , okay , I want to ask you about your book club . Do you monetize it or do you find any ways of monetizing or ?
Speaker 1I wish I was Reese with her spoon button .
Speaker 2So yeah , or what's her name ? Jenna Bush . So so , the member , because it takes , you know , it takes time and it takes effort . It takes time , effort , and so I was wondering if , or if just , but also , you can get custom or clients through the book club .
Speaker 1You know it's another way of like brand building the honest , not really Like I haven't , like I can't draw a straight line from like oh , the book club to clients , but what I can , it fulfills me a lot and it's I consider it as the CSR I'm doing for my community . I do a lot which , again , if my husband was here , would be like you're an idiot , because in some ways I am , because even the books I recommend I still don't make money out of that . I haven't monetized in the right way , like there are a lot of opportunities for me to monetize and I just want to find the right way that works for me . So for me , the book club it's just purely to encourage adults to reconnect with the pleasure of reading and Farah and I agree on that , we've never tried to monetize it . It takes a lot of our time thinking of the questions , doing it , etc . But it's also fulfills us .
Speaker 1It's one of those projects that I have that sometimes I'm like I hate it , but then I do the , the zoom discussion where everyone's there , and then after that I'm like so hyper . I'm like , oh , my god , I love this book lab . You know it's so nice . You know I always my husband's like you're so weird , because before that I'd be like I hate this book . Why did we choose this book ? Why am I reading in this book club ? You know so . But yeah , I know I haven't monetized it . I don't think at this point to like , I don't think we would how many People join .
Speaker 2usually roughly June the zoom discussion , so 20 to 25 .
Speaker 1That's not bad , which I love . I love when it's more than 25 . It's too much yeah it's too much and not everyone gets a chance to speak and Alhamdulillah , we're like okay with it . But we now know the feel and we know , like the books , and we know how many people are gonna come and etc . So it's between 20 to 25 15 .
Speaker 2So the books that you recommend , whether for the book club or on your Instagram account , based on what I looked at it and there's , like a number of , you know , different choices , like you know , you could saw them call them as a third right . So sometimes you would Recommend , let's say , adult books , sometimes you would recommend in history , sometimes you recommend fantasy . How do you ? You know what ? What ? What's your criteria ?
Speaker 1So two things in the Alamy book club it's me and Farah , my cousin , who's the co-founder as well of Alamy book club . We sit back and forth . We have completely different styles in books . She's more mystery . She loves these books like the mystery part . I love historical fiction Of historical biographies . I love them . So we're completely different . So we it takes us forever to agree . She wants this . No , I don't want that . We know we fight , etc . But we find the balance and that's what we read for the Alamy book club .
Speaker 1We try to mix a lot of genres as much as possible . We mix and match and we read them . Sometimes they're a flop . Some sometimes are great . It depends on your style , I guess . So that's one in terms of my page . The children's books no , the children's books is basically Based on what's my children I'm reading with my children , what I'm getting a lot of questions about , like , hi , dima , do you have a book about blah , blah , blah . So if I get a lot of questions , I go , I do my research , I buy 30 books about this subject , I start reading them , I select the best one , I post them . You know , I Do a recommendations and so on . So it's completely different when it comes from the book club to Versus what I do on my page for my personal children's books choices .
Speaker 2Do you have a newsletter ?
Speaker 1No , to be honest , it's because I don't read newsletters , so I'm not gonna force that upon
Entrepreneurship, Routine, and Publishing Tips
Speaker 1my community . I understand the marketing benefits of it but I , like I Don't think I've ever read a newsletter . Sorry to anyone who thinks I'm subscribed and I'm reading it .
Speaker 2Okay , okay . So what is your date today ? Like how , how do you like as an entrepreneur , yeah , what's your routine life ? So ?
Speaker 1I Wake up usually let's say I don't know early . My kids go to school . I do my exercise . I don't drop off my kids to school , but I do my exercise 8 to 9 am and then 9 to 3 I'm working , working , working , working , working , meeting with clients . If I have to meet this publishing house , if I whatever zoom calls Preparing for content , if I want to do a workshop , so it's very different . And Then at 3 , like my son comes back from nursery , I play a bit with him . I try not to have like now it's bedtime . So I'm like husband , come to the rescue as I try not to do anything after they come back home , because that's why I left the corporate world .
Speaker 1I was working from 7 30 am Until 7 pm , barely seeing my kids . So I really try to keep the afternoons free for them , but sometimes doesn't work . So , yeah , that's how it is . You know , like it not . I can't tell you every like . There are no two days that are exactly the same , which is what I love . It's different , but I also it requires a lot of discipline . So every day I'm up , I do my workouts 8 to 9 . I start my day , because otherwise I procrastinate .
Speaker 2So there is a routine you work out at home or do ?
Speaker 1you go to the gym . I do yoga twice a week . My teacher comes to my house . I love her , we do that and then I go to the gym twice a week , actually three times a week .
Speaker 2Good for you because , as an entrepreneur , you have to be fit , to be able to think clearly , and you know , that's something I realized for me like and you have to have a routine .
Speaker 1I think one of the biggest challenges that caused me a lot of anxiety when I quit my job was just like we don't have a team meeting , like I'm not meeting with my yes , it's Monday 9 am . What am I supposed to do ? You know so and it you can easily like . I had a lot of anxiety this summer because it's the first summer where I wasn't working for like eight weeks almost and I Just didn't know what to do with myself . I was having anxiety like I'm like , oh my god , I need to be productive , beyond my children , beyond my family , and it really didn't feel good for me . So I love routine for me . I thrive in routine .
Speaker 2Yeah , so what are you working on now , like future , oh .
Speaker 1So now my priority is mother-to-other program . Give it what it deserves , the love it deserves , the attention it deserves , because Really , I worked so hard on it and I like , when I see the success stories , I'm like I want other people to experience that and I can't transform the Arabic literature landscape on my own , sarah , like let's , let's be honest . So I need people . So that's one thing . I working a lot on promoting it and marketing it and telling the world about it . That's number one . Number two I'm writing a book , inshallah , you know . So , yeah , excited . What's the book about ? I still don't want it to disclose because it's still in the pages , but I want to , possibly , possibly I don't know , like I'm playing with the idea of self-publishing , which maybe that . These are the two things . What else ?
Speaker 2Is it a children book or adult ?
Speaker 1I don't think I have the patience for right for older age groups . So these are the two kind of big things that I want to work on at this point . To be honest , yeah , I have other projects in the pipeline , but yeah , these are the two big ones . So clients .
Speaker 2They most defined you through Instagram . Would you say that that is your biggest marketing channel ?
Speaker 1Yeah , it's a big one . Yes , that's for sure . But I also , again , like I've been working in the field of education for a long time Now . I worked in Jordan , I worked in the UAE , you know , I was appearing on media , like I had media appearances and stuff . So some of it is like old people and word of mouth and a lot of it is social media actually .
Speaker 2Yeah , I would say both , and mostly from the region . Do you have people from outside of the region reaching out ?
Speaker 1I've had actually people from outside , but they are connected to the region , so they might have worked in the UAE , but now they're consultants from abroad , or they are actually Arab Americans who were born like second , third generation and they're you know . So I have a mix .
Speaker 2I have a mix , I see . Okay . So any tips for anyone who wants to publish a children's book . What would you tell them ?
Speaker 1Number one invest in learning about this process . You know , unfortunately you can't Google like how do I publish a children's book ? Like it's not the same in every country . So educate yourself , invest , learn . You know the ins and outs . What's the success for people ? What did they do ? What does a bestselling children's book look like ? And even that you can't say what defines the bestselling children's book ? Some people say it's the ratings , some people say that's the number of copies , but for you , what does that mean ? So I would say , number one invest in again , signing up in a program or going whatever , speaking to the right people , that's number one .
Speaker 1Number two you can't be a good children's book author if you're not a good children's book reader , that's . I always say this , you know . So read , read , read , read , read , read , read , read . And number three don't rush it , don't rush it , don't , don't , just don't save the market from another low quality , fast produced children's books . That's the book . That's not what's needed , to be honest . What's needed is high quality children's books and you owe it to your reader to give them that .
Speaker 2Well , this is great . Any final thoughts ? What can people find you and find your books , your Instagram account , or if you can tell us where we can find it .
Speaker 1Yes , my Instagram account . So my Instagram account is addima , underscore a , l , underscore alami , and you can find me there . I have different accounts . Like all the books is strictly for books . If you don't want to hear my personal stuff . I have the mother to author account that's focused on this program , so , but you can connect there . I would love to have you as part of the community . And , yeah , thank you so much , natasha , for having me .
Speaker 2Of course . Thank you for this wonderful , inspiring conversation and for anyone who's listening or watching . Thank you for joining us and , until we meet again , thank you for tuning in to Read and Write with Natasha . I'm your host , Natasha Tynes . If today's episode inspired you in any way , please take the time to review the podcast . Remember to subscribe and share this podcast with fellow book lovers . Until next time . Happy reading , happy writing .
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