Our guest today is Kalista Bradshaw, author of Sold City, available on Amazon.

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Stacie: Hi Kalista. Thank you for joining us for an author interview. It’s great to have you here.

Kalista: Hi Stacie, thank you so much for speaking with me about the new book.

Stacie: Your book, Sold City: A Beginners Guide to Real Estate, was based on our own experiences as a licensed real estate agent. Tell us how your own background led you to write the book.

Kalista: The idea for the book came from my father. During a visit home, I was struggling to write a blog post and asked him for some ideas. It turned into a long conversation about the depth of knowledge and experience we all have and can share, and ended with my writing a book.

Stacie: Sold City is a brief but honest look at the work involved. My husband is real estate agent and many of the points you make resonated with me. If you had only one piece of advice, you could offer to new agents, as the most important, what would it be?

Kalista: The most important thing is to care truly for your clients, listen to their needs, understand their hopes and fears, then work your hardest to help them find the best place. If you take the time to care about your clients, you give them the best value, and you get to reach your full potential.

Stacie: You chose to publish through CreateSpace. How did you find the process of self-publishing and do you think it would be good fit for other authors?

Kalista: For myself and my book, self-publishing was the perfect platform. CreateSpace allowed me to upload my content, design quickly and easily my book at an affordable cost. I would highly recommend it to other authors/business persons wanting to establish themselves in their fields.

Stacie: You are a professional who published a book about what you do best. How do you think writing this kind of professional book can help people position themselves as experts?

Kalista: I wrote the book for people just considering getting into real estate as well as to serve as my business card. The book helps them know that I have been in their position, having no clue what I was doing and building a new career. I believe that the book shows that it is possible to build a successful real estate career if you give it time and are open to learning.

Stacie: What kind of services (such as editing, layout and book cover design) do you recommend for other authors seeking to publish a similar kind of book?

Kalista: I used the provided CreateSpace formatting for the interior of the book. Since I am a terrible speller and grammar slob, I knew having the book professionally edited was important. First I ran the book through Grammerly and fixed what I could. Then I had it professionally edited with Scribendi; they were efficient and kind. I almost did not write the book out of fear of the criticism I would come under for poor grammar and spelling. I am happy to say that so far I have only had one critique.

For the exterior, I knew that I wanted something eye-catching and beautiful. I found exactly what I needed on CoverDesignStudio.com. My cover is so fetching that Jay Papasan even said he liked it during a class he was teaching!

Stacie: Is there anything else you’d like to share with the readers?

Kalista: I would say that if you are considering writing a book to go go it! I might get some critics for the book being a bit short, or for one or two grammar mistakes I can still say “Well, I wrote a book.”

Stacie: How can folks find out more about you and your book?

Kalista: You can find out more about me and my book at www.kwrecruiter.com