Authors Against Bullying Spotlight
An interview with founder, Bree Vanderland
Tell our readers a bit about your book series. Where did the idea come from?
Authors Against Bullying is something that was put together collectively. There was one day that I stopped all my plans and set them aside to talk to a friend of mine who was having a difficult time with people who were constantly picking on her in school. After listening to her talk about it and pour out her emotions, I wanted to do more to help than just stay here and listen since we were countries away from each other.
I know it’s small, but the Authors Against Bullying is not just to raise money for different bullying charities, but it’s also to raise awareness. Realizing there’s a problem is the first step to solving it.
What charity do your books benefit?
Most of our book’s royalties are going to STOMP Out Bullying, a New York based charity who has made it their goal to raise awareness of bullying and to teach people how to be kinder to each other. They have greatly inspired me.
Was it hard collecting stories for your anthology/anthologies? What was your biggest setback?
I don’t think it was terribly hard to collect stories. Once we got the word out about them, there were many people who were interested in helping – parents who had been bullied when they were younger or had children who were now, or even people like my friend who had experienced it themselves and wanted to put their emotions down on paper. I think my biggest setback at the time was not having enough experience with anthologies and collecting stories from them, but it’s always a learning experience – one that I’m happy to take part in.
What was it like putting the book(s) together? Was it harder than you thought it would be?
At first, it was a little overwhelming. I have a busy schedule and there were times I wanted to just say forget it, but I pushed through it all and once I was finally able to put it together, I felt relieved. I don’t think it was harder than I thought it would be when putting it together, but getting the word out about them has definitely been a challenge to some point.
How did it feel on release day?
I don’t think there are enough words to describe how I felt on release day. There were so many people interested in it and so many people there to help and congratulate us on the success. It was just so amazing to see so many people coming together and all for a good cause.
What’s next for your series? Any new books coming out soon?
We will definitely be publishing more anthologies, our fifth volume with no specific topic requirement, but we will definitely want to carry on with the anthologies. Unfortunately, we will now only be doing them one at a time instead of two or three at a time since it definitely was too much to handle the last time we set them up that way.
What made you choose to work with Rock & Roll Saved My Soul for your books?
When Kate started RRSMS, I was definitely interested in working with the company in one way or another. I thought that I would be someone who helped promote or set up events if and when she needed help, but after talking to a friend who was bullied, I wanted to do more. I wanted to help more and get something out there to raise awareness. It was something different for RRSMS as well since at the beginning, they were focused on music related anthologies instead, Kate was generous enough to expand her company to any anthology or book that was for charity and I cannot thank her enough for the opportunity.
What is it like working with Rock & Roll Saved My Soul? Would you recommend them to other authors who want to put together an anthology for charity?
RRSMS is amazing. There’s not much else that can describe them. They’re willing to work with your schedule and the pace you want to go in. Beautiful covers. On top of release days. And so much more. They and their support team are all amazing. I would definitely recommend them to anyone who has a book that’s going towards a charity. They’re honestly one of the most professional publishing companies I have met and I’m proud to work with them.
Where can we find out more info about your anthology series?
There are a few places to learn more about Authors Against Bullying but the two main places are my author website and their Facebook page. Each book has a link going to amazon on my website.
www.authorvanderland.com
www.facebook.com/AuthorsTakeAStand
Authors Against Bullying is something that was put together collectively. There was one day that I stopped all my plans and set them aside to talk to a friend of mine who was having a difficult time with people who were constantly picking on her in school. After listening to her talk about it and pour out her emotions, I wanted to do more to help than just stay here and listen since we were countries away from each other.
I know it’s small, but the Authors Against Bullying is not just to raise money for different bullying charities, but it’s also to raise awareness. Realizing there’s a problem is the first step to solving it.
What charity do your books benefit?
Most of our book’s royalties are going to STOMP Out Bullying, a New York based charity who has made it their goal to raise awareness of bullying and to teach people how to be kinder to each other. They have greatly inspired me.
Was it hard collecting stories for your anthology/anthologies? What was your biggest setback?
I don’t think it was terribly hard to collect stories. Once we got the word out about them, there were many people who were interested in helping – parents who had been bullied when they were younger or had children who were now, or even people like my friend who had experienced it themselves and wanted to put their emotions down on paper. I think my biggest setback at the time was not having enough experience with anthologies and collecting stories from them, but it’s always a learning experience – one that I’m happy to take part in.
What was it like putting the book(s) together? Was it harder than you thought it would be?
At first, it was a little overwhelming. I have a busy schedule and there were times I wanted to just say forget it, but I pushed through it all and once I was finally able to put it together, I felt relieved. I don’t think it was harder than I thought it would be when putting it together, but getting the word out about them has definitely been a challenge to some point.
How did it feel on release day?
I don’t think there are enough words to describe how I felt on release day. There were so many people interested in it and so many people there to help and congratulate us on the success. It was just so amazing to see so many people coming together and all for a good cause.
What’s next for your series? Any new books coming out soon?
We will definitely be publishing more anthologies, our fifth volume with no specific topic requirement, but we will definitely want to carry on with the anthologies. Unfortunately, we will now only be doing them one at a time instead of two or three at a time since it definitely was too much to handle the last time we set them up that way.
What made you choose to work with Rock & Roll Saved My Soul for your books?
When Kate started RRSMS, I was definitely interested in working with the company in one way or another. I thought that I would be someone who helped promote or set up events if and when she needed help, but after talking to a friend who was bullied, I wanted to do more. I wanted to help more and get something out there to raise awareness. It was something different for RRSMS as well since at the beginning, they were focused on music related anthologies instead, Kate was generous enough to expand her company to any anthology or book that was for charity and I cannot thank her enough for the opportunity.
What is it like working with Rock & Roll Saved My Soul? Would you recommend them to other authors who want to put together an anthology for charity?
RRSMS is amazing. There’s not much else that can describe them. They’re willing to work with your schedule and the pace you want to go in. Beautiful covers. On top of release days. And so much more. They and their support team are all amazing. I would definitely recommend them to anyone who has a book that’s going towards a charity. They’re honestly one of the most professional publishing companies I have met and I’m proud to work with them.
Where can we find out more info about your anthology series?
There are a few places to learn more about Authors Against Bullying but the two main places are my author website and their Facebook page. Each book has a link going to amazon on my website.
www.authorvanderland.com
www.facebook.com/AuthorsTakeAStand
I just want to say Thank You to RRSMS and to Kate Marie Robbins. Both have been amazing and I know life gets busy and we all get busy, but even despite that, they have still been on top of everyone’s releases, promotions, and so much more. Thank you, guys!
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