Local author receives big opportunity

Published 10:30 am Thursday, February 13, 2014

SOUTH POINT — A South Point author will have the opportunity to see her book, “A Walk of Faith,” travel across the country on an expo tour.

Rebecca Lesler, who has published three works, says it was a wonderful feeling when her publisher told her the news.

“I’ve never had a book featured at expos before,” Lesler said. “Right now it feels like a dream.”

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A dream that not long ago seemed unlikely. Lesler originally had a deal with Publish America, but the publishing house informed her that it wasn’t interested in any more of her books because of low sales.

“They told me they liked the ideas I had,” Lesler said. “But, that because of my sales they weren’t interested in any more from me at the moment.”

All of that changed when Publish America was purchased by another publishing firm called American Stars. The new company informed Lesler not only would it potentially be interested in a new book, but that it wanted to take “A Walk of Faith” on tour.

“It was a blow,” Lesler said. “When my former publishing house wasn’t wanting anything else from me, I was hurt. Now, I’m just so excited to have this opportunity and to know I have a chance for my work to reach even more people.”

The expo tour will make stops in New York, Tulsa, Okla., and Los Angeles. The Tulsa stop will be sponsored by the retail company Target and could lead to a deal with the nationwide chain.

“If there is a book at the Tulsa expo that Target likes they may pick it up,” Lesler said. “So, it’s not guaranteed, but there is a chance that I could get my book sold in Target stores across the country. That’s exciting.”

Lesler began writing poetry at age 16. After she found some success online with her poetry she decided that she could translate her ideas to novels and pursue a writing career.

“I wrote a lot of poetry,” she said. “I’d send them to sites online or to competitions and every one of them I sent was published. So with that success, and some inspiration from Harry Potter back when it was big, I thought I could do this. I have good ideas and I can do this.”

Lesler admits it’s difficult to break into the business especially early on.

“When you’re starting out it can be tough,” Lesler said. “You have to know the industry. Starting out it is a learning process. Once you do get published, the ball gets rolling a little easier.”