Pamela Ferris-Olson is an award-winning freelance writer and photographer (Healing Muse Featured Artist). She’s worked as a freelance writer for nearly two decades. As a regular contributor to the Dayton Daily News in Dayton, OH, Pam has had the chance to meet and talk to many interesting people. Living in the Heartland: Three Extraordinary Women’s Stories is her first book about the search for identity, self-worth, and happiness. It is a celebration of women. The book presents an intimate look at three, contemporary minority American women. Their struggles, however, will resonate with all women. While Pam received positive feedback on her manuscript from publishers and agents she had no offers to publish it. She was told that non-fiction, especially biographies, aren’t profitable. Pam doesn’t believe that people are only interested in reading about celebs and daredevil heroes, particularly as she is regularly told on the job readers want inspirational stories about regular folks. For this reason and others she chose to self-publish. This doesn’t mean that Pam cut corners or produced a book without editorial review and feedback. Pam’s goal is to sell at least 100,000 books to prove her point. She is asking people to spread the word, buy a book, and help her send a message to publishers. Pam wants to continue to tell women’s stories. She also wants to help others tell their own stories. She has pledged to donate a portion of proceeds from the sale of her book to women’s charities such as the Artemis Center and Women Helping Women. She is available for book signings, discussion groups and presentations about her book and the art of writing and publishing. Contact Pam at livingintheheartland@gmail.com. Pam also wants to share her accumulated knowledge on writing and publishing with others. She wishes to empower others with the confidence and skills to tell and preserve their own stories. This is the reason she’s launched a second site, OutoftheBoxPublishing. Please visit that site frequently to read new posts, and soon Pam will reveal her methodology as she begins work on a novel. Pam is available for book signings, discussion groups and presentations about her book, the art of writing and publishing, and the topic of social media vs traditional network marketing.