Rosemary Chaulk has always felt connected with the environment. Working outside as a land surveyor for many years kept her love of the Earth alive, but oftentimes made her feel helpless and disappointed in humanity.
“At times in my career, I was sickened and even despondent about the massive pollution I saw,” Chaulk said.
Chaulk knew she had to do something to bring attention to our ailing environment. Wanting to take an unconventional and creative route, she decided to deliver her message through a book that that did something other than simply list facts about environmental issues. She hoped to convey her message in a fiction story.
With her goal in mind, she began to research local legends of an evil witch said to have plagued the town she lived in, North Pepperell, Mass. (known as Nissitissit Village in some folklore). The land that the witch once roamed, Nissitissit Village, is said to be cursed to this day, leading to unusual deaths among the people who live there.
Chaulk began to wonder, could the land really be cursed or is it just people who contaminate it? Connecting this thought to the lessons she’d learned about pollution, she knew she’d found an excellent way to link an exciting tale to her observations about our world and humanity.
The Challenge
At face value, Nissitissit Witch is the story of a witch and a cursed land, but a second glance shows the novel to actually be a metaphor for the environment and humanity’s damaging effects on the planet. Interestingly, she based her fictional characters off of real people who lived in the allegedly cursed village, whom she’d researched about in newspaper articles.
“This book was challenging to write. It absolutely controlled my life for six months,” Chaulk said.
Her determination paid off. A friend of Chaulk’s owned a small publishing company and was able to help her get the book published quickly. But when she began to sell the books, she found that local demand was very strong, and Chaulk had to find another reliable and quick way to get enough books printed as fast as she could.
The Self-publishing Journey
Chaulk knew self-publishing was the way to go, and began actively researching her options. Along the way, she ran into many traps, including companies trying to steal the rights to her book.
“Self-publishing can be like trying to cross the Atlantic with a rowboat, fraught with peril all the way,” she said.
Luckily, she recognized the frauds and, after many hours of research, determined that AuthorHouse was the publisher that could help her meet her goals.
“AuthorHouse was able to help me out of a bind,” Chaulk said. “Using AuthorHouse, I was able to meet local demand for Nissitissit Witch.”
Using the Rapid Release program gave Chaulk the flexibility and timely delivery she needed, and AuthorHouse’s knowledgeable staff helped her meet her goals and set them even higher than she had before. The excellent local demand for her book and the help of a reliable self-publisher showed her that her book has potential.
“One of my dreams is to catch national attention and share my message with the world,” Chaulk said.
What the Future Holds
Chaulk knows there’s a lot of work ahead for her book, and says she is yet to reach the success she hopes for, but she’s ready for the challenge.
“It was like raising a child. I tried doing my best raising it [the book]. I tried to instill my wisdom in it and now, I have to release it and see how it does on its own,” she said.
Chaulk has hired a publicist (Denise Cassino) who also set up a Web site (www.rosemarychaulk.com), and, through her hard work, has received some excellent media. Local demand for her book is strong, and her Web site is getting global attention. She feels her book has wings and is excited to see where it goes, but, all along, sharing her insights about the environment that she loves has been at the forefront.
“What has moved me the most was to create a book where my love for the environment might possibly have an effect on the world,” she said.
