Local author Pamela Sharp gets publishing deal
Pamela Sharp with her husband, Rob, and their two sons.
Pamela Sharp started writing a book in May 2014, and by January she had a publishing package worth nearly $10,000 from Xulon Press.
“I’ve never been published before,” Sharp said. “This was my first attempt at writing. … I have a background in the fine arts — film and animation — and in marketing in the life insurance industry. I also taught language and literature in a private school before moving to Paso Robles. I love to write but didn’t take it seriously until recently.”
Pamela Sharp in the tasting room.
Her book is “The Kite: Allowing God to Shape the Lives of Those Who Love Him” and is about showing a glimpse of God’s grace, love and His promises through her eyes. “Each chapter is a snapshot at how I am using the good, the bad and the ugly in my life to not only survive, but to thrive,” she said.
Sharp had signed up for emails with Xulon Press, but continued to ignore those emails in her inbox; however, two days before the deadline she opened an email and entered the company’s January 2015 Christian Writers contest.
“I edited one of my recently written chapters entitled ‘The Kite’ down to 750 words,” Sharp said. “Of all of my stories, this was my husband Rob’s favorite. I read the guidelines over and over. The contest was open to published writers as well as amateurs. I was going to give it a try knowing I had little hope if any of winning a publishing package having just started taking writing seriously. I wasn’t disillusioned, but the night before the deadline I sent it in – just under the wire.”
She got an email from Xulon Press a few days later. It was the email announcing the contest winners. But Sharp didn’t open the email.
“I didn’t look at it immediately, not thinking much about it – perhaps waylaying the inevitable,” Sharp said. “Finally, opening it up, the announcement read, ‘Congratulations – Grand Prize: “The Kite,” written by Pamela Hill Sharp.’ This couldn’t be! It took a while for reality to set in. … ‘The Kite,’ a full chapter in this book about allowing God to shape the lives of those who love Him along the same lines as the life of His Son, was the unintended vehicle to getting this, my first book, published.”
The publishing package she won includes Google book preview, a non-exclusive contract with 100 percent royalties, online bookstore and international distribution, Books in Print listing, trade show promotion, press release services, video book trailer and more.
Sharp is a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, where she is very active. She serves as secretary on the congregational council, is co-founder of the church’s Heart & Soul Women’s Conference hosted each September, and is a deaconess to expand the Women’s Ministries. Sharp has lived in Paso Robles with her husband, Rob, and two sons for the last nine years. The Sharps own Sharp’s Hill Vineyard in Paso Robles.
“I’d eventually like to become a motivational speaker,” Sharp said.
Her goal is to have the book done by the end of the month and sent to the publisher by mid-June for review and printed by September.
