Literary Aviatrix: The Power of Story - Women in Aviation

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If you’ve ever wondered whether self-publishing is the right path—or how to do it without getting overwhelmed or taken advantage of—this conversation is for you.

In this episode, I talk with publishing consultant Polly Letofsky, founder of My Word Publishing, to walk through what self-publishing actually looks like behind the scenes. From maintaining your rights to building the right editorial team, Polly breaks down the process with honesty, clarity, and a few hard-earned lessons.

Using my own book-in-progress as a real-time example, we explore what happens when an author books a consult, what it really costs to publish well, and how to avoid the most common (and expensive) mistakes.

If you’ve got a story in you this episode is a roadmap for getting it into the world the right way.

In This Episode, We Talk About:
•Why Polly built a publishing model where authors keep 100% of their rights and royalties
•The difference between bad decisions vs. getting ripped off in publishing
•What actually happens during a self-publishing consult
•The real cost breakdown of publishing a professional-quality book
•Why editing is non-negotiable (and what kind you actually need)
•How to think about book length, structure, and audience
•The pros and cons of including photos in your book
•Why authors should not rush the final stages of publishing
•How Amazon KDP vs. Ingram impacts your distribution strategy
•What royalties really look like—and how authors make money
•The role of AI in writing and publishing (and where it falls short)

Key Takeaways
1. You don’t have to give up control to publish well.
Polly’s entire model is built around authors maintaining ownership—from ISBNs to royalties to final decisions.
2. Editing is where your book becomes your book.
Developmental, copy line, and proof editing all serve different purposes—and skipping them shows.
3. Your publishing “team” matters more than you think.
Editors, designers, and layout specialists aren’t interchangeable. The right fit changes everything.
4. Distribution strategy should match your goals.
If you’re speaking, selling at events, or reaching niche audiences, platforms like Ingram matter.
5. Don’t rush the finish line.
That final stretch is where good books either become great—or stay just good.

Resources Mentione
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!

Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. 
Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. 
Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. 
Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. 

Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!

-Liz Booker

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Heidi Porch was 540 miles east-northeast of Hawaii when her engine began losing oil pressure.
She was 500 feet above the Pacific when she turned off the master switch and prepared to ditch.
In this episode, Heidi joins me to talk about Ditching the Sky, her gripping memoir of ferrying single-engine Cessnas across the Pacific in the 1980s—and the day her engine quit over open ocean.
We talk about:
Growing up with a dream of becoming an airline pilot
Building time as a glider pilot and ferry pilot
Flying 17-hour legs over open ocean without autopilot
Trusting your instincts when your “little voice” says something isn’t right
Calling a Mayday when others aren’t convinced
Engineering your own ditching plan mid-flight
Surviving impact
Climbing into a life raft in the open ocean
Being rescued during the Cold War by a Soviet refrigeration vessel
And going on to fly the DC-9, Airbus 320, Boeing 747-400, Airbus 330, and Gulfstream 500
We also talk about writing the book decades later, self-publishing, narrating her own audiobook—and the unexpected recognition that followed.
This is a story about preparation, intuition, resilience, and the long arc of a career that almost ended before it began.
Buy the book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/ditching-the-sky/
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!

Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. 
Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. 
Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. 
Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. 

Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!

-Liz Booker

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Australian private pilot and author Fran West joins me to talk about her remarkable three-month journey flying around the coastline of Australia in a Cessna 172—an adventure she later captured in her photo-rich journal, Plane Reflections.
What began as inspiration from the 1978 aerial circumnavigation known as “Pelican’s Progress” became Aus Flight ’99—a meticulously planned, shoestring-budget flight completed with grit, humility, and hard-earned wisdom.
Fran shares what it really takes to execute a marathon aviation journey:
·       52 charts
·       67 flight plans
·       75 mainland airstrips + 15 in Tasmania
·       101 landings
·       Multiple weather turn-backs
·       And the emotional weight of flying in a community that didn’t always support her
We talk about:
·       Growing up inspired by aviation books (and inheriting a library of them)
·       Becoming a private pilot while building a career as a librarian
·       Navigating male-dominated flying spaces
·       The curious scrutiny around “solo” flights
·       Why turning back is not failure
·       Writing and self-publishing Plane Reflections
·       And an unforgettable chocolate cake “mud map” story
This conversation is about aviation, resilience, self-trust, and doing the dream.
Buy the book on Etsy.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!

Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. 
Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. 
Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. 
Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. 

Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!

-Liz Booker

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Caroline Paul—former San Francisco firefighter, lifelong adventurer, and pilot—joins me for a wide-ranging conversation about her new book, Why Fly (launching February 24). We talk gyrocopters, paragliding, trikes, the “rat-tat-tat” rhythm of humor and terror in pilot stories, and the way aviation can become both refuge and mirror when relationships shift and life asks us to find our footing again.

📚 Pre-order Why Fly through my website here: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/why-fly/

In This Episode:

Why the title is Why Fly (no question mark—and why that matters)
Caroline’s flight path: Cessna training → paragliding → weight-shift trike → gyrocopter
What a gyrocopter is, how it flies, and why it stole her heart
“Pilot error” as a framework for accountability, learning, and humility
The wonder of flight: scale, perspective, and the quiet, tearful moments that catch you by surprise
Why girls are often trained to be cautious—and how bravery can be taught
Tower communication vs. relationship communication 

Featured Book:
Why Fly 

Caroline’s Other Titles:
Fighting Fire (memoir)
The Gutsy Girl
You Are Mighty
Tough Broad
Lost Cat
East Wind Rain

About Caroline Paul
Caroline Paul is a former San Francisco firefighter, author of eight books, and a lifelong pilot and outdoor adventurer. Her writing explores bravery, wonder, risk, and what we learn when we choose to step outside our comfort zones.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!

Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. 
Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. 
Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. 
Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. 

Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!

-Liz Booker

Send us Fan Mail
In this Aviatrix Writers’ Room conversation, former NASA public affairs specialist and author of four nonfiction picture books, Kirsten W. Larson talks about writing true stories for young readers. We dig into how she learned the craft, the communities and organizations that helped her grow, and the realities of traditional publishing timelines (especially for illustrated nonfiction).

Kirsten shares a clear-eyed look at writing “school and library” work-for-hire books, what those contracts mean for rights and creative control, and why she ultimately shifted her focus toward her own trade projects. We also talk about nonfiction kidlit craft—how research becomes story, why emotional connection matters, and the revision mindset behind her Reimagine Your Writing craft books Reimagining Your Nonfiction Picture Book: A Step-by-Step Revision Guide and her latest launching February 1st -  Telling it True: How to Write Non-Fiction Kids (and Teens) Want to Read (Reimagine Your Writing). 

What we cover
• How Kirsten developed her craft (study, critique, repetition, feedback)
• Communities that helped: critique groups, SCBWI, NFFest, webinars, classes
• What “kidlit nonfiction” really asks of the writer: story first, facts supported in back matter
• The publishing timeline reality for illustrated books (and why it takes years)
• Work-for-hire school/library books: what the contracts typically mean (flat fee + publisher holds rights)
• How to break in: magazine clips, portfolios, pitching educational publishers
• Why she wrote Reimagining Your Nonfiction Picture Book (and what it’s designed to solve)
• What she’s building next: a broader nonfiction craft “prequel” + a middle grade graphic novel project
• Encouragement for new writers: read what’s being published now, learn the medium, write, revise, repeat
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!

Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. 
Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. 
Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. 
Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. 

Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!

-Liz Booker