Katie R. Aune’s
WOW! WOMEN ON WRITING TOUR
OF
Finding Katya
Finding Katya: How I Quit Everything to Backpack the Former Soviet States
Book Summary
Finding Katya is the inspiring and compelling story of one woman who ditches everything to embark on an unconventional adventure through the former Soviet Union.
On her 35th birthday, Katie Aune was at a crossroads. Still reeling from a difficult breakup and longing to find more meaning in her life, she hopped on a one-way flight to start a year-long journey of discovery. Once a Russian and East European Studies major in college, Aune plotted a course that would take her through all 15 states of the former Soviet Union.
In a book that is part memoir, part travelogue, Aune takes readers along as she discovers places that are far off the typical tourist track, from riding the Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia and taking a cargo ferry from Ukraine to Georgia, to volunteering in Tajikistan and camping in the desert of Turkmenistan. Faced with the vulnerability of traveling solo through unfamiliar lands, she shakes off her insecurities, embraces the unknown and realizes that each journey is worthwhile, even if it doesn’t go as planned.
ISBN-13: 979-8988365907
ASIN: B0C5B6MR8Y
Print length: 286 Pages
Purchase a copy of the book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org. Make sure you add it to your GoodReads reading list.
Author Interview
At what point did you decide to be an author and what was your path to publication?
I’m not sure there was a specific point when I decided to be an author. I always enjoyed writing and when I decided to quit my job to travel long-term, I decided to launch a travel blog to share the journey with others. Eventually, I felt like I had enough of a story to tell to write a full book about the experience, but it took me nearly ten years after returning from the trip to really make progress on the book. It was hard to balance with a full-time job!
As for my path to publication, I opted to self-publish. I did query a handful of agents early on, but I found the process challenging and tedious, and I think I knew that book would probably appeal to more of a niche audience than most traditional publishers would want. I also liked being able to stick to my own timeline and maintain creative control of every aspect. I worked with a local bookstore to do the formatting and they’ll carry the book in their stores for the first year (Politics & Prose in Washington, DC). Beyond that, I published the Kindle and paperback versions on Amazon and enabled worldwide distribution of the paperback through Ingram Spark as well.
Describe your writing process. Do you outline, plot and plan, or is your writing more organic?
My writing is more organic. I need a moment of inspiration to hit me and then I’ll write freely, let it sit for a day or a week or more and then go back and edit it into something more purposeful. With my travel memoir, I had a collection of blog posts and journals as a starting point so I created an outline based on those and then tried to fill in the gaps. Initially that was writing entire paragraphs and even chapters from scratch and then trying to determine where exactly they fit in. Later, it was seemingly never-ending edits. My biggest challenge was creating a narrative arc that made sense and identifying the themes in what I was writing. Working with a developmental editor was invaluable for that.
Describe the book in 10 words or less for people who are just learning about it.
Unique, inspiring story of quitting everything to travel the world.
Is there anything you would like people to take away from your book?
A couple things. I like to describe my book as part travelogue, part memoir. It’s a personal story that I hope readers find relatable and inspiring. But it’s also a tribute to all the places I visited, from traveling across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railway to spending six weeks in Ukraine to volunteering in Armenia and Tajikistan to camping in the desert of Turkmenistan. I hope readers will take away a greater interest in these destinations overall. Several are in the news now for the wrong reasons (Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, etc.) but every place I visited was amazing in a different way and the people I met everywhere were incredibly friendly and welcoming. We focus too much on our differences and often miss how similar we all are, no matter where we live.
What has been the toughest criticism you have received as an author? What has been the best compliment?
One of my beta readers, who was a published author in my genre, told me my book was boring and I was devastated. It was by far the harshest criticism I received from any of my readers and really discouraged me for a while. But then someone said to me in a writers’ group that the reader who said that just wasn’t my audience – not everyone is going to be my audience.
The best compliment I received was when I was a travel blogger, long before I published my travel memoir. Many of my blog readers told me they followed me because I didn’t sugarcoat my experiences; I presented the good, bad and ugly aspects of traveling solo. That was part of what motivated me to eventually write my book.
Share some advice for aspiring authors. What advice would you give to your younger self?
I wish I had written more when I was younger and not been so critical of myself. In writing this book, I really had to get past my tendency to be a perfectionist and realize that some people will love what I write, some people will be lukewarm about it and some will actively dislike it. None of those reactions are a reflection on me as a person.
I would never have stopped blogging. When it came time for me to self-publish my travel memoir, I no longer had the platform I did years earlier. That made marketing my book much more difficult.
To date, what is your favorite (or most difficult) chapter you have ever written?
I’m not sure I have favorite chapters, but I have favorite sections. I really love some of the flashbacks to my childhood early in my travel memoir. I initially wrote those as part of a memoir writing class and was able to build them into this book to provide context for readers. Those also proved to be difficult as they required me to be quite vulnerable and write about things that I have never really discussed with many people.
Author Guest Post
What I Wish I’d Known About Writing a Book
By Katie R. Aune
Back when I quit my job to backpack the former Soviet states in 2011, I never contemplated writing a book about the experience. I started a travel blog to share my experiences with others and later picked up some freelance writing work for a few travel websites, but a book wasn’t really on my radar. After returning from my travels in late 2012, the idea began to take shape. It would be another ten years before that idea became a reality. Here are a few things I wish I would’ve known before I started the process of writing and self-publishing my travel memoir:
- Don’t let perfection get in the way of creativity. When I first started, I tried to make every sentence perfect as I wrote it. Not surprisingly, that was a slow, painful way to write, and it stifled my creativity. I finally got in a groove when I forced myself to let go of my perfectionist tendencies and just write freely.
- There’s such a thing as a developmental editor and you should work with one sooner rather than later. For the longest time, I focused on getting my book in a “good enough” condition to have an editor review it. Finally, a friend and published author suggested I work with a developmental editor to help me shape my story and find my narrative arc – something I was struggling with. That was a game changer. My editor saw things in my travel memoir that I had not even seen myself.
- Start thinking about publishing and marketing your book while you’re still writing it. This is tough – especially if you’re like me and trying to write a book while working full-time. I didn’t even start looking into online resources about self-publishing or planning a book launch until I felt that I was nearly ready to publish. And when I did, I discovered I should’ve started promoting it months earlier. I wouldn’t say my book launch wasn’t a success, but I think it would’ve been more successful if I had started thinking about promotion much earlier.
- Not everyone is going to be your audience, and that’s ok. It’s natural to want friends and family to read and like your book, but no matter what your genre is, it’s not going to appeal to everyone. When one of my beta readers who was also a friend provided a harsh critique of my book, I was initially devastated. But after further reflection, I realized he just wasn’t my audience. Readers who are in my target audience have generally loved Finding Katya and that’s what really matters.
Writing a book can be a daunting process. Being able to finish writing my travel memoir and publish it for the world to read gives me a great sense of accomplishment. But I know that if I have another book in me, I’ll apply the lessons I’ve learned and approach it a bit differently next time around.
Praise About Finding Katya
“[A] candid recounting of a long journey with low and high points not presented as a sugar-coated fantasy…This engaging travelogue illuminates a historically significant part of the world that remains little known to many Americans.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Reading Katie’s book feels like traveling beside her to places both familiar and harder to reach. With candor and insight, she captures the joys and challenges of heading out alone into unfamiliar places and the unique experiences she had along the way. A fun read and inspiration for your next adventure!” — Audrey Murray, author of Open Mic Night in Moscow
“Katie is a trailblazing solo female traveler who made the former Soviet republics a priority long before they were on anyone’s radar. I admire her courage and resourcefulness.” — Lee Abbamonte, TV travel commentator who’s been to every country in the world
“Katie’s raw and honest voice puts you front and center into her travel adventures (and misadventures!), making you feel like you are riding them right along with her. Her story is a testament that travel isn’t always perfect, but that the lessons we take away from it change us completely.” — Beth Santos, founder, Wanderful
About the Author
Katie R. Aune is a recovering tax attorney who has worked in nonprofit and higher ed fundraising for more than a decade while also dabbling in travel blogging and writing. Despite not traveling overseas for the first time until she was 25, she has been to nearly 70 countries and all seven continents. Born and raised in Minnesota, Katie is currently based in Washington, D.C. and has a habit of rooting for sports teams that find ways to lose in devastating fashion.
You can find her online at:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/katieaune
Instagram: https://instagram.com/katieaune
Threads: https://threads.net/katieaune
Facebook: https://facebook.com/katieaune
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/katieaune/
Giveaway
Blog Tour Calendar
December 4th @ The Muffin
Join us at WOW as we celebrate the launch of Katie R. Aune’s memoir Finding Katya. Read an interview with the author and enter for a chance to win a copy of the book.
https://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com
December 6th @ Pages and Paws
Stop by Kristine’s blog for a guest post by Katie R. Aune about how to quit your job to travel.
December 7th @ Chapter Break
Visit Julie’s blog for a guest post by Katie R. Aune about what she wish she had known about writing a book. You can also read an interview with the author as well.
December 10th @ Shoe’s Seeds and Stories
Visit Linda’s blog for her review of Finding Katya.
https://lschuelerca.wordpress.com/
December 12th @ The Faerie Review
Visit Lily’s blog for her spotlight of Finding Katya.
https://www.thefaeriereview.com
December 13th @ Bookplaces
Visit Kay’s blog for her review of Finding Katya.
December 14th @ Nikki’s Book Reviews
Join Nikki for her review of Finding Katya, a memoir by Katie R. Aune.
https://nikkitsbookreviews.wordpress.com/
December 15th @ Michelle Cornish’s blog
Visit Michelle’s blog for a guest post by Katie R. Aune about what not to do when self-publishing your first book.
https://www.michellecornish.com/blog
December 18th @ One Writer’s Journey
Stop by Sue’s blog and read her review of Finding Katya by Katie R. Aune.
December 21st @ Knotty Needle
Visit Judy’s blog for her review of Finding Katya, a memoir by Katie R. Aune.
http://knottyneedle.blogspot.com/
December 23rd @ A Storybook World
Visit Deirdra’s blog for her spotlight of Finding Katya by Katie R. Aune.
http://www.astorybookworld.com/
December 24th @ Lisa Haselton’s Reviews & Interviews
Join Lisa’s blog for an interview with author Katie R. Aune
https://lisahaselton.com/blog/
December 27th @ World of My Imagination
Join Nicole for her review of Finding Katya by Katie R. Aune.
https://worldofmyimagination.com
December 28th @ Boys’ Mom Reads
Visit Karen’s blog for her review of Finding Katya by Katie R. Aune.
https://karensiddall.wordpress.com/
December 29th @ One Writer’s Journey
Stop by Sue’s blog again for a guest post by Katie R. Aune about traveling off the beaten path.
December 31st @ Affinito Lit
Visit Stephanie’s Instagram page for her review of Finding Katya.
https://www.instagram.com/AffinitoLit
January 2nd @ A Wonderful World of Books
Visit Joy’s blog for her spotlight of Finding Katya by Katie R. Aune.
https://awonderfulworldofwordsa.blogspot.com/
January 4th @ Choices
Visit Madeline’s blog for a guest post by Katie R. Aune about female solo travel tips.
January 4th @ Rockin Book Reviews
Visit Lu Ann’s blog for a review of Finding Katya by Katie R. Aune.
https://www.rockinbookreviews.com/
January 6th @ Boots, Shoes, and Fashion
Visit Linda’s blog for her interview with author Katie R. Aune about her memoir Finding Katya.
https://bootsshoesandfashion.com/
January 7th @ Jill Sheets’ blog
Visit Jill’s blog for her interview with author Katie R. Aune about her memoir Finding Katya.
https://jillsheets.blogspot.com/
Excellent interview!