On Tuesday, November 9th 2024, Catina Noble addressed the media Club during the monthly meeting at the Lord Elgin Hotel.
Here are the highlights.
Catina Noble always wanted to be a writer. Her dream was to see her book displayed and for sale in a store. She was divorced with four kids and raised them on her own. She went to college then university. Her motto was to stop talking and start doing, no excuses. Writing gave her a reason to get up each day. Even though she had no formal training, Noble continued to write in her own style. “You can break through barriers by being yourself,” she said.
Noble has written in many genres including fiction, nonfiction, travel memoirs and short stories. She also writes poetry. Her poem “You Can’t See Me” was shortlisted and won first prize in the Canadian Author’s Association (NCR) poetry contest. It motivated her to keep going. Then she got published in the Anthology Chicken Soup for the Soul.
Noble took any opportunity to get her work published. For example, she started out by volunteering her work in community newspapers. She took photos at Winterlude. She also visited different libraries and got her work put in them. Her works are independent or self-published. Noble has a paid editorshe she has worked with from the beginning. She uploads her finished work to Amazon and does her own marketing. She has reached out to local bookstores and has even gone as far away as Kingston to get a store that sells her works.
When asked about what process Noble followed in writing her poems, she answered, “None. I write through inspiration, not by a set formula.” For example, she wrote a poem called “From the Heart.” Noble recalled, “it was written in a flurry of emotion in 45 minutes, then it won first prize in a competition.”
In regard to writing books, her individual system remains the same. “Most people outline the structure of the book. But I started one book from the middle without a set structure,” she said.
Noble offered many tips on how to promote your writing. Here are some of them: In order to get a grant, you have to prove that you have a writing history. “There is such a thing as public lending rights,” she told us. “They’re offered through the Canada Council for the Arts. Registration is between February and May each year and you get the royalties the following year. Also, your work has to be eligible to qualify, not just available for publication.” If your book is in the library you can get a payout from the library but there are criteria to be met. The minimum is a $50 payout based on numbers, title and people registered to loan out the book.”
Audience questions about libraries included:
Question: Does the library keep track of lending? Answer: Yes.
Question: Are there any other criteria to be met or be accepted in a library? Answer: The book must be longer than 48 pages for adults and 28 pages for kids.
Noble also explained about writing grants available through the Writer’s Trust and the Canadian Council for the Arts.
She also discussed a Literary Creation Grant and a Recommender Grant through the Ontario Arts Council. The deadline for submission for these two grants is mid-January 2025. You can submit up to 10 recommenders.
The grant is between $1,500 to $5,000. She noted that they give you only the amount that you ask for, so if you want $5,000 but only ask for $1,500, that’s all you’ll get. They also have eligibility criteria. You have to have published something for which you have received money. “Therefore it’s a good idea to enter your works into many contests,” she added.
In answer to an audience question at the end of Noble’s talk asking if she supports her writing in any other way she replied: “Yes. I enjoy working at a halfway house and that is my main source of income. Since it takes time for the publishers to reply to my publishing requests, the income from writing is irregular. “So don’t quit your day job.”