Publisher's Notes

What if your path in life should include something you aren't currently doing?

It's another enlightening hour at Enlightening Radio and today Christine is talking with Toni Holm and George Tice, the incredible founders of Word Keepers Inc, a niche publishing company that works with authors by creating sacred space for their voices. And as fascinated as we are by the work they do and the way they do it, we're just as intrigued by how it all began!

Both writers at their core, Toni and George finally answered a calling to go into publishing, to work with new authors, and to create something completely new in the publishing industry. As all worthwhile journeys are, there were lots of inner discoveries and opportunities to grow! Toni and George have brought the essence of who they are to the work they do in the books they publish and also in the development of their authors.

You'll also be intrigued by their unique reader reviewer process. We were fascinated by the concept and can't wait to participate! If you're someone who loves to read or the creative process, you definitely should check it out.

It's another wonderful show with incredible guests and opportunities to begin to hear and cultivate your own inner desires! Listen in!

For more information about Word Keepers Inc., please visit www.wordkeepersinc.com, call (970) 225-8058, or contact them at wordkeepersinc@gmail.com. Enjoy the show!

Listen to the Podcast!

The Word Keepers, Inc Story - From Vision to Manifestation

At a time when most of the major book publishing companies are struggling to keep pace with technology and be profitable, emerges an independent trade book publishing company that is reminiscent of the golden days of the 1940’s when publishers nurtured an author’s career.

Word Keepers, Inc., the brainchild of Toni D. Holm and George E. Tice, is a company that "provides a sacred space for today’s new voices" in the world of trade books. Holm and Tice have consciously created an environment where authors and their literary voices are supported every step of the way, from original story concept to finished book for global distribution.

Their highly intuitive team of copy editors, production artists, and various support staff are all united with them in the vision of supporting an author’s creative and intellectual properties within an atmosphere that celebrates and honors individual uniqueness. Since 2003, Word Keepers, Inc. has been highly successful at connecting body-mind-visionaries’ works with readers while at the same time insisting that authors honor their authentic voice and signature style, which are as unique as each one’s own finger print.

The original seeds for Word Keepers, Inc. were sown by Holm when she graduated from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida in 1989. It was then that she first began to work with authors, editing their manuscripts and discussing the spiritual aspects of "Assignment and Purpose" as a way for authors to fully discover their natural abilities and talent. Holm moved on to continue her work in the editorial departments at Viacom and Pearson Education, while always remaining a champion for writers and their unique, individual expression. Her work fostering author’s careers includes a series of independent workshops she has been leading since 1985.

Flash forward to 1999, when Holm and Tice (an adventurer/explorer, writer and photographer) met for the first time on Thanksgiving Day in Fort Collins, Colorado, where Tice was visiting for the weekend from Montana. In hindsight, the initial spark from their first moment together ended up being the catalyst for creating both a distinguished, independent publishing house together and a model for loving relationships. Immediately joined in a common purpose of writing a new story for the planet, Holm and Tice combined the best of traditional publishing and the opportunities of self-publishing, which they call Participant Publishing™.

Word Keepers, Inc. is becoming a highly respected press publisher dedicated to new and seasoned authors with socially conscious voices and timely content for a global audience. Having an awareness and understanding of the nuances of writers and their process is core to their success. This is a unique business born out of Holm and Tice’s pure desire to make something available that was not yet available: a niche publishing company that offers writers with vision an environment to develop that vision’s voice and send it out into the world.

As a result, Word Keepers, Inc. is attracting visionaries from around North America who can tell a new story and bridge hope into value in life tools in every category for human beings: work, relationships, recreation, and devotion. From diverse backgrounds comes a totally aligned, integrated approach to publishing. And in the near future, Word Keepers, Inc. will bring its integrity and sensibilities to Hollywood through several of Holm and Tice’s stories for television now in development.

Becoming . . . a Writer . . . an Editor . . . a Publisher

Very early in my writing career, like most novice writers, I enthusiastically attended any writers’ workshops, conferences, and retreats. But I always walked away wanting to know—what’s my voice? Everyone else seemed to be concerned with how to write a Western, or how to sign a contract with an agent, or how to submit a manuscript to a publisher. I wasn’t even close to any of those steps.

When I was finally ready to take some big steps with my writing after five years of college, my academic writing somehow stripped me of my writer’s voice. I had no idea who I was as a writer, and I didn’t know how to find out, but I did know that inherent in the question was the answer.

So, believing that you teach what you need to learn, I began contemplating what I did know: I loved to read; I wrote a daily journal; imaginary characters were my constant companions; I loved telling stories; I knew I would someday write a new kind of genre; and my basic foundational nature--I love to teach. I let intuition be my guide on my journey to becoming a writer . . . an editor . . . and a publisher. I invited everyone who wanted to discover his/her writer’s voice, what I later coined as the writer’s genius—original voice. With this, a writer could write in any genre.

I hung out my writing-workshop-shingle and they came, and I learned, and more came and shared, and I learned more, and I marveled at how creativity and intuition played a role in moving the writer on a journey of discovering his/her voice. For if I could help someone become aware of what they already owned, and helped them bring it out into the light, that individual would have a writing imprint that was inherently genuine. The student could then learn to write anything s/he had a passion to write. I discovered that the genius of one’s voice gave the writer essence. Everything else was a tool, or a prop, a frame or form that supported the writing process.

You can’t give writers too much time to “think,” or they get themselves into trouble—blocks of trouble. This prompted me to offer a springboard workshop. The focus was to find a writer’s voice; name a signature genre; identify right brain and left brain writing activities; show, through group exercises, how creativity and intuition partner in the process of writing; and hand out a “23 day writing tool” that negated writer’s block. I wanted to give the writer a fishing pole and not just serve up one meal of fish.

These were my beginning processes that formed the foundation of my extraordinary opportunities to work with, teach, and learn from other writers. These were the seeds—the heart of a writer--that have grown into my becoming a writer . . . an editor . . . and a publisher.

Please join me again . . . when I’ll rummage around in my little-black-bag-of becoming.

Until next time, thank you for sharing this time with me, our authors, and our books.

~Toni Holm-Tice
Publisher