It takes a great deal of determination and moxy to become aself-publishing author. Writers spend many hours, weeks months – and often years – pour out little pieces of themselves onto the pages of their books. This week’s Spotlight author is a great example of that.
Each week, we celebrate one of our successful authors in our Self-Publishing Author Spotlight. This week Outskirts Press proudly features Melissa Burke, author of four works of poetry and fiction, including Poetry and Short Stories by a Bipolar Girl, It’s Just One of Those Days, The Darkness and the Light and 46 — all readers’ favorites.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Melissa Burke, 22, is the author of four books with Outskirts Press. She lives in with her parents, sister and grandmother as well as her pets (a dog, two hamsters and six chickens).
Poetry and Short Stories by a Bipolar Girl
This book is written by a young woman with bipolar disorder, who wrote poems and short stories both in her manic and depressed states. The book is meant to both capture the readers as well as show how bipolar disorder can affect people.
It’s meant to shed some light on bipolar disorder and depression for those who don’t suffer from those things, know someone who does or just want to understand what goes through the mind of someone with mental illness.
It’s also meant to show those who go through the same things that they aren’t alone.
And while doing all of that, it’s also just a fun book to read.
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Product details…
Paperback
Format: 5.5 x 8.5 paperback cream, 74 pages
Publisher: Outskirts Press (Aug 16, 2012)
ISBN10: 1478720220
ISBN13: 9781478720225
Genre: POETRY / American / General
It’s Just One of Those Days
What Liz expects is a normal day at work. Making pizzas, avoiding her short-tempered boss, trying to ignore the guy she’s convinced she doesn’t like… all part of her uneventful and boring life. What she gets instead is an unexpected nightmare beyond anything she could have ever imagined. Abducted by a violent man and trapped in her own personal prison, Liz sees no hope of escape. Then again there are a few twists – surprises that leave Liz shocked, in awe, and thinking that maybe she has a chance at survival after all.
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Product details…
Paperback
Format: 5 x 8 paperback cream, 98 pages
Publisher: Outskirts Press (Dec 10, 2013)
ISBN10: 1478726385
ISBN13: 9781478726388
Genre: FICTION / Suspense
The Darkness and the Light
Even in the darkest of places there is light
Bipolar disorder simultaneously gives you both an amazing and a terrible outlook on life. This is a book of Melissa Burke’s personal journal entries as well as some poems, written over the past few years. The goal is to shed light on mental illness for people who don’t understand it while at the same time reminding those who do suffer from it that they aren’t alone. This is also to show that even if you don’t have any mental illness, life can be a roller coaster. But things do get better. Perfect? No, never. But life doesn’t have to be perfect to become a beautiful journey.
A few people who made this book possible, my Kickstarter backers:
Brian Resnevic
Andrew Gonsalves
Jorge Mendonca
Holly Glen Gearhart
Nichole Burlison
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Product details…
Paperback
Format: 5.5 x 8.5 paperback cream, 244 pages
Publisher: Outskirts Press (Feb 14, 2014)
ISBN10: 1478730226
ISBN13: 9781478730224
Genre: Non-Classifiable
46
Melissa Burke is the author of three books prior to this one and now brings you her fourth book, 46, which consists of mostly poetry. Unlike two of her other books that try to bring you into the mind of someone with mental illness, this is simply poetry and a few stories for you to understand any way you want even though depression and mania do seep through the words. There’s love, there’s light, there’s darkness, there’s loss, there’s confusion, there’s pain, there’s the weird, there’s the crazy and everything in between. Enjoy.
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Product details…
Paperback
Format: 5.5 x 8.5 paperback cream, 117 pages
Publisher: Outskirts Press (Jan 30, 2015)
ISBN10: 1478751304
ISBN13: 9781478751304
Genre: POETRY / General
Do you have a book of your own in the works? Let Outskirts Press get you started on your own publishing dreams!
