Have you ever wondered how the scars of trauma can be transformed into a beacon of light for others? Janine Hernandez, best-selling author and founder of the Book Publishing Academy, takes us through her riveting journey from the darkness of narcissistic abuse to the brilliance of empowering others through storytelling. In our intimate conversation, Janine shares the raw and transformative process behind her book, "Light in a Time of Darkness," which she penned in a mere 13 days as a therapeutic form of self-expression. Her story serves as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the profound impact of writing as a healing art.
Step into the world of a woman who traded the security of corporate America for the adventure of nurturing writers' dreams. As a revered book coach, Janine Hernandez extends her wisdom and experience to those eager to narrate their own stories. In anticipation of the fourth annual Book Publishing Academy Summit, Janine gives us a sneak peek into the event that promises to arm future authors with the tools of the trade. From the essentials of self-publishing to the nuances of sales and marketing, this summit is designed to sculpt successful author-entrepreneurs. Join us for this episode where courage meets creativity, and learn how you, too, can turn life's trials into a timeless tale.
Have you ever wondered how the scars of trauma can be transformed into a beacon of light for others? Janine Hernandez, best-selling author and founder of the Book Publishing Academy, takes us through her riveting journey from the darkness of narcissistic abuse to the brilliance of empowering others through storytelling. In our intimate conversation, Janine shares the raw and transformative process behind her book, "Light in a Time of Darkness," which she penned in a mere 13 days as a therapeutic form of self-expression. Her story serves as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the profound impact of writing as a healing art.
Step into the world of a woman who traded the security of corporate America for the adventure of nurturing writers' dreams. As a revered book coach, Janine Hernandez extends her wisdom and experience to those eager to narrate their own stories. In anticipation of the fourth annual Book Publishing Academy Summit, Janine gives us a sneak peek into the event that promises to arm future authors with the tools of the trade. From the essentials of self-publishing to the nuances of sales and marketing, this summit is designed to sculpt successful author-entrepreneurs. Join us for this episode where courage meets creativity, and learn how you, too, can turn life's trials into a timeless tale.
Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of Mommy on a Mission podcast.
Mariana:
I'm your well, the podcast that inspires Latino women and all women to reach your impossible goals, one dream at a time. I'm your host, mariana, and today I am thrilled to have a very special guest with us, none other than the phenomenal Ms Janine Hernandez. Janine is a bestselling author, entrepreneur and the founder of the book publishing Academy, and I am going to talk a little bit about a book that I got to read and that I could really really relate to, and then we're also going to dive deep into how she came to, to found the book publishing Academy, and also about the upcoming book publishing Academy summit. It's the fourth annual summit, and so we are going to go ahead and dive right in.
Mariana:
Hello, hello, and welcome to the Mommy on a Mission podcast where empowerment meets inspiration. I'm your host, mariana, a life coach and author, on a mission to help Latina women and all women to reach their impossible goals, one dream at a time. Join me on this incredible adventure as we dive into compelling subjects that will uplift, motivate and ignite your passion. Get ready to be inspired, empowered and never give up on your dreams. This is the podcast where we turn dreams into unstoppable missions. Are you ready, janine?
Janine:
welcome to the show. Hi, thank you for having me again. I'm excited.
Mariana:
Me too. I'm so excited too. So, janine, I read your book. Well, you know what? First of all, tell me a little bit more about yourself. Who are you? What do you like to do?
Janine:
I like this question because people always say titles, but I always say I am a bright light that shines. That's what I am. But if you need titles, I am also a mom to an amazing 15 year old boy. I am the founder of the book publishing academy, so I'm an author, published author and I coach writers to self publish their books. That is my passion in life. I wake up every day excited about that, so that's what I do.
Mariana:
You know, and I love that because you, janine, coached me, and so I can attest because, yes, janine has been a bright light to me and to so many others. I mean just really helping us and coaching us and providing us with all of the skills that we need in order to become self published authors. And so we're going to talk a little bit more about that in a bit. But I really wanted to talk to you a little bit about your book Light and a Time of Darkness. That, first of all, was such a powerful title to me. It was one of the books, because I know you've written what seven books already, and so this was one of the ones that I just happened to pick up and read and I could resonate with a lot of what you were talking about in the book. But, for our listeners, talk to us a little bit more about what led you, what inspired you to write this book and what was the process like for you.
Janine:
So this book came after I survived narcissistic abuse. I was in a year long abusive relationship. What's different about narcissism is that it doesn't always have to be physical. Mine wasn't physical, but mine was emotionally abusive and verbally abusive, and when you are getting emotionally abused and gaslit meaning they are making you believe that what you're experiencing is not true it can be the most confusing thing in this world. So after I survived that type of abuse and I finally broke the trauma bond and broke up with this person, I started. I actually started with a podcast. I did a podcast and I spoke about my experience and I remember the day of the podcast I told my friend, like take it off.
Janine:
Like don't, don't post it, I don't want to, I don't want to do it, I don't want to do it. And she's like, girl, I'm gonna still do it anyways. And I remember I was like, well, let me start writing. So I started to write my book and in the process of it I had a moment where I just started bawling my eyes out, crying, and I was like God, this feels so uncomfortable and I am so scared to write this story and I don't want to do it. And God was very clear with me and he said do it anyways.
Janine:
And then that was it. I was like, okay, you ready, cause, I'm ready, like, and so I started writing the book. And so you asked about the process. I literally wrote this book in 13 days. Wow, and it was because I had so much to say and it also was very therapeutic. I had a lot to say. But I also feel like God was writing through me, Like I would just sit. I literally would sit eight hours a day and just type, like for 13 days straight. It was the craziest thing.
Janine:
It took me about two weeks to edit and make sure that everything looks good, but during that process I was experiencing a lot of healing, a lot of breakthrough. I also would read back through it as I was editing and I'm like who wrote this? Cause, that's not me, like, I didn't know I could write this. Good, you know, like, honestly, it was like an outer body experience where I like I don't even think I wrote that, but yeah, that's, that's why I decided to write the book.
Janine:
And it was important for me to write about the light and the darkness, because I was in such a deep, dark place at that time, being verbally and emotionally abused. But even though I was going through that and I went through that at the like. At the end of it I saw the light, which is why I say that I'm a bright light that shines. Like I saw the light and like I was able to see why I went through that. Obviously it was for a reason, and it wasn't for me to point the finger and place blame on him, but it was more so for me to learn about myself and take accountability for myself and for me to learn new boundaries. And so I said in the book I'm like he was a great teacher and people are like I can't believe you said that, like you know that you have such a positive outlook, but really he was the best teacher I could have had.
Mariana:
And I think it's amazing that you say that, because and I can relate to that because yours was emotional abuse, mental abuse and verbal, where mine I experienced very similar to verbal. Emotional because they are narcissistic, they're manipulators, they know how to pull on your heartstrings. Also, you know, like they know how to grab you and it's like you don't even recognize yourself. And a lot of times women relate abuse with just physical, not knowing that there's other layers to it than just the physical abuse, like there's that financial abuse too, you know.
Mariana:
Or like if you miss a phone call or you don't answer when they want you to answer, and then they get like where were you? You know, and then they start off like thinking you're out doing something because they're probably doing it, you know, to us or to you, you know, and then so you almost like start living like a hermit. You know you're stuck in your home, you don't want to talk to anybody, you want to say anything to anybody. And you touched on something that I a term that I had never heard before until I read your book, and that was trauma bond. Talk to us a little bit about what that means exactly, cause, like I said, I had never heard of that and I was like that was totally me.
Janine:
Lee, okay. So trauma bond, so okay. So similar to when you meet someone that is a healthy person and you guys connect. You're bonded spiritually, emotionally, physically, but it's a healthy connection. So you can also have a negative one with a negative person. So your trauma attracts their trauma or their trauma attracts your trauma and you guys get entangled. Because every time that we either have sex or we are connected with someone, like in that, in that intimate setting, our spiritual cords connect right. So our traumas just entangle themselves and it becomes so difficult to leave.
Janine:
It's like the cycle of abuse. It's become so difficult to leave because you start to almost hope for those good times and there's also like some sort of chemical I wouldn't say imbalanced, but something chemically in your body that starts to enjoy. Oh, he cursed me out today, but I know tomorrow morning it's gonna be a great day, we're gonna be in a great space tomorrow morning. So it's like this addiction, like how people get addicted to coffee and soda or alcohol, it's the same. You get addicted to that person and their trauma and you're like, okay, he abused me today and I'm very fully aware of it, but I'm also aware that tomorrow morning he's gonna be so amazing to me and he's gonna buy me a gift and he's gonna send me $20 and he's gonna be super nice to me. So you get addicted to that too. So that's kind of what a trauma bond is, and it's very difficult to leave those types of relationships because it's the cycle of abuse to just keep going round and round.
Mariana:
And I tell you, when I started reading that and I was really like I said that was the first time I've ever heard it in that way, like that term, and I just remember in my second marriage because that's pretty much a lot of how it was Like we were attracted to each other because of the things that we were going through and, like you said, you knew that today was gonna be bad, but the next day was gonna be like this one amazing thing like you're gonna go out there, it's your laughing, you're hanging and all the things, and the next thing you know, once again your back. It's like that high goes away. And I didn't even because he wasn't an abusive person and I never thought of it as I'm sorry, I keep hearing noises in the back, sorry y'all, but I never thought myself that perhaps I was addicted to this person. Like I thrive on Chaos, the chaos, absolutely. And until you finally get to a point and you realize, wait a minute, this is not the way it's supposed to be, this is not what my life is supposed to be. But it's almost like you get that, like you said, that light bulb comes on and you're like wait a minute. And you're absolutely right, they do become our biggest teachers.
Mariana:
And when you said that as well, I could totally relate, because we have to see the positive. We have to see what lessons did we learn through this whole mess, through this whole chaotic mess? There's things that we had to learn and it's only by that that we become better people, when we can take that negative and turn it into something positive. Not to say that, oh, thank you, sir, for being this mean person to me, but in other words, saying, OK, if I had to be that person to learn something, then good, I'm glad I learned something valuable, because all that did for me was teach me what kind of person I want to be and what kind of person I don't want to hang out with or be, you know, entangled with, you know.
Mariana:
So no, but I thought that book was such an amazing book and I do really highly recommend it to a lot. Actually, I have recommended it to a lot of people, especially those that I coach. I recommend that book to a lot of those because a lot of times they come to me with those kind of and I'm like you know what? Here's a book that I would really, really highly recommend to you. It's very relatable and you can. And it's not like the other health self-help books where it's all technical wording no, this is like. No, this is relatable. Like you're going to read it and be like, oh my God, that's me, Like wow, you know. And so, through that, shifting gears a little bit, because I think that book was truly inspiring. But out of all of this, you also became the founder of the Book Publishing Academy. Tell us more about how you started this venture and what motivated you to create it.
Janine:
So I've actually been writing since I was about nine years old my whole life. I told my parents I'm going to be a published author when I grow up. I was that weird little girl that I always said I was going to be an author and honestly so. I was in corporate America for over 13 years doing HR management and I got into a space where I was coaching writers one to one. I was doing like one to one coaching. I had just published my book. They would reach out to me and say, hey, like can you show me, like how to publish? And I'm like, okay, I had no idea what I was doing, but I was working full time and during that time my boss at the time wanted me to start in the process of, like, going to become a director of HR and in corporate America you should be excited about that that they want to maybe promote you in one to two years and they want to invest in the training and the certifications and all of that stuff. And I was just not impressed. I was like, like I really thought about it and I'm like why am I not happy? Why am I not excited about this? You know, climbing the corporate ladder, and I did. I started to do these certifications and I kid you not, mariana I went and I very rarely even studied for the test.
Janine:
I went to take the test and it was like a four hour test, I think. Two hours in I was like, screw this. I left and I went to the movies and I was like, okay, janine, sit with yourself. Why are you not interested in growing in the corporate ladder? And I came to terms that that wasn't my purpose in life. My purpose was to help people publish their books. So within six months, I left corporate America. I started to do you know, save and all of that, and I walked away from corporate America to October 2018 notes, yeah, 2018. And um, right around the pandemic, everyone was home, bored, wanting to write books. Around that time, I shifted my coaching program to online virtual group coaching and then it just took off from there. Everybody has been interested and the business has grown and it's just been a complete blessing. I always tell people I didn't grow up wishing that I was going to be a book coach, but I think God just blessed me with him and was like you, you're the person. I'm like, okay. So here we are.
Mariana:
And I am so glad that you did, because it's through a mutual connection that I was able to start working with you. So I remember that you had that internship opportunity out there and I had just started off with my life coaching business and kicking it off, and the next thing, you know, it's like I had just started in July of 22. And then my coach for the podcast was like you know, have you ever thought about writing a book? I was like I have, years ago, like I always wanted to write a book. She was like what's stopping you? I was like I don't know the process to write a book, like who's got to want my book anyways? And that's when, next thing, you know, you came out with yours. And here we are today. I got my book published, all through the help of Janina. Listen, I am going to speak highly, highly about my coach, because Janine coached me through the whole process.
Mariana:
There's modules. Yeah, talk to us a little bit about that too, because you also provide modules. You provide videos, all of the things that they need. So if somebody wanted to write a book, what could they expect from you?
Janine:
So the book publishing academy is an online academy that teaches you how to fully write, publish and launch your book. But what sets us apart is that we also teach you the back end business side. So we teach you how to set up the business, build the website, how to start branding yourself, how to build your brand so that you can attract media coverage, whether that be news stations, radios, podcasts. We teach you sales marketing, like all of it, from start to finish, how to have a successful book launch. It does come with over 80 videos and a follow along workbook, and then we do group coaching calls once a month. We bring on guest speakers that teach you different things each month. We have our annual summit once a year and then we do fun stuff like we do. We have a group chat so we all talk like if we're one big family, but we do fun stuff. Sometimes we do photo shoots or documentaries. We have documentaries on the authors. It's just. It keeps expanding.
Mariana:
It does, and it's like I said, I'm part of all of that and it's just been amazing. So, with that all being said, I am so excited because there's going to be an awesome event coming up. Talk to us about the fourth annual book publishing Academy Summit.
Janine:
I am super excited because we've been hosting annual summit every year for the past four years and every year it's been virtually because of the pandemic and because I was making excuses. Let's just keep it real. But. But this year I was like you know what. I think it's time. So Mariana has been helping me behind the scenes to put together our fourth annual summit. It's going to take place April 6th and 7th here in Phoenix, arizona. It's a two day event. I cannot wait. We have an amazing lineup of speakers that are going to talk about everything as far as, like, the power of your story, how to sell the book, how to market the book. We're going to talk about the author mindset, but also money mindset. We're going to prepare you to go from entrepreneur to business owner. And it does come with a ticket to our networking mixer as well, where you can network with everyone, and it's just going to be an amazing event. I can't wait.
Mariana:
I can't wait either. I cannot wait. So if someone wanted to come out to the event, where can they go?
Janine:
They can go to wwwbookloadingcom it's B-O-O-K-L-O-A-D-I-N-Gcom to grab their tip-of-gates. We currently have Early Bird Sale available, but that will run out here pretty soon, so if you're interested, you can grab it at a discounted price.
Mariana:
And how long is that gonna be up for?
Janine:
Do we know yet the? I don't know. I keep pushing it back. I keep having the sale since, I don't know, maybe the end of February, we'll see. But yeah, if you like it I'll give it to you. I'm just kidding. But yeah, maybe the end of the month, and then we also have two vendor tables available. So if there's anyone listening, that's local here in Phoenix, or if you'd like to fly in, we do have two vendor tables available, yay.
Mariana:
And also just to throw it out there too. Janine also has the Book Publishing Academy podcast, where she's interviewing authors who are sharing their stories, the books that they've written, and also some of us have been on her show that have actually gone through the Academy. So, again, y'all, janine has a lot of information to provide you. If you are someone who's been afraid, who has been wanting to write a book listen, I was there, I was afraid, she was afraid, we were all afraid, it was a lot in the process, but the great thing and the unique thing about this is that you are not alone. That's actually a big, happy family. So Janine did all the hard work for us and she's sharing her wisdom with us, and so I really, really do hope that you all don't miss this event, because it's gonna be amazing. Well, janine, thank you so much for joining me today and sharing your wisdom and your passion to our listeners. And where can our audience find out more about you, your book, how can they get ahold of you, what they wanna work with you?
Janine:
The best way, honestly, is our website bookpublishingacademyorg, or you can find me on Instagram. It's at Janine Hernandez underscore, or at bookpublishingacademy.
Mariana:
Well, there you have it, you all. So if you all wanna get ahold of it and I'll also have the links to the different platforms that Janine is on on the show notes, and so y'all, if this is your first time listening, you're in for a treat. If you've been a listener for quite some time, I'm just so glad that you were able to join us today in talking with Janine and listen. Please, like, share, support, subscribe to this episode and share it with somebody else. If you know of someone who wants to be a writer or who wants to level up in their business, reach out to us, get in contact with us, and we will be more than happy to get you started and going. So until next time, remember to keep shining your light and embracing your journey towards healing and self-discovery. Take care, everyone.
Mariana:
If you are hearing this message, you've listened to the entire episode and for that I wanna say me gracias from the bottom of my heart. If you would like to dive deeper into today's message and would like to connect with me, send me DM on Instagram, at olamamiyonomission, or Facebook at mamiyonomission. You can also find me at mamiyonomissioncom. I hope you've enjoyed this new episode and if you did, it would mean the world to me If you would subscribe, share this podcast and leave me a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Tune in next week for some more words of motivation, inspiration and encouragement on Mamiyonomissioncom. Thank you,