Let's Get Suchita's Book Published: Little Body Huge Life
Donation protected
When a book is crying out to be published and its author has exhausted so many possibilities - this is where friends can step in.
Suchita Vanessa Smith - who so many of us know and love - has spent fourteen long years scribing her incredible life journey in Little Body Huge Life - Finding Liberation Through Acceptance and Love (working title).
She was first inspired to write when she learned a friend’s 20 year old son had been diagnosed with a degenerative condition. But it remained a ‘one day’ idea while she was fully occupied producing Full Circle on RTRFM and managing and DJing the vibrant Zorbas Dance Club.
It took a bad fall, two fractures, ten weeks in hospital and losing her clear speech and voice for her to finally have the real impetus and space to start writing. She could barely walk or talk but she could write. This book became her voice.
Her tale is woven through with rich threads of life learnings not only for the one who is living in such a difficult body.. but for us all. We who read her story will find numerous places where it applies in our own lives. Learning to love and accept our bodies and ourselves is a challenge for most of us.
For Suchita it has come in a myriad of forms.
Born with Pseudoachondroplasia (big word!) a rare inherited disorder affecting bone growth and causing all her joints to become painfully arthritic, Suchita is 137 cms in height.
She has struggled through pain and increasing limitations, but has been determined to live a full life - learning to scuba dive, climbing four flights of stairs with gear at the radio station, DJing for five hours, travelling alone in South East Asia, discovering her sexuality, always putting herself out there to test her limits, while having difficulty walking and standing. The eventual loss of her clear speech and voice, as well as finding herself helpless in a hospital bed on so many occasions has taught her oh so much. Suchita has scaled many ‘mountains’ in her life!
She is one brave woman - and now she needs our help.
Her book deserves to be published - but despite sending it to many publishers - the responses have been – Your memoir covers some big issues and does so in a thoughtful, holistic and engaging way. And you tell your own personal story with flair.
There is a lot of honest profound real stuff here, it's impressive, you have a lot to teach.
You write well and yours is an inspiring story.
Great book - excellent information - but not ‘our genre, our style, for our audience’,
.. you name it .. many excuses as to why it has been rejected.
Going Ahead with a Change of Direction:
And now it is time to go ahead with what is called hybrid publishing.
Laura Baxter, CEO of CastleMount Media, a German publishing company, whose purpose is to ‘help global leaders get their message out’, has wholeheartedly embraced Suchita’s work. Laura was moved by her writing and said ‘I found myself in your book. I would love to work with you to get your book out into the world’, - and not only that, Suchita says ‘Finally I feel seen and heard.’
What IS hybrid Publishing?
Hybrid publishing means a contract is drawn up and payment made from the author’s side. Then working with the author, the publishing company edits, proof reads, does the layout, designs the cover, gets the printing done, organizes distribution worldwide and not only that - does heaps of marketing. You would be surprised to know how much goes into the publishing of a book.
So where do we go from here, and how can you help?
$14,000 is needed. Step by step we are going to get there. Suchita’s book is destined to be on the shelves and in your hands for the pleasure of reading her story.
Can you help?
A little bit or a lot ... or somewhere in the middle… we don’t mind... every bit will go toward the publishing event... and oh by the way... if you can or can’t help financially, please ... please share and share and share... because as the word gets out there and more and more people come on board, this fund raiser can get to viral stage ... and take off and before you know it ... the book will be a reality.
What's it About?
Little Body Huge Life - Finding liberation through acceptance and love' (working title) is a celebration of coming to love and accept her body and herself while thriving in a huge life. Suchita says, If I can manage it with my challenging body, then anyone can. She says Everyone I know has issues with their bodies. Mine are just more obvious, and I’ve been dealing with them longer than most. I've learnt a lot along the way.
Disability comes for most of us sooner or later. Suchita’s book supports those with an illness or disability and their health professionals. But way beyond that - it is for anyone facing body issues, or who wishes to prevent them, and wants to make changes to create a healthier, happier life. It’s a deep dive into our essential being and our full humanness. And is much bigger than the individual, because as we treat our bodies, so we are treating our Mother Earth.
This is a teaching memoir, using lived engaging stories to share insights and wisdom gained. While the stories are unique, the lessons learnt are universal. Suchita’s message is too important to languish on a shelf somewhere waiting for the right publisher to discover her.
Her intention for writing this book is to be of service which shines through in every chapter... and she is determined to birth it into this world.
Let’s help her get it published...
Thank you to all of you for your support and love for a very dear friend.
Fundraising team (3)
Suchita Smith
Organizer
Bibra Lake, WA
Sahaja Springer
Team member
Shazar Robinson
Team member