Smith Kerrigan

smith kerriganSmith Kerrigan’s love of the written word began at a very early age. Only son of Stephen and Janice Kerrigan, both English teachers, Smith was introduced to the magical world of literature before he was even born. Stephen and Janice were believers in early development so would read to Smith while he was still in the womb. It was this practice that Smith credits his love of books with, and believes it set him on the road to what would end up as a publishing business.

Life wasn’t always easy for Smith. His parents both lost their teaching positions within months of each other and the family struggled financially. During this time in his life Smith was completing high school and applying to colleges, not really knowing what he wanted to study or how he was going to be able to afford tuition. While he had always had a voracious appetite for reading he didn’t immediately consider English as his major until his grandmother, a strong influence in his life, suggested that he explore a career in journalism. Up until this time Smith had only written short stories for his own pleasure, not ever considering trying to get any published, but the thought of having his writing in print appealed to him.

After receiving his degree Smith was fortunate to gain a position on the local newspaper but quickly realized that writing news that “would be read today and forgotten tomorrow” was less than satisfying. While still at the newspaper he submitted several of his short stories to magazines and after a number of rejections finally had one of them accepted for publication. To Smith’s disappointment it was over 2 years before he saw his story in print.

Realizing his passion was for writing fiction Smith made a bold move and gave up his position with the newspaper, moving back to his childhood home to spend time with his dying mother while he worked on his first book. Living on a sizeable inheritance from his grandmother, Smith went through a period of depression after his mother died, until one day he began to write of his experience watching her go through cancer treatments and finally accepting that she had lost the battle. His book “The Rot Within” took two years to write and was accepted after being submitted to only 3 publishing houses.

During meetings with his publisher, Smith Kerrigan became fascinated with the entire process of selecting books to publish, and seeing an opening for a book publishing production assistant, applied for the position. His newspaper background, along with his soon-to-be published book, gained him the position and his publishing career began. Learning all he could about the publishing business and working his way up the ranks Smith eventually decided to take a giant leap of faith, and using the remainder of his inheritance he opened his own publishing business. While the first two years were difficult as Smith tried to make a name for himself a submission from a first time writer gave him the New York Times Best Seller he had been aiming for.

Today Smith Kerrigan is known for helping new writers get their first books published. His experiences as a published author in his own right, a journalist and as a self-made publisher allow him to offer new, unpublished writers and previously published writers alike a unique understanding and empathy with what writers go through to get their books into the reader’s hands.


Great Gifts Book Lovers Will Appreciate

True book lovers will read almost anything they can get their hands (eyes?) on, and are happiest when their nose is buried in their latest good read. Buying books for book lovers can be difficult if you don’t know whether they have read them already, and even if it is a brand new release there is still the possibility that they have pre-ordered it for themselves already. So what do you get as a gift for a book lover? The following ideas should help you to come up with a fun but useful gift that your book lover will appreciate (also, find some romantic gift ideas for her from xmasgiftsforher.ca).

Book-scented PerfumeBook-scented Perfume Now here is a novel (pardon the pun) gift for book lovers! There is nothing that smells as wonderful as a brand new book that has been opened up for the very first time. Book lovers may be the only ones to appreciate that unique scent but are sure to appreciate it bottled for them to enjoy at anytime. If you think wearing book-scented perfume is not something your book loving gift recipient is likely to do perhaps a book-scented candle would be more to their liking.

Gift Subscription to Audible.comGift Subscription to Audible.com For people on the go who don’t have the luxury of being able to carve out time to sit and read recorded books is an excellent way to still enjoy a good story. Great for the book lover who spends time in traffic commuting to and from work each day, or the long distance jogger or cyclist. If your book lover doesn’t like to listen to recorded books there are plenty of other gift subscriptions you can give as a gift, such as Book of the Month Club subscriptions.

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