Pittsfield Township author Wendi Zwaduk aims to inspire other writers

Lorain County romance author Wendi Zwaduk has close to 200 titles and around 30 full-length novels.

She did not always know she wanted to be an author but set out to write her first book in 2009 after gaining some inspiration.

“I met a couple authors at craft shows and I said ‘Oh I can do this,'” Zwaduk said. “I was a teacher and I knew how to write from that.”

Zwaduk said she liked writing as a kid but did not pursue it as a career early in her adulthood. After graduating from Kent State University, Zwaduk taught at Jefferson Area Local Schools in Ashtabula County.

She said the process of becoming an author was not always easy. Zwaduk said she had much to learn while trying to get her first book, “Right Where I Need to Be” published.

“It was scary because I had this idea that I was going to send it to all these big-name publishers and of course, I had 47 rejection letters because it wasn’t ready, it wasn’t polished, it was just the first draft,” she said. “I didn’t know any better.”

Zwaduk said she joined author groups to connect with other writers to work on her craft. She said New York Times Bestselling Cincinnati author Lori Foster invited her to join her author group, which she said greatly helped her development as an author.

“I knew how to write a story, I just needed to work on the craft on how to get it published,” Zwaduk said. “I met a small press publisher while I was there and submitted that sucker in paper and then they asked me to submit it electronically. That’s how I got my first contract.”

Zwaduk said she updated that book with a new publisher recently, and it now goes by the title “Her Man.”

Zwaduk said all her work is in the romance genre and that much of it also fits into the erotic literature genre.

While Zwaduk said she enjoys constructing the stories, which mostly come from her imagination, she said the editing process is her favorite part of producing her work.

“I love edits because yes, crafting the story is good but every time I turn my story in, I know there’s edits that need to be made that I can’t see,” she said. “I love the editing process because I get so close to the story I don’t know where some of the problems are.”

Zwaduk has recently written some LGBT romance stories and she said that she is currently working on a story about a relationship between two men in a complex family situation.

Zwaduk said her work is well-received by her readers.

“The people that read this genre and get it, are very receptive and really like it,” she said. “I go to author events and not to boast, but my stuff flies off the shelves. I try to be very visible at these things and interact with my readers a lot.”

Zwaduk, who now lives in Pittsfield Township, has worked with Canadian and British publishers which has helped her work go international.

“It’s surreal because I’ll look at my royalty statement and see people bought my books in Mexico or Germany or Italy or Japan,” she said. “To see that this little thing that I worked on in LaGrange, Ohio, has reached all these places just doesn’t seem real.”

Zwaduk stays involved in the local community helping local authors work on their writing once a month at “Writer’s Guild” events at the Elyria Public Library — Keystone LaGrange Branch.

She said she knows how important it is to learn from others when starting out as an author, which drives her to do this.

“When I started I was completely on my own,” she said. “I knew what some of the stuff was but I had no one giving me a hand or a direction to go. That’s what I want to do for people and help give back.”

Zwaduk said it can be tough to have the confidence to do creative work but encourages people to share their stories.

“You have a story in and only you can tell that story,” she said. “You might be self-conscious about it but you’re never going to find out if it’s any good until you put it out there. There’s always going to be people who are going to help you get it ready and back you up.”