Meet Lisa Fender of Djen – Works in Lakewood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Fender.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
It started when I was a child with my love of books. I always said I would write a novel one day, and I finally did. Yes, I was 47 yrs old, but I did it.

I was laid off in 2009, along with half the country, and decided to go for it. It took me 4 and a half years to have my first book ready to self-publish. I wanted it to be as good as any traditionally published book – that was my goal. I took classes, hired a writing coach, and finally joined a Meet-Up group that met in Golden, which the teacher was my writing coach, Janet Roots.

I am so grateful to her. She taught me the creative writing skills in needed to meet that goal and encouraged me to keep going. I was bound and determined to get it right and to publish a book I could be proud of and that people would enjoy reading. So Fable – book 1 of The Lorn Prophecy Series was born.
Now, 10 yrs later, I have five books published, all epic in size and all epic fantasy fiction novels and 4 of them part of a series. The other one, Fated book 1 of the Djenrye Chronicles, is a companion book to Fable. That particular series will be stories of the history of Djenrye instead of in a text format.

It was a struggle, but it is paying off. I have built a fan base and am starting to see some return on my investment – which is really exciting!
I am also grateful to all the amazing writers I have met along the way, and their encouragement and camaraderie. This is my dream job!

Has it been a smooth road?
There’s nothing smooth about writing novels, whether fiction or non. Absolutely there were struggles. The writing and rewriting, building a tough skin from all the critiques, learning how to market your books, sitting at conferences for three days trying to sell your books and hopefully build some fans. The classes, writers’ conferences, formatting, the money for editors and covers – the list goes on. But it is rewarding, especially when a person comes running to your table at Comic Con excited to purchase your next book in the series. Or a reader sends you an email telling you how much they loved your story. I even had a fan want a picture taken with me – that was amazing!

Like I said, I always wanted to write a novel, and of course, life can get in the way. Marriage, two kids, grandkids, a waitress, then an aesthetics career, which I was on my feet all day with both types of jobs. It was really hard to decide when it would be time for me and my dream. I guess getting laid off was a blessing in disguise.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Djen – Works story. Tell us more about the business.
I am an Author/writing coach, nothing more. I had planned to branch out and become a press early on, but decided against it. Just publishing my books was enough stress alone. 

My books are Epic in size. I was always a huge fan of Lord of the Rings, or Game of Thrones. I like them long and I don’t want to story to end.

I realized that I’m not the only one who likes the big novels, and decided it was okay to write them. I know a lot of people in the publishing industry say not to write them that long, but what books do you see on film? The long epic fantasy novels – books like the Outlander series, or again Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Harry Potter – all long fantasy novels. People love them!

So I guess that’s what sets me apart – that and I decided to create my own language. Yes, The Lord of the Rings Author – J. R. R. Tolkien did the same thing, and other authors have as well, but I thought the people in my story would not only speak English, but have their own language. And it’s fun!

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The industry changes all the time. Constant new marketing techniques, ways to make money off of the struggling writers, and forcing us to stay up with the latest and greatest cover trends. It’s maddening sometimes.

Recently I’ve changed most of my covers, still working on it, and redesigned my website. I’ve also changed some of my writing habits so that my books read much quicker than before. But I’ve been thinking about teaching creative writing skills again. I taught at Englewood library through HOD (Hearts of Denver) for 2 yrs. 

We should always be growing in our craft. Learning a better way to write helps all of us with sales. Not that the stories are bad, only the novel should read clean and tight. There will always be mistakes, even in traditionally published books, but it would be great if there were less of them. And we should realize a lot of our audiences are young adults and we should look at what we are teaching them.

Contact Info:

• Address: PO BOX 16951
  Golden Co. 80402
• Website: http://www.Djenworld.com
• Email: lisafender8160@gmail.com
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fablebookI
• Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/Lisafender1

Getting in touch: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.