[I just returned from Quilt Market, a fabric trade show in Houston, where my debut line with Andover Fabrics was previewing.  I had the chance to interview a few other talented designers + other interesting peeps + am so happy to share their incredible words of wisdom and encouragement while I am traveling again this week.  I hope you enjoy!]

I was so excited to grab a few moments with Susanne Woods, acquisitions editor from C+T Publishing and home of Stash Books.  She gave an incredible schoolhouse presentation of all of the upcoming titles from Stash Books, so I was really honored to have her answer some questions.  For those of you wanting to write books or sewing patterns, I think you’ll find this helpful.  Here’s Susanne –

What are you most excited to be showing at this Quilt Market?

I am most excited to be presenting the beta launch of our Patternspot.com site where hundreds of patterns are available for instant download. We spent many, many months developing this site to be beautiful and easy to navigate. I’m really proud of how it turned out and think it is an exciting opportunity for well known and less well known pattern designers to reach a huge audience without having to go through a gatekeeper.

What keeps you inspired?

In my role as the Acquisitions Editor for both C&T and Stash Books, I want our content to be a source of inspiration to others. That desire to provide innovative ideas and techniques to help others expand their own creativity keeps me motivated. I read through a lot of magazines and blogs and attend a variety of regional shows around the country, so what keeps me inspired is seeing a body of work or a single project that just stops me in my tracks.

What one piece of advice would you give to someone who wanted to pursue their own creative dream?

Be professional! Once I think I want to work with someone, I research all about them. I follow their blog, their facebook, their twitter and pay attention to how they act if I see them at shows. I have walked away from promising authors in the past on the basis of their social media interactions and/or how they have conducted themselves in person. We need to have respected ambassadors for our lists, so as you establish your voice in social media and in person, remind yourself (before you post/attend) that a book editor, fabric manufacturer, distributor or magazine editor might be watching/reading. Our sewing community is fun and social, but it is always business.