Yanatha Desouvre arrived from Haiti to the United States at the age of three, knowing very little English, but now he is a prolific author of books written in English, in every genre from poetry, to fiction, to a children’s book that he co-authored with his nearly five-year old daughter.

Raised partly in Brooklyn, New York and partly in Philadelphia in the late 1980s, Desouvre is a one-man publishing phenomenon, taking advantage of the electronic publishing platform, in addition to the traditional print medium to publish his works that also include an unconventional self-help book series “Walk Through the Journey”, as well as audio books.

He didn’t start out studying publishing formally. He attended Drexel University for his undergraduate studies and earned a dual degree in Management Information Systems and Marketing. Desouvre has since earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Lynn University. He’s currently working towards a doctorate degree in Education, which more than makes sense, considering the educational, personal improvement and empowerment aspects of the book and audio products he’s produced.

The author-entrepreneur-IT expert’s knowledge of computer systems has helped him considerably in integrating technology and publishing. Apart from his publishing endeavors, Desouvre is also a motivational speaker on the roster of the Quest Talent Agency, and he frequently lectures on self-development and personal growth.

Q & A

“My Heart Aches and I’m Trembling (Ayiti Cheri)” is a poem that you wrote.
I wrote “My Heart Aches and I’m Trembling (Ayiti Cheri)” the day after the devastating earthquake in Haiti. What inspired it? When it comes to writing poetry, for me, everything can be inspirational from the good, the bad and the ugly. I physically could not stop shaking the only thing I can do is write, it’s part of Walk Through this Journey: Volume 2, The Next Forward (Special Edition) excessively available on Lulu.com along with other books I’ve been fortunate to self-publish. It’s also in the mobile apps Proud Haitian/Proud to Be Haitian I created almost a year later for the iPhone, iPod touch, iPads and Android Devices. The apps were created for two reasons: one out of sense of defiance because I was passed up for a promotion and also for my beautiful children.

You have an MBA from Lynn University. Has that come in handy in the field of publishing?
The MBA from Lynn University helped me hone on my marketing and communication tactics to build on my digital footprint as an author.

Walk Through This Journey: Volume 2, The Next Step Forward is your latest book.
Walk Through This Journey: Volume 2 The Next Step Forward is the second part of the Journey Trilogy. The final Journey book will be titled Walk Through this Journey: Volume 3: Rising Above it All ; it will be a book that consists of essays and poems on how to turn tragedy into triumph. Having loved and lost and identifying ways to rise above it all as we all go through this journey called life. My most recent book was A Family Affair: Inspirational Short Stories and Poetry about Family and Faith now available on Lulu.com, amazon.com and Apple’s iTunes store. I plan to also have an audiobook for all the books as well. Currently Volume 1 has a audiobook on iTunes.

Do you remember the first book you read that made an impression on you?
S.E Hinton’s The Outsiders. It reminded of the trouble we all can get into with our friends and that real friends stick with you through the end. The Purpose Driven Life book is a book I highly recommend everyone to read.

What’s next for you in terms of books?
I am working on my first non-creative book Life is About Purpose (Not Position) A Guide to Actionable and Effective Leadership —Fall 2013. Then my first kids book titled Big Sister, Little Sister mostly written by my four and a half-year-old daughter. I figured if she could write it, she can read it and hopefully other kids her age can do the same. Half of the profits from the book will go to a literacy program. In the process of looking for one now.

What advice do you have for those who want to get into publishing?
The self-publishing route, which Apple recently featured on their iTunes store, is the best way to go, because the companies are out there like Lulu, Authorhouse, Createspace—a division of Amazon.com—and much more. Subscribe to a magazine like Poets and Writers for amazing resources. Do not chase agents they will come to you. E-books are outselling printed books, so do not let get left behind. Definitely copyright your work as manuscript through copyright.gov. Make sure you have an editor and be ready to several calls to your local libraries, bookstores to doing readings from your book however get ready to be rejected. See the challenge of rejections as an opportunity for growth and inspiration.

Your undergraduate degree is in technology. Did you initially want to be a writer?
I wanted to be lawyer—thanks to Kenneth Murphy—who gave me my first job at 16 years old at a law firm he worked in. I also wanted to compose music for films when I was younger, however my technology hobby became more than a hobby. For sixteen years now I’ve worked as an IT professional, currently creating mobile apps and much more. I have a passion to empower others. It just happens I am fortunate enough to do this through the IT work I do and hopefully my writings. When it came to writing a book, I did not want to do it because my older brother, Steiman Desouvre, was the first to publish a book called Sole Songs also available on Amazon. I did not want to follow my brothers’ footsteps. The entrepreneur in me wanted to create my own path. It was Jason Fleurant, a phenomenal artist, whom I first befriended on MySpace around 2006. I posted several blogs of my poetry [on that social network] and was humbled by all the subscribers and feedback I received from all [over] the world from China to Costa Rica, [and Fleurant asked] when is the book coming out. Thanks to Jason asking that question and the demand was there for my very personal poems that have universal themes of friends, love, lost, family and faith, as the female emcee Rapsody says the “rest is the future.”

You can visit Yanatha Desouvre’s web page here .

Visit the author’s Facebook page here.

Yanatha Desouvre is a techie before anything else. His love of technology led him to publishing. To Whom Much is Given, his latest novel, tries to make sense of Haitian history. Besides his literary endeavors, the author is also working on a personal project—that of bringing the work of the late guitarist Daniel Coulanges to a wider audience. You can contribute to his Kickstarter project here.

Kreyolicious: What made you write this book?
That’s a great question. There are two reasons why I wrote this novel. First, after completing my most recent creative book Savor the Moments: Inspired by True Stories, my biggest supporters challenged me to write a novel based off the character Grayson Goodman. I was scared, nervous, and excited all at the same time but I did it. Second, I was inspired by a tragic event in my family. My aunt, and cousin in Haiti were involved in a very violent incident back in the [1990s]. In the novel, a very similar life changing event takes place in Grayson Goodman’s life, the leading character of the Goodman Chronicles. Writing this novel has been my free therapy to process through that pain. To Whom Much is Given also addresses the powerful global impact the Haitian Revolution had and continues to have in North America, South America. and beyond. In this modern time in America, I’ve not come across anything in the world of literary fiction that talks about the revolution that rocked the world. Unapologetically, the pride of my Haitian culture is embedded throughout the To Whom Much is Given novel. Readers of To Whom Much is Given have described it as, “James Bond meets Idris Elba’s Luther mixed with Mission Impossible sprinkled with a dash of Haitian hot sauce.”

Kreyolicious: You’ve written a book before. What did you learn the last time that helped you this time around?
I’ve been fortunate to write and publish eight previous books my latest one An Essential Guide to Windows 10 has been well-received all over the world, from England to as far as Australia. From the books I’ve written, I’ve learned from that creating and sticking to deadlines are important. It gave me a sense of thrill and discipline that I was missing before in the previous books that I’ve written. Also, there is tons of marketing and promotion you must do when you independently publish a book. Since Big Sister, Little Sister I’ve had trailers for all of my books.

Kreyolicious: For those of us who are not familiar with the production process involved in creating a book…would you mind walking us through it?
The process is a labor of love, and I don’t mind walking you through this journey. It all starts with you, the writer. First, you must write what you know about, your experiences etc. Next organize your manuscript add table of contents, bio etc. Then, reach out to beta readers—people who can give you early feedback on your work. Remember to embrace constructive criticism, it will make you a better writer. After the feedback, get an editor. Next, there are several print on demand companies to choose from to publish or print your work from Createspace, LuLu and many more. However If your readers have any questions feel free to contact me at bookyanatha@gmail.com and I’ll be more than happy to guide them through the final crucial steps to publish their book.

Kreyolicious: What’s the most rewarding thing about being an author?
The most rewarding aspect of being an author for me has been to encourage and guide others who want to write and share their story. I am excited to be working with Karen Harris who’s writing a book titled For They Know Not, a book about forgiveness and self-love. Then there is Ray Dominguez’s Stories of a Man his coming-of-age story about a young man who is at major turning point in life during his senior year of high school. Next Steiman Desouvre’s Sole Songs: The Essentials, whose poems touch on the essences of life. Finally, Florence Belland, Ph.D who’s interweaving narrative Wailing…Haiti (Ayiti) Anmwei-eee, defines what it means to be Haitian while signifying the intertextual contours of gender and cultural identity.

Kreyolicious: What’s next for you?
This August marks an exciting milestone for me. It’s been 10 years since I published my first book Walk Through this Journey: Volume One back in August 2006. Since [then], I’ve written nine manuscripts and I release nine book—mostly poetry. To celebrate this milestone, I will release my tenth book Proud to Be, the follow-up to the #1 Amazon best-selling children’s book Big Sister, Little Sister—available in French, Spanish and Haitian-Creole. For a limited time, I will also release a special edition of To Whom Much is Given: A Grayson Goodman Novel, Goodman Chronicles, Book One that will include a preview of Revelation: Much is Required – Goodman Chronicles, Book Two. Autographed copies will only be available via my website along with a free prize. Kreyolicious, you as well as your readers and followers are cordially invited to celebrate this decade of tenacity, drive, ambition and service in writing that I hope inspires others.

I’ll conclude with this: In the words of the Broadway hit musical Hamilton via Lin-Manuel Miranda and the talented cast, “I’m just like my country I’m young scrappy and hungry. And as long as I’m breathing, I’m not throwing away my shot. There’s a million things I haven’t done. Just you wait, just you wait…”

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT YANATHA DESOUVRE’S BOOKS!