SMBSTL Speaker Spotlight: Author Kim Wolterman

Aug 15, 2012 // by admin // Blog, Speakers // No Comments

Kim Wolterman is an author, instructor, blogger, and house historian residing in St. Louis. She learned to leverage social media to increase the reach of her book, Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed(room)? Researching a St. Louis County, Missouri Home. Kim will be presenting Beyond the Blog: Tips for Turning Your Blog Into a Book, on Blogging Day #2. Check out an interview we recently did with her:

1. What inspired you to write your first book?

As the 100^th birthday of my home neared in 2002, I began to research its history in order to obtain a Century Home plaque from the city of Webster Groves. This entailed providing the Webster Groves Historical Society with two pieces of documentation to prove what year the house was built and the name of the family who first lived there. It seemed like an easy task, but in fact took me three years and a trip to Chicago to finally answer the questions. And along the way I kept wondering why there was no guide available to help local researchers. When I finally obtained my plaque I decided to put together a book on how to find the sometimes elusive records. Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed(room)? Researching a St. Louis County, Missouri Home offers others looking into the history of their homes a guide to follow when trying to find resources available in the area.

2. How has blogging played a role in your book publishing?

I began my first blog, www.myhousehistory.net, when I decided to write my house history book. Authors need to build a platform before their book is published so that they can begin to build an audience for their work. The blog enabled me to tell my own house research story and provides a forum for me to offer research tips and other resources to those wanting to know who walked the halls of their homes before them. And of course my house history related books are available for sale on the website as well.

3. What is your favorite thing about St. Louis?

Having moved to St. Louis from Iowa fresh out of college thirty-four years ago, I was and am amazed by the variety of activities available here. My favorite place to go is the Missouri Botanical Garden. It is so calming and restorative to take a walk through the Garden, and as an amateur photographer I never lack something beautiful to photograph there.

For more information about Kim and our other speakers, please visit our Speaker page. And to purchase your tickets for this year’s conference, click HERE.