May 2026 has been on my radar for over a year, as the month that my fifth non-fiction book will be published by Moon Books, HURRAY!

If I were asked to formulate some reasons why other people think I write books, they would be:

• Because I earn my living from it.
• Because it is now part and parcel of maintaining a public presence online, you have “the brand, the online course and the book”.
• Because I walk around in a perpetual state of writing frenzy, courtesy of the Muses calling my name (inspiration, in plain English).

Some other popular misconceptions I have encountered are:

• That my publisher has a HUGE publicity budget, so once I have written the book, I sit back, and a large team of people takes care of “everything”.
• That you should write in your mother tongue because writing in a foreign language is bound to fail.
• That writing books about spirituality is a complete waste of time because

A) It’s all WooWoo and

B) No one wants to buy those books

• That all authors lead such an elevated and cerebral life (floating above it all) that they don’t care whether people read their books or take a moment to review them.

WRONG! Why?

#1

My husband recently said, “Why don’t you just write a best-seller?” Well… if anyone ever publishes the perfect formula for writing a bestseller, most writers will go for it! Best-sellers are unpredictable phenomena, but once an author reaches global fame, their subsequent books do very well too, but there is no recipe for a guaranteed bestseller (and I am a niche author anyway).

I make my living from teaching (globally, in a large variety of locations and settings), and this devours the bulk of my time. I also offer shamanic healing sessions, spiritual consultations, mentoring and rune readings (but I have only limited availability and many long-term clients). As a painter, I sell paintings and drawings. I can’t support my family off the proceeds, but there is a steady dribble of income from art. Finally, I make some money from writing (meaning that my publisher pays me, and all their other authors, royalties), but this is my smallest “pot”. Once a year, I divide the proceeds into three equal parts, and I give them to my children as a Christmas present! (So I don’t even get to spend it!)

#2

Not only do I not have a brand, but I also rebel against having one! I want to be a polymath (and polyglot) and follow both my natural curiosity and spirit guidance. I had an online school (Pregnant Hag Teachings) for five years. In 2025, the platform concerned (Teachable) quadrupled the hosting fee almost overnight, so I deleted it. All my books were written because I wanted to share spiritual material that is important. My books are not a “fashion accessory”, slim on substance.

#3

Forty years ago, when I enrolled in Art School in Amsterdam, my teachers told all students on the first day that “sitting around waiting for inspiration to strike” was a complete waste of time (both theirs and ours). Instead: Show up no later than 9 am, start painting and don’t stop before 5 pm! The learning is in the doing, and the inspiration arrives while honing your skills. I follow the same method for writing: Sit down, start typing, quick tea break, type for a few more hours…

#4

My publisher (Moon Books, an imprint of Collective Ink) does not have a huge publicity budget, but their small, dedicated team works extremely hard to get books in front of people. In return, we authors match their efforts by giving talks and presentations, posting on social media, appearing on podcasts, doing book signings, etc. I was recently interviewed on their Pagan Portal Podcast: https://linktr.ee/thepaganportalpodcast

#5

If I wrote in Dutch (or in Swedish, where my Forest School is located), my audience would be small. I am grateful that I ended up living in London and writing in English. I would never have had the global opportunities I so love if I wrote in Dutch or Swedish. Not only that, but I actively translate obscure and esoteric information from other languages into English to make the material accessible to a larger audience.

#6

There will always be people who think all spirituality is nonsense (such as my own brothers!) or “opium for the masses”. There will also always be people who buy books about spirituality. Even quirky books about niche topics have their place (I am a great admirer and avid collector of such books!)

#7

Your average Moon Books author is thrilled to hear from their readers and grateful for every single review, share or mention! Many people have mental blocks around writing reviews (because they think it will be an arduous project of epic dimensions, like writing a university essay), but reviews literally sell books. A review can consist of just two words: “Liked it!”, “More, please!” They can even be a full sentence: “I couldn’t put down this book!” Reviews are NOT 5,000-word university essays.

Please listen to the podcast and check out my new book. Write a review too (or share a picture of the book on social media), and you will earn my eternal gratitude! THANK YOU!

For more details: https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/moon-books/our-books/portals-patterns-pathways-handbook-rune-magicians

Imelda Almqvist is an international teacher of Sacred Art and Seidr/Old Norse Traditions (the ancestral wisdom teachings of Northern Europe). She has published three books: Natural Born Shamans: A Spiritual Toolkit for Life (Using shamanism creatively with young people of all ages) in 2016, Sacred Art: A Hollow Bone for Spirit (Where Art Meets Shamanism) in 2019 and Medicine of the Imagination – Dwelling in possibility (an impassioned plea for fearless imagination) in 2020. She has presented her work on both The Shift Network and Sounds True. She appears in a TV program, titled Ice Age Shaman, made for the Smithsonian Museum, in the series Mystic Britain, talking about Neolithic arctic deer shamanism. Her fourth book, about the pre-Christian spirituality of The Netherlands and Low Countries, has just gone into production. She has already started her fifth book: about the runes of the Futhark/Uthark. In response to the 2020 pandemic she has opened an on-line school, called Pregnant Hag Teachings, to make more of her classes available on-line.