Sami Schwanke/Winonan
Many students at Winona State University wonder how their majors are going to help them after graduation and how to mix their degrees into other professions.
Winona State University alumna Michele Klecker-Sailor has done just that.
She combined her degree and her love for writing into one career that has thus far been successful: children’s book author.
Though mass communication may seem a strange discipline for an author, Klecker-Sailor has always had a passion for writing. She was inspired to become a writer in elementary school after writing a get-well card to a teacher.
“When Mrs. Alton came back, she said that my letter had made her cry; it was so touching and well written,” Klecker-Sailor said.
“I knew right there that’s what I wanted to do: write. The knowledge that I had the power to evoke emotion from the reader just confirmed it for me.”
Klecker-Sailor graduated from Winona State in 1994 as a mass communications advertising emphasis major with a sociology minor and has since self-published two children’s stories: “The Patient Leaf,” published in 2010, and her newest book, which was published earlier this summer, “Max.”
Klecker-Sailor’s mass communication major helped her develop her career. She worked as the Marketing Director for AllBreed Obedience in Woodbury, Minn. for 10 years.
However, having taken advertising and public relations classes in particular helped Klecker-Sailor with her eventual success as a self-published author.
“I use the skills that I obtained at Winona State to write press releases and get television, radio and newspaper interviews,” she said.
The key to becoming successful, according to Klecker-Sailor, was knowing how to sell herself.
“I have many people come up to me and say, ‘I have written a book, but I haven’t sold any copies. How do I do that?’ The difference is marketing yourself and your product,” she said.
Klecker-Sailor’s latest book, “Max,” is the story of Max the bunny, who gets befriended by Junk Yard Dog when he is left alone in a community garden.
Because nobody has ever told Max that bunnies and dogs do not make good friends, Max and Junk Yard Dog become best friends.
But Klecker-Sailor’s message is much deeper than your typical “opposites attract” type story.
“The message is that friendship trumps all social barriers,” Klecker-Sailor said.
That includes sexual orientation, age, sex, economic class, education and more.
Klecker-Sailor said she wanted to inspire her readers to branch out, break stereotypes and make friends with a variety of people instead of feeling socially pressured to stay in one friend circle.
Both “Max” and “Patient Leaf” can be purchased by emailing Michele Klecker-Sailor at [email protected].
“Max” is currently being sold in select bookstores in River Falls, Buffalo and Osseo, Minn., but will also be available soon on Amazon.
Contact Sami at [email protected]
