Episode 40 Talking South Carolina Podcast Interview with 14 Year old Author, Investor and literary Phenom, Viktoriia Krechkovska

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Contact Info:

• Email: The Author Viktoriia Krechkovska
• Viktoriia Krechkovska’s Website: The Author Viktoriia Krechkovska
• Social Tag: @Viktoriia Krechkovska

Angela Barrett – “Hey, Victoria. How are you today?”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – Hi. Good. How are you?

Angela Barrett – “Good. So, Victoria, you are quite the little on to lure here. You 14 now, right?”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – Yes.

Angela Barrett – “I’m 14 and have, two published books. Right?”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – That’s right.

Angela Barrett – “Amazing, amazing. So I’m back up a minute. You are originally from or born in Ukraine, right?”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Yeah, I was born in Ukraine. I moved here when I was 11.”

Angela Barrett – “Okay. So about to two and a half years ago. Yeah, yeah. And so what core to South Carolina are you in?”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – So I live in Greer. That’s right near Greenville.

Angela Barrett – “Yeah, I know where that is. Perfect. So how do you like the US?”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – I’m a I get I really wanted to live here.

Angela Barrett – “So now, what brought y’all over here? Your family.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – What?

Angela Barrett – “What brought you to the U.S.? I mean, I know your family, but why? But why? Well.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Well, we. Well, we were, like, searching for a place to move in, and, like, I really wanted to live in the U.S.. So my parents were all kind of like, okay, let’s.”

Angela Barrett – “Go to the U.S.. Good, good, good. So now, tell me how this started. You have two books in cash, and then you have another one. I laughed when I saw romance and 2014 romance, but I haven’t read it, so you can tell me about it. That that one’s called. I hope you’ll remember my name right.”

Angela Barrett – “So what brought on the idea, or how did you start your first book? Teen cash?”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Well, I really like, like to read and talk about money in business since I was like a little kid. And my dad would talk to me about it a lot. And then I started reading business books like monkeys, all this Ferrari that’s like, just got us only covers, like all that stuff. That’s like more psychology, but it also, like, brings up the money.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “And I just like it was all really hard to read for, like, you know, just in case it was all made for adults. And I was like, okay, it’s too long, too hard. And like, I really want to make something for kids.”

Angela Barrett – Right?

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “To read. So versus I didn’t I was 11. It was like the first time I started writing. Still in Ukraine, still in Russian language. It wasn’t Tinkercad, but it was something like that. And then I, moved to the U.S. maybe first couple months. I remember that I was doing that and I was like, oh, okay. I didn’t do it.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Like I didn’t finish it. So I decided to do it again from the beginning, still in Russian language. And I changed the word, but then I just forgot what it, I just stopped. And when I was already 13, I was like, okay, this is my third time I have to finish it this time. And that was like the first version of dingus.”

Angela Barrett – “And so now ten caches, like 25 Ways to earn, save and spend wisely. And again, I haven’t read the book. But I was dying to, get you on here when I realized you were only 14 with two post books. So, forgive me for that. Tell me. Give me a couple examples of ways to earn, save and spend wisely.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Well, I’m gonna show you an example that, like, did myself urge to write and publish a book.”

Angela Barrett – Because.

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “It’s not even about publishing like a real a paperback copy about like, you can do it always, like online, like in the e-book on Amazon. And it’s open for like, all teenagers that actually want to do it. And that’s a way to make money. There’s, like babysitting, bed setting because like, I have friends that do it a lot.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “So like, I knew I had a dog to.”

Angela Barrett – So what about the save and spend wisely? What’s your advice in the book for that?

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “So on saving money is I really feel like having a bank account or just a bank card is a really good thing because like you’re not getting paid as much, but when the money drops over the years, it starts costing like much less. Bank will pay you something from that. It won’t go over like the whole thing, but you won’t lose as much money as you would if you would keep it in cash and for spending them.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Like when I get my money, I always divide them in 3 to 4 parts. So some of them I put in my stocks, some I just have in my bank account, and the other ones I either spend for myself or I spend on something that I need for the books or festivals.”

Angela Barrett – So back up. You at 14 have stock.

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Yes, I do nice.”

Angela Barrett – How did you learn how to do that?

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Well, I read about it a lot and my dad knows something, so he helped me a lot.”

Angela Barrett – “That’s good. Yeah, I’m even more amazed at this point. So, top talk to me about, The process of writing, writing and publishing. I know you told me it took very advanced where you actually sat down and did the first one. So talk to me about what that process was like.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “So I already started, like the final version of the Teen Guys I did. First of all, I did a lot of research. I had like tons of paper on my table, and they were all filled out with something. I was trying to find something that really works, and like I was talking to my friends or some people that know about it more than I do because, like, I didn’t try all of those ways, but I was trying to find something that would suit everyone.”

Angela Barrett – So.

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “It was a lot of research, and then I was just trying to put it back together, and I get like 400 pages. And then I realized that it’s too long because, like, a lot of teenagers don’t like to read, but they might still want to know, like to have this knowledge. So then I decided to shorten it. So I had to cut out a lot of like and I found like it’s important, but I just knew I couldn’t leave it there.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “And I shorten it down to like hundreds and 20 pages. So it’s really easy there, like small chapters and those like the most important information.”

Angela Barrett – And so what about actually getting it published?

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – So I started through independent publishing through Amazon. I couldn’t publish it by myself. So it was through that second. But I published it all by myself.

Angela Barrett – Yeah.

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “So it’s not that hard. It’s like it’s hard, but it’s not impossible to do so. Like on the published my first book, I’ve spent like, maybe two months, maybe three.”

Angela Barrett – Yeah.

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Well, the second book, it was like much easier. And I published it in a couple weeks. Right. It’s just a book knowing how to do it.”

Angela Barrett – “Sure. So, what inspired. Well, let’s go ahead and talk about your your second book. I hope you’ll remember my name. And you. So this is a romance. So tell me a little bit about the book, and then I’ll ask a few more questions.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – Okay. So basically there is Leah and Emma. Leah is the new guide to the high school. And they live in a really small town. So Miss Leah.

Angela Barrett – Library.

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Yeah it it just starts and then, girls start to disappear. Then they, I find they the, their dad and them, it’s a really small town. So Leah’s a new guy, and like, so Emma’s, best friend, Erica, she, like, she knows that something is really wrong about Leah. And, like, she believes that he’s the murder, but Emma doesn’t want to believe that.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “It’s just. It’s this when you in the center of a line, when you like, you know that it’s true. Like you actually know that they have good reasons to believe that. But you don’t want to. So they’re trying to figure things out. And I don’t want to spoil anything that’s. So this role is up.”

Angela Barrett – So now what inspired that book?

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “No, nothing actually inspired that. I like to read romances. I started like maybe a year ago, year and a half. So I started reading those and like, yeah, I just got an idea.”

Angela Barrett – Gotcha.

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “I was like, I had a lot of ideas. But then I had this idea and I was like, now I get it’s school. I want to write about that.”

Angela Barrett – “Yeah, yeah, well, that sounds interesting. Now, in your books, or at least this one with the were there characters? Or any of your characters somewhat based off real people in real life?”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Not actually, but I modified the name of my friends and stuff to get it. So the they recall, like, I have a a friend and her name is Erica, but she doesn’t actually go by this name, and I just didn’t have any ideas for the name. So I was like, okay, I’m going to go with that.”

Angela Barrett – “I like it. I like it. And so, you’ve kind of explained what your message is and why you did Teen Kash, but what do you hope that people take away from? I hope you remember my name.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “There is not actually a message. It’s more like an entertainment book, but it still has like kind of a message that even when you see a person like you actually believe that he’s really bad, it’s not always going to come out like that, right?”

Angela Barrett – “Kind of like, don’t judge the book by the cover.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – Yes.

Angela Barrett – “And so what is the,”

Angela Barrett – “We’ll I’ll get back to that in just a second. So where do you see yourself going, or is there a book three. It let me start there.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Okay. So I’m already starting to planning something, but I still haven’t started the writing part yet. So I still don’t know anything. And that’s something I can talk about. It.”

Angela Barrett – “Okay. Now where do you come out with your ideas? I mean, did they just come to you? You know, at night or in you’re laying in bed trying to go to sleep or how do you how did these ideas come to you?”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “It’s mostly me just doing something. And then I just, like, have a light bulb lighting, lighting up in my. And I’m just like, okay, that’s what I like. I’m going to do that right now.”

Angela Barrett – “Where do you see yourself as far as a career in writing? Do you find yourself just doing this because you want to do it as kind of a hobby? Or do you maybe have the aspiration of, writing as a career?”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “So it’s more like a hobby to me like that. I like what I’m doing, but I don’t think I see it as a main career. So maybe like a second one, but not the main one.”

Angela Barrett – “So what are your interests as far as careers? I know you’re 14, but these days and time people, have you.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Planning to go for a business management field? Still don’t know, like their careers and stuff? Yeah. For teens.”

Angela Barrett – “Well, I.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – Don’t actually want to decided yet.

Angela Barrett – “Yeah, I don’t me, I don’t plan, now, is there did you find yourself having, trouble balancing maybe school in your writing because you really wanted to finish this, but you needed to school, or because it’s really kind of a hobby you didn’t find balancing it too bad.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Well, I’m doing a lot of school. Like, this week is going to be really hard because, like, I’m going to have a spring, spring fest in my school. So, I come to school at 745 and I’ll be there till like 8 p.m..”

Angela Barrett – Oh my.

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Yeah, it’s like, a student council, mentioned impact. I’m going to use steam and, I’m recycling club, so like, I’m doing a lot.”

Angela Barrett – Yeah.

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Oh, yeah. It was pretty much hard to balance it. Usually I taught myself to wake up at about 4 or 5 a.m., just. But I can write a bit in the morning, so that’s what I usually do. My writing.”

Angela Barrett – “Who is your, favorite author? Who is the one that’s probably, maybe inspired you to most,”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “I would say a Robin Sherman. So for my pronunciation, I, I’ve read this year, I think so, yeah. I don’t know. Robin Sherman.”

Angela Barrett – And what’s that? They were a book.

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “The monk castle, this Ferrari, that psychological book. But I love it.”

Angela Barrett – “Yeah. Nice. Now, you mentioned you were self-published, and, and did that through, I think what the Amazon system. Right. And that was just because it’s it’s not easy or by any stretch of the imagination, because I have known and talked with other authors who have done the same thing, but there’s a lot less red tape through that.”

Angela Barrett – I guess.

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “So basically it’s like it’s much faster to you because I have a teacher in my school right now, and he’s an author too, though he’s not yet completely published because he’s doing it through a publisher, and it’s his third year trying. Gosh, just the book. Yeah. And I did my first in a couple months. So yeah, that’s kind of much faster, right.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “So the problem with self-publishing is you can get the book published pretty much first, but then there is no publisher that would market it marketed and stuff. So that’s what I have to do by myself.”

Angela Barrett – And so how have you been marketing?

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Social media, going to a lot of festivals. I didn’t have book signings just last week.”

Angela Barrett – “No, it’s that’s nice. So the other. I forgot where I was going. Sorry.”

Angela Barrett – “So social media is where you do your marketing, and you can buy this book. Is it in paperback? Is it ebooks?”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “It’s both. So I can have my, e-book published for the romance yet. But I do have it for teen girls, and I have both in paperback.”

Angela Barrett – Nice. And Amazon does that as well.

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – Yeah. There you have it. Look like I’m not only on Amazon. I am published and like a lot of big book stores around the world right now.

Angela Barrett – “How did you go about getting your book? You know, in other bookstores other than Amazon?”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Well, some bookstores just took it. So I just got an email that I have my book published somewhere. It was like most of all around the world, but for books like, books for Million and Barnes Noble and second Charles, I had to actually go to a bookstore, try to figure it out.”

Angela Barrett – “And, they were pretty accepting of that, right?”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “Yeah. Because, like, people see me like I’m drowning. I’m a teenager, and they like they pay attention to that.”

Angela Barrett – “Yeah. Absolutely is amazing. It is. It is. So for people who you are in those bookstores and need, they can find you on, Amazon, any other online links that they can click and read. Or listen may be audible. I’m not sure.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – “I don’t have an audiobook, not yet. And I don’t think I’m planning to do it and like. And then close future. Let’s say that because, like, I didn’t think about it a lot, but I have my books on my website and there as an e-book on Amazon.”

Angela Barrett – “Okay, great. And, your website is what?”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – So it’s literally Dead Space. My name is spelled a little bit differently because I’m from Ukraine. So hard to find right.

Angela Barrett – “Well, we’ll put it up on, we’ll have it somewhere on the website, on my website, so that people can find it. But is your name backwards? Last name first?”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – No. Yeah. Sorry. That’s face.

Angela Barrett – “Oh, okay, I gotcha. Oh okay. Yeah, I see that Victoria was to us that space. Yes I see that. Well, Victoria, I have really enjoyed this. You are an inspiration to not only teenagers, but to us as adults. I am looking forward to, watching you as you blossom not only, into adulthood, but into your writing.”

Angela Barrett – “And, we’ll have to do this again, after you finished, maybe the next one to see where you are and, how far you’ve come since then. I like to call them check ins, but we’ll do it again because this will be fun. Sure. That’s all right. Well, thank you so much for coming. And, I am really, really.”

Angela Barrett – “I can’t wait to go home and, tell the husband that I’m at a 14 year old who’s published and has stopped, and, thanks so much for being here.”

Viktoriia Krechkovsa – Thank you.