Meet Christina Ward

We recently connected with Christina Ward and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Christina with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

I’m working class. I do not have a college degree. I am from and live in the Midwest. On paper, I should not be working in publishing! However, one trait over all others has brought me any and every personal and professional success- my work ethic.

Aside from the Calvinist religiousity baked into the notion of the ‘work ethic’ that informs American culture, my father taught me that working smarter, harder, and longer is the secret ingredient. More importantly, he focused on the ‘smarter’ part of that formula.

It’s not enough to work harder and longer if you don’t have a plan for yourself. Or if your labor benefits someone else. Yes, we all trade labor for money, but too many people do it unconsciously. Working smarter means being honest with yourself about what YOU want from your labor and that your choices support your goals.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I run an independent publishing company, am a food historian, and am the Master Food Preserver for my state. Each role brings me great joy and satisfaction because it allows me to share information and teach people useful skills and new ideas.

Feral House is what the publishing industry calls a “traditional” publisher. That means that we pay advances and royalties and rely solely on book sales to keep the business viable. We have international distribution. Traditional publishing also means that authors are not required to purchase a requisite number of books or pay us for our skills and resources. We are among a decreasing number of traditional, independent publishers in the US.

At Feral House, I work with (mostly) first-time authors. I take them through the process from the first draft to the final book, and it brings me great joy to know that I played a part in others’ achievements. Because I have written four books, I understand better than many editors how arduous the writing process can be for authors. As of this writing, I’ve had a hand in bringing over one hundred books to readers.

I am currently editing four manuscripts, in development with about a dozen writers, and have released ten books since January 2025. I am always looking out for great stories from unexpected people, stories about forgotten creators, extraordinary lives, hidden histories, and other stories outside the mainstream.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

In looking back over my very crooked pathway to where I am today, I would be foolish not to credit luck. I think it’s important to recognize the random convergences and challenges that we often call ‘luck’. The skill is to develop the discernment to take that luck–good or bad–and turn it into an opportunity. Resilience and flexibility when aligned with discernment, is a superpower.

I have a very ‘fast brain’. I make connections to seemingly unrelated things and find the common thread. This random brain feature could have led to a lifetime of distraction, but I was lucky–there’s that word again!–to have a brilliant and kind seventh-grade teacher (public school) who saw “me” and not the bored, sullen kid in the back of the classroom. Ernestine Parr created a non-official ‘individual studies’ program that exposed me to books and ideas that remain lodestones to this day. Am I describing ADHD? Yes! But during the late seventies, it wasn’t as well-known as it is today; even less so among girls and women.

My ‘fast brain’ was nurtured instead of neutered. I recommend anyone struggling with figuring out their path and achieving their goals to consider an ADHD assessment.

And finally, my work ethic is a quality that has been honed into a skill that serves me well.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I was given a copy when I was seven years old and read it cover to cover. I enjoyed it as a child would, then picked it up again as a teenager and discovered so many insightful observations on how to be a woman and how to be human.

Sounds pretty mainstream, right? But looking into Alcott’s life, you learn that she was raised on a commune by a ne’er-do-well father, was her family’s sole source of income (through her writing), developed her writing to give her flexibility to take on any opportunity available….I could go on!

Her life and work proved to me that one can live and work in the counterculture and impact mainstream culture. And most importantly, core values anchor us to our true purpose in life. Without an introspective and objective self-assessment of what we think, believe, and do, we will never achieve the success we think we want. You may achieve someone else’s version of success, but not your own. That is a recipe for a miserable life. The worst lies we tell are the ones we tell ourselves.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://christinaward.net
• Instagram: @feral_house
• Facebook: @feral_house
• Twitter: @feral_house
• Youtube: @feral_house