After decades of publishing with mainstream houses in NYC, London, and Germany (incuding Penguin, Dutton, Holt, Macmillan, et al), I had it up to here with delays and double thinking and who should be telling what kind of story.
And for sure those publishers probably had it up to there also with this midlist author who never broke out of midlist.
So, onward into self-publishing.
Such an easy bravura statement, but man, can it be a pain.
I had totally forgotten after all those decades of mainstream publishing how much I hate one aspect of the writing game: self-promotion.
And guess what. Self-publishing is often more about promotion than writing.
Some folks are incredibly good at this. They publish at least ten books a year. The more the better.
I write a book or two a year. Have done for half my life. I have written everything from bios to travel guides, mysteries, suspense novels, and thrillers, and have also always had a freelance work-for-hire gig going on the side.
Some projects have been more successful than others. And clearly not all of those manuscripts were actually sold to publishers. But just maybe they didn’t deserve to be, either.
So, I am truly in awe of some of my self-publishing cohort who are on top of any and all promotional gigs, from book competitions to finding myriads of citizen reviewers on Amazon and actually, actually making a damn living out of books. Good for them.
Publishing is a bottom-line business. Too often I mistook great reviews of my books for great sales. Those two do not necessarily go hand in hand. And as a self-publishing author you are confronted daily with your sales figures, good reviews or not.
However, this is not a white flag I am waving. Not giving up just yet. I’m new to this gig, but am learning. And along the way, some folks with different skills have been a big help.
I tried very unscuccessfully on my own to convert my books to epub format, grinding my teeth the whole time.
So, now I work with some folks who have been incredibly professional and have made that part of the journey way easier and at a reasonale price. My personal favorites are Jason and Vidya at ebookpbook or just email them– jason@ebookpbook.com. They turn your docx file into a handsome book interior for either ebook or paperback and are always quick to respond to queries and help out with those “oh my god” last minute corrections. Super folks to work with.
And for my book covers I work with the graphic artist Peter Ratcliffe. He has done several of my self-published books and always comes up with amazing solutions. Love his work. You might recognize his most recent artwork for the cover of my novel, The Cry of Cicadas.
So if any of you folks reading this are contemplating self-publishing or are engaged in it now, take heart. It is possible.
Though I am still struggling to find the balance between writing and promotion, the work goes on.
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