After
my car accident in 2003 I had to re-invent myself. I no longer had the desire
to become a resourceful social worker and I could hardly walk ten feet without
being in excruciating pain. Knowing all of this, I decided to go back to my
roots of writing. I wrote a book and thought I had the biggest best seller out
there. You could not tell me anything nor was I ready to stop my steam train
towards success.
With
my novel in hand I started querying for agents and publishers. What I didn’t
expect was all of the “no” responses I received. I got tired of hearing "no" and
decided to use some of the money that I won in my settlement to get my book
published. I didn’t care anymore, I wanted to see my book in print and it was
worth more to me to see it in print than to have a quality entity that people
would really enjoy.
I
decided to self-publish with Xlibris publishing. I thought they had the best
offer for me at the time and even though it was a little expensive it was a
means to an end. I edited the book myself and in December 2010 I published
Dimes, Profiles and Wives. I paid to have it reviewed and actually got a 4 out
of 5 stars much to my surprise. Of course my family and friends were the first to
purchase the book but other than them I only sold about 100 copies.
Now
I wasn’t too upset about it, at first, until I realized something. My name was
on that novel of minimalism and I had to own that above all other things. I
really started to realize that I may have published too soon. That fact was
solidified when I sent my book to another reviewer and they politely asked me
if it was an ARC. I had no idea what she was talking about until I did some
research. Let’s just say I learned the hard way on how to get it wrong.
Sometimes
self-publishing is a viable avenue for authors who really want to just have
their material in print. However, if you really want to have a good entity out
there that you are thoroughly proud of make sure you take the time to get it
totally right the first time. The first thing I suggest is to get your work
professionally edited (and not just by your best friend). Secondly, have your
marketing strategy prepared months ahead of the launch. Third, don’t be afraid
of the word “no” and still try to shop the book around to agents and
publishers. And by all means even before step one write a quality product.
Even
though my first effort at self-publishing was a complete failure it has not
deterred me in my writing career goals. Now I am more focused and understand
the industry and its ins and outs. I will probably self-publish again but this
time I know what I need to do in order for it to be more successful. Still
though, I would love to have my work picked up by a traditional house and that
is something I will always work towards.
