In defense of self published authors: the next time you decide to enter your latest self-published, in print, book in a contest and it says ‘self published work is ineligible’ or you meet with a potential bookstore owner and they ask as they roll their eyes ‘Is it self published?’ remember this fellow authors: Norman Mailer, George Orwell, Alex Haley, John Grisham, Dr Seuss and many more classic authors were rejected by publishers. And Edgar Allan Poe, Rudyard Kipling, Zane Grey, Upton Sinclair, Mark Twain, Deepak Chopra all self published. Don’t allow people’s opinions to deter you from your path. I sure don’t. The writing world has room for all of us, self published, or published. 🙂 I find a self published author has to develop a thicker skin and keep on asking different venues if they would like to display your book until you hit on the ‘right store with the right fit’. After all, bookstores have to look out for themselves and their clientele, don’t they? I expect that. In a comic book store, I would expect more graphic novels, and in a conservative book store, I would expect more literary works. It makes sense to me. So give the owner the benefit of the doubt when you walk in and ask ‘Would you like to look at my book?’ Remember it is a hard market selling books. Most people prefer the library to check it out, and return it. And let’s not forget about the eReaders out there. However, there are still many of us that like to ‘own’ the book and ‘feel it’ in our hands. After twenty months of pursuing three publishing houses, all interested in publishing my book but had monetary troubles, I decided to self publish and have never looked back. To ensure Wake Me Up Inside was worth publishing, I sent it Fitzhenry and Whiteside for an opinion, only. They highly encouraged me to continue the process of publication. It is listed on this site under Reviews. I have had the pleasure of meeting many honourable people through my self-published journey: bookstore owners, third party buyers, librarians, teachers, and the list goes on, since I’ve released Wake Me Up Inside. Most of all, for me as an author, it’s about the kids. When you see their eyes light up and they run to you with money gripped in their hand announcing ‘I want to buy your book, and I’m going to read it!’ from a child that normally does not read books, is the best feeling in the world! And when I hear from a reader that they loved it?! Wow. I will remain accessible. That’s what the newly self published authors are. Ready to communicate one on one with readers to see where their interests lie. It is fascinating to talk to someone in the Filippines, then New Zealand and later that day in the U.K. I love to hear what’s on people’s minds. Don’t you? Keep the faith and keep on writing. Best, Lee.
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