Two things contributed to my decision to publish myself: my psychic and my ego.

A long time ago, I grew up in a time where print magazines were glamorized and the idea of someone anointing upon me the privilege of being a writer was a dream–– the dream. I promised myself I’d make that a reality at age 14.

Fast forward to college, I took journalism during a unique time: the birth of blogs and writers on the internet taking matters into their own hands. It was a weird concept that anyone could decide to express themselves without writing for a big name or having an editor tell them what was worth covering. At the time, my very old white, male professor called these writers: pseudo-journalists and harlots who blog in their underwear.

He said the word blog like it was a cockroach whose existence could not be denied but was certainly the lowest life form on earth. This was my first impression of what writing for yourself entailed.

It’s been (shockingly) a decade since I was a college student and the writing terrain has grown considerably with less stigma associated to starting your own web site, blogging and even publishing your own book.

So, when I finally got my head out of my ass and held the finished product of my book in my hands: it was time to decide how the f*ck to publish this thing.

Research sucks but do some

I googled and googled and googled. I found countless people giving advice that was contradictory at best and too dense or confusing at worst.

Some of the best articles and resources I have found are here and here.

My Advice

Yes, I am about to become another person on the internet giving advice, but I will do so simply and with one major caveat: publishing is a highly personal choice and it is not one size fits all.

Super helpful right? Perhaps not the answer you are looking for, but as with relationships and life choices, the answer is not straight forward. In fact, it depends on the type of writer you want to be… and timing.

Timing will be the main influencer in most of your life’s biggest decisions and it is the one thing you can’t force, ever. As one of my favorite How I Met Your Mother quotes goes:

It takes two things for a relationship to work: chemistry and timing. But timing’s a bitch.

My Story

As I said before, i’s taken me a long time to finish a book that feels ready to take on the process of becoming something to give to the public.

*I will make the distinction here a “long time” is a subjective term. So many writers I admire did not find their voice or were not discovered until way later in life.

You’ll notice I said a book, as in there may be more. There is. I have written not 1, not 2, but 3 books. The first two were fiction novels and the third is a non-fiction collection of essays adapted from the second book. So, yes, I wrote the same story twice in two different ways.

I mention this to make another point: the process can be messy and it takes time to find yours. I didn’t have formal training or an MFA, I write because I’m compelled to and i’m good at it. However, as Liz Gilbert wrote in her book Big Magic, there are no classes that ever prepare you for writing. Life is your teacher and biggest muse. I agree wholeheartedly and it’s why I have not pursued an MFA, because i’d rather invest in living a more interesting life thus supplying myself with all the material and experiences I’ll need to be a damn good author.

Fast forward to present day, and I don’t wish to wait anymore. I want to make my work and let it out into the world. I do not want to be granted permission to make my story known. This, above all, was behind the choice to publish myself.

Secondly, publishers look for platforms, this is a fancy term for your online presence and audience (web site, blog, social media, etc). Book proposals are like business proposals and they want to know you have a following so you can sell books.

For me, this didn’t make the most sense with my goals. As a relatively unknown author, one of the biggest values a publishing house can offer is its connections and resources, especially publicity. But it turns out, nowadays, it’s the other way around. They expect you to sell your own books. After speaking with a few writers who have been published, big houses don’t give you the same resources and press when you’re a small guy. So again, for me, this didn’t feel like the right fit.

Thirdly, my psychic told me it was fate and I’m a mystic like that.

Lastly, ego. I don’t think it fair to my fragile little artist ego to put the fate of my story in the hands of what most likely is an intern sifting through hours of manuscripts. What if she or he has bad taste? What if their dog died that day? What if they are not in the right time in their own life to relate to my story? Too many variables putting my career in the hands of other people to let me know it’s okay to be an author.

Conclusions

I believe we each have a story to tell.

That sounds like a big bs bumper sticker, and I selfishly must admit I used to believe “everyone” meant only interesting people. But recently, I went on a writer’s workshop and in my naive judgement of sizing up the room, I learned legitimately every person had a personal or professional story that was worth being put out into the world. So, don’t be a dick: everyone really does have a story they deserve to tell.

Do what’s right for you.

Some people still want the publisher and that’s all good. It’s why they exist. If feeling a part of something bigger than yourself will help you become the best author you can be, fly to the moon snowflake. It’s possible with the right attitude and elbow grease to make it happen.

If you’re among the indie authors, like me, then welcome to a group of people who are artist entrepreneurs. If you take this route, please know it is not easier. The reason self publishing sounds like the online dating of yesteryear is because people can and do mess it up by being lazy and uploading a crap document that is a first draft at best.

Why, Cris, is it harder if you’re telling me there are dingle berries uploading a first draft? Great question. Because you will need to become the CEO of your work. And as the CEO, you will need to decide what kind of book you want this to be. I hope you decide you want it to be a piece of art with the best craftsmanship any publisher can produce.

If yes, then you will need to make an investment in this, like hiring editors, artists for the cover and book design, marketing professionals to promote you and a printer for your work– to name a few. You get to put yourself in the position of the publishing house and be the boss–– and no one is going to hold your hand or give you deadlines to keep you on track. You will get to become an expert in publishing out of necessity to make your finished product look so perfect it rivals the books that come out of the big publishing houses.

 

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