Novel Writing Made Less Impossible -- Further Down the Self-Publishing Path

Last week, we talked about the Pros and Cons of both Traditional Publishing (someone else does it) versus Self-Publishing (you do it).

So why am I an advocate of self-publishing, as opposed to going the route that some of the greatest writers have already trod? Well, just as the Lion proved forever grateful when Androcles pulled the thorn from his paw, I owe a lot to the New Publishing Revolution.

In March of 2012, I worked for the local Water Utility, just as I had for eleven years (and as a temp worker before that -- my work was so well-received that a six-week gig stretched into fifteen months). I'd just finished four months as the acting head of my department, where I'd basically stared down a Major Retailer who wanted to bully us into providing water without the necessary documentation that promised they wouldn't mess up our nice, clean, sanitary, and SAFE water supply. But that's another story for another day.

My name was known at our National H.Q. I was on familiar terms with the Vice President of the company (I took care of his plants when he went out of town) and the Payroll Department always breathed more easily when my name was attached to a project.

One day, the Manager poked his head into my office and said solemnly, "Brian, I'd like you to come with me, please." Well, I knew that tone. It was the same one I heard continually throughout my primary education years (let's just say I was not the ideal student from grades one to twelve, okay?) so I knew I was in some kind of trouble.

Waiting for me in a private conference room was a man who was the head of H.R. for fifteen states. "I must REALLY be in the weeds," I thought.

After acknowledging my work, and its quality, as well as my sterling work ethic -- fortunately, he didn't mention my willingness to skirt internal rules to make things happen, and there's quite another story for another time -- he told me that the company's stock on the New York Stock Exchange underperformed. (Our managers were expected to make predictions about how well they would do their jobs every quarter, and these expectations were treated with the same weight as a pronouncement from the Oracles of Delphi). As a result, 26 other people in the State of Illinois were being let go.

And as one of the last people hired, I was to be one of them.

For a moment, I went numb. How would I feed my family? How could I pay my bills? How could I keep my home? How would I afford my comic books? I was in my late fifties with only an Associate's Degree in Journalism and a moderately successful freelance writing career. In a college town, even store managers were making slightly over Minimum Wage at the local mall and regional unemployment was towards the top of the statewide curve. Employers could pick and choose among the desperate-to-be-hired. My prospects were pretty slender.

Then I remembered I made one of those stupid New Year's Resolutions to work harder to increase my freelancing income, with the goal of it replacing my office income in a few years.

Dammit, I was a FREELANCE WRITER! A good one, from all accounts. I could turn a pleasing phrase, researched with the tenacity of a bulldog, and treated deadlines like they were carved in stone. I had a Plan B in place already.

I grinned like I was about to wash Batman's cowl in Smilex. I think it scared the other two men who, I'm told, STILL can't understand how I went through all six stages of Kubler-Ross in 45 seconds. I shook their hands and went around the building, saying my goodbyes. I wasn't fired ... I was LIBERATED.

Fortunately, I received a severance package and could collect Unemployment. Not only that, but my former employers hooked me up with a re-employment agency. I learned how to write a killer resume that worked for everyone but me, go figure. I learned all manners of selling myself to a prospective employer, which would come in handy when I started doing shows to sell my works. And along with my wife, Cookie, I had a mentor in this company who became a great friend and inspiration. I would have a live talk with her every four weeks and even if my inner flame began to dwindle, she fanned it into a roaring inferno with her belief in me. She stressed making a plan for success because when you failed to plan, you pretty much planned to fail. I didn't want to fail. In fact, I had to show some people that my dream was not only valid, but profitable.

Then one day, I received an e-mail from the agency. There was to be a webinar on The Current State of Self-Publishing. I was familiar with Vanity Publishing, the printers who connived the faithful into sinking serious money into printing books they could never sell. If the agency said this would be good for me, I'd make a point of attending.

I listened to the information, took enough notes to give a weaker writer permanent carpel tunnel syndrome, and felt my pulse racing with each new revelation. The current tech allowed anyone to get an ISBN number? To be their own publisher and editor? To publish the works of others? And best of all, we could publish as many -- or as FEW -- copies of our books as we thought we needed? All this could be done with minimal financial investment?

When the webinar ended, I felt drained ... and filled at the same time. I knew THIS was my path to take. This would be my future. I told people, and still do, that I was evangelical about self-publishing.

And when one feels the spirit moving them, one shares, right?

That's why I'm here.

While I recognize that the pioneer and entrepreneurial spirit that guides me doesn't motivate us all, I recommend self-publishing.

It can directly reward you for the effort you invest.

It only costs as much as you can afford, if you do this wisely. It can lead to other paying gigs. Nothing says you can't work for others while you continue to publish your own stories.

You'll wind up doing most of the promotional work anyway, even if you're with a traditional publisher, so you might as well get paid for it.

You'll receive a higher percentage of the Suggested Retail Price, even if you might not get the volume sales that a larger publisher could provide.

It's impressive as heck, which is good for the ego.

You OWN it (and as a property, however intangible, you may will it to others when you pass on, or sell it while you're alive to spend the money)!

You CONTROL it!

So what do you plan to do now?

Got any questions or comments? Write to me HERE (any e-mails to me may be quoted here and in print and I can't promise a personal reply to each one ... but I promise to feel guilty if I don't do so).

​NEXT WEDNESDAY: Planning Your Self-Publishing Career

TOMORROW: It's Never Too Late To Start Being Creative

SPECIAL NOTE: My newest book, The Haunting Scripts of Bachelors Grove​, is currently on sale. It's part memoir, part grimoire. The first half deals with my entry into writing indie comics and joining Silver Phoenix Entertainment. I print four of my comic scripts for The Haunting Tales of Bachelors Grove, three of which have not been produced yet. Then I add four horror prose tales, three of which are NEW. All this behind a great cover by my Art Sherpa, Trevor Erick Hawkins, over 300 pages of terror and history for only $19.95 in paperback, $2.99 in e-book (FREE if you belong to Amazon Prime). If you have any questions for me, write to me at Brian@RisingTide.pub. No attachments, please, for security reasons.

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