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Blogs by Jean Sheldon
Some Thoughts on Self-publishing 5/14/2007 2:07:08 PM
Publishing a book is easier today than it’s ever been. That’s a good thing. Many wonderful books would go unseen if that weren’t true. People who publish their work, do so because they like what they've written. I do.
I have a certain criteria for the books that I read, and I try to apply it to the books I write. Since I read a great number of books, I know there’s a market for mine. My question then, is how do I find the hundreds of thousand of people who would enjoy my books? How do I let them know that Kerry Grant is solving mysteries?
I’ve heard large publishers and reviewers say that if your book is good, people will read it. Of course, they won’t if they don’t know it exists. Many reviewers won’t review self-published books. I do understand the reason, as mentioned above, it’s easy to publish a book.
“Mine are good,” I tell them and sadly read the automated email that rejects self-published titles. "I have a publisher," I respond, only to read that a one-author publisher’s book is equivalent to a self-published book. As frustrating as that is, it makes sense.
Okay, in the words of the Cowardly Lion, ‘I do believe. I do believe’. So, now what? I’ve been putting many hours of late into trying to market books. Those are hours spent not writing, and I don't know if it’s worth the trade off. I began writing later in life and I began on a whim, but fell passionately in love with the process. I won't give that up.
Years ago, I wrote a poem with a line that asked ‘If you close your eyes when you jump, do you know you’re falling?’ I obviously hadn’t tried marketing a self published book.
