The Decision to Self-Publish

This weekend, I'm up at the "farm" in Galax, Virginia, visiting with my family and working on setting up a Facebook fan page for Nightfire (as some of you have already seen), ordering the proof copy of the novel and contemplating the many other things that I still have to do before the book hits the shelves/Amazon.com. There are about a million...and one...things to remember, and all I have to say is that I sure am glad that I enjoy making lists so much. Otherwise, I would have a hard time keeping up with all of the pieces of the self-publishing puzzle.

Here's the thing, though: I love this. Writing a novel has always been a dream of mine, but I'm also intrigued by the ENTIRE process. Coming out of college, my dream was to move to New York and work for HarperCollins. Life has obviously led me down a different path, but hey...deciding to self-publish my novel has given me the opportunity to experience that side of the industry. Even though it's technically "work," it's fun. I enjoy it. I don't mind spending my weekends editing or formatting or re-writing; in fact, it's what I WANT to do.

Long story short, I'm doing this because I love it, and I decided to self-publish because I honestly want to CONTINUE to love it. I didn't send a copy of my manuscript off to a publisher or an agent. It's not that I don't want my book to succeed...because I do. It's just that I'm at a time in my life right now that I want to be the one in control of that success. I want to control the schedule. I work full-time at a job that I consider a career, I have a husband at home (along with two dogs who love attention), plus housework and errands and all of the other tasks in life that always keep us busy. So I weighed the pros and cons. And for now, self-publishing is the route I've chosen to take.

There are days when I think "Huh. Maybe I should have tried going the traditional route..." However, there's a very, very great possibility that if I tried to do it that way, my words would never make it to print. Not to say that the story isn't worth publication (I absolutely think it is, otherwise I wouldn't be working so hard for it), but it is without a doubt saying that the traditional road is paved with rejection. In the end, my reasons for doing it this way are a lot lighter on my schedule as well as my ego.

I hope you'll pick up a copy of Nightfire and try it. And if you do, I hope you'll give me your honest opinion. As an author, my writing can only improve if my readers tell me where I need the most work. Feedback is so important. I'm looking forward to continuing to grow as a writer, to creating characters that you can fall in love with and stories that you'll want to re-tell, over and over again...I need your help to do that.

Until next time...