This week we begin a series on self-publishing, the outgrowth of interviews I’ve been doing with authors who have taken a variety of routes toward self-publishing. Cindy La Ferle and other authors have shared details from their publishing experiences in interviews as well as excerpts from their books, both of which I will be publishing over several summer issues. Because of the growing number of choices in self-publishing and the growing number of venues for promoting special projects, I believe you’ll find reading the interviews and the excerpts helpful in thinking about getting your special projects out into the world.

Newspaper columnist and self-published author Cindy La Ferle sent me this short essay on self-publishing. The writing originally appeared in Francine Silverman’s Book Promotion Newsletter, a free electronic informational publication many of you may be interested in signing up to receive. It certainly sets the tone for our series.

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Self Publishing: Shaking the Shame Out of It
By Cindy La Ferle

Joining my professional writers’ group recently, a new writer wanted to know how many in the membership had published their own books. Did any of us feel that self-publishing still had a “stigma?” And did readers still consider it vain and immodest?

Good questions, all. Membership in our statewide organization is contingent upon professional credentials – and self-published material doesn’t qualify. The new writer had a terrific portfolio, but had been toying with the idea of self-publishing a novel. He was tired of rejection, yet also wanted creative freedom to package his book as he saw fit. But he didn’t want to appear desperate. Nobody wants to appear desperate.

Those of us who do self-publish are initially reluctant to broadcast the fact. And it’s not simply a matter of book sales. To some writers, announcing that you’ve self-published a book feels as awkward as admitting you like to drink and dance alone. While we cherish our right to self-publish – and marvel at all the new options available — we usually proceed with discretion and, sometimes, embarrassment.

Which is too bad, really, when I consider how many splendid opportunities I would have missed had I not self-published two of my own books. Even so, when I was in the early stages of production I was often advised to be sure my books didn’t look self-published. I was given several handy tips on how to appear as if I were running with the big dogs of publishing — not selling books out of my garage.

 While I was visiting several art fairs this summer, it occurred to me that artists don’t share this problem. The painters, potters, weavers, sculptors, photographers, and metal smiths lining the fair in colorful booths were proud to show off their work — and clearly enjoyed promoting their wares to the public. Some brought their children to help wrap packages; but they always made sure they met their prospective buyers and chatted freely about their work. There was no shame or stigma attached to being part of the entire process, from creating a work of art to marketing it directly to customers.

So I wondered: Why must writing be different? Why is it perfectly honorable to sell your own paintings — but not as respectable to write and sell your own books?

As it turns out, quite a few writers in my professional circle have self-published mystery novels, science fiction, poetry, self-help manuals, and essay collections. Some of these ventures were financially successful. Others, not so much. A lot depended, of course, on marketing and promotion efforts, as well as on the quality of the writing itself. Regardless, few self-publishers said they ever regretted the decision to self-publish. In fact, all of us learned a great deal more about the publishing business because we had to educate ourselves from the get-go. We learned the value of judging books by their covers; the feel of top-quality stock; the thrill of finding reviewers for our work. We felt the cool satisfaction of a job well done when we managed to snare a book signing event or a speaking engagement.

Slowly but surely, the winds are shifting in favor of self-publishing. Many POD companies promote the fact that quite a few literary authors, including Virginia Woolf, were self-published. Reassuring tidbits like that go a long way toward boosting a self-published author’s self-esteem. But the stigma still persists. Even readers who don’t follow publishing trends will ask me “who published” my new book. When I look them in the eye and tell them I did it myself, I sense they’re a bit leery or secretly disappointed — even though all of the essays in my book were previously published in regional newspapers and national magazines. But that’s OK. My job is to win the respect of my readers — and booksellers. I just have to work a bit harder to earn my credibility. I can’t get lazy with my promotional materials, or forget to follow up with newspaper editors and reviewers. I have to keep updating my own marketing campaign. And most of all, I must never stop believing in my own book.

The good news is that a couple of traditional publishers recently took notice of my efforts. My self-published book has opened a few professional doors — or at least helped me wedge my foot inside. That alone made the project worth the work and the expense.

“A person who publishes a book appears willfully in public with his pants down,” wrote Edna St. Vincent Millay. There’s a great deal of truth in that, which is why I believe that anyone who self-publishes deserves a round of applause for having the courage to put herself out there.

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Interview with Author Cindy La Ferle

Sheila
Tell us about your self-published book, Writing Home.

Cindy
My book, Writing Home, is actually a collection of previously published personal essays and newspaper columns. All were published in either my weekly newspaper column or in national publications such as the Christian Science Monitor, Reader’s Digest, Better Homes & Gardens and The Detroit Free Press, among others. When I put together the collection, I decided to include mostly essays or columns that had to do with my years of working from home as a mother, magazine writer, and newspaper columnist. This “working from home” theme has been of great interest to women readers (ages late 20s to late 40s, especially) who want to combine work and family, both of which are important to me. Therefore, Writing Home has a strong “domestic” theme. My newspaper column covered homespun family issues, although heavier socio-political threads (including 9-11) are woven through many of the pieces. There are 93 essays in the book. I was thrilled when one reviewer called it “an anthem for the thinking woman.”

Sheila
What gave you the idea to make a book out of the essays?

Cindy
After writing local and regional columns (as well as national magazine pieces) for more than a dozen years, I built up a nice audience. Several of my longtime readers suggested I put together my “best” (most popular) pieces in a book.

Sheila
How did you make your decision to self-publish? How did you learn of the company you used?

Cindy
Since I knew I could count on a large local/regional audience, I knew that self-publishing such a collection wouldn’t be a terribly huge financial risk for me. I also teach local writing workshops on memoir and personal essays, and am often asked to speak at local functions, so I also have another built-in “market” — albeit a modest one — for book sales there as well.

I have been told many times — at writers conferences and otherwise — that “essay collections don’t sell.” So I figured it would be a lost cause to try to get an agent and/or traditional publisher for Writing Home. To be honest, I love the craft of book making, too, and wanted to have more control over the project. Someday I plan to go the “traditional route” — and have been encouraged to do so. But for this particular project, which is dear to my heart, I wanted control. The woman who produced my book, Erin Howarth, is actually a traditional publisher of regional Michigan titles. (Her company is Wilderness Books, here in Michigan.) If she’s not too booked with her own publishing company, Erin will occasionally agree to work with a few self-publishers on the side. I met her through my professional Detroit writers group and asked if she would agree to produce and edit my book for me, which she did. I paid for the process — so it really is self-published

Sheila
What has your experience been with the production and distribution of Writing Home?

Cindy
Since Erin is also a traditional publisher, she was able to get my book to a reputable distributor, so Writing Home could be sold in bookstores nationally — just like a traditionally published book. Writing Home was received very favorably in my part of the state and Midwest, so that helped book sales, too. Erin doesn’t do Print on Demand (POD) — she prefers traditional printing processes as opposed to POD. As an aside, Writing Home won an award for cover design from Midwest Independent Publishers Association, in addition to other awards for its literary content [ed note: honorable mention in Writer’s Digest’s 13th Annual Self-published book award!]. I have not worked with a larger POD company, such as iUniverse, so I don’t really know how to compare the quality. But I can tell you that everyone who sees and reads my book tells me they are surprised to learn it was self-published.

Sheila
How is your book being supported? How do you work to promote it?

Cindy
My book sales slowed down after about a year and a half — I suspect that happens with many self-published books. But sales were so successful at our local Borders that I was asked to come back for two book signings. Because I write regularly for local and regional papers and magazines, and a few web sites, I get a lot of press. Every time I publish an essay somewhere, I get a “plug” for the book, and I notice that Amazon sales increase then, for example. I also do a lot of local talks to community groups, teach memoir writing workshops, and try to keep my book title “out there” as much as possible. Having had a weekly newspaper column (which I recently quit) also helped considerably, giving me a “name,” at least locally.

Sheila
I notice that your book has a notation that a portion of the proceeds from sales are going to support a nonprofit. How did you decide to do this?

Cindy
Thanks for asking this, as it is very important to me. Writers have an opportunity to get more attention for social concerns and charities they support. Despite the fact that my suburb of Detroit is relatively affluent, we have many homeless people — especially now that Michigan’s economy is in such trouble. As a family newspaper columnist who tends to write about “home” or “women’s issues” for a relatively comfortably/affluent audience, I always found it sad and ironic that our well-heeled community has such a homeless problem. Since Writing Home is mostly about my life at home — a very nice, comfortable home — I wanted to do something to bring attention to the home-LESS problem in my community. I have volunteered at our local homeless shelters and seen some young people there, not much older than my own son, who were struggling because their parents had abandoned them, etc. So I decided to give a portion of my profits to a couple of these shelters in my city — shelters whose work I respect and believe in. So far, I have been able to donate a little over $300, but I hope to contribute more if book sales continue to be healthy. If nothing else, I want to set an example for others through this choice.

Sheila
Cindy, thanks so much for your pep talk on self-publishing, the excerpt from your book and the information you’ve shared about your self-publishing experience. I know it will be helpful to many who are weighing the self-publishing decision as it explains how one must support their work and why that is as important as the writing when you publish under any circumstance.

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Here’s an essay from Writing Home by Cindy La Ferle. It originally appeared in her weekly column in The Daily Tribune (Royal Oak, Mi). After that, New York editor Ethan Casey included it in 09/11: 8:48 am, a national anthology of journalism written about 9/11.

The Long Way Home
September 20, 2001

by Cindy La Ferle

(Excerpted from Writing Home, Personal essays & Newspaper Columns, Hearth Stone Books, Royal Oak, MI, 2005)

A little more than a week has passed since our country was attacked and brought to its knees. A friend of mine says she is trying to wake up from what she calls Stephen King’s worst nightmare. The rest of us still feel as though we’ve been wandering in a fog, unable to find our way home. Home, it seems, has been completely redesigned by horrific acts of terrorism. Ever since last Tuesday, everything is different. Everything.

I have stopped assuming that home will ever be completely safe from disaster. This thought alone makes every wall, every window, every piece of oak, maple, brick, or concrete in my neighborhood, my world, seem all the more precious.

I’ve also stopped obsessing over the things I used to obsess about. I’ve stopped worrying about the fact that my refrigerator needs cleaning and the walls in the kitchen need repainting. Things like that don’t matter now. My focus has changed.

It doesn’t matter if my family leaves a mess on the breakfast counter every morning. And so what if I trip over somebody’s shoes in the hallway? I am deeply grateful that there are people living here — eating breakfast and wearing shoes.

I imagine this is all part of the grieving process, and that someday things will seem normal again. Right now, though, I feel a bit like Emily in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. Emily is the character who, near the end of the play, returns to her hometown as a ghost and realizes how much she took for granted when she was alive. Emily recites a list of the simple things that made her days precious — things like the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the morning.

I know exactly what she meant. This week I’m savoring the taste of summer’s last tomatoes. I’m taking time to watch the sun set behind the maples in our yard, and to listen to the sound of cathedral bells just a few blocks away.

But I can’t think of anyone who is appreciating the comforts of home as much as Norma Gormly of Troy, Michigan.

Norma’s plane was diverted back to London’s Gatwick Airport immediately following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Norma and her daughter, Jan, had been on vacation and ended up stranded at a bed-and-breakfast inn outside London until the airways were cleared for their return to the United States. Theirs was the first Northwest flight to leave last Friday. As Norma told me, it was quite an experience.

“We had to go through four checkpoints and check in all bags,” she recalled. “We were allowed our purses with personal stuff only. Following a body search, we were admitted to the lounge area.”

None of the passengers complained, though, even though their wait was long. Another three hours passed before their flight left Gatwick.

“We felt good that they had done all that they could for our safety,” Norma said. “We had the same flight crew from our diverted plane.”

That crew, Norma recalled, wore black ribbons around the gold wings on their uniforms. Some were fighting tears, “but they all promised to do their best to make our trip as normal as possible. Our captain was informative and soothing.”

Norma and her fellow passengers clapped and cheered loudly as their plane finally took off. They cheered again when the plane passed over Canada. And it was, as Norma remembers, a tremendous relief to arrive back home in America.

“We cheered and clapped, then cheered and clapped again upon landing at Metro Airport. We were home at last!”

No matter what shape it’s in, Norma added, there’s no place like home. Home is a word every American cherishes – more than ever, now.

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Before we end this week, I’d like to remind you of a previous Writing It Real article by self-published fiction writer Hannah Goodman. Her essay also addresses the confidence a self-publishing author must develop and maintain.