AP Wire | 11/21/2005 | Writers turn to self-publishing: “Five years ago, author ReShonda Tate Billingsley had a story to tell and sent out a flood of query letters trying to interest the big publishers in her book, My Brother’s Keeper.
‘I tried to go the traditional route and sent out letters to agents,’ she said. That didn’t work. Billingsley, who was living in Oklahoma City at the time, began wondering why she was sitting around waiting for someone to validate her talent, she said.
So she turned to self-publishing, a way of getting a book out to the public by using nontraditional distribution channels. A year later, she had sold 15,000 copies, and Simon & Schuster was knocking at her door for a deal.”
Hi,
I also had a story to tell. I had many stories to tell — stories from the coalfields of West Virginia and the mountains of Appalachia. I was a first time author and knew the road to traditiional publishing was long, hard and set up with rejections. I contacted only a couple of traditional publishers, waited and waited for the letters of rejection. It took so long to even hear from the would be publisher, I got fed up and went with self publishing.
It was hard work, very hard. Don’t kid yourself into thinking it is going to be an easy road but if you want something, you can do it — let me tell you, it can be done. I used self-publishing and the final product is wonderful. I love the fact you are in control of you manuscript — you decide what is printed, what photos to use, etc. That is a wonderful feeling.
My first book, Appalachia: Spirit Triumphant by B. L. Dotson-Lewis made it online to amazon.com and barnes & noble in about 5-6 weeks. It was juried into Tamarack of Beckley, West Virginia within a couple of months. This is an oral history project. I was given the opportunity to tour Japan and talk to the people there how an individual can launch an individual history preservation project.
Now, I am almost ready to self-publish my second book, Sago Mine Disaster and other stories out of the Appalachian Coalfields. I don’t have to wait to someone to validate or reject my stories.
You can view my first book by visiting my website http://www.AppalachiaCoal.com.
Take care,
B. L. Dotson-Lewis
Summersville, West Virginia
Hi,I also had a story to tell. I had many stories to tell — stories from the coalfields of West Virginia and the mountains of Appalachia. I was a first time author and knew the road to traditiional publishing was long, hard and set up with rejections. I contacted only a couple of traditional publishers, waited and waited for the letters of rejection. It took so long to even hear from the would be publisher, I got fed up and went with self publishing.It was hard work, very hard. Don’t kid yourself into thinking it is going to be an easy road but if you want something, you can do it — let me tell you, it can be done. I used self-publishing and the final product is wonderful. I love the fact you are in control of you manuscript — you decide what is printed, what photos to use, etc. That is a wonderful feeling.My first book, Appalachia: Spirit Triumphant by B. L. Dotson-Lewis made it online to amazon.com and barnes & noble in about 5-6 weeks. It was juried into Tamarack of Beckley, West Virginia within a couple of months. This is an oral history project. I was given the opportunity to tour Japan and talk to the people there how an individual can launch an individual history preservation project.Now, I am almost ready to self-publish my second book, Sago Mine Disaster and other stories out of the Appalachian Coalfields. I don’t have to wait to someone to validate or reject my stories.You can view my first book by visiting my website http://www.AppalachiaCoal.com.Take care,B. L. Dotson-LewisSummersville, West Virginia
It’s so true! Self-publishing can be very efficient and rewarding. My wife used The Nautilus Works, a real class-act of a Vanity Press. I know, I know, I grimaced too when I heard those words, but the truth is, Nautilus Press is the real deal. It’s one of the rare great things that came out of our economic downturn because Nautilus Press got so many of the talented and experienced editors from the publishing companies that disintegrated (or whatever happened).
My wife had so much communication and contact with her editors–she could really express what she wanted. They also had the marketing and publicity thing down pat. I was just really impressed.
I’m in business myself, and I plan on writing my own book on management through Nautilus. There’s such a window for these things after all, and Nautilus does things a lot faster than a traditional publisher. The thought of jumping through all the rings of fire and the back-and-forth and the middle-manning of the agency/publisher world is something I’d willingly pay for not to have. Nautilus costs a pretty penny, but after playing the skeptic the whole time while my wife was going through it, I learned that it was all worth it.
It’s so true! Self-publishing can be very efficient and rewarding. My wife used The Nautilus Works, a real class-act of a Vanity Press. I know, I know, I grimaced too when I heard those words, but the truth is, Nautilus Press is the real deal. It’s one of the rare great things that came out of our economic downturn because Nautilus Press got so many of the talented and experienced editors from the publishing companies that disintegrated (or whatever happened).
My wife had so much communication and contact with her editors–she could really express what she wanted. They also had the marketing and publicity thing down pat. I was just really impressed.
I’m in business myself, and I plan on writing my own book on management through Nautilus. There’s such a window for these things after all, and Nautilus does things a lot faster than a traditional publisher. The thought of jumping through all the rings of fire and the back-and-forth and the middle-manning of the agency/publisher world is something I’d willingly pay for not to have. Nautilus costs a pretty penny, but after playing the skeptic the whole time while my wife was going through it, I learned that it was all worth it.