Why Self-Publish?

For Alex and me, the decision to self-publish was arrived at after much discussion. In 2006, after a number of “near” victories with The Noon God and Gold And Fishes, I personally made the leap. It was apparent to me that glowing rejections, no matter how flattering and well-meaning, would not be enough to sustain my work. I needed to get my stories ‘out there’, to engage in meaningful artistic expression.

I was ready.

In the fall of 2009, Alex’s first book of short stories “Two Scoops” Is Just Right was set for publication at the same time as was my novel The First Excellence ~ Fa-ling’s Map. I’d already run the gauntlet of agents and publishers with six previous manuscripts, including The Noon God and Gold And Fishes, so I took the lead and helped Alex put together proposals.

Again we received encouraging rejections. I’m not bitter about this. I deeply appreciate the busy people in the literary industry who took the time to write me letters of encouragement. Many of them were very kind. Just the same, I knew I had a good story with The First Excellence and I knew my characters would be memorable.

We’ve never regretted our decision to make an independent ‘go’ of it with our books. A number of writers have asked me whether they should do the same. I’ve been hesitant to recommend this route, knowing each artist has to make his own decisions. Many can’t afford self-publishing, and many more feel their work just isn’t ready.

Also, there is a stigma associated with self-publishing. From what I hear in my networking circles, a lot of writers are still nervous about jumping into the fire.

I enjoyed all of Dan Brown’s earlier works, leading up to and including The Da Vinci Code. I loved the Stieg Larsson Dragon Tattoo series — it got me reading again with an enthusiasm I haven’t experienced in awhile.

In short, I’m not one of those people who sneers at success. It’s just that, well, I have at least as much to say and at least as many stories to share as Justin Bieber does.

So, while I do wish Justin well, his venture into the literary world serves to reinforce my belief that real writers must not allow their work to be passed over by the powers that be. Publishers like Harper Collins will always reach for the sure profit of celebrity authors. It’s up to each of us to ensure their profit-driven decisions do not determine what history will remember as the art of our time.

Our words are valid. They represent our time and place, the culture from which we speak.

That’s why Alex and I chose to self publish. That’s why readers have responded to our work. They understand, as we do, there is more to this world than teen-culture. There is adventure, love, mystery…a whole range of experience that needs to be recorded.

Art, dance, music, and let us not forget fiction!

And so we write. We write to record for those who will follow what it’s like living and struggling and loving in our time.

We publish for the same reason we write. Because, without publishing, our words are just so much dust scattering on the fickle breeze.

As writers, that is simply not ok.

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