fastfreta, From Southern California, 1084 Fans, 150 Hubs, Joined 4 years ago
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One Hubber's Self-Publishing Journey: Christy Kirwan Interviews fastfreta
Hubber Alfreta Sailor discusses publishing her first book
You've just published Seasons Change, So Can You: A Guide to Instigating Life-Changing Transformations. Is this your first book or have you published others?
This is my first attempt at publishing, but I hope it's just the beginning of my publishing career. That will depend on how well Seasons Change is received.
You kindly mentioned HubPages in your acknowledgements (and we're deeply honored). How was HubPages instrumental in the development of your book?
I have received so much encouragement from the Staff and my fellow Hubbers. HubPages is a perfect medium for amateurs like myself, they offer so much assistance for those of us who've never done this before. After meeting the Co-founder Paul and Educator Robin Edmondson in 2011 at Hub Camp, I knew this is where I wanted to stay. How HubPages helped me, well, actually I cheated: this book is a collection of articles that I wrote here on HubPages (of course, cleaned up a bit). I have been repeatedly encouraged to put some of the articles in a book, so that's what I did. The comments from my fellow Hubbers gave me the impetus to go forward. I have since received the same encouragement from readers of the book.
Were there any points in the book-writing process that you found particularly challenging? What inspired you to keep at it?
I don't consider myself a professional writer so it was a challenge to commit myself to go forward because I felt my writing wasn't good enough to go mainstream. So I procrastinated even after I had signed with the publishers. However, I went back and read some of the comments from my fellow Hubbers (some of them I used in the introduction), and that gave me the encouragement I needed to press on.
What motivated your decision to self-publish?
To be honest it was money, pure and simple, meaning I have been looking for a way to support myself. According to what I've read on the internet, the big publishing houses are very hard to get into and take a long time to publish, if at all, and for me time is of the essence. I've also learned that Print On Demand is the wave of the future. By the way, this is not true self-publishing because even though you give them your manuscript and they accept it as it is, there is quite a bit of input. You're not left entirely on your own. I actually had several representatives along the way who helped me with each step of the process. There are a lot of checks and balances with this publisher. As a matter of fact, with each step there was, as it were, a "hand holder."
What advice can you offer to other Hubbers who dream of self-publishing?
My advice to others who wish to go this route is to investigate thoroughly. I have been looking into several POD publishers and so far none satisfied me for several reasons. It wasn't until I saw this publisher that I decided to go forth. When I saw that they were associated with Readers Digest I decided to give them a try. Of course, it's not without any hiccups, but I've been able to stay on top of things. Since they are a new publisher, (early 2013) they have a few kinks to iron out, but I've been patient. They seem to offer more than any of the others that I've looked into.
Editor's Note: Alfreta's book is
currently avaliable on on Amazon.com.
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