Does self-publishing work?

I have a friend who has Chronic Fatigue and Fybromyalgia and who, over the past 9 or 10 years has experimented with almost every medical and altenative approach to getting better.

Her lowest point was an aggressive medical approach that comprised 2 lots of anti-biotics every other fortnight until she thought all food tasted like metal and she was too tired to argue with the doctor who seemed to think she was actually a laboratory rat rather than a human being who wanted to get well!

Once she found her current doctor who is also a naturopath she started on the road to recovery - a long slow road with lots of relapses but nevertheless progressing.... As part of this process she learnt a great deal about a huge range of alternative medicines and regimes - mainly because she tried nearly all of them.

She even took a number of correspondese course on things like nutrition to help her understand what was happening with her body and how she could best manage her own life and recover better. There was no way she could attend classes but doing it by correspondece meant that she could work when she was able and that study could be organised around well moments.

About three or four years ago she decided that she would write about the whole experience and share the enormous amount of knowledge that she had gained with those who were perhaps earlier on in the journey that she was. And what she wrote turned out to be a very large book covering a whole range of strategies and helpful hints. It was the book that she wished she had had access to when she was first diagnosed instead of having to learn it all the hard way by trial and error!

She found a sympathetic agent who tried to get it published for her and despite interest from a couple of publishers it never happened. She explored the idea of self-publishing in printed form but after 6 or 7 years of illness there was nothing in the bank to support that sort of outlay. What she did do, however, was take the very brave step of deconstructing the book and re-building it into 6 separate books and then putting them up for sale on the Internet.

While she does certainly want to make a little money her primary motivation has always been to share what she has learnt and to help others with the same debilitating illness to manage it better.

Check out her website: www.cfs-fm.com (click on it to link to it)

The CFS Association in the UK has recently done a deal with her where they will offer her books through their site to their members and 50% of each sale will be contributed back to the Association.

The interesting things about the books that I have found is that while they are written by a CFS/FM sufferer for other sufferers the messages about good nutrition, excercise and managing stress etc... are all valid for those of us who consider ourselves fit and healthy! I particularly like the Create Energy Book.

The return on investment is still very much in the negative at this stage but the joy at every sale is worth a whole lot more than money because it means one other person may not have to suffer as much!

Check them out and tell me what you think...