How I came to self-publish

by Helen Ross
(Brisbane, Australia)

Self published

From an early age I had been trying to find my niche. At the age of 27 years I penned my first poem, ‘Lulu, the gorgeous gorilla’ as part of a drama assignment.

In 1990 I began a Diploma in Writing course by correspondence. Then won first prize (Children’s poetry category) in a writing competition (short stories and poetry) for my humorous poem, 'Magpie Mania’ (using pen name, Jean Ross).

As I have always been independent and resourceful, I began to read everything and anything on self-publishing, and believed that with the skills and experiences I had acquired over the years, I could take on the various roles required of a self-publisher – writer, illustrator, publicist, distributor, business person etc.

Although most of the articles I have read on self-publishing have tended to err on the ‘don’t bother to self-publish’ attitude, I have also read of the horror stories of published authors being horrified with the published book cover; authors stating that they believed that their publishers didn’t push their book enough and consequently didn’t achieve many sales; authors being disappointed with the illustrations; and of course for most authors, only receiving 7-10% of sales, etc.

I haven’t really felt disgruntled with the publishing industry as I have never really sent out a great deal of manuscripts. But I have never wanted to spend the possibility of months and years of sending manuscripts to publishers and receiving rejection slips in the mail. Once I discovered my niche, my dream was to see my work in print whilst putting a smile on a young reader's face. As such, I didn’t want to be dependent on someone else determining whether I achieved my dream or not.

In 2004, and at age 47 (Wow, where had the time flown!) and having gone through a number of career changes, I felt that this was the time to begin a new chapter and actively pursue the path of self-publishing and devote my time to writing and illustrating. I tried to think how I would feel at the age of 70 if I hadn’t at least tried. My answer was that I would have been very disappointed with myself.

I felt that even if I didn’t have any success with my writing as a self-publisher that I would still have been proud of myself for at least having a go. I wouldn’t have thought of myself as a failure but rather as having had the guts to do it.

The bottom line is I didn’t want to spend the possibility of months and years of sending manuscripts to publishers and receiving rejection slips in the mail. I didn’t want to be dependent on a publisher deciding whether my book was marketable or not. I didn’t want to be dependent on someone else determining whether I achieved my dream of being a published children’s author/illustrator.

I also believed that I could take on the many roles of researcher, publicist, distributor...due to my skills and experiences. And with a little organisation, I felt that I could juggle this pursuit whilst still working full-time as a teacher.

However, the road to self-publishing has not been without hiccups and disappointments.

By March 2005 I had set up the basics for my business (Business name, ABN, etc). My plan to have my first book in the printing stage by mid 2005 took a back step when my husband suffered a heart attack at Heathrow airport whilst boarding a plane to Canada (as part of our month ‘round-the-world’ trip). I spent the next six/seven months looking after my husband whilst trying to at least make a start on self-publishing my first book. The fact that I was actually actively pursuing this road made me happy, even whilst dealing with the stress of worrying about my husband’s health.

Early 2006 I attended a ‘Meet the Publishers’ seminar (in Australia) which didn’t paint a favourable picture about finding a publisher, as most publishers ‘had closed their books’ till at least 2008 and stated that ‘it isn’t easy to get a publishing contract.’ While most of the audience felt disheartened, I felt I had taken a very positive step, as my first book, ‘Ten Yellow Bananas’ had just gone to print.

Upon its release (March 2006) I felt I had actually achieved my dream. And the fact that people and libraries were buying my books (and still are) was really just an added bonus.

Of course I didn’t do it alone. I used the services of an excellent student graphic artist (now professional) to assist me in the layout and found an excellent printing company, plus I have a very supportive husband. Also I have researched numerous books and material on self publishing to assist in the process.

In October 2006 (I was turning 50 in November) I released my second children’s book, ‘Santa is in Our Chimney’. I had lots of promotional activities planned for the next few weeks, and thankfully my local library and newspaper were happy to promote my books and me.

Also in March 2007 I was awarded an Arts grant from my local and state Government to undertake further professional development in writing and illustrating children’s books.

Currently, I am working on a compilation of children’s poems to be released in early 2008 and hopefully, the process will be a little easier.

However, now that I have self published and have attended a lot of bookshows and promotional events, I have learnt a great deal of information through networking. I have also become aware of other publishing companies that do traditional publishing as well as offer assistance to the self publisher. For my next book I will be using the expertise of one of these publishers to help me further as I happily continue down the road as a self publisher.

Self-publishing isn’t easy but, providing you don’t go in with eyes closed, it is very rewarding.

Having full control over the book and making ‘executive’ decisions (including story, illustrations, book cover and layout, marketing, etc.) is not always easy. Also, you can’t please everyone and even though I undertake a lot of target marketing before the final print I can’t gauge everyone’s reactions.

You do your best and you believe in yourself (though hard at times). Essentially there is a market out there for most books, but you do have to tap in on it. And once you do, you keep on tapping. And you keep on learning.

© Helen Ross 2007

For further information about Helen and her books, please visit her website. Read a more detailed self publishing How To written by Helen.