On Being a Self-Published Author

As a self-publishing author I wear many hats. My big sombrero is my author hat. From under this hat comes all the ideas, all the writing, all the imagination.

My green visor is my editor's hat. I wield a blue pen and work to fix the grammar, continuity, punctuation and any other glitches in the raw writing done by the author.

The beret is for the cover designer who needs to have an eye for color and graphics. The designer also needs to have some writing skill to create the back cover text that entices a reader to want to read the book.

The backwards baseball cap is reserved for the interior designer who creates the title page, the All Rights Reserved/Copyright/Disclaimers page, the Dedication and acknowledgements pages, the Author bio page. This interior designer stages the book to make it comfortable and inviting for the reader. The interior designer adds the headers and footers, the page numbers and makes sure the chapters start on the correct side of the open book pages. The interior designer also inserts page breaks so everything lines up as it should.

The publisher's hat is more like a helmet. If there're any issues with the book it's going to come down on the publisher's head. The publisher okays the book- when it's done and ready for the marketplace. The publisher hits the APPROVE button and it's a done deal.

The business manager wears a deadman's hat (sort of a shorter top hat) and chooses the retail channels for distribution, sets the retail price, writes the booksellers blurb about the book, selects the BIAS code, obtains the ISBN, fills out the TX copyright registration form and submits it with a check and two good copies of the book to the Registrar of Copyrights at the Library of Congress in a timely manner. The business manager also looks for opportunities for the author to be accessible to the public at meet & greets, book signings, readings, lectures and various events where the public might want to grab a copy of the book to read. The business manager also handles the financing involved-expenses and income- and pays the taxes.

Tonight I'm wearing the editor's visor as I wield my blue pen and tackle Black Knight Takes White Queen- the longest novel I've written and will self publish so far. I received the proof copy on Wednesday afternoon- which is always like seeing and holding your baby for the first time. I'm bonding with the book, liking what I'm reading so far, but also tweaking it as I read, blue ink marking all the changes and corrections to be made. It's going to be a lengthy process, but hopefully worth it in the end.

As a self-publishing author I get to do everything myself and have control of the whole project (okay, maybe that makes me look like a control freak, but it's actually more that I am a perfectionist perhaps? Or just distrustful of others to treat my book the way I want it to be treated? I'm not exactly sure.) All I know is that it's a lot of work, but it's joyful work done with a happy heart and a sense of having accomplished something that is uniquely mine. In the whole scheme of things it takes me about a month to write a book, and then another month to put on and take off the various other hats and get the book ready for it's public appearance. I can write a book and get it out there on my time schedule.

I like the freedom to create on my own that self-publishing allows. And though I've had a few publishing houses that offer self-publishing authors assistance contact me, I'm still reluctant to trust them with my work. (I was slow to switch from my trusty typewriter to the computer back in the early 1990's, too, but now I love it!) So- maybe one day, but for now, I like wearing all the hats because then the book is truly my own work from beginning to end.